#i gave todays shift to a coworker so i could have a day to myself and im so glad for it

[famewolf]

woke up still inebriated but alas this d&d backstory won't write itself

[foldingfittedsheets]

So I’m a little embarrassed to admit that when I thought my Switch was broken, my issue with force restarting it was that I mistook the home button for the power button. The advice people gave me should have worked.

When I realized today that the core should have its own button I was able to restart it and everything was fine.

To celebrate, please enjoy a non exhaustive list of other silly shit I’ve done:

When I first started driving a manual transmission car I learned how to drive stick from a single wretched session with my dad where he forced me to start on a hill with my emergency break before I had basic shifting down (I ended up starting the car in third gear on an incline which is an achievement that no one should ever do), and one drive in a parking lot with my buddy Dustin.

Consequently I believed that I must always keep my foot on the clutch when the car wasn’t in gear because no one thought to tell me that neutral counted as a gear.

I drove like that for years, clutch pressed in at every red light. The only reason I ever learned better was my clunker needed a jump and after my coworker had his car hooked up to mine he invited me to stand with him while we waited.

I very hesitantly lifted my foot off the clutch and when it didn’t stall I felt so goddamn silly. Years. I hadn't realized for years that I could be in neutral without the clutch down for years.

More recently I’ve been listening to podcasts in my car. I thought that if I hit the next track button it would skip to the whole next episode and dutifully sat through all the ads.

Then one day I was turning and hit the skip ahead button and realized it only did 30 seconds, not a whole episode. I immediately felt so silly and ridiculous for not realizing sooner that I could fast forward the ads without missing the whole episode.

Finally, the silliest way I've ever injured myself was so stupid that everyone immediately assumed I was lying. I was crawling down the bed toward my beloved in a negative sexual way. Cannot stress enough, there was nothing sexy in this scenario. I'm pretty sure I was pretending to be a cat screaming about licking my own anus. I went to plant my hand on the footboard, I overshot and went somersaulting off the bed, landing flat on my back.

The next day I tried to go into work while moving like a possessed puppet, hunkered over and slinking along trying not to move any muscles because everything was a fiery pit of pain. The managers saw this and called me into the office. "What the hell happened to you? Can you actually work today?"

I opened my mouth to answer and my favorite assistant manager instantly interjected, "And don't lie!"

I stopped and realized that saying I could still work was in fact a lie and got sent home to recuperate. My coworkers were all completely convinced when they heard the story that I'd been up to the freakiest sex shit imaginable and not a single one believed I fell off my bed pretending to be a deranged cat.

[honeipie]

I love love love your bakugou works! i was wondering if you could write something about him and like izuku, eijiro, shoto, and the reader all being firefighters. i just think ab katsuki in that black tank and the fuckin firefighter pants😋

24 HOURS

katsuki bakugo x reader

synopsis: dating your coworker can be fun sometimes

authors note: tysm!! katsuki would be such a good firefighter tbh 🌞

3:00 PM

“okay this is weird” currently you were in the passengers seat of your boyfriend’s pick up truck on the way to the fire station. luckily, you had both been called in for 24 hour shifts at the same time. katsuki rolled his eyes turning down the street.

“what?”

you motioned over to the radio which was playing your favorite playlist. the playlist that katsuki would complain so much about each time you put it on.

“you haven’t said a word about my music since we’ve gotten into this car” once he hit a stop light you leaned over the middle console getting close to his cheek “what is going on? are you mad or something?”

he turned his head giving you the smallest, quickest peck on your lips “nothin’s wrong” you squinted your eyes skeptically as the light turned green.

pulling out your phone you went to text the firehouse groupchat.

———

y/n

my boyfriend is way to happy at the moment.. what’s going on

izuku

just know that you won’t like it!

kiri

oh he’s not telling you? brutal.

—————

you had just pulled up to the station when you had read the message “katsuki, not today” there were tires, ropes, dumbbells, and ladders sitting outside and in front of the trucks. katsuki gave your thigh a strong squeeze with a smirk.

“happy drill day”

drill day. the one day out of the month where the whole station of firefighters would get together and do drills over and over for a couple of hours. this was your least favorite day considering everything it entailed. of course you knew that you had to stay in shape physically. it was just wasn’t that fun when you already have a trail of sweat running down your back and ruining whatever makeup you at least tried to do.

5:45 PM

“i hate him”

“then why are you looking at him like you want to lick the sweat off his body”

“first of all gross, second of all i may hate him but i’m not blind” you watched the man who was facing away from you. he was currently showing some of the rookies how to turn their sled pull into pulling the real hose.

his back muscles could be seen shifting quickly as he tugged on the hose from the truck. when he was at the end of the hose his arms flexed for one final tug.

he dropped the hose with a loud plop. he placed his hands on his hips and you could see his slow, heavy breaths from there.

“well? i just showed you how to do it. wrap the shit back up and show me” all of them scrambled to get the hose untangled and back into the wheel.

katsuki turned to face you immediately noticing the way you weren’t training.

“why the hell are you here?” he looked over at mina who was checking something on her nails.

“well my boyfriend and best friend work here, and i’m bored, so i think you can put together the rest of the pieces”

“don’t you got people to revive or some shit?”

mina was an emt for the local hospital. her and kirishima actually met at a fire scene when she came over to check out some of his injuries, and the rest was history.

“look at you loud and wrong. i’m not on a shift right now so i decided make myself feel better about my career decisions by watching you people workout for hours on end”

katsuki shook his head clearly fed up with her and the conversation. you just had to pick her to be your best friend.

“just standin’ here?” he asked standing directly in front of you.

“i finished” you huffed out looking up at him. the heat from outside was already kicking your ass, but him being up close made you feel hotter.

“alright, it’s time to do farmers carry. two laps around the room with a minute break in between”

a frown rested on your face when you heard he wanted you to do more. it had almost hit the two hour mark and you were ready to wrap it up.

“i don’t think i can do anymore today. my body hurts”

he scoffed hearing your words “and you know who else’s body is gonna hurt? the people dying in fires because you couldn’t carry them out”

“i’ve done it before so i feel like that doesn’t count” you reached your hand out placing it on his waist “c’mon lieutenant, go easy on me? just for today”

you’d pulled the lieutenant card. sure, that was his rank and people called him that out of respect, but you? you just did it differently. the way you enunciated the ‘t’. the way you’d touch him, because you always touched him when you said it. this was a rare pull so you must’ve been tired.

katsuki raised his eyebrow at your words. a smirk creeped onto his face before he leaned down giving you a long kiss.

mina’s face scrunched up in disgust, and the rookies just mumbled about how his demeanor switched so fast.

when he pulled away he whispered softly in your ear “you just earned yourself another lap. now get those dumbbells and get to work” he turned going back to check on the rookies’ progress.

“well that backfired” mina kicked her feet against the mat.

“yeah, ya think?”

so you the farmers carry, then worked on the stair machine for your last exercise. after that you made your way over to katsuki. he was watching the rookies start on their cooldown stretches.

“i actually finished this time so i’m going to take a shower” you gave him a sharp pat on the back and went to leave, but he grabbed you wrist dragging you back.

“you mad?”

���hm.. not if i smell okonomiyaki when i get out the shower”

you moved your hand away continuing your walk to the bathroom.

6:45

“thank you katsuki”

he only grumbled in response taking a bite of his. kirishima frowned in the corner arms crossed against his chest “why didn’t you make us any? we worked out hard too”

“not enough ingredients”

izuku sat beside you drinking his smoothie “y’know i hate liars. i restocked that pantry yesterday”

mina stood beside kirishima one arm wrapped around his waist “i could give you some of those leftovers from last night”

kiri shook his head “nah, i don’t really want that-“ he shifted his head to see mina giving him a look “oh! no yeah i want that” the two retreated back into the station with nothing more than a wave. shoto almost broke his neck watching the two go inside.

“they’re not gonna have sex in the kitchen right?..”

“no! not in the kitchen. maybe that big closet on the way, but not in the kitchen” you put the last bit of okonomiyaki in your mouth “i’m actually surprised you caught onto that”

“i know right? got the social cues of a fuckin’ boulder”

“katsuki that’s not funny” but the smile on your face gave away that it was a little funny. all was interrupted when a car pulled into the station. all four of you got up to see who it was. a woman got out of the car and made her way to the other side.

“hi! i’m sorry to cause you the trouble, but we’ve done everything and can’t get it off” she opened the door to reveal a boy, about seven years old, with his arm stuck in a water jug “i asked my dad what to do and he said you’d be able to help?”

you all had to stop yourselves from laughing when he struggled getting his arm out of the car.

“don’t worry about it ma’am. we can get that thing right off” you assured her with a smile. izuku had already went inside to get a pair of pliers.

“i know it’s stuck, but can you you still feel your arm? move it around without any pain?”

as you asked he lifted up his arm and slammed it back down into his side. the force took him by surprise and he ended up falling over “i’m okay!” he went to get up his mother assisting him.

“stop being a fool and answer the nice lady’s question please”

“my arm feels fine”

10:00 PM

“alright,” you placed your cards down onto the table and started to rise “i’m gonna head to sleep”

the crew mumbled quick goodbyes already setting up for another round. you made your way through the station until you reached one of the bedrooms. slowly, you opened the door making sure to not make too much noise. after closing it once more, you went to strip out of your clothes into something more comfortable.

“scoot over”

a grunt left katsuki as he rolled over to one side of the bed. it was no surprise that he was already asleep. this man worked like clockwork. exactly at 8:30pm every day he would stop whatever he was doing and head up to bed.

you crawled up next to him wrapping your arms around his torso. katsuki didn’t care about that big spoon, little spoon stuff. all he wanted to do was get comfortable and rest.

your head rested on his chest listening to the rhythmic beat of his heart.

“i hope we don’t get any calls tonight”

“me either”

4:00 AM

“i knew you’d like this one”

you had bent over laughing at the sight before you. a teen had gotten stuck in one of the baby swings, so they had to call to get him out. you were asleep when they got the call and katsuki refused to tell you what it was.

“how does this even happen?” you tried to subside your laughter walking over to go help kiri get the poor, embarrassed teen out of the swing.

“it was a dare! i couldn’t back down the stakes were too high”

you wrapped your arms under his armpits while kirishima got around his calves. you counted down from three then started to pull him out of the seat.

“what is more embarrassing than this?”

“asking my crush out in front of her whole lunch table”

“well hopefully her whole lunch table doesn’t see that recording” you nodded your head over to his friends who were videotaping the whole thing. the teens started to go back and forth as you wiggled him out.

after making sure there was no little injuries on him katsuki walked over “all of you should get home. we decided not to call the cops, but someone else might”

they all nodded their heads in understanding waiting until you turned around to whisper “i should’ve gotten myself stuck. she was bad as shit”

you cringed at the words, but katsuki let out a loud laugh. you slapped him on his arm going over to the truck “it’s not funny!”

3:00 PM

you hopped back into katsuki’s pickup with a smile on your face “another shift completed. i can’t wait to go home and get a good nights sleep”

he threw both of your bags into the backseat before getting into the driver’s seat. after the early morning call, there were a few others. a couple of bush fires, and people stuck in an elevator. safe to say, you couldn’t wait for your two days off.

“i bet you can’t. got a hot date with one of those boys? if i remember they called you bad as shit?”

you rolled your eyes at his little joke.

“shut up! you promised you wouldn’t bring that up again”

he shrugged a smug smile on his lips as he pulled out of the lot.

“can i play my music?”

“fuck no”

“katsuki!”

taglist! @sagejin 🫶🏾

lmk if you want to be added

[extrashotodepresso]

Fake Dating Series:

KirishimaXFem!Reader

(ft. Ex Hawks)

Warnings: SMUT AHOY! (Actual smut- like DNI if under 18) , a bit of Yandere Hawks at the end (can’t help myself), angst, pure filth, cheesy, cheating mentioned

I had an idea a while back about a little fic series around the beautiful cliche trope of fake dating. Overdone you say? YUP! But it’s so tasty I can’t help it! Needless to say, all characters in my fics are 18+. In this one, MC and Kirishima are in their mid to late twenties.

So this is the first one!!! Feel free to reblog if you want, I literally write these for myself but if you like it lemme know if there’s anything else you wanna see!

Summary:

Hawks shows up at the agency and tries to get back together with you. You try to blow him off but he’s pushy. Getting irritated you say you’re dating someone. When he asks who, Kirishima walks over and you get an idea.

“Just go with it.”

“What?”

You pull Kirishima by the harness on his chest and bring him in for a short kiss; what you weren’t expecting was for him to kiss you back.

“Um… still here, (Y/N).” Hawks clears his throat uncomfortably, while you are stuck staring up at Kirishima’s face.

“Wanna get out of here, pebble?” He asks with a sly grin.

“You have no idea.”

You had felt your phone incessantly buzzing in your back pocket all day. You prayed silently that this meeting would end soon; you could hardly pay attention to it anyway.

“Everything okay, Jumper?” You heard someone call out to you. When you looked up it was none other than Red Riot, your coworker and acquaintance. You rubbed your neck nervously.

“Yeah- just have a lot on my mind I guess.” You looked up at him with a soft smile before standing- even if you were tall for the average woman, he stood easily a foot and a half above you, though he was less intimidating than his appearance would suggest.

“Well if you need anything, let me know.” He smiled again kindly, then offered you a small stack of papers. “Notes. From the meeting.” You took them gingerly, looking up at him with a raised brow. “Seemed like you missed some of the info today, wouldn’t want you falling behind.” His face was almost bashful as he said this, his mouth opening slightly like he was preparing to speak again.

“Riot!” Dynamight called out for his friend suddenly and Red Riot gave you a small wave before walking away, leaving you a little dumbstruck. Sure, Red Riot was nice- he had even been dubbed the new gentlemanly hero- but something about the gesture gnawed at you. Unfortunately you didn’t have much time to stare after him in bewilderment as your phone began ringing. Again.

You whipped your phone out of your pocket, turning towards the elevator and making sure you were alone before you hit ‘answer’.

“What do you want?” You spat out, hand smashing the down button as you looked behind you in a paranoid fashion. You prayed as you waited for the doors to open that no one would follow you.

“Oh come on, don’t be like that little bird.” The voice that came over was saccharine and sweet, the syrupy tone making your stomach turn. You waited until you were inside the elevator with the door closed to respond.

“Don’t call me that, Hawks.” Your teeth were grinding.

“I’m downstairs.”

“What? Downstairs where?”

“At your agency. Let’s go for dinner or some coffee- you know you can’t-“

“I’m not going anywhere with you. Fuck off and go away.” You hung up the phone, practically slamming it in your frustration.

Two years. Two years of your life you had dedicated to that insufferable, egotistical, bird brained— ugh! And three months ago, you found out he had been cheating on you with some young up and coming sidekick. You closed your eyes, exhaling deeply before collapsing on the cool elevator wall. When the doors opened, you were in the hallway to the lockers.

You had been throwing yourself into your work since you had broken up with Hawks. You had spent the past few months pulling shift after shift- and now you were being forced to take the weekend off. This was especially frustrating to you at the moment; if Hawks didn’t leave like you asked, you wouldn’t have a good excuse to lose him, and the man had a way of getting what he wanted. You made it to the showers, cleaned yourself then changed into civilian clothing, praying that he had the decency to finally listen to you on your elevator ride back to the lobby. Though, if his incessant harassment the past three months had anything to say about the likelihood of that happening… the doors opened and you steeled yourself, trying to visualize an undisturbed path to the exit.

As you approached the front desk at the lobby, your heart sank. He was still there, casually leaning on the marble counter, blatantly flirting with the receptionist.

“Well I would be crazy not to want that back.” You muttered, rolling your eyes before trying to walk as quietly as possible past him.

“Baby bird!” He called out to you and you stopped, feeling your shoulders hunch over.

“I told you to fuck off.” You spoke through your teeth. He walked over to you, opening his arms as if wanting a hug, then after seeing your expression lowered them slowly.

“Look- I know that-“ he actually looked remorseful as he paused, “I messed up.”

“You messed up?” You barked out a laugh. “Did you mess up the first time when you fucked her in your office? Or the tenth time when you fucked her in our bed?” Your glare was seething now, and his face was heartbroken. As much as the part of you that had loved him wanted to reach out and make him feel better, the part of you that he broke rejoiced seeing him in pain.

“Yes, (Y/N). I fucked up. And I’ve regretted it every single day. I miss you, can’t we just talk about this?”

“No, we can’t.”

“Why not?” Just then, the pinging sound of the elevator caught your attention and you looked over your shoulder to see— the perfect distraction.

“I don’t think my new boyfriend would like it.” You lifted your chin haughtily before you heard the heavy footsteps approaching.

“Boyfriend?”

“Hey! Jumper, Hawks, how’s it goin?” Just as you expected, Red Riot approached the two of you at the desk, smiling brightly, completely unaware he was about to be the perfect decoy.

“Hey babe!” You called out enthusiastically before trotting over to him. He was still in his hero gear, no doubt going for a last patrol on his way home. He looked down at you with a slightly quizzical expression before you whispered so only he could hear, “Just go with it.”

You grabbed his shoulder harness, pulling him down to you and before he could react or protest, kissed him. It was meant to be a quick peck on the lips, nothing too showy but the second after you pulled away, you felt his hand reach behind your head, fingers threading in your hair as he brought you back for more.

His lips were softer than you expected from the hardened hero, more experienced too. His lips moved along yours with a delicate fervor, quickly you lost yourself in him. Your hand that had been wrapped around his harness tightened and you pulled him ever closer, practically whimpering into his open mouth as the kiss heated. His tongue probed your bottom lip, requesting entrance and without a second thought you allowed it.

“Um… (y/n)? I'm still right here.” You heard Hawks behind you and it brought you back to the present. Pulling away, you attempted to gather your breath as you looked up at Red Riot.

He was looking at you with a hunger that made your thighs clench together. You didn’t know what you had expected when you kissed him, probably just an awkward joke and maybe an offer to walk you home, but this was… carnal. He was smirking down at you, sharpened teeth glinting in the fluorescent light.

“Wanna get out of here, pebble?” His voice was gravelly, thunderous and you bit your lip as you nodded.

“You have no idea.” You managed to whisper as he wrapped his arm around your waist.

“Sorry we couldn’t catch up, Hawks.” He spoke, still looking into your eyes as he did. “Looks like my little pebble needs to get home. I’m sure you understand.”

With that, the two of you left, leaving Hawks standing dumbfounded behind you.

“You wanna tell me what that was about?” Riot finally spoke again as the two of you entered the parking garage.

“Not really.” Your mind was still spinning, “Thanks for the help, Riot.”

“It’s Kirishima.” He said, softly as you approached your car.

“Kirishima.” You tested it out. It was foreign on your tongue, but not unwelcome.

“You want me to go home with you?” He asked and you felt a blush bloom across your face before you looked at him dumbly.

“Huh?” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, a blush creeping up on his cheeks as well.

“I mean- to make sure you get there safely and everything.” He cleared his throat, suddenly breaking your gaze. You smiled, your stomach feeling flutterings you hadn’t experienced for almost two years.

“I’m a hero too, you know.” You said, teasingly.

“O-of course, I just thought-“ you giggled, he was too easy to tease.

“I’m happy to bring you back to your place- it looks like you were planning on one last patrol though.” He finally looked back at you, his eyes trying to read your expression. It was stifling, that look and you cleared your throat before rambling on, “I suppose I do owe you a bit of an explanation. It’s the least I could do to give you a ride as thanks.”

“I was planning on another round but it’s late… so if you’re willing to drive me… what I’m saying is…” he stopped himself, “I’d like that.” He muttered.

You nodded, then walked to your driver's side, sitting down and trying to not scream internally as he sat next to you. Your car adjusted with his weight and you felt suddenly self conscious about the state of your car- would he judge you for the smell of stale coffee or the miscellaneous straw wrappings on your passenger side floor? If he did, he didn’t say anything, he just casually provided you his address for the GPS. For the next few minutes, the only sound that could be heard were the incessant directions of your car, taking you on what felt like the longest drive of your life.

“He’s my ex.” You said, suddenly, to break the silence the two of you had lapsed into.

“Who?” He looked over at you, and though you trained your eyes on the road, you could detect surprise in his tone.

“Hawks.”

“Really?”

“Yup.” You said almost curtly. “Broke up a few months ago.” You readjusted, feeling his gaze on you was a little uncomfortable.

“Why did you—“ he let himself trail off, then caught himself. “Actually, I don’t need to know, I’m sorry that was-“

“We have different definitions of fidelity.” You interrupted him. “I think it means you stay loyal to one person, he thinks if someone else wants you and they’re super hot, sleeping with them should be acceptable.” You smirked as you shrugged, though saying it out loud hurt you more than you would like to admit.

You hadn’t talked about the break up with anyone. Not even your best friend. All she knew was you were done, and you didn’t want to go back. Kirishima was now the only one who knew the truth.

“That’s so unmanly.” He said, as solemnly as possible and you barked out a laugh. “What? What did I say?”

“Nothing-“ you said through giggles as you pulled up to his apartment. “It’s just-“ more giggles “unmanly?” You bit your lip, finally turning to him as you parked.

“So… he’s the one that was calling you all day?” Kirishima changed the subject. You sighed, resting your head on the seat as you turned toward him.

“Yeah. He wants to get back together. Doesn’t seem to understand the phrase ‘fuck off’.” You smiled, though it didn’t quite meet your eyes.

“And you think that kiss will be enough to keep him away?” He asked, almost incredulously.

“I would think so-“ you looked at him through your lashes. “It was a pretty great kiss.” You chewed at your bottom lip subconsciously and you watched as his eyes followed the movement.

“I don’t think he’s gonna stop until he really gets the message.” His voice had changed again, all low and sexy and you felt those butterflies again.

“So what do you suggest?” You swallowed, your mouth was suddenly completely dry. He leaned over to you, his massive hand caressing your face and covering half of it.

“Make the message so loud, he can’t ignore it.” He brought his face to yours, eyes looking in yours then to your lips to give you plenty of time to change your mind. In response, you leaned in to close the gap, brushing your lips against his just barely.

He increased the pressure, exhaling in relief as you permitted him to continue kissing you. The two of you quickly became a mess of tongues and teeth- though as things became more heated, the tiny space of your car was hardly accommodating.

“Would you like to-“ he broke the kiss to ask you a question, though you didn’t let him finish.

“Fuck yes, let’s go.” He smiled at this, chuckling as his thumb caressed your cheek.

“I was going to say come up for a drink, but I have a feeling you have a little more on your mind.” Your face reddened in embarrassment.

“A d-drink would be nice.” You swallowed. “I’m a little thirsty.”

“That’s one way to put it .” He said with another smirk and you pushed his chest, smoothing your hair and trying to catch your breath when you heard his rumbling laugher as he exited the car. The sound of it was enchanting. He walked around and opened your door, ever the gentleman, and you unfastened your seatbelt before grabbing his hand and following him inside.

Kirishima had a massive penthouse apartment, with all new everything and expensive furnishings.

“So this is a top hero’s apartment, huh?” You asked as you looked around wide-eyed. “You probably spend in a month what I do in a year.” You mused out loud as he walked over to his massive kitchen, grabbing a couple bottles of water from the fridge.

“I’m comfortable.” He said with a slight chuckle. “But it helps that I split the rent.” He walked towards you, offering you a water before gesturing to a large U shaped leather couch by a fireplace.

“You have a roommate?” You watched him nod, then sat on the edge of the couch, watching him walk away before your eyes continued to drag themselves around the room “Who? Wait, you’re not-“ he shook his head.

“I’m single, don’t worry.” You let out an exhale you didn’t know you were holding. “Bakugo and I have been roommates since college.” Your brows raised at this.

“Dynamight?” You asked incredulously. “Lord-Explosion-Murder—screams-at-children-number-two-hero—Dynamight is your roommate?”

“Yep. Hey, do you want anything harder than water?” You heard him call out to you, apparently in your awe he had returned to the kitchen.

“You bet your ass I do-“ you muttered, then louder; “whiskey, if you have it?” You looked back at him and watched him nod, his back to you as he rifled through the kitchen, moving surprisingly swiftly to grab a glass and some expensive looking amber fluid in a crystal container.

You had been staring into the fireplace, still oscillating between several levels of shook before you felt a gentle hand on your shoulder. You looked up, and Kirishima was smiling at you, handing you a glass of whiskey.

“Do you mind if I go clean up?” He asked with almost an apologetic expression. “I haven’t had a chance yet to change and-“ you nodded

“That’s fine, I’ll just be out here…” you gestured to the couch. “Waiting.” You offered what you hoped was a sexy smile, not missing the way he swallowed before he straightened up.

“Five minutes. Promise.” He was almost childlike as he scampered off, leaving you to collapse into the couch in wonder at the situation you now found yourself in.

What a bizarre series of events. Not even an hour ago, Red Riot was a coworker you barely knew. Just someone who you would idly chat with in the mornings, occasionally fight beside on patrol- now you were in his apartment, drinking whiskey, watching a fire and waiting for him to— you took a drink, hoping the alcohol would calm your nerves.

Kirishima was an incredibly attractive man. Maybe not by super traditional standards; with his spiky teeth and even spikier hair, but there was always a kindness to him you found intriguing. Not to mention, he was absolutely ripped. Nearly seven feet of carved muscle and rugged angles, a sharp contrast to his normally shy and kind personality. Your nails tapped on the glass in your hand as you stared into the flames.

What if this was a mistake? You didn’t know exactly what was happening tonight, though you knew what you had hoped for. He was really too nice of a guy to be a rebound…

As you lost yourself in your thoughts, feeling the pleasant warmth of the fire and the hum of the whiskey making its way through your bones, you were snapped out of your reverie by the sound of a door closing.

“Hope you didn’t wait too long.” His voice echoed out and you looked up, letting out what could definitely be interpreted as a moan.

Freshly showered Kirishima was a god. His hair which was usually styled sharply fell into his face softly, just passing his shoulders and you could see a hint of his black roots at the top. It was weirdly sexy to watch as he pulled his hair behind his face and tied it in a low ponytail, his bangs falling into his face gently. He was wearing a black sweater that did absolutely nothing to hide his hulking muscle and a casual pair of jeans that seemed to strain against the sheer bulk of his thighs. As he sat down, the smell of his shampoo or body wash enveloped you; sandalwood and something earthy- like the smell of rain. You wondered now what you had been so concerned with before, the idea that you had an important thought being the only thing you managed to grasp.

“You alright?” His voice was soft, sweet, as he tucked a piece of hair behind your ear. You blindly set your glass on the table beside you before leaning in to kiss him again.

It felt so right to kiss him. Losing yourself in his taste was so easy, so comfortable, so— as he pulled you onto his lap, gripping your thighs with his massive hands you moaned into him. His contagious smile could be felt on your lips as the sound escaped you and it almost bothered you how calm he was. You wanted him to feel the same as you, feel this untethered. You brought yourself down to sit fully on his lap, grinding the apex of your thighs against him.

When you found the hardened flesh there eagerly waiting and heard his breathy little groan you finally smiled back before pulling away from the kiss.

“I’m fantastic.” You managed to croak out in response to his question, looking at him to see a darkened expression over his features.

“(Y/N)-“ your name came so easily from his lips, you hadn’t realized he had actually known it until now.

“Yes, Kiri?” You kissed along his jaw, tilting his head to find his exposed neck, kissing him gently before biting the flesh at the junction of his throat and collarbone. His grip on your thighs tightened in the most delicious way when you did, and you licked at the flesh before returning to his lips. But he pulled away.

“What do you want?” He suddenly asked. You paused, over him.

“What do you mean? I want you.” You sat back, studying his expression. He groaned, bringing a hand up to his face.

“I mean- what do you want from this? I’m all for us hooking up to make Hawks jealous and everything-“

“Who?” Your genuine surprise seemed to astonish him. For a moment, you had forgotten what had brought you here, to this man’s couch, practically begging for him to take you.

“Seriously.” He sighed. “I think we should probably talk about what you actually want from this before we-“ you brought your hand to his lips, silencing him.

“I kissed you back at the agency for a distraction. Sure. But-“ you looked around the vast apartment. “I don’t see him here now, do you?” You smiled down at him. “If this was just to piss him off, I would call him while you were breaking me in half so he could hear what a real man can do.” Kirishima blushed at your words. “And while that might be fun to do some other time…” You leaned back, pulling off your shirt to reveal your chest covered by a padded sports bra you had put on that morning when you had no idea you would be straddling one of Japan’s top ten heroes. Kirishima didn’t seem to mind as he swallowed at the sudden exposure of your flesh, “Right now, I’m only thinking about you. And I would have thought,” you gave another experimental grind of your hips, delighting in the almost tortured sound he made, “that what I wanted was obvious.”

Kirishima studied you for a few moments, searching in your expression for the truth in your words. He must have found what he was looking for as he kissed you, immediately opening his mouth to tangle his tongue with yours.

It was sloppy, steamy and downright indecent, but gods if it didn’t spark your need for him. He brought his hands back to your thighs, caressing them before grabbing handfuls of your ass, landing a harsh slap that caused you to shriek into his mouth.

“You’re a naughty little thing, pebble.” He purred. “I didn’t expect you to be this-“ you brought your own hands to the hem of his shirt, dragging them up along his toned abdomen to rest on his pectorals, clawing at them before gesturing you wanted the shirt off.

“Forward?” You finished for him. He pulled his shirt off, then returned to your lips, hardening his grip before standing up, carrying you around like you were made of air.

“Bedroom?” He panted into your mouth. You nodded and kissed him back.

The way to his room was a bit of a blur. He stopped a few times along the way, pressing you up against the walls, letting his hands explore every dip and curve on your body. You thought, distantly, that you might have heard things crash to the ground at some point, but had a sinkhole opened in the middle of Mustafu, you probably wouldn’t have noticed. There was nothing but him. His touch, his lips, his sounds, it was all that mattered right now.

When your back met the plush of his bed and he crawled over you, you felt another moment of awareness at the sheer size of him. He seemed to even block out the light in his room, his face was nothing but shadow. He pulled back again, finally allowing you to see his tortured expression, his hand brushing your cheek as his eyes seared into you.

“Are you sure you want to keep going?” He asked, his voice strained like the idea of you saying no was physically painful. You leaned up to kiss him, your hands trailing down the expanse of his chest to stop at the button on his jeans. You let them sit there for a moment, playing at the hem, enjoying the feel of where the elastic on his briefs beneath his pants met his skin.

“Are you sure you want to keep going?” You mirrored him. “I’m not the one who keeps stopping.” You were smirking, but your heart was racing. He set every nerve you had on fire, you couldn’t remember ever feeling like this.

“Are you kidding?” A lopsided smile graced his face. “You’re all I think about, (Y/N). I’m still not convinced this is real.” Your eyes widened. Did he really feel that way? A blush spread across his face. “Sorry.” You didn’t know how to respond to his sudden confession so you kissed him again, finally allowing yourself to unbutton his jeans and try to wriggle them off his hips.

He seemed to understand your hint and helped you out, standing awkwardly and shuffling his pants down his legs. He stood then, almost bashfully when your gaze was immediately sent to the large tent in his boxer-briefs. Chewing at your lip again, you swallowed. Everything on this man was giant. You slid your leggings off your legs, throwing them unceremoniously to the floor before motioning for him to return to you. He moved quickly, his lips finding your neck and every sensitive point on it as his hands wrapped their way around your torso, arching your back and bringing you as close as possible to him.

“May I?” His fingers were playing at the back of your bra and you nodded, turning your face to him again, finding his lips once more. He unclasped your bra, having to lean up from you to pull it off, one arm resting beside your head. He pulled back a little more, looking over your body with a sort of reverence. A small whimper left you at the seriousness of his expression, which he seemed to take as you missing his lips on you (not that he was entirely wrong).

“You’re so damn beautiful.” He whispered into your neck, kissing down your collarbone and sternum before dragging his tongue over your breast. He found your nipple with the wet appendage, circling around it before bringing it into his mouth with an sultry suck. You gasped, hands tangling into his hair. He continued to lavish you with his lips and tongue, and when you pulled out his hair tie so you could run your fingers through his hair, he bit down on the top of your breast, causing you to shriek at the suddenness of it. He pulled back.

“S-sorry! I didn’t mean to-“ you threaded your fingers to the base of his scalp, tugging harshly.

“Stop apologizing Kiri.” Your voice was stern. “I’ll tell you if I don’t like something. But I’m not going to break.” He still looked unsure, so you tugged again, eliciting a small moan from him. (Hair pulling kink unlocked) “I mean it.” You swallowed, “Do whatever you want.” A choked sort of sound left him, and he kissed your lips again.

“You…” whatever he was going to say, he didn’t. He bit your bottom lip, the sharpness of his teeth caused a slight sting but it felt so good. Kirishima moved down your body again, littering bites and kisses wherever he went.

He crawled down the bed, stopping between your thighs. He sat up then, spreading you before him, staring at the apex of your thighs with a hungry expression.

“Anything I want?” A devious smile formed on his face. You nodded, for the first time a bit unsure. “You might regret sayin’ that, pebble.” He lifted a hand, using his quirk to harden his arm. Your heart was racing as he dragged a sharpened finger down your torso, not hard enough to draw blood, but strong enough to feel dangerous. He hooked his finger into your panties, quickly moving his hand to shred them off of you and expose you fully to the room. He deactivated his quirk, then removing the offending scraps off your body, lowered his head.

He bit your hip harshly, and you twitched at the feeling, legs immediately trying to close but he held you open with just one arm. He kissed the spot he bit, running his tongue over it to soothe the ache before moving to your thighs. He kissed and sucked the inner flesh there too, and you felt yourself clenching on nothing, the part of you he had exposed was yet to be touched and it was driving you insane.

“Kirishima please-“ you whined. He looked up at you, like you were disturbing him from enjoying himself. A switch had definitely been flipped at some point; where he had been eager to please, now you were his plaything.

“It’s Eijiro.” He said with another well timed bite.

“Eijiro! Please!” You begged again. He didn’t make you wait this time, bringing his face to where you wanted him most, he licked a long stripe up your folds.

“Delicious.” He muttered to himself before he began devouring you with a fervor. His tongue dove into your weeping heat, fucking you open with the thick appendage and you moaned, gripping his hair again like your life depended on it. This egged him on, as he brought a finger to your folds and pushed one inhumanly large digit inside you.

You were already so close, it was embarrassing. His tongue moved to your clit, circling around, writing out incantations that had you ready to cream any second. You managed, just barely, to look down at him. His cheeks were flushed, hair mangled by your hands and his eyes were burning into you with a sincerity you’d never seen before. He pushed another finger inside of you, scissoring and curling them to stretch you out, hitting your spot absolutely perfectly- and that was it. With a loud shriek you came, and he eagerly lapped up every bit of you, letting out a satisfied hum that vibrated your core. His fingers slowed their pace to work you through your orgasm, his tongue gently caressing you.

Out of breath, you tapped on his shoulders, trying to communicate to him that you wanted him to return to you. He understood and almost hesitantly, crawled back up your body, kissing you without a word, feeding your taste to you with his tongue.

“Eiji-“ you moaned into him “I need-“ again, he seemed to understand what you meant without words as he slithered out of his boxers, the weight of his manhood slapping against your thigh when he was freed. Your hands glided from his shoulders down the broad expanse of his back, raking your nails down his chest before you wrapped a hand around him.

He was thick. The thought of it had you drooling a little into his kiss. A small, inhuman sound left your lips when you dragged your hand up his length and felt the beads of pre already weeping from him. He broke the kiss with a moan, looking down to see your hand struggling to wrap fully around him while you angled yourself uncomfortably to try to pump him. He thrust into your hand, eyes practically rolling back before he stopped himself entirely.

“Hold on-“ he let out with a hiss before stopping your hand, grabbing it with his and pinning your arm next to your head, threading his fingers into yours. With his other hand he lined himself up with your entrance and slid up and down your slit, lubing himself with your slick.

It felt heavenly. The head of his cock kept barely catching on your entrance, then would move up and kiss your clit. You ground into him, trying and failing to just line him up with your core; though the feeling of him fucking your folds was pleasant, you wanted more.

“Slow down, pebble.” He moaned out into your neck, his voice like liquid velvet against your skin. “We’re gonna have to take it slow.” You wanted to protest, but even just the action of him rubbing against you was sending you toward another release. “Holy shit, are you gonna cum again for me, pretty girl?” Your eyes rolled into your head as your hips increased their pace, you thought you nodded but you couldn’t be too sure. There was something so primal about this experience. The need you felt for him was entirely animal. He chuckled darkly into you, then finally, agonizingly slowly, he began to push inside you.

The second his head made it past the first ring of muscle, you nearly blacked out. It was a stretch far beyond the familiar.

“F-fuck-“ he groaned, trying to keep going slowly but his hips were sputtering like he was trying to hold back.

“I told you-“ you angled your hips up to take another inch in- the stretch was incredible, “I’m not gonna break.”

You would one day wish that you could find the words to describe his expression, or the sound he made at your revelation, but you registered nothing as he lost complete control inside you. With one sharp thrust, he buried himself in at the hilt. There was no pain, just the immediate burst of pleasure you felt as he finally filled you. Your back arched off the bed, toes curling in his sheets while your knees squeezed his sides closer- like he could get any deeper.

“Y-y-you’re-“ he was stuttering, his every movement completely halted at the feeling of you pulsing around him. “Fuck it’s like you’re sucking me in-“ he pulled out agonizingly slowly before returning to you, thrusting tentatively at first before gaining confidence and speed.

His lips returned to yours, kissing you and refusing to separate any inch of himself from you. You were completely enveloped in his body, distantly experiencing the feeling of your damp skin clutching onto his. You couldn’t decide where to put your hands- they traveled from his hair to his shoulders to the sheets back up to his hair and you were sure that you could die in this moment and be completely fine. You were building up to something again, another gloriously dangerous crescendo that threatened to tear the fabric of your being apart.

“(Y/N)-“ he moaned into you, “I’m gonna- I can’t-“ his words were just as wrecked as you felt, and you nodded against his lips.

“It’s okay, Eiji. Let go.” You whispered the last part and he growled, pistoning his hips into you before there was a hitch in his movements, a moment where with a grunt, you felt a warmth spread through you. The feeling of being so intensely full, of being whole and still getting more finally sent you to your final release. Your head fell back, trying to bury itself in the sheets beneath you and as his movements sputtered and slowed he kissed your neck. He was grunting like the sound was being forced out of him, like he did whenever you were in a really tough battle and the thought sent heat over your body.

It was all too much.

Finally, the room seemed to still, the two of you were a collection of broken gasps and whimpers. He continued kissing your neck and face until you felt him soften and slip out of you. With a groan, he rolled himself away, leaving you stunned and a little cold.

You simply stared at the ceiling. The gentlemanly hero, Red Riot had just fucked you to the point that you saw stars at the edge of your vision. The thought made you smile. For a moment, you almost felt insecure that he left right afterwards until you heard a faucet in the distance.

Still catching your breath, you tried to drag your head to look at him when you heard his steps approach.

“How you feelin’, sweetheart?” He asked gently as he sat next to you, his massive form dipping the bed as you felt something warm and wet between your thighs. He was cleaning you up. Gentleman indeed.

He kissed you, rubbing the thumb of his unoccupied hand across the plane of your cheek. You smiled at him, kissing him again.

“Ethereal. You?” He chuckled into you, tossing the washcloth in the general direction of his hamper.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” He laid himself down on his bed, opening his arms in an offer to cuddle and you obliged, not minding the fact that the two of you were still a little sticky with sweat. His arm pulled you into his side, draping your leg over him and holding you there while his other arm rested behind his head. For a few moments all you could hear was the heartbeat in his chest; strong, calm, dependable.

“Did you mean it?” You asked him. His thumb, which had been idly petting your thigh suddenly stopped and he looked down at you.

“Mean what, pebble?”

“When you said I’m all you think about.” It was embarrassing to even ask, it was probably just something said in the heat of the moment. Hawks was like that, he would say all sorts of things when you were in the bedroom and when you were done…

“Of course I did.” He responded without any hesitance. He was blushing when you looked up, which was insanely cute.

“For how long?” You bit your lip. It felt like you were digging your grave here, but you couldn’t help it.

“Dunno. Just sorta noticed one day that you’re all I notice.” He said this so casually, like it was just an irreprochable fact. “I uh… I was actually about to ask you out. You know, before we uh…” he trailed off, suddenly embarrassed.

“I’m so glad it was you that got off that elevator.” You said, seriously. He let out a laugh before kissing you.

“Me too, pebble. Me too.” The kiss that followed started soft, but was starting to heat up as he rolled back over you, his hand cradling your face like you were precious. As your need started to reignite for him, you heard a loud slam.

“Oi, shitty hair! I brought dinner for your dumb ass.” The familiarly violent voice of Bakugo rang out through the apartment. Kirishima groaned into your neck, and you chuckled. “Why are all the pictures knocked down? What the fuck?” As the ferocious blonde started stomping towards his room, Kirishima reached for the covers on the bed, pulling them over you.

“I’m really sorry for what’s about to happen.” He said to you apologetically before rolling out of the bed with a groan. He pulled on his jeans with haste, still jumping trying to wrangle them on while he made his way out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him gently. “I have company, bro! Chill out, you're gonna scare her.” Though he tried to whisper, the urgency in his tone caused his words to carry through the door.

“What the fuck kind of-“ Bakugo’s footsteps stopped. You continued to giggle. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Muttered conversation that was unclear reverberated through the space.

“I didn’t get enough food for a third.” You heard Bakugo yell towards the room, “So if you want to eat you’ll have to feed yourself.”

***

Across the street, on a rooftop that was positioned perfectly to look into a certain Pro-Hero’s bedroom sat a blonde hero with wings crimson as blood and a heart shattered beyond repair. A feather gently floated toward him and he grabbed it, clenching it with all the rage he felt.

He had seen everything. Heard every word, every demented moan. She had never been like that with him.

Though Hawks knew the reason he lost her was his fault, he still felt she belonged to him. His eyes narrowed as he set off, flying high above the city, eyes burning. He wouldn’t lose. Not to him.

His resolve, crumbling as it was, still spilled fire through his veins. He would find a way to get her back, even if it meant hurting her again.

[captainsophiestark]

Office Most-Eligible

Daniel Sousa x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Fictober 2023!

Fandom: Marvel

Day 20 Prompt: "This better be good."

Summary: When Jack ropes Daniel into eavesdropping on the telephone ladies' breakroom, they both might hear a lot more than they'd bargained for.

Word Count: 2,387

Category: Fluff, Humor

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

Daniel's POV

I sighed as I shuffled the papers in my hands, mentally running through the million things I had to do today. Peggy, Jack, and I had managed to stop Leviathan from leveling New York City and destroying Howard Stark, but that didn't mean the last six months since then had been any more relaxed. If anything, it had gotten busier than ever before.

There had even been talk of opening another branch of the agency in LA, which was a whole other insane possibility fluttering around in my mind. It was enough to distract me to the point that I didn't notice Thompson, half-hidden by the entryway to the agency, until I ran into him.

"Thompson? What the hell are you-?"

"Sh!"

He raised his finger to his lips and glared at me. I glared back.

"Why are you-"

"Sousa! Shut up and listen," he hissed, jerking his head towards a grate in the wall. I frowned and made a demanding "what?" gesture, but he just nodded towards the grate again. I sighed, so long-suffering it wasn't even funny, but shuffled closer.

"This better be good," I grumbled. Jack just waved his hand at me.

Through the grate, I could hear voices talking and giggling loudly. It sounded like all the ladies who sat outside the entrance to the agency, guarding the door and keeping up the front that this was a phone company, talking together like they were in the break room. I paused, curious enough to entertain Thompson's nonsense for another ten seconds.

"-saying is, there's a definite ranking of all the guys in this office. And yours ain't it."

The girls dissolved into another fit of giggles, and I scowled. I grabbed Thompson's arm and yanked him away from the grate, out of earshot.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I demanded, keeping my voice low just in case. "You're eavesdropping on coworkers in their breakroom? Instead of working? You're the Chief!"

"I don't know if you caught it, Sousa, but they're talking about us. Specifically which one of us they'd most want to date. I'd call that research and intelligence work for future opportunities."

Jack gave me a smirk as he drifted back towards the vent. I scowled and followed to drag him away and make him do his damned job, but froze when I heard the ladies welcoming our newest addition to the agency, the second female agent in SSR history. She'd been here a little over five months, had become instant best friends with Peggy Carter, and had me head over heels within a week of knowing her.

And apparently she'd just walked into the breakroom.

Jack gave me a knowing smirk and raised an eyebrow, and I glared right back. But I couldn't quite manage to drag myself away either, no matter how much my brain told me I should.

****************

Y/N's POV

"You came at the perfect time!"

I pulled a snack out of the fridge and looked suspiciously at Mary, one of the switch operators who worked outside the SSR. In the short time I'd been here, I'd gotten to know her and Rose pretty well, since they mostly alternated shifts for our main door guard. Rose and I had quickly bonded over our mutual feminism and desire for independence; Mary and I had bonded through being troublemakers, and I had a feeling I was about to see some more of that.

"Why?" I asked, drifting halfway to the door now that I had secured my snack. Mary smiled.

"We were just talking about the boys in the office. We have a few different opinions about who would make the best boyfriends and husbands, and since you know them all so well... I mean, I can't think of anyone else with a better reason to chime in."

I scoffed. "Nice try Mary, but no way am I engaging in this conversation. See you all later!"

The rest of the women in the room booed playfully, but I didn't turn around as I reached the door. Mary, however, knew me well enough to figure out how to stop me in my tracks.

"Well, I guess that means Jack Thompson is the definitive winner!"

I narrowed my eyes and stared at the door in front of me, hand on the half-turned doorknob. I'd come so close to avoiding this nonsense, and it still wasn't too late for me to take the exit. I scowled and scrunched my nose, then turned around to squint at all my coworkers looking back at me.

"Be completely honest, I'll be able to tell if you're lying," I started, still only half-turned away from the door. "How many of you would put Jack Thompson at the top of your 'SSR's Most Eligible Bachelor' list?"

A few hands shot into the air, followed by a few more tentative hands that must've heard the disgust in my tone. All in all, about half the room had their hands up for him. I sighed, long and heavy.

"And the other runners up were...?"

A few people called out names of other men in the office, most of whom were barely better (or definitely worse) than Jack. I looked up at the ceiling and shook my head.

"You all have terrible taste in men."

Half the room, Mary included, started laughing, and the other half looked offended. I shook my head and turned to leave again, but Mary stopped me again before I could go.

"Who would you choose then, if not Thompson? You can't criticize our taste without giving us some insight into your process."

Her grin stretched across her entire face as she stared at me, waiting for me to take the bait. Her hand had been the first in the air for Thompson, but I could tell she genuinely wanted to debate me more than she wanted to defend him.

I sighed.

"Fine. But I'm going to make this quick and then I'm gonna go do my job, because I have a ton of stuff to do today," I said, finally stepping away from the door to stand in the middle of the room. Everyone stared at me, leaning forward in their seats a little, Mary most of all. "...I can't believe I'm about to engage in this."

Mary scoffed and I rolled my eyes, but then took a deep breath and dove in. What the hell, right?

"Okay, first of all, let me clarify: I can understand, from a surface level, why you might pick Thompson. He's handsome, and if you didn't spend much time with him, I can see why you'd think he might make a good partner. Honestly, in the five months I've known him, I've even seen a few glimmers of hope that there might be a heart of gold underneath all that arrogance, posturing, and chauvinism. However. In terms of best guy in the office to have as a partner? He does not even come close to touching Daniel Sousa."

A few people raised their eyebrows, half leaning forward and half leaning back and crossing their arms. I ignored them all (especially Mary, who beamed at me), and continued.

"Listen. Sousa is... kind of ridiculously attractive. He's handsome, with the warmest brown eyes you've ever seen in your entire life... and he's super strong. I've seen him one-handed lift a bunch of different things the other agents struggled with using their whole bodies. He looks incredible in a sweater vest, to say nothing of suits and non-sweater vest clothes."

I saw considering nods around the room as people took in my words. I paused and took a deep breath, then continued.

"More than all of that, though... Daniel is kind. He's strong in his morals and his character, not just physically. He's got a great sense of humor, and his jokes don't rest on being a mean, close-minded jackass. And, above anything else, he respects me. He respects Peggy. He treats us as equals. I don't know about you guys, but... that means everything to me. And finding a man who's kind, smart, strong, handsome, and will treat me as an equal partner? Come on. Daniel's got it all."

I hadn't been paying a lot of attention to the expressions of everyone else around the room while I was talking, but now I focused back in to see the majority looking thoughtful. I cleared my throat, suddenly feeling incredibly self-conscious, and started backing towards the door.

"Uh, anyway... long way of saying I'd put Daniel at the top of my list."

Mary grinned at me as I continued heading for the door, then pushed out of her chair and called out to the whole room.

"Hear that? Sousa's off limits, these two are going to be dating in the next month if we have anything to say about it."

"MARY!"

****************

Daniel's POV

Jack and I stood in the hallway, stunned into silence as we stared into space. My brain had been telling me to stop listening a while ago, but I'd been shocked enough that my body had refused to listen. Now, my heart was telling me I was on the verge of a cardiac arrest.

"You go get him, girl!" Mary's voice continued through the vents. Then, with determination and glee dripping from her words, "I'm staying after Thompson. I'm gonna fix him."

I heard some light-hearted laughter, and then a door shutting. In a few seconds, the girl who'd just poured her heart out to me without realizing it would be coming into the office, a few feet from Jack and I's stupid hiding place.

"You look like you're about to puke," said Jack, a beaming grin on his face. I scowled.

"Why don't you? You just got called a couple pretty bad things."

"What? Like 'attractive'? All I was hearing were positives." He grinned at me, then sobered slightly before slapping me on the shoulder and taking a few steps away. "Don't psych yourself out on this one though, Sousa. She's a catch, and she's clearly in love with you. If you don't take a shot, I might have to."

I scoffed and shook my head. I knew Jack didn't really mean that; it was his own, terrible way of trying to be supportive.

I sighed and tried to brace myself as I walked over to the entrance to the SSR. Thompson was wrong about many, many, many things, but he was right about this: I needed to take my shot.

****************

Y/N's POV

"Holy- Daniel!" I nearly dropped the snack I'd taken a detour to retrieve as I cleared the SSR doors and came face to face with Daniel, especially since I'd just poured my heart out about him to a bunch of our coworkers. "You scared the hell out of me!"

"Uh... sorry," he said, shifting his weight around a little and running a hand through his hair. He looked almost as comfortable as I felt.

"Is, uh, is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Well, sort of. I just..." He cleared his throat, then jerked his eyes away from the floor and the wall to meet mine. "I need to tell you something, and then I need to ask you something."

"...Okay?"

"First, I... I heard what you said in the breakroom. About me. And about Jack, which was fun too, but... It feels important that you know I heard the stuff you said about me."

My heart stopped in my chest, and I blinked a few times as black spots danced at the very edges of my vision. I was going to kill Mary.

"Uh..."

"Before you say anything, I'm sorry," he said, holding up a hand. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I just... I let Thompson suck me into something I should've known better about. I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Daniel," I said, a little breathless as my legs finally started working to move me past him. I could not deal with this a second longer. "Don't worry about it, I'll... I have to go-"

"Wait!" he cried. He put one hand on my arm to stop me, then quickly dropped it when I turned back to look at him. I watched him take a deep breath, my heart hammering a thousand times even though it only took a few seconds, then he continued. "Look, I know I might've lost a few points in your book for the eavesdropping, which is fair, but... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't head over heels for you too. Have been since the first few days you got to the agency. You're smart and strong and funny and... God, listen to me."

He looked down and shook his head, and I noticed a slight blush rising up his neck and cheeks. Slowly, my heart dropped back to a normal rhythm, and I started to smile.

"Okay, what I'm trying to say is... I feel the same way about you that you do about me," he said, finally looking up at me again. "And if you'd still be interested... I'd love to take you out to dinner sometime."

I beamed at him, unable to stop the smile completely overtaking my face. I looked down, and when I looked up again, Daniel's stare was still on me, a smile hopefully flickering in and out of place.

"Daniel, I'd love that," I finally said.

"You would?"

"Yeah. I really, really like you, eavesdropping and all."

He huffed a laugh, the shaky smile turning into full-on beaming.

"Great! How's tomorrow night sound?"

"Sounds perfect."

"Good. I'll pick you up at eight." He started to back away, so both of us could get to the mountain of work we had to tackle at some point today, then stopped. "If that works for you, that is?"

I smiled. "That absolutely works for me."

"Alright, great! I'll see you then. And, uh, around the office, I guess."

"I'll see you around the office."

We shared another set of dorky, ridiculous smiles as we backed away from each other, going to do our separate tasks for at least part of the day. Thank God Thompson wasn't around to see either of us.

At some point, he and the rest of our coworkers would probably catch on to the two of us dating, unless the first date somehow went so horribly there wasn't a second. But I'd meant every word I'd said to the rest of our coworkers about Daniel. And if a little eavesdropping had led to him asking me out, I couldn't bring myself to be too upset about any of it.

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury

Marvel Taglist: @valkyriepirate @luv-ghostie @songbirdcannabe

[wisteria-cherry]

forty days and forty nights (day twenty-eight!)

(welcome back from the hiatus :) i got a lot done!)

you were bored.

nothing had happened the entire shift, with the exception of one guy dressed head-to-toe on black looking through the window of the cafe for forty minutes straight. you went out to ask him what he was doing, but he left before you could. you figured it was mia’s boyfriend. mia was your american coworker who would not stop talking about her boyfriend, but you thought he sounded kind of weird. of course, you weren’t one to judge now, because you had a crush on the number one hero, who was famously abrasive and, frankly, bitchy. you had yet to find a way to argue that there was more to him that didn’t make you sound like a lovesick teenager with a celebrity crush. you might as well have been. so, when katsuki finally came in, you were very relieved.

“thank god.” you exhale.

“what, you excited to see me or some shit?” katsuki snorted. “loser.”

“oh! no, no, it’s just that—“ you pause at your wording. “i didn’t mean that i’m not excited to see you, it’s just— i mean i’m not excited excited! just regular excited, because—“ you decide to stop before you dug your grave any deeper.

“sorry.” you take a breath. “medium black coffee?”

“yeah.”

“okay. i’m sorry.”

“you already apologized, dumbass.”

“ok. sorry.”

“quit that.”

“ok.”

you were quiet as you gave katsuki his coffee. he frowned as you did.

“the hell’s up with you?” katsuki asked bluntly.

“what?” you blink, startled by the sudden question.

“you heard me.” katsuki glared. “you’ve been acting awkward as hell. it’s weird. so what’s with you?”

“wh..” you stammer. “nothing. nothing’s with me.”

“that’s a damn lie.” katsuki hissed, red eyes boring into yours. “don’t fuckin’ lie to me.” you falter under his glare. he seemed genuinely pissed. you sigh.

“i’m sorry. i’ve just been— figuring some stuff out.” you say, trying to be careful with your words. katsuki’s annoyingly perfect brow furrowed. he looked like there was something he wanted to say, but he didn’t say it. “i’m sorry. i’m not trying to be awkward.”

“quit apologizin’.” katsuki grumbled. “‘s stupid.”

“i’d say sorry, but..” you raise an eyebrow.

“whatever.” he tched. “just shut up.”

“okay.”

“… and don’t apologize for going through shit. that’s fuckin’ stupid too.” katsuki looked away, but you looked right at him, startled.

“was that— was that comfort?” you ask slowly, the corners of your lips threatening to twitch into a smile.

“shut up!” katsuki barked. “like hell it was!”

“thanks, katsuki.” you smile. “i appreciate it.” katsuki only scoffed.

“whatever.” he grumbled.

“i’ll try to act normal.” you promise. “i’ll be okay. promise.”

“y’know you’re s’posed to talk to people about shit you’re going through.” he muttered. “i don’t care who it is. but shitty hair’s good with that shit, so is pinky.”

“thank you.” you smile gently. “i appreciate it, katsuki. but for now, how was patrol?”

“fine.”

"did... anything happen?" you ask hesitantly. what if he was mad at you? was it okay to be making small talk like this when he was mad at you? he had a sour expression on his face. of course, he always had a sour expression on his face, so maybe it was because of something different. katsuki shrugged.

“not really. not a single damn villain.” he grumbled.

“you must’ve been bored.” you laugh lightly.

“no shit. but it’s good, i guess.” katsuki drank his coffee. “that there aren’t a lot of villains today.”

“for the civilians, right.” you agree, slightly embarrassed that your first reaction to a lack of villains was boredom rather than gratitude. you sigh.

how were you going to do this?

“that’s a damn lie.”

(feel free to comment + give ur thoughts!)

(welcome back from the hiatus :) to help myself with the workload, i’ve edited the updating schedule. it’s now mondays and thursdays.)

tags: @k0z3me @cherryblossomclarity @jazzafaye5294 @stevenknightmarc @failingstudents-blog

[lostidiot24]

⚓️Nancy Mulligan🏴‍☠️

Red-haired Shanks x Gender Neutral!Reader

Song: Nancy Mulligan by The Wellerman, MALINDA, & Cullen Vance - OG by Ed Sheeran

A/N: My first post here! It took me awhile to decide who this would’ve been about but I think I made the right choice.

TW: Alcohol and drunk men but nothing gross like harassment so don’t worry!

/————/————/————/————/————/

Weathered metal screeched as rusted hinges opened the wooden door to a warm cottage. A breeze flew through the open space, carrying sounds of waves and birds into inviting ears. With a woven basket in one hand and a bag on berrys in the other, you step forward and out of the way on the quickly closing door. Leather shoes made little sound against the cobblestone as you walked across the path towards the town nearby.

This had been the main part of your days this past month. Going to the town to sell fruits and berries wasn’t something you dreamed of when you were little but it gave life meaning on this island. We didn’t have many fruit vendors so you made sure to always have enough to go around.

“[Name]! Wait up!” Your feet quickly stopped against the stones as soon as they entered the entrance to the town. A friend, Jace, ran up to you with exhaustion before you quickly helped him stay standing up by grabbing their hand.

“Jace! What happened and….. why are you so sweaty?” You took your hand away from theirs as soon as they stood up and wiped it on your clothing.

“I need your help with my shift tonight. May can’t come in today because she’s sick but she was supposed to cover for Lincoln! Now I gotta cover for two people and I can’t do it alone.”

“Jace, you know that I never deal with guests. I don’t want to freeze up when one yells at me like last time…”

“Don’t worry! I promise to make sure that you get all of the easy regulars tonight and if anyone gives you a problem, just talk to me. Please?”

Tense arms slumped as you looked at your friend who was on the verge of tears. An agreement was made after slight hesitation and some bribing of free dinner. You would definitely help out if it helped take the stress of finding another meal off your back. Jaces face light up as he quickly ran into the tavern that you both worked at.

Wait… He never gave me a time to come in! I’ll just go after I sell these fruits.

/————/————/————/————/————/

Slightly shaky hands ran down your legs as you flattened out the creases in your uniform. It was pretty basic with a small apron around the waist. You were lucky to have a tavern that was more open to clothing changes so if anything made you uncomfortable, you could just ask them for a different uniform. Nervous eyes traveled to the window that framed the view of the sea in the back of the tavern as soon as you walked out of the closet that was used as a changing room.

A ship was docking near the small harbor of your island. The citizens that lived here never really leaved so the docks weren’t very big but they could still hold a ship. You realized that you were staring when another coworker, Joanna, came to the back. She was just stocking up on some sake but it took you out of your daze as you finally walked through the doors and into the busy tavern. Jace speed walked over to you, slightly pushed you towards the front of the bar as a way to show encouragement.

Lets hope my voice doesn’t give out on me this time.

/————/————/————/————/————/

Steady hands grabbed the beer jug before it could fall off the table when a drunk man swung his arms in the air. A sigh of relief left you before the man got up and sluggishly walked out of the tavern while bumping into your shoulder. The half full glass of beer quickly tumbled out of your grip and you readied myself for the sound of glass shattering. In a blur of motion, a hand reached out and caught the glass right before it hit the decaying wooden floors. Your line of sight moved upward as your body turned around to face the person who saved your ears and your pride. Based off his clothing, you could guess he was a foreigner and therefore a pirate that was on the ship you saw earlier.

“Are you okay?” His voice was velvety but had a rasp to it that created a sense of authority. “Some people don’t know how to hold their alcohol.” His lips curled into a smile with a slight chuckle as he looked away to place the beer glass on the table. You nodded and he took his hat off. Your eyes could finally see bright red, shaggy hair as his straw hat was held to his chest.

“uh- Thank you for that! I don’t think I could’ve dealt with the embarrassment of having to clean that up in front of everyone.” The fists that you put by your side tightened as sweat built up on your palms. His aura was so commanding yet comforting that people couldn’t help but zero in on him. The tavern was lost in your sight as his mouth opened to say something.

“[Name]! Come here real quick!” Jace called from the back of the tavern before the red haired man could speak.

“Sorry, I have to get to work….” The gaze of your curious eyes was still on him as you picked up the beer jugs and put them in the sink. Shoes lightly tapped across the floors as you finally turned your focus onto Jace.

“Hey, you can go now! The night shift people are here so you are good to go!” As soon as he gave a thumbs up, you ran to get changed in closet. To be honest, the closet wasn’t that bad. Almost everyone used it to change and the only things that were in it were some mops and buckets. You just hoped that you wouldn’t drop your shirt in one like on your first day.

/————/————/————/————/————/

A/N: I think I might make this longer or make more parts but I hope that anyone who reads this will like it so far!

[dr-ground-zero]

The not so Scary Doctor

(So i wanted to try n write some kiri snz stuff since i don't think i have. So here's a medical au Kiribaku snzfic)

Everyone was dropping like flies, like every year cold and flu season came in and turned everything into chaos. Working in a hospital meant dealing with sick patients which meant exposure and obviously you’d get sick. It was almost always unavoidable, though some seemed never to get sick. Like Kirishima Eijirou, every year he practically came out unscathed, maybe a sniffle or two here or there but, nothing that kept him in bed. Most of his coworkers were rather jealous of this trait, and they all had to suffer coming in on a day when they needed to be in bed. Eijirou was the biggest sweetheart on the floor and would go to lengths to make his colleague's lives just a little bit easier. Sometimes he’d make some tea for one of the front workers if they sounded like their throat needed a break. Or he’d slyly pass over a new box of tissues at the nurse’s station, everyone knew Eijirou would do just about anything. Heck, he’d go out on his break to the store to pick up cough syrup if ya asked him to!

He was UA Hospital’s sunshine physician!

So it was rather surprising when Katsuki went in to work today after receiving a group chat text from Denki Kaminari saying

“Katsuki could you please come in and get your diseased riddled husband? I will run the floor and take your interns myself if I have to.” Disease riddled?

“The hell are you talking about ‘disease-riddled?!”

“He’s sick, most likely from the looks of it, has the flu.” That made Katsuki get ready faster, since when in God's name did Ejirou Kirishima get the flu!? A couple of sniffles maybe a little cold? Sure. The flu?! No damn way, he had to see this for himself. Getting himself dressed and ready to go he sent an

“On my way” Text and headed out the door to the hospital they worked at.

Damn, it must’ve been bad for Denki to willingly volunteer to run the floor or take on interns! Maybe he’s exaggerating though, he knew how dramatic Denki could be at times. It couldn’t be that bad. It was that bad. Katsuki got to the hospital he strolled inside after reminding himself not to run anyone over. Walking through the doors he wasn’t all that surprised to hear lots of coughing, sniffling, and sneezing, it was a hospital after all in the middle of cold and flu season. Going up to the front desk he didn’t see Eijirou there or Denki but he did see Deku.

“Oi Deku” Deku looked up from the computer and smiled.

“Oh hey, Kaminari said you were coming to get Kirishima!” “Yeah, dunce face texted the chat telling me to come n’get him.” “Glad you got here, he really wasn’t joking when said that. He sounds awful, and well he’s sorta grumpy and won't let any of us examine him since it ‘just the sniffles’. I’d say at the least he’s got a nasty cold, at worst it's a case of the flu.” Through the small rambling Katsuki figured that if Deku was saying it was the flu then it wasn’t an exaggeration.

“Yeah yeah, do ya know where he is nerdy nurse? Can’t take him home if I’m just standing around” “Oh he should be down at imaging” “Well at least he’s not tending to patients” Katsuki said with a huff before going down the hall before Deku could say anything else. He put a little more urgency in his step as he made it down the double doors. Some of his co-workers said “hi” while others just gave him knowing glances. Getting down to imaging just before he opened the door he could hear a faint.

“Ht-kngk-chieew” From the other side. Pushing the door and going on he walked up beside the other and sat on the desk.

“Hey there Red” Looking up from his computer a tired look of surprise flashed on Eijirou’s face when he heard that.

“Oh hey Kats, what are you doig here this early, I thought you were comig for d’night shift” Katsuki tried to not visibly cringe at how congested Eijirou sounded, but he wasn’t going to beat around the bush.

“Because Dunce face texted the group chat, and told me you had come down with the flu.” Eijirou rolled his eyes, muffled a few coughs, and sniffled wetly.

“I’b fide Katsuki, just the sdiffles, ya didn’t dneed to combe ad get bme.” Katsuki raised a brow at this and folded his arms over his chest. Could he not hear himself right now? Probably not with how congested he sounded.

“Red, you sound like shit and you look like shit, that is not ‘just the sniffles’.” Sniffling and snuffling, Eijirou rubbed his nose with a balled-up fist as he muttered about needing to look over some scans. Turning his attention away from his husband, and back to the screen. Katsuki reached over and pressed the back of his hand to Eijirou’s forehead then moved it to his cheek.

“You’re burning up, Red.” He wasn’t wrong when he said the redhead looked his shit. His hair was going about every which way, his face paled with a pink flush, eyes glassy and dull with grey bags under them.

“Why don’t you ask elf boy to come and take over, you obviously don’t feel good.” “Because Amajiki senpai’s out sick” “Of course he is, that’s probably who ya caught it from in the first place!” “what could I do to convince you to go the fuck home?” Katsuki asked with a slightly annoyed look.

“Dnothig, because I don’t dneed to. You on the other hand do so you won't be so tired whe-heh! Heeh!” Eijirou’s hand frantically searched for the box of tissues which Katsuki nudged over for him to grab. Snatching up a couple of tissues, Eijirou managed to stifle a fit of sneezes.

“Ht’kgnk! Et’gnk! Htx’chiew! Et’knk-chiew” Finishing with an unproductive blow, the radiologist huffed and dropped the tissues into the trash below. Katsuki couldn’t sit here and watch this anymore. So he hopped off the desk went up behind him grabbed the spinny chair Eijirou was in and dragged him out the door. Eijirou jolted in surprise and tried to hold onto the desk telling Katsuki to stop but, the blond ignored him and kept going despite his lover’s protests.

“Let bme go Katsuki, I’mb perfectly fide to keep working.” “Someone has to run imaging!” “It's dnot even that bad! I’ll be fide” By the time they got to the nurse’s station Eijirou was sitting with his arms crossed over his chest and sneered, along with the occasional sneezing fit. Stopping in front of the nurse’s station, Katsuki told him to stay put and he went to the locker room. Grabbing Eijirou’s thing and coming back telling him they were going home.

“Come on, I’m taking you home.” Finally, Eijiou stood up from his chair and followed him out of the emergency department. Gaining many well wishes from their colleagues and a few.

“Don’t come back until you’re better”

They did their best to make quick work of getting to the car in such frigid weather. Katsuki was quick to get the heat going, he knew Eijirou didn’t need to be out in the cold with the flu he had. Since they were alone now Katsuki wanted to at least check on him. Grabbing his bag from the back seat he got out his stethoscope putting it in the earpieces he told Eijirou to take a few deep breaths. Confusedly Eijirou did as told only to be interrupted by some chesty coughs.

“What are you doig, Katsuki?” “What’s it look like I’m doing dumbass.” “g-giving bme a check-up, do you just keep hospital supplies in your bag?” “Never hurts to be prepared, now say awe for me” Complying Eijirou opened his mouth as Katsuki took a look at his throat.

“Looks pretty sore, but thankfully I don’t think it's strep.” Going back through the bag he pulled out a thermometer.

“Now let's get a number on your temperature” Slipping the tool under his tongue, Eijirou leaned back into the seat but curled up to try and ward off the chills. Katsuki frowned and softly rubbed his shoulders lovingly as they waited for the results. When the tool beeped, Katsuki took it out and frowned.

“ 38C (100.5F) Oh babe, you’ve definitely got a fever.” Showing Eijirou the results of the thermometer, Eijirou sighed sank into his seat and just said.

“I’mb dnot going back to work for a while huh?” “Nope, not on my watch” Katsuki reassured as he started up the car after putting his supplies in the back seat. Pulling out of the lot they headed for home. On the way, Katsuki stopped the car at a convenience store and told Eijirou he wouldn’t be long and some napkins were in the glove compartment if he needed them. Left to his own devices, Eijirou was happy that the car was finally warming up even if it didn’t put a dent in chills. Suddenly a shudder ran up his spine eliciting a tickling sensation through his nose. Eijirou pinched his nose between his fingers stifling another fit.

“Htx’chiew! Et’knk-chiew Et’knk-chiew” Stuffily sniffling, Eijirou groaned at the pounding that the pressure of holding back created in his head. His head felt like it was full of cement, and he knew trying to blow his nose wasn’t going to help. It was another 5 minutes before Katsuki came back with a couple of bags and then restarted the car.

“Wow, 10 bmidutes!” “Yeah told ya it wouldn’t be long. Besides being the ‘mean n scary doctor’ helps sometimes. Now let's get you home, you sound miserable.” “ugh I feel bmiserable” “Aaaw looks like someone is finally admitting that they’re~” Katsuki teased with a slight smirk as he drove down the road.

“Fide, if you wadt bme to say it so badly. I don’t feel very well, I haven’t since last dnight.” “Last night!?!” Katsuki repeated whipping his head over and looking surprised.

“Yeah, throat was a little sore, felt rund down, and bmy dnose wouldn’t stop running.” “Why in the hell did you go in if you knew you weren’t feeling well to begin with?!” “I told you Amajiki senpai was gonna be out for a while ah and we were sh-shuuh huh! Hut’kgnk! Short staffed, didn’t dneed to be any shorter.” “Stop stifling you’re gonna give yourself a sinus infection”

When they got home, Katsuki helped Eijirou out of the car and hurried their way into their apartment. Once inside they slipped their shoes and coats off. Katsuki told Eijirou to go and get comfortable on the couch and pick out a show to watch as he padded down the hall. Eijirou pulled over one of the blankets and draped it over himself as he turned on the TV. In the kitchen, Katsuki made some tea and filled up a hot water bottle. He made sure to grab the flu medicine while the water was heating up. Just as he finished with the tea and was making his way back to the living room he could hear Eijirou’s congested and painful stifles.

“Bless you, what’d I tell you about stifling ey?” He softly chastised as he set his things down on the coffee table. Eijirou sat himself up to lean against the couch with a sheepish smile as he rubbed at his nose.

“Sorry force of habit, what cha got there?” “Well, I made you some tea since you need fluids and your throat’s sore. I got you a hot water bottle for the chills and some medicine” Katsuki plopped down beside his lover looked over at the TV a chuckled.

“You still watching this drama show?” “hell yeah, I am’b” “You are weird shitty hair” “Oh please it's good, besides not bmuch else is on and I bmissed this episode the other time” Eijirou whined while drinking his tea, sighing in relief as the hot beverage soothed his sore throat. Katsuki playfully shook his head and wrapped an arm around him bringing his boyfriend close to him. They stayed snuggled up to each other for a good while watching Eijirou’s favorite reality drama show. Things were going pretty well until Eijirou started rubbing at his nose again. Then came the hitching, lots of it! The poor guy sounded like he was struggling. They get faster and more desperate sounding until they die down into nothing. This pulled a frustrated yet hoarse growl from him as he rubbed harder.

“Damn Eijirou calm down, stop rubbing it like that you’re gonna piss it off” “sh-shuuh huh! Shut up ugh damb it, lost it agaid” “You can’t sneeze or something?” “dno I cad’t I’mb too damnb congested.” “I figured, I could barely understand ya. Alright hold on, I think I got something that could help. Stay here.” Katsuki said as he stood up from the couch, Eijirou nodded as he rubbed at his temples. Another few minutes and the blond doctor had come back with a bowl and a towel. Eijirou knew what the other had planned.

“Steamb bowl?” “uh-huh, should help clear your head up a bit.” “I love you” “Yeah yeah, now come on, you know how this works Red.” “Okay okay”

Eijirou went under the towel and his body immediately relaxed, Katsuki remained close rubbing his back while he watched the show. He wasn’t going to change it, he did secretly find some of these stupid reality shows amusing at the very least…..besides the husbands were hot. Katsuki made sure to keep a mental timer to make sure Eijirou didn’t stay down for too long, didn’t want him falling asleep in the steam bowl. When he sat his boyfriend up Katsuki chuckled at how flushed his lover looked. And it was honestly adorable!

“Aaaw your nose is as red as your hair, babe” Katsuki commented while grabbing the tissue box, pulling up a few tissues, and pressing them to his nose.

“Blow for me big guy” Eijirou wordlessly did as told and it sounded like the steam bowl helped. It sure did make blowing his nose easier as did.

“Et’chiew! Et’Chiiew! Heh eh eh! Et’chiiew!” Thankfully Katsuki hadn’t moved the tissues in his hand. Tossing the tissues in a near by waste basket, he pulled Eijirou close to him. Letting the redhead lay his head on the man’s chest he sighed.

“Who knew the great Doctor Katsuki Bakugou could be such a sweetheart” “Oh please don’t go calling me soft” “m’not just saying for someone so scary, you’re quite gentle when ya wanna be. You’re like a big teddybear” This earned Eijirou a flick on the forehead.

“I’m not a teddy bear” “uh-huh, you only drop the scary mean doctor act when i’m around….Like right now.” Eijirou says with a small smile nuzzling his face against him. He giggles a little and points out that Katsuki’s heart started beating faster when he said that.

“Sh-shut up Red, you’re imagining things” “yeah sure” “Get some rest m’gonna make you some soup, i know you haven’t eaten a thing today.” Katsuki announced as he got off the couch trying to avoid the conversation. Eijirou knew he wasn’t mad at all, flustered but not mad. Katsuki was never one who liked when his soft side was exposed, though Eijirou managed to get to it many times much to the blond’s dismay.

EIjirou tried to be sneaky and get a picture of Katsuki cooking though his hiding spot was given away when he didn’t stifle his sneezes fast enough.

”Et’Chiew! Et’kngk! Et’chiew!” “Ya know I can hear you ya know?” Katsuki teased still keeping his back turned, Eijirou then walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around the shorter man’s waist.

“Oh dno ya caught bme~” “what are you doing off the couch?” “Oh dnothig just didn’t wadda be far fromb you, is all.” Eijirou nuzzled his overly warm face into the crook of Katsuki neck while he cooked. Katsuki rolled his eyes and turned around kissing him on the forehead.

“Whatever am I gonna do with you Red?” “hm I donnu Dr Katsuki but, i think that kiss on the lips would help~”

[phoenix-alive]

there is an autumnal change in me

i don't know what it is, but i feel a shift happening. last night i hung out with jon and raven and they were some of the nicest, most generous, accepting and kind people i've been around in a long time. when jon picked me up, he played out an inside joke between us, and then asked me if I knew All Time Low and proceeded to show me their rerecorded version of Dear Maria, Count Me In. We ate dinner at Ninja and he stopped me while I was talking about Mort Garson and chinese music to tell me he loved how much I was smiling while I was talking. I was aware in that moment that it had been a really long time since someone had brought out that side of me, the part I usually mask, the unbridled joy, that I felt comfortable enough to let rise to the surface. the passionate side that i usually keep battoned down in order to maintain appearances. at his place, Raven greeted me and then handed me a binder. I knew that's what she was handing me, but it took my brain a while to compute that she - who barely knows me - was invested in supporting me being who I am, and having the resources I need. it was so new, and yet I know I'd had joy like that before, just maybe never as an adult. as jon drove me home, we listened to Lithonia, and then Dear Maria came on again, and then Playing God by Paramore, and I watched the nighttime landscape and heavy orange moon outside my window realizing, that a feeling I'd lost for a very long time was returning. the last time I knew someone who made me feel like I could be myself, the whole self, was Brit in middle school. I was having memories of how they made me feel, when I was goofy and smiling and weird, and all the music they showed me, and the way they enjoyed being close to the actual me. they showed me All Time Low and Paramore, and bands I'd set aside when the closeness with them ended, and although the music was only the overt, surface-level manifestation of the connection, it intensified this feeling that this was the first time in a long time that i've had a real, genuine friendship, without relying on a mask

each time I hang out with him, I feel myself opening up more, rather than exist in a constant form, like my stagnant friendships of the past where I was the person I constructed myself to be, and stayed that person throughout knowing them. I remember I'd get high with college friends, but always become shy and guarded as I feared the real parts of me would spill out in the intoxication. I loved them but never really opened up to them. Maybe, except Annie, whom I dreamt about two nights ago. In the darkened car, I felt a grief for my teens and 20s that I didn't spend listening to music and going on drives and singing in the car with my friends. But listening to Jon harmonize and nodding my head along, I realized there would come a day where I won't feel the need to sit quietly next to him but will also be singing along, and I know he's here for that journey of mine

i told him something akin to this as I got out of the car last night, and he gave me a thumbs up and told me to be me

today, after the pouring tropical storm of yesterday, the august breezes wave autumnal. the grief of realizing my coworkers are not my friends and don't even necessarily like me is becoming easily dismissible as the wake of one genuine friendship gives me the foundation to sit sipping my matcha with the window open and feel hopeful. a fall hopefulness, like the return of school, the return to newness, a return. how I felt going to sarah lawrence, but matured, lost, and found. i am not generally happy with how things are going with me, but today I feeel what i hope is a true shifting tide, and a pull towards living again

[fuck-comphet]

Hi! I have a legit question: Do you think someone's sexual orientation can change during their lifetime?? (And just so I'm clear, I don't mean "conversion therapy" or an “off/on switch” or anything like that.)

When I was a teenager/young adult, I thought I was bi: crushed on boys, but mostly fantasized about intimacy with girls. But years later, after a head over heels/gave me stomachaches I was so nervous/I wanted to be her everything crush on a female coworker lol, I slowly came to terms with my lesbian identity. I remember feeling lots of imposter syndrome because I didn't feel like I was gay since birth like so many stories I'd heard from other gays/lesbians. Bisexuality was even more frowned upon back then, and I remember really NOT wanting to be bi. But I waited for the "other shoe to drop" on crushing on a bunch of guys which, aside from a couple "comphet crushes" (a married guy who was "nice" to me, and a male coworker who paid attention to me that all the other women in the office thought was hot) never really happened. I sure started crushing hard on women though! Lol. And after a breakup with my only boyfriend, I remember craving a relationship with a woman at the time.

Now I'm older and legit feel like I can't stand the idea of being with a man. My long term partner is a woman, but even if we ever broke up, I see myself seeking only women or other sapphics. Sure, I find a few men (mostly on TV, from a specific demographic) attractive, but I don't really feel anything when I see them in the wild. I'm only questioning myself after now seeing all the updated discourse on lesbianism (in my day “lesbian” meant “mostly or only attracted to women”) and want to make sure I'm properly communicating and naming my identity.

I feel like I went from “secretly bi" to "publicly identifying as straight but suppressing my physical attraction to women” to “lesbian” without looking back. It could’ve been comphet, I’m not entirely sure. Do you think it’s possible for sexual orientation to shift like this though?

I think Ricky Martin said something about genuinely having loved the women he used to date, but he stands firmly in his gay identity today.... I can somewhat relate. Anyway, thanks for your thoughts!

Hi friend! Your question is something I think a lot of people wonder about and I guess it can also be quite polarizing in online queer spaces.

I want to start off by saying that "lesbian" can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people, but the main thing I think most people agree with is that it excludes attraction to men. I want to follow that up with this: online discourse is online discourse, and real life people in the community are more real than any online discourse will ever be. If you currently feel zero attraction to men, and have zero desire to ever be with a man romantically and sexually, then in my mind you are a lesbian unless you specifically tell me otherwise.

In terms of shifting sexual orientation; I think anything is possible when it comes to human emotions and experiences. That's actually one of the main features of being human; we change, and grow, and adapt. There are as many queer experiences in the queer community as there are people. Also regarding Ricky Martin saying he genuinely loved the women he dated in the past; love is not necessarily always romantic or sexual, he could have loved these women as people, he could love them platonically, that doesn't make him less gay somehow.

I will conclude with this: why does it matter how you felt in the past vs now? No one else can tell you how you feel or how to identify, that's not anyone else's business but your own. There is no LGBTQ+ police, and if someone is saying you technically can't be a lesbian because you sincerely feel like you used to be bisexual, maybe you can tell them to kindly kill the cop in their mind. We don't police eachother in the queer community; we respect and uplift eachother.

As always, the queer community loves you <3

[inkwell-of-a-crow48]

Context for the following wall of text.

I came out as a transman to a coworker a few weeks ago. I've been out socially for five years and on testosterone for two. I'm not out to most people at work because most of them are religious, and I can't trust that I won't be severely questioned with transphobic remarks.

Their immediate reaction seemed positive. They said that they thought I was really courageous and vulnerable for telling them that ans that they don't take that lightly. They asked about how it affects my love life and such.

Then last night, after a fabulous conversation about a few random things, they said that there is something they need to tell me. They told me that everything they first told me is what they genuinely feel. That they really appreciate that I have shared this. That they think it was very vulnerable of me to do.

Then they told me that they don't think people can change their genders.

This is a person that I have been thinking that I've been getting quite close to. I always look forward to working on shifts with them. They are such a great listener and always makes me feel heard and cared about. They remember small little things about me that other people don't seem to care about.

They told me that they didn't want me to feel like they gave me a false sense of security. That they didn't want me to feel like they had pulled the rug out from under me.

I really thought that they were going to leave it at that. But then they went on to say that they wanted to hear me out. That they have a lot to learn about what it means to be trans. How does it happen? How did you know? That they have so many questions.

We had a very long, very rambly (on my half) conversation. It was a very positive conversation! They seemed to be listening, and they want to meet up outside of work again so they could ask more questions. Which, for the record, I am so down for.

That all being said, I have had a lot of thoughts throughout today. I don't normally do things like journaling, but I needed to get these thoughts out of my head so I could sort them out. I don't want to have pent-up emotions and then say something harmful to them. I wrote it as a letter to them. A letter that I don't hope will reach it's destination

So, the following is essentially the journal of my thoughts:

"I don't want you to feel a false sense of security with me."

I'll be honest, when you said that, it really hurt. More than what you said after that even. I wasn't even completely offended. I think I felt more hurt than anything.

You have praised me many times for being vulnerable and talking to you about how I feel. But in that moment, I felt like I shouldn't have been so vulnerable. I almost feel like I need to reevaluate how I go about my close relationships. And that sucks and feels kinda scary. It makes me feel more nervous to be myself and to talk about my experiences.

It made me feel as if I needed to justify my life and my existence to you. Which is something I feel like I do to myself every day.

I have known that I'm trans for over five years now. Ever since October of 2018. I didn't choose this. You said you don't think people can just change their gender. If we are using semantics, there is a hint of truth there. People can't just change their gender willy-nilly. This is something that takes so much thought, and care, and consideration.

And doubt. Don't get me started on the doubt. No one doubts me more than I doubt me. Doubt has been such a large part of my life. Because of my doubt, it has made me explore what it means to be me. My doubt has made me more certain and steadfast about who I am, and no one can change that.

There have been unumerable people who have said, "I don't want to see you go down this path. There is no coming back from it. There are permanent consequences. Oh, are you sure? Why don't you wait several more years, just in case? What if you detransition!? I'm only saying this because I care about you!" So on and so forth. And yet not many have decided to sit down and hear me out.

So many of these people have been so convinced of their own hatred that they can't seem to choose compassion. To see that I am so much happier being myself, rather than someone who was masquerading. Who was so anxious and depressed. Who was so confused and not understanding why. Why do I feel this way? Why do I feel so different? Why do I not even have the language to express what I am feeling?

It's made me feel unlovable. If I date a guy, I don't want them to see me as a woman. If I date a woman, and they want biological kids, I physically can't do that. I'm insecure in the way that if I date someone, I'm scared that they might feel like they "haven't gotten the full experience of dating a REAL man."

I am a man. Just. Not your typical one.

Did I cry while writing this before setting up my testosterone? Yeah, of course I did.

I don't intend on you seeing any of this. I just needed to get it off my mind.

The rug has been sufficiently pulled.

[iampikachuhearmeroar]

y'know i watch a lot of dave ramsey on my fb feed, ever since my parent sent me the video where a young couple had $750,000 worth of student loan and other debt. but like. although most of their advice is relatively okay/good for saving up and getting out of debt, the one piece of advice i take issue with today, mostly bc i feel like being pissed about something is "just get any job before you get THE job! you need work and money TODAY and also a side hustle if you have free time to watch netflix between 3 other jobs!"

like. i have been TRYING to just get ANY job for a year now, ever since i left my shitty and toxic asf traineeship/cadetship..... that made me so fucking anxious and stressed that i crashed my car so bad that i bashed in my back windscreen, my boot/trunk and knocked off my back wheels and exhaust pipe (and i also destroyed their multilevel parking.... and i refused to follow up on their building insurance to fix. ALSO my car is actually fine. my insurance fixed it lmao. it took like 3 whole months).

i've been trying for the past year ever since my shitty overly critical, controlling and micromanaging boss completely ruined my chance of a good stable job where i got BUMPED UP from trainee to a full admin assistant during the interview process..... all because i REFUSED to listen SPECIFICALLY to her and hr to be a disability/community support worker bc "tHeY'rE sOoOoOo DeSpErAtE fOr WoRkErS wHy DoN't YoU cArE!!!!????" and "SHE HAS THE WRONG PERSONALITY FOR ADMIN!!!!!" et al.... that she called me to demand to know EXACTLY what jobs i was applying for directly after she gave that bullshit reference report so she could guilt me to "use your (my) giving heart." *enter every tag rant i've made about this sitch on this hellsite here*

where people, performance and culture told me to get assessed and medicated for anxiety and depression. where one of the course coordinator ladies of the cert IV in housing course i did as part of this program told me to "hurry up and get assessed and medicated for ADHD bc it's ruining your KPIs and business performance!" bc i went too fast through my assessments for her to help me..... and "YoU'rE NoT fIgHtInG fOr YoUr CaReEr HaRd EnOuGH!!!!" whenever i got told both by my manager and my mentor that any chance for me to move up or do anything for my assessments was "not relevant to you" (even in TEAM MEETINGS!) and "just accept it's not in YOUR journey with us!!!". and finally where another coworker kept asking me if i had some undiagnosed disability that i hadnt told them about.... on the way to one of the very seldom inspections that i was SUPPOSED to be doing by myself, by the end of the program. but they continually barred me from doing. how the fuck was i meant to stay here and do anything successfully and healthily in this toxic ass workplace???

i've tried for a fucking year to get "just any job". be it from kmart to fucking heavy labouring shift work at the local steelworks.... bc i am fucking desperate.... to even a support worker in the last couple of months. that i didnt have good ref reports for (and quite understandably so this time bc this job is basically like rudimentary nursing which i've NEVER been interested in). but again i was desperate. and i wanted to test shit boss's/shit HR's hypothesis that it was "an instant job! it'll be so easy for you! bc you're so nice, and giving, and down to earth, and friendly!!! all it is, is making friends all day with your interests!! what the perfect job for you!!' ma'am i am NOT 18 like your son that you keep referencing whenever we talk about this. i am 27/28 (at the time). why the fuck are you SO condescending, belittling and supercilious?

i have been trying for a fucking year to get any fucking job possible.... when it's literally impossible.... when even rudimentary/entry level jobs like working at kmart or woolies or even as a door greeter/customer service person at a local bank; come with test after test after test after test...... that give you results like "you have big dreams and we can't help you achieve them!" or "you have NO emotional regulation and intelligence, and resilience skills whatsoever. why did you even apply to work for social services?! goodbye." or "you don't know what INNOVATION means bc you're too scared to try or come up with new ways to do things." shitbot.AI for social services. you're a government agency. you're the LEAST innovative fucking business in the ENTIRE country.... for personality readings. batshit insane multi-tasking tests like this one:

i NEVER pass these tests, whether they're the standard personality test or the psychometric tests like the one pictured, or the system thinking ones... fictional staff IM chat ones; etc etc etc. FOR A FUCKING SEWING/ARTS/HABERDASHERY SHOP. the list goes on and on. where you only have 30 seconds to get every little bit of it right in 20 questions. i failed that screenshot test big time for the local bank. bc i can't math and i felt way too rushed.

there's so many job descriptions you have to dodge bc they don't list salary properly (eg monthly figures i've seen for writing jobs or one for working for influencers i saw last week) OR even AT ALL..... instead sometimes they just "profile salary match" bc they don't want to pay jack fucking shit. overly presumptuous and fucking patronizing as all fuck small business owners who are SO FUCKING sanctimonious about the supposed importance of working in a FAMILY OWNED small business as opposed to a MuLtInAtIoNaL where apparently "you can just go home and forget about work! not HERE!" that's such a massive red flag. since they think that, from the outset, they have the RIGHT to treat APPLICANTS like they have shit-for-brains for 85k a year...... and begging for this specific attribute in the JD from applicants:

that hey. maybe it's not fucking worth applying for that and losing my sanity over ANOTHER god-awful boss and a 2hr commute to work (ie it was in southwestern sydney which is a 2hr commute for me where i live). also, as a caveat. who the fuck has had stable employment since 2020???? since the worldwide fucking pandemic??? where so many industries have laid off droves and droves of employeess??? and it's still happening?? like ok given this was as a HR admin support position and i assume a lot of HR people had career stability during the last 4 years. but also. what the ACTUAL fuck.

i am TRYING to get any fucking job possible. but it's hard to take some jobs seriously. these are the attributes of some influencer advertising/marketing firm and one of their "KPI's/company values was "honor" and was like "honor the vibes and the company" or whatever the fuck i found on indeed last week:

it's also hard to take some admin jobs seriously. for example, a local wealth management firm DOESN'T list the salary of a customer service/admin/whatever the fuck else they called it "rockstar/superstar"position..... that DEMANDS the desired candidate does the job of the equivalent of 6 other people in their branch whilst ALSO doing the admin work of their two other regional offices. what the fuck is the pay for this position??? why won't you list it??? is just THAT GOOD AND HIGH???? or just THAT LOW AND AWFUL???? fucking list it, you dumb cowardly bastards.

again, i've been trying to get any job for the past fucking year, that i've finally started to slightly dumb down my resume by finally deleting my advanced diploma of marketing. it's a daily fucking struggle to not go feral and start bitch-posting on my linkedin about how fucked up the job market is. but obvs i can't do that when have Shit HR and other people from my first job lurking on my LI feed. or start a tiktok parodying the goddamned motherfucking mindfuck tactics of the useless fucking job market before throwing my 12 year old laptop out the fucking window. "just get any job" is NOT possible anymore when that "just any job" in retail or call centres (although rip me for leaving after barely a month bc a shitty call centre i worked for in feb/march this year REFUSED to fix a backend issue on THEIR END but kept blaming it on me and it ruined my training period).... are just so mind fucky and tiring that it's straight up NOT even worth applying.

it's straight up not worth applying to a job that some local social service org sends you directly on seek (or maybe another job site) bc they think you fit the profile for a traineeship in business admin. only then, when you apply you're marked "unlikely to progress" bc you decided to list your desired salary at the higher end (apparently) of the trainee pay grade in australia (50k) bc you believe you shouldn't be expected to stay at 45k for TWO MORE FULL YEARS during that traineeship (with a vain hope that hopefully, HOPEFULLY, they'll keep you on at the end of it)... bc you NEED to start paying off your student loans automatically through your pay. BUT. oh no. that was too high of an ask for your quals/experience apparently. they WANTED you to low ball at 45k (or even lower) and be happy about it. so they reject you. when THEY sent YOU the job.

it's not worth trying to get "just any job", when famously even food chains in the US, like i think it's panera bread (and also walmart) are using 2 hour avatar-esque personality tests to screen ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE out of the pool except for like 2 people. every second job i get suggested on linkedin is just applicant pooling websites (or straight up scams where the pay is ONLY listed in US $$) where businesses just straight up ignore your applications bc they forgot they even made an account on it (imo) so you HAVE to make an account on THEIR actual site..... when some dumb-ass career-advice-fluencer on my fb feed (and the tik of the tok) tells you that's exactly how you get your application ignored, while flogging THEIR applicant pooling and job searching/resume writing AI advice software website.

"just any job before you get THE job", my fucking ass. this no longer fucking possible. and also cut the shit about overworking yourself to death with 10,000 different side hustles. bc that's exactly how i i nearly fucking died in 2020 at 20 fucking 5 in hospital with a stomach tumour..... after TOO MANY years of uni where the supposed importance of "innovative systematic entrepreneurial flair go-getter thinking of the future" was being espoused to me on the fucking daily. like dgmw, i know people are doing side hustles in these fucked up high cost of living times (and also im actively thinking about doing door dash since NO ONE is bothering to hire me)... but god the "if you have time to have down time with netflix why arent you filling your time with 15 side hustles to get your net worth to 1 million bucks??????" is fucked up. let people NOT work themselves to death outside of the mandatory 2 full time and 1 part time or casual or any other mix of jobs that people just need to fucking SURVIVE today.

[taserblade]

i keep making myself have bad days.

today literally started fine. i sadly didnt get up earlier enough today to take a walk, but i knew i would have the evenin off too so i knew i could walk then. hot manager opened (yay!) but he wasnt much in a talkin mood. turns out, whole restaurant went to a coworkers bday party last night, and everyone was hung over.

ruined my whole day learnin this, wont lie. i literally couldnt had gone, i was at a wedding. but idk it sucked to not be invited. let that ruin my whole mood and my day. didnt talk much bc of it. i wear my emotions on my sleeve so im sure everyone knew i was in a bad mood so no one wanted to talk to me which makes my mood worse, but i also wouldnt wanna talk to me. gave myself horrible anxiety for the whole day. scratched the fuck outta my arm and back bc of it.

coworker offered me her shift tn n as much as i need the money, i couldnt be a work any longer. but woo lucky me, she locked herself outta her car n ended up being 30 mins late. i literally spent the whole day looking forward to 4 so i could go cry in my car. but no of course that had to fucking be delayed to. finally got to my car and cried for a solid 15 mins before going home.

went on the elliptical today bc it burns more cals. burned 567 cals today!! then i went up to my bfs job to eat n get drunk. didnt get drunk but i didnt wanna buy another drink. now im home.

i have got to be better tomorrow. its ruining whatever the fuck me n hot manager got goin on and its actually killing me. tomorrow has to be better, i have to be better. or at least better at faking it.

[brokebuckkmountain]

I'm gonna bitch under the cut cause I think I met an actual evil nurse today and I've been in pain for hours

I've had an ongoing medical issue for months. Been to the doctor and ER a ton of times, today one doc even expressed concern over how many CT scans I'd undergone in such a short period of time and how much blood I've had drawn. I've just moved, so I've been going to ER's until I can get in with a primary care physician.

A few days ago, the doctor at the clinic near my home had to cut open and clean out the part of my body where I've had ongoing issues. That's about as vague as I can keep it. They numbed me, gave me morphine, and told me even with all of that, it would be a super painful procedure because of how sensitive this area is and they were really sorry. I kind of teared up but toughed it out because I have a thing about crying in public.

Today I had to go to a different location for my check-up. Everything went well, but it was the end of the shift change, and the nurse helping me told me her coworker was in a massive rush to get home and kept stopping her from being able to do my paperwork. This guy comes in the room and says he needs to re-pack my wound. I told him my OG doctor said I didn't need to re-pack it (she actually said "with this sort of thing, normally you have to re-pack every few days, but I won't have you do that, that's just cruel, this is such a sensitive part of the body"). He said I had to do it anyways and I "was tough enough to handle it", reclined my seat and started immediately (first nurse was literally still in the middle of removing my IV).

I cannot describe to y'all how painful this was. I had told them about the morphine and numbing shot last time, but he kept insisting I'd be fine. This was the second most painful thing I've ever experienced (real ones know when a surgeon left a cotton swab inside of my face after a surgery 11 years ago). I was full body shaking and crying uncontrollably, the original nurse dropped what she was doing and ran over to hold my hand and tell me to breathe and try to talk me through it. My brother was in the room watching and holding my other hand; he agreed this guy was being extremely aggressive and just shoving the shit under my skin. He used significantly more of the gauze than the last time and just kept fucking shoving. Then he stood there holding the gauze and going "I don't have scissors, go find me scissors", talking with his hands and thereby yanking the gauze around inside me and causing even more pain. He grabbed a pair of pliers and said he would just twist the gauze with them til it broke, the other nurse went "NO!" and darted off to find actual scissors. Then, as they were bandaging the area, he starts asking my brother "how did they do it last time" "what material did they use" "does this like right to you". Like he- doesn't know how to dress a wound? Every time I could catch my breath I was apologizing for crying so much and the other nurse was really sweetly trying to cheer me up while this dude just stared blankly at me. The weirdest part was, even after I was done and all packed up, at random points he would walk up and just shove on the gauze to really pack it in I guess? And I would have to stop talking mid-sentence (answering discharge questions) because the pain was so overwhelming. At one point he mentioned how some of the gauze has to be left out, and I half-heartedly joked to my brother "oh I have a tail again huh?". This man flicked the gauze "tail" and went "yup". This was around the point I forced myself to stop crying because every part of me was thinking "this sick fuck is doing this on purpose". I don't know if he was, or if that's just my past experiences rearing their ugly heads up, but I refuse to cry in front of someone who's getting off on it. Finally the dude looked at me for the first time, and really coldly said "wow I guess that really hurt you. sorry" with a shrug. Just very insincere, like he thought it was funny.

My OG nurse was super sweet, kept throwing compliments at me and trying to cheer me up, and I just tried to wipe away with mess of tears off my face and went home.

This was weird, right? Like, maybe the guy wasn't intentionally causing me as much pain as possible, and he really just wanted to up and go home, but he was still so unnervingly aggressive. Even my brother was really upset at how unnecessarily rough it was. I don't know what to even think. I've been in physical pain for hours and I also feel just, emotionally drained. Like I've always been kind of freaked out with doctors offices and dentists and this just made it so much worse. Like, am I overreacting or does this seem like really bad practice. Idk.

[golbrocklovely]

i cannot stand incompetent ppl/doing extra work bc someone didn't think ahead

(rant about work below lol)

so last week, on wednesday, i had to change the apparel section around bc we are having a refresh, so to speak. basically we are putting out all new fall-esque items, even tho it's literally 90 degrees out everyday. so i spent basically my ENTIRE shift working on my section by myself. even stayed an extra hour to really finish up. i only spent one hour not doing that, and that was bc we got a truck in and i had to break that down with my coworkers. but the rest of the time, i was spent moving things around, hanging up so many clothes, the whole nine.

no one helped me. even tho i had a manager that was basically just walking around and doing other smaller sections. in a way i was glad to be left alone bc it makes it easier for me to lay everything out and really make sure it looks good. plus, i had this planogram to follow, so really i just needed help hanging things up. but i did fine on my own.

i come in today, the ENTIRE section has been moved around and changed. only two walls didn't get changed, but even then yes they did because shelves were removed, for some reason.

so immediately i think "oh god my manager S did this" bc she has a tendency to try and space things out and change shit around even if the both of us work on things, get it set, and make it look good. or if i've worked on it myself in the past, she will come over on a day i'm not in and change it around. and look, she's the merch manager. i get it's her job to change it. but genuinely imo it never looks better when she does that. not only that, but we are literally following pictures. if it's not set right, it's corporate's fault.

but all i could think in my head is "why the fuck did she change everything??" everything was set! i followed the photos to a T. hell, we actually got all the product in, which is a first bc the amount of times we will have a set change only to not get half the product is almost always. so i was confused. in the layout corporate gives us, they don't account for two walls in that section, so those always end up being random shit. we're allowed to move things around, be flexible. but i mean every. single. wall. was changed.

i'm now pissed bc why the fuck did i do all of that if it wasn't necessary?? all that work i spent was not important then.

S ends up coming up to me and saying "hey did you ever get the pics for the set change?" and i just look at her very confused. bc…… yeah? now granted, she wasn't the one that gave me the set to do, it was instead J, my gm. so okay, i can believe she doesn't know i already did it minus the fact that the entire section is different.

i tell her i did it on wednesday. S goes to give me planogram for the set, but tells me that they haven't dropped yet in the system (J also had told me this but ended up giving me pics of the set design anyway.) basically the set isn't technically due for another week or two, but since we got everything in, it made sense to put it out now.

S tells me we'll worry about the set later bc, and i quote, "J did it last week, so it should be fine".

…………….huh?

what do you mean J did it last week? I DID IT LAST WEEK, AND J IS THE ONE THAT FUCKED THE WHOLE THING UP.

look, i've known for a while now that i need to leave my job. i need a better paying one, even if it's retail, bc this place has used up every last bit of nerve i have left in me. but this might be the final thing that does me in, genuinely. bc one, taking credit for something I did pisses me off to no end. and two, J did not do the set, bc she moved everything around in the worst way. so i'm telling yall now, and my managers tomorrow, that if i get told "hey so J did the set wrong and we need you to put it back correctly" i'm telling them no. i did it correctly the first time, this is now J's, or S's, or any other managers', problem to deal with. i'll hang up clothes if you want, bc i can do that off the floor and in the back away from customers. but PHYSICALLY moving anything around for a set planogram that i already did a whole week ago… not gonna happen.

to top all of this off today, i had to break down the truck. we get five pallets in, over 200 boxes of shit to sort thru and separate. i have two other coworkers that help with the truck. they are nice, but you have to basically tell them four times where things are supposed to go on the uboats and it just gets exhausting, especially when i'm already fucking annoyed. two of the uboats were already filled with product, and all we had were three empty ones. ended up having to leave things on the pallets and just fill the uboats with certain things and not others.

the one almost filled uboat they ended up putting product on even tho i told them not to... whatever. not my problem. it was all for the same section anyway.

S, my manager, has basically stopped helping us with the truck. she goes and finds other shit to do now, and particularly today she chose to start taking stuff from the back for one of our sections and forcing more product out bc we are having inventory soon. of all the days to do this "purging", idk why she chose now to do it instead of any day of the week we don't get a truck. not only that, but the merch manager not helping out BREAKING DOWN THE MERCH makes no fucking sense to me, but i digress.

we get one set pallet this time around that is filled with style and toys. the rest of the pallets are filled with other shit. one uboat is set aside for toys. a girl that usually works on candy comes into the backroom and says "hey, S wants me to work on toys". i tell her "okay, well we haven't gotten to toys yet so you'll have to wait." she nods and walks away and goes into this back common room area. not even a full two minutes goes by and she comes back out and starts talking to my coworkers, and she then repeats "S really wants me to work on toys now".

……did we not just have this conversation like a whole fucking minute ago??? did you think i was able to break down a pallet that fucking fast???

at this point, i was snippy and every single person on this planet was getting on my last nerve and i just said "well she's gonna have to wait for you to do it, idk what to tell you", she being S. my coworkers laughed, but since i had music playing, i couldn't tell if they were laughing bc of how i said it or if it was bc i was complaining about S.

then this coworker asks if i need any help, i say no. she rolls her eyes at me and laughs, and then she moves on to asking my other coworkers. and they all work on A SINGLE PALLET together. three of them worked on one pallet. while i had already gone thru two and ENDED UP DOING MORE than them. three of them did two pallets, altogether. i did three pallets by myself. when, crazy concept, it would have been better if they all did a pallet a piece.

i really got to start remembering i only get paid a very small amount, and to stop working above that small amount. bc at this point i'm just being abused at my job lol

[watery-pancake]

It's a weird pattern I've only now been able to notice, after regurgitating that previous story. I always fall into the same pattern. Becoming comfortable in a new person, settling into routine and feeling like myself, and they switch up on me and suddenly everything is different and we end things and I end up alone once more.

It's different in my current relationship, where now that we've both settled into routine, I've found him becoming more and more loving as time goes on. It makes me so uncomfortable.

It breaks the moment when shitty things happen. The other day I was harassed by a guy in an Uber, and he fell asleep before I could finish talking about it. I used to wait hours for his calls and texts, and he consistently stays up to the dawn of morning, but the first time this has happened to me and I need comfort? He just sleeps. The next day, when I could really use attention to feel comfort. Conveniently, he decides to take a day to himself, exploring the city. I wished he came to my job to surprise me to help me feel better. I found comfort in coworkers and customers. I came home and he showed me the beautiful sunset over the bridge, and it felt mocking. It wasn't his intention, obviously. But here I was, working all day, and feeling as lonely as ever, and he's able to just relax and enjoy life. The beautiful view I have to watch from my bed while my feet throb from standing all day. And today, I worked a full 8 hour shift on a busy Saturday, and after I talk about my day, he has nothing to say. I ask him a question, and he automatically assumed I've finished.

He wasn't listening.

He can say he was doing laundry. Or that he wasn't at his phone since he was busy. Or whatever excuse to shift the blame to it being my fault. It hurt. A lot. I watched tiktoks, and he just said there was a problem with my audio being too loud, and I muted myself. I doubt he ever noticed, considering his silence for the following hour. Not a single interaction to me or my long monologue about my day. I waited that full hour hoping he would say something, anything. All I heard was his TV blasting noise to my headphones. I gave up, and said goodnight. I almost wished I'd gotten drunk tonight again, but my legs ache too much to get the bottle. Nor do I want to drink. I just want to relax.

And tomorrow (or should I say later today after staying up all night) I'll go to a family gathering with him, and this will be a 'dumb overdramatic' memory once again. As they always become, for comfort's sake.

What am I supposed to do, talk about it with him? A stupid idea. ill just feel shitty and he'll become super distant and it makes me feel even worse.

i just wish he would go out of his way, like "hey i know the past few days have been rough and i havent been giving you as much attention as i shouldve. and im sorry." not this "my bad" bullshit. an actual im sorry, or apology. it sucks. he says he cares but his actions show so much otherwise. actions speak louder than words after all.