#i just organized a bag of my pennies

[jays-doodle-spool]

i’ve got a penny from 1936

that’s kinda sick

[hyunnie04]

cat and mouse

summary: your co-worker has been on your case ever since you've started your time at the company. a strange turn of events and circumstance changes all that.

pairing: coworker! lee know x reader

trope: enemies to lovers <3, office au

genre: slight angst, smut, and fluff

warnings: fem-bodied reader, oral, creampie, overstim, unprotected sex, bulge kink, spitting, etc. 18+ mdni

word count: 9.8k

a/n: a little practice piece for you guys, i hope i did well;; so sorry this took me so long to write :( i also hope it's cohesive enough, i keep writing this fic on and off sleep deprived lol

-

tick…

tock…

tick…

to-

“the clock isn’t going to speed up just because you keep staring at it.” the cubicle beside you chirps in, momentarily shaking you out of your thoughts. by now, you’ve trained to pay him no mind as you keep your focus on the clock that reads 4:56 pm, almost taunting you in a way. 

a few more minutes and you’ll be home free for the weekend. maybe you can finally relax and get away from your dreaded paperwork. perhaps look through your shopping apps since you had nothing else better to do for the weekend, or better yet- you could run a well deserved bath with that bath bomb you always wanted to use but never got a chance to. all the possibilities sounded heavenly although all that would have to actually wait until you get home.

one other thing that you had been anticipating all day was having that dinner after work with jeongin- your close friend and coworker from a different department. he had been begging you for ages to finally try that one soba place that opened up nearby with him. you being a good friend, agreed.

“you might actually melt the clock if you keep doing that y’know.” your cubicle neighbor- lee minho smirks, now standing and leaning over your workspace.

"what do you want?" pointedly asking him.

"oh, nothing. nothing."

“you just don’t ever shut up, do you?” you deadpan and tilt your chin up to stare at him, minho just offers a sly smirk in return. he always liked to bother and butt into your business for some odd reason. 

minho shrugs, “it’s fun teasing you. you do that thing where you scrunch your nose when you get riled up.” a vain visibly pops up from your forehead, but turn to your computer, hoping to drown him out with your typing.

you knew better than to give him a reaction. if you had a penny for how many times that particular vein popped from your forehead because of minho, you’d probably be a millionaire by now.

“oh, one more thing-” the brown haired man saunters back to his desk, and comes back to yours with a huge stack of papers. he unceremoniously plops it down, the annoying feline-like grin on his face. 

“what’s…this?” raising an eyebrow at him, you hope it's not what you think he's planning. you have plans. he crosses his arms and pushes his framed glasses back.

“paperwork, of course.” you wanted to strangle him. “yes, i’m well aware that this is paperwork. why is it now on my desk?”

before you could protest any further, “they want this finished by next week.” he leans to practically whisper in your ear. minho grins mischievously after he sees your pink flustered face take a step back.

the humongous stack was already on his desk, so your boss most likely assigned it to him in the first place. you furrow your eyebrows and turn to him, worst fear coming true.

"ohh no. not in a million years." you get up from your seat, avoiding the offending pile. he starts going back to his desk, neatly placing his things in it's organizers.

“why can’t you finish it? you- what are you doing?” but minho was already grabbing his bag and blazer and looking at his wrist watch.

“would you look at the time- thanks for covering for me!” aaaand he's gone.

plopping down on your chair, you bury your face in your hands, stopping yourself from pulling out hair. frustration creases on your forehead. well, you could kiss that dinner with jeongin goodbye. now you definitely want to strangle him.

-

lee minho. if you were to find a personification of the word annoying, the brunette would certainly be it. that man has done nothing but annoy the hell out of you ever since you started your time in the company. other people in your department often regarded him as one of the most reliable and polite employees here.

you would inwardly scoff at the frequent mention of minho and his apparent “reliable-ness and politeness” since all he was, was just the opposite. to you at least. it was hard to believe at first. 

but then you actually saw the way he carried himself with effortlessness and composure, handled business affairs, and how he mingled so seamlessly with fellow colleagues. it was nothing short of professional.

so you had a theory that he was only like that towards you. a complete dick only to you. you although weren’t quite sure why.

the girls in your department would often talk about him as well, mostly for his appearance. you really weren’t one for gossiping but you would listen in sometimes, curious about what they see in him. it was hard not to when they would gush about their workplace crushes and love lives so openly, a tinge of envy seeps through your bones every time it would be mentioned. you have got to get laid one day.

“he’s totally my type, you think i should ask him out?” your other cubicle neighbor says quite loudly during her break. her friend beside her shakes their head, “no, no you can’t.”

“why not? isn't he hot and available?” she asks absentmindedly. you start to zone out for a minute, only catching bits and pieces of their conversation. but you contemplate about what she said for a second, you would be lying if you said that lee minho was unattractive.

far from that actually. distinctly remembering catching a few glimpses of him from your first day, intrigued and interest piqued. his sharp nose and cheek bones, features were like sculpted by michaelangelo himself, his toned and lean figure accentuated by the perfectly well fit suit that he always seem to wear.

you definitely found him attractive at first.

that was until he started annoying you, so all of that was quickly out the window.

but you would probably end yourself before admitting that to anyone. you let out a disgruntled sigh, appearance wouldn’t really matter if he wasn’t such a knob to begin with. 

as you approached your dimly lit street, all you could think about was that feline faced jerk. what was he thinking, dumping all that work on you last minute? you felt really bad about cancelling on jeongin, texting him earlier about the sudden change of schedule. the dark haired man you've come to know just replies with a little;

'we'll just try again next week lol'

you breathe out a relieved sigh, thankful that he wasn't mad. kicking the pebbles on the side of the road, you imagined that the little rocks were minho's face. you could not wait until you get home.

“stupid paperwork, stupid minho, stupid…” 

your muttering fades and you suddenly stop in your tracks as your elderly neighbor waves you over from her front door, grandma lee or just grandma- as she insists you call her instead.

you bowed and greeted her, “hi grandma, did you need something?” you were quite close with the sweet old lady, her gray hair swaying lightly in the wind.

the elder would often check up on you after hearing that you traveled all the way from your hometown to the city, almost taking you in as her own. you were grateful for the company since homesickness would often creep up. she would also often bring you comically large jars of kimchi which you appreciated greatly.

she smiles as she gestures to the multiple bags she was holding, "i just need a little help getting these inside the house, dear." you take the heavy bags from her hands. what were in these, rocks? grandma claps her hands together in remembrance.

“have you had dinner yet? i made extra.”

-

grandma sets a bowl in front of you, the sight of seaweed soup instantly brings you comfort. your stomach grumbles as you dig in. she watches you intently as you practically inhale the soup, starved from the long and terrible day you had.

you sent her a polite questioning look. “i want to ask you for a favor.” she finally starts, flicking through the channels of her tv. the weather was on, the forecaster droning on about rain happening this week in the same monotone voice for the past 10 minutes. you look at her and nod immediately, she had done so much for you, doing a few favors aren't going to hurt.

“do you have a car, dear?”

blowing on the steaming hot seaweed soup, you nod again at her question, wondering where this conversation is heading.

“i need someone to drive me to my son’s house tomorrow, i'm staying over there for the weekend and my bags are a little heavy. would that be alright with you, dear?” you’ve heard about her family from her stories when she would have you over like now, little bits and pieces. you smile and agree.

a cheshire grin graces your features after a moment.  “what’s in it for me?” it was a joke of course, grandma knew it too. having spent a large amount of time with her, your humor must’ve rubbed off at some point.

you didn’t expect her to actually answer but she replies, “actually, i’d like you to meet my grandson as well. i think you two would get along. he's the same age as you too.”

the aforementioned grandson was someone you’ve seen in a bunch of grandma lee’s hallway pictures. you remember that he was an only child, often the only kid and the lone subject in the photos. your favorite was the kid in red with a toothy grin. he must’ve been 5 when it was taken.

"it was a joke, grandma. i'm sure your grandson wouldn't want a stranger suddenly coming to meet him." she shakes her head,

"nonsense. that boy doesn't know what he wants." you laugh at her persistence. getting another bowl of rice, you ponder her offer for a second. maybe this could finally cure your dull and dry love life, it couldn't hurt to try. if worse comes to worst, you could just pretend it never happened.

“but of course, i’ll drive you there. i have nothing to do anyways.” you say with a mouthful of rice. grandma pats you on the back and continues to flick through the channels once more.

“thank you dear.”

-

the sunset blears through your windshield, sun rays momentarily blinding you. it was clear as day. the ride to her family’s house was relatively quiet, the elderly lady in your passenger seat preferred to sleep the whole ride through after handing you the address, giving you a moment to leave you in your thoughts.

pulling up to the neighborhood, you let out a low whistle. the house was at the end of the street, steep and uphill. it was surely going to be a struggle to get the car way up there.

you get to the curb, reverse and try to park your car as best as you can. the house was really pretty, you thought. it looked pretty lived in too, but in a cozy way. vines was sprawled all over the brick exterior and flowers had bloomed all over the property.

you wake up grandma and start to haul her luggage up and out the car.

"you go up, grandma. i'll catch up."

after struggling to get the multiple bags of luggage up hill, you finally waddle to the front door. the door was left slightly ajar, probably for your convenience. you took a quick peek around, hoping for someone to let you in.

calling out before entering, you were met with silence. you figured they were too busy catching up so you eventually let yourself in.

the furniture adorning the hallway and rooms were made out of wood, the handiwork and craftsmanship was evident, intricate carvings on each and every one of them. it must’ve been made by grandma lee’s son as you’ve heard from her many stories.

a ginger cat with white stripes greets you as you enter the front door, it strides over to you in intrigue. leaning down and dropping grandma's bags gently, you let the feline sniff your hand before allowing itself to be pet. soon enough it starts rubbing its body on your legs and purring loudly. adorable cat, you thought.

silence fills the house, aside from the soft chatter coming from the other side of the wall. the cat leaves it's spot, not wanting to be pet anymore. you sit up and observe the house again, noticing a myriad of family photos adorning the walls and some of the tables.

coming closer to one of the pictures, again, you encounter the same young boy in red but this time he was wearing a cap sideways and a puffer jacket that seemed to be way too big for him.

"hello! you must be y/n!" a feminine voice suddenly calls out from the living room. you straighten your back from the mention of your name, hoping she didn't catch you closely staring at their personal and probably private photos. grandma lee comes out from the living room as well and walks towards you with a younger and kind looking woman in tow. she had another cat in her arms, this time it's coat was gray with dark streaks.

you smile and greet her politely, exchanging pleasantries. you quietly pick up the neglected bags and place them near the guest room. they continue their conversation with each other from before, you now awkwardly standing in the middle. looking at your wrist watch, you figured you should probably head on home.

"i suppose i'll get going now, it was really nice meeting you." mrs. lee looked startled at your sudden announcement.

"why don't you stay for a while? it must've been a long drive here, you're probably hungry." these two women weren't related by blood but they practically were, having the same idea when it came to hospitality.

"well, i don't want to overstay my welcome. i'm just here to give grandma a ride." smoothening out your non-existent clothes wrinkles in apprehension.

she waves her hand in dismissal, "but you must stay, you're already here anyways." she grins and pats your back. mrs. lee didn't seem to budge at your refusal.

you relented, finally accepting her offer. "my son is in the kitchen whipping something up. he's a great cook." you totally forgot about her son being actually here. the joke offer from yesterday completely forgotten and flew out of your mind. slight embarrassment runs through you, realizing that the offer was somewhat serious. you would surely need to mentally prep yourself for more socialization than you've anticipated.

but you instantly believe her claim that her son was a great cook, the amazing and aromatic smell of what seems to be steak and multiple herbs and spices from the kitchen wafts through out the entire house.

"okay- while we're waiting," mrs. lee gestures for you to take a seat, "you should go sit on the couch, y/n. i've been dying to meet you."

she hands you a mug of hot tea and sits down next to you. "mom here talks about you all the time, thank you for keeping her company."

"it's no problem at all, i like her company too." and with that, the three of you fall into a smooth and comfortable rhythm of conversation. the younger of the two women across from you continues to poke and prod into life, not that you minded. she would ask you about your life, where were you from, where you went to school, and where you went to work and among other things.

she offers you stories of her son gleefully in return, laughing about a particularly embarrassing story when he was younger. you learned that he was quite fond and talented in dancing, loves cats, and loves to cook. oddly enough mrs. lee never mentioned his name at all, you didn't want to pry. now that you've thought about it, grandma hadn't mentioned his name at all either. all you had for a lead was initials you remember seeing etched on one of grandma's photos. you figured you'd meet this person soon enough anyways.

after a while, grandma lee retreats to the guest room they've set up, assuming that she'd want to fix her belongings. mrs. lee starts to drag you around the house, urging you to help her set the plates up and talk more while doing so. midway through placing the chopsticks on the table, the sound of pots and pans clanging from the other room shakes you out of your thoughts.

"mom?" a voice calls out from their kitchen. it must be her son. you slightly raise your eyebrows, he sounds oddly familiar but you can't place your finger who he might've sounded like. you quickly brush it off.

"yes?"

"have you seen the slow cooker?" the man finally reveals himself and pokes his head through the entryway to the kitchen.

you lift your head and lock eyes with the said person. shock freezes your movements, dropping the utensils that you were holding. blinking owlishly in surprise, you weren't sure if what you were seeing was real.

you feel the wind knock out of your lungs. this was not happening. the brown eyes, brown hair, and cat like face from work that you've come to dislike stared back. you must be hallucinating.

standing across from you was lee minho, the lee minho. grandma lee’s grandson. the same one that's been tormenting you all year round. you just couldn't believe it, wondering what kind of luck you had to end up here.

you think back to when you looking (--more like snooping) at grandma lee's framed hallway photos, the kid- that was him all along? you're really bad at recognizing faces, you thought to yourself. well, she certainly made him seem like a complete angel from the stories.

"oh! this is y/n. your grandmother invited her to eat dinner with us." mrs. lee pulls your figure closer into a side hug and beams at her son.

he furrows his eyebrows at you, glancing back and forth at you and his mother. he must be as confused and shocked as you are. "hi." minho says, nodding at your direction. you purse your lips and shuffle uncomfortably in place.

minho again asks where the slow cooker was since the first time he asked was ignored. he was wearing a loose fitting shirt, his broad shoulders looking more prominent. you realize you've never seen him outside of his work attire before. he looked comfortable, domestic even.

his mom says to check the cupboards, paying him no mind and continuing to set the table up. minho nods slowly, eyes not leaving yours and heads back to the kitchen. a little shell shocked about your little encounter, you clear your throat and go back to the task at hand. you'd just have to deal with this for the evening and then you could go home.

when the table was done, mrs. lee turns to you, "y/n? would you mind helping minho over there with bringing the side dishes to the table?" you freeze at the realization that you would have to interact with him alone.

"sure." you say meekly. she thanks you and goes to the guest room to presumably get the older lady for dinner. psyching your self up before entering the kitchen, his broad back facing you. he senses your presence and chuckles.

you were sure he was going to make this whole night unbearable.

"well, this is a nice surprise."

"what are you doing here?" stupid question from you seeing as this was his own house. mentally face palming your head, he hums smugly and starts dividing the side dishes onto smaller plates. you notice his very toned arms flexing as he puts the tubs away.

"i should be asking you that. i didn't expect you to be here." he says nonchalantly, but you could feel a sly smile forming on his face as he speaks.

"neither did i." you grumble and lightly shove him aside, wanting to get the side dishes out to the table already. you ignore the way he looks so domestic right now.

-

you stare at him from directly across the table, hoping he would keep his mouth shut. he smirks while he eats, purposefully riling you up and glancing at you with a knowing grin.

do not lose your cool, y/n.

silence rings out the dining room aside from the quiet clattering of utensils on plates.

"y/n?"

"i'm sorry?" you snap out of your little less than friendly staring contest with him.

"do... you know each other?" his mother finally breaks the silence and here eyes flickers back and forth between both of you.

"yes-"

"no-"

a full on headache is surely forming now, it's going to be hard to hide your annoyance. quick, think of a lie.

"we're coworkers. same company." you grimace as he answers for the both of you. no use in hiding it now. "oh! that's wonderful." the older lady to your right clasps her hands in delight.

"you didn't tell me you worked together." grandma turns to you grinning brightly. you avoid eye contact with her, nodding and forcing out a smile. you wanted nothing more than want the ground to swallow you up right then and there.

"you two must be close." his mother says, sipping at her drink. you were about to open your mouth to say that you really aren't actually, but minho beats you to the punch.

"we kind of are." minho rests his elbows on the table and turns to you. he's enjoying this. the bastard was enjoying this. resisting the urge to roll your eyes, you turn back to finish your meal.

hatred for the man aside, he really was a great cook as mentioned countless of times. you actually find yourself enjoying the meal he had prepared.

"tell me what you two get up to at work, i want to hear all of it."

you shift uncomfortably in your seat, being honest wouldn't be the best idea. you didn't want these two lovely women to know how much of an unpleasant man their son and grandson is. and it was his house after all, the best decision might be to at least be civil with him.

so you play along with his facade, not wanting to disappoint them even if it was probably going to bite you in the ass later.

minho starts cutting the meat up into bite sized pieces while the conversation between the two ladies continue. he places it on your plate without saying anything. this takes you by surprise, looking at his face for an answer.

the two audience members among the dining table seems to have noticed your little exchange. a wrinkly hand touches over yours catches your attention.

"oh, so are you two..." she trails off, implication heavy on her tone.

"no- no, grandma. i told you i wasn't seeing anyone." you shoot a discrete glare towards minho.

"ah, i see..."

you shrink down your seat for the remainder of the hour, embarrassment flooding your being. why did he have to do that? you were already practically fighting for your life not to get too involved with all this, and he pulls that?

after that very eventful dinner, it was already nearing 8 pm. you figured that you should probably get out of their hair, not wanting to disturb them than you already had. that bubble bath and movie marathon you had planned in your head sounded amazing right about now. maybe that would help you forget about this crazy night.

"grandma," she turns in response, "i think i better get going." you smile at her, digging through your pockets for the car keys. a different cat from the other two that you've met takes long strides, stopping by your feet. you greet it by petting it's head gently. you wondered how many cats they have.

"now? look at the weather dear," you look briefly at the window nearest you, surely enough it was heavily pouring. you deflate at the sight.

"i don't think it's a great idea to drive out in a storm." she looks at you in concern. crap. the conversation at dinner must've carried you away, not even noticing the angry rumble of thunder that came from the sky. she was right, you don't think you could drive out there immediately.

the last time you drove into hard pelting rain, you couldn’t see through the windshield and almost crashed your car in the process. you could still remember how your car swerved and screeched when you couldn't control the way the tires' direction.

reluctantly dropping your hands to your side in defeat, "i guess i can wait it out for a bit." you finally say.

"yes, please do stay. we made extra dessert!" mrs. lee chuckles, seemingly enjoying your presence. glancing at minho, he was leaning on the side of the couch watching the exchange between you three, uncharacteristically silent and expression unreadable.

you reckon he wasn't all that thrilled about the whole thing either.

-

"the storm isn't letting up." minho sighs next to you, observing the dark and heavy rain pelting the window. it continues to pour down, filing in the silence.

"great." you mumble lowly, crossing your arms. a loud cackle of thunder makes you jump from your spot. he just laughs in response. you could feel your heart pounding out of your chest, anxiety quietly eating at you. damn weather man. you should've paid more attention to the forecast.

the smart watch on your wrist flashes with a notification. it was 11 pm now. "you should stay until tomorrow, dear."

you feel a comforting hand on your back, it was mrs. lee. it was only her staying with you two right now since grandma had already retired back to her room.

"tomorrow? oh, i- uh... i don't want to intrude." you stutter and look down, unsure how to accept her offer. but as much as you wanted to turn her down, you knew deep down you don't really have a choice in the matter.

another strike of thunder confirms your pitiful situation.

"i know what you're thinking, you can take minho's room." her words take you aback, that really wasn't what you were thinking. but she wasn't serious, was she?

at the mention of his name and apparent lending of his own bed, he whips his head towards his mother. he points to himself silently and gawks in disbelief.

you try to stifle a laugh at his ridiculous face. it wasn't often that you see minho all flustered.

realizing that mrs. lee might actually kick minho out of his room if you don't say anything, you decide to spare him. "that's okay, i'll take the couch."

"are you sure? the couch isn't the most comfortable..."

you reassure her that the couch is fine and not to worry. mrs. lee takes this as a confirmation that you'll stay for the night. she beams and grabs her son's shoulder,

"minho, do you have clothes that you can lend to y/n?" she catches you about to protest at the unnecessary offer, "don't worry about that, you're going to end up uncomfortable if you sleep in your clothes right now."

she leaves not long after with a quick good night to you both, also not leaving any room for any counter arguments. minho nods after registering what she said, hesitantly gesturing you to follow him towards the room at the end of the corridor.

he was quiet these past few hours, you observed. the annoying minho that you have gotten used to was no where to be found. putting yourself in his shoes, you understood. having a person that you dislike come into your home and spend the night would irk you as well.

the unexpected warm lighting and a subtle citrus scent with notes of jasmine and sandalwood welcomed you upon entering. it instantly brings comfort. not really expecting anything coming into his room, it was truly a pleasant surprise.

you stand awkwardly in the middle of his room, not wanting to touch or disrupt any of his space or belongings. he heads straight to his closet near his bed.

"it's alright, uh..."

minho ignores your attempt to refuse and starts digging deep for clothes that he could lend.

okay, nevermind.

you quietly glance at the homey decor that adorns the wall of his bedroom. multiple pictures of what you assume to be his friends were strewn all across the room. some of them seemed to be taken when he was in high school and some more recent. there were doing various funny and serious poses, minho seems to be really well liked.

"alright,"

he starts handing you a pair of black jogging pants and a plain white t-shirt. you reluctantly take the pile of clothes from him, your fingers momentarily brushing. you were certain you could hear your pulse thump in your ears. it confuses you greatly.

"this is the smallest one i have, sorry."

he coughs and rubs his neck, "the bathroom is over there, if you wanna change."

awkwardly shuffling on the way to the bathroom, a sigh of relief leaves your mouth as you lock the door behind. why were you so affected by a simple touch of his fingers? this was minho. you quickly shove the odd feeling down.

you hold the white shirt up to your torso, it was definitely too big. the hem of the shirt reaching your thighs and sleeves reaching your elbows as well.

peeling out of your clothes, and hold up minho's large shirt to finally wear. as you put it on, you could faintly smell the cleanness of detergent and a faint musky patchouli scent. your cheeks burn with the realization that you were really going to spend the night here.

when you return to the empty main corridor, the leather couch was already set up with a cozy looking blanket and multiple plush pillows. you struggle to hide a smile.

-

tossing and turning, you struggle to find a comfortable position on the couch. the blanket proving to be too hot right now, you push it off. you check your phone out of boredom and the led screen lights up.

1:19 am. it was in the middle of the night and the rain continues to pour outside. the occasional rumble of thunder once again evoking anxiety in you. sighing, you don't think you will be getting any sleep tonight. it's just you and your thoughts for now.

thinking back to this afternoon, the whole situation seems so absurd and surreal. who would've thought that you and minho would pretend being friends even if it was just for one night. it was a strange chance of circumstance.

the door from the end of hallway opens, a scruffy and disheveled minho rubs his eyes to get rid of his sleepiness. you sit up in curiosity to observe his sleepy state. he pads over the wooden floors to the kitchen looking for water, not sparing you a second glance.

when he was out of sight, you start thinking of ways to distract yourself, wanting to already succumb to slumber.

“oh, it’s you.” he says after coming back, finally noticing your slumped figure. "didn't sleep yet?" minho ruffles his hair haphazardly, trying to smoothen it down. you shake your head,

"insomnia. it's the thunder."

"ah."

"the couch is making your neck hurt isn't it?"

"yeah, that too."

he opens his mouth to hopefully offer another solution, but shuts it immediately. he wasn't sure if it would make you comfortable so he just stands there quietly.

"i'll go get you more pillows." he places his cup down on the coffee table before going to his room. minho stops in his tracks when he feels your fingers tug on his shirt. another strike of thunder flashes outside making you flinch.

"stay." you catch yourself saying before even realizing. it's selfish to ask but you don't think you could stand the thunder alone. watching him stare into your eyes, as if looking for an explanation- you offer him no words.

minho takes a seat at the end of the couch silently joining you, sipping at his mug. to fill the awkward silence, you clear your throat and fiddle with the ends of the cotton blanket.

you start thinking of ways to justify your selfish request of making him stay.

"i finished that damn paperwork you dumped on me. dick move by the way." you chortled to try to lighten the mood. he seems to notice your attempts to distract yourself and indulge your sudden desire to chat.

he folds his hands on his stomach, grinning. his bunny like teeth poking out. you always thought it was endearing. "it's fun seeing you all grumpy."

"sadist." you simper, the anger you felt from a yesterday dwindling at the surprisingly pleasant banter.

quietness takes over again. he stares into the celling, pondering. "i didn't know you were close with my grandmother." he says after a while. he avoids your gaze and places his mug back on the table.

"neither did i. it wasn't deliberate," you reply. he turns to you, curious about the story. so you explain to him how you met, for how long and that you didn't even recognize him despite seeing the photos.

he chuckles, "i bet it was this pose, wasn't it?" minho imitates the very same pose that he did in the photo, eliciting another laugh from you. it was exactly the same.

minho shuffles a little bit closer to you, now propping his arm on the back of the couch. you straighten up, now being hyperaware of his presence and proximity. he looks really different without his glasses.

a furry tail suddenly brushes against your exposed leg. you lean forward to check what had just rubbed past you, it was one of the cats. it meows for attention, pawing at the base of the couch.

"your cats are really cute." you watch him pick the orange haired feline and place it on his lap. one by one, two of the other cats that you've seen this afternoon start padding over to where you and minho were seated, jumping on the couch.

"that's dori," he points to the gray furred kitty. "doongie," an orange cat with a predominately white underbelly, "and soonie." the last one who's also orange but more so than the other. minho raises soonie's paw, waving it at you. cute.

"this one looks like you."

you scratch soonie's chin, the low purring getting louder the longer you do it. minho stares longingly at your eyes with an unreadable expression at the comment. you're not paying any attention to him.

after a while, the cats start to get tired of the two of you. they walk of to the end of the couch, now ignoring you and minho. you fold your arms and relaxing into the back of the couch, falling into a deep and comfortable silence that would be sorely missed.

"why do you hate me?" you say abruptly. the curiosity finally won, anxiety gnawing at your every fiber of your being. it was finally starting to be peaceful between you two and actually talking like normal people, your sudden comment might've affected it's chances of becoming true.

his head whips towards your direction in what you assume to be disbelief, furrowing his eyebrows. "since when did i hate you?"

you struggle to not scoff at his blatant charade, "minho, you have it out for me." this was strange and ridiculous. was he really being serious? how could he not be aware of the months of months of his incessant attitude towards you, and only you.

you remind yourself to be calm, to be civil. but he continues to feign ignorance. it was starting to get difficult.

"you don't treat me like the others, you constantly make my life harder by teasing me, and you dump your own paperwork on me. only me. the only time you talked to me normally was just a few minutes ago." your voice rising with exasperation.

"what did i do?" voice ultimately faltering, tired.

"i-..." minho refuses to meet your eyes, offering no solace.

instantly feeling vulnerable by your little outburst and by the lack of response on his end, you hug and bury the plush pillow for comfort. you wanted to go home. you wanted to go home and pretend this conversation did not happen. confrontation wasn't your strong suit.

after a long while of silence, he at last utters a low, "i'm so sorry."

"that was very, very stupid of me." minho's eyes are now trained on the hardwood floor, unable to even glance at you.

"what? the paperwork?" you scoff, "no, not just that. all of it."

you furrow your brows at him, "i just find you really really cute when you're mad." he continues. you stare at him, incredulousness and anger painting your features. before you could give him a piece of your mind, he speaks.

"and i realized i didn't know how to actually approach you normally without the teasing." he purses his lips, the cup on the table long forgotten. minho is staring up the celling now, still refusing to look to your direction.

"would you also believe me if i said i was jealous?"

you don't know what to say in return, heavily processing what he just said. what was happening? your mouth runs dry, confusion knocking the wind out of you.

"of your friend." he says, emphasizing the last part. you try to rack your brain of who he was referring to.

"jeongin?" you tilt your head. he says nothing, confirming the assumption. "i overheard him talking to his friends, bragging about how he was gonna take you out to this restaurant that he wants to drag you to." you couldn't possibly think of a reason why he would be jealous, you and jeongin are just friends. and why was he jealous in the first place?

"why are you so worked up about it? he's just a friend, minho."

"i'm not even sure myself," minho shakes his head in exasperation and turns to you. "but i like you, y/n."

standing there, paralyzed at his unexpected confession. minho likes you? he was giving you crap all year round, and yet he likes you? you shoot him a perplexed look, "wait, what?"

"let me get this straight," you hug your legs, trying to decipher what he was saying. "so your plan was to annoy the hell out of me, dump your paperwork seeing that you don't want me hanging out with jeongin because...you like me?"

"well, now it sounds stupid when you put it like that." he huffs, crossing his arms and pouting cutely.

deafening silence falls between you two, unable to say anything meaningful without stuttering and fumbling through your words. you just sat there, not really saying anything and staring at the floor. realizing that you probably don't feel the same, he sighs. its about time he went back to bed too.

"it's late. you should probably get some-"

before you knew it you felt your pulse roaring in your ears, grabbing his wrist and stopping him from standing up. you were going to regret it if you let him go.

"i like you too."

a magnetic pull causes you both to inch closer together, wordlessly gazing into each others eyes. you make the first move to lean into him, slowly placing an experimental peck on the side of his lips. you unsurely place your hands on his chest, "is this okay?"

his eyes flickering down to your lips and then back to your eyes. he licks his lips, still staring intensely- lovingly at you. he softly grins, tucking a lock of hair behind your ears and returns the kiss on your lips.

eyelids fluttering shut, you feel him press against you with much enthusiasm, deepening the kiss. you cup his cheeks as a reply, roughly pulling him towards you.

you already forgot about the rain outside.

he hoists you up his lap, a hand on your waist as he trails desperate kisses on your neck. minho pays his attention back to your lips, sloppy and open mouthed, saliva stringing from your mouths. urgency and eagerness was reflected in the way you both tangle your arms around each other, touching and caressing every part that you could reach.

all of the unresolved tension was slowly slipping away, replaced by desire.

a sudden meow breaks the two of you out of your trance. the green eyes of soonie stares up at the two of you, sitting quietly and their tail swishing side to side.

you loosen your arms around his neck, you two bursting out in laughter at the interruption.

"do you want to maybe take this to my room?" minho asks, placing a thumb on your lips. you didn't need to think twice.

-

your head hit his plush pillow, the cold and crisp linen feeling heavenly against your hot and flushed skin. shuffling up to the headboard, you watch minho with hazy eyes as he inches towards your form and props his knee on the edge of the bed.

he smirks as he sinks down on the mattress, hovering over your feverish body. minho sneaks a hand behind your back, grabbing you by the hips and flipping you over so effortlessly to the top as if you weighed nothing.

"now, where were we?" he murmurs into the column of your neck, his hot breath sending tingling and electrifying shivers down your spine. you respond by trailing your hands all over his clothed chest, wanting to get the offending article of clothing off.

he chuckles and grabs your wrists, halting you from doing so. minho kisses the inside of your wrist, a teasing smile dawns on his face. you look at him with desperate, pleading eyes, wanting to have him already.

minho adjusts his tight hold on you, biting his plush lips in anticipation. with you now towering over his figure, you lean down to capture the lips that you had been fantasizing about all evening and bury your hands into his hair. the kiss was wet and messy, your tongues sloppily and desperately swallowing each other's moans. a trail of saliva strings from both of your lips.

it was starting to get too hot for your liking. you cease your movements for a second to remove minho’s borrowed shirt from your body. minho’s eyes shamelessly rake over your chest, his finger leisurely trailing the middle of your breasts. you let out a low chuckle, finally unclasping the hook of your bra. you release a breathy shudder upon feeling something hard poking you from where you sat. grabbing both of his wrists, you eagerly put them up to your tits, you could feel your sensitive nipples harden because of his cold touch. minho starts pinching at the sensitive buds, prolonging his eye contact with you, clearly enjoying your erratic squirming.

you suck in a sharp breath and almost topple over him in pleasure as he takes a nipple into his mouth, hot, warm, and wet. it was overwhelming, having no one touch you like this before. he continues to lap at your hardening bud. minho groans, closing his eyes and further burying his head in your chest. your tits were covered in spit, glistening under the subtle light of his night lamp.

minho, while smothering himself in your chest, takes a moment to hook his arm over you. his skillful hands trail over to the waistband of your jogging pants and pulls it down. you oblige, leaning closer to him and lifting your hips so he wouldn’t have to leave your tits. you jump in surprise once you feel a light teasing smack on your now semi exposed ass, only covered by thin panties. it elicits a small moan from you, pulling his head closer. you lightly pet his head and thread your hands in his hair affectionately as he continues his sucking, feeling a coiling sensation from your core. 

but before you could cum, he detaches from your breasts, leaving his lips glistening with his own spit and his breath raggedy. a sly grin that you have come to love and hate graces his face upon seeing you whimper. the lack of stimulation makes you deflate, heaving frustratedly at his relentless teasing.

the familiar throbbing heat from your pussy suddenly gives you an idea. his hungry gaze watches you in curiosity. the bulge you were currently sitting on now immediately taking all of your attention. you do an experimental hump on it, hoping to relieve the aching heat from your cunt. minho's hands fly to your hips, groaning at the sensation.

"all this time, you made me think that you hated me-" you moan out, the fabric of his pants providing just the right amount of resistance. "when really you liked me?"

he stifles his moans by biting his bottom lip, his pants surely soaked through now.

"i did say i liked seeing you mad." minho manages to grunt out, licking his lips. you almost reel in disbelief but you keep your composure. 

"you're confusing." another thrust. 

"and i'm still mad at you." you huff out. hips now wildly humping against every ridge and curve of his cock. the sight of him makes you delirious, even more so that you’re humping against him.

"i-i'll make it up to you," he murmurs lowly, hissing the more times you buck up against him. "fu-fuck..."

despite the way that you were using him, it does nothing to quell the horniness you were feeling, in fact, it even spurs you on further. the wet patch from your panties soak and slowly transfer on to the front of his pants, your own wetness spreading messily every time you grind on his delicious dick, the ridges providing the needed friction that you've been so desperately craving. minho watches you, your tits bouncing up and down- he feels like drooling. "i love it when you use me." he finally breathes out, hands still on your hips, his nails making crescents on your skin. and finally, you cum, his words sending you over the edge.

it tremors through your body, white hot cum leaks out from your panties and you can’t seem to hold yourself up any longer, collapsing on his broad chest. you clench your eyes shut in shyness, suddenly embarrassed from using minho so blatantly. he coos and pats your head in comfort, almost like how he pets his cats.

planning to make it up to him and eat his words, you sit up and shuffle down his hips. you admire the wet patch that stains his front, mouth watering. this surprises him, watching you with tantalizing eyes. you make a move to grab at his waistband, pulling it down slowly. he hisses out in pleasure as the waistband runs over his still clothed dick. minho’s boxers were thoroughly wet, you could see a dark patch on the front where you sat on him and where precum leaked out. you lift up a hand to experimentally give his bulge a tight little squeeze, him letting out a little shudder response.

it hardens even more under your touch- so you decide to tease him to test the waters even further, running your fingers over and over his tent causing him to hiss out, sending you a warning look. taking this as a sign, you lift the waistband of his boxers and stare at his eyes while doing so. it springs up immediately after freeing it from its confines. his long and fat cock stands tall, the tip a deep red, and the veins prominently running along the sides. the sight makes your mouth water in anticipation. you place a thumb on his cockhead, running slow circles on his slit causing it to drool heavily on your hand.

his cat like mouth parts in ecstasy once you start teasing the underside of his length with your hand and licking the oozing liquid up. minho’s hips start thrusting at the sensation, forcing you to hold him down. it was admittedly hard to do so, his thick thighs almost the size of your head but you still managed to restrain him from rutting wildly. the groan that leaves his lips sound is absolutely nothing short of sinful when you finally put your mouth on him. every desperate huff from him leaves you light headed, wishing you could record and replay it over and over again. when couldn’t fit all of him, you resorted to pumping the remaining of the shaft were you couldn’t reach. you egg him on even further by running a hand over his abs, seeing how his thighs and abdomen tense up. 

you look up through your lashes to watch minho unravel. his eyes were screwed shut, focusing on the stimulation. while it bobs messily in your mouth, you try to pay special attention to his hot and heavy balls, rubbing it back and forth in the palm of your hand, hoping to get him to cum. minho closes his eyes shut again and tenses his thighs, finally cumming. his hands travel down to grasp at his length, taking it over yours, spurting his essence everywhere. minho finishes with a loud relieved groan, slapping his dick lazily against your cheek which you greedily lapped at. 

“that might be the best head i’ve ever had, bunny.” he bites his lips, his voice light and airy. you quickly sit up from your position and gawked at him, suddenly feeling bashful at his apparent pet name for you. 

minho gives you a mischievous cat like grin in return, feeling absolutely delighted at your expression. he begins to lightly graze your leg, leaving tentative touches and gentle pecks along the stretch of your lower limb. lifting your right leg up, you stop minho from inching any closer towards you by putting your foot on his chest.

"y/n..."

you pretend to think for a moment, stretching this out for as long as possible. he would just have to wait since he had yet to make up for being so mean to you. a little fun also wouldn’t hurt, right? no, you were quite wrong. 

minho again grabs your ankle albeit more roughly this time and continues to place chaste kisses with more passion this time, clearly adamant about giving your legs and thighs hickeys. at long last, minho slides the wet and abused fabric off you, the panty is thoroughly soaked and it’s material sticking and clinging to your core.

he hooks ur leg over his shoulder, urging to part your legs apart and spreading them obscenely open. staring intensely into your eyes, minho starts teasing your core with feather light touches. “you like this?” he says his mischievous grin, continuing his ministrations. you offer him no response as he traces figures and shapes on your wet pussy that has you seeing stars. his fingers now erratically sliding up and down your folds. you almost sob at his nonchalant teasing, eyes clenching shut and begging him to put something in.

something about observing his veiny hand treading lightly just the outside of your lower lips leads you to tuck your face into your hands, the sight was like straight out of porn. “no, no. hands up bunny.” minho takes a hold of your wrists, putting them effortlessly above your head. 

“you have to look.”

his free hand drags along your legs to pull them apart and starts lowering his chiseled face down to your core. his nose just close enough to feel the small exhaling puffs of hot air on your pussy, causing it to twitch in suspense. the brunette sneaks a peak at your trembling figure before diving right in, the first contact of his tongue on your cunt was searing hot, instantly making jolt out in shock and cry out. minho takes this as a sign to hold down your hips, pressing, flattening, and letting his tongue rampant against you all while avoiding your clit. he hums at the taste, huffing and delving further into your pussy, eating you out with such intensity, placing open mouthed sloppy kisses. he spits to make your pussy wetter so he could languidly and erratically make out with your cunt. 

you throw your head back into the heaps of pillows behind you as he starts to pay attention to your clit, softly biting the bundle of nerves. minho then moves to swipe his index up at the large amount of cum and spit trickling from your core, using it as lube for his fingers. he gently prods his index in your entrance all while still licking you up. his long fingers, deliciously stretching your hole, deeper than all those nights you've tried to do so yourself. the bliss you were feeling was overwhelming. minho croaks out a little ‘hah, hah, hah…” every time he would come up for breath, completely drunk off your musky and intoxicating scent. you also don’t miss how he subtly humps the bed sheets he was lying under either. you began to arch your back upon hearing his desperate sounds, your arousal spurting on his face.   

minho looks like a cat who got the cream, his pupils blown wide open and wetness trickling down the side of his mouth. he lets go of your hands after you were finished, the numb arm falling on your forehead as you catch your breath. he stands up to re-adjust your form on the bed, pulling you closer to his pelvis.

minho stares at your eyes, asking silently for permission. you look up at him with a toothy- fucked out grin. 

the feelings that you couldn't place earlier was now clear, you wanted him.

minho reaches a hand over your face, caressing your flushed cheeks. he wordlessly leans to tenderly place a kiss onto your forehead and on your lips. you reciprocate lovingly, capturing his lips once again. minho without warning, pushes his long and girthy dick into you, the abrupt intrusion making you sob out. the bulbous head of his cock rubs deliciously against your gummy walls, you swore you could feel it in your throat.

“there we go. there we go…”

minho sets a rough pace, his hips thrusting against your pelvic bone. “ah-ah!”

toned and skillful arms cage you in, forcing you to look deep into his dark pools. "you better keep quiet, or else the whole house will hear you." that for some reason makes your cunt even wetter, weeping more than you thought was possible. the sole idea of getting caught with their precious son doing such lewd acts, it seems sacrilegious and absolutely sinful.

he once again reaches for your hardened nipple, tweaking and pinching the bud between his thumb and index. the bed was now creaking with how fast minho was going, you silently prayed that no one in the house suspects anything. the thought mortifies you.

minho leans against your figure and nuzzles up on your chest, looking up at you with an oh so innocent grin while he continues to pound your cunt. his movements start to stutter once he feels your walls clench around him. your mind begins to feel like mush but you still try to make an effort to suppress your groans of pleasure. a strangled sound between a moan and a whine leaves your throat once he hits that one particular spot in you.

“keep quiet, little kitty.”

you start squirming uncontrollably at the huskiness of his voice, not having experienced an intense orgasm like this before. “cum, you can do it.” your rutting hips stop to convulse for a moment, feeling your orgasm rip through the ends of your nerves. leaning back on his chest, you struggle to catch your breath, heaving from the aftermath of your orgasm.

fogginess still clouding your vision, you caught a small glimpse of minho to notice that he still hadn’t pulled out, his hands circling your waist gently. you unintentionally clench on his cock, yep he was still hard, very hard. minho sets his eyes on you, and gives you that look. oh no, you knew that look. the same one that he uses around the office to persuade a higher up to heed to his request. you nibble on your lower lip in excitement.

“one more, you can do one more right?” he coos, lifting your legs and his hips starting his monstrous once pace again. you double over in overstimulation, crying out in pleasure. his breath hitches after a particularly hard thrust, choosing to muffle his own cries by shoving his face in the crook of your neck, inhaling your exhilarating scent. you respond by coyly playing with the hair on his nape, hoping that it would ground you to reality.

minho then sneaks a hand from below you and hugs your figure, pulling you impossibly closer. he swallows your moans, kissing you feverishly and running his hands wildly all throughout. it was so urgent, so intense, like he’s finding a way to meld your bodies together, his erratic and messy thrusts reflecting that.

your fingers clutch his thick bed sheets, euphoria piercing your body every time he drives another rough thrust into you. the lewd noises coming from the two of you echos and bounces off the walls, the conversation tomorrow morning was going to be so humiliating and awkward at the dining table.   

you can’t hold it in any longer, and by the looks of it, neither can he. minho cums with a loud groan, spurting inside you. "goooood kitty." minho rasps out. you gape at the warmness, causing you to finish as well. minho reaches his hand downwards to spread your combined release, spreading it messily. it drips out of you obscenely as he pulls out.

you were positively flushed. he was too, sweat still glistening on the wide expanse of his chest and forehead. minho brushes your hair back affectionately before plopping down tiredly next to you. you turn to him, wanting to admire his fucked out features but he looks occupied and staring into space.

“what's the matter?” 

"i really am sorry about the misunderstanding. i feel terrible that i made you feel like that. and i do really like you. wasn't lying about that." minho sighs out, closing his eyes for a moment and then faces you. “i want to start over, properly this time.”

"apology accepted. and yeah of course." you say, quite happy with how this whole misunderstanding turned out. "i really like you too." he kisses the top of your head, making you wrap an arm around him to cuddle.

"now you'll just have to figure out how to reject the girl beside your desk. she wants to ask you out."

"maybe we can start by just making out in front of her."

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Could you do a scenario about Nemona, Penny and Arven with a real who has type null please? Maybe something about it transforming in Silvally?

YES NULL/SILVALLY TIME

I have one in Sword who I call "Bestie", and it's carried me through the Crown Tundra DLC. I want it in Violet so badly aaaa

Also this just reminded me of my fic that I wrote prior to Sun/Moon's release. Ya'll can give it a read if you so desire <3

That being said, this scenario will be like a sequel of sorts

........

Revealing Type: Null--or "Nully" as you've affectionately called it--to your friends was something you were initially nervous about...

But today was finally the day.

Moving away from Alola to attend school here in Paldea was quite the stressful journey, especially for your masked companion who had never know any place besides stark white labs and sandy beaches.

People kept warning you about how dangerous it was, but you never listened...and now your bond with the mysterious normal type has never been stronger.

Ever since you rescued it from an Aether Foundation facility that exploded due to its rampage, it put its trust in you and loved you unconditionally.

Learning the truth behind that supposedly "good" organization and its leader broke your heart. Although nothing devastated you more than realizing Nully had been held captive there as both experiment and prisoner.

You've tried researching its species, checking for notes and hacking into secret files the foundation kept under lock and key--and you discovered that Type: Nulls were basically created as "tamer" versions of Arceus, even having memory discs similar to the plates manufactured. They were meant to kill the Ultra Beasts should they invade Alola.

Instead, they went on a rampage (of course, that's what happens when humans try replicating a god's powers) and were confined to masks and put into cryogenic stasis. The whole project was deemed a failure.

As tragic as it was...you were relieved to have found Nully when you did and get it away from that horrible place.

Even so the mask still made it feel absolutely miserable, but unfortunately you couldn't find any further information on how to remove it without causing your precious Pokémon serious injury. There were no visible clamps to unlock, pulling it off would only cause it great pain, and cutting seemed too risky.

The only benefit was that it made Nully immune to critical hits, but the cons definitely outweighed the pros.

Maybe one of your friends knew more about the Type: Null species, and so you decided to call them all over for a picnic if they had free time.

All you could do was pray that they didn't lose their cool and scare your companion.

That's the last thing either of you needed.

Arven was the first to arrive, with Mabosstiff at his heels as usual, but he stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing the bizarre-looking Pokémon standing by your side. You could tell he was trying not to look too worried, considering the poor thing was hiding behind you now.

Still, it's obvious that he didn't have the slightest clue what he was looking at, so you explained everything to him: where you found Nully, why it looked like a rejected Arceus, and the memory discs you kept in a small folder.

So far, you haven't figured out how to utilize them in-battle. But despite the space they took up in your bag, you refused to throw them away.

"Are you sure there isn't a slot for these somewhere on its mask?" He stared at one of the floppy discs, before glancing back up at Nully, squinting. "It looks like there should be one."

"We've been pals for nearly three years, Arven..I'm pretty sure I would've found the slot by now if there was one." Shaking your head, you took it from him, sighing. "My only option is to get that thing off. The slot's probably on its body somewhere."

"Right...maybe there's a stomach hatch or-"

"¡Mira! You were right, Penny! They do exist!!"

"Nemona, slow down!! They're not going anywhere!!"

Hearing the shouts of two certain ladies from afar, you and Arven looked to see both Nemona and Penny coming over the horizon. The student council president was dragging the poor girl by the arm, with her stumbling to keep up and not lose her glasses.

When they arrived, Penny was dazed and annoyed as she scowled at Nemona, tearing her arm free of her iron grasp. But her attention was quickly set on the peculiar Pokémon who was cowering behind you yet again.

"Wow...I..never thought I'd see one up close before.." Adjusting her glasses, she gazed at Nully with interest.

"You've heard about them before?" You asked.

"Back in Galar, I found some top-secret stuff about Macro Cosmos trying to make their own instances. They literally stole the blueprints from the Aether Foundation."

"...yikes." Nemona remarked, tilting her head as she tried getting a better look at Nully herself. "It seems shy. Maybe a battle will help it-!"

"No battles, at least not right now." You smiled apologetically, patting it on the head as you looked at each other. "I know you're nervous, Nully..but it's okay. They're nothing like the jerks back in Alola who used to pick on us. They're my friends. You can trust them, I promise."

Nodding its head, it relaxed its haunches as it cautiously stepped away from your side, gazing at the trio and seeing their smiles, too.

They weren't looks of pity.

They seemed genuinely thrilled to meet it.

It stood there for some time, taking in everything you've said to it and thinking about how far it's come since you rescued it that fateful day.

Somehow, it knew it was always meant to be your companion--from the very moment you held it as it cried in the Pokémon Center, reassuring it that it's not a monster, but a sweet creature worthy of love and care.

Ever since then, your friendship has grew...and now it feels stronger, willing to put its life on the line for you if need be. Even though most of its powers have been concealed, it didn't feel like some weak and helpless lab experiment.

Oh no.

It was far from that now.

Thanks to your bond, it felt unbelievably strong.

So much so that....the normal-type realized an extraordinary change was imminent.

And you were about to witness it.

"Look! Nully's glowing, [y/n]!" Nemona pointed, her eyes widening as your companion was basked in a familiar light. "Is it evolving???"

"Oh my god...I think so." You gasped, never realizing the possibility of it evolving, but you're now certain that friendship is what triggered it at last.

The most noticeable thing were the cracks that started appearing all over its helmet, pieces of what you assumed was indestructible alien material falling apart. Nully shook its head vigorously, trying to get rid of it as much as possible.

Then it turned its attention to a nearby boulder, letting out a cry before performing a move similar to a Headbutt, ramming into it and letting the rock shatter the helmet completely.

At last, it was free.

When the glow faded, you and your friends gazed in awe as Nully looked back at all of you.

With its mask finally gone, what lied underneath it was a beautiful creature made of both nature and machine, with a beaklike mouth that smiled proudly.

"Nully...?" You murmured, stepping closer.

"Ally." It chirped, walking up to greet you.

Tears began forming in your eyes as your grin widened. "I can't believe it...friendship was all it took to-"

Suddenly, your rotomphone decided to ruin the sweet moment by flying out of your pocket.

It displayed a new entry in your Pokedex, and you grabbed it to read what it had to say, while Arven, Penny, and Nemona checked their own phones.

"I see, you're Silvally now." You gazed back up at Null--Silvally, watching it bow its head respectfully. With a small laugh, you mimicked the gesture, before petting it lovingly as you sighed. "Wow..."

You noticed one of the metal bolts on its face open up like a CD player, indicating that something had to go in there-

"Wait.." Remembering the memory discs, you took one out and held it up. "Do you want me to use this?"

Silvally nodded, although before you could do anything, Arven interjected.

"Hold on, which memory is that?"

"The Dark Memory. It probably just changes its type, but I believe this represents all the pain Silvally had to endure while being trapped in that mask, not knowing what it did wrong or why people shunned it for simply existing." You placed a gentle hand under your companion's jaw. "But now I think it's ready to turn that painful memory into power. So let's see what happens.."

"Silllllv!"

Carefully inserting the disc into the open slot, you watched as it closed up. Then you stepped back, seeing the colors and spikes on its body turn smoky black.

Even its eyes changed, and when they opened they looked even more menacing than ever.

And they stared directly at you.

With a low growl, it crept closer to you, while your friends held back..tense and worried that the pokedex entries were correct: this wasn't something you could so easily control.

There was probably a very good reason for the mask-

Yet any hostility Silvally seemingly expressed disappeared, as it smiled and licked your cheek affectionately, causing you to laugh once more. "Hey, that tickles! C'mere you!"

Hugging its neck, you grinned as you received even more kisses, hearing it purr with happiness. You petted its feathery crest, relieved that it completely trusted you now.

"Wow..it's way cooler than Arceus!" Nemona laughed. "Do you think I can battle it-??"

Silvally just shot her a wary look, and she immediately fell silent, a nervous smile on her face. "Haha, you're right. Not yet. But I swear we're gonna have an epic battle one day!"

"Yeah, one day. But for now, I have something special for this big guy."

"Sill?"

You managed to regain its full attention with a simple yet supereffective move of your very own:

It's called "chin scritches", something that none of your other Pokémon could resist receiving.

The mask obviously made it difficult for Silvally to receive proper affection back then...and you vowed to find a way to break it so you can do just that.

Now it was free of that awful and heavy thing, having a brand new life to look forward to: battles, friendships with other Pokémon, and more.

Even better?

Your three closest friends in all of Paldea were here to witness its evolution--a sign that despite all the odds...your bond was unbreakable.

[notroosterbradshaw]

Oh thank you for the compliment :) i'm sure you could do it justice but maybe we could get some generic hangman fluff maybe with them at the beach and he looks out for her by putting sunblock on her and making sure she's eats lunch and stays hydrated and he's teasing her and being very playful with her? Thanks



Okie doke, you get your Hangman on the beach, nonny. I hope you enjoy! Hangman fluff awaits. Dagger Squad future fic.

You liked this new tradition you were able to share with Jake. Each year, around the same time depending on deployments, family commitments, you know the normal life stuff, Dagger Squad came from far and wide to try and get back to the beach for their annual defensive football game and bonfire. Mid-afternoon, the egos start running their mouths about which team will win, and what the stakes are (and the winners and partners always enjoyed the 200 push-ups for the losers and Fanboy's sigh at wishing he never mentioned it).

"Right here, baby?" Jake asked quietly, saying a quiet hello to Bob's partner and burgeoning baby belly and Penny. His warm palm skimming the skin between your ripped jeans shorts and his old Foreigner tee you'd knotted in the back to make work. He nuzzled your neck as he dropped the cooler and whipped off his shirt. He hadn't buttoned it so what difference did it mean as he slid out of his flip flops and put all his gear into a pile and into the beach bag.

Some regiments he just couldn't shake, and neatness was one of them. So was the gym. You would love him endlessly anyway, but he was proud of his body and worked hard on maintaining it as he got older. You were proud he was proud he took such good care of himself and you reaped the benefits.

Ha gave you some space as he unfolded the blanket and flicked it out onto the warm sand as Harvard and Yale approached him and within seconds, they were talking about recent deployments, new kit, and manoeuvres. You were as supportive as you could be with things you'd rather be kept in the dark over. Jake respected that. He knew what he did terrifed you but the boys just understood it better than you ever could. You were absolutely not offended.

You tossed some bits and pieces on the blanket, camera, snacks, and sunscreen. "Ooh," Jake smirked, popping to pick up the sunscreen. "May I?" he asked eagerly.

"May I?" you repeated, biting back your grin. "Aren't you proper today?"

"I would hate for you to be burnt. It's a skin trauma, baby," he protested as you took your sunnies off and glared at him. "And I wanna feel you up. Sue me," he shrugged, his true personality shining through.

"Well, aren't you sweet?" you roughly patted his cheek and the masochist in him loved the lack of caress in your touch. He adjusted his jaw appreciatively. "Okay, Jake. Just to avoid the trauma."

"Your skin is your biggest organ," he reminded you, watching you lift the shirt over your shoulders, licking his lips at the additional skin you'd been keeping under wraps. "Not mine..." he muttered cheekily.

"Jake, knock it off," you laughed as he grinned wide, turning you away from him. You wouldn't complain about the extra touch and affection that lasted a good five minutes, you we melting under his light touch. He kissed the nape of your neck in finality. "I'm good?" you asked quietly.

"You're very, very good," he growled playfully swatting your butt.

You gave him space and sat on the beach blanket, sunnies back on, and Jake plopped your hat on your head. "Thank you."

"Here ya go, sweetheart," Jake handed you your water bottle. "Gettin' hot out here," he grinned. He thrived in hot weather. You smiled against his lips as he laid a gentle kiss on you. "You wanna play?" he could hear the catcalling and jeering for Jake to toss the ball around.

"Would rather put knitting needles in my eyes. Only here to watch the bodies," you joked... kind of.

"You just mean mine, right?" he asked, a mix of unsurity and arrogance as you laughed.

"Yes, Jake. Only yours. Go have fun," you reassured him, taking a seat and a cool slug from your water bottle as he stood over you and squatted to give you another sweet kiss.

"I'm glad you're here, sweetheart. I'm happy as this group gets bigger that you're here with me and you get to meet the people I trust more than my own family."

You cupped his jaw. "They are your family. They are our family, baby. You big softie."

Warm in the sun, but you noticed his ears flush and duck his eyes. "Don't tell anyone or my reputation will be shattered," he teased as you both laughed loudly, and his heart swelled to bring that smile to your beautiful face. "Gimme some lovin' before I go and kick these preppy asses," he smiled against your lips and kissed you deeply. "Another," he demanded. "You're so sweet, I can't handle it," his nose nuzzled against yours.

You knew his friends were mocking him behind his back but you were very confident he didn't change his behaviour around his friends and was comfortable enough to lay some love on you and you were very aware of Penny's stare... and jaw-dropping.

"Jake, Jesus!" you hear Coyote holler.

"Your bestie is pissed," you told Jake as he looked back over his shoulder and gave the team a selective one-finger salute. "Go, before they think it's me keeping you here. And not your that's horribly whipped."

"I'm whipped," he admitted and stretched, this incredible body flexing in all the right places, the golden sun making the beads of sweat his flawless skin glisten. Jesus, he was just so sexy. "I freely admit it."

"Go," you scooted him as his persona changed and Hangman arrived.

"All right, all right, all right, who is ready for some football?" he boomed, drifting over to his friends. It got rough and competitive, sweaty and slippery pretty quickly and you got closer a while later to take some polaroids as the sun set for shits and giggles later tonight to hand out. You had a pleasant afternoon as more friends and family joined you and kept you busy.

As the game was called and losers paid their penance in the form of push-ups, you watched Jake and Rooster put together the bonfire, the part you were most excited for. Yes, Jake Seresin was hotter, if possible, in most light, but the way the flames flickered over his face as you chatted with Natasha and he kept his arm around your shoulder, under the pretence of keeping you warmed before the roaring fire.

"You hungry, babydoll?" he murmured in your ear, the barbecue well and truly cranked and the smells driving your tummy into overdrive. "Beer?"

"Yes to both, please?" you asked and he nodded, kissing you tenderly before leaving you with Natasha. She shook her head in disbelief.

"Who is that guy and what did he do with Bagman?" she asked, astonished. You grinned. "That is a man in love."

[kindersurprisebacterium]

Mister (Ghost/Reader)

CW: DILF Ghost, age gap, best friend's father, cunilingus, fingering, vaginal sex, overstimulation (kinda), alcohol use, reader is in college

Gender Neutral AFAB Reader

WC: 3.2k

On the corner of a caul-du-sac sat a cookie-cutter house. The front was adorned with terracotta brick walls. Nearly trimmed hedges and flower beds lined the driveway. It was suburbia. Different from the campus housing I was used to downtown. 

I was hesitant to come here. Sleepovers seemed…juvenile. But Audrey and I seemed to get along well, even after knowing each other for only two weeks. So I packed up a night’s worth of clothes and some toiletries and met her in the corridor after lecture. 

Her neighborhood was only fifteen minutes outside of the city. The speakers shook the car. Wind whipped through my hair as we sped down the highway. 

I felt odd being here, needless to say. Maybe it had to do with the fact that her dad would be home. I stepped out of her lifted truck, pulling my bag behind me. Her carabiner clinked as she unlocked the front door. I watched as she stepped inside and kicked off her shoes before following behind. 

“My rooms upstairs. You can put all your bags there.” Audrey said, pointing to the staircase. 

“Cool. You gotta show me that poster you were talking about” I grinned. She’d already started up the stairs. The hardwood creaked beneath my feet as I followed her. 

“I was in line for like…three hours? They cut the line of right after me.”

We turned down a corridor filled with picture frames. My eyes skimmed across each one. School pictures, beach trips, vacations abroad, and family photos that were obviously taken in a JC Penny. I jumped when my eyes met a pair of glaring brown irises. 

A man stood before me, leaning in the doorway of an office. Silver curls sat atop his head. Faded scars, years old by now, adorned his pale face. He had a stern look on his face, a look that was somewhere between apathy and annoyance. Maybe that was just his face. 

His arms, covered in intricate black ink, crossed over his broad chest. Even through a thick sweatshirt, I could tell he was well-built. My jaw clenched tightly as the man eyed me. 

“Oh dad, this is my friend from anthropology I was telling you about. They’re staying over tonight,” Audrey spoke up, gesturing to me with her painted nails. 

“Nice to meet you Mr. Riley,” I said, extending my hand. 

“Simon.” He gripped my hand and shook it with a jarring strength. His palms were big enough to nearly engulf my hand. He let go, sliding his hand into his pocket. I turned to face Audrey. She pulled me into her room, closing the door behind the both of us. 

She pulled a framed poster from the wall and held it out for me to see. In the bottom right corner in silver sharpie was a swirling signature from the lead singer of a metal band. 

“Isn’t it so cool?!”

I couldn’t focus on the movie, or the bottle of beer in my hand. My mind kept going back to Simon. I don’t know what it was about him. Maybe it was the way he looked at me as if I was nothing. Maybe it was his grip on my hand. Or his gruff voice.

I felt…embarrassed? I haven’t felt this way about someone since middle school. My mind kept replaying that moment in his head. The way he said his own name. The way his arms flexed when he crossed them over his chest. 

These scattered thoughts flooded my mind for hours. I couldn’t sleep. I glanced back at Audrey, who was out like a light with a puddle of drool on her pillow. Gritting my teeth, I slowly moved off of the mattress. My eyes stayed locked on her sleeping frame, looking for any sign of movement. Nothing. Sighing, I stepped out of the room. Maybe another drink would quell the thoughts. 

I crept down the hallway, walking on my toes. A beam of light caught my eye as I rounded the corner. The kitchen light was on. The steps whined beneath my weight as I descended. Brown eyes locked onto me. 

Simon sat at the kitchen island. His right hand was on his computer mouse, the other resting under his chin. He closed his laptop.

My skin felt hot as his eyes ran up and down my body. I tugged at the hem of my shorts, now acutely aware of how they rode up my thighs. 

“You’re up late,” he muttered. 

“I uh, couldn’t sleep,” I said with a smile that was a little too forced. I stepped into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge, jumping when I heard his chair moving from behind me. My fingers wrapped around the neck of another bottle. As I closed the fridge door, a head of grey hair appeared from behind it. 

He was closer now, leaning on the kitchen island with a glass in hand. 

“Anthropology…” he mumbled, “why’d you choose that?”

“It’s a part of my psychology course,” I explained as I twisted the top off of the bottle. I held the cap in my hand as I took a swig. The amber liquid made my throat tingle as I swallowed. This was more than I’d drank in a while, but I needed it if I wanted to deal with the man in front of me, the man who was slowly stepping closer. 

I could feel my heart in my ears as he approached the fridge. His arm bumped into me as he set his cup underneath the water fountain. Out of the corner of his eyes, he stared at me. My face felt hot. I pursed my lips, looking away hoping he wouldn’t see my flushed face. 

I heard his throat squelch as he swallowed, not daring to look. He sighed and reached his arm across me. The glass clinked as he set it in the sink. I was waiting for him to pull back, give me room to breathe, but he didn’t budge. My eyes traced up his inked arm, to his face. His eyes were fixated on me, staring through me. I felt naked under his gaze. 

“You’re shaking.” He placed a hand on my waist. If anything, his touch made it worse. My entire body was quivering. Whether from nerves or anticipation, I couldn’t tell. He stepped forward, close enough that his thighs brushed against my hip. 

“You’re shaking,” he repeated. His fingertips grazed my chin, gently tilting my head up to look at him. 

“I know.” My voice was barely a whisper. The corner of his lips curled up into a smirk. He was getting a kick out of this, and somehow that made it even hotter. 

“You nervous?” He asked. It didn’t seem like a question if he already knew the answer. His eyes flicked between my lips, and my eyes. Every time his eyes met mine, I could feel it in my stomach.

“I-” I couldn’t get the words out. His lips were on mine. The warmth of his kiss slowly melted away the tension in my muscles. By the time his hands were on my hips, I was putty in his grasp. I hooked my arms around his neck, pulling him down so I didn’t have to stand on my toes. His fingers slid into the waistband of my shorts. 

“Wait, I don’t want to wake Audrey,” I pushed my hands against his chest, breaking the kiss. 

“So we go to my room.” His tongue slid up my neck. The tips of his fingers grazed along my hipbones but didn’t date to go another inch forward. 

“But-”

“When’s the last time you’ve had a good fuck,” he asked, speaking against my neck. He punctuated his words with a kiss along my carotid. My lips pursed. I could feel my hands clench into fists. I knew I shouldn’t be doing this. Audrey was the first friend I’d made all year, and I didn’t want to jeopardize that. The throbbing in my core drew my attention. Every inch of my body craved his touch. My head was spinning with desire. My breath grew shallower, quicker, as lust swept over me in full force. I couldn’t take it. There was just something about him. I needed to feel him. 

“Please don’t tell her,” I begged. My fingers latched onto the collar of his sweatshirt. He pulled back, just to see the look on my face. My lips were parted, eyes half lidded, and I’m sure the blush on my cheeks had deepened to a red. 

“I wouldn’t dare.” He picked me up by my waist and slung me over his shoulder. His palm rested on the small of my back, while his other arm hooked around the back of my legs. Simon approached the stairs, giving my thighs a squeeze as he ascended. He turned right down the hallway. My eyes locked onto Audrey’s door. I could feel my jaw clenching. Should I really be doing this?

The bedroom door clicked shut behind us. My back met the plush bedding. The mattress creaked underneath my weight. Simon pulled his shirt over his head. His muscles were defined, illuminated by the soft lighting. Thickened scar tissue dotted his body like ivy on an old wall. I couldn’t help but feel intimidated as he crawled on the bed. 

He sat between my legs. His fingers idly stroked my inner thighs. His stubble scratched the skin of my neck as he leaned in. He pressed kisses to my neck, traveling up to my jaw. 

“Can I take these off?” He asked, tugging at the hem of my shorts. My stomach fluttered. 

“Yeah,” I spoke softly. He slipped his fingers beneath the waistband and began tugging, jolting my body as he pulled them down my hips. I felt my face heat up as his gaze locked onto my cunt. He swiped his index finger through the wetness pooling in my core. The tip of his finger brushed against my clit. A whine caught in my throat. 

“I just know you’re not gonna be good for me.” He moved to lie on his stomach. His sharp canines pierced the skin of my thighs. My teeth sunk into my bottom lip to quell the onslaught of moans. 

His thumb circled my clit. The movements were slow at first. His eyes locked onto my cunt, almost as if he was waiting for something. I bucked my hips into his hand, and then he stopped. I whined, pouting my lip.

Warm, wet licks against my skin diminished my protests. His hips rutted against the bed as he slowly ate me out. My brows furrowed as his tongue flicked against my clit in sharp movements. Fingertips circled around my entrance before slowly sliding in. He moaned against my cunt. I clamped my hand over my mouth in an attempt to muffle the cry that rose from my chest. 

Simon differed from anyone I’d slept with before. Foreplay was never a big part of my escapades, it was always straight to penetration. There was something about a man between my legs, moaning against my cunt, and looking up at me with pleading eyes that made my body heat up. 

Every movement of his was deliberate, from the way his fingers curled up ever so slightly with every thrust, to the way his palm rested on my stomach. It was as if he’d cast a spell on my limbs. My toes curled, fingers digging into the sheets. Each thought in my head slowly disappeared, replaced with the feeling of his tongue on my clit. I felt hot and sticky. Beads of sweat rolled down my chest. I gripped my shirt and pulled it from my body. 

His hand slid up my stomach until reaching my chest. He gripped my nipple between his index and thumb. My back arched off of the bed. His gaze seemed transfixed on me, soaking in my every reaction with those brown eyes. 

I tossed my head against the pillows. My stomach tensed as each flick of his tongue drew me further into bliss. His lips wrapped around my clit, sucking gently. My hand flew to his head, pulling his hair tight. A throbbing pain settled in my face as my eyes rolled to the back of my head. My muscles went taut as I came on his tongue. 

He pulled away, skin slick with my wetness. His fingers kept slowly pumping inside of me. He leaned in, pressing his lips to mine. I could taste myself on his skin. A whine swelled from within my throat. He slid another finger inside me, thrusting alongside the others.

“Simon,” I said against his lips. 

“Gotta make sure you can take me, love,” he groaned.

The nickname made my heart flutter in a way it shouldn’t. As the haze that clouded my head faded, I became acutely aware of what I was doing. I was fucking my friend’s dad. 

“You’re so tense. Come on, open up for me.” I couldn’t tell if he was talking to me or my cunt. My breath hitched when his mouth lowered to my chest. He gently bit down on my nipple, laughing at the way it made me squirm. His brows furrowed as he sucked my skin into his mouth. 

With a soft pop, he pulled off of my nipple, only to dive back in. He sunk his teeth into my skin. I clenched around his fingers, earning a groan from him. His thumb brushed against my sensitive clit. My voice contorted as the overstimulation made my head swim. 

“Fuck, there you go,” He spoke against my skin. “Such a pretty cunt.”

His words pushed me over the edge. I gushed around his fingers. My thighs quivered and clamped down around his hand. I took in heaving breaths as he worked me through my orgasm. I stared down at the man with half-lidded eyes. He smirked, watching my expression as I slowly came down from my high. 

The bed shifted as he moved. His grey hair vanished from my peripherals. The drawer to his nightstand slid open with a low rumble. I didn’t bother to turn my head. 

When he settled back onto the bed, his jeans were gone. My eyes skimmed down his nude body, settling on his cock, which was now resting on my stomach.

He was right. It was big. The heat that radiated off of his skin drew my thoughts into more perverted places. The head of his cock was flushed and leaking. A single silver barbell protruded from the head of his cock. He lifted my hips and slid a pillow underneath me. 

“You on the pill?” He asked, popping open the cap to a bottle of lube. 

“Yes.” I watched him slide the lube over his cock. 

“Good, cause I don’t have any condoms.”

He pushed one of my knees to my chest. His hand guided his cock to my entrance. With his eyes locked onto me, he slowly pushed inside of me. It burned, almost felt stabbing. I clenched my jaw and gripped his wrist. His hips halted. 

“You okay?” His thumb gently stroked my knee with a tenderness that drew my attention away from the pain. 

“It hurts,” I said through my teeth. 

“We can stop-”

“Please keep going,” I interrupted. He stared at me with wide eyes. With a nod, he pushed forward. 

The stabbing pain faded into a more manageable cramping pain. I felt undeniably full. He let go of my leg, instead moving to my stomach to gently stroke my skin. He whispered praises as he sunk deeper inside me. My brows knit as he bottomed out. His hips stilled, eyes fixated on my cunt. 

“That’s it, bein’ so good for me.” He groaned. I clenched around his cock, earning a grunt from his heaving chest. 

“Simon, please move,” I crossed my ankles behind his back. 

He shifted his weight onto his hands, placing them on either side of my head. 

“Since you asked so nicely…”

He began thrusting his hips into me at a steady pace. Every jolt of his hips made the mattress squeal beneath us. The sound of our skin slapping echoed throughout the room. He was rough and forceful, bullying his cock deeper into me. 

His moans were deep and gravely. Every little noise that came out of him sounded like music. I hooked my arms around the back of his neck, pulling him down to my level. His lips clashed against mine, tongue licking against my bottom lip. I parted my lips for him. A moan slipped from me as he slid his tongue into my mouth. 

Tears welled in my eyes as the stimulation grew. I wanted more, needed more of him. I bit down on his lip and pulled back, tugging his skin. Something changed in him then. He pulled away and gripped onto the headboard, using the leverage to thrust harder into me. His eyes screwed shut. I could feel him twitch from inside me. 

I Clenched around his cock, stomach tensing as my third orgasm rapidly approached. He gripped my chin between his fingers.

“Fuck, you gonna cum?” He asked with his plush lips parted. 

My response was an incoherent mess of words and a frantic nod. His thumb went to my clit. He rubbed tight circles into my skin, encouraging me to cum, begging even. I knew he wouldn’t last long with the way his thrusts grew erratic. 

With a snap of his hips, I came on his cock, squeezing around him. He grunted, stilling inside me as he came. A stream of moans rose from my throat.

My body felt tingly like tv static as every nerve in my body fired. I felt overstimulated, hot, and sore. I whined as he pulled out. The bed shook as he collapsed onto his side. 

He grabbed his phone from the nightstand and held the screen out to me. It was a “new contact” page. I smirked as I put my number in under the contact labeled “Derek”

“Derek…who are you gonna tell them I am when that name pops up on your screen?” I asked, swinging my leg over his hips.

“Old coworker.” He said with a laugh. 

“Old coworker with bomb pussy?” I raised my eyebrows and pouted, scanning his face for a reaction. He smiled and leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. 

“Audrey’s going on vacation with her mom in a couple weeks. Why don’t you come over then?” He ran his hand along my back. 

“I’d love to, but speaking of which, I need to get back.” I sat up, grabbing my shorts from the foot of the bed. 

I threw my clothes on and hastily tossed my sweat soaked hair into an updo. My fingers grasped the doorknob, gently pulling it open. I waved at Simon before slipping into the hall. As the door closed behind me I sighed.

My brain replayed every minute of our interaction over and over again. The way he touched me with care, got off on eating me out, and checked in on me. What seemed to be basic decency was something I’d been lacking. My stomach fluttered as I thought of seeing him in a couple of weeks. I didn’t regret this, in fact I wanted more of this. 

What did I get myself into.

[igotanidea]

Scarf: Dick Grayson x reader

Christmas bingo day 10 : scarf

***

She was always in a hurry.

One place one second and the other a second later.

Rushing through her to do list and tasks without a moment to calm down and take a breath, with a heart of gold and hands always willing to help, no matter if it was a stranger or a friend.

A very busy and a very needed girl with a mission.

Just like it goes in a classic song: like a wind.

And Christmas time was always the busiest.

There were so many people who needed support and sometimes as little and as much as some time spend with them and someone to talk to.

So obviously Y/N volunteered for some work at animal shelter (much to Damian’s hidden joy when she took him with her one day), joined a preparation for food and gift packages for the poorest families and self- made some soft toys for kids at the orphanage.

However, her conscience and sensitivity never seemed to rest.

No matter how many people smiled and felt better because of her, she always had this sense of “not-enoughness”. How could she possibly smile, how could she possibly rest and enjoy the Christmas time when there might be someone, a kid or an animal who was hungry or cold or-

“Y/N.”

“Hmm-?” she raised her gaze from the desk, which she accidentally fell asleep on just for a moment. This was not planned, but apparently her tired and stressed organism knew better what it needed. “Yeah? What is it Dick?”

“What are you doing, babe?” he crouched next to her, looking into her sleepy eyes and cupping her reddened cheek with love and affection but also with growing concern.

“At the moment I’m-“ she started but was almost immediately cut off.

“Not at the moment love. Generally.”

“Generally?” she frowned, sleepiness going away in an instant as she couldn’t understand the words coming out of Dick’s mouth “what do you mean?”

“You can’t possibly save everyone sunshine.”

“I know.” She looked down as if he said something hurtful, even if it was simple truth.

“You’re already doing so much love….”

“But what if-?”

“Hush baby.” He put a finger on her lips cutting her off “Enough. You’re going to get a proper sleep. In a bed. Preferably next to me.”

“But-“

“It’s not a question, Y/n. You’re going to let me take care of you now. Because you need it. Because you deserve it. And most of all – because I said so, cause I can’t let my girlfriend overwork herself.”

“But Dick!”

“Don’t Dick me, princess.” He picked her up from behind the desk and carried her to the bedroom without any problems due to the fact that instinctively she leaned into him, letting him spoil her a bit. Just for some time. Just for some time everything was good. She was safe and the world was a perfect place with no problems and troubles and suffering people as she was falling asleep in his loving, warm embrace.

***

For next few days Dick was her shadow, following her to every place and shelter and orphanage in the city, helping, carrying bags and doing pretty much everything to be at least a bit useful.

And, since he got tons of friends, titans and other superheroes, suddenly there were so many people to help that at some point it was hard to actually find something to do for them. Dick was beaming that he was doing something good for the community, sure, after all he was nearly as much of a goody two-shoes as his girlfriend.

But there was a little bit of selfishness in his actions, even if he would never say it out loud.

The way she was smiling.

No, cut that, she was beaming having so many helpers to coordinate and make Christmas miracle happen. Her eyes, her face even the roots of hair seemed to just radiate positive energy. And dick was just standing in a spot with his feet rooted to the ground watching her. His perfectly perfect, quicksilver, idealistic girlfriend.

“Penny for your thoughts?” a pair of arms wrapped around his waist unexpectedly.

“I love you.” He muttered, kissing her forehead. And her nose. And her cheek. “god, you have no idea what you do to me, do you?”

“Absolutely no idea. Should I apologise?” she teased “I didn’t do it on purpose I swear.”

“damn it, Y/n. You can do nothing wrong in my eyes, baby. You’re an angel.”

“Don’t know about that, but-“

“But I guess even an angel needs someone to look after her” he smiled brushing hair from her forehead “And I’m more than honored to take that position.”

“what position?” she frowned

“person to take care of you when you forgot about yourself” Dick fixed her coat and wrapped the scarf tighter around her making sure she was not cold “person to hold you and love you and keep you safe when you’re too busy watching over your wards” he caressed her cheek “I want to do this for the rest of my life if you’ll let me.” He whispered leaning forward and looking into her eyes “Y/N… my love… I couldn’t live without you. I – I want to ask you to - ” he stuttered, a bit scared to ask the obvious question.

“Is that your Christmas wish?” she whispered getting his intention even without words.

He nodded, his throat clenched because of all the emotions – and possibly because Wally was staring at him from the distance, like he just grew a pair of antlers or a tail. Please, god, please, make her say yes….

“I do.” She muttered leaning to give him a simple peck on the lips. “Yes, Dick. Yes.”

It was official.

He was the luckiest man on earth.

[stardewremixed]

Summer (real world) birthday headcanons and how they would celebrate their special day

Jas - June 4th - picking wildflowers with Penny in the morning, drawing on coloring pages with some new crayons from Vincent (courtesy of Sam's Joja paycheck) in the afternoon and playing at the park together. Gunther organizes a special story time at the library (with the help of Elliott providing all the voices). Marnie doesn't cook so Jodi would bake a pink cake, but Marnie would probably would have bought a new doll for her. Jas finishes the day on Shane's shoulders feeding the chickens on the farm.

Gus - June 8th - this man deserves more love since he feeds the village! I could see the Farmer bringing fresh oranges from their orchard in a basket wrapped with a yellow ribbon. Emily cooks up a big batch of his favorite fish tacos, and drags Haley in to help serve (giving Gus the night off). Haley would drag Alex into it (at least to carry bags of ice and look hot doing it). Elliott might tinker on the piano. Leah would have a pint or two and pitch in also. Willy brings some tropical curry from Ginger Island for his buddy. The SAS trio attempt a song in his honor. Gus is happy to spend the evening in the Saloon with his friends and neighbors.

Maru - June 10th - A big breakfast with her family complete with fresh strawberries. Seb surfaces before 10 just in her honor. Maru is thrilled to spend the day with her dad in the lab and collecting specimens in the forest. Harvey gave her the day off, of course, and a little strawberry birthday card. She gets a rhubarb pie, courtesy of Evelyn or the farmer. She spends the late afternoon chatting on a park bench with her BFF, Penny, who gives her robot drawings from the Valley kiddos. Robin builds a wooden shelf for all of Maru's odds-and-ends gadgets. And stargazing with Sebastian (like they did as kids) is the perfect way to end the day.

Alex - June 13th - Evelyn would make a complete breakfast for her grandson, and a small gift that she knitted (maybe a cover for a water bottle or for his weights to keep them protected). With the help of Farmer, George ordered a gridball card online for his grandson. Tossing the ball down at the beach and a long ocean swim with Farmer, plus a picnic lunch. (I have this cute little headcanon that he would build sandcastles with Vincent and Sam). If Farmer is able to splurge, catching a gridball game together in the evening is his birthday present. And Alex is a very physical guy in my book, so plenty of hand holding, bear hugs, kisses all day long and then a dip at the hot springs in the evening (and maybe a sensual massage).

Sam - July 17th - A platter of maple bars for breakfast and maybe some early morning cloud gazing with his main squeeze (Farmer). And there's no way he wouldn't have a party. Pizza. Joja colas. Plenty of cheery hi-energy rock music. Streamers. Balloons. Arcade games. Party poppers. Confetti. Karaoke. Oh and he would buy something cheesy at Jojamart for party favors like rubber bracelets or silly string. And maybe for a final touch of whimsy, embracing his inner child, a pinata with tons of candy (much to Vincent's delight)! Abigail would play her woodland flute after one too many sugary drinks and candies and cakes. Seb might even step up to the mic for karaoke (but would sneak a smoke first for courage).

Dwarf - July 22 - Dwarf is just happy if someone makes the effort to visit them and remembers to bring a gift (preferably a shiny stone). Oh and they are touched if you speak their language. Fancy a spot of stardrop tea together? Cheers!

Demetrius - August 19 - this man doesn't strike me as someone who really likes celebrating his birthday. A nice quiet unwrapping of gifts at home (a gift card from Seb because he has no clue what to get his stepdad), and a good bean hotpot dinner is probably all he wants. Maybe sharing an ice cream cone with Robin and a private dance under the stars.

Willy - August 24 - Spend the day fishing together and enjoy a simple fish dinner on the beach by a fire and he's happy. Oh and mugs of mead shared while swapping sea stories.

Leo - August 26 - look for bird feathers and shells to decorate his treehouse. I picture playing tag on the beach with Jas and Vincent, probably Sam and Penny too. And some fresh mangos is a delicious treat! He would probably enjoy a tape of bird songs or a picture book about birds. I totally think Emily would do face painting for his birthday.

[docholligay]

So my shul is doing a hunger drive for the high holy days and I want you to know that because of you I’m couponing like hell this week to see what I can take in terms of canned meats, non-peanut butter, and kid breakfasts. (And money. There will be money in there. But I can’t just put an envelope in a grocery bag by itself or they’ll think it’s empty.) I’ll be on “now I understand why my mom cooked like this” meals until I get paid again, but like, it’s a good time of year to remember how blessed I am to not normally have to do that. (And maybe I can convince the rabbis that next year we should do a penny war instead.) So: thank you for teaching me, and I hope it brightens your day to know it’s made a difference.

I am so glad! As I said, any time someone actually takes my advice about anything I am thrilled beyond belief.

Our congregation actually did a diaper drive, which I thought was a neat idea, not being able to talk anyone into just donating money. We work with an organization that helps families get on their feet via housing and various kinds of support, I've seen really good things happen with it. They're nominally Christian, kinda, in a very handwavey "sure why not" way--and when I say that I mean they work actively with us and also families with LGBT+ members. I know this on an "on the ground" way, in a "I have, in cooking dinners for some of their family dinners, met visibly LGBT+ families." They also keep a lot of kids out of the system! Parents that are just struggling with homelessness and are GOOD PARENTS otherwise, don't risk losing their kids in working with the programs.

ANYWAY, ENOUGH ABOUT THEM EVEN THOUGH I THINK THEY ARE GREAT.

It is always, I think, a good time to remember that we have advantages other people don't have. We are humans, and because we are humans, we always see the difficulties of our own situations, instead of how lucky we are in the moment. Every once in a whilte, i'll be standing in line at the grocery store and go, "I have no idea what this cart is going to cost" and it feels so WILD in that moment, that I have achieved the kind of life where I don't count cans of tuna or whatever. Me of the past would have said it would never happen. I think that is it's own value, knowing that we have advantages.

And also gifts! How will you use your gifts? I am a good cook for a crowd--cooking for 30-50 doesn't phase me-- so I take my rotation being the lead cook for the family dinner. I'm a decent writer, so I write up stuff for local organizations and events people make me aware of. I put people in contact with OTHER people I know who can help them, because I have a high social rolodex. I am good at physical labor, so sometimes I just...sign up to do it.

ANYWAY THANK YOU

[seenoversundown]

Sparrow Of the Dawn : Chapter 1

Sam x Willa (Fem OC) Warnings: Alcohol / Mentions of drinking, brotherly banter, dark humor/mentions of death (if you squint), otherwise silly boys being boys.

Word Count: 3.9K

Summary : Sam unfortunately finds himself in not so meet cute with Willa. Hopeful that he doesn't cross her path again; the world works in mysterious ways and not always in your favor.

Authors Note: AHHHHH I can’t wait for everybody to read and I hope you all love it as much as I do!! I’m so excited and nervous, feels like I’m waiting for the midnight premiere of Deathly Hallows (part 2) all over again 🥹😭💜

Flower Power - Greta Van Fleet “She’s a sparrow of the dawn, our love is born”

“Oh, HEY,” Jake says sarcastically the second he opens the front door, “Nice of you to show up, Jackass,” huffing out a laugh as he shuts the door behind me. The scuffed-up cherry wood floor creaks under the weight of our feet as I follow him over to where he had been organizing new stock behind the bar. 

“Right.. aaand where’s my paycheck again?” I retort, sliding onto my regular spot and dropping my camera bag next to me. The spot in the dead center of the bar has been claimed as mine since before Jake even opened, the stool now complete with my etched initials SFK under the cushion. 

“Time is money, brother, and I lend you mine for free, so you get me when I’m free. Which apparently to you means 9 a.m.?” I say, clasping my hands on the bartop, “So please, tell me what is so important that I needed to be here so early.” He sourly smirks back at me.

“Yeah, yeah. I have a few new ones in for you to shoot, and I’d like to get it done before we get busy today.” He picks up his clipboard, eyeing his stock list.

 “We finally got the pomegranate Downeast released last month that was on backorder, as well as the pear and the guava passion fruit. Then we have ‘Reciprocal’ from Bissell Bros here in Portland, and ‘Interchangeable #7’ from Blaze Brewing in Biddo. I’d really like to get the blaze shot for our ads because it has the most interesting can art. But, ya know, I trust you.” He reads off.

A year ago, Jake, my older brother, bought this bar located right here in the heart of the Old Port. Back in his senior year of high school he got really into “Black Sails”, this pirate TV show; he practically made it his personality. Naturally, he decided he wanted to run a bar for the rest of his life, so when old man Chuck decided to retire, Jake jumped at the opportunity to purchase it. “Caravel Tavern” has only been open for 6 months and It's been his baby ever since. 

“Wow, Jake Kiszka putting trust in ME? Are you feeling okay?” I feign shock grabbing at my heart.

“Just get it done, you idiot,” he says with a roll of his eyes.

“Alright, alright,” I say, glancing over the options. “Give me like an hour. I have an idea that might work. I need to head to the farmer’s market in town, but I can have the best shots edited and emailed to you tomorrow, and then we can pick the best ones for print.” I grab my bag, digging around for my car keys. “Hey, when is Josh in today? I’d like to get some shots of you guys pouring drinks for the website and Instagram for Josh’s intro post.”

“He should be here by the time you’re done with everything. That is if he’s on time. But let's be realistic, when is a Kiszka ever on time?” He replies as he breaks down boxes with a box cutter. 

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I take a right onto the gravel that’s set behind the farmers market, my rusty 92’ Ford F-150 rattling as I park. I hope to god it’s just a heat shield making that noise. I cannot afford another repair on Edith. She may be an old crotchety bitch, but she has my whole heart. Well, right behind Penelope, my Bernese mountain dog, Penny girl will always be my number one.

Ding 

I put her in park and shove my hand into my backpack blindly searching for the source of the text tone. Finally finding my phone Tweedle Dum🦞 appears on the screen.. I let out a giggle. 

We’re running a special on whiskey sours tonight pick up some eggs, princess.

I switch Jake and Josh’s contact name back and forth between tweedle dee and tweedle dum mainly to keep them on their toes, but I’d be lying if I said tweedle dum isn’t just whoever has pissed me off or been dubbed the biggest dumbass that week. The emojis always stay the same so I can keep them actually straight though. 

You got it, boss, I send back to Jake, winning the title this week for making me wake up at the ass crack of 9am. Which absolutely is early for me. 

Gathering my things, I step out of my truck, immediately being hit with a cold gust of wind, the air causing my eyes to water slightly. I brush away a tear forming in my eye before it threatens to fall down my cheek. For it being the end of March the air is crispier than normal. I pause a moment too long, and a shiver runs through my body. I zip my jacket up a little higher, trying to preserve my body heat. Making sure I have my mesh bag with me, I shut my door and head over to the booths. 

I make a beeline for Linda, a sweet older woman who is here every week selling chicken eggs, various fruits from her garden, and some knick-knack crafts she makes. I have about seven bowl koozies, though I’m not sure I even own as many bowls considering it’s just me, but they are really good for ramen and ice cream. Which I do not eat together. Jake and Josh live in the apartment above the bar, so when I moved back after college, I got an apartment a couple roads away to stay close. 

Our parents moved out of our small hometown, which sits just on the other side of Portland. Padded off to Apple Valley, Georgia trying to settle into a warmer climate or something. They bought a house big enough for just the two of them and a guest room on an acre of land, “just in case any of you boys come to visit” Mom said. In all honesty, Apple Valley is just the same town, different state. They always said they didn’t like the city because it was too big, which is funny to me after spending the last four years in Boston. Everything here seems much smaller now.

“Morning Linda!” I smile and wave at her.

“Oh, Samuel. You’re up early this week. How are you doing, Sweetheart? How’s my Daniel?” She flashes me a warm smile. She’s also Daniel’s biggest fan. Pretty sure she only comes into the bar to see him, even though I met her first. But what can I say? I’m apparently an excellent matchmaker; we just won't mention the fact that she's 72.

I chuckle, “I’m just out running some errands for Jake. I’m on call today, apparently. Daniel’s good though! He misses you, ya know.” I finish flashing her a wink.

She lets out a high-pitched laugh, “I’ll be down to visit with Miss Eleanor. You tell him not to worry.” She raises an eyebrow and smirks at me, “Anyway, what can I get ya my dear?”

“Think two dozen will do it for today.” I hand her a crumpled ten-dollar bill in exchange, “Keep the change, Lin. I’ll see you at the bar or next Saturday, whichever comes first.” I set the eggs carefully in my tote and head toward my next stop, the flower truck.

The beer I’m photographing for the bar has a brightly colored logo in a style reminiscent of comic book art. A bold red can with yellow, blue, and purple adorning the signature name. My idea is to use a bouquet of different flowers to accent the colors and make the can pop. 

I scan through the metal buckets, trying to mentally piece together an arrangement without disturbing the flowers too much. They are far too delicate to be pulling and yanking on them just to try them out for size. Some of the people here, like Linda, make their living posting up every Saturday. 

I reach for a bundle of forget-me-nots, settling on those along with the last of the remaining Irises, a few red Dahlias, Daffodils, and Butterfly Milkweed. Taking a step back slightly away from the displays, I start to rearrange the bouquet to my liking. Extending my arms out in front of me, and changing my angle to make sure I like how the flowers look together. Just as I decide that, yes, these will do for what their intended purpose is, I feel someone aggressively poking my bicep. 

I turn toward the person attached to the finger. Not going to lie; I’m a bit impressed by the force of it, considering I’m wearing a sweater under my quilted jacket, and the woman who’s doing the poking is standing at about 5 foot nothing and looks like a swift breeze might carry her away. I blink slowly at her a few times and raise my eyebrows waiting expectedly.

“Did someone die, or did you just fuck up like, wicked bad?” the snark heavily laden on her tone. 

I close my eyes and let out a long breath, “Uhm, it’s uhh –” I stutter a bit, really trying to play it up, “My grandma died last week, actually. Did you know her? Her name was Althea.” I gaze down at my shoes and drop my head a bit, taking a moment before I attempt to look for her reaction through my eyelashes. If I held my breath long enough, I might just be able to work up a tear. Would that be too dramatic? .. maybe.

“Oh.. uh. No, I didn’t. I’m sor–” Regret immediately paints her face.

“I’m fucking with you.” I let out a small laugh

“What?” her eyes narrow at me, trying to figure out if I’m lying or telling the truth.

“I’m joking, my grandma is fine. Are you okay? Or is it a normal occurrence for you to ask a complete stranger if they’re mourning a dead relative?" Amusement settles on my face.

She lets out an audible groan. Why is she so angry? She tugs down at the sides of her short floral dress and waves a hand out toward my arrangement. 

“Why on earth do you need every single purple flower!?” She exclaims, “And who jokes about their grandma dying?” stamping her beaten-up Doc Marten into the patchy grass. She actually stomped her foot at me. What are we twelve?

I roll my eyes and attempt to alleviate the situation, “Bachelor Buttons.” 

I have work to do and absolutely do not need an attitude from a complete stranger, even if she is cute. I have brothers for that purpose, and they do their jobs well enough.

 “They’re mostly purple but with a bit of blue. They symbolize love if you’re trying to give them to someone important.” I scratch the back of my head and briefly hope she says she’s not. I immediately throw the thought away with a shake of my head. Nope, not opening that door.

“I don’t need Bachelor Buttons.” 

“.. ookaay. You could always d –” 

“I need Irises.” She says, cutting me off, “Specifically. Okay? And I’m fine, but if I can't find irises today because of you count *poke* your *poke* days!” she ends her sentiment with a final sharp poke to my chest and storms away. God damn, her finger is like a tiny dagger.

Listen, growing up without any sisters means I don’t know much about women, but what I do know .. is definitely never believe one when they say they’re fine. 

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As I walk through the door of Caravel Tavern for the second time today, I call out, “Okay, Jake, I’m back with your eggs, Asshole. Where are you?”

I set my camera bag and the eggs down and lean over the counter, checking to see if he’s kneeling behind the bar top.

 “.. Jake?” I look side to side. Where the hell is he? It’s the middle of the day, not nearly early enough for lunch.. Not like the guy takes a break anyway. 

“JAKE WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!” I yell through my cupped hands. The sound echoes through the empty space.

He comes running from the back room, a panic written on his face. “Jesus Christ, Sam, what?”

“Got your eggs.” grinning wildly at him. I swear I'm actually his favorite brother. 

“Well, thanks, Samuel, for being useful for one thing today.” He says, before changing his tone, “You okay? You look a bit tense?”

“Yeah,” absentmindedly, my hand drifts to my shoulder, rubbing at the area where angry-flower-girl poked me earlier. “Actually, you’ll never believe what happened to me at the farmers market.”

He’s not looking at me when he hums his response, just putting the eggs in the mini fridge next to the ice well. I slide the second carton over to him.

“I ran into this girl, actually, she ran into me rather. I was picking out the bouquet arrangement for the photos I want to take and she sorta.. Came at me poking?”

He slowly stands and looks at me, his brow furrowed a bit. “She.. came at you?” He pauses. “Poking?”

“Poking,” I point to my shoulder in disbelief.

“Okay, and what did this poking girl want?”

“To yell at me for taking all the irises. I tried to do the gentlemanly thing and suggest an alternative, but she poked me some more and stomped off. She was hot as hell even if she was a bit psychotic.” 

“Well, why did you take all the irises? You also could have taken the other- wait, “ Jake pauses, turning to face me head-on. He sets the empty carton on the counter, “No, whatever you’re thinking about, cut it out,” He points at me, “Did you forget about the last ‘cute but insane’ girl?” 

“Hey, she wasn’t that bad! AND she was really hot?!” both hands raised.

“Sam, she cracked your windshield” he pinches the bridge of his nose.

Just as I’m about to further protest, “Cracked windshield? We’re not talking about ‘the Bride of Chucky’ are we?” Josh says

“Oh, come on guys, you can say her name. And again.. She wasn't that bad.”

“No, every time you say her name she comes back like Voldemort, and none of us need that shit.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Get your ass clocked in so I get your headshots done, and you can get to work lest Jake have a stroke.” I lean toward Josh and whisper, “You’re already late.”

“When isn’t he late?” Jake sighs and rolls his eyes.

“Well,” Josh claps his hands together, “it is clearly time for my close-up. Sammy, let’s get this shit fest over with.”  

Oh, Josh, ever the dramatic brother.

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I don’t spend a ton of time taking Josh’s photos, grateful that he isn’t afraid of the camera. I barely have to direct him, which makes my life that much easier. If he could work on just not being a pain in the ass the rest of the time, that’d be great. 

A few goodbyes later, and I’m finally off to edit. Putting all my things into the passenger seat and giving my truck some words of encouragement, the engine turns over. Thank fucking god. I live fairly close to the bar, so I decide to not bother with the radio and just listen to whatever comes my way. 

Still thinking about the poking girl, mostly because my chest was sore. I didn’t expect to be stabbed today. I do hope she found her Irises…  

‘Now I don’t hardly know her, but I think I could love her,’

I turn the volume up on the radio, hoping it’ll help me focus on driving and not thinking about her.  

I make it back home, throwing the truck in park and hustling up to my apartment. I’m quickly greeted by my bundle of joy. I set all my things out to edit on the counter and take care of Miss P before I start working.

Taking a walk is probably what I needed to do anyway. 

I got Penelope right after I graduated and moved back up here. Being used to a house full of people to just living alone was.. well, lonely. I think I lasted only a few months living alone before I gave in and went to find a pet. The twins suggested a cat because they’re fairly low maintenance, and their plan was to get a couple cats once their lives settled a bit. Settled ended up being right around when Jake bought the bar, I would hardly call that settled, but it worked out for them. Me on the other hand, I’m more of a dog person. As soon as I saw Penny, I knew she’d be my adventure buddy, coming with me on my walks and hikes and photography trips. It’s definitely easier with a dog, despite what Josh says about how easy it is to train a cat with a harness to adventure with you.

Once she is settled in after our walk, I sit down to edit for a while. Pulling up the photos of Josh, something seems off. Why are half of these out of focus? I think to myself, scrolling through the options. If he could have just stopped talking for two seconds, this one would have looked good.  The longer I scroll through the options, the more annoyed I get. Why did she poke me so fucking hard? Finding myself rubbing the spot on my chest, I force myself to get up for a minute. Maybe I just need to walk around. Wandering into my bathroom, I pull the collar of my shirt down to see the spot, if it doesn’t actually bruise, I’ll be SHOCKED.  

Sitting back down, I take one look at the photo I've been trying to salvage, letting out a sigh. This is awful. 

Me: hey I’m not super happy with how Josh’s pics came out.. Do you care if I just borrow him in the morning to get some new ones? 

Me: Not at 6am tho-  it’ll be Sunday, The Lord’s day, and he would want me to get my beauty rest. 

Tweedle Dum🦞: lol that’s fine bud 

Me: I may come back for a drink tho. Shit has me STRESSED.

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“God, Sam, don’t you ever leave?” Josh calls from behind the bar. 

“You’d think I was tired of looking at your ugly mug all day, but guess not.” My lips wind into a tight smile. “Can I actually get a drink? I’m annoyed as fuck that I hate all the pictures I took today, and a drink sounds like the perfect remedy.” 

“Turning to alcohol to solve your problems, hmm?”

“Shhhhh,” I wave my hands in front of me. “Can I get a Clover Club, maybe? In a whiskey glass.. No garnish. I don’t wanna look like a little bitch.” I groan 

“Let your freak flag fly, brother,” spinning away to go make my drink and tend to the other patrons seated down the bar top. 

This drink really better do the trick so I can relax for five minutes. Honestly, the pressure I put on myself to make sure I do well for Jake’s pride and joy, along with trying to find my own way with a full-time job is a little exhausting. It’s hard knowing that Caravel is his baby; he really doesn’t have much else going on. I swear if he got laid, he’d be a hell of a lot less uptight about it, but I digress. I don’t totally feel like I’m the most reliable person, but I try to make sure he can count on me and I don’t contribute to his stress. Ya know, he’s my brother, and I want him to be as proud of me as I am of him for doing what he loves so much. I don’t think I tell him enough how proud I really am of him. He’s someone I look to for inspiration for trying to pave my own way. I’d never tell him that though, because he’d probably think I was yanking his chain or something. I have a job trial-type thing down in Boston later this week, and I’m really hoping it turns out to be something good. I could use something good right now.

Josh interrupts my thoughts, setting my drink down, “Just how you asked for it in a cocktail glass with extra garnish.”

I sigh audibly, “Ya know, I don’t even care. Gimme it.” I gulp it down in nearly one go. Josh looks surprised at me. Whether it’s because of my eagerness or because he knows I’m terrible at holding my alcohol, I’m not sure. I don’t care. 

“One more.” I close my eyes, waiting for the gin to work its magic on me. Feeling my muscles relax bit by bit, my brow finally straightens out, and I sink down against the wall closest to my seat. I sigh audibly again, though this time it’s one of relief.

The longer I sit here, the more people are trickling in. Sipping on my drink this time, I notice people in all sorts of outfits looking vaguely like anime characters. Gathering in little cliques of friend groups, a few interesting folk bouncing from table to table. I can't tell if time is moving incredibly fast or if the alcohol has made me move slower, but suddenly, I have the realization that it’s packed in here. Since opening, they’ve been able to handle everything behind the bar, just the two of them, with Daniel manning the door, but I don’t think they’re equipped to handle whatever event these people are overflowing from. 

I swig back the last sip of my drink, grab my glass, and make my way to the back room. I toss the raspberry garnish before setting the glass in the sink to be washed. Grabbing the ice bucket, I start to fill it to make sure the front is stocked for them; ice is usually always the first thing to go. I lug the full bucket back behind the bar, and refill the ice well. 

“Thanks, Sammy. Hey,  would you mind bussing some of the tables and asking the people with tabs if they need any refills, please? I’ll make sure I put you on the payroll for the night,” Jake asks, eyes pleading and desperate for help. And really, who am I to say no to him?

“Of course I can. I’ve got nothing else better to do anyway.” I start to reach for a tray. 

“Thanks. I mean it.” he says, squeezing my shoulder, “I forgot PortCon was happening, and we’re close to one of the hotels.” He explains before returning to the drink he's making. 

That explains the costumes. I do my rounds checking to make sure everyone seated in the booths are okay, grabbing the empty drinks out of their way, making light conversation when I can. I bring a tray of glasses, napkins, and various random trash items back behind the bar and set them in the bin next to Jake. Just as I go to take another trip, my eyes catch the door. Of course. Of course, this would happen to me. I can’t have a single day go smoothly if my life depended on it. Good God, someone is out to get me, I swear. 

“Fuck me,” I say out loud. 

“Who is that?” Jake says to me as he’s working on his current drink order. 

“The angry-flower-girl with the dagger fingers,” I pause, looking at the dude standing next to her, “annnd her date.”

“Oh shit.”

Crimson and Clover - Tommy James and the Shondells

“Now I don't hardly know her But I think I could love her Crimson and clover”

&lt;- Prologue Chapter Two ->

Masterpost | Taglist | Jukebox Playlist

Taglist:

@gvfsstardust, @myleftsock, @mindastreamofcolours, @dont-go-home-without-me, @literal-dead-leaf, @lizzys-sunflower, @threadofstars, @mackalah, @klarxtr, @edgingthedarkness, @writingcold, @i-love-gvf, @takenbythemadness, @ladywhimsymoon, @earthgrlsreasy, @ourlovesdesire, @peaceloveunitygvf, @anythingforjtk

[bobby-r2d2-floyd]

the nanny part 3 | hangman x reader (saturn)

note: finally a longer one? ish? it took a minute to write because i had a headache every day for the last week and then i had a take home organic chemistry exam that i needed to get done (gotta maintain that 4.0, school is important kids!)

warnings: swearing, very light angst, jake is pinning, saturn is in a relationship. lowkey jake is a simp.

i don't think that this is a warning but i've not explicitly said this either, but any female character i write is bisexual. of that isn't your cup of tea, i'm sorry.

word count: 2.6k

not beta'd we die like men.

inspired by: @roosterforme

previous | next

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Jake was a mess. 

For no reason, honestly. He had typed out, deleted, retyped, deleted again, and then said said fuck it and opened up his notes app to try and type a message out to you about this weekend. All this weekend is, really, is a friendly chat between a dad looking for someone to help him out with his infant daughter that he didn’t know existed a month ago, and Penny Benjamin’s solid 10 niece that gave him a half mast when she was holding his daughter, for no reason. 

And when you called him Dad-man? His heart stopped. He thought about it all night. 

By the time Friday night had rolled around he still hadn’t texted you in regards to going out tomorrow, so when he got a text message from you, he was a little confused, he hadn’t given you his number… had he?

Hey dad-man! Rooster gave me your number since I hadn’t heard from you all week. Are we still on for tomorrow? I know that Avery is a little young but the San Diego Zoo is doing a little arts and crafts thing with the animals tomorrow we could check out? My treat? you had sent along with a link to the event and he smiles as he types out his message to you.

Hey! You know I honestly had like, 30 different messages typed out to send you but they were all ass ideas compared to yours. I’m sure Avery would love it even if she doesn’t understand what’s going on, lol maybe we could grab coffee or something from a cafe afterwards?

It’s a date, dad-man ;) you send back after a few minutes, which is quickly followed by: pick me up at 9? 

It’s a date, darlin he sends and then groans into his hands “darlin? Seriously? She’s going to nanny your fucking get, get a grip Seresin.” he sets an alarm for 7 am, not like he needs it though. Avery is awake and hungry by 6:45 then out for a nap by 8:30. 

He’s asleep just after 2 and at 6:45 on the dot he can hear Avery stirring through the baby monitor on his nightstand. He’s quick to stand up before her wails get any louder, changes her from any accident she could have had in her sleep and then heads downstairs to make her a bottle. While he’s feeding her, he has coffee brewing for himself so he isn’t a complete zombie when he sees you in a few hours. He gets Avery dressed and her diaper bag packed before he’s setting her in her bouncer in the bathroom so he can take a quick shower without leaving her unsupervised -- she has the time of her life listening to him sing. 

It’s 8:45 by the time he’s finally leaving. Avery forgoing her morning nap and choosing to fight him instead when he was trying to get her dressed, and then puking on his one clean shirt that he had that wasn’t his service khakis or a graphic t-shirt set him behind his schedule. He quickly found a shirt that he turned into a tank top, groaning at how he looked like a gym douchebag 

You were waiting on the steps of Penny’s house for him nearly 15 minutes past 9 for him, and boy were you a sight to see. He definitely regretted his choice of a dingey old Navy shirt but that was his own fault for putting off his laundry and choosing to favor doing Avery’s instead. You were wearing jean shorts you obviously cut yourself, sinfully short but also modest at the same time. The shorts were paired with a pair of tennis shoes and a plain white tank top and a… fanny pack?

You hopped into his truck with a “you’re late” but he just laughs and points to the fanny pack.

“The 90s called, they want their stuff back.” 

“Hey, don’t shit on the 90s. Plus fanny packs are back in. It’s so much more convenient than carrying a purse or other bag around, they’re less likely to be stolen, and both my hands are free.” you say and do a little jazz fingers motion and he just smiles and shakes his head. You put your seatbelt on and he’s pulling out away from the curb.

“Besides, you can’t shit on what I’m wearing, when you’re wearing that.” 

“Hey, be nice to me. Av puked on the shirt I was going to wear and I hadn’t had the chance to wash my clothes yet.” 

“Well, let’s skip the zoo. Avery won’t know the difference, we’ll go back to your place and I can help you clean up.” you suggest and he shakes his head.

“My laundry is not your responsibility. We’re going to the zoo.” he says in his dad voice and you just laugh.

“Whatever you say, dad-man.” you kick your feet up against his dash and if you were anyone else, he’d be telling you to get them off the dash.

The drive to the zoo goes by quickly and despite you calling dibs on paying the entrance fee, Jake is slapping his card down faster than you can even open your fanny pack. You shoot him a glare and he gives you a smirk that sends most girls falling to their knees. Keyword, most.

Jake pushes Avery’s stroller through the zoo while you walk beside him, making light conversation and getting to know each other as you make your way to where the kids' activities are located. 

You learn that he comes from an abusive home. His dad was an alcoholic who passed from liver failure not that long ago, flooding the family with relief. He has three sisters, plenty of nieces and nephews. You learned grew up on a ranch which explains how his legs bow out the smallest amount, his favorite color is green (of course), his favorite tv show, food, even the book he read recently. You told him about your life too, growing up in eastern Tennessee, your parents' accident, living with Penny and helping her raise Amelia to the teen she is today, your time in Vermont, why you picked education to go into. Jake easily saw you as someone that he wanted to spend more time with, it was a no brainer that you would be the one watching his daughter when he needed it. Hell, he could even see Avery calling you mom one day, in the distant future of course. 

You three had finally made it to the area of the zoo where the activities were being held and you take Avery out of her stroller and sit with her in your lap while Jake sits next to you. The warmth of your skin against his making him hotter than the San Diego sun. 

For the next hour you two sit, comfortable with each other while Avery mashes paint around the ziplock bag she was working on. Thankfully for the sun it dried quickly and you drew out a few animals on the rainbow colors covering the page. 

At only 4 months old, Jake is in such awe at how you talk to and how you treat Avery and even at how Avery responds to you. The babble that you do back to Avery, how sweet you talk to her, how she reaches for you, all of it. Just melts Jake. 

The time to walk back to the truck wasn’t long enough, in his opinion, and he was already planning a trip back when she was a little older and would appreciate it a little bit more. 

You put Avery in her carseat while Jake breaks down her stroller and puts it into the bed of his truck before shutting the lift gate. “Still up for coffee?” he asks just as you’re shutting the back door.

“If you are.” you say and give him a smile, he opens your door for you and offers you a hand and you just laugh and take it before hopping up into the cab and once you’re settled he shuts the door and walks around to his own side.

The drive to the local coffee shop he had in mind was surprisingly quick to get to, granted he did speed a little through some yellow lights to get there.

You don’t bother getting Avery’s stroller out, choosing instead to just undo her car seat and carry her in that way since she was sleeping peacefully already. You tell Jake your order and he stands in line while you go and pick out a table, a little table in the corner and you set Avery’s carrier the table after making sure that it was sturdy enough that you didn’t need to worry about bumping the table and having her shift too much. 

Jake comes and takes a seat since it’ll take a minute for the food to be prepared. “They didn’t have hazelnut, is caramel okay?” he asks since you had asked for a hazelnut latte.

“Caramel is perfect, actually. It’s my favorite flavor.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” he says with a smile and leans forward on the table and you give him a kind smile back.

“So dad-man. Think I’m fit enough to watch Avery for you?” you ask and he chuckles.

“I think you’re qualified to do more than that, but yeah. She loves you, I love you-oh I uh-” his ears redden and you laugh.

“No I get it, don’t worry.” you say as his name is being called for the food and drinks. You watch him walk away, shamelessly checking him out as he goes, you bite your lip softly but look away quickly when he turns around to walk back. 

“One chicken salad on a croissant with blueberry applesauce and an iced caramel latte with oat milk for Saturn,” he says, setting your tray down and you laugh and he sets his down before pulling his chair out. “And one of the exact same thing for me.”  

“Real original dad-man.” you say as you take a sip of the latte and you moan, “this is so good.” 

His breath hitches when he hears the sound and he shakes it off with a laugh, “yeah, the coffee here is the best I’ve had in the area. It’s nice that it isn’t too far from base or from home either.”

“Might just have to go a little out of my way in the morning to come here.” you say and he laughs.

“So, how did you get the nickname Saturn?” he asks as he takes a bite of his sandwich and a sad smile forms on your face.

“I got it from my dad. I don’t know why I took such a liking to the planet, but I grew up loving space. I wanted to be an astronaut, actually. He took me to our local planetarium and it was the first planet that I actually saw in the telescope and there was just something about the rings that really drew five year old me in. I wanted saturn everything. I even went as the planet for Halloween one year.” you say and he laughs.

“What were you just a yellow ball with circles around you?” he asks and you nod.

“Yeah pretty much, let me see if I have a picture.” you pull out your phone and he glances at your lock screen and sees it’s you and another girl kissing with fireworks in the background. He quickly looks away as you get into your phone, feeling an unnecessary stab to his heart. “Here it is!” you say and show him little you with a little bucket of candy, the biggest grin on your face and he laughs and takes your phone so he can look at it closer.

“You were adorable, what happened?” he teases and you make an offended noise and snatch your phone back.

“I’m still adorable! I’m just… grown now.” you say and he laughs.

You both sit there for a while longer, Jake running out to get stuff for a bottle before coming back in to see you already holding her and waiting for him to return. “You want me to feed her?” he asks and you shake your head.

“Nope. I got her.” you saw and take the bottle, she latches quickly to it and starts drinking away. “When you have me around you are doing nothing. Just relax, daddy. Let someone else take care of her.”

He feels relief at that statement, but also useless since all he’s done for the past almost month is take care of this little human that he helped to create. But watching you take care of her, so effortlessly, was so easy for him. He didn’t expect to be able to relinquish control of this aspect of his life so easily, and yet, it was almost second nature to him.

“So, are you able to start watching her on Monday? I return to duty then and-”

“Jake, it’s fine. I do nothing all day aside from helping out Penny at the bar. I would be more than happy to come and spend all day with this little baby.” you say, looking down at Avery with a smile on your face.

“I’m not, stealing you away from anyone am I? Boyfriend.. Girlfriend?” he fishes and you laugh.

“My girlfriend lives back in Vermont. She doesn’t have any plans to come visit any time soon so as of right now, the only person you and Avery are stealing time from is myself. But there’s nothing I can’t do with her that I couldn’t do by myself.” you say and he nods.

“How long have you two been together?” 

“Just over two years. We celebrated our anniversary just before I moved out here.” you say, looking back up at him and you see the look change in his eyes and you offer him a small smile.

“What about you? Any girlfriend that’s going to come out of the frameworks?” you tease and he shakes his head. 

“Nah, not really looking to date now that I have this little one to be thinking about.” he says and you nod, the conversation ending there. 

After Avery is done with her bottle you burp her and lay her back in her car seat. It’s nearing 3pm already and you have to get to the bar soon for your shift. Jake carries Avery back to the car while you run into the bathroom, splashing cool water on your face. 

You knew things were rocky with your girlfriend back home, and the last thing you ever wanted to do was get involved with your new boss, even if he was one of the most genuine and kind men you’ve ever met.

You make your way to Jake’s truck and he’s waiting for you outside, windows already rolled down so the back door can be shut and Avery won’t bake in the Californian sun. He opens your door for you again and you smile and climb up in the truck.

It’s a short drive to the bar and you hesitate getting out, you look back at him with your lip already between your teeth and you smile. “Thank you, Jake. I had a really great time.”

He returns your smile with a nod, “so did I. And I’m sure that Avery did too.” you laugh and look back at her.

“You’ll have to text me your address before Monday.” you remind him and he nods.

“I will.”

“Alright, well. Enjoy your night, dad-man.” you say, jumping out of his truck and he watches you walk into the bar, leaning his head back against his seat and letting out a deep sigh.

Of course you’re in a relationship.

------------

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[destiny-smasher]

New update for my NemoPen fic, Operation Comet Punch.

Nemona and Penny settle in with their Pokémon for their first night together as roommates.

Excerpt:

“-... just... a lot. Isn't it?” Nemona finished her ramble, running her long-haired Pokémon brush along her Lycanroc's tail. She sighed tiredly for a few seconds as she continued fur maintenance duty. She lamented in a soft moan, “I never thought... adult-ing would be this complicated...” “... Brrr-uff,” Lyla replied with a soft, intimate bark. She nudged her snout into Nemona's left armpit, the puffs of dog breath tickling Nemona's pit hairs and causing her to flinch back and giggle, which devolved into a few seconds of cuddling and the smallest of licks against Nemona's nose. And for those few seconds, all of Nemona's fears about the future vanished, lost in the sensory comfort of fur and warmth and empathy that only a Pokémon could convey to their human companion. Lyla seemed to have a knack for that – getting Nemona to physically react in ways that she needed. They'd known each other for over 5 years now, and Nemona's heart swelled with pride at how far Lyla had come. She sure wasn't that little, bitey, rowdy Rockruff anymore... “... Wwwowff,” Lyla uttered, gently smacking Nemona's arm with her tail as it wagged. “Heh. Yeah,” Nemona murmured warmly. “I agree...” she said, to nothing in particular, just the vibes. She scooped the brush back up and resumed tidying Lyla's fur. Down to the tail at this point, so, almost done.

The sounds of pokéballs releasing their creatures reverberated from outside the flat's front door, and the utterances of a familiar assortment of pets could be heard, including paws padding at the wood from outside. “Buff-buff!” “Sounds like they're back, Lyla,” Nemona noted, giving her 'mon a tender scratching behind the ear. Lyla's pointed ears flicked a bit, but her eyes closed and her lips loosed open. Nemona seized the opportunity, placing her brush down and going all-in on administering head scratches from skull to chin. The yips and yops of Penny's Pokémon flooded into the flat as the door was unlocked and the lot of them scrambled inside. “Gwah-!” Penny yelped, a sting of Jolteon-juiced static electricity spiking up her leg. Her hands tightly gripped a couple paper bags of the food, but the small stumble she recovered from quickly, though her glasses tilted against her nose. “Vivi, vivv!” “Vee~” “Vrr-rrrr...” “Brrrufff!” Nemona chuckled with a bit of wariness as the cacophony of critter calls quickly ignited the flat into a frenzy of hungry noise. She was a little concerned for the folks downstairs, but it was a salon shop beneath them, so it likely wasn't much to worry about, much less at this evening hour. Furthermore, while Nemona could focus and drown out the noise (she was used to doing so when workers at the family manor were buzzing about), it still could be overwhelming when she was ready for a quiet evening, especially the first in her new home. Nemona could see Lyla's excitement light up on her face at the prospect of playing with Penny's Veevees. And yet, while the obedient dog trembled beneath Nemona's hands, eyes darting around, she did not budge from her spot. A well trained pup, Lyla was. Nemona couldn't help but admire that disciplined patience for a few seconds, her heart beaming with pride at her dog daughter. “OK, OK,” Nemona at last cooed, planting a small kiss against the side of Lyla's snout. “Good girl. You can go,” she permitted. She held her palm out to feel the rush of fur slide against her skin as her Pokémon scampered into the kitchen, which was quite close by. “Ruff-ruff!” “Veee~” “VvvvVVVvvv..." “Vaaahh...” “Hey,” Nemona greeted her girlfriend, lifting her voice to eke through the monster barking. She watched as Penny loosed the laces on her canvas sneakers, kicking them off. “VREE!” “Hey, Nem-Oh-my-Arc,” Penny suddenly sighed at the noise, gawping at their pets causing a ruckus as she hung up her jacket. The stack of empty food bowls was getting messed about. They clearly knew what was coming. Nemona got up and walked over to where her broken down boxes lay, at Penny's side in front of the door. They watched the situation in the kitchen as Lyla play fought with a small army of Eeveelutions, pretending to be felled by their mass. Nemona stole a side glance at Penny, admiring the way the woman's face settled into a warm glow at the sight of her beloved rascals. Unable to contain a small grin, Nemona wriggled an arm around Penny's waist, slipping her fingers up the back of Penny's shirt to gently scratch at her back. “Welcome home,” Nemona said into Penny's ear. It felt nice to say it and have it carry proper context. This was home now. She had un amor-... a lovely girlfriend to welcome back home...

[choiaerii]

grocery shopping with enhypen · 엔하이픈 ·

¿ food, not proofread ¿ fluffy @ choiaerii

lowercase intended

lee heeseung ꔛ

your original plan was to go alone to the closest grocery store to buy food, but heeseung wouldn't let you, of course he had to go with you, his baby. you guys went to the grocery store and picked out some food. he payed for everything, not letting you spend a single penny. his justifies this with "why would i let you pay when i'm here?"

park jongseong ꔛ

rich boy he might as well just buy the whole store!! jay doesn't loving shopping, but he'll do whatever if it means spending time with you~ he buys literally EVERYTHING. whatever you want, he buys triple. so kind, and so rich.

sim jaeyun ꔛ

jake noticed that his fridge was looking a little empty lately, so he decided to drag you to the grocery store with him. "babe you're just better at buying food" was his excuse for spending more time with you, though he doesn't need one, you would spend your entire life with him. when you weren't looking, he secretly snuck a bag of fluffy marshmellows into the cart, and he ate his marshmallows happily, though he did offer you some when you found otu.

park sunghoon ꔛ

lets you choose everything ~ he really has no preference, as long as you like it, he likes it. when he thought you weren't looking, you saw him looking at the glass near the milk cartons, talking to himself about how handsome he was... you found it so cute

kim sunoo ꔛ

doesn't. let. you. spend. a. quarter. of. a. penny. you guys almost argued over who pays for the groceries, because he refuses to let you pay. you argue back with "i'm very capable of paying you know?" but he doesn't care. (he also secretly bought 4 buckets of mint choco ice cream)

yang jungwon ꔛ

going to the groceries is something he takes very seriously. he writes a whole list and everything, calculating the final cost, etc etc. when you make fun of him for being like your grandma, he responds with "hey it's called being organized you know?" so many laughs, this was so fun.

nishimura riki ꔛ

he makes everything fun ; even going to the groceries!! he sees you eyeing a bag of your favourite cookies, and he offers to buy them for you, knowing how much you love your cookies. he's so kind. when you guys were getting food from an empty aisle, he impresses you with his dance moves. you felt like you fell in love with him all over again.

aeri's note: guys. another imagine finished!! this is so fun, sorry for the spam posting >< SEND ME THINGS YOU WANT ME TO WRITE ABOUT I NEED MORE IDEAS PLEASE. go press the "questions" tab on my profile and req ideas i'm desperate!!! thank you guys sm for reading ily!!

[rarepairmonarch]

Hi✨✨ I am back and also alive

Enjoy this cute lil fic I made

How to make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Teaching was Penny’s passion. It was the reason she was able to yank herself out of her bed at 7 a.m. every weekday. The only reason she had to get out of bed at all, really.

Her class was small, only two children residing within the suffocating lines of Pelican town. Those children were Penny’s entire world. She poured hours of her own time in ensuring her students were having a truly fulfilling education; one of the perks that came along with not being a part of any big public school was her ability to control every aspect of the curriculum.

She found herself particularly excited for this day, a bright smile resting on her face as she gazed in the mirror, pinning her hair up in her usual loose bun.

As she stepped into the main room of the house, she couldn’t help but smile when she saw her mom slowly getting ready for work. Such a small thing for Pam making a world of difference within her own confidence

Pam noticed her daughter’s prideful stare and responded with one of confusion.

“There somethin on my face?” She asked, pulling out a hand mirror to reinspect her makeup.

Penny shook her head, “Nope, today is just good.” She replied sweetly.

She moved to the small kitchenette, packing a picnic basket with everything she’d need to teach today. Books on fables and poetry were carefully swaddled in her soft, plaid picnic blanket as well as papers, pencils and crayons.

She reached up into the top cabinet of the kitchenette, pulling down the loaf of bagged bread she bought the night prior, pouting when she noticed it had been opened.

“Mom, I told you not to use this bread.” Penny complained.

Pam rolled her eyes, taking a bite from the peanut butter and jelly she made.

“It was all we had!” Pam protested, “if you don’t want me eating your little school lunches then maybe buy food for us as well? Not like the kiddos are gonna eat all that anyways.”

Penny sighed, placing the loaf in the basket, “That’s not-“ she sighed, there wasn’t any winning this fight, “you didn’t use too much of the peanut butter and jelly, did you?” She asked, moving to the fridge to pull out the grape jelly bought fresh from the farmer.

“You callin me fat?” Pam replied aggressively.

Another sigh from Penny as she pulled the peanut butter from the cabinet, placing that and the jelly into her basket.

“No mom, have a good day.” She answered, not waiting for Pam’s response.

With that, she exited the trailer and started proudly moving towards Vincent’s house to pick him up for school.

On her way, she met eyes with the farmer. They had been working hard gathering building materials recently. She couldn’t help but notice an excited look in their eyes anytime they saw her or her mother. This day was no exception, they gave her an over the top wave hello, and she responded with her own sweet, yet concealed wave before they darted off toward Yoba knows where.

The weather was warmer than expected, as she moved toward the stone paths of the town, she fished around in her pocket, wondering if she had enough gold to treat the kids to a pop or an ice cream later. She frowned in defeat when she could only pull out 2 gold. As much as she loved her job, it paid nothing. On her walks to pick up the kids, she’d often fantasize about having enough money for new books, new supplies and sometimes even a whole schoolhouse, but with her unpaid job taking up all her time, it wasn’t likely to happen soon.

She walked up to Vincent’s home, giving the door a knock before stepping back.

Penny was surprised when, after a few moments, it wasn’t Mrs. Jodie at the door with a sleepy Vincent by her side. Instead, she was met by the sleepy gaze of Sam with an ecstatic Vincent by his side.

Penny’s gaze instantly fell to the floor as bashfulness took over her usually cheery morning demeanor.

“Oh! G- good morning, Sam! Sorry if I woke you up…” she mumbled.

Sam shook his head, yawning, “Nah, it wasn’t you, it was this little dude.” He replied, placing a hand on top of Vincent's head.

Vincent nodded, “I was really super excited about my paper!! I got Sam to write one too! He can read it out today in class right?” He asked hopefully.

To say Penny was caught off guard was an understatement. Was Sam awake because of school?!

With that being said, there was no way Penny was going to kill Vincent’s excitement, so she gave a hesitant nod.

“Of course…the more the merrier! May I have your assignments then uh…students?” She requested, holding out her hand.

Vincent happily put his paper in her hand before looking at Sam, who appeared to be on another planet mentally.

“Wha-? Oh shit- fuck- sorry- shit- fuck-“ he paused, “I left my paper in my room.” He finally explained, tiredly shuffling to his room.

Penny laughed quietly at the outburst before he returned, a sheet of lined paper in hand.

“Here ya go, teach!” He said, handing over the paper.

She slipped the papers into her basket, leading the brothers towards Marnie’s ranch.

“Alrighty! Now we just need to fetch Jas and…”

Penny was interrupted by the sound of Jas’s adorable giggly squeal, approaching closer and closer. It appeared she didn’t have to go that far at all, Penny squinted her eyes to see the unmistakable silhouette of Shane. As he got closer, she noticed how he was walking Jas down the path, occasionally scooping her up and swiftly lifting her up in the air, then dipping her upside down before letting her back onto her feet.

Penny adored the few times she saw Shane spending time with Jas, she always looked so happy, he always looked so relaxed— as if caring for Jas was second nature for him.

His kind expression quickly went back an icy glare when Jas ran up to meet the group. Penny found herself tensing up when she realized Shane wasn’t waving goodbye to her, or turning to leave, instead he continued to approach, lumbering toward the group with an exhausted expression.

“Miss Penny! Miss Penny! I did my report and had so much fun I got Shane to do one too!”

Penny thought she was shocked when she was asked if Sam could attend class, but Shane?! She truly thought Jas was joking until Shane pulled a folded up piece of paper from his hoodie pocket, reluctantly handing it to Penny just as Jas did.

“Okay Jas, I did it, have a good day.” Shane attempted to shamble off, much to Penny’s quiet relief. Jas was quick to grab him by the hand, dragging him back.

“Noooooo!! Miss Penny is gonna read them! You gotta stay for her reading them!” She looked to Penny, “he can stay for that, right?”

Before she could answer, Vincent nodded his head and pointed to his brother, “Yeah! Yeah! Sam is doin it too, so mister Shane can definitely stay!”

They both looked to Penny for approval, Penny simply looked terrified.

“O- only if Mister Shane wants to!” She answered.

They both looked to Shane for approval, Shane cannot resist Jas’s pleading face.

He grumbled out a quiet “fine.” Before pulling a flask from his hoodie’s inner pocket, taking a swig.

Penny smiled the best she could as she lead her growing pack to their usual place in the woods, trying her best to convince herself that Shane didn’t actually dislike her, he just had resting bitch face.

She failed the entire way.

She grew more nervous as the five of them traveled down the dirt path. Making sandwiches in a silly way for two little kids was one thing, but now she found herself with an audience containing a bored barely-an-adult and a grumbly 32 year-old who was probably already tipsy.

Penny truly found herself at her limit with a group of four, so needless to say, when she saw Abigail, Maru and Sebastian waiting under her usual tree, she nearly perished.

Maru was the first to notice her best friend, holding up a sheet of paper and waving.

“Hey!! Good morning, professor!!” She called.

Abigail also looked in Penny’s direction, jostling Sebastian, who was sitting against the tree and snoring softly.

“I told you not to stay up so late, Seb, you knew we were doing this.” She scolded, helping him up into a standing position.

“I still don’t remember agreeing to this.” Sebastian replied curtly.

Both Sebastian and Abigail had papers in their hands. All three of them shoved their papers toward Penny when she approached.

“What…are you guys doing here?” She asked as sweetly as she could through a clenched smile.

Sam laughed seeing Penny’s reaction.

“Sorry, Pen! After Vincent got me to write the paper, I managed to convince Abby to do one!”

Abigail nodded, “And I got Seb to join in!”

Penny looked to Maru with a face that pleaded for back up.

“You seemed so excited about this one, I had to participate!” Maru added, “I can play back-up professor if need be though!”

Penny was visibly shaking as she took the final three’s reports.

“Thank you.” She whimpered.

With help from Maru, she got her picnic blanket laid out flat under the tree. The seven “students” did their best to sit in a tight circle on the soft blanket, most of them focused on Penny.

As she pulled out the ingredients, she looked to Maru for support. Maru gave her an encouraging thumbs up in response.

That alone being enough to convince her, she focused on her attentive crowd.

“Okay…uh…class? This lesson was to teach the kids the importance of details in something like directions or recipes, so the assignment…as you know— was to write out instructions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!”

She received a response of dead silence, only making her nerves increase. She draws a shaky breath as she mixes up the papers, looking at the one that appeared on top. Thankfully, it was one of the kid’s papers first.

“Okay! Th- this is How to make a PB&J by Vincent!”

Vincent (who previously had himself and Sam distracted by a bug) perks up when he hears his name, plopping down on Sam’s lap and listening excitedly.

She smiles when she sees Vincent’s excitement. Seeing the kids so happy to learn reminded her of the excitement she felt this morning. As long as she focused on the kiddos, she knew she could do this. She begins to recite Vincent’s paper.

“This is how you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.” She begins.

“First off, you take some peanut butter and put it on the bread.”

Penny nods, muttering a little “okay” as she opens the jar of peanut butter and scoops out her best approximation of “some” in her hand and smears it on the bag of bread.

This sends a small wave of chuckles through the group as Vincent dramatically grabs his head, laughing.

“No! No! Miss Penny! That’s not what I meant!” He exclaims through laughter.

Penny chuckles and shrugs, wiping the peanut butter off her hands. At this point, it was clicking in everyone's heads what this assignment was. There was a range of reactions from excitement like the kid’s to terror, which seemed to completely overtake Shane’s cold expression.

Penny continues on.

“Then, you take some jelly and put it on the bread! And that’s how you make a PB&J!”

She smears some jelly on the bag of bread the same way she did the peanut butter and presents Vincent’s “PB&J” to the group.

She noticed that she now had everyone’s entertained expressions focused on her. A few of them even had their hands raised, beckoning for Penny to read theirs next. Except for Shane, he was actively shrinking back in the group.

Much to the older man’s dismay, he was next in the pile.

“We’re going in order of the paper stack, if that’s alright with you guys. So next issss Shane!”

He gave her an anxious look.

“N-no Penny, I was drunk when I wrote mine- you don’t have to-“

Sam cuts him off, “Ohhhh yes you do! C’mon! Let’s hear it!!”

She didn’t really need the encouragement to read it, but she appreciated it.

Shane wrote his out like a list, Penny read it as such.

“PB&J: by Shane. 1: get two slices of bread.”

Penny pulls two slices of bread from the bag and places them down.

“2: put peanut butter on the bread.”

She scoops out some peanut butter and spreads it along both sides of each piece of bread. Everyone giggled and laughed, except Shane, who still seemed embarrassed.

“3: do the same with jelly, close that…b-word up then smash that….effer into your mouth.” she corrects the swear word and glances up at Shane as she smears a fistful of jelly onto both sides of the other slice of bread, closing the messy sandwhich.

“Ah- Penny wait- you don’t gotta-“ Shane tries to say, Penny doesn’t listen.

She smashes the sandwich against her mouth, causing the small crowd to laugh as Shane shrinks back.

She puts the squashed sandwich down, shaking the access jelly off her hands, wiping away the sticky remnants.

“Shane,” she begins, “I worry that you’ve never actually eaten a sandwich before.”

This only makes the group laugh more as Shane grumbles something inaudibly. He starts to get up, ready to leave now that he’s been sufficiently embarrassed. That is, until Jas grabs his hand and looks up at him with big puppy dog eyes.

“Don’t you wanna stay and hear my paper…?” She asks softly.

Shane looks up, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance before plopping back down onto the blanket, much to Jas’ happiness.

Penny continues on the stack.

“Okay, next is Seb-“

Before she can continue, Sam gasps aloud, hopping up from his spot and snatching the paper from Penny’s hand. Penny looked at him with surprise as he looked over his shoulder at her.

“Can I do this one?” He asks, pointing at Sebastian’s paper.

“Oh god..” Sebastian mumbles quietly.

Penny looks past Sam over to Maru, Maru shrugs.

“O-okay, Sam.” She says, too anxious to say no, and honestly, what harm could it do?

Penny readjusts to sit next to Sam as he plops down in front of the ingredients. He clears his throat, looking at the paper.

“How to make a sandwich. By Sebastian.” He looks at Sebastian, who was watching but had yet to really react.

“To make a pb&j, you’ll want to start by grabbing a couple slices of bread.” Sam looks at the bag of bread and rips it open from the top, getting peanut butter on his hands and the now exposed bread. He hears Sebastian groan, though he looks more entertained than annoyed. Sam smiles at him.

“Never said which slices I had to grab!” He clarifies his actions.

Penny and Maru exchange a glance, Maru points to Sam as if asking if she needed help stopping him. Penny shakes her head no, this was fine. She convinced herself Sam wouldn’t do too much damage.

Sam continues, “ideally, you’d toast the bread, but I assume these will be read somewhere where toasting can’t happen-“ Sam cuts himself off.

“Hold on, we can make this work!”

He goes fishing in his pockets, feeling around for something.

Sebastian is about to protest before Sam pulls a lighter out of his pocket, singing out the tune that plays in Zelda when you open up a treasure chest.

Penny laughs as she watches Sam run the fire along the bottom of each slice, toasting it slightly, but he quickly grows bored and drops the lighter beside him.

“Okay cool, anyways-“ he says, looking at Sebastian’s paper.

“Wait, is that my light?” Sebastian asks, eyeing the lighter in the grass.

Abigail shushes him, “Worry about that later, I wanna see how he fucks up your sandwich.” She says with a grin.

Sebastian rolls his eyes and leans back, waiting for his dumbass friend to continue.

“Thank you, Abigail For Silencing the delinquent speaking during class!” Sam says before he continues.

“Skipping the toasting step, get some peanut butter on your knife and spread it on the bread, do the same with the jelly.”

Sam hums, grabbing the knife and humming a chipper as he scoops up a handful of peanut butter and uses it to heavily coat the knife, doing the same with the jelly as he places the newfound mess onto a slice of bread, smearing the mixture across its surface.

He picks up the paper again, smearing peanut butter all over it as a result.

“Finally, put your two Slices of bread together and eat!”

Penny sat nervously but quietly when Sam smeared condiments all over the knife, even if it was a butter knife, he wasn’t teaching the kids the best habits by handling the blade so carelessly. She couldn’t do the same when she sees him bringing the knife sandwich to his mouth.

She quickly reaches out, frantically squeaking out “No’s” in unison with Maru. Shane also picked up on what was happening and leaned over, shooting his arm out in front of the two kids to block their innocent eyes from what could have been a terribly dangerous And grotesque scene.

Sam lowers the sandwich in confusion as Penny gently places a hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s….not risk swallowing a knife in front of the children, Sam.” She suggests in a soft and anxious squeak.

Sam looks back at the crowd of terrified faces, and the <i>terrifying</i> expression Shane had on his face that basically read as “I would have killed you before the knife had a chance.”

Sam nods, pulling the knife from the bread and cleaning it off for Penny.

“Okaaaaay, I’m sorry.” He says, placing the knife down and returning to his seat.

Despite the chaos, everyone still seemed to be in good spirits, which relieved Penny quite a bit.

The other papers go just as well, the entire group laughed along as strange and odd interpretations of the remaining papers resulted in equally silly and inedible sandwiches.

Though Jas’ paper hadn’t come up yet, which seemed to visibly deflate her the longer she had to wait.

There were only two slices of bread left, Maru and Jas’ papers were left. Penny looks to Maru, Maru smiles and nods, giving her the go ahead to read Jas’ last. As sad as Jas seemed, her expression instantly lit up when she heard her name. She looks to Shane happily, tugging at his jacket sleeve.

“It’s my turn!” She exclaims happily.

Penny reads the paper allowed, but she couldn’t help but admire all the cute drawings on the paper, as Jas had really formatted it to look like a cute page in a recipe book.

“Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Recipe, by Jas!” Penny reads out sweetly.

“For ingredients, you will need the following: 2 slices of bread, white or wheat is recommended but you can use any kind you’d like, even the yucky cinnamon kind Auntie has in the house for Shane!”

The group shared a giggle at the comment, Shame looked down at Jas with a smile.

“You don’t like my cinnamon raisin bread?” Shame asks in a gentle and playful tone.

Jas giggled and shakes her head no.

“It tastes so weird!” She replies, sticking her tongue out.

Penny laughs at the adorable exchange.

“Well, luckily, we have wheat for the demonstration!” She says, placing two slices down.

“For this recipe,” Penny continues, “You will also need about a tablespoon of Peanut butter and a tablespoon of jelly! You can use more, though more peanut butter may create a choking hazard.” She looks at Jas, “Good til, Jas~” she compliments.

“For materials, you will need a butter knife and, optionally, a toaster! You should use both with parental supervision!” She reads out.

Penny looks over and can’t help but notice how proud he looked of Jas. It was absolutely adorable to see.

“Instructions: Using the knife, take out about a tablespoon of peanut butter from the jar, spread it on one side of the, optionally toasted, bread evenly across one face. Place the bread down with the peanut butter facing up.” Penny does just as she’s instructed, Jas has a hopeful expression that she wrote her recipe well enough to create an actually edible sandwich.

“Next, after cleaning your knife, use it to spread a tablespoon of jelly on one face of the second piece of bread, placing that slice down with the jelly facing up.”

The group gives Jas little praises, cheering her writing as the sandwich is created. They were all hoping for this to work just as much as she was.

“To combine, place the two slices of bread together, with the peanut butter and jelly sides facing each other. As an optional step, you can use the knife to cut away the yucky crusts and cut the sandwich into cute triangles that are far easier to eat.”

Penny shrugs and nods, taking the time to do the last two steps as well.

“I don’t like the crusts either.” She says, taking a bite out of one of the corners.

The group claps for Jas, Penny had never seen her happier. Jas hid away against Shane shyly, but her giggles could still be heard, and smile could still be seen.

Sebastian, Abigail and Sam were also hyping up Vincent, who didn’t seem the least bit upset that his sandwich wasn’t as good, because it made his big brother laugh.

Maru goes up to Penny, helping her clean up the mess.

“I’m proud of you for letting this happen. Isn’t it nice?” Maru says to Penny with a smile, looking back at the group as they happily talk amongst each other. The kid’s, Penny’s entire world, seemed so happy to have their family by their side, laughing along and having fun with the activity.

Penny was looking at the group too, a happy smile on her face as love for this small mismatched group bonded over the love they shared for each other and those kids. She nods at Maru’s statement.

“It really is.” She replies.

[anthrofreshtodeath]

28. surprising them with their favourite treat

Let's do it! I am an ancient New England grandma when it comes to my taste in candy, so I'm pretending Maura is, too. Here we are:

___

Jane steps out of her unmarked and into the blistering heat of the Market Basket parking lot over off of School Street, her car one of a few dozen here on a Thursday afternoon. She slams the driver’s side door, too, just for good measure. She pops her gum, chewing with her lips closed like she’s got an attitude, because she fucking does.

She’s also got an interview over by BHCC in Charlestown, and that’s why she picked this Market Basket, even though the whole reason she’s here is fucking Hope Martin. Maura’s unhinged biological mother is back in town, and had intercepted Jane this morning in front of her apartment building because Maura isn’t returning her calls. Jane had shut her down as politely as possible, all while wanting to call her a fuckin’ kidney-robbin’ cunt, but she’d held strong.

Not that she didn’t call her a fuckin’ kidney-robbin’ cunt the whole way here. Jane flips her aviators up onto the top of her head when she marches through the automatic doors, and prepares to stomp through her entire trip, but something about the air conditioning and the familiar smell of sheet cake calms her. Well, calms her just enough to pull the bat outta hell back in, at least for the sake of the other shoppers around her. And she thinks about making a left for the bakery and getting Maura a whole-ass cake, but she doesn’t want to get distracted, either. 

Hope is in town, which means Maura’s a mess, which means impromptu movie night. Most of the time, Maura likes to pull out the mixed nuts, the dried fruit, and the organic, stove-popped popcorn for their movies, but today calls for the big guns.

Maura would never admit it, but when she’s really down, processed sugar is the only thing that’ll do. That’s why Jane’s here, unbeknownst to Maura, and not at the Whole Foods down the street. She weaves through a couple old ladies and a mom with her two kids under two, swooping up a hand basket on her way, and scans the store layout for the penny candy endcap. 

Right there, on aisle two next to the prepackaged meats like hot dogs and bacon, sits the penny candy in all its glory. Late one night, after Constance’s first visit, Jane had dragged Maura to the store closest to her North End neighborhood and showed her exactly how to scoop all that old school goodness into a plastic bag for maximum satisfaction. Even now, Jane smiles to herself, big and pleased, because she’s got eyes on Maura’s favorites: the licorice bits, the butterscotch, and the bit-o-honeys. And Maura would never, ever, ask for this stuff, because doing so would defile her good girl, all-organic image, but Jane knows what Maura needs.

And tonight, Maura needs candy. Good, old-fashioned, bulk candy. 

So, she gets to scooping: a bag of each, because Maura doesn’t like them to touch, and then a couple bags of peppermint patties and jelly citrus slices for herself. Don’t ask her why, but the taste extremes make her all giddy inside. Sometimes she thinks about eating them together, though she hasn’t had the guts yet. With expertise and finesse and promise to try that another time, she ties them up and tosses them in her hand basket. 

She moves over to the checkout line, checks her watch because that interview’s in about twenty minutes, and taps the toe of her boot on the linoleum. There’s just two people ahead of her, not a problem. 

She chews her gum, cursing Hope again while she waits, but at least this time, she and Maura will have sweets to deal with the tornado. Maybe Maura’ll even consent to an action flick, or a comedy. Hell, Jane’ll settle for a rom-com if it means banishing Hope from their minds. 

Fuckin’ kidney-robbin’ cunt.

[toyybox]

Spiderwebs #6: Tape II (Ladybug)

Masterlist

content: lab whump, captivity, defiant whumpee, immortal whumpee, starvation, blood/gore

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Heather wrote the basics down on a scrap sheet of paper, if only to organize her thoughts. Fire. Drowning. Acid. Bullets, again. Everything she could think of, anything that might kill him. Stabbing. Starvation? Dehydration. Poison. Holy water. She wasn’t a religious person anymore, but it couldn’t hurt to check. Asphyxiation. Though that was similar to drowning. Hypothermia. Perhaps removing a different vital organ would do it. Perhaps removing the brain? 

She clicked the pen closed, set it down. It was incredible. She was on the precipice of a discovery. She held the world’s greatest mystery in the palm of her hand. She had trapped lighting in a jar, an angel in a tin can. It was a brilliant stroke of luck, bringing him home. What had first seemed like a terrible mistake was proving to be very useful, indeed.

She had everything she needed in a large black-leather briefcase: her pistol, Jackie’s lighter, a small container of gasoline, a fire extinguisher, a bottle of bleach, a cloth bag she had acquired from a priest—he was surprisingly easy to bribe—and, finally, the largest kitchen knife she owned. It was a start. Heather wanted to test the limits, find out what she was working with here. Nothing too drastic. Not yet, at least. 

The briefcase was heavy, so she dropped it by the basement door before turning the lock. The lights were still out, as she’d left them. It was a petty move, in hindsight, but she hoped it had calmed him down somewhat. He appeared to be asleep in the chair. She switched the lights on.

He jerked to life like a marionette with all its strings gone taut. There was a crash as something tumbled out of his hands. What was he holding? She blinked a few times as he scrambled to pick it up, then pointed it at her like a lance. 

“Let me out,” he hissed, “or die.”

“How dramatic.” She leaned farther into the doorway. “Is that my table? Did you break my table?”

“I’ll do more than just break your table.” He pushed his shoulders back in a pathetic imitation of a fighting stance. “Let me go.”

Yes, that was her table, now broken and toppled over beside him. She did hear a crash earlier. The handcuffs still swung off his wrist and glinted in the light, a strange silver bracelet. Nothing else was broken, thank goodness. If he’d taken to cracking the freezer open, she’d have to spend a pretty penny replacing it.

“No,” Heather said. “I thought we went over this already. Put that thing down. You look ridiculous.”

Jackie didn’t reply. He kept his glare steady, a spotlight focused entirely on her. It was almost flattering, how ready he was to tear her to shreds. It was a compliment, somehow. She had power here. She was a threat.

“That was a good table. Shame.” She clicked her tongue. “I’m not getting you a new one, by the way. Not unless you start behaving. So—”

Without so much as a sound, he charged at her. 

With a violent jerk, she leaned out of the doorway and slammed the door shut. He didn’t stop, no—he ran forward, up the stairs, grabbed the other end and nearly forced it open. She fumbled with the lock and managed to close it before he broke through. 

He kept slamming on the door. A series of short and heavy bangs, coming in quick succession. The frame shuddered with each slam, or Heather’s shock was making her vision blur. Her hands were actually shaking. Her hands never shook. Shaking was for leaves and little girls. She thought, for a lurching moment, that the hinges would snap clean off.

The banging did stop, however, after a minute. She could hear him catching his breath behind the door. “Come on, lady. I wasn’t joking. I’ll kill you. Let me go home.”

She took a deep breath.  “No.”

“You’re an idiot, oh my God.” 

That small sign of exasperation cut all the tension in her body loose. He was still trapped, table leg or no table leg. Who was he kidding? She could do whatever she wanted here. It was a matter of time. She’d convince him to put his weapons down, one way or another. Hell, she’d get him on his knees. For science, of course. Always for science. 

“Look,” Jackie continued on the other side of the door. “You won’t come in here. You can’t. You’re not going to be able to play that little recorder thing and ask me about my maiden name, or whatever it is you want. So.”

“So?” Heather prompted.

“Let me out!” Another bang struck the door. “What other proof do you need?”

“Proof? What are you proving here? I’m not opening that door until you calm down.” She paused, thinking of the best way to twist the words deep under his skin. Searching for the weakness where he’d crack. “You’re helpless, face it.”

“You looked pretty scared,” he growled. “Do you really think this door will last long? Really?”

“Jackie.” She said it softly. “You’re awfully confident for someone locked in my basement. You must be hungry, right? But I don’t think you deserve to eat, not with the way you’ve been acting. I’ll wait until you’re ready to apologize.”

“You’ve been starving me!” Oh. Right. “You haven’t given me anything for a week!”

It was embarrassing, to be honest. There went her impressive speech. Heather had actually forgotten about feeding him. She had meant to give him a granola bar or something, but she had just been so busy, and Heather had been having a lot of fun acquiring all her tools and thinking of new tests. She couldn’t let that show, of course. Mistakes like that were unprofessional to say the least. 

“Well, do you want to eat or not?” Heather snapped.

“No, thanks. You’ll drug it anyway.” 

“So what if I drug it? Food is food.”

She heard him shift slightly. “I don’t need anything from you.”

Heather pressed the bridge of her nose. She took a moment to wind herself down, breathe that unrelenting irritation out. She left her briefcase by the door as she stepped away. “I’ll be back in an hour. Think it over.”

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

During that hour, Heather acquired the food. Pomegranates. Two pomegranates, cut into quarters. Rich, scarlet skin, bright red seeds inside, with chunks of rough white surrounding it all. Something that Jackie couldn’t possibly think was drugged. He would have no reason not to eat.

"Hello. Are you still in there?"

 “Go die in a hole.” His voice was loud and clear, though flat. She imagined him sitting sprawled across the stairs, table leg carelessly grasped in his hand.

The door was still closed. It was like sitting in a confessional, doing the whole back-and-forth without ever meeting face to face. Though Heather’s childhood memories of church had never been quite so infuriating.

“Aren’t you hungry?” 

“No.” There was a sour edge to his voice.

“I brought food. Put your weapon down. I only want to talk.”

He let out a drawn-out, exaggerated sigh. “Did I ask?”

Heather had never wanted to strangle someone more. “You’ll faint, eventually. Or you’ll fall asleep. I’ll get you, sooner or later. The only difference is whether or not I’ll stick your head in a blender afterwards.”

There was a softer, smaller exhale. The noise of rustling clothes filled the silence like static. “What kind of food?”

“Pomegranates.”

“That’s it?”

That little shit. “Do you want your arm in the blender next?”

“That's not a very nice thing to say.”

Heather paused for a few seconds. “What if I throw in a granola bar?”

“Fine. Deal. Oh my God.” She heard him stand up. “I’ll put the table leg—“

“Leave it on the stairs,” she cut him off. “Go stand in the farthest corner you can find. Don’t move an inch, or you can forget about dinner.”

“Dinner?” he echoed. “What time is it?”

“Time for you to do as you’re told, hm? Chop, chop. Clock’s ticking.”

She heard a dull, wooden thump. There were footsteps, receding as he walked across the room. He cleared his throat, a pointed ahem, though the sound was muffled by their distance. After that, it was silent.

She opened the door, just enough to see through. Yes, he’d done as she’d asked. The table leg lay abandoned at the bottom of the stairs. Looking up, she witnessed his impatient expression across the room. He leaned against the wall with a sullen slump in his shoulders. There were bags under his eyes, an almost gray tint to his skin. Then again, the lighting wasn’t the best down there. He was probably fine. Heather would give him the pomegranate and move on with everything.

He crossed his arms. “Where's the food?”

“It couldn't hurt to have some manners.”

He said nothing, just waited.

“Here,” she said, trying to tone back the harshness in her tone. She walked up to him and handed him the plate.

He stared at it blankly. “Where’s the granola bar?”

“I’ll give it to you later.” She nudged the plate a little closer. “I promise. Now, eat. You’re going to faint if you don’t.” 

His stare shifted to her. “I said I wasn’t hungry.”

“Eat. That wasn’t a request."

To her relief, he took the plate—and then to her dismay, the food was scattered across the floor a moment later. Spilled across the concrete. There were seeds everywhere, like blisters. Deep red and dark scarlet and white in between. Jackie had thrown it there. His expression wasn’t aggressive, only mildly curious. Bored, perhaps. Tired, definitely. He let the plate topple to the ground. It rolled off, settling into stillness with a quiet shudder.

“I see.” Heather brushed her hair out of the way. “Why did you do that?”

He shrugged.

“You’re going to regret it.”

“I’m sure.”

She thought she could see the hint of a smile playing across his lips. Then again, the lighting wasn’t great. Either way, if there was any sympathy or generosity before, it had shriveled up now. A burning hunger had replaced it, winding in her chest until it was taut as a piano wire about to snap. He was clearly trying to make her angry. What other point was there? He was just digging his own grave.

It didn't matter. She had work to do here. She couldn't waste any more time.

She left the room, then retrieved the briefcase and the tape recorder. She entered the basement again. She turned the recorder on. “Tape two. Experiment one.”

“Really.” It was a dry response, not even sarcastic, more… resigned. Or, again, just bored.

“Really.” She bent down and pushed the briefcase latches open. She picked up the pistol before standing up again. “This is merely to confirm a fact. Hold still.”

The bullet went through his heart, or close to it. He flinched, hitting his head on the wall, but that was about all the damage done. He hadn’t even gone unconscious.

Jackie rubbed his head after a split second’s pause. He turned around and plucked the bullet out of the wall, where it had been embedded inside chipped paint. “Do you want this back?”

“Keep it.” She scowled at the pistol and shoved it back in the briefcase. There was no point in firing another shot, when she had already wasted seven rounds on him. “Subject can survive normally lethal injuries, such as bullet wounds. I'll start the second test now.”

“The second test?” He let out a short, scoffing laugh. “Are you going to ask me about my favorite color?”

“Sure.” She slid the kitchen knife out. “What is it, by the way? Blue? It’s almost always blue.”

“No.” He hesitated, as he regarded the knife with confused hostility. “What's that for?”

“Relax.” She stepped forward. “I’m sure this won’t hurt.”

He stepped farther back. His eyes were fixed on the blade, like a viper in a trance, making no move to run but with a tenseness in his posture. “How do you know?”

She came close enough to touch him with the tip of the blade. He could back up no farther, pressed up against the wall. She leaned in and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I don't. Feel free to correct me.”

In one swift motion, Heather brought the knife down into his throat. She jerked it out, and blood followed in its wake. 

She brought it down again, looking to sever an artery. This time, when she slid it out of his cartilage and bone, there was a brief sputtering noise. He attempted to speak. Blood bubbled at the silent, hissing sound. His attempts at breathing came out as dull gasps. He brought a hand to his throat. It lifted and came away covered in deep red. 

He grasped at the wound again, with another strangled attempt at speech. He sunk down the wall. Blood poured out, down his neck, to the curve of his collarbone, to the edge of his shirt. It would stain. Heather would need to clean that later. 

She knelt down. Her hand took his, gently, and pried his fingers away from the raw flesh. She stabbed it again, deeper, a thorough dragging motion through the cords and twine of muscle and skin. His eyes did not flutter close, or look away in a final gesture of peace. On the contrary, they were wide open. Unblinking, unmoving. Even when his body went still with a final, choking sigh. 

It was distracting. She placed her hand over his face and closed them. The blood continued to sputter out.

A glance at her watch proved that the whole affair had taken two minutes. A glance at Jackie proved that he was not moving. Dead, if you will. The silence was uncanny, almost loud in the absence of the bubbling and faint gasping breaths, but with his eyes closed he looked peaceful. 

Heather half-wished he would stay dead this time. It would be a scientific disappointment, but his expression was beautiful. Devoid of anything close to rage, or fear, or grief. Beautiful, in a grotesque and terribly morbid way. How sweet. All her anger dissolved at that sight. She was aware that calling a corpse pretty was not socially acceptable. Well aware. But she would have loved to keep him that way. Preserve him like that. Lay him to rest.

Heather walked away. She returned with a few clean rags. As she waited for the wound to congeal, she sat on the chair a couple paces away and wiped the blood off the knife. Over and over, running the rag across the edge. Five minutes would do it. Then, if he never opened his eyes, she’d throw him into a ditch on the side of the road. She would clean her hands and be done with this whole affair.

When she was younger, she would trap insects in bottles and old boxes, watch them run and panic and eventually die. There was no reason to it, not even a sadistic one. Only curiosity and a lack of hindsight. Once, she’d kept a couple of ladybugs in a glass jar, filled it with sticks and leaves.

They had changed after a week, warped, gone through a strange metamorphosis. She remembered seeing these yellow fuzzy things, larger than any ladybug was meant to be, crawling among the stems. Was it all in her wild imagination? Was it a simple mistake, taking some other insect to be a lucky beetle, when they were really some sort of larva or wasp? In any case, it had scared her so badly that she’d thrown them out the second-storey window. Underneath the guilt was a pure, innocent relief.

But she was not a child anymore, and she could handle whatever happened next. If he didn't die, then that was fine. She would be fine. It was just a matter of seeing things through. She wouldn't give this up so quickly.

Speak of the devil. He opened his eyes. A gasp burst through the quiet. It evened out into heaving breaths, then slowly into a soft and regular rhythm.

“Did it hurt?” She didn’t take her eyes off the knife, though it was clean of blood by now.

“Yeah.” His voice was painfully hoarse. “Bit late to ask that.”

Heather glanced up. Jackie had put a still-bloody hand on his throat, once again. The wound had darkened to a deep maroon, almost black in some places. He let out a shuddering exhale.

“Are you sorry now?”

Death had not dampened his spirit. “For what? Go to hell.”

She shrugged and placed the knife back into the briefcase. “On to the next test, then?”

“No?”

“That was rhetorical. Oh, right.” The tape recorder was still running. “Subject can survive almost any injury. I doubt a different weapon changes things, other than recovery time. Now, come here.”

“Why?”

“Stay on the floor, then.” She lifted the gasoline up in one hand, a clean rag in the other. She walked over and dropped the rag on his face. “Clean that up. There's blood all over your hands.”

Jackie staggered to his feet. The rag fell to the floor. “What’s in the bottle?”

“You ask a lot of questions. Don’t move.” She poured it over his head until he was drenched in the substance. A heavy yet familiar scent filled the room, something like a mechanic’s shop or a started car.

He smacked the bottle away with a sputter. “Hey!” Gasoline dripped from his sleeves onto the floor. She had emptied the entire gallon on him.

“How cute. This used to be yours, do you remember?” She brought the lighter out of her pocket. “It’s nice, isn’t it? Good quality.”

“It was a dollar.” His eyes widened. “Wait, wait. No. You’re not putting that thing near me. Absolutely not.”

“Yes, we’ll just light a blunt, then?” She flicked the lid open. “I’m all out of blunts, unfortunately. Come on. It’ll be interesting.”

“You already know what’s going to happen. What’s the point?”

With a snap of her thumb, the lighter sparked to life. “We don’t know for sure. That’s what science is all about. Testing beyond doubt.”

His eyes darted across the room, then glanced back at a cardboard box. There was a broom sticking out of the top. He lunged for the handle, then spun back to face Heather. He waved the bristles at her face in what was probably meant to be a threatening gesture. 

Heather looked at him.

Jackie looked at her.

Heather lifted the lighter. It wasn’t much, a sliver of flame barely holding on in the oppressive underground atmosphere.

Jackie shifted on his feet. He raised the broom, only slightly.

Heather tipped the lighter over until it reached a bristle. Within seconds, the smoldering and smoking became a blaze, at first only in small sparks, then into rising tongues of it. The dry and brittle handle caught fire before Jackie had time to let go. With a hiss, he dropped the broom, still clutching his palms where the skin had scorched.

It was too late for him, though. The gasoline on his sleeves and skin burst into flames. The fire consumed him like he was nothing more than a scrap of paper. His entire body lit up the room. Like a candle. Like a very disgusting candle. 

As he screamed, Heather stepped over to the fire extinguisher. She propped it up in her arms, ready to go, but didn’t douse him yet. She wanted to see where this went. 

The screams faded to a harsh coughing, then into the hissing and cracking sounds of burning flesh and cloth and leather. It was glorious. The smell was ingrained into every corner, every inch of concrete and chipping paint. The stench of smoke and cooking meat. He collapsed onto the floor, still writhing like a fish pierced on a hook. The places where his skin was still visible were red and raw, although charred blackness spread around the edges. He appeared to almost melt into the ground. When Jackie finally did go still, the flickering of the fire did not cease. Violent shades of red-orange-yellow, a stoplight at full warning, a toxic frog or a traffic cone. On and on and on.

At last, Heather let the extinguisher spray out the flames, as she coughed through the smoke. There were a few burns on the walls, but nothing noticeable on the concrete. Jackie was dead. Not even he could go through that unscathed. 

Something was off, though. Something was still… moving? Was he going through his death throes? Was this a symptom of rigor mortis, an unconscious spasm of muscles?

Jackie—what was left of him, at least—was no more than a charred shape slumped across the floor. That was not what made Heather’s stomach turn. Not the smell either, terrible though it was. Not the memory of his agonized dying screams. No, that was all fine. That irrevocable sensation of horror and disgust dawned on her because Jackie was still breathing.

Oh. It was painful to watch. His chest—or what used to be his chest—still convulsed as the diaphragm rose and fell. Convulsed was the right word. Those were jerky movements, almost inhuman. Alien, unnatural. Corpses weren’t meant to move. It wasn’t right. She couldn’t even recognize his face, and yet...

And yet. How bizarre. Even something like that couldn’t kill him. 

Heather blinked, her heart still stuttering. She turned to the tape recorder with the surprise splattered all over her face. “Subject is still alive. Not awake. I hope. Oh, that would hurt.” She hissed through her teeth. “I suppose I’ll give him a minute—oh sweet baby Jesus—” 

His arm—or the deformed and charred remains of his arm—moved. Then his leg, then his head, lifting slowly. Distorted hollows in the place of eyes stared, like blank slates of charcoal. For a ridiculous moment, Heather thought he might speak. That would be impossible. The lower half of his jaw had been left behind on the ground.

Heather stared at Jackie, her eyes wide and unblinking, lips parted in a half-hearted attempt to talk, too afraid to move but too curious to look away. A morbid fascination had gripped her thoughts. Any reasonable scientist would walk up to inspect him, to perhaps put him out of his misery, but this all seemed unreal to Heather. She couldn’t even speak, let alone walk.

With a dull thud, he collapsed back onto the ground. Chips and flakes of blackened skin littered the floor. Was he—was he shedding? Like a snake? Like a fucking snake? What was he? Nothing human, she thought. Nothing reasonable. Nothing within biological limits. And yet...

And yet. And yet! He was alive. That was the fact of the matter. The skeptic in her needed to suck it up or roll over and die. As Jackie continued to shed, for the lack of a better term, his flesh appeared to reshape itself. It was not entirely unlike fast-motion footage of a blooming flower. Rose petals being pushed apart, buds bursting open. Skin bubbled and expanded, smoothing over all that red rawness. The sound of shifting bone and muscle ripped through the silence. 

Heather managed to look away and grasp the recorder with a trembling hand. “Subject is, ah, healing? I’ll come back with a change of clothes, I think. Maybe a crucifix.” She cleared her throat. “Yes. I’ll return in an hour. That will be fine.”

[aishangotome]

Main Story Chapter 17-07: The Third Bang (第三声巨响) | Light  and Night 光與夜之戀

Chapter 17-05

♡———♡

I wrapped my coat tightly around me and walked home quickly. Suddenly, I felt a chill on the tip of my nose. I habitually looked up, but the night sky remained the same. It was just dew dripping from the leaves. It seemed... it had been a long time since it had rained.

Suddenly, a blurry figure appeared in my vision, falling from the sky and rushing straight towards me. I desperately urged my body to dodge back, and as soon as I took a step, crack - a baby bottle fell in front of me, shattering into pieces.

Thankfully, I reacted quickly, otherwise I might be in the hospital now. I glared angrily at the high-rise building, but there was nothing I could do about those who littered.

The young man standing not far away breathed a sigh of relief. He withdrew his hand and looked at the bottle on the ground, lost in thought.

*Visually at this part, the game briefly shows the boy Osborn, hinting that he was the young man in this sentence.

-

As I was nearing home, my phone suddenly vibrated.

It was the landlord. But today wasn't the day to pay the rent.

Landlord: Hello, young lady, I hope I'm not disturbing you this late?

You: I'm not asleep yet, Auntie. What can I do for you?

Landlord: I'm a little embarrassed to bring this up. I just wanted to ask, your lease has three months left, right?

You: Yes, I was just about to discuss renewing the lease with you.

Landlord: I'm sorry, but I'm not planning to rent out that apartment anymore.

Landlord: You see, my granddaughter is starting elementary school next year, and the school district for that apartment is better.

Landlord: So I was thinking of getting it back to renovate it, so it'll be convenient for us to move in later.

You: But the deposit--

Landlord: Don't worry, young lady. I'll give you a month to find a new place and pack up, okay?

Landlord: I won't charge you rent for this month, and I'll return your entire deposit, including the penalty fee. You won't lose a penny.

Landlord: It's late, so I won't keep you any longer. Get some rest. You young people shouldn't stay up too late.

All the troublesome things seemed to happen at once. It seemed like when you're unlucky, bad things happen one after another like dominoes, and you can only watch, anxious but unable to stop them.

You: Finding a new place, moving... another big project.

As I walked, I thought, maybe this was a good thing. Leaving here sooner meant starting over sooner.

But as I looked up towards home, there was an indescribable feeling of reluctance in my heart... This seemed to be the only connection left between him and me.

-

Returning home, it was already past eleven, but I still couldn't fall asleep. I simply sat on the sofa, gazing at the night view outside the floor-to-ceiling window.

Guangqi City was still bustling, sleepless, and brightly lit.

Despite not being a stranger, I didn't feel much sense of belonging to this city. That's why I chose this apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows, thinking that being in the midst of the hustle and bustle would make me feel less lonely. It did bring me a lot of comfort.

But at this moment, the scenery outside the window remained the same, yet the loneliness felt even greater. I sat there for a while, and in order to avoid overthinking, I decided to start organizing.

First, I needed to unpack the express deliveries I hadn't had time to open before. Many of them were daily necessities sent by Charlie. I picked up a fluffy toilet seat cover, originally intended for winter.

A transparent small bag, almost thrown away among the pile of cardboard boxes, was what I had just bought online to store the amulet given by Osborn, protecting it from getting dirty.

This fluffy earmuff was a gift from Sariel at the beginning of the year. This bunch of dried flowers was given by An An when I moved in. I made it into dried flowers because it was so beautiful.

The lumbar support pillow by the sofa was an entry gift for Tangyuan, which I hadn't had the chance to give him yet.

And there was the broken night light...

The packing boxes were filled to the brim, much more than when I moved here. Some things had never been used, while others were broken but I couldn't bear to throw them away.

It had only been a year, how did I accumulate so many belongings unknowingly?

Moving is probably the process of reorganizing life. Counting what you have, letting go of the broken things, or things that won't be useful in the new life.

Only in this way can we wholeheartedly move towards the next destination.

I took the night light out of the cardboard box and put it back on the table.

-

In the early hours of the morning, it finally started to rain, but it stopped quickly. The starlight was always hidden by the clouds, and even the neon lights reflected in the puddles on the ground were unusually dim.

Osborn stood downstairs at the girl's house, looking up at the lit window.

On his phone screen was a text message she had sent not long ago.

I've been on a business trip in a neighboring city and just returned to Guangqi. I was too busy and forgot to reply. I'm sorry.

He hadn't been home for several days, and when he inquired at Wan Zhen, he only got the reply that she was on a business trip.

But she didn't answer his calls or messages. He almost concluded that one of his old enemies had taken her away.

From that day on, everyone in his guild put down their tasks and searched for the girl with all their might.

Although there was clear video evidence showing that she was indeed on a business trip in the neighboring city, Osborn still sensed something fishy.

So these past few days, no matter how late it was, he would wait downstairs for the moment the light came on.

Before coming, he had already made up his mind that today was the last day. If the girl didn't come back, he would check each of his enemies one by one.

And now, the warm light made him breathe a sigh of relief. Suddenly remembering how Wen Wan always said he was paranoid, Osborn lowered his head slightly and chuckled self-deprecatingly.

If he hadn't been so lax before, she wouldn't have been captured by Zhao Ze. For the sake of the people he cared about, even being overly cautious was nothing wrong.

He sent a message to Wen Wan to stop the search.

-

Osborn entered the elevator as usual and pressed the button for the girl's floor. Now, he just wanted to hug her and smell her hair. Then tease her a little and see her flustered expression.

A mother and son also entered the elevator. The mother's hair was tied up in a bun, with a few strands falling loose, covering her tired eyes.

The boy, on the other hand, seemed to have endless energy, playing with his scooter in the small space, almost bumping into Osborn.

Passerby Mother: I'm so sorry!

Passerby Mother: I bought you the toy, can't you behave? Look at the time, no other child is as noisy as you.

The boy showed no sign of calming down. The scooter lunged forward, and the whirring sound of the wheels was especially loud in the small elevator.

Passerby Mother: If you keep this up, I'll send you back to your grandmother's.

Only then did the boy stop, tilting his head and glancing at his mother before obediently leaning against the wall.

The elevator quickly reached the girl's floor, and the door slowly opened, but Osborn stopped.

He hesitated for a moment, then ultimately didn't step out, simply pressing the close button.

-

Back downstairs, Osborn leaned against the railing, the image of the mother and son from the elevator constantly appearing in his mind.

A child disliked by his mother, a mother misunderstood by her child.

Another face suddenly appeared before him, a young and equally tired face. He wondered if she felt relieved when she let go of his hand.

He was the same, wasn't he? Always had been. Not used to reporting to others, not used to discussing with others, even less used to considering others' feelings. Always forceful, doing as he pleased without explanation.

But now it was different. The danger had passed, the night was deep, and all the care and closeness he thought he was giving without reservation might become unbearable pressure and burden for her in the future.

Osborn: I can't do this.

Knowing she's safe is enough.

He took out his phone, quickly deleted the words "I'm downstairs," and typed a goodnight message. Just as he sent it, Wen Wan's call came in.

Wen Wan: Brother Xiao, Y/N really came back?

Osborn: Yes. Everyone's been dismissed.

Wen Wan: Thank goodness, thank goodness! The brothers can finally get a good night's sleep tonight.

Wen Wan: I told you, you were overthinking it. It's been so long, why would they come after you for revenge now?

Wen Wan: Knowing it's you, they should be even more afraid.

These words made Osborn's heart stir, as if he realized something.

Right, just now an informant said they saw that person under the bridge on Pingnan Road.

Osborn held his phone and listened quietly, his brows gradually furrowing.

Wen Wan: There was a little problem. The person was clearly there just now, but in the blink of an eye, they were gone.

There were faint gasps in the background, and some sounds of directing a search not far away. Osborn immediately understood.

Osborn: You only tell me after you lose them, huh?

Wen Wan: Well... yeah. I thought it was just a kid, I should be able to handle it.

Osborn: I got it. Don't act rashly, I'll be right there.

Worried that his other self would do something out of control, Osborn quickly got on his motorcycle. Just as he was about to start it, he noticed a small snail crawling on the handlebar.

He gently pinched the thin shell with two fingers and placed it on the leaves of a nearby holly bush before turning to leave.

-

A few minutes later, he arrived at the bridge Wen Wan mentioned. A search yielded no results, but it wasn't entirely fruitless - from the traces, it could be seen that the person had just left.

Always one step behind. Although he had tried his best to suppress the other, a wisp of the other's soul still remained in his body. Once his mind relaxed, the other could sense his every move.

Wen Wan: We've guarded all the passages, how did he get away?

Wen Wan: And why does that person look exactly like you? Is there really such a talent in the world?

Osborn didn't answer immediately, his gaze fixed on the tunnel under the bridge, lost in thought.

He remembered the information he had received from Zhou Weicheng a while ago - the power of a god could change the body.

Escaping was easy for that person.

He inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief, feeling an incomprehensible sense of relief in his heart.

As if he had hoped for his other self to escape repeatedly.

Wen Wan: Brother Xiao, trust me, next time I encounter him, I'll definitely catch him!

Wen Wan: But why don't you use the guild's system to find him? That would be much faster.

Osborn: You have ten thousand questions. Just let me know next time you see him.

Osborn: Where's the thing you were supposed to steal?

Wen Wan came back to his senses and quickly took out a folder from his bag, handing it to Osborn. Osborn opened it, quickly scanned it, and patted Wen Wan's head in satisfaction.

Wen Wan: Brother Xiao, you hit too hard.

Wen Wan: All the information is here.

Wen Wan: Luckily Brother Keyang helped me. The archive room has a new administrator, and now only the person in charge of the commission can see it.

Usually, after the guild accepted a commission, they would conduct a comprehensive investigation of the client and their family. Osborn carefully looked through these documents and found that the facts were as he had expected.

Although Merodach had forbidden him from taking on the case, he had privately investigated these shootings. All the victims were killed with a single shot, but each had multiple gunshot wounds.

He could almost determine it was revenge killing, not indiscriminate killing.

The murderer used the same type of bullet every time, seemingly not afraid of being caught; on the other hand, he was very cautious, leaving no fingerprints or other clues at the scene.

Osborn: McMillan Tac-50.

There's no need to use such a heavy weapon to snipe ordinary people, and these victims were all ordinary people without exception.

They had almost no common characteristics, so finding the connection between them was crucial.

Although a figure suddenly appeared in his mind after seeing the principal's name, he still needed more evidence to confirm it. After all, over the years, there were quite a few people who had grudges against that principal.

Osborn browsed through the victims' background information one by one. Except for the principal who used to be his enemy, the other victims had no connection to him.

And in the principal's life, only the period of teaching in middle school was written in great detail... Osborn stared at that passage, catching a hint of strangeness.

--This unusually detailed experience appeared very abruptly, almost as if it was deliberately trying to make him believe the authenticity of these files.

Osborn: Wen Wan, have these materials passed through anyone else's hands?

Wen Wan: No, I saw Brother Keyang steal them with my own eyes. What's wrong?

Osborn took out a metal box from his pocket, casually poured out a white candy-like object, and swallowed it.

He took the materials out of the folder, rolled them up, and stuffed them into his pocket, then threw the empty folder back into Wen Wan's arms.

Wen Wan: Aren't you going to return these? Last time I stole something, the boss made me clean the toilet. What if he makes me do it again this time...

Osborn: You should really think about how to deal with that.

Osborn: I have something else to do, gotta go.

Osborn nimbly got on his motorcycle and sped away.

Wen Wan: Brother Xiao, help me think of a way!

-

The motorcycle drove deep into a small alley in the city center, finally stopping in front of a shop with a "For Rent" sign. The doorway was covered in cobwebs, looking like it hadn't been taken care of for a long time.

Osborn pushed the door open and walked in, fiddling with the wall for a bit. The originally empty wall suddenly shifted, revealing a hidden door.

-

Osborn walked down the stairs until the faint light illuminated his vision again, and a bar appeared before him.

The rough wooden decor created a retro American country style, while the metal and leather accents added a touch of elegance to the space.

There were only a few customers scattered in the booths, quietly sipping wine or listening to the slow rock performance on stage.

The wooden door was pushed open, and several waiters turned their heads in unison.

When they saw who it was, they all showed surprised expressions.

Bartender A: Brother Xiao, why are you here?!

Bartender B: Hello, Brother Xiao!

Although he hadn't been back for a long time, Osborn skillfully walked through the crowd, nodding to them as a greeting.

Customer: Boss Xiao? It's really you.

A well-dressed middle-aged man in a booth stood up and walked towards Osborn with surprise.

Customer: Haven't seen you in ages. Being a race car driver is different, you've forgotten all of us old friends.

Osborn: How could I forget Boss Huang?

Osborn: Xiao Gu, open a bottle of wine. Tonight's bill is on me.

Osborn snapped his fingers at the waiter, and a bottle of golden liquor was quickly brought over on a metal tray.

The cork was popped, and the fragrant bubbles overflowed. Osborn poured himself a glass of wine and raised it to the other person.

Osborn: Cheers.

The glasses clinked, and Osborn raised his neck, drinking it all in one gulp.

Customer: Boss Xiao still has a good capacity for alcohol.

Osborn: I have something to do, enjoy yourself.

He patted the man's shoulder and turned to walk towards the back of the bar.

-

Passing through the staff lounge door, he continued walking, through the storage room, and finally arrived at the manager's office door.

The floor and walls were dark, hidden in large shadows.

The man sitting in the deepest part of the darkness was reading a book. Hearing the sound, he stood up alertly, and only relaxed when he saw who it was.

Zhou Weicheng: Osborn, why are you here? Have a seat.

He put down the book in his hand and gestured towards another sofa beside him. Osborn shook his head and stood against the wall.

Osborn: Are you used to it here? Has anyone given you trouble?

Zhou Weicheng: Everyone's been good, and no one's given me trouble. It's just that I've been troubling you, finding places for me and moving me around.

Zhou Weicheng: How long do I have to stay here?

Osborn: Not too long. As soon as there's a chance of being discovered, I'll find another place for you.

Zhou Weicheng sighed deeply.

Zhou Weicheng: I just feel useless.

Zhou Weicheng: I had already decided to risk my life for the truth, but in the end, I became a deserter just to survive.

Osborn: If the truth could be exchanged for life, I wouldn't stop you. But you know it's not possible. Only by living can there be a chance.

Zhou Weicheng: I understand everything you're saying. Don't worry, I won't be as impulsive as before.

Zhou Weicheng: You've already taken a big risk by arranging all this for me. I can't drag you down with me.

Zhou Weicheng raised his tired eyes and forced a smile at Osborn.

Zhou Weicheng: By the way, what did you come to see me for? Is it about him again?

Osborn nodded silently.

Osborn: You said before that he can know all my thoughts. I've been taking your medicine to suppress it, but the effect isn't ideal. I'm very passive.

Zhou Weicheng: After all, part of his soul is in your body. It's impossible to completely hide from him.

Osborn: A Taoist priest told me before that the two souls in my body are fighting each other.

Zhou Weicheng: Fighting?

Zhou Weicheng's eyes widened in shock, as if he hadn't expected the severity of the situation.

Zhou Weicheng: Do you have any discomfort in your body? Or any unexplained wounds?

Zhou Weicheng: We usually separate complete souls. Your situation is rare because we discovered side effects.

Zhou Weicheng: Souls separated from the same body often have empathy.

Zhou Weicheng: For example, if he gets hurt, you might feel pain too. Of course, this isn't 100%, the manifestation rate is about 60%.

Osborn was stunned for a moment, then nodded as if he understood something.

Zhou Weicheng was now even more anxious than Osborn. Obviously, Osborn had already developed empathy with the other half of the soul, but he had never mentioned it to anyone.

Zhou Weicheng: He hates us so much, and he's rejecting your soul. I should have thought of that.

Zhou Weicheng: If the two souls are in constant conflict and cannot merge, it will cause serious harm to the body.

Zhou Weicheng: In previous experiments, the mortality rate was 90%.

Zhou Weicheng: Plus, that soul has the power of a god. If it loses control, I really can't imagine what will happen.

Zhou Weicheng: Osborn, I'll try to find a way to relieve your pain with the least amount of harm.

Zhou Weicheng: But you must destroy him as soon as possible. The sooner he disappears, the safer you'll be.

Zhou Weicheng: If you don't trust me, you can destroy him yourself. Your power should be able to do it.

Osborn remained noncommittal, staring at the pattern on the floor, silent like a statue.

Zhou Weicheng stared at him anxiously, becoming increasingly impatient.

Zhou Weicheng: What are you worried about?

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Weicheng suddenly understood.

He remembered that the last time Osborn came to him, he had said that he didn't want to destroy the other half of the soul for the time being.

Zhou Weicheng: Don't you want to destroy him?

Osborn remained silent for a while before slowly nodding.

Zhou Weicheng looked at him in surprise, his heart filled with disbelief.

Back then at the academy, the young man was so resolute, determined to keep only the evil within himself. But now, he had become soft again, as if nothing had ever happened.

All your efforts, the sweat you shed, the choices you made, the immense pain you endured for it... You thought you had changed your fate, but in the end, nothing has changed. Zhou Weicheng suddenly felt the irony of fate towards people.

Zhou Weicheng: Osborn, he... is no longer you.

Osborn: I know.

Osobrn lowered his eyes, his thick eyelashes hiding a fleeting look of confusion.

Zhou Weicheng: If you can't bring yourself to do it, then I'll be the villain.

Osborn: Doctor, I am the villain, have you forgotten?

He curled his lips into a smile, seemingly trying to soothe the other's tension, but the air in the room remained heavy and suffocating.

Zhou Weicheng: Do you regret what happened back then?

Osborn: I wouldn't say regret.

Osborn: I just don't know how to give him up again.

Osborn: How did you feel when you sent that girl named Xiao Zhen away?

Zhou Weicheng: I felt that compared to Sun Taizhong or Lu Ting, I was the one who directly killed her.

Zhou Weicheng lowered his eyes.

Zhou Weicheng: I always stubbornly believed that as long as I could achieve my goal, the cost didn't matter.

Zhou Weicheng: But she would cry, she would laugh, she would call me uncle. She was a living person, not a container. I had no right to make decisions for her.

Zhou Weicheng: That girl was right, I was blinded by hatred. If I had been more clear-headed, Xiao Zhen might still be alive.

Zhou Weicheng: I used the sacrifice of others to maintain my hypocritical justice.

Osborn looked at Zhou Weicheng indifferently, then turned to look at the sealed window.

Silence filled the room for a while.

He moved his lips, his voice a little hoarse.

Osborn: When we first met, he said something to me.

Osborn: He said I was actually inferior and cowardly. Whenever something failed, I would always only look for the reason within myself.

Osborn: I felt that it was all because of him that I ended up like that.

Osborn: Maybe, at that time, all that was left was self-esteem, so I couldn't lose anything else.

Osborn: I thought that getting rid of him would give me absolute control over the outside world, and things would get better.

Osborn: But in the end, it took me even longer to coexist peacefully with this half of the soul in my body.

As if making a decision, Osborn withdrew his gaze and looked at Zhou Weicheng.

Osborn: He was right, there are very few things I can truly control.

Osborn: For so many years, I never faced him directly, which was actually refusing to admit that I was wrong.

Osborn: Abandoning him was my choice, I don't regret it, but I have to take responsibility for the consequences now.

Zhou Weicheng looked at him with heartache.

Unknowingly, the young man in front of him seemed to have grown and changed a lot, but he still hadn't let go of himself.

Zhou Weicheng: Actually, there's another way to not destroy him. As long as you can suppress him, I'll also try to find a way to make him go back to sleep.

Osborn: What if I can't suppress him?

Zhou Weicheng: Then your body will be controlled by him, and you'll become a bystander. No, it's still too risky.

Zhou Weicheng: He has the bloodline of a god and is exceptionally gifted. Once he returns to his original body, we don't know what price we'll have to pay to suppress him.

Osborn: Go on.

Zhou Weicheng paused, looking into Osborn's eyes, and finally sighed.

Zhou Weicheng: The paper you brought last time, it had the teacher's handwriting on it.

As he spoke, he opened a drawer and took out the yellowed paper covered in letters.

He didn't notice Osborn's back suddenly tensing up, various emotions flashing in his eyes, before he simply smiled silently.

Zhou Weicheng: It's about the soul separation technique, the method of transforming humans into blood clan containers.

Zhou Weicheng: Actually, we also developed a way to reverse it back then. But before we could test it, the teacher disappeared.

Zhou Weicheng: After I brought Xiao Zhen and the others out, I tried it, but because their transformation failed, I could only prolong their lives.

Zhou Weicheng: But you're different. I think it might succeed with you.

Osborn: Soul fusion?

Zhou Weicheng: You were originally one.

Osborn: Will he still have his own consciousness?

Zhou Weicheng shook his head.

Osborn's eyes darkened, his lips gradually pressing into a line.

Osborn: A while ago, Y/N saw him. In her words, he was living like an ordinary person.

Osborn: It's like... another me in a parallel universe. I can't just treat him as half of myself.

Zhou Weicheng: Don't blame yourself so much. You had no choice back then. In that situation, there was no right or wrong decision.

Zhou Weicheng: Don't carry so much guilt, your life will be very tiring.

Osborn: But now I have a choice, and I don't want to make the wrong one again.

Osborn: Do you have a way to make him completely unaware of my thoughts?

Zhou Weicheng frowned, about to shake his head in denial, but suddenly paused, as if he had thought of something.

But at the same time, the lines between his brows deepened.

Osborn: You do.

Zhou Weicheng: This can't be considered a solution.

Osborn: Say it.

Zhou Weicheng fell silent, their gazes locked in a silent interrogation within the narrow space. Eventually, Zhou Weicheng couldn't resist Osborn's determination to get to the bottom of it.

Zhou Weicheng: Separate the soul that belongs to him.

Time seemed to pause for a moment, the room falling into a deathly silence, even the ticking of the wall clock fading away.

Zhou Weicheng: I'll say it again, this is not a solution at all.

Zhou Weicheng: The risk is too great. No one can withstand multiple soul separations. Especially since his soul is still fighting against yours.

Zhou Weicheng: You will die.

Zhou Weicheng: But you're different now. You're the support of many people.

Zhou Weicheng glanced meaningfully towards the door of the manager's office.

Zhou Weicheng: I heard them say that if it weren't for you taking them in, they would have nowhere to go and might have starved to death.

Zhou Weicheng: And that girl. I can see you care about her a lot. She definitely wouldn't want you to take risks.

Osborn's face was instantly filled with tenderness, his hand unconsciously reaching for his chest, clutching the necklace.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

It was as if time had rewound eight years, or perhaps time hadn't moved at all, and they were forever faced with the same choice.

Zhou Weicheng couldn't help but look at Osborn. He was still the same child tortured by his own kindness, always giving in time and again. But fate also kept playing tricks on him.

Zhou Weicheng couldn't understand why good and evil were always undergoing drastic transformations. He even had a premonition that the nightmare would repeat itself.

Osborn: I understand.

Osborn stood up but didn't take a step.

Osborn: Don't tell Y/N about these things.

Osborn: She wouldn't want me to take risks, but no matter what decision I make, she will definitely support me, even if she's unwilling in her heart.

Osborn: So, don't tell her.

Zhou Weicheng nodded in agreement.

Osborn: Get some rest, I'll consider your suggestion.

Osborn turned and walked towards the door, but paused just as he was about to step out.

Osborn: Actually, there are always two voices in my heart, one hoping he disappears completely.

Osborn: But the other voice keeps telling me that abandoning him would make me the person I hate the most.

-

In a small alley not far from the bar, a security officer was conducting routine night patrols.

The man complained about his job while counting the crumpled bills in his hand, the protection fee he had just collected from a small vendor.

At this moment, a rhythmic crisp sound came from ahead, one after another, quite strange.

He adjusted the baton at his waist and tiptoed towards the source of the sound.

As he got closer, the sound became clearer, and he finally recognized it as the sound of a ping pong ball hitting the ground.

In the dim light, a hooded teenager was standing in front of a house, his back facing him.

The figure was bouncing a ping pong ball on the ground.

Security Officer: Hey, you, turn around.

The teenager seemed to not hear his voice and continued to bounce the ping pong ball in his hand.

Security Officer: I'm talking to you, do you hear me? What school are you from? Why are you still out this late?

He impatiently walked forward and slapped the teenager's shoulder hard.

The next moment, he fell on his back, a ping pong ball-sized black hole left in the palm of the hand that had touched the teenager's shoulder.

Patting the nonexistent dust off his shoulder, the teenager opened the door of the house and walked in.

He decided to find a house for himself, and this place happened to be unoccupied.

-

He thought that if Y/N came to find him in the future, he needed a place to stay. The warehouse was too dirty and would stain her clothes.

Without bothering to turn on the lights, he went straight to the bathroom, wringing out a towel and carefully wiping the shoulder that had been touched.

Then he wiped the coat rack clean and hung up his coat. Bored, he took out his phone and repeatedly looked at the text messages exchanged with Y/N.

Yes, she still remembered him and might come to find him anytime.

Would she like his new place? ... He couldn't contain his anticipation and smiled.

-

Outside the wall, in a corner at the end of the alley, Yuan Hao looked at the unconscious security officer lying on the ground, feeling a deep sense of terror.

If he had originally only wanted to use him, now he felt it was beyond his capabilities.

After hesitating for a while, he finally mustered up the courage and knocked on the door.

The door opened with a click, and the teenager's indifferent face appeared behind it, the ping pong ball rhythmically hitting the ground as he tossed it.

(Osborn) Boy: It's you again.

Afraid that he would be rejected again, Yuan Hao took a step forward.

Yuan Hao: I know you're Osborn.

Yuan Hao: You're half of Osborn's soul.

(Osborn) Boy: Did Sheng Shan tell you that?

Yuan Hao was so surprised that he couldn't speak. He even knew that he belonged to the Lian Shan Society.

But at this point, there was no point in denying it. If he wanted to cooperate with him, he had to show sincerity.

So Yuan Hao slowly nodded.

Yuan Hao: I want to cooperate with you.

The teenager tilted his head, leaning against the door frame and looking at him sideways.

Yuan Hao: My brother was killed by Yuda Academy, but for so many years he's only been a name, one of the 89 victims.

Yuan Hao: But that person is living well, better than anyone else. Don't you think it's unfair?

(Osborn) Boy: You're not capable enough, so you want to use my hand to deal with him?

(Osborn) Boy: You should go beg the Lian Shan Society, power is the best weapon.

The blunt words seemed to hit Yuan Hao's sore spot, causing a flash of anger on his face.

Yuan Hao: It's useless. Sun Taizhong is dead, he can take all the blame.

Yuan Hao: The public just wants an explanation. Once they get it, the Yuda Academy incident will be completely over.

Yuan Hao: The Lian Shan Society won't avenge me alone. In the end, I'm just their pawn, to be discarded at will.

Yuan Hao: My brother's little life means nothing to them.

Yuan Hao: No matter how big the fuss, there's always a time when people forget. I've seen it clearly.

Yuan Hao: So you're my savior. I swear, I'll never betray you like he did!

Hearing the familiar words, the teenager straightened up with interest.

(Osborn) Boy: But I'm also Osborn, your enemy. Aren't you afraid I'll kill you right now?

Yuan Hao: You won't. You're different.

Yuan Hao's eyes flashed with a burning light, as if hatred was burning.

Yuan Hao: That Osborn, as a survivor, has no remorse at all and lives with a clear conscience.

Yuan Hao: Why? He doesn't even stand up to expose the evil.

Yuan Hao: But us, the families of the victims, have to bear the pain of losing our loved ones for the rest of our lives.

Yuan Hao: But you're different. You did what we wanted to do but didn't dare to do, like... a god.

The teenager looked at him thoughtfully, examining the overflowing admiration in his expression.

He had seen the same light in others' eyes more than once, and could vaguely feel them placing something on him, but it only made him feel more lost.

(Osborn) Boy: God?

Yuan Hao nodded without hesitation.

(Osborn) Boy: Have you seen one?

Yuan Hao: No. But I think a god should be like you. Not caring about anything, not afraid of death, absolutely fair to everyone.

He spoke with such certainty and conviction, but the teenager had lost interest in listening.

(Osborn) Boy: One last question, why not seek revenge directly from the Blood Clan? You should know they are the real culprits.

Yuan Hao opened his mouth but no sound came out, his face flushing red.

Yuan Hao: I will, it's just a matter of timing. I'll take revenge on them one by one. Osborn is the first.

The teenager stared at his face, saying nothing. Yuan Hao interpreted this noncommittal behavior as tacit approval and eagerly presented his plan.

Yuan Hao: I know Osborn cares deeply about a woman. If something happened to her, Osborn would go crazy.

Yuan Hao: He's never lost anything, he should taste that feeling too.

(Osborn) Boy: No wonder you've achieved nothing so far, you're so stupid.

(Osborn) Boy: I'll only say this once, don't go near her.

The door was slammed shut in front of him.

He knew this kind of person too well. They didn't truly seek justice for their deceased loved ones. Perhaps they did at the beginning, but over time, jealousy replaced anger, and embarrassment replaced grief.

They couldn't believe that others could endure it, nor could they accept that they couldn't. So they desperately tried to drag those who had endured it down, to prove that everyone was living just as badly, but they didn't have the courage to target the real enemy.

Yuan Hao stood dumbfounded outside the door, not understanding why the teenager had refused.

Perhaps he had his own considerations. A person as powerful as a god should make the best decision, Yuan Hao thought to himself, nodding silently.

Just as he thought this, the door in front of him suddenly opened again.

(Osborn) Boy: Dispose of the body at the door.

Yuan Hao: What do you mean?

(Osborn) Boy: Didn't you say you wanted to cooperate with me?

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Chapter 17-09

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