#i need to take some decent pictures of my display case
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luckyacetarot · 2 months ago
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Buys from my local rock show today!
1) Rhosochrosite and Flourite with Pyrite inclusions from the Guanghi Zhuang region of China
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2) Brochanite from the Douglas Hill Mine in Nevada
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I've been really into pink and green minerals recently~
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sirfrogsworth · 1 year ago
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How to build THE CUBE
I got this reply about my product photography light cube.
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@nimrella and all other interested parties, I can definitely help you with that.
THE CUBE Ingredient List
The actual cube
2 Identical lights
Black plexiglass
A roll of gray seamless paper
The links above would probably be the cheapest ingredients that would allow you to get a similar shot as below.
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These are *suggested* ingredients. If you have two desk lamps, you could get identical LED bulbs. You can get bigger plexiglass if you need it. You can try white plexiglass or even a mirror. I also like using things like a wooden cutting board as a base. You can also get different colored seamless paper for the background. Colored poster board works okay too, but the seamless paper allows for a nice transition from base to background.
Some tips for using THE CUBE.
First you'll want to cut the seamless paper to size and then place it in the cube so it has a gentle curve. As stated, this will give you a gradual transition from the base to the background. You can set object directly on the gray paper and get a nice effect. Or you can use the plexiglass trick like above for a cool reflection shot.
If you use the plexiglass, place it as far forward in the cube as you can and elevate it a bit with a book or something. This will help with background separation.
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You want to put lights on either side. You can play with positions and brightness to taste. You can make one light brighter than the other or just use them full blast. The brighter you set the lights, the lower the ISO on your camera, the cleaner the noise will be. It will also help to take photos in a darker area so only the photo lights are contributing to the image. But if they are bright enough lights, that won't matter as much—they will overpower any ambient light.
If your phone has a decent telephoto lens, that will help you avoid distorting the object. But on my phone, the tele lens gets oversharpened to death. So I use the main camera and take the photo from a bit farther away and then crop in.
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Basically, the closer you get with a wide angle lens, the more pronounced the distortion is.
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This distortion is actually caused by distance rather than the focal length. With a wider lens you have to get much closer to get the object the same size in the frame. So if you keep the object in the center of the frame and back up a bit, it won't get distorted. You'll have to crop later, and you'll lose some resolution, but it should still be good enough for displaying on the web.
One thing you might also notice is the hotspots from the lights on the background. I'm afraid that is one of the disadvantages of the cube. You can try to block that with some black card or just try to position the lights so the hotspots are out of frame. If I were in a studio, I would have my background several feet behind the object to prevent this.
In any case, once you have everything set up, you can basically flip on the lights, and take a picture. Easy peasy.
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kats-kradle · 1 year ago
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Hey! Journeying over from rereading your fics to ask you some Poirot questions! : ) Had you already liked Poirot prior to 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express? And did you immediately fall in love with Bouc in the first film or did it take until Death on the Nile?
Hi!! I love talking about Poirot!! Buckle up😂😂
First off I would like to say that it made my day to see that not only did you read my fics but you reread them!! And then you actually came here to talk to me!! You’re the first person who’s actually done that so it really made my day. 
Also: I apologize in advance. When I start talking about Poirot I tend to launch into rants and I… may have done that here so I will say now in case you don’t make it to the end that I would love to hear your thoughts about the movies or anything else Poirot related! Did you know about Poirot before the movie? What are your thoughts about Bouc?
To answer your questions, I guess I could say that technically I liked Poirot before watching the movie. I actually had never heard about Poirot until the movie came out, and one of my sister’s friends took her to see it and then leant her the book. I stole it and read it in almost one night and ever since then have been absolutely enthralled by Agatha Christie! I own almost all of the Poirot books and have been trying to branch out and sample her other writings, but I keep coming back to Poirot. 
By the time Death on the Nile came out I forgot the Bouc was a character who existed because I hadn’t seen MotOE since it came out in 2017. When I saw him, I did remember that he’d been in the last movie, and was absolutely delighted that they were going to turn him into the Hastings of the movies (especially because he was so happy and full of life😭) which of course we all know what happened with that and now that I’ve recovered from my shock and denial I can take a step back and acknowledge it was a FANTASTIC choice to kill him, and to do it in such a shocking way—but also, I’m also not a a fan of how much Kenneth Branagh deviated from the source material by doing that. 
Adding Bouc to the movie was a choice that made sense, if Kenneth Branagh is going for a Poirot Cinematic Universe. People expect a sidekick, and in stories where the cast has to change every movie, it’s nice for the audience to have a familiar face other than the main detective. However, I also think Kenneth Branagh shot himself in the foot by shooting Bouc in the neck, because he went out of his way to add and establish Bouc as a reoccurring character, just to kill him off in the second movie. I think the audience will now have more difficulty connecting with the side characters in the future since they’ve had two movies with the same character, as a opposed to already being used to the characters changing every movie. But then again, I’m still in denial. Along with this, it’s setting up the next movie to have a distinctly dark tone.
Well, now I’ve gotten started on the topic of Poirot and I can’t stop😂😂😂 Enjoy my decent into madness.
Another way that dear Kenny boy shot himself in the foot is with the iconic mustache. His mustaches in MotOE were luscious and beautiful, despite the critic they received. Branagh understood that Poirot has impressive mustaches that are quite a spectacle to behold, even if the rest of the world can only picture the measly little mustache that David Suchet displays in his version of Poirot (don’t get me wrong I love those adaptations but just��� the mustache is all wrong. And David Suchet Poirot is a subject for a different time or we’ll be here forever😂😂). In DotN, for some reason he felt the need to give the mustaches a tragic backstory????? Narratively, I guess it’s a nice bookend and theme to the movie as a whole. BUT HE FELT THE NEED TO GIVE THE MUSTACHES A TRAGIC BACKSTORY????????????? Despite the fact that in DotN the mustaches aren’t actually long enough anymore to cover up the scaring shown at the beginning, HAIR DOESNT GROW ON SCAR TISSUE!!!! It just doesn’t make sense😭 Along with that, now he’s destroyed the main characteristic of Poirot, his trademark. Poirot is quite vain about his mustaches and even when he wears a fake one in Curtain (for reasons that I won’t spoil but if you know you know) Hastings only finds out at the end of the book, and Poirot’s manservant treats the subject with delicacy since the mustaches were such a sensitive subject to Poirot. 
While I’m STILL talking about Poirot (forgive my rant I can’t stop) I’m going to take the opportunity to mention the stark difference in quality between MotOE and DotN. I’ve now seen both of these movies multiple times and back to back. Overall, I think MotOE is much better. DotN uses a lot of green screen, and it’s pretty obvious and creates for some flat feeling backgrounds. For MotOE, they took shots of the mountains and overlayed the train on, instead of all CGI. Now, I don’t know for sure how much of each movie and which parts use CGI; it could be that MotOE uses more CGI and I just have a bad eye for spotting it. It was just my impression that the backgrounds in DotN were severely lacking. 
And let’s talk about the music. MotOE delivers and excellent score that makes you feel a wide variety of emotions, and they use the theme of repetition well in The Armstrong Case. For me, it had just reached the point in the movie where the theme could have started to be annoying; but the. they used it magnificently when Poirot was explaining the murder, and the simple and relentless, already melancholy melody turned into something truly heartbreaking, turning a scene of twelve people stabbing a man to death into something poetic. 10/10 one of the best uses of music and one of the best scenes ever, in my opinion. DotN, besides the songs sung by the talented Sophie Okonedo as Salome Otterbourne, has no notable music to take away from the movie, besides the absolutely grating (I don’t know what it’s called but it goes like. DUN DUN. DUUUN! DUN DUN. DUUUN! I think if you search Death on the Nile on YouTube you’ll find the song titled the same by Patrick Doyle). I got tired of hearing that by the third time it played, and my annoyance with it was one of the main things that I took away from the movie. 
AND ANOTHER THING both movies took creative liberties with the stories, but one of the creative liberties I did not like about DotN was how explicit they made it. Between that dance floor scene and the scene at the tomb… when I go to see a movie that’s rated PG-13 I like to feel comfortable seeing it with my father and not feel the need to slam my hands over my little sister’s ears. Especially when I want to slam them over my ears instead😭
All this being said I’m 100% going to go see a Haunting in Venice, but not because I’m expecting it to be good. I’d just like more fuel for my rants. I didn’t even get touch upon what an amazing actor Tom Bateman is and how I’m mad that he only plays serial killer roles outside of Bouc. 
Anyways I hope that answers your questions😅 thank you for your ask, and congratulations if you made it this far. It did truly make my day to see the phrase “rereading” in association with my fics, and I feel as if you were some curious passerby on the street who I started passionately and somewhat aggressively ranting at. I apologize. Also I took a break from ranting to check out your blog and you’ve got a great curation of posts. Good luck getting rid of me now. Prepare to see me in your notifications. Sorry for the essay.
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oswaldsleftbicep · 11 months ago
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hi! i was wondering if you could write headcanons about married life with Oswald, Kaim and Lucas :)
married life with oswald, kaim, & lucas
the way i was about to beg someone to request more of this scenario-
genre: fluff
cw: language
Oswald
❧ give me a blue collar romance like this one please-
❧ if it's what you prefer, he'd be the sole breadwinner of your family, he'll pick up the extra shift for it, he won't mind, but he'd also appreciate you helping out with the finances too with your own career. whatever field you choose, he's gonna brag about you so hard and bring it up to his coworkers all the time
❧ he's kinda clueless when it comes to shopping so he leaves most of it to you, although he's amazing at navigating a farmer's market and finding the right produce. if he comes shopping with you, he is absolutely pushing the cart for you, no questions asked. if you bring him to a larger supermarket, he's gonna get overwhelmed by all the choices lol
❧ he's,, decent enough at cooking, like he's pretty solid at a few basic dishes and he can make a mean stew, but he'd much prefer to do the dishes, or at least help you cook and wash dishes with you after. he also spends time learning new breakfast dishes to surprise you with breakfast in bed,, sometimes it's a little burned or sloppy looking but he tries his best :,)
❧ pretty forgetful when it comes to smaller anniversaries like when your first date was, even though he has them all written down on a little calendar hung up in your kitchen, but he'll die before he forgets your wedding anniversary. he spoils you rotten those days, i'm talking flowers, a nice dinner, and a night out. if he happens to work that day, he'll set aside some money for you to go get yourself pampered with getting your hair done or buying a new outfit the whole thing is giving dirt on my boots by jon pardi ugh i wish-
❧ he tries to make friday night dates a regular thing but sometimes they get pushed back to saturday because he works so much. most of the dates are picked out by you and he pays for them lol, but i could also see him making one of those date jars with you to take the pressure of choosing off of your shoulders. he loves to see you happy and enjoying yourself so if there's an event you want to go to or a movie you want to go see, he'll gladly take you there and call it a date
❧ he's kinda scared to have kids but he's not opposed to the idea. it's something he's gonna need to talk with you about so he can work out his fears and worries. he also would prefer to wait until you're completely financially ready for, he'd like to have a decent amount saved up beforehand. in the meantime, he's all for getting a pet. he seems better suited with a dog, and if that's what you wanna go for, he'll most certainly train it to protect you :,) on the other hand tho, imagine him with a little cat or a mouse and he's just so gentle and cautious with it ugh
❧ he's a humble living kinda man, and that definitely reflects through his preference of house. he'd want something small, just enough for the two of you plus one. he'll let you decorate your home to your hearts content, whatever you want the inside and outside to look like is game; he'll do all the heavy lifting for you
❧ the one thing he wants to do is help you hang up pictures of the two of you all around your new home so they're displayed proudly to anyone who sees them :)
Kaim
❧ he's a traditional man, so he's perfectly okay being the only one working, but if that's the case he expects you to take charge of the house work when he's not there. if you also work, then the housework is evenly shared. he takes care of the paperwork when it comes to bills, he even has a little writers desk that he uses solely for writing checks and sorting bills
❧ absolutely can be trusted with grocery shopping, but this mf will not stray from the list; if it's not written down or established ahead of time that you need an extra item, he won't get it. if you try to sneak something into the cart, he'll give you the look and tell you to put it back. you have to be very persistent in order to get a treat lol
❧ he's a dream partner really when it comes to cooking and cleaning as he can do both with no problem. he has designated days of the week and month for cleaning the house, and it's a schedule he expects you to follow as well; on big cleaning days, he'll assign you a list of chores for you to take care of, istg it's like this man never leaves work. more often than not he does the cooking, so because of that he'll want you to do the dishes to make it even. if you ask nicely tho he'll help you with the dishes. he'd be down for taking turns with who does the cooking and dishes, too
❧ very frugal when it comes to celebrating anniversaries and milestones; for the most part he'll only celebrate your wedding anniversary with flowers and a nice dinner out of the house. if you wish for him to start honoring some of the smaller anniversaries and milestone, just voice it to him and he'll remember them and do a little something special
❧ just like the anniversaries, dates are kinda sparse with him too, but when y'all do go on dates after you're married, they are out the roof with how fancy they are. he's a bourgie mf and he'll find local galas and other formal events to take you to. he'll also arrange smaller, less social events too, like y'all frequent a local music hall and often go see an orchestra or a play; you'll also go to classical museums and quaint little cafes. he's also all for staying home and completing a puzzle with you, or reading books by the fire with a drink of choice
❧ he's perfectly content with life without having kids, he doesn't really see it as something that'll complete the two of you in any way. if you want to add a child to your family, it's gonna take a lot of talk and meticulous planning to make sure you'll have everything ready and prepared. he's also content without pets, but if you want one, he'll ask for one that's more on the clean side that won't leave much of a mess
❧ he doesn't care what kind of house the two of you move into, be it big or small, either way he's doing the decorating, or at the very least, he's picking the themes and color schemes for each room and he'll let you pick the furniture based on his criteria lol
❧ he's a sucker for late night slow dances while unwinding after a long day, swaying back and forth under candlelight and holding you close :,)
Lucas
❧ i see him doing some kind of freelance career which, unfortunately, won't pay the bills by itself unless y'all wanna commit serious tax fraud so you'll also need to work too. he's very reassuring about it all tho, so you never have to worry about not being able to afford things
❧ he likes grocery shopping at local markets, and he'll even find a way to make a date out of it too! like if that particular market is hosting a petting zoo or something where you can pick your own fruits, he'll take you that day. he says he prefers shopping locally because it supports small farmers and it has fun things like what was just mentioned, but the truth is he gets helplessly lost in supermarkets and doesn't want to deal with getting lost. like one minute you'll be in the same aisle and next thing you know he's at the other side of the store in the auto department and he's so confused
❧ he's a great cook and even better baker, so he'll gladly handle all the food prep, but he also unironically enjoys doing the dishes too. he's perfectly content doing all the work in the kitchen, but if you offer your help, he'll take it in a heartbeat and enjoy moving around the kitchen with you and playing a bit with the ingredients
❧ you won't ever have to worry about him missing an anniversary, he remembers everything from when you first met to the day you got married. he celebrates each one proportionally to the event, so like the anniversary of your first date will get something small and cute like a bouquet of freshly picked flowers, whereas your wedding anniversary will be celebrated with an elaborate trip somewhere you've been talking about traveling to for a while. he's also super big on homemade gifts, giving and receiving; if he had to pick between going on a trip to his dream destination and a homemade gift from you, he'll pick whatever creation you've made
❧ he's so easy when it comes to dates, anywhere you want to go is game to him whether it's a touristy location a few hours away or a small local antique shop. speaking of which, he loves going to antique shops and thrift stores, and you will absolutely leave each time with something new to add to your home. he also doesn't mind date nights in where the two of you work on a giant puzzle or make a craft together; i feel like he'd love making jewelry with you for the two of you to exchange and wear
❧ he doesn't have a strong preference to having kids, a life with you in it is all he needs, whether or not there's children involved. if you do have kids, you can bet that he's gonna spoil the ever loving hell out of them. the same energy goes toward pets, too, like he'll get your pet plenty of toys and equipment to keep them active and stimulated
❧ no matter how big y'all's house is, it's gonna be filled with so much clutter. he's not a hoarder and wouldn't encourage that lifestyle, but he's a maximalist and likes to surround himself with things he finds appealing. he even encourages you to do the same; it's just as much your home as it is his and he wants to see elements of you throughout it
❧ if you have a collection of something, or you're keen to start one, he'll absolutely encourage it and find a place just for your special things. there's this one tik tok i saw of this woman who collected mugs and her ex husband would complain every time she brought a new one home, but her new boyfriend built a whole display shelf just for her mugs; that is absolutely something lucas would do for you :,)
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victorluvsalice · 2 years ago
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Me stuffing all the leftovers into the fridge, dragging out all the various pictures onto the wall, and going into Build Mode, that’s what! Because they had a decent amount of money now and I wanted to make some upgrades to the house. I didn’t get everything I wanted to get done, done because I kept second-guessing myself on where I wanted to put stuff (in particular, the enlarged greenhouse was left in quite a state, as you can see), but over the course of a couple of playsessions I got a couple of key things sorted --
A) Cleaned up all the photos they’d taken of their trip, getting rid of obviously-bad ones and choosing my favorites of the selfies to put up around the house (though I did deliberately take that shot of all the good-quality ones up on the wall so you could see some of the ones you missed thanks to their screenshot versions being all washed out thanks to filters)
B) Moved Alice’s art corner from her and Victor’s bedroom into the study, where I felt it fit better -- Victor and Alice ended up with an aquarium in that spot instead, with one of Victor’s rainbowfish inside (I named it “Overthe”).
C) Got another one of @somecreativecc‘s custom display cases for Jungle Adventures treasures and artifacts to PROPERLY display all of Victor and Alice’s Selvadoradan treasures in one case, since Victor’s stuff doesn’t fit with Alice’s in the regular one. You’ll get a better shot of that later!
D) And the big one -- I moved Smiler’s party space out of the house and into the barn! Yeah, I had been thinking for a while that they needed more space for everything, and so I gave the barn a proper top floor, moved the insect collection into the old party room, and moved all Smiler’s party stuff up there. And, as you can see, found I had enough room to include the bubble blower. :D Hooray! Add in a lounging couch, and I think it’s a pretty nice space. (Though yeah, I MEANT to add some rugs up there. . .then again, these house renovations are still pretty unfinished, so I’ll have opportunity later!)
Once I figured I was as set as I was going to get for the moment, it was back to live mode, to frame everything that needed framing and get the gang settling back in. Smiler got a drink from Victor before tending the chickens and attempting to make a mechanism, only to get shocked and get moved over to the guitar. Victor, for his part, began making planters, because he definitely needed more for his new bigger greenhouse! And Alice, after collecting the mail (and getting Victor’s magical care package in the process -- Sixam owl familiar orb, another broom, some mandrake root, and three apples -- I let her keep the latter), headed off to work, as it was one of her rare work days and I was hoping to get her a promotion. This kept everyone busy for a while. . .
But as a thunderstorm rolled in and Victor finished up his second planter, I decided I needed to get him out and about. And so it was off to the Magic Realm with his Glimmerstone! There to retrieve what, you ask?
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sailormaya · 1 year ago
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Why Pie Charts are Bad and No One Should Use Them
a sailormaya original
two people wanted me to elaborate on this, and i’m not one to resist having my arm twisted. so, let’s talk about why pie charts are sent from satan himself to curse us all.
also i stole all the images from google (except the bar chart which i made in RStudio)
We are not good at determining areas of sectors.
really. i don’t care how well you tell me you can approximate the areas of sectors of a circle. because i don’t believe you. jokes aside, we as humans really are not wired to be able to visually estimate area of parts of a circle; lo and behold, a pie chart expects us to do just that! even if the sectors are labeled, the visuals are still more than likely deceiving. take this chart for example:
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the gray and red portions look to be about the same, and the yellow and blue portions look to be about the same. it’s also hard to tell approximately how much larger the red sector is than the blue, for example. and, if we didn’t have the numbers to help us, we are left to our own eyeballs…which are deceiving. (and, even given the numbers, we will have to end up crunching them anyway rather than being able to make quick estimates. yawn.)
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a bar chart of the data solves all our problems. while there aren’t huge differences in the areas, it’s much easier to estimate the actual proportions using a bar chart or a histogram than a pie chart. it’s also much easier to compare the proportions of data to each other. 
Pie charts get crowded easily.
pie charts aesthetically suck as well as functionally suck. if you want to make a halfway decent attempt to use a pie chart to display your data, you’re gonna need to label every single slice. this gets crowded and confusing to look at.
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(side note: 3D pie charts are directly from the ninth circle of hell where satan is in a frozen lake chewing on everyone or whatever dante said.)
that there pie chart is downright UGLY. it’s hard to make sense of, and even attaching numbers to the slices doesn’t even really communicate anything meaningful because 1.) there are so many floating about and 2.) the “we can’t estimate area” point. additionally, if you don’t put a unique color to every slice, you’re just going to confuse your audience more. but, when you have a lot of individual categories, you’re going to run out of colors quickly, so…you see where i’m going with this.
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that same data looks way better on a line chart, don’t you agree? the labels line up, we don’t need to worry about choosing a new color for every line, and to hammer my earlier point even more, we can easily compare the proportions to each other!
Pie charts can’t convey lots of information easily.
one thing pie charts are especially terrible at is comparing data within the same category. i’m not really sure of a great way to say that, so i’ll just show you instead:
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to convey this same data using pie charts, we would have to have 5 different pie charts to represent each of the 5 states. 5x the suckass. and if you thought it was hard to visually compare slices within one pie chart, imagine how hard it is to compare slices between multiple! this stacked bar chart does the job just fine.
It’s easy to misrepresent your data using pie charts.
on purpose or on accident, pie charts can be used to deliberately take advantage of our inability to estimate sector areas, so let’s visit the ninth circle of hell and talk about 3D pie charts.
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these two pie charts display the same exact data. the first pie chart looks as though each sector takes up about a third of the circle. right? well, it’s much less obvious that that is the case from the second pie chart. a student might use a 3D pie chart because they think it looks cool, or a company might use a 3D pie chart to push some narrative that benefits them. either way, you should always be very skeptical when you see a 3D pie chart. the picture may lie, but the numbers won’t.
That concludes this lesson thank you all for attending and always press x to doubt when you see data being presented using a pie chart!
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pie charts are evil and horrible don't ask me to elaborate because i will
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opalesense · 4 years ago
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the last appointment
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zhongli & gn!reader
3.4k words • ~25 min. read
summary: as a studious and credible fortune teller in liyue, you discover something about your last client of the week that completely derails your outlook on life.
warnings: liyue arc spoilers, little bit of existential dread, slight mention of family member’s death
notes: might make more parts to this idk?  just kinda wanted to dip my toes into genshin writing for the first time!!
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LIFE IN LIYUE HARBOUR seemed to be repetitive and mundane.  For the past few years, you would wake up, open your fortune telling shop, analyze the futures of your clients using your geomancy, possibly take a stroll around Liyue when you needed to run errands, and then call it a day.  You performed the same routine constantly, sometimes travelling beyond the harbor to collect crystals and magical supplies for your shop, but rarely did anything truly change in your routine.  If something was off in the slightest, it was never too exciting to note.
   As anyone would have suspected, you were tired of your state of limbo in life.  Other vision holders seemed to be going on adventures, travelling with companions and exploring the vast mountains and valleys of Teyvat.  Other vision holders seemed to be fighting against evil, helping citizens, and saving the world from imminent dangers.  You could even recall a recent event where the Qixing had evacuated the harbor to defeat a terrifying sea monster.  The Jade Chamber had been sacrificed for the safety of the people of Liyue, and yet here you were, playing with a bunch of rocks for a living.  Despite being able to grasp the glowing Geo vision that held your coat together, you could not grasp why you felt doomed to tend to this shop for the rest of your days.
   You didn’t know where or how to “start” your life.  The small, inherited establishment from your late aunt was located in the small alley of Chihu Rock, practically out of sight from most of the foot traffic in the harbor.  Not many people came to visit, though your name was still decently known.  In fact, most of your appointments were simply previous clients from your aunt, regulars that relied on her readings for years and believed you were the next best thing after she passed.  Especially considering you were the first vision holder in your family, it made your credibility even stronger.
   You still remember how you got your vision.  The morning after your aunt had passed, the elemental gift somehow made its way into your hand as if the timing was meant to be perfect.  You didn’t celebrate such a special and momentous occasion with pride or joy.  Your face stiff with tears, you instead reflected on why you received your vision at that moment in the first place.  With the shop doors closed upstairs, you gripped your vision and did what you felt needed to be done.  With your family’s legacy and tradition on the line, adventuring like other vision wielders was not a priority at the time.
   But after years alone of research, a social life consisting only of interacting with customers, and a constant state of grieving the experiences you could’ve had in your youth, you were now in your late twenties and closing the shop for the day.  Your last appointment was either extremely late or not showing up at all and you were tired of working today, just like every other day. Regret gripped you tightly as you wondered how you managed to get yourself in such a boring, slow burning loop.
   That is until the shop door opened, eliciting a gasp from you at the sudden noise, shattering the previous thought.  You accidentally dropped the basket of cor lapis you were refilling and immediately knelt down to pick up the precious pieces that thankfully hadn’t cracked on the way down.
   “Hello, [Y/N],” the tall figure practically glided through the doorway, “My deepest apologies for being late.”
   He closed the door behind him, “...and for startling you, it seems.”
   You sighed, checking for any scratches on the gems and sighed again with relief based on the good results.  You grinned to hide the fact you had just been in deep thought.  “It’s quite alright, Mr. Zhongli.  It’s kind of you to stop by at the very least, even if you’re late.”
   Mr. Zhongli was one of your aunt’s longtime clients.  Since you were a child, your aunt had always described Mr. Zhongli as a complex yet thoughtful man that had always shown kindness to your family for many years.  When Mr. Zhongli learned of your aunt’s death and began to receive readings from you instead, you quickly realized what your aunt meant by calling him complex.  Mr. Zhongli was truly a tough nut to crack in every single reading, his sessions taking longer than most other cases.  That is why Mr. Zhongli would always offer to take the last spot of the day at the end of every week as to not trouble any of your other clients.
   As you took a few of the best cor lapis from the basket, you could see Mr. Zhongli’s acts of kindness and thoughtfulness unfold in front of you.  He seemed to carry what was now clearly a gift basket at closer inspection.
   “This gift is for you,” Mr. Zhongli took a few steps forward to set the basket on a countertop.  “I brought you your favorites.  Slow cooked bamboo shoot soup, qingxin, glaze lilies, and all the crystals I could find…  needless to say, let this be a token of my appreciation for your patience and hard work from our last few sessions.  I know I am not the easiest to read, but you truly have a talent.”
   You were speechless at the gesture as your eyes sunk into the intricate detail of the handwoven basket and decorated items inside.  No one had ever done something so kind for you in so long.  It was astonishing enough that he remembered your favorite soup that you mentioned only once a few months ago, let alone your favorite flowers and crystals as well.  “Thank you so much, Mr. Zhongli!   I’m at a loss for words – this is so thoughtful of you!”
   “I even brought you that Rex Incognito series you had mentioned, although, I am not sure why you would need to read the series when I am fully capable of educating you on the history of Rex Lapis myself,” he flaunted, taking his seat on the cushioned chair in front of the reading table.
   “Now, Mr. Zhongli...” you picked out some prithiva topaz from another basket, following the usual protocol you had with such a personalized, frequent client like him. The required materials for his readings were imprinted into your memory like carvings in stone. “You know I don’t want to burden you with my curiosity.  And with such an intriguing topic like Rex Lapis... once I start asking questions I’m afraid I will not stop.”
   “I have all the time in the world,” he got comfortable in his seat as you sat yourself across from him, “I truly think it would benefit you to discuss the history of Rex Lapis with a learned scholar such as myself.  We can even have some tea as we discuss.”
   You chuckled at his eagerness.  He seemed more forward than usual. “You are too kind, Mr. Zhongli.  Perhaps I’ll take that offer someday, but at least let me put those books to good use first. Maybe I won’t need to bombard you with questions if I’m already well briefed on the subject.”
   He sighed happily.  “You make a good point. And you will enjoy them, I’m sure.”
   You settled into your seat as you arranged the crystals between the two of you.  “The usual for tonight?”
   “Yes, please.”
   Your hands meticulously placed the last crystal in its spot on the surface.  You closed your eyes and hovered your hands above the rocks, clearing your mind to make way for the usual reading: a reflection on the past, any significant events of the present to focus on, and some insight into the future.  You held this hand gesture for awhile, letting the energy from the rocks lift into the air and envelop your gloved palms.  When you felt there was enough energy to work with, you opened your eyes to reveal the manifestation of his thoughts in front of you, able to take its physical form using the powers from your glowing vision.
   No one had ever taught your this skill, not even your aunt.  If you had to bloat your own ego, one could say you invented this Geo fortune telling process yourself. The process indeed came to you naturally, a true display of pure talent.
   You slowly lifted your hands to allow the visual manifestation to settle on the table among the gems so Mr. Zhongli could watch his reading unfold in front of him as well.
   “Let us analyze the past first,” he spoke, already knowing the routine without you needing to ask him where to start.  You slowly waved your hands as if you were digging a hole in sand on a beach, the manifestation displaying ambiguous patterns that wouldn’t make sense to any commoner’s eyes but could be interpreted easily by yours.
   Two pairs of focused eyes fixated on the picture as you spoke your mind out loud.  “You have recently given up something extremely important to you, it seems.  I see you handing over something…  small, physically, yet unbelievably significant and personal.  I can’t tell what it is exactly, only that it glows like the sun with its energy.  But you have handed this important object over to a very... evil... figure?” you cocked your eyebrow, confused.  “You seem to be brooding over the fact that its aura is dark with malicious intentions.”  You hesitated, “Well, that can’t be right, can it?”
   He sighed.  “Unfortunately, that is indeed what happened recently.  But it had to be done.”
   “Didn’t we talk about a similar situation in a previous reading?  If I remember correctly, I thought I had advised you to not give up whatever that object was.”
   “I am aware of the consequences that will follow.  Especially with your future guidance, I’m sure the events following this one questionable decision will unfold in a better way soon enough.”
   “I will always be here to help you, Mr. Zhongli.  But please be careful in the future with these decisions.  The importance of this object seems to be off the charts.”
   He nodded.  “It is as you say.  Please, have faith in me now. I cannot change what happened in the past, after all.”
   You hovered over this image of the sacrifice.  You couldn’t make out what this object was, no matter how close you tried to inspect it.  It had the likings of a chess piece, but surely this wasn’t simply a chess piece, was it?
   “Let us move on, if that is alright with you,” his low voice cut the silence.
   You wiped the image from your mind and waved your hands again, as if you were slowly putting the sand back into the hole you dug before.  If the last image wasn’t enough bad news, this new one that formed was even more painful to witness.
   “You have been grieving your losses very recently,” you said gently.  “Your mind is currently weighed down by your past.  I see you looking out at the sea in deep thought.  There are flashes of…”
   You stopped as you inspected the graphic images that suddenly appeared beyond your hands.  You gasped at the terrifying horrors.
   “What is it?” the low voice tried to search for understanding of what you were seeing.  Even though the image was clearly laid out in front of him, it was still too ambiguous to tell when he lacked your years of experience.
   “There are flashes of war,” your breath stifled as you watched his thoughts splayed out in images of lifeless bodies and destruction.  “Very graphic details of war and death.  Mr. Zhongli, I believe this image of suffering has been weighing over your mind like an anchor in the sea.”
   He paused to process your comparison.  “That is... a very good way to put it.”
   “Though, I believe that despite the sorrow that emanates in this image, you are in a state of relief and tranquility.  It seems you are grieving, but you are simultaneously at peace,” you hesitated again, “Yet I wonder what these graphic images of war are meant to represent.  Surely we are not in an actual war, are we? Perhaps you are at war with your past, wanting to move on but haunted by your memories?”
  Mr. Zhongli unfortunately knew the images you were seeing were, in fact, real events he had experienced in his life time and the truth was that lately he had been reminiscing on these events.  Mortal life is kind to humans for them to be blissfully unaware and carefree of these harsh realities, he internally commented.
  He still put your analysis into thought, though.
  “I am haunted, indeed.  I have been attempting to come to terms with my troubled past, just as you advised me only a few weeks ago.  I have tried to follow your guidance, and although they resurface what I have been trying to repress, I believe I am coming to peace with what happened.”
  You grinned.  “That is very good to hear, Mr. Zhongli.  I believe you are currently making good progress when it comes to moving on.  Just remember that it is okay to remember your sorrow.  Let your emotions pass through you instead of repressing them or rushing to move on.  It is okay to take your time and let the thoughts bubble inside of you for awhile.”
  He closed his eyes as you continued, letting your advice seep in.  You continued. “Imagine the stillness of the sea.  Many creatures and lost remnants take their place in the depths of the waters, but on the surface we see constantly moving yet serene waves wash over what is hidden below.  Your memories are there to stay, Mr. Zhongli.  But your present self, the surface of the water, can peacefully coexist with whatever is hiding deep within.  Let these thoughts weigh you down momentarily, but rest assured, you will find balance and acceptance in due time.”
  His eyes fluttered open as he reflected over your words.  You always seemed to know what to say.  “Your words have truly resonated with me, [Y/N].  And you are absolutely correct.  I have been fighting these memories to avoid the pain, but it had not dawned on me that sorrow is... what I am meant to feel, not push away.  I suppose your advice has put my mind at a bit more ease, and I suppose I am focusing too much on when I will be able to move on rather than allowing my thoughts to coexist for a moment.”
  “Now you’re getting it,” you grinned with the relief that washed over his face.
  “Shall we move on?” he offered.
  You got to work on the last segment of the reading.  If manifesting the other images didn’t take long enough, reading one’s future always took the longest.  Interpreting an event that hasn’t happened yet always made you a bit nervous with your words.  You never wanted to let a client down with an inaccurate reading.
  On the contrary, this reading, despite taking quite awhile to appear on the surface on the table, was very clear.
  “That is undoubtedly an image of me,” your eyes glazed over the facial features of the person in the manifestation.  “I apologize for the delay, Mr. Zhongli, I must have accidentally let my thoughts seep into yours–“
  “Do not fret, I believe this is accurate,” he interrupted.  “Keep going.”
  Your perplexed expression remained as you continued the reading.  “I am admittedly stumped.  There is nothing left in this image.  I suppose it is simply me standing in what looks like some ruins.  I am holding a staff, or some kind of long object.”  You paused to think out loud.  “Why am I in your reading?  What could this possibly mean?”
  Mr. Zhongli chuckled as you thought out loud.  “Perhaps this is a good time to tell you why you are in my thoughts.”
  “I’d love to hear it, I have never appeared in someone’s reading in my last decade and a half of experience.  This is quite unique.”
  He folded his hands in his lap, “For some reason, I have had this strange vision of training you.  I’m not sure why, since you don’t seem like the fighting type, but there is some voice inside me that is telling me you are destined for something great and i need to take some part in it.  What do you think, now that you see this vision as well?”
  Your eyebrows rose in shock.  “Training me?  I guess this does relate to something I have been pondering as of late.  I do not want to lay out my troubles on you though, my job is to interpret your life, not mine.”
  “Our lives have clearly intertwined in this vision,” he insisted, “Please do not hold back for my sake. I have the time.”
  You thought for a moment.  How could you form the words without seeming too selfish? How could you maintain professionalism by talking about your personal problems?
  “I am not the fighting type, Mr. Zhongli.  Though, lately I have been quite depressed about the fact that I am not doing as much with my vision as other vision holders are.  My life is uninteresting.  The truth is that I am a simple fortune teller that plays with rocks.  I hope you can understand why I am failing to interpret this reading,” you apologized. “It’s because this doesn’t seem characteristic of me at all.  And with all due respect, after giving you readings for years, I would have never guessed you were versed in combat to train me!”
  He chuckled.  “I respectfully disagree.  To tell you the truth, your talents surpass the abilities of many other vision holders.  Not everyone can read thoughts or tell the future.  Now that I mention it, I know of one talented astrologist in Mondstadt, but think about that.  You are one in hundreds of thousands in Teyvat,” he reassured.  “You did not receive your vision for no reason and I truly believe you are destined for something big.  I regret not being able to realize this before.”
  “How are you so sure of this?  I would love to believe you, but I’m afraid I am not destined for much, really.  Again, I am simply a fortune teller.  What could I possibly do for Liyue other than read some rocks?”
  He sighed and connected his palms with yours, interrupting the reading and wiping the manifestation off the table.  The hovering crystals dropped onto the surface, making you gasp at the sudden sound.
  “I am not who you think I am,” his amber eyes finally met yours for the first time this evening, which sent a chill down your spine.  “Promise me you will not fret, for what I am about to show you may shock you.”
  “What do you mean?  What are you doing, Mr. Zhongli?” you slightly panicked as he firmly grasped your hands.
  Suddenly, the room was engulfed in golden light that emitted from the seat across from you.  Scattered, distorted images of a mystical dragon, a devastating war, and seven seats in Celestia flashed across your eyes as you stared at the beams of light.  Death seemed to swallow you, but not take you.  The baskets of crystals around the room shook with the surge of energy.  The world seemed to destroy itself then remake itself over and over again within fleeting moments.  These thousands of years of memories made your body tremble.  It all happened within fleeting moments, and after a few seconds of your senses being overwhelmed, you finally pulled yourself together and connected the dots.
  His expanded knowledge of Liyue’s history.  The sudden gift of your vision immediately after your aunt passed.  Grieving his losses and having flooded thoughts of war and death.  Offering combat training.  Remembering your favorites the same way he would remember Liyue’s customs and traditions.  His glowing amber eyes alone.
  Mr. Zhongli was the God of Contracts and overseer of Liyue.  Rex Lapis, a being that lived for millennia, sat in the seat across from you. He had been posing as a mere mortal for years, taking readings as if he were any normal customer. The realization shook you to your core as you sat there bewildered, grateful, and horrified at the same time.
  He let go of your hands after seeing that the information successfully processed in your mind.  He saw something in you that was yet to be awakened, where the sky was the limit under your own expectations.  This daydream of his was no simple vision – it was a calling.  Internally, whether you agreed to it or not, he vowed that he would not leave your life until your true destiny was fulfilled.
  He would see this vow fulfilled by offering you a contract that would change the course of your life forever.
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sunlight-moonrise · 5 years ago
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The Price (Reid Imagine)
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Summary: Reader is a technical analyst for the BAU. She did not expect to be smitten by the resident genius. 
A/N: This is my first time writing a fic as well as my first time writing smut. I’d like to thank @spencer-reid-in-a-pool​ for beta reading my work (you’re a gem and I’ll fight for you). Also a quick thank you to @imagining-in-the-margins​ and those in the discord for being so welcoming and helping me with this. The fic is inspired by @erin-bo-berin​ Sweet Cheeks. 
Category: Fluff and Smut
Content Warnings: Oral (female receiving), fingering, penetrative sex, unprotected sex, rough sex
Word Count: 6.0K
Masterlist
There are a lot of things I enjoy about this job. The salary is decent. My coworkers are pretty cool. I get to interact with a sexy genius from time to time- you know, the usual that comes with being employed by the government.
I started as a technical analyst for the BAU a few months prior, working alongside the one and only Penelope Garcia with assisting the rest of the team behind some computer screens. Coding and hacking is second nature to me so the job is not too difficult. It was either this or facing some years in jail because I couldn’t cover my tracks fast enough. Looking at mangled and mutilated bodies on a weekly basis is better than prison.
I get along rather well with the team. I pretty much call everyone by a term of endearment, much to Garcia’s delight. It was one of the things we had in common and helped us get along with one another much faster. I sometimes can get carried away with the innuendos, but Garcia welcomes everything I say with open arms.
I typically save my more sensual remarks for the doctor. I remember the good old days when he used to be so tongue-tied by my actions. Now my words barely surprises him.
A voice broke my concentration. “What got you thinking so hard, angel?” I turn towards the person, a smile already adorning my face. Lo and behold, Dr. Spencer Reid has graced me with his delectable presence.
“Would you believe me if I said that I was thinking of you Doc?” He had a small smile on his face. I could pretty much categorize all the smiles he uses because of how often I stare at him. I mean, it is a tragedy to not stare at such beauty. This particular smile means that he is content and comfortable.
“May I ask exactly what it was that you were thinking about?” he asked. 
“I cannot share the sordid details of my mind with you just yet darling. You’ll just have to use that beautiful mind of yours and conjure up something imaginative.”
He let out a small laugh and helped me carry the files I was juggling. My eyes immediately went to his hands. The things I’ll let those hands do to me. I bet only one is needed to perfectly wrap around my -- No bitch, focus. We got a case to present in five minutes. Right, right. Work now, daydream later.
We entered the conference room, where the rest of the team was already sitting at the round table, waiting for us. I gave out the files with Spencer’s help while Penelope started up the monitor.
“You guys are staying local but time is of the essence” she informed us. The TV lit up with four pictures of young boys. “We have a kidnapping case at Stafford County.”
“Were they kidnapped at the same time or place?” asked JJ as she skimmed over the report I handed out earlier.
“No” I said as I pointed to the two younger boys on the screen. “Jacob Rivers and David Hall were taken from their respective homes 48 hours ago” I then pointed to the two slightly older boys “Benjamin Harris was taken 12 hours ago at a park and Scott Turner was taken from the mall less than 6 hours ago.”
“Do these boys have anything in common?” Morgan asked out loud.
“Other than physical appearance and age group, these boys don’t have any similarities. They didn’t even go to the same school. As a matter of fact, David Hall was home-schooled.” replied Garcia.
“Garcia and I couldn’t find any common ground in the families’ educational, economic, or social backgrounds either” I added. “Once you guys take off, we’ll do a further dive into their personal histories.”
“The UnSub is already escalating, kidnapping from a private home and kidnapping from a crowded area within hours of each event is fairly drastic” Rossi stated.
“Maybe the Unsub is on a time frame? They could be feeling pressured and desperate” Emily questioned, trying to come up with some kind of initial profile.
Hotch already started standing up. “We’ll know more after analyzing the crime scenes and talking to local PD. Let’s head out.” The rest of the team followed, gathering their files and making an exit towards the door while Garcia headed for our office. Spencer lagged behind a bit and I already knew why. We have a little tradition of bidding farewell to one another before he takes off for a case.
I stood next to him, bumping my shoulder against his upper arm. “Don’t miss me too much while you are out there.”
“The more you remind me I have to leave, the more I want to stay here.” he grinned.
I snorted at his words, knowing that he was full of shit. There is nothing more that Reid loves than being out in the field. “Go be a hero and come back to me in one piece pretty boy.”
“Yes Ma’am.” he replied as he went to follow the team towards the elevator.
I swear that boy is immune to my teasing now. I miss seeing his face become flush, but I also enjoy the playful repartee we have now. I remember the first interaction I had with Spencer quite vividly. It truly was a comical moment.
 “Everyone this is (Y/N) (Y/L/N). She will be working alongside Garcia.” Hotch stated as he introduced me to the team. I have already met him and Penelope prior to being presented to everyone else.
“Derek Morgan, pleasure to meet you.” Whoa. If tall, dark, and handsome was a person, Morgan would be fit for the role. He offered his hand, which I immediately took.
“The pleasure is all mine” I replied with a wide smile.
I directed my attention to a much older gentleman. “David Rossi” said the Italian man who reminded me of a mob boss.
“Charmed to meet you.” I shook his hand, surprised by the strength behind it. Those older bones are still working for him.
Next came the petite blonde, whose figure I was both envious and enamored with. “Jennifer Jareau, but everyone here calls me JJ for short.”
“In that case, please call me (Y/N/N).” I shook her hand, and became even more envious with how soft her skin was. She has got to tell me her secrets.
I focused on the brunette with shoulder-length hair. “Emily Prentiss”. My God, I think being attractive is a requirement for this team. She offered her hand to shake and her grip was firm. Note to self, forget about Rossi; don’t get on Emily’s bad side.
“Nice to meet you.”
I turned to the final individual and was blown away by his beauty. Yup, my previous thought has been confirmed. Only good-looking people are allowed pass these doors. His bone structure looked like it was sculpted by Roman artists. His body was lean and slender, reminding me of a runner’s physique. My eyes stared up to the softest hazel eyes I have ever seen.
“Dr. Spencer Reid.” he introduced. I offered my hand immediately, wanting to feel his skin against mine.
“(Y/N) (Y/L/N), but you already knew that,” I said softly, my hand still out. He just stared at it as if it was an anomaly.
“Uh-the amount of pathogens passed through a handshake is astounding. A high five transmit half the number. But even then, a kiss is much more safe.” he quickly stated as he nodded his head. I almost didn’t catch any of it. Partially because of the rapid speech, partially because I was staring at his lips.
“Hmm, that’s news to me. However, if a kiss is what you want…” I lowered my hand and took a step closer to him. My eyes slowly moved from his eyes to his mouth and then back up. He took a slight step back.
“N-N-No, that’s not—I-I mean that —uhh...” His face was flushed and his tongue shot out to run against his lips. His eyes quickly darted across the room, seeking some help. I felt a sense of pride knowing I made this man flustered.
“I’m just teasing Doc.” If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was frightened by me. Maybe he was, but the blush on his face and the way he kept staring gave me further information on him.
“Don’t mind Reid,” Morgan said, coming to the young man’s rescue. “He has a thing with germs.” He finished, a smirk plastered on his face. Well, I hope he soon develops a thing for something else. Or rather someone else.  
I was just about to make another sly comment when Hotch interrupted. “Back to the case at hand.” He gave us all a pointed look. Right, I am at my first day at work. I’ll focus on hot doctors with hotter smiles and the hottest face at my own time.
“Yes sir,” Garcia stated, as she started pushing buttons on a remote. The TV turned on and pictures of three different women showed up on the screen. They all looked to be strangled to death. “You guys are needed in Toledo, Ohio.” Garcia goes on to describe the case while the team starts the early stages of conducting a profile.
“Wheels up in 30.” Hotch says and the everyone disperses. Garcia walked up to me and handed me some documents from the case file.
“C’mon cupcake, we gotta do some preliminary work to get the case going much faster.” I followed her to what she called the “bat cave”. I scanned the small room and immediately fell in love. Computers and monitors littered almost every inch of the place. I saw a lot of colorful knickknacks displayed on one side of the desk, knowing already who they belonged to. The area was endearing and had a cozy feel to it.
“Wow, you weren’t kidding. This place is a dream come true.” I am sure she can hear the awe in my voice.
“I know, right. Wait until you actually use it girlie, the framework on these things is out of this world.” I sat myself on a chair nearby and rolled in front of a screen.
“Alrighty. You can do some background checks on these girls while I gather more information from the police reports. Let me know if there are any commonalities among any of them. We’ll relay that info with the team.”
“Gotcha babe, I’ll have the information ready ASAP.” I responded, already typing away on the computer. I’m already starting to like it here.
*Later that day*
Garcia and I haven’t found much in common between the victims of the crimes, much to our dismay. I was left in the office to continue searching for important information on the girls while she went to fax some data to the precinct when the phone started to ring.
I quickly answered and put it on speaker. “(Y/L/N) at your humble service. How may I serve you?”
“Oh-uh is Garcia around” replied a high-pitched voice, which I immediately recognized as Reid. I don’t know whether or not I should be insulted that he wanted Penelope or pleased that I probably still have him flustered.
“She’s a bit pre-occupied at the moment. But rest assured I can find whatever you need Doc. Especially if you ask nicely.”
“Uh-I need you to pull up information on the mothers. We think they were all in the same sorority, however not necessarily at the same time. We need a list of all the members of the sorority from the time the mothers joined with a 3-year pre- and post-graduation.”
“No problemo sweetness. Anything else I can do for you? I have a lot of other services that can be helpful.” I stated, a teasing tone in my voice as I already set up my search.
“No-no, that’s all. Um thanks.” I can already picture the blush coating his cheeks as he stammered his response.
“Alright love, call me back if you need anything. Or if you change your mind.” I hung up the phone and started organizing the list in front of me.
 And from then on, I have enjoyed pretty much all the moments I had with the BAU. It took some time, but Spencer now has accepted and even returned my little flirtations.  We often get compared to Garcia and Morgan. But with a lot more sexual tension, at least on my end. I have to remind myself from time to time to calm down before I combust in the middle of a conference room or the bullpen. C'est la vie.
I made my way to the cavern of all things amazing and settled in front of my computers. Pen looked at me with a knowing expression on her face. “You’re gloomy.”
I pouted as I put my earpiece on. “I am not gloomy, I am horny,” I rebuked.
“How long has it been since you got some?”
“I’m not sure but it feels like I have not gotten any since the Stone Age,” I groaned out.
“I don’t know why you don’t just tell him how you feel,” she pointed her pink glittery pen in my direction, “I bet he would fuck you right here if you let him.”
And there goes my thought process, as always, overtaken by Spencer Reid. “Babe, please. This is not helping my situation.”
“Just telling you how it is.”
●●●
We have been sitting in front of these screens for hours. The team has made some progress but they’re missing an important piece to fit the puzzle. Garcia has been looking into the background of the neighbors when I heard a small stomach grumble coming from her direction. I let out a laugh as she huffed out “I am going to grab a snack from the breakroom, you want anything boo?”
“If it ain’t alcohol or chocolate, I don’t want it.”
“Noted,” she said as she left the room. I really hope she finds a couple of cupcakes or something.
I continued trying to get information on these missing kids when my headpiece played the Doctor Who theme song, informing me that Einstein was calling in. “Goddess of knowledge and wisdom at your disposal.”
“I didn’t know I had Athena at my fingertips.” How is it possible that nine words have short-circuited my brain just now? Is it the voice or the way he basically called me a Greek Deity? Probably both.
Of course I slyly responded, “Oh my Hephaestus, you have all of me at your fingertips.” I heard a chuckle and I immediately knew it belonged to Morgan. A slight blush crept onto my cheeks when I heard a random voice asking why Spencer called his girlfriend in the middle of a case.
“I should have mentioned that you were on speakerphone.”
“Naughty boy, you know I charge extra for groups.” Now this was followed by some choked out noises and a bunch of giggles. I could only assume the whole precinct was amused by my antics at this point. 
“Can you ever forgive me?”
“I can, for a price.”
“A price?”
“Yes, a price that I would inform you of in private. Now the reason for your call…” I drew out. Thank goodness Garcia wasn’t here. I don’t need her looking at me as if I am a phone sex operator.
“I need you to check foster children between the ages of four and eight within a 25-mile radius. We are looking for a homosexual couple that were looking to adopt but were rejected. The names should be on multiple applications among different sites. Let me know what you find.”
“I’ll have that information at the palm of your hands soon” Meanwhile, I am over here wishing that I was at the palm of his hands.
“Thank you, my Goddess” I can’t help but smile when he says things like this. Since when were the roles reversed in our friendship?
“Anything for a gorgeous worshipper. TTYL.”
Garcia chose that moment to walk back in while I had this silly grin on my face. She stared at me and I already knew what she was going to say.
“If you don’t have a piece of chocolate or a cocktail on you, I am not talking.”
All she did was laugh at me.
●●●
The team was able to find all four boys safely. The UnSubs were a male couple who wanted to adopt but kept facing discrimination against the agencies. It is a shame that they felt they had to resort to kidnapping in order to have a family.
Now Garcia and I are scanning the notes the team faxed to us earlier today. They informed us that they would be back here in half an hour or so.
“Shoot, I didn’t think it would take this long to scan these damn files.” Garcia murmured.  I looked over at her and saw a small stack of documents that still needed to be put into the system.
I walked over and grabbed the pile from her. “Go, I’ll take care of it from here doll.”
“Are you sure? I feel bad. You did your portion of the work already.”
“Don’t you have to be at the rehearsal in 20 minutes? How is the theater going to operate without their main lead?” I placed the documents on my side of the desk and moved to gather Garcia’s belongings.  I picked up her purse and jacket before handing it to her, quickly pushing her towards the door. “I got this, think of it as an IOU.”
“Yes, yes, yes, I owe you big. Thank you sugar, see you tomorrow.” Garcia hurriedly exited the door and headed towards the elevator. 
I looked towards the papers, a low groan leaving my mouth. The faster I go through this, the better.
●●●
I was just finished implementing all the documents into the computer when I heard a knock at the door. I turned around and saw Spencer’s head peeking through. “Evening handsome, to what do I owe this visit?”
“Garcia passed by me a while ago and informed me you were in here finishing some extra work. I wanted to check on you; see if you needed my help.”
“Thanks Doc, but you’re a few minutes too late. I already finished scanning the files. Besides, you’re not the best with technology, much less these computers.”
“Maybe not. But I am a fast learner and I pay close attention to detail.” Either my ears were playing a trick on me or Spencer’s voice lowered an octave or two.
I remembered what Penelope said earlier today and decided to just go for it. “I could collect on that price from earlier.” I leaned against the desk and stared into his eyes. C’mon Doc, pick up the hint. Rather, pick me up instead.
“Well I was thinking that I can get you dinner.” he said, a hint of excitement in his voice.
That’s great, but not what I had in mind. “I was hoping for something else” I looked into his eyes, then slowly trailed my eyes downwards. Kiss me. Kiss me. Touch me. Lick me. Fuck me. Kiss me.
Unfortunately, Spencer is not a mind reader. He lowered his head and looked slightly dejected. “Oh well umm—would you prefer to go to a theater?” Oh Doc, you sexy, naïve, intelligent, innocent man. I guess if you want something you have to do it yourself.
I sat on the edge of my desk. “Come here Spencer.”
His head perked up, slightly intrigued since I rarely call him by his name. He walked to where I was sitting but there was still space between us.
“Closer, I don’t bite.” Unless you want me to.
He moved closer to me and I was able to rest my hands on his shoulders. Thankfully the height of the table let us be more at level with one another.
I made sure to look into his eyes as I said “I am going to kiss you. If that isn’t something you want, tell me now.”
He was speechless. His mouth was moving but no sounds came out. If the circumstances were different I would have appreciated seeing his rattled expression once more. I waited a few seconds, but he still has yet to say anything.
“Spen-mmh” before I knew it, his mouth was upon mine. He gently cradled my face as his lips moved against my own. My eyes closed as I felt nothing but bliss. As cliché as it sounds, I was in paradise because of this kiss alone.
His tongue peeked and swiped against my lower lip, trying to have a taste of me. I was more than happy to grant him entrance, a moan leaving my body as his tongue touched mine.
All parts of me were trying to feel him. I had one hand in his hair while the other grabbed onto the back of his shirt. My chest was pressed against his while my legs lazily wrapped around his midsection. His scent was intoxicating to me. It was a coffee-like smell as if he just walked out of a café. He tasted so sweet, all I wanted to do was keep his mouth on mine. But my body needed air so I slowly pulled away.
He tried to catch his breath as his forehead rested against mine. “So you don’t want dinner?”
“Doc the only thing I am hungry for right now is you. We’ll get food afterward, alright?” Spencer nodded his head while licking his lips. My eyes hungrily followed the action and I just had to get another taste. I pulled him towards me, his hands once again holding onto my face. He was much more dominant with this kiss, and I was more than willing to give him the control. His hands then trailed down to my hips and pulled me closer to his pelvis. I jerked against him and was rewarded with a groan.
He squeezed me tighter as his lips broke away from mine once more. He placed a peck on my lips, then my cheek before trailing down my neck. I felt my body heat up as I released a small moan. Fucking hell, he is going to be the death of me and we barely did anything.
Spencer started to lightly nibble on my neck when I pulled him back by his hair. “It is summer and I am not wearing a turtleneck in 80° weather. If you’re gonna give me some hickeys, they better be on my chest.” He murmured something that I couldn’t quite comprehend before undoing the buttons of my blouse.
Hell, I am not the only one who is gonna be undressed so I started unbuttoning his dress shirt as well. It was a race to see who would get the other’s shirt off first. Of course I lost because my hands wouldn’t stop shaking. But when his warm lips kissed their way towards the middle of my cleavage, I felt like a fucking champion.
I tried my best to shimmy out of the sleeves of my blouse while Spencer attempted to take my bra off, his lips still leaving a love mark against my chest. Once we got rid of the shirt and the bra, his mouth immediately enveloped one of my nipples.
“Fuck” I yelped loudly, “a little warning next time Doc.”
“Sorry” he muttered as he continued to suck on my breast while palming the other between his dexterous fingers. That had to be the most insincere apology I have ever heard from him. An idea came across my head. I slowly removed his shirt, watching it pool on the floor. I then raked the nails of one hand across his chest while the other pulled against his hair. Hard. He retaliated by lightly biting my nipple. Fuck, the plan backfired. Abort mission, abort the damn mission.
Spencer let out a small chuckle as he pulled away from my breast, an audible pop leaving his mouth. My hands went to his face and I moved him up to look at me. His eyes were dilated and his mouth was swollen. His face was flush and he was taking deeper breaths than usual. He looked so beautiful like this.
He had a dorky smile on his face and I realized that I said the words out loud. I felt my face heat up fast and he swiftly commented “I’d never thought I’d see you be so thrown off because of me.”
He rested his hands against either side of the desk and just looked at me. “Shut up and kiss me.” I hissed, already missing the warmth of his skin against mine.
“Where do you want me to kiss you?” he asked. I was about to reply when he interrupted “Do you want me to kiss you on your lips? Or maybe you want me back on those beautiful breasts of yours?”
Have mercy on me, I never believed Spencer Reid could make me so wet just with his words. Sure, I thought of it, but I didn’t believe it would happen to me.
“Maybe you want me to go lower. Should I place my lips on that pussy of yours?” Oh my fuck, I never want this moment to end. I nodded my head so quickly, I could have sworn I given myself whiplash.
“I want to hear you say it,” he breathed out.
“Yes, yes, please. I want you to eat my pussy. Please.” I begged. Dignity be damned.
“That’s my good girl” How is it possible that he went from the dorky adorable doctor to this assertive, stimulating specimen in a matter of minutes? I didn’t think he had a sensual bone in his body. But I am glad to be proven wrong.
Spencer lowered himself to his knees while I clumsily attempted to rid myself of my skirt and panties. I lifted my lower body up as he pulled the clothing off of me. Penelope would have a field day if she knew that I was sitting butt naked on the desk with Spencer Reid between my legs. Hell, I am having a field day knowing this.
Spencer, being the teasing bastard that he has been for the past few minutes, started kissing my legs first. “That’s not where I said I wanted you to kiss me” I huffed out.
“Hush” was all he said as he continued the slow trail up, making sure to alternate between each leg. I was already breathing as if I have ran a marathon, my patience was waning at this point. Finally, he made his way to where I needed him most. He put his hands on my thighs and pushed them further apart.
My hands landed on top of his head, playing with the curls. “You’re comfortable down there Doc?” I snickered, loving the sight of his head between my legs. All he did was nip my inner thigh harshly. I shrieked at the action. I’m starting to think this man has a tiny biting fetish.
I wasn’t ready for when his tongue parted my folds. I squeaked as he teasingly lapped the arousal that had formed the second he walked into the room. I tried rolling my hips but his hands made me stay put on the desk. I never knew he could hold me down like this. I couldn’t even be mad because the pleasure he was giving me was incredible.
Spencer continued to tease me, his tongue never going where I needed it most. He made sure to explore as much as possible as leisurely as possible. “Spencer, please” I cried out. He let out a small hum, the vibration causing a shiver to rack my body.  
His tongue finally entered me, much to my delight. No amount of imagination could have ever prepared me for the things this appendage can do to me. He continued this soft, flat movement that was driving me crazy. My hands tightened in his hair, hoping he would go a bit faster.
“You taste so good princess, I don’t want this to end.”
“That’s my Queen to you” I jested. He didn’t like that since he responded with a resounding smack against my outer thigh. Ouch, note to self, Spencer doesn’t like being teased during sexy times. Hmm. On second thought, continue to tease Spencer during sexy times.
I felt his finger probe my entrance, moving up and down before pushing inside of me. I let out a distressing whine as he started slowly moving his finger in and out of me, curling as he did so. His mouth was on my clit, sucking and kissing it as if he has done so all his life.
My body started heating up and trembling. I tried, and failed, to roll my hips against the movement. “Spe-Spencer” I wailed. He didn’t relent.
Spencer entered a second finger into me as his tongue gave small, flickering motions against my bundle of nerves. I had to move one hand to my mouth to prevent any loud noises from being heard outside the room. Shit, did we even lock the door?
That thought immediately left my mind as my core started to tighten. Spencer must have known that I was getting close to my orgasm because he moved his fingers more diligently within me. I felt his fingers curl as they pulled out, I felt his tongue lick thoroughly against my pearl, I felt my ecstasy rising within me. It took one more deep press of his fingers and a harsh suck for me to come all over his face. I bit down on my fingers as I moaned out loud.
“That was so much better then what I imagined” I panted out, the words barely coming out comprehensible. I had a giant smile decorating my face.
He pulled his face up, a smug grin gracing his face. “Is this what you were thinking about earlier this morning?” he taunted. I couldn’t even give him a smartass remark because I was too busy trying to come back to reality. He pulled his fingers out and held them in front of my face.
“Open” he ordered. I complied and he pushed his fingers inside of my mouth. “You look so pretty when you follow instructions well. See how good you taste.”
I pulled my head back, taking his fingers out of my mouth. “I bet I taste a lot better on that tongue of yours.”
He tangled his hand in my hair and pulled me to a kiss. I immediately opened and welcomed his tongue against mine. I was right, I do taste better on him. I let out a deep moan and pulled away far enough to gently bite down on his lower lip.
He looks at me, that devilish tongue of his running against his lower lip before entering my mouth once again. With his lips still on mine, he picked me up and move to sit on my desk chair. It was nothing short of a miracle that we managed not to fall on the floor.
I placed my hand on top of his erection through his slacks and he drew a quick intake of breath. I started palming him as I grinded myself against him. I pulled back as I whispered, “I need you, Spencer”.
“Y’know this is the most I have heard you call me by my name in any given moment we have been together.” He unzipped his slacks and pushed down his pants and boxers as much as he could with me on top of him.
I looked down, finally being able to see his cock. Is it possible to get aroused further through sight alone? Because I think I creamed myself again. God, I wish I could show him my oral skills, but we’ll save that for another time.
“Would you rather I call you by something else?” I asked, attempting to move my lower body so that it can align with his cock. I say attempt because Spencer currently had his hands on my thighs again.
“No, I like the way my name sounds as you moan it out. Don’t hide your pleasure from me this time.” He maneuvered my legs to rest upon the armrest on either side of the chair, leaving my pussy wide open for him.
I gave him an incredulous look. “Are you forgetting that we are at work?”
He started rubbing the tip of his cock against my lower lips. “I didn’t forget. I just don’t fucking care.” And with that, he slowly penetrated me.
We both groaned at the intrusion. He gradually started entering me as I adjusted to his size. Inch by inch, he gave me all of him until he was buried to the hilt.  I took a moment to savor the feel of Spencer inside of me before I started grinding against him. He took that as a hint to begin thrusting.
He started slow, taking his time and having us enjoy the feeling of one another. “Your cunt is so fucking tight” he hissed into my ear and I gave out a loud whine.
“That’s because you have such a big cock, Doc” I managed to moan out. He smacked my ass before grabbing each cheek tightly in his hands. “I want you to call me by my name” he grits out.
“Spencer, baby please give it to me. I’ve been waiting for this Spencer, I’ve been waiting for you.” He started kissing my neck once more and my eyes started to closed. I wanted to focus on the pleasure he was giving me.
He tightly grabbed me, moving my hips along with his thrusts. I was close to being pushed over the edge once more. The only sounds occupying the room were our moans and skin smacking against skin as we chased our pleasure.
“Open your mouth” I heard him say. I opened my eyes to see his thumb positioned over my lips. I let out a small whimper as I sucked his digit earnestly. I made sure to coat his finger with a lot of saliva, knowing exactly what he was going to do with it when it was out of my mouth.
He pulled his thumb out and immediately placed it on my clit. I gave out an embarrassingly loud sob as he started moving his finger against me in soft circular motions. I placed my lips on his neck, trying to muffle the noise coming out of my throat.
Spencer quickly grabbed my hair and pulled my head away as he started to slow down. “How many times do I have to tell you that I want to hear your pleasure?” In that moment, Spencer controlled my mind, body, and soul.
“I’m sorry Spencer. I’ll be your good girl, please don’t stop.” He returned back to the previous pace and thrust into me even harder. We both started chasing our orgasms, not being able to hold back any longer. He was pounding into me relentlessly and I was loving it. I am sure that I am going to be sore after this.
“Come for me (Y/N), I want to feel this tight cunt squeeze around my cock.” Say less, I am already ahead of you. My eyes were rolling to the back of my head and I felt my pussy pulsate around him. With one last motion against his thumb, I cried out his name multiple times as I climaxed.  
Spencer whispered my name as he continued pushing into me, chasing his own orgasm. He thrust a couple more times before quickly pulling out, spilling himself over my stomach. I panted as I laid my head against the crook of his neck. His fingers thrummed a slow rhythm upon my lower back.
“So about that dinner... do you want to get Indian food?”
“Yeah, I can go for some samosas right now.”
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ladykatakuri · 3 years ago
Text
Our Dance
Tech x F Reader
Rating: General Audiences
Word Count: 2175
Lyrics used from the song All about us performed by He is We
Summary:“I believe you might have to come to her aid soon. The senator currently trying to keep her attention on him is well known for his more….illustrious desires when it comes to women.” The concern in her eyes immediately urges him to spring to action and before she can even finish her full sentence he is off to the rescue.
Here it is, the Tech fic i was working on. Somehow i had several songs that inspired story idea`s and ofcourse it is with the guys from the Batch and yes i also have something in mind for Omega. Hope you like it and comments / tips are always more then welcome here <3
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It was one of those evenings, once more. A senator had decided that it was time for an early celebration of, well something important on his home world and of course that meant guests, a lot of food and drinks, caterers and guards. Normally not a big problem, any time that you were invited to a party by a good friend you would happily accept and you did, but this evening turned out to be a huge annoyance to you and a strain on your self restraint.
During your time serving food and having nice conversations with people from all layers of society you came to be very fond of the clones you met. The Coruscant Guard became steady customers of the shop where you served caf and breakfast most times and all the others were a steady stream of visitors at 79`s, the bar where you would have evening and night shifts, waiting on tables and just having a good time with your new found friends. But this party? You would be happy to leave and if you could leave after giving some of the politicians there a piece of your mind then all the better!
It began with the senator of Scipio and delegate of the Banking Clan, Rush Clovis, mentioning to another senator he did not see why there should be any consideration for the clones. Their conversation was caught by you as you walked by on your way back to your friend who had invited you in the first place, Padme Amidala, but it was more than enough for you to already hate the man. Unfortunately it was not an uncommon feeling among people with a seat in the senate to think of the clones as nothing more but meat for the grinder. They were created on Kamino to fight in the war effort, and when they died? Well there were more where they came from.
With a slight tremble you move forward, handing out the drink to a friend you found among the guests and had a nice conversation with. In the meantime you knew that several clones were there by special invitation. The senator that was hosting this party wanted to display his power and thought it would be fun to have some of those clones around to have fun with. In this case that fun meant that the guests who wanted to, could either talk to the clones or even dance with them. They were no more than props on display for most of the people there and you hated every second of it. Especially when you realised one of your favorite groups of men were also there. You were about ready to leave the party and grab some sleep when you saw that special group of men, especially one very special, tall, goggled man who had been haunting your daydreams from time to time.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When Tech heard that they were ordered to attend a party he was seriously confused. “They do realise we are considered to be defective clones? Not many senators or other high placed figures would want us around them on purpose.” Rubbing his head he looks at his sargeant and leader, Hunter.
With a deep sigh, Hunter looked at his brother. “Yes Tech, they know. I believe that is exactly why they want us to attend this thing. I suppose there is some ulterior motive to it, but we have to follow this order in any case. So, suit up and be on your best behavior.” The last sentence has the sarge glance at the two most troublesome of his brothers, Wrecker and Crosshair. They were the least likely to really behave, but that was a concern for later.
Tech felt uncomfortable in his black suit, but orders were orders in this case and at least Senator Amidala had been kind enough to start a conversation with him and Echo. Both were surprised at her kindness and how she was genuinely interested in their feelings about the war. Echo had stopped him from rambling about the war too much by pointing out the one person he knew would draw more attention than anyone else in the room.
Take my hand, I'll teach you to dance
I'll spin you around, won't let you fall down
Would you let me lead? You can step on my feet
Give it a try, it'll be alright
For a moment it seemed as if there was only one person in the entire room, and that person was you. Tech looked in the direction Echo pointed at and there you were, walking around greeting and conversing with some of the guests in the room and looking picture perfect while doing so. A string of hair escaped your ponytail and the annoyed glance aimed at one of the senators only made you seem more beautiful. Looking at the senator that seemed to have annoyed you so much, he immediately understood why you seemed ready to hit the man with your fist. Senator Clovis was known to be ruthless when it came to clones and clone rights. When asked, he would always say the exact same thing, “Clones are mere tools in the warmachine. A cog perhaps. They are easily replaced and so, we have no need to mourn the loss of any of them. I see no reason why we would even have to spend any credits on the recovery of the wounded.”
A small grin formed on his lips as he watched you stalk away from the man and move to stand somewhere calm and quiet. Senator Amidala, still in conversation with Echo noticed the slight change in attitude as his eyes followed you around the room. “If you pardon my intrusion, Tech is it?” Her hand taps his arm as she turns to speak to him.
Tech looks at the senator as he answers. “It is indeed, senator. How may I help you?”
Amidala looks at the man currently shifting attention between her and the woman he keeps an eye on as she moves around the room. “I believe you might have to come to her aid soon. The senator currently trying to keep her attention on him is well known for his more….illustrious desires when it comes to women.” The concern in her eyes immediately urges him to spring to action and before she can even finish her full sentence he is off to the rescue.
You know that the man currently speaking to you as if you are just another nobody, who is lucky enough to have been invited to work the celebration taking place is also the same man who not only is a senator, but also well known for demanding personal time with all female personnel and even demanded coruscant guards to remove some women he has used when they became too much of a bother to him afterwards. This time he seems to have set his eyes on you and you are just not having it. “Senator, I must return to my friend now. I apologize for cutting this wonderful conversation short, but if I do not at least spend some time with Senator Amidala this evening, I would be a poor and ungrateful friend.” Though you smile it is obvious even to the senator you only mean the polite refusal to continue the conversation, as much as you refused to dance with him.
“I know you're nothing important in the senate, just a person that Amidala befriended from the lower regions of this planet. You will dance with me, because any offer such as this from the likes of me is an honor and then we will continue our conversation in private.” Just when he reaches for your hand to drag you back, your hand is taken by another man.
As fast as he managed to take your hand before the senator, Tech took the drink from your hand and gave it to another waiter nearby. His arm is already snaked around your waist as he turns you around and walks you to the middle of the room. “I believe you agreed to give me the first dance once you finished your round in the room Y/N. I noticed you were on your way back , so I suggest we make the best of it.
Surprise and gratitude quickly appear and leave your eyes as you smile at the man guiding you away. “Thank you Tech. I almost lost track of time.” The blush on your cheeks as you feel him turn you around to face him brightens when you take him in once more. He looks absolutely dashing in his black suit and light blue dress shirt.
The room's hush hush and now's our moment
Take it in, feel it all and hold it
Eyes on you, eyes on me
We're doing this right
The orchestra plays a slow song as Tech gently moves the two of you around the room. Despite his tall figure and the appearance of a soldier most times, he is absolutely graceful as he leads you in your dance. His hand, warm on the small of your back presses you closer to him while he softly squeezes the hand he holds. Leaning in closer to you his lips almost brush your ears as he whispers. “It seems you needed a rescue. Though from the look you gave that senator, it is highly probable I actually rescued him.” His low chuckle sends a shiver down your spine as he straightens out and swirls you around. “I shall thank Senator Amidala for warning me in time.”
Amidala, your friend. A senator who usually makes her way through all the layers of society and who does her best to help all people. She even spoke to you about clone rights and how to see to it that they would be treated more decently, after she found out that you were one of the people who were strong advocates for clone rights. Soon after that, the two of you struck up a friendship based on mutual respect. She invited you to this evening because of your shared passion for the rights of clones and your contact with many of these men. She felt it might make them feel at ease, seeing a friendly face in the crowd.
Grinning you look up into the brown, bespectacled eyes of your hero of the evening. “I will thank her for sending me a hero.”
The music stops and you are ready to step away from Tech so that he can walk back to his brothers. Tech however is not moving an inch and he is not letting go of your hand. Pulling you back in at the same moment another song is started, Tech gently guides you in another dance.
“You know, people will stare at us. They might even start to talk about us.” A gentle blush on your cheeks, you whisper to him.
'Cause lovers dance when they're feeling in love
Spotlight's shining
It's all about us
It's oh, oh, all
About uh, uh, us
And every heart in the room will melt
This is a feeling you never felt dry
It's oh, oh, all about us
Tech has always been kind to you from the moment you met. His brothers, all with their own sense of humor and fun way of flirting quickly became good friends of yours. Tech as well, though you also developed a crush on him rather fast. His fast knowledge of pretty much everything and witty remarks only served to make you fall harder for the man. And now here you were in his arms, dancing to beautiful music, still a little insecure on whether or not you should let him know how you feel.
Without paying any attention to the room, Tech moves the two of you a bit more to the edges of the room. No longer swirling around with all the other couples on the floor, the two of you softly sway on the sidelines. Still in a warm embrace of his arm around you and his hand softly holding yours, he looks down at you and smiles. “People always find reasons to talk about others. It is in their nature to try and find common ground so as to divert attention from themselves at such events.”
You sigh softly and move the hand that was resting on his shoulder all this time to his face. Carefully brushing his cheek. “You could just tell me to let them watch you know?”
A chuckle escapes him as he leans in to you and his lips brush yours. “It's all about us anyway.
When he moves back, he pulls you in closer against him, your head against his chest, his arms around you as you keep swaying to the music. Nobody else in the room exists at that moment, but the two of you.
“All about us.” you whisper, a promise for the rest of the evening and all the days still to come.
@loth-wolffe @catbustours @reluctant-mandalore @nahoney22 @hellothere-generalangsty @allamarisss
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imagining-in-the-margins · 5 years ago
Text
Here to Misbehave (Pt. 13 | S.R.)
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Series Masterlist | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Finale |
Summary: Spencer finally meets Reader’s roommate while the two prepare for a picnic. After Spencer lectures Reader on the dangers of the outdoors, the two face a different kind of danger at the bank.
Couple: Spencer/Fem!Reader 
 Category: Smut (NSFW, 18+) Content Warning: Gun violence mention Word Count: 6.3k
MASTERLIST
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Although I’d been inside (Y/n)’s apartment several times now, I couldn’t say I’d ever actually looked much at my surroundings. It felt strange to admit that, mostly because I felt like I was doing something wrong; like I was a traitor to my job.
But then again, it felt worse to try to profile her. The few times I had made it obvious, she had made it very clear it was unappreciated. I could understand why.
So, before we even got to her door, I tried to quiet the voices screaming in my head, telling me to look for clues to all the unknowns about her. It wasn’t because I was expecting her to be hiding anything; I just wanted to know everything about her.
I could simply wait for her to tell me, though. We had all the time in the world, right?
“Laura, I’m home!” She called out immediately after breaching the entrance, following the exclamation with a very hurried request. “Spencer is here so please don’t be weird!”
The response was a calm, steady series of footfalls down the hall. The girl stuck her head around the corner, peeking at the two of us with a devilish grin.
“Pleasure to finally meet you, Dr. Reid.”
I told myself I probably shouldn’t be this nervous. If she was friends with (y/n), she was most likely a decent person. But let’s just say women around that age had never been particularly kind to me. They brought to the surface a lot of memories I’d tried very hard to bury.
She didn’t put her hand out to shake, which told me they’d already probably talked about me more than I’d have liked. ‘Wait,’ I thought to myself, ‘Is it okay to profile her roommate?’
“I’m going to go get a basket together. Wait in the living room, my kitchen is a disaster.”
Before I could argue, she had already disappeared, leaving me stranded in the hallway with her roommate who looked ready to cause trouble. I just hoped it wouldn’t the kind that revolved around me.
She waved a hand in front of her, motioning for me to make my way into the living room. Once we were there, she immediately took a seat, but I remained standing. Felt better to be able to escape.
The silence was awkward and suffocating. I could feel her staring at me, but she wasn’t saying anything. It felt wrong to look back.
“She says you read people for a living.” Her voice had a hint of skepticism in it I’d grown used to. “Sounds kind of like what psychics say.”
“Yeah, we use a lot of the same strategies, too. They just aren’t as honest about it as we are.”
“What do you see here?”
That was what got me to turn around and face her. She looked so comfortable, curled up on the couch.
“Pardon me?” The question caught me off guard, even though it shouldn’t have. I’d heard it so many times.
“What does our apartment say about us?” She asked, clearly not understanding why it was an inappropriate thing to ask. Or more likely, just didn’t care. Curiosity is a powerful thing.
I cleared my throat before looking back away and saying, “I agreed not to profile (y/n).”
“Well, can you at least tell which stuff is hers?”
I’m sure she was just checking to see if I was legitimate or just scamming her. Maybe she was checking to see if I was too good at it.
She didn’t need to worry. (Y/n) could handle herself. She wasn’t tricked easily. In fact, most of my intrigue and concern surrounding her unknowns was just how good she was at hiding things.
It wasn’t until I had registered that question and was staring at her walls with a newfound sense of purpose, that I realized how little I knew about her past. Then again, I don’t really care about her past.
It had made her who she was today, and that was the woman I loved.
My fingers brushed over old, cracked plastic on DVD cases displayed on a shelf beside the console center.
I didn’t even notice I was smiling at first, realizing that she’d kept the physical cases despite all the streaming services. She clearly still used the discs, too.
“These... are hers.”
“How can you tell?” The response in the form of a question told me I was right, and only made me feel even more deeply. Despite my greatest efforts to not look so excited by something so silly, I turned back around with my lips still curled in an awkward smile.
“Educated guess. Adrenaline.”
“What?” The confusion in her voice reminded me that she wasn’t aware of one of my deepest personality flaws.
“Research shows that only about 10% of the population are so called ‘adrenaline junkies,’ people who enjoy roller coasters and horror movies. It’s more often men than women, but it’s hard to tell because of the way we’re socialized.”
If I had turned around to face her, I probably would have seen the dead stare she was giving me during my rant.
“Regardless, people tend to either love horror or hate it. So, I considered the fact that (y/n) seems to enjoy things like... sneaking into bars with fake IDs and… other risky behavior.”
Well, that was close.
“But what really gave it away was the fact they’re not dusty, which means they’re still being used despite all of these movies being available on streaming services I know for a fact she uses. Considering how patient she is with my own Luddite tendencies I just figur—“
“Wow.”
The word cut off my train of thought, and I realized that I had barely breathed since I’d started. Wincing in response to the dumbfounded look on the poor girl’s face, I gave a nervous chuckle.
“Sorry. I’m rambling, aren’t I?”
“A little bit,” she said with her own little pity laugh. I’m sure (y/n) had told her enough about me that this wasn’t that big of a surprise.
“I do that when I’m nervous.”
“You shouldn’t be nervous,” she said like it was the easiest advice in the world, “You’re right about her, you know.”
Staring down at my feet, I wondered why the confirmation from her roommate meant so much to me. I hadn’t been actively trying to figure out things about my girlfriend — it felt wrong. But for whatever reason, knowing I had the ability to figure it out meant more when it was about her.
Laura laughed again, craning her neck to look around the corner before she quietly spoke. “She says it was the other way around, but she’s the one who convinced me to streak the lawn.”
Ah, the age-old tradition of UVA students. It was so easy to picture her stripping down to nothing in the dead of the night to prance down the length of manicured grass. My own personal little pixie.
If it was just an attempt to calm my nerves, it was working. Putting the focus back on (y/n) was a surefire way to bring out the best in me. She just had that effect on me.
“I am entirely unsurprised by this information,” I said before walking over to the other side of the room, noting the distinct lack of pictures of family among the shelves that clearly belonged to her.
Don’t read into it, I told myself, she might just keep them somewhere else.
“She also drank an entire water bottle of vodka during a full day of classes one time, just because I bet that she wouldn’t.”
I scoffed at the image of her drunk. It’d been a while since I’d seen her like that, and both times had been remarkably unique. She’s a dead giveaway; I was surprised she hadn’t been caught.
“I can’t say I relate to that,” I sadly admitted. Sometimes it was hard to realize that if I’d known her at the same age, we probably wouldn’t have gotten along. I used to hate people like that.
Granted, they had usually also hated me.  
“She did mention you were a genius or something. I kind of figured. That’s her type.”
Well, that was information I couldn’t just gloss over. I furrowed my brow with a disbelieving smile, finally looking at the girl who was avidly watching my every move.
“Is it? I always pictured her with someone with more… Kinaesthetic intelligence.”
She gave me that look people give me when I said something weird, but continued nonetheless, “I don’t really know what that means, but she takes school pretty seriously. Honestly, probably a little too much. Part of why I dared her.”
“It’s strange to imagine her in class.” I hadn’t meant to say it, but once it was out there, I couldn’t take it back. And I was glad I couldn’t, because I was very curious about the answer.
“She’s the girl who knows all the answers and shuts down all the stupid guys trying to talk over her.”
I knew that those behaviors weren’t exactly favored in classrooms, having myself been the one at the brunt end of the bullying that followed.
“It’s pretty impressive.” She was being genuine when she spoke, and I was inclined to agree. At the same time the thought crossed my mind, I found a picture of her perched on the lap of the Thomas Jefferson statute.
God, I loved that girl.
“I bet she is.”
Almost on call, (y/n) poked her head into the room with wary eyes, looking at me as I awkwardly waved before looking back to her roommate.
“Laura, are you being weird?”
The girl rolled her eyes, but didn’t respond. Instead, she turned to me like it was my question to answer. Afraid to spoil any tenuous, newly formed loyalties, I shook my head no.
“Okay…” She only barely accepted my answer, “But if you say some dumb shit and get arrested, I’m not bailing you out.”
Briefly sticking out her tongue as she walked past me, she continued on her way. I couldn’t help but give that lovestruck, idiotic grin I always gave when she was around. If you’d told me I would’ve ever felt like this about someone who felt the same about me, I wouldn’t have believed you. Part of me still didn’t believe she could ever love me the same as I loved her.
Turning back to the girl cringing at the blatant intimacy shared in a simple glance, I immediately became awkward again.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t bring my handcuffs.” I joked, showing my hands in a strange display of innocence.
She… took a different approach.
“I know for a fact she has a few pairs in her room if you need one.”
A high-pitched whine nearly escaped my throat at the casual mention, and I cleared my throat and turned to look at her with a very unconvincing laugh. “W-what?”
“You have to know it’s impossible for her to keep her sex life a secret,” she droned with a bored expression, “I live one room over.”
“Right,” I nodded.
There was an extended, never ending silence as she just let me stew in my own discomfort. It didn’t seem to bother her one bit, because the longer I avoided her eyes the more she seemed to smile.
“I’m uncomfortable.” I finally admitted, and she just shook her head, running her hand through her hair before giving me one final hard look.
“You’re sweet. You make her happy. I appreciate that.”
My mouth scrunched in a humble half-smile, my hands finding their way back into my pockets as I tried to consider the reality I’d found myself in. Of all the infinite possibilities, I got to exist in the version of the world where I loved a girl who loved me back.
“It’s all her,” I finally said with a voice that crackled far too much for my liking, “I don’t do anything. I’m just the lucky one she decides to keep around.”
Laura flashed an approving grin, but then got up when she heard the familiar, happy feet beating down the hallway. (Y/n) burst out from around the corner, her arms full with a picnic basket and a blanket she clearly owned for just these occasions.
“Ready to go, babe?”
“Lead the way.”
I’d have followed her anywhere.
—————————————————
It was the perfect time of year for a picnic, despite Spencer’s insistence that there was no such thing. Once we were in the park, his whining dramatically decreased. Maybe it was the sunshine, or maybe it was the smile on my face, but he was certainly in brighter spirits.
He even let me rest my head on his lap, his legs crossed underneath me while he alternated between staring off at the trees slowly losing their color to autumn and my quiet contentment as I nibbled on an assortment of fruits.
There was no awkward silence or hidden darkness in this day, and even the sweetest strawberry couldn’t be more refreshing. To be here with Spencer, soaking in the late Summer sun, was all I could ever ask for.
But I was also eager to take advantage of the uncharacteristic softness between us. It wasn’t often we could share moments like this. Between his job and all our problems over the past few months, I wasn’t sure when we could be like this again.
“Let’s talk about something fun.” I blurted out, earning an intrigued look from my boyfriend. He readjusted his position, leaning back on his hands so he could look down at me easier.
“Okay, like what?”
“Don’t make fun of me…” The way he was looking at me gave me no hope he would actually listen to me, but I continued anyway, “I have conversation starters I looked up.”
He snorted while trying to suppress his chuckle. “Of course you do.”
Dropping my mouth open, I reached up to lightly smack him on the face for immediately doing exactly what I had asked him not to.
“What? Like you’re the epitome of sociable, Dr. Reid?”
He ran a hand through his hair, trying to stop the laughter that kept bubbling in his chest over something that was decidedly not that funny at all. We were just that stupid kind of happy where everything was wonderful.
“I’m just not surprised!” He reminded, then nodded for me to continue, “Go on, tell me one.”
“Tell me something you’re scared of.” I shot back, excited to hear the answer.
“The dark.” It was the most anticlimactic, stereotypical answer I could have imagined. It was my turn to scoff now, hardly believing the answer to be real.
“Seriously? You’re an FBI Agent, Spencer.”
“You told me not to make fun of you, but then you make fun of me? Unfair. I didn’t sign up for this scrutiny.” His legs started to move under me as he pretended like he was about to dump me from his lap and leave me here.
“Fine!” I shouted, reaching my hands up to grab his face. Although they fumbled awkwardly from my strange position, he took the time to lean to the side and kiss my palm lightly. “Favorite memory of the two of us.”
He blew out a long breath, his eyes squinted like they always did when he was in deep contemplation. But something told me something actually jumped straight to his mind, but he was holding it back for some other reason.
“That’s not fair. There are too many.”
I wasn’t falling for it. I flicked his nose before pulling my hand back, smiling at the way he jerked away like it actually hurt him. Giant baby.
“No cop out answers, old man. Favorite one!”
Spencer just sighed, letting his head fall back as he actually thought about what he was about to say for once in his life. I took the brief moment without his scrutiny to reflect on just how lucky I was to be able to see him like this.
“Okay. So, remember when we went to the bakery in Downtown?” He asked like I could have forgotten.
“Pauls? Yes, I remember.”
They’re legends in the area, but a total pain to try and get. You have to get there first thing in the morning and wait in a ridiculous line. But they were always worth it. Spencer had told me he’d never been, and I just couldn’t let such an injustice stand.
“While we were waiting in that ridiculous line, I remember looking at you and just seeing how excited you were for a donut, even at 7 in the morning.”
“That’s objectively the best time for a donut.” I interrupted with the most matter-of-fact tone I could emulate.
“Right,” he laughed, recalling how I kept reminding him of that fact while in line, “Well, we got to the front and before I could even talk, you had already ordered one for me.”
It took me a second to remember exactly what had happened. So much had happened since then, the memories were becoming muddled in my mind. But once I did remember, I smiled.
“Chocolate frosted with sprinkles. For the child in us all.”
“That’s it.” His voice had gotten soft so quickly, his hand brushing over my cheek while he played with the strands of hair blowing back over my face. “That’s my favorite memory.”
If I didn’t make a joke of it soon, I was scared my heart would burst.
“Really? That’s your favorite memory? Of all things?” I asked with a playful grin, clasping both of my hands around his and holding it against my chest.
“Yes.” For a man of so many words, it meant so much more when he spoke so little. You could feel the truth in the way the sound hit your ears.
Even as I bit on the inside of my cheeks to withhold my excited giggle, he was looking at me like I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“Spencer, that’s so lame.”
In that way he always did, he so charmingly replied, “How fitting for us.”
“Rude,” I muttered, finally finding the strength to sit up from my position on his lap. The world only spun for a second as I reoriented myself. He seemed equally grateful, stretching his legs out in front of him.
“What else do you want to make fun of me for?” Spencer said with a smile, watching as I reached into the small basket and pulled out a small clementine. I ran through the questions in my head, trying to decide which one to spend our limited time on.
“Okay,” I decided, “What did you think the first time you saw me?”
His face scrunched up with the leftover embarrassment from our very first meeting, during which the first thing he had ever done to me was lie. It had been a flattering one, though.
As I popped a section of the small citrus fruit into my mouth, I noticed the way he licked his own lips. The sight caused butterflies to flurry in my stomach, and I wondered which was more appealing to him; the mouthwatering scent of oranges or the idea of slipping something else between my lips.
“I thought... that you were beautiful and intriguing. And I was right.”
I got my answer to my preceding thought, because he had quickly wrapped his hand around the back of my head, pulling me into a kiss with crushing force. For someone who wasn’t the biggest fan of public displays of affection, he certainly didn’t mind kissing me like this.
Despite how deep and hard it was, it ended far too quickly. I sucked on my bottom lip as he left, staring up at him with wonder and devoted attention.
“Why was I intriguing?”
He clearly hadn’t thought that far ahead, probably hoping that the kiss alone would distract me from asking any more questions about that night. Unable to get out of it now, though, he just shrugged with a nervous chuckle, “You... were looking at me?”
My laugh, on the other hand, was full bodied as I pushed him away from me with just enough force that he actually almost toppled over.
“That was it? Because I looked at you?”
It seemed so silly, but I could tell by the way he responded that he meant it. He had told me before, on that night actually, that he wasn’t used to women showing him attention. But surely, he must just be missing it. He was an amazing man.
“I don’t know. There’s just something about you.” He paused between his words, taking a deep breath before attempting to work through his thoughts, “Like... like things just revolve around you. You have this intense gravitational pull that just told me that I had to get closer to you or I wouldn’t be able to survive.”
Fighting back the blush quickly forming on my cheeks, I struggled to maintain my typical aloof nature. I couldn’t have him getting a swelled head just because he could string together a couple cute sentences.
“Are you calling me a star, Dr. Reid?”
“I guess I am, yeah.” He hit me back with that confidence he rarely displayed outside of our play. I loved to see it like this. It made me feel like I was actually with him, rather than any manicured person he’d created to suit the needs of the current situation.
“If you felt that strongly about it, then why lie and say you weren’t checking me out? I could’ve left, you know.”
“But you didn’t.”
“Yeah, but I thought about it.” It wasn’t entirely a lie. There had been a couple of times during that night that I almost cut my losses—admitted that we were just too different to ever be compatible. Thank god I’d ignored that flawed instinct.
“I wouldn’t have blamed you. Have you looked at your boyfriend? I’m so weird.”
The ease with which he flouted his eccentricities brought a smile to my face, and I shook my head as I tried to fight back in his defense. “You’re not that weird.”
“Are you joking? Look at yourself. You’re—You’re normalcy personified! No, actually, you’re not even that. You’re this... beautiful, smart, talented young girl and I’m just an old man who’s hoping to keep you around long enough that you forget you have better options out there.”
The longer he spoke, the more my jaw dropped open. Eventually, I had devolved into a fit of laughter.
“Dr. Reid, you can’t seriously be telling me that you think I am out of your league!”
“I mean—!” he started, but I wasn’t going to allow him to even entertain the thought. I clapped my hand over his mouth, nearly climbing onto his lap to hush any noises he attempted to make.
“No way!” I shouted, “Shut up!”
Instead of trying to wrench my hand away, his hands came to rest on my hips. I could feel the smile spreading across his cheeks under my fingers.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, Spencer. Fucking FBI Agent with three PhDs. Get out of here.”
He began bouncing his leg under me, and when I looked down to see what he was doing, I was shocked to feel a wetness on my palm. Ripping my hand away, I looked at my hand to see the swipe of saliva over the skin.
“Did you just fucking lick me?!” I screeched, unable to comprehend what had just happened, staring at my boyfriend with a shit-eating grin on his face. “I touched the ground with this hand! What are you doing?!”
“Yeah, I’m definitely going to rinse my mouth with bleach when we get home. But it was worth it, to see that look on your face.”
He went to wipe his own face, but I still couldn’t get over the fact my hand was fucking wet. So I took my hand once more, wiping the residue of his own spit back over his cheek. Surprisingly, he just let me do it, laughing as he only slightly tilted his head back.
“Nasty old pervert,” I joked, rolling my body off him and sitting on own once more.
“You’re very mean when you’re nice to me.” Spencer pouted.
I was distracted, trying to get my hair to stay out of my face and mouth as the wind started to whip through the park. Still, I managed to say a few very important words of warning.
“Yeah, well, get used to it, bud.”
Taking pity on my obvious distress, he reached out to grab my arm, tugging me back over to him. “Come here, little girl.” he instructed while I crawled over on all fours to sit between his legs.
I was going to ask him what he was planning when I felt his hands begin threading through my hair. I sat patiently, recognizing the pattern he was weaving.
“... When did you learn how to braid hair? Did your mom teach you?”
“My mom has short hair.” It was an evasive, but truthful answer, so I didn’t press it. I was sure I would find out more about his family as time went on. I just had to keep reminding myself that we had all the time in the world to get to know each other.
“I never learned how to braid hair specifically. I’m just applying the same pattern I would with a knot or a puzzle.”
“How romantic.” I gasped, tucking my hands between my legs as I enjoyed the way it felt for him to play with my hair.
It was always bizarre, to consider the way he could be so soft in moments like this. Or rather, that he could be so far the opposite at other times. In my heart, he was always the kind, goofy man I had met that night at the bar.
But I’d seen him angry, depressed, and in pain. I’d seen him desperate and scared. Basically, the only way I hadn’t seen Spencer Reid was however he was at work. Part of me wished that I could; it was obvious he was good at it and, to a certain degree, enjoyed it.
Then again, when I know he does things like get shot at, it makes it a little bit harder to be interested in. I couldn’t imagine getting that phone call one day while they loaded him into the back of an ambulance... or worse.
“Ah, the things I do for love.” His calm, smooth voice tore me from the destructive thoughts and back into his warm embrace.
“Hey, Spencer, I have a serious question.”
“Well, that’s terrifying.” He joked, holding out his hand for my hair tie, which I happily gave him. I hated to admit that he did a better job at braiding my hair than I’d ever done. Freaking stupid genius stuff.
“When do I get to say it back?”
I swear, I felt a chill spread through the air between us. His entire body froze, his hands stuck mixed with the elastic as he tied off the braid.
It was an intense, unwelcome flashback to the second night I’d spent with him, when we had talked about things too serious, too soon.
Terrified, I immediately cut off anything he might have been able to say, muttering, “Never mind. Forget I asked.”
Letting my hair slip from his fingers, he let his hand drag along my spine. I wished I could see the look on his face, but I didn’t dare turn around.
“I’m sorry.” He said after another moment of silence, and it physically pained me the way the words fell from his lips.
“Don’t apologize,” I said in the cheeriest tone possible, trying to lighten the mood, “I just wanted to test the waters.”
With that, I spun around dramatically, noting the way his face lit up once it saw the smile on my own. “And they are frozen solid!”
He laughed at the enthusiasm I displayed, swiftly throwing his arms around me in a tight embrace.
“Well, I’ll just have to warm you up, then.” My whole body in his arms, he yanked me off the ground and onto himself. I struggled playfully under his arms, not paying any attention to the other people in the park watching our childish antics.
“Hypothermia is very dangerous, after all,” he lectured, “Let me take your temperature.” Burying his face in my neck, I felt the familiar overstimulation that accompanied frantic, light touches of my sides.
“Stop!” I burst with laughter, “You’re tickling me!”
The movements all halted, but only to be followed with a terrifyingly devious tone of Spencer’s voice. “You’re ticklish?”
“Don’t you dare—”
“Oh, I love this information.” And just like that, he began his onslaught. His fingers danced over every inch of my sides, his lips pressing quick, frenzied kisses against the underside of my chin. The harder I laughed, the more he continued.
“I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!” I screeched like a banshee, trying to slip from his hands or turn around—anything to get the upper hand again.
After nearly wrestling him, I managed to get both hands on his shoulders and shove him back against the blanket. The force with which we hit the ground knocked the air from his lungs, and he groaned at my body weight on his chest.
“Okay, okay! You win!” He yelled, holding his hands in front of me while struggling not to touch the ground with his head. “I’m not risking more surface area of contact with the ground to fight you.”
“(Y/n) emerges victorious!” I grabbed hold of both of his hands, shaking his arms with all my leftover adrenaline while I cheered myself on.
“Dork,” he muttered under his breath before he grabbed my sides, laughing at the way I instinctually jerked. I threw myself off of him to avoid the potential tickles, landing clumsily next to him. And Spencer, being the genius, recognized it as the perfect opportunity to pin me against the ground.
Wasting no time, he pressed the same instruments which had begun the great tickle war against my own lips. My hands found their way to his cheeks, pulling him closer as his tongue easily found mine. Just like it always did with us, it felt like the world was disappearing around us.
All I could feel, smell, taste, think, was Spencer Reid. His love and admiration flowed from him with ease, and I was happy to take it in. After a few minutes, we had to break apart. We might like a little bit of exhibitionism, but I was pretty sure neither of us actually wanted to tear the other’s clothes off in a park.
Could you imagine if people knew he was an FBI Agent? I was sure they already thought our age gap strange. But I didn’t care what they thought. Because right now, we were happy.
“I’m the dork you love, though.” I whispered against his lips.
“Indubitably,” he mumbled back, starting to laugh at the way the word sounded in our teenage love-like delirium.
“Now who’s the dork.” I teased as I smoothed my hands over his shoulders.
“Hm. Still you. And a little bit me, too.”
Laughter was bursting from me again.
“You have grass in your hair, idiot.” Before he could do anything about it, my hands were all over it, ruffling his hair wildly out of place. He just squeezed his eyes shut, letting me ruin any semblance of maturity or control from his appearance.
“Wow. Thanks for that.”
“You’re welcome.” I chirped, accepting the small peck he gave me before he started to retreat from his spot above me.
“You ready to head home?”
“Yeah, just about,” he sighed like it was a terrible thing to do. He hadn’t even wanted to come on this picnic!
“I promised to check you for ticks, after all.”
Ah, the real thing we were both looking forward to. Although, I was sure he was going to take it way too seriously for a few minutes before we devolve into sex on the bathroom floor.
“Mmm. I’m thrilled.” I replied honestly, struggling to sit up now that my body had already slipped into Spencer Reid is on Top of You mode. It was one of those rare moments when I wondered if there really was a female version of blue balls, because I was almost certain I had it.
“I have to stop at the bank first, though. I’ll go throw this stuff in the car and we can just walk over.”
“Sure thing, old man.” I huffed as I stood up, holding the much lighter basket while he collected the blanket. Once he took it all from me, I glanced over at the nearby bench with a pout.
“I’m going to miss you.”
“You’re cute,” he smiled, kissing my cheek like it were a more serious goodbye, “I’ll be right back.”
While I waited for him, I cautiously watched the large, dark clouds rolling over the horizon. They threatened to swallow the sunshine that we’d basked in less than hour before. I tried not to think anything of it.
It wasn’t a metaphor; it wasn’t an omen. It was just the weather.
Spencer must have seen the anxiety, because when he came back, he gingerly placed his arms around me from behind, resting his head on my chin.
“I guess we have good timing. It looks like it’s about to storm.” I absently spoke, my eyes still fixed on the sky.
“Yeah, typical finicky Virginia weather, I guess.”
I wasn’t sure if I actually heard it in his voice or made it up, but I swore Spencer was also trying to stop himself from thinking something of the rain. I was probably just being paranoid. It was just a storm. They happened.
“Well, let’s get going so you can cash your check in person like an eighty year old man.” I joked, grabbing his hand and dragging him back towards the exit to the park.
“That’s a bit of an exaggeration. There are other people my age who don’t trust cell phone banking transactions.”
“Are there, though?”
He just shook his head, deciding it wasn’t worth it to get into it with me. Typical young kids, he must have thought, so irresponsible. But he didn’t say it, just held my hand on the short, quiet walk to the ornate building on the corner of two busy streets.
I swung our hands dramatically back and forth, earning an unamused, but still playful, glare from him.
“Your age is showing,” he pointed out before licking his lips and avoiding my eyes. I glared right back before responding, “Your stick-in-the-mud-ness is showing.”
“Not a word. Not a phrase. Not a thing.”
He stopped our hands dead in their tracks as he crossed the threshold, and for a second, I thought he was going to seriously be a spoilsport. But right when I least expected it, he swung our hands again and I nearly smacked into another person.
We both laughed, with me blurting out a frantic, “I’m sorry!”
“So immature,” he chastised, shaking his head with disapproval.
“I can’t believe you. You are such an asshole!”  
The familiar hum and beeping of the metal detectors threatened to dislodge memories from the back of my mind, and I shook my head to try to get rid of them again. Spencer glanced over with concern but didn’t mention it.
I was grateful. I didn’t want to talk about it. Once we had passed security, he settled into the line like he’d done it a million times before. But me, being a normal person who used my banking app to cash checks, felt strangely out of place.
Figuring it might be a minute, and that the ride home would be significantly longer, I decided to go get any residual dirt and grass out of my hair. After all, it would get in the way of our tick searching activities.
“Hey, I’m gonna run to the bathroom. Don’t go anywhere.” I pointed an accusing finger at him as my arm slipped from around his. His hand followed me until he couldn’t hold on any longer, an innocent, lovesick smile on his face.
“You know I could never leave you behind.”
As cheesy as it was, it still made me smile. My heart ached with the saccharine sweetness of his affections. I’d gotten so used to them so fast; I couldn’t even imagine a world without them anymore.
“Don’t miss me too much, Dr. Reid.”
“You know I will, little girl.”
That storm cloud feeling was brewing in my chest again as I pressed a kiss to my fingers, blowing it across the ever-growing distance between us. Why did he feel so far away so suddenly?
I tried not to pay it any mind, humming You Are My Sunshine and imagining Spencer’s terrible singing voice instead. Looking at my reflection, I realized why my cheeks had been getting sore. Because there, staring back at me, was a smile on a neutral face.
I don’t even know when it happened, but it hit me in that bathroom of a bank at 12:47pm on a Saturday that I had fallen madly in love with Spencer Reid. And it suddenly made sense, why he didn’t want me to say it yet. Because I hadn’t realized it yet.
But now I had, and it filled every cell in my body. The blush on my cheeks was evidence of just how much I needed to let it out, to scream it from the rooftops, or at least in the lobby of this old bank.
There were so few things that could overwhelm the emotions I was feeling and rob me of this moment. My brain rioted against any sign of darkness or despair, clinging to the hope that I would be able to tell him soon.
So, when explosive booms rang through the bank, for a long second, I tried to convince myself they were thunder.
But they weren’t. The storm had indeed come, but it wasn’t responsible for the sounds that caused my heart to tear in two and shatter against the floor. The people outside the room were not screaming at the wrath of God, displayed with lightwork in the sky.
It was not thunder.
They were gunshots.
 —————————————————
| Part 14 |
1K notes · View notes
ahopelessromantic · 4 years ago
Text
31% ➳ S. Reid
Pairing: Spencer x neutral! Reader (if I missed something please tell me!)
Word count: 2,4k
Warnings: Suggestive content, Spencer and reader really have the hots for each other
The nature of your friendship with Reid has been flirtatious from the start. So flirtatious that the team thinks it’s all a joke... right? (A/N: Please don’t ask me what this is. I wrote this in one sitting while suffering from PMS, I don’t even know anymore.)
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“Look at that walk.” Morgan chuckled to Emily for everyone but especially you to hear. You rolled your eyes, yet couldn’t help the smug grin on your face. Like girls in high school ready to hear the newest gossip your two colleagues and closest friends leaned over your desk. “You, sweetie, got laid.” You let out a happy sigh and leaned back in your chair. Last time you had been this relaxed had been… god, you couldn’t even remember it.
“What’s their name?” Emily grinned, stealing a sip of coffee from your mug. “And do they have a brother? Sister? Cousin?” You lifted your brow. “A respectable, decent human being like me doesn’t kiss and tell. But it’s a he. And he’s all mine.” Both Morgan and Emily lifted their eyebrows in surprise. “(Y/N)? Getting territorial? We love to see it.” Morgan teased. You squinted at him. “You know what? I loved flaunting my post-coital bliss in front of you, but quite frankly I’m starting to feel attacked now, so I’ll go hang out with Garcia.” Emily feigned a pout. “Come on! At least give us some details!” You just winked at her after getting up from your seat and disappeared down the hallway. On the way to Penelope’s office, you didn’t miss Spencer’s searing hot look on you, a hint of the same smug smile on his lips that had been on yours when you had entered the BAU this morning.
“(Y/N), this is bad. We’re breaking at least three policies just by being here together right now. Also, relationships between colleagues are rarely a good idea.” You chuckled and pressed another kiss to Spencer’s neck. “Then why does it feel so good, Spence? And, actually, workplace hookups are way more common thank you think. About 31% of them even end up in marriage.” “Are you using my own weapons against me right now? That’s hot.” He murmured and pulled you further into his lap. You looked down into his eyes, your gaze dropping to his lips momentarily before wandering back up again. There was just something about him that made you feel like you were on fire, as if an electric current ran between the two of you. You bit your lip and played with his tie. “You have to know how I feel whenever you’re spitting your facts at least once, too.” Your eyes met again, and then your lips were on his.
Spencer and you had gotten along like a house on fire from the day you had joined the BAU. Somehow the two of you had clicked right into place after just a short period of Spencer warming up to you. Before anyone could even tell what was happening you had become the team’s new dynamic duo. Your sharp wit matched his, and what he was too shy to say you spat right out. And that everlasting tension between you had been there from the beginning, too. It had almost cost you your sanity, the way the air in a room would change as soon as Spencer was in it, the way his mere presence made you want to either pounce on him or rip your lashes out. For a while, it had been enough to just bury that attraction where everyone could see it, in plain sight beneath heaps and heaps of slightly inappropriate flirting. Spencer would blurt out how your new heels gave you just the right height to make out with him, you would blurt out how you would like to see him in his glasses and nothing else. Everyone had taken your remarks as jokes, and you had always laughed with them. But there had never been anything funny about the shocks of electricity jolting through your fingers whenever your hands accidentally met or about the warmth seeping through you whenever you slept propped up against each other on the jet. All that tension had unloaded one day after an unusually hard case. Spencer and you had been taken hostage by an Unsub on a psychotic break, and it had only been due to luck and good timing that you had made it out alive. After debriefing, you had found yourself in an abandoned hallway of whatever precinct you had been in, and then your eyes had met. The look in them had been the same. Slightly frazzled, pupils still widened from the adrenaline pumping through your veins. You had both been so high on the incredibleness of still being alive that suddenly, you had decided to just fucking do what your body had been telling you to do for so long already. “I think I’m going to kiss you now.” You had breathed out, barely audible. Spencer had leaned against the wall behind him and lifted his chin as if he had been daring you to do it. “Okay.” He had whispered back. And then your lips had met in what you could swear had been the best kiss of your life. Your hands had tangled themselves in his hair as if they had been supposed to be there all along, and his hands had fit in the groove of your waist as if they had been made for it. Maybe you had both been made for each other.
“It looks like the unsub is citing the karma sutra.” JJ’s gaze wandered over the book excerpts up on the case board. “A sexual sadist maybe?” Spencer shook his head almost excitedly, a familiar gleam in his eyes which he got whenever a case was particularly interesting to him. “See, that’s the interesting part. 80% of the karma sutra is actually just love-related philosophy and how to sustain desire. There is no sexual component to his murders, so I think he might either be trying to throw us off or create some sort of bizarre scavenger hunt.” While chewing on one of the fries Emily had brought you all for dinner you let your eyes wander over the pictures of sex positions and quotations on the board, then to the copy of the book lying right in front of Spencer on the table. “Well, it’s definitely an interesting choice to make for a book. Spence, you’ll keep it memorised for later, right?” You spoke, mostly out of habit. Spencer winked at you in response and Morgan choked on his burger. “There’s people eating here!” He spluttered out, pointing at Hotch, who looked like he wanted to die, and Rossi, who was watching the scene unfold with an amused smile on his face. All he was missing was a bucket of popcorn to match the level of detachment he was displaying. Prentiss just laughed and turned her attention to you. “(Y/N), does your boyfriend know about your workplace flirting buddy?” She knew exactly what she was doing, a mischievous glint in her eyes. You felt your face fall for the split of a second but immediately regained your composure. “Nice try, honey. I’m still not telling you about him. Also, for what it’s worth, he’s not the jealous type. So he doesn’t mind.” You deliberately avoided Spencer’s gaze, praying to whichever deities out there that you weren’t blushing.
Later that evening, back in your apartment, you could tell that something was on Spencer’s mind. He had taken some paperwork home that, under normal circumstances, wouldn’t have taken him longer than an hour. But it had been two and a half hours already, and the subconscious mumbling he only did when he was extremely anxious set you off. “Spence, baby, are you okay?” You had been his roommate for long enough to know that he needed someone to be there in moments like these. The two of you sharing an apartment had been a decision for practicality’s sake more than anything. You had slept over at each other’s apartments half of the time before that anyway, and this way, you were even able to save up some more to hopefully soon buy the house of your dreams. The team probably didn’t even know about the two of you living together, and if they knew, they had probably just added it to the list of weird things Spencer and you did. Spencer hadn’t even heard, and it took you placing your hand on his shoulder for him to return to reality. He looked up at you with a conflicted look, his eyes horribly sad. “Are you alright?” You asked again, sitting down next to him. He nodded and closed the case file he had been working on with a sigh. “I’m okay. I just keep on thinking about what Prentiss said.” You frowned. Emily tended to say a lot of things in just one day. “Back in the conference room. The…” He trailed off to take a deep breath. “The boyfriend thing.” You were still looking at him in confusion. “Am I?” “What?” You asked stupidly. Apparently, your brain had suffered a sudden case of non-functionality. You could feel his frustration get even worse. “Am I your boyfriend, (Y/N)?”, Spencer finally explained for you to catch on. Suddenly, a laugh escaped your lips. “Well, I mean I hope so.” Now it was he who looked like his mind was failing him. “I mean, to be honest, I hadn’t really properly thought about it, but I definitely bragged about my hot, intelligent FBI boyfriend to my friends from high school. So, I guess it would be really nice if you actually were. I mean, I think I haven’t slept in my own bed in weeks.” A smile had spread across Spencer’s face, a light pink hue dusting his cheeks. “I uh… I described you as my partner in the letters to my mom, too. I didn’t know how else to describe it to her. Because I … I guess I was hoping that this wasn’t just us sleeping together from the start. I trust you, (Y/N), more than I’ve ever trusted anyone. And I like having you by my side.” Not able to stop yourself, you closed the distance between the two of you to press your lips to his. Keeping your relationship with Spencer undefined for any longer than that would have been a huge waste of potential.
Somehow, you had always expected that Spencer would one day expose the two of you by taking it too far with your flirting. He hadn’t been all too experienced with dating, sex and everything beyond that before you, that was something he had told you himself once after a few glasses of your favourite red wine. But what you really hadn’t expected was running into Emily in an IKEA, of all places. Ever since once and for all defining your relationship you had moved into his bedroom for good, which left room for creativity in your old room. The two of you had been walking around the furniture store hand in hand, Spencer with a potted plant already under his arm, when you’d suddenly heard Emily calling out your name. If it hadn’t been for Spencer’s hand firmly in yours you would have booked it down the aisle of Malm closets, but this way all you could do was turn around with a deliberately composed expression. “Hi, Em.” You smiled as if you hadn’t just run into your colleague slash best friend while holding the hand of your also colleague, slash boyfriend. Prentiss looked like she was trying to make sense of the situation, her eyes fleeting back and forth between you and Spencer. “Is this something you do now? Hold hands and buy plants together?” You had to suppress a laugh and almost pitied her for her confusion. Spencer was forcing himself not to smile as well, swaying your still intertwined hands back and forth. “It’s not a big deal Emily, we just need some things for our apartment.” Her eyes looked just about ready to pop out of her skull at that. “Your apartment?! (Y/N), what about your boyfriend- oh.” Her eyes widened even more if that was even possible. “OH!” She almost yelled, and now you couldn’t help the giggle that escaped your lips anymore. “No one will ever believe you.” You grinned, pressed a kiss to her cheek and pulled Spencer back to your shopping cart with you.
The next day, Emily sat at her desk with her head in her hands when Spencer and you entered the bullpen. She looked positively traumatised and now you were all the more glad that you had bought her a breakfast muffin on the way to work. “Hey, Em.” You greeted her hesitantly, you tone causing Morgan to look up from his screen. He always immediately knew when something was off. “So, Spencer, huh?” She mumbled instead of a greeting, mustering the two of you up and down. It wasn’t abnormal for the two of you to constantly be glued to each other’s sides, but now she was probably starting to see that from a whole new perspective. You could hear Morgan get up and trip over his chair in his haste to get to Emily’s desk, but your whole focus was on her at that moment. You smiled. “Yup. Don’t ask me how, or why, but I’m sure about him. He’s also just really fucking attractive.” At that, she laughed, and Spencer pouted playfully. “You only like me for my body, (Y/N).” You rolled your eyes and nudged him with your elbow. “I’m trying to make a point here, honey. But yeah, it’s Spence, and I’m happy it’s him.” “You know, I feel like I should probably be more surprised by this, but it’s not really much of a change from the way you behaved already. Kinda saw it coming.”, Morgan finally spoke up, and you couldn’t be more grateful to him for being so cool about the whole situation. “Aren’t you guys worried about the pressure of all of this? You know, workplace romances and everything?” Emily mused. Somehow, she had already switched back into concerned friend mode. But much to your surprise it was Spencer who spoke up and pulled you closer to his side with an arm around your waist. “Someone once told me that workplace romances are actually really common and that 31% of them even end in marriage.” You felt the biggest smile grow on your face and turned to look him in the eyes. “I don’t really know anything, about any of this. But I trust (Y/N), and I trust what we have. I’m just hoping that maybe we’ll be up in those 31%.” You couldn’t help it. You just had to press a kiss to his cheek for that. “I’m hoping for that, too.” You mumbled. Despite Morgan’s and Emily’s theatrical gagging at your public display of affection, you couldn’t help but feel like this was a significant moment. You were really doing this. And boy, were you serious about it.
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artificialqueens · 3 years ago
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Cause Somewhere in the Crowd (There's You) (Diamond Chaney) - Plegdoctor
A/N: Not much to say for this one really, just a short Diamond Chaney girlband au based off Super Trouper by ABBA. Enjoy!
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The other girls were more excited than she was, unpacking the van and chatting animatedly while all Lawrence could do was stare around. The building in front of her was imposing in more ways than one – physically huge, towering over her and casting a shadow on the otherwise sunny day, but also mentally imposing. Lawrence can still remember walking into it when she was a small girl in primary school, brown hair in neat plaits and eyes as wide as saucers as she hung onto her best friend’s hand and gaped.
Now she’s standing in front of it, brown hair dyed a vibrant purple and thrown into a ponytail at the top of her head, her eyes wide as saucers, and her hand empty.
It had all gone a bit too far really, starting with Bimini slamming their fists on the table in year 12 and excitedly suggesting they start a girlband (“Well, three girls and me innit”) and Lawrence can’t trace her finger along what happened next to lead her to standing in Glasgow, a sinking feeling in her stomach as she realises what she’s doing there.
“You alright babe?” Lawrence turns to look down on Bimini, standing next to her with a concerned frown on their face. “Excited to be back in your hometown?”
Lawrence forces a laugh, a fake smile slipping onto her face in an action that more natural than she would care to admit. “Loving it Bim.”
Bimini grins. “Good. Just think, it’ll be like facing 20,000 of your friends.”
Lawrence’s snort is genuine at Bimini’s words, her eyes rolling fondly at the never-ending optimism of her tiny friend. “I don’t think there’s quite that many seats, babes.”
Self-proclaimed monarch of the PMA, Bimini simply shrugs and pivots to run towards Tayce who is three seconds away from dropping the crate full of water on her foot. Lawrence watches the scenes with a hint of amusement, the weighted feeling in her stomach settling. Her mind goes back to Bimini’s words, the thought of facing 20,000 of your friends. There’s only one friend that Lawrence wants to face when she’s on stage tonight – and that friend is currently on the other side of Scotland in her hairdressing salon.
The thought weighs on her mind until it’s pressing against her cranium and cracking her skull by the time she’s thrown herself across the hotel bed and sighed for approximately the 50 millionth time.
Lawrence loves what she does. She does. She loves her friends, Bimini, Tayce, and A’whora. She loves the process of writing new songs, long hours locked in the studio throwing harmonies and lyrics around until it just sounds like pure gibberish. She (secretly) loves learning the choreography that Tayce insists they must do, repeating the wee steps until her body finally moves in the right way and Tayce enthusiastically high fives her. She loves getting into costume and makeup, the process transforming her from Lawrence Chaney who got picked on in school into international popstar Lawrence Chaney who regularly performs on the biggest stages all around the world with her girlband.
They’ve worked hard for what they have too. Lawrence likes to tell people that becoming a household name is no overnight feat. From the day that Bimini first suggested it, to the joyful tears rolling down their faces as they came second on the X Factor, to their first single blowing up. They’ve worked hard every step of the way and been rewarded for it.
So why does Lawrence feel so ready to give it up? Part of the success that never ends is continuing to work, but for the past two months Lawrence has done nothing but eat, sleep, and sing. Her throat is raw and at moments she thinks she’s going crazy.
Her eyes catch her phone, dressed up in the delightfully tacky pink phone case that was a gift from Ellie for her last birthday. She picks it up and the screen flickers to life, displaying a picture of two girls with their heads close together and identical smiles.
Lawrence hasn’t spoken to her in far too long. Recently the whirlwind of life has swept her up to much for her to even think straight let alone have a conversation with a human being who is not also obsessively repeating lyrics under their breath.
“Hey.”
It’s a lonely word.
“Hey. It’s good to hear from you.”
Then Lawrence hears that voice, that accent that is so soft in her ear, and she could cry.
“I didn’t disturb you did I?”
“No hen, it’s fine, I only jumped so much at the ringing of my phone that I shaved some wee granny’s curls off but I’m sure she’ll forgive me.”
Ellie’s bored and matter of fact tone makes Lawrence burst out a laugh. “Poor Doreen, she’s really got to stop trusting you with those clippers.”
She can only imagine the way the corner’s of Ellie’s mouth might turn up at her teasing. “How is the salon anyway?”
“It’s in good hands. But babe, forget the salon, how’s your tour going?”
Even Ellie, the girl who knows her better than anyone else in the world, is excited for Lawrence and that only breaks her heart more. She grins ruefully, despite the knowledge that Ellie can’t see her.
“Honestly? I’ve been wishing that every show was the last show.”
Ellie’s little high-pitched noise of protest comes from her throat, her mouth undoubtedly in a little O shape with her eyebrows sliding upwards. “But you’ve only just got to Glasgow! You wouldn’t want to miss that!”
“Do you remember that trip to the theatre in primary school?”
A beat of silence at the other end of the line. “Of course I do. The one where I almost threw up on the bus because you fed me too many sweets?”
Lawrence chuckles. “Aye. Love how that’s the thing you remember about it.”
Miles away, Ellie shrugs cheekily. “I never forget friend abuse.”
“You’re such a wee cow, you know that right?”
“All part of my charm.”
“Anyway, being here is just making me realise how much I miss home. Tour is great Els, but I miss everything. I miss you.”
Ellie laughs. Lawrence shoots up in the hotel bed in outrage. “I just poured my heart out to you and you laugh at me?”
“First of all, not sure saying you miss me is pouring your heart out.”
She’s glad she chose to do this alone in the room and not anywhere near the other girls. She can’t begin to imagine the way that A’whora would pounce on her flushed face.
“Second of all, I wasn’t going to tell you this but I have a surprise for you. Listen.”
Ellie switches the phone to speakerphone and holds it away from her ear. In contrast, Lawrence presses her ear against the screen harder, knuckles white as she grips the pink case.
At first she can’t hear anything, just the faint murmuring of people talking in the background. She strains to listen for the sounds of hairdryers and flowing water. None of that comes and Lawrence lets out a huff of frustration.
“Ellie, explain to me exactly what the fuck I’m meant to be listening for?”
This train will depart at Glasgow.
Lawrence’s mouth dries completely.
“You’re coming to Glasgow?”
“No, just got on the train there for a bit of fun, I’m going straight back. Might not even get off the train it’s so comfy.”
“Get to fuck Els, I’m meant to be the funny one in this relationship.” Her mouth might be dry but her eyes aren’t, small jewels of tears welling up and threatening to spill over with every shaking word.
“I’m taking that title for now. I just need you to be the famous one in this relationship. You can do that, can’t you?”
“Ellie, for you I would do this entire tour all over again.”
Closer to her than she realises, Ellie smiles. “Good. See you on stage.”
“I’ll be thinking about you only.”
The call ends with a smile on Lawrence’s lips and a single tear sliding down her cheek. Suddenly she feels alright. And it’s gonna be so different when she’s on the stage tonight.
--
“Alright slags! Lawrence’s hometown so we’re gonna rock it just as hard as we always do. Hands in and United Kingdolls on three! One, two, three, United Kingdolls!” All four of them cheer, hoisting their hands in the air.
Their little preshow chanting may seem silly to other people but they’ve always done it. Even when it was only them singing covers with Ellie doing their hair and makeup, and A’whora ripping through charity shops to find decent costumes. It feels only fitting that they still do it now when they’re singing their own songs in professionally made costumes and makeup done by a professional artist.
Lawrence still keeps the style of her hair the same though. It’s changed colours a few times over the years, but it’s always in the same curls that Ellie brushed through minutes before the sixth form talent show.
Lawrence inhales as the music starts. The beat is steady and familiar, but tonight it feels so much more electric. She knows that the minute she’s on that stage she’s going to get blinded by that one beam of stage light that always finds it’s way to her eye, but she won’t feel blue like she always does.
When she gets on stage her eyes roam the massive crowd until she sees, in the very middle of a group of screaming girls, a head of baby pink hair. The sight of her proves to Lawrence that she’s still alive, and Lawrence uses that spark of energy to throw everything into her performance. She hits every note perfectly, her body moving in perfect harmony to the choreography that she usually fucks up at least once.
There’s a massive smile on her painted lips and she hopes that Ellie can read the smile, know that because of her, Lawrence is having fun on stage for the first time in months. There’s four of them in the band, but tonight Lawrence feels like a number one. The lights do not blind her but find her instead, shining like the sun.
They finish the first song with a flourish and Lawrence ignores the hundreds of screams to find Ellie’s. They still have the rest of the show, but Lawrence knows that they’re going to get through it and give Glasgow the best concert they’ve seen in years. Then she can stumble off stage and go from popstar Lawrence to Ellie’s Lawrence, falling into her arms and holding her tight. It’s gonna mean so much more tonight.
Because, somewhere in the crowd, there’s Ellie.
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magnoliasinbloom · 4 years ago
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Lie To Me - 8
There is room for secrets, but not for lies. Is there a place for their love?
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AO3 :: Previously
Jamie agrees to have Geillis accompany them to Glasgow Centre headquarters, to reassure both women he is acting in good faith. He makes it clear that Geillis will remain in the lobby; what he has to say is extremely sensitive and he does not wish to endanger anyone else. Once their shift is over, and Jamie’s hand has been bandaged, they take an Uber to their destination—a company car would be unwise in this case.
Claire is adamant now that she needs to know the truth; she does not quite believe that Jamie’s life is in danger, but fortunately understands that Jamie is unlikely to go to all this trouble if what he is saying—like the facts about his marriage—are more lies to get his way.
His heart pounds wildly; the idea of someone else allowed into the small circle of people he trusts implicitly, and that particular person Claire, is dizzying in its implications. He believes their meeting was much more than chance, the night they spent together was fate, and the feelings he harbors for her are already love.
Mary Hawkins, Murtagh’s assistant, smiles pleasantly and invites them to sit in the tiny reception area while she calls Murtagh to let him know Jamie’s here. She glances curiously at Claire, who is still dressed in scrubs and clutches a grey pea coat around her tightly.
When the phone on her desk rings, Mary picks up with a bright, “Right away, sir!” and waves them through to the office. Jamie grasps Claire’s hand with his uninjured one, only to find his is clammy. She takes it anyway, and squeezes it hard. Together, they walk into Murtagh Fitzgibbon’s private enclave.
“Jamie, a bhalaich!” Murtagh walks around his desk to greet his godson in a tight embrace. Jamie releases Claire’s hand briefly to return it, clapping the older man soundly on the back. Murtagh notices the bandage on Jamie’s hand, but says nothing. The superintendent has sparkling dark brown eyes that can go from jovial to dead serious in a second, and a grizzled but trimmed beard that adds dignity to his face. Murtagh glances at Claire, and Jamie sees her through his godfather’s eyes; she stands regarding this display of family with tight lips and nervous feet.
“Murtagh, this is Claire Beauchamp. She is—och, well…”
“I’m his potential lover,” Claire interrupts, holding out a hand to shake. Murtagh’s bushy eyebrows rise at the simplicity and boldness of her words, but grips her hand firmly.
“A bheil fios aice?” Murtagh speaks to Jamie, still holding her hand. Does she know?
“Aye,” Jamie says, admiring Claire’s defiance. “She is aware. But I need yer help to fill in the gaps.”
“Are ye sure, lad?” Murtagh gestures for them to take a seat. “Ye ken that ‘twill not be easy. There is no goin’ back from this knowledge.”
“I think I can decide for myself, thanks very much.” Claire sits ramrod straight. “It’s the least Jamie can do after—”
“She found the picture. With Laoghaire.”
“Ye might want to introduce them then,” Murtagh says, and Claire looks taken aback. “She wouldna mind, and ye’ve met Joseph.”
“Meet your wife? How does that even—”
“My uncles from Leoch blackmailed me into marrying Laoghaire.” Jamie swallows hard; it’s the most straightforward approach to ease Claire into this. “They have… documents, pictures, video, that make it seem as though I’m responsible for someone’s death. And in a way, I am.” Claire pales.
“I’d been Jamie’s parents’ friend since childhood. When they passed, I took care of them, as their godfather.” Murtagh stands to pour them a whisky from a decanter set up in the corner of the office.
“I have an older sister, Janet. Jenny. But the entail on the Fraser estate declares that only a male heir can inherit, so the land goes to me even if I’m not the oldest. Jenny manages Lallybroch wi’ her husband Ian, my best mate.” Jamie accepts his drink and tosses it back in a single gulp.
“The family territories of MacKenzie and Fraser adjoin each other for quite some distance, running side by side from the seacoast past the lower end of Loch Ness,” Murtagh supplies. “It’s a fairly rich bit o’ ground, decent fishing and a good patch of forest for huntin’, a small village.”
“Picturesque enough that Leoch Holdings wants to take over it and develop it into a prime bit o’ real estate, with flats, hotels, shops, the works,” Jamie agrees. “But the best land is Fraser land, and the only way the MacKenzies get it is if I die, or I have bairns—”
“With a MacKenzie woman, I presume.” Claire sips the whisky, and it fills her with fiery warmth. She begins to unravel the complications Jamie spoke of.
“Aye, Sassenach.” Jamie smiles at Murtagh’s surprise over the term. “The entail is ironclad, and no lawyer has been able to untangle it. I canna sell it even if I wanted to. MacKenzie and Fraser bairns would inherit both.”
“Is she your cousin?” Claire is mildly repulsed at the thought.
“Only very distant, through marriage, not blood. But what I meant to say—”
“So, you and your wife Leery—if she’s as accommodating as you say—are duty bound to produce heirs. How did she ever agree to marry you?”
“Our uncles, Colum and Dougal, threatened to cut off her and her parents. They begged her to agree, unwillin’ to lose their lifestyle,” Jamie explains.
“And this is where the lad’s legal training comes in as well,” Murtagh adds slyly.
“What? Why?”
Jamie takes a deep breath. “I’ve never touched Laoghaire. Our marriage is unconsummated, which makes it void in Scotland.”
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mwolf0epsilon · 4 years ago
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“Eps’s Notes on The Illusion of Living”
It's taken me nearly three months to get this done due to writer’s block kicking my sorry butt. But, as promised, here are my notes on the "Illusion of Living". Good god has this been painful… But I did have a lot of stuff I initially thought of Joey somewhat confirmed for me, and got a few extra interesting tidbits of info that I feel are very curious...
--{Key}--
Italics are my opinion
--{Key}--
--{Quick retelling of the book’s contents}--
    The Drews were among the more impoverished families in New Jersey, and Joey's father briefly worked in the silk industry to make end's meet before opening his own shoe store (that his mother oversaw profits for as the accountant). As such there were obvious limitations to a lot of Joey’s upbringing (like a lack of toys to entertain him with, and very few family vacations/trips that were memorable).
According to Joey, the shoes sold at his family’s store were primarily designed for people in the working class (clunky shoes and boots that would endure wear and tear rather than be flashy or comfortable to wear, which Joey complained never really fit him right), and had one singular design that was simply improved upon rather than any variety (I suppose the saying here would be “don’t fix it if it ain’t broke” but Joey really seemed to have some sort of issue with this, as he disliked his father’s works).
    Joey's mother was a hardworking housewife and the primary parent when it came to rearing her child. She educated and played with him more than his father, so Joey was much fonder and emotionally close to her than to him and, while Joey’s father wasn’t an absent parent by any means, he was definitely more engrossed in working to sustain the family.
This family dynamic definitely had some impact on Joey, especially since his mother got him interested in the art of storytelling in general, and he seemed to have a lot more respect for her than for his father. In fact he even had a few reservations regarding his father’s mental integrity when he discovered his talent for making voices in a rather odd manner.
It should be noted here that, while Joey's father was strong, he looked deceptively frail and wasn't considered a particularly brave man by any means. He was however regarded as a bit of an entrepreneur, and Joey was very concerned that he may not be sane (which was a bit of taboo at the time, considering treatment for mental health issues hadn’t advanced past lobotomies and other disturbing medical malpractices) because he talked and sang to himself in curious little voices while he worked. Curiously enough, while a patient and loving man, Joey's father wasn't aversed to cursing around his young son (although Joey himself doesn't seem to use crass language, even if it was normalized in the household). Another curious thing to note is that Joey greatly dislikes mud, and especially hated it as a child (alluding to his later obsessive cleanliness as an adult).
    Because of the financial issues his family suffered through, Joey didn't have a radio or many books growing up, and was thus more fond of Vaudevilles (specifically theatrical comedy, tragedy, and bizarre/surreal acts) which were pretty common in his city of birth. This interest for theatrics and third person story perspectives mixed terribly with later events in his life, like how at age 10 he witnessed a potential murder/suicide (Jesus christ...). Through this event he realized that there were different kinds of people in specific situations, especially when faced with the finality of death. Joey goes so far as to describe how theatrical the death was (Almost sounding disconnected from the reality of the situation as he noted that the crowd and even his own father seemed more like characters to him than real people). However, since Joey's neighborhood was ripe with strange people, he wasn't unfamiliar with bizarre events happening around him. Seeing a motorized ambulance was more amazing to a 10 year old him than actually caring for the death of a stranger at the front of his father's store.
    At age 12, Joey went to Coney Island for the first time, and the journey excited him greatly since he didn't get to leave home very often. The trip to Coney Island was magical in a sense, and later in life he hoped to replicate it in Bendyland to a more permanent degree (the trip back home ruptured the magical effect, which he didn't want to happen with Bendyland).
Joey has his own set of rules he plays by which he considers his life’s philosophy that he calls "The Illusion of Living". This was inspired by several events in his life, including his father passing the time by playing make believe (the Shoemaker and the Elves). This unique perception of what illusion and reality are (“the same thing”), seems to point to Joey having developed a dissociative personality disorder from a young age, which got progressively worse as he grew older. This in addition with the ADHD patterns he displays in his confusing rambling writing (and Joey rambles a LOT), and the almost OCD behaviour in regards to cleaning up after himself, indicates Joey lacked impulse control and was more prone to listening to intrusive thoughts.
Joey's view of reality was often confusing to others and he greatly enjoyed poking fun out of slowly getting them to his point of view. Conversations with Joey were thus quite frustrating to some, but no less curious to others that actually tried to understand what the “Illusion of Living” was about (Like Nathan). According to Joey, only a few people ever got close to understanding it.
    Joey enlisted to fight in the first war after he lied about his age (He was 15 years old, a year younger than the required age to enlist at the time). Out of all the positions in the army, he seemed most interested in comms, and considered himself more decent in communicating than actually fighting in the front lines.
It seems like Joey greatly enjoyed how he looked in uniform, and was also particularly finicky about his looks in general despite being in boot camp.
He made friends in the army, Private Donaldson and Private Eckhart, which Nathan (who worked at the tech lab that Joey later worked for) attests to being accurately described in the book. They were slightly older than Joey and were also interested in communication tech and shared his sense of humor. They also influenced Joey's social life, and tried to get him to date some gals that he wasn’t remotely interested in (the first indication that he may not be straight).
    Another close friend Joey had in the army was Lottie (a communications officer) and he used to "chaperone" her whenever the four went out to party. He seemed to have a considerable amount of respect for her (which is likely a result of growing up observing his mother, thus understanding that women were competent in positions where other men would scoff at the idea of them working at all). As such he was quite supportive of the War's “Hello Girls” (comms female officers). Interestingly enough this contradicts Joey's sexist persona that he seems to take on in Dream Come to Life (a mask that seems to be among many others he employs to fit in with the rest of society).
Lottie was his special gal pal in the platonic sense and, while he often ate alone to be left with his thoughts, she usually sought him out to talk to.
Joey only ever empathized with people he was close to, often reserving telling stories to comfort his friends specifically. It was the only way he could brighten their day (which later supposedly helped a disillusioned Lottie when she was sent to serve in London). What one could take away from Joey’s days as a soldier was that he was incredibly perceptive in terms of studying people. He easily recognized people’s handwriting, and was greatly fascinated by others’s personalities.
He could also easily charm people just from reading into what they might be interested in, and liked the thought of subliminally impressing others (which he later incorporated into his cartoons). It’s never mentioned, but Joey was likely honorably discharged since the war ended in 1918 and didn’t need to return to the service of the military when the second world war hit (keeping in mind Joey appears to have mobility issues later in life, he might have not been fit for field duty).
    At age 19 Joey ended up involved in investigating the murder case of Walter Richmond, a signal corps soldier Joey met briefly in his service days. The victim in question was responsible for documenting the war efforts, not being necessarily that great of a photographer, but taking a certain amount of pleasure in capturing the most viscerally gruesome pictures possible for shock value. How Joey got involved was a curious thing in of itself, since he didn’t know the victim all that well, nor cared to get to know him. Detective Adam Sinclair (a tall hulking man wearing the typical trenchcoat and fedora combo, who’s most noticeable features were his aged face and unshaven 5’o’clock shadow) tracked him down to his little minimalistic (and obsessively clean and tidy) apartment to question him. Joey was initially unsurprised that an ex-soldier ended up dead (not from the war, but likely ptsd), and was instead surprised that it was a murder case. He ended up inserting himself into the case as Sinclair’s shadow to help solve it. The reason was mostly out of self-interest, but his perspective did seem useful to the detective in the end. Throughout the investigation Joey displayed a few particular traits that indicate his attentive and peculiar nature, such as the way he reads others (their way of dressing and upkeep of posture), the manner of which he judges a good handshake, his distaste for smoking (which was taught to him via the idea that if something smells bad it’s usually bad for you) and drinking (he tries to be careful with alcohol intake in general, as he’s more accustomed to beer than drinks like champagne which one could over-indulge recklessly without noticing). Joey’s fascination for taboo subjects (war, violence, and death specifically) is also noted when he observes the victim’s photographic works.
This is a prevalent theme in an art gallery event where these particular subjects seemed to linger strongly in his mind, to the point where he noticed when one of the photos he recalls having seen before during his brief meeting with Richmond, appeared to be missing from the display. A detail that appeared to be dismissed by others, but of great interest to Sinclair.
    During this same gallery event, there was an incident set up by the murderer that involved a firecracker and a crowbar that set off a lot of panic. Joey’s work at the signal corps labs saved him from the brutality of the trenches, but he's apparently familiar with the effects of severe PTSD (And ironically notes that reliving the same painful event over and over again is his definition of true horror/personal hell).
It became very apparent to both Joey and Sinclair that the murderer was amongst them, and that this onslaught of panic was a message: That the murder of the frontline photographer was personal.
They did in fact come into contact with the perpetrator and, after a while of radio silence between Joey and Sinclair, the case was solved with...Minimal success. While Sinclair knew who killed Walter Richmond, he unfortunatelly did not have enough proof to convict her (the sister of a casualty of war that could have easily been saved, had Richmond not left him for dead because it fit his narrative of the war just fine), thus allowing her to get away with literal murder. Worse yet, the resolution of the case seemed to further disconnect Joey from reality and consequence. He gained a disdain for Adam Sinclair where once he’d respected him as an authority figure of sorts, finding that he’d accomplished his role and still failed miserably. In the end, the only thing to come out of teaming up with Sinclair was learning a social skill that Joey employed later on, by mirroring back certain aspects of a person so they’d be more comfortable around him. Otherwise the detective became nothing more than a distant memory. Unimportant in Joey’s later narrative.
    Two years later, Joey started working for a bookstore where he began satiating his vast hunger for knowledge, now that he had access to all sorts of books he could never afford as a child. Joey is fairly well read with an interest in various genres, although it was previously noted that during his army service people made fun of him for especially liking fictional novels. Joey being Joey however, wasn’t overly fussed about others’s opinions on what he sought enjoyment from, especially when it came to storytelling. Aside from getting his reading quota filled out, his bookstore job also helped him develop his salesperson skills through reading his customers. Through his experiences with his father’s shop and shadowing Sinclair, he had by now understood that people were highly superficial, and that he could apply whatever knowledge he gathered from them into how he sold his pitch to them. His charisma seemed to lure in customers.
    While working at the store he met Abby Lambert who he immediately noticed had an eye for art. Joey quickly became friends with her and seemed to greatly appreciate her no-nonsense attitude towards life in general, going so far as to respect her capabilities as a working lady where other men would be disdained with her difficult attitude. In fact, he wondered why anyone wouldn’t hire her to do a job she could clearly handle, just because she was a woman (again contradicting his sexist persona). As a connoisseur of the arts, Abby was the one to fully introduce Joey to her favourite craft. He especially took an interest in Impressionism and its influences.
Abby also supposedly introduced Henry to Joey, which the latter insists wasn’t really that remarkable of an event since Henry was “unimaginative” and “lacking in talent” due to his specialty in cartoon caricatures, and not the richer awe inspiring paintings Joey seemed to prefer (basically Joey spends any given time in the book trying to make Henry seem as insignificant as possible out of pure unadulterated pettiness, which physically pains me).
Ironically, in terms of entertainment, Joey later favoured cartoons as the more appealing form of films since most other mediums didn’t really spark his interest, even if the genres were ones he found fascinating (I suppose that despite films being works of fiction most times, Joey likely thought real life actors were far too limited in their acts due to the natural limitations of the human body).
Returning to Abby, her friendship seemed to be more impactful to Joey than most others. Like with how he preferred his mother’s company to his father’s, Abby seemed to be one of few people he actually felt comfortable around, to the point where her criticism didn’t bother him. She was also mindful of him, where she could recognize Joey’s “preferences” and made it a point to clarify to him that their outings were purely platonic so he wouldn’t get uncomfortable in those situations.
    Three years after meeting Abby and Henry, Joey became a manager at the bookstore and Henry began working there as well (by Joey’s suggestion it seems), and only then did they sort of start developing a meek little friendship of sorts (although Joey seems very dismissive about it and focuses primarily on Abby).
During that time, the idea to start his own business came about from two different events that happened that year. The first being his first ever theatrical script that he wrote and performed with Abby at a gallery event. During the performance of this little play (the theme of which was an angel and a demon discussing their role in influencing a mortal’s life), Joey discovered that he greatly enjoyed controlling situations and got way too into it (even considers what he could get away with in the name of entertainment, such as if he could act out actual violent or scandalous behaviours if he proclaimed it a part of the show).
The second event was his father sending him shoes once a year (which, because Joey disliked the make of his father’s shoes, he tried to get him to stop by pretending they weren’t arriving at his address or that they were getting stolen). As a means to ensure he got them, Joey's father started sending the packages to the bookstore. A doodle and writing on the package ended up inspiring Joey to create his own studio as he wanted to take flight in the entertainment industry.
    Having thus decided that he wanted to open up a film studio of some kind, Joey immediately set off to get himself a memorable mascot. He had a vague idea of what he needed and what might be appealing to an audience, but he wasn’t particularly skilled in character design and openly admitted to this. Abby, who was also not particularly good at drawing cartoons, understood that her more realistic style wouldn’t really help (or appeal to) Joey, so she enlisted Henry’s help. Knowing that Joey was a bit picky in regards to how he evaluated art, she thought perhaps she could persuade him to take a liking to Henry’s works (which he wasn’t particularly fond of, due to Henry mostly working with pen-drawings of cartoon characters and caricatures that looked very unremarkable to him) if he could only see him actually work his “magic”. Joey was reluctant to bring Henry into his business plan, but upon actually reaching a design within a few minutes (that took a few tries experimenting with animal and human features in more detailed and then simplified ways) of Joey giving some directions, he seemed to be sold on bringing Henry on board.
Henry designing the company mascot was thus the final push to open up Joey Drew Studios.
The two began their partnership not too long after, and from then on out things got interesting very quickly.
    The history behind the studio is...Not an easy one to validate in terms of whether or not Joey is sincere or even really knows certain dates (the more I look into the beginning of the book and the later exposition of information, the more I realized either Joey was starting to trip himself up on dates or his memory was visibly failing him). There are a lot of discrepancies in the dates provided, with some going back on how long Henry remained in the studio (even claiming to have at some point surrounded him with other animators and even a lead artist a year prior to his departure), when Sammy and Jack were hired (He says he hired Sammy in 1929 during the Wallstreet Crash, but later says he hired both him and Jack after the Wallstreet Crash), among other things... Joey Drew Studios was primarily funded by Mrs. Richmond (the mother of Walter Richmond), as Joey had forged friendships with the people involved in the case he’d helped Sinclair investigate (including the murderer whom he had grown to respect).
While other investors aren’t really brought up, it’s implied Nathan also had a hand in helping the studio taking off, as Joey often met up with him at the Russian Tearoom whenever he could. During these private meetings, Nathan would impart advice on Joey. Advice which he seemed to not care for, as he already had his own concerns at the time.
It seemed that his main plan was to acquire a talented and capable team to achieve his dream. A team Joey thought he wouldn’t need to "baby-sit", as he specifically wanted to hire individuals that were as studious and capable as he saw himself (curiously Joey mentions that Henry’s work ethic was exactly what he wanted, as Henry had never held work back or needed to be checked up on, which to Joey was an invaluable attribute).
For at least two years, the Bendy Cartoons were nothing but silence and sound effects (something we actually see in-game in BatIM Chapter One when the projector suddenly turns on and we hear nothing but the clicking of the projector and Joey’s whistling), which put them at a bit of a disadvantage when it came to competing with other animation studios.
This soon changed when Joey came across Sammy Lawrence and Jack Fain at a party he was attending on his 30th birthday (which he wasn’t celebrating, the party was a completely different event so supposedly Joey doesn’t care much for his own birthday).
He was already familiar with Sammy’s musical skills (mostly playing the piano quite masterfully), as he’d seen him perform at the theater when Sammy was still a teenager. Noticing him and Jack at the party was entirely accidental and was mostly due to the fact that, while Sammy was trying to keep out of the spotlight as he played, Jack’s showmanship shone through and caught Joey’s eye with how boisterous he was in their musical performance.
Joey approached them once their act was done and managed to convince them to work for him. Jack seemed to be immediately on board, while Sammy was a little more guarded in his agreement and immediately set up his stipulations for the job. This seemed to lean Joey’s interest towards Sammy (who Joey was unhealthily fascinated with because he was clearly not an easy man to control) more than Jack (who he likely considered too easy a read in terms of character, thus not much of a challenge to sway or condition).
     By 1933 Joey officially bought the entire building the studio was set up in (which up until then was occupied by other people seeking their own ventures). Expansion and new hires likely started a year or so later and continued on despite financial instability, and between 1941 and 1942 Joey was already starting to work out how he’d get Bendyland to be just as perfect and spectacular as he had always envisioned (which was difficult because he never really got it to feel just right in his eyes, and something felt off to him).
In between listing several different projects, vaguely describing an innovative techniques (Sillyvision which seems to be linked with the Golden Ink?), and even setting up his own 7 rules on how to animate to help set up a guide for aspiring animators, Joey slowly drifts away from the studio topic and finalizes his book rather abruptly.
He insinuates there’s a lot more for him to tell but little to no connection with the “Illusion of Living” philosophy and he’d rather focus on his actual physical work with the Studio than sit down and write further, so he finishes off on a rather...Vague note.
--{On Joey Drew}--
Year of Birth - 1901 (Day and month are never mentioned, but it's possible that his favouring of the autumnal season alludes to a fall month) Year of Death - ??? (Supposedly he's died, hence why Nathan claimed the Bendy IP) Birth City: Born and raised in Paterson "Silk City", New Jersey (Joey doesn't seem to have an accent, so he likely masks it, or made an effort to lose it). Physical Characteristics: As a child he used to have curly hair (Considering the era’s general fashion and style, it’s very likely that Joey either cut his hair too short to see the curls, or simply uses too much gel to seem more presentable) Sexual/Romantic Preferences: Homosexual with Demiromantic subtones (Joey seems to be closed off in general, but more appreciative of the male figure. Could be interpreted as demisexual however, since Joey himself doesn't seem to like wasting time around people he doesn't have much of a bond with) Notes: Here are several notes I’ve compiled about Joey and his opinions on certain things and people. There’s a lot to look at as this man rambles like an old lady at a friday night bingo event, and thus I had a lot to take in!
Laughter is important to him.
Seems to be a dog person.
Likes Cheerios (yes this was a super necessary detail I had to jot down).
Considers having his ideas disclosed without permission to be disloyal.
Seems to have some sort of dissociative personality disorder (likely brought on by trauma or another undiagnosed mental disorder).
People-Watcher by nature.
Was taught by his father that the shoe makes the man (aka the art of studying people through their shoes).
Joey believes in the saying "The Truth is in the Pudding", a saying his mother often employed.
Never had enough money to own a pair of nice fitting shoes until he was 26.
Is narcissistically vain. Easily takes insult if people assume he can't look presentable.
His service in the army gave him experience with "experimental tech".
Enjoys music a lot, and he was considered a great dancer.
Finds modern feminine fashion standards appealing.
Disliked the way those with money romanticized lacking material gains. Found it personally disrespectful in a way, since he himself came from a poor family.
Seems appalled by too much color on one's wear (Joey is the goddamn fashion police).
Very picky about the arts.
Apparently disliked Henry's art style(???).
Lets people believe Henry is the creator of the toons, in an act of being holier than thou. (You lying son of a gun, stop lying to everyone and yourself whaddahell).
Joey's analogy of Henry starting a journey but Joey being the one to reap the benefits, is likely the truest thing he's said in this nightmare of a novel (boastful bastard...).
Thinks of Bendy as his firstborn, muse and messenger.
Took an art class with Abby (likely not a full art course, just a simple class to get the gist of it?).
Considers art the doorway to immortality.
Doesn't like post-mortem success (it frightens him, even). He'd rather be successful in his lifetime.
Admits to making mistakes, but not many. He also thinks mistakes don't need to be permanent.
Doesn't know what true rest is like, and is unsure if he'll ever be content enough to rest. On that same note he seems to really hate sitting still and his mind tends to wander, which he notes Nathan recognized with ease, even reserving a specific look for him (It’s the ADHD baby).
His friend Kyle was a lazy person and a gossip, which were traits Joey found annoying.
On their first meeting, Joey described having a desire to shove Sammy off a roof to see a more human reaction from him.
Assumes Jack is jealous of the attention he gives Sammy, or that the duo's relationship is strained, despite him barging into their lives out of the blue and making him feel like a third wheel.
Seems to think of himself as some sort of a messenger (going so far as to akin himself to the god, Mercury). His life’s mission is to help those who don't know they need to be helped (mostly through spreading happiness and laughter in such a dark and dreary era of human history). Bendyland is essentially Joey's means to fulfil this desire, as well as to chase his own need for a properly realized mixture of immersion and illusion.
He wanted Bendyland to be perfect, even the plot of land it might be built in needed to be perfect, so he inspected it himself with Nathan once he bought the deed.
Appears to refuse to call Bertrum by his proper name once he’s corrected the first time. Referring to him instead as either Bertie or Bert (toying with him perhaps? Testing boundaries?)
Doesn't drive. He instead hired a personal driver, Simmons.
For a little while he was living the American Dream, but thought of how he lived as less of a shared goal and more of a personal one (again setting himself apart from others).
His days were quite flexible and he seemed to despise set routines. He also doesn't like sleeping in. He liked to take a walk in central park early in the morning.
Joey used to make his rounds around the studio but the installation of the Ink Machine changed that habit a bit.
Nonchalantly notes that Shawn Flynn got a little defensive if he needed to be corrected on his work (OCD much, Joey? He was painting a lot of dolls by hand, slipups happen...).
He had priority meetings with Sammy, "meetings" with Jack (Sir what are these quotation marks for, are you snogging Jack while no one’s watching???), then met with the art department preceding the writing department, and finally he met with Grant Cohen in accounting to discuss finances and budget.
He had the final say in ALL paperwork regarding studio affairs.
Upon reading about it, found the concept of bringing in real animals to produce Disney's Bambi as funny, and joked about how trying to do so with Bendy and Boris would be chaotic.
Noted that Abby and Sammy were likely the only two people who closely understand the philosophy of the illusion of living, but not quite…
Was terrified of being misunderstood. Joey didn’t want to only be able to show half-truths, like a mirror reflecting the world darkly. Rather ironic considering he was quite deceitful in his adult life.
His desire for the world to love Bendy seems to be a projection of wanting to feel loved himself (quite honestly if one were to apply the theory of the id, ego and superego, it seems to me that Bendy is essentially Joey’s id, while Joey himself could be considered the Superego. The chameleonic social mask he wears is thus the ego. At the end of the day Bendy and Joey are and aren’t the same entity...).
Originally he didn't want to make a memoir (likely because he can't be direct and needs to work around the truth to fit him). It could also be that Joey didn’t want to linger on the past nor in death. He wasn't sure where it fit with his philosophy and thus tried not to explore too deep into it (existential dread?).
He wore custom tailored suits, and as of beginning writing TioL he had recently taken to wearing cravats (ever the vain man I suppose…).
Despite considering revisiting the past unnecessary, he couldn’t deny doing so if the time called for it. In fact, the Archives are Joey's memories of the past and he's sentimental enough to collect mementos of bygone eras.
Joey has trophies at home, the deeply personal things he couldn’t bare part with. Like the first sketch of Bendy, a napkin with the design of Bendyland, a letter from Henry, a ticket from a Vaudeville show, and his set of shoes he wore when he was surveying the plot of land where he planned to build Bendyland.
--{On Bendy}--
Notes: Here are a few notes I’ve compiled about the Little Devil Darling himself, and a few curiosities about his creation and the inspiration behind his character.
Bendy was officially created in 1928. According to Joey he was born of a dream, supposedly out of necessity, and he always had this idea of a little devil character doing mischief.
Bendy started off as a realistic little boy with a tail and horns (Abby’s attempt to bring to life Joey’s vague idea). Then, when Henry got involved, he became a cartoonish goat creature. The concepts were quickly worked out from a toony clothed amalgamation of both previous concepts, to a more intermediate design more closely resembling Bendy, and then finally, after Joey requested a simpler more shapely and less detailed toon, Bendy became the iconic  little imp clad in only gloves and bowtie.
Joey named him upon seeing the completed design. There are two origins for his name: That of Walter Benjamin Richmond, who’s nickname in life was “Bendy” (a rather morbid homage considering what happened to him), and the mere fact that in Joey’s eyes, his little cartoon imp “bent all the rules”. Henry seemed to appreciate the name.
Bendy is meant to be the devil on one’s shoulders, much like the devil in Joey’s first theatrical play. He is however, a lot more like a little kid playing pranks on people. He is also a sort of embodiment of both the population and human morality (society at its most flawed point, but also quite relatable).
Buster Keaton was an inspiration for Bendy’s many shenanigans and movements, which were always meant to be fluid and a bit bouncy.
--{On Henry Stein}--
Year of Birth - ??? (It’s never mentioned how old Henry is, but I assume he’s around the same age group as Abby, since they were friends and likely went to the same art course. It’s likely that he’s younger than Joey, but not likely by much.) Year of Death - 1963 (It’s not really confirmed if Henry died when he was put into the Cycle, as he doesn’t seem to notice anything odd about himself, but it’s safe to assume the process very likely involves human sacrifice). Birth City: ??? (Unknown, it could be that he was born and raised in New York but Henry lacks a noticeable accent) Physical Characteristics: Average looking? (Irrelevant, he could honestly look like anyone really...) Sexual/Romantic Preferences: Presumably Heterosexual (He’s a married man in the 1930s-1960s, he’s either straight or hiding his sexuality, he seems to really like Linda however so could go either way really...) Notes: Here the few notes I could gather of the Henry info we got from TioL. It’s not much but its at least something to work with!
Henry is unremarkable appearance wise (to the point Joey forgot his face easily at first).
The way Henry dressed (mismatched and ill-fitted) indicates he likely grew up in poverty and likely only had hand-me-downs.
He mostly worked with pen-drawn cartoon character designs that were unremarkable but distinctly caricature-like (the Butcher Gang concepts were likely displayed in the gallery Joey attended, as noted by a comment he makes about them). Even if Joey apparently didn’t particularly like his style, Henry’s artwork was one of the final inspirations for the creation of Joey Drew Studios.
He is described as able to draw quite fast, great at taking directions, and as being a good animator. Overall Henry never really had any real need for someone to keep an eye on him which made him an exemplary worker.
According to Joey, Henry used to give pep-talks before he left the studio. This seemed to annoy Joey considerably for some reason (perhaps he was envious that Henry was generally a more likeable person).
Henry is remembered as forgettable, whereas Joey is flashier and more memorable.
Interestingly enough, Henry never claimed to own the design of Bendy, and was more interested in being business partners with Joey than starting a fuss about who owned the rights to Bendy’s creation (It’s very likely that he willingly gave Joey the design because Bendy was his character, and that instead the designs Joey did steal were that of Boris the Wolf, Alice Angel, and the Butcher Gang, the five other more notorious characters in the Bendy franchise).
--{On Abby Lambert}--
Year of Birth - ??? (It’s never mentioned how old Abby is, but I assume she’s around the same age group as Henry, since they were friends and likely went to the same art course. It’s likely that she’s younger than Joey, but not likely by much.) Year of Death - Possibly 1946 (Upon finally losing himself to the ink, Sammy seemed to have been actively hunting the Art Department and any stragglers that he encountered in the studio, so it can be assumed she died in the chaos) Birth City: ??? (Unknown but more likely to be born and raised in New York than Henry) Physical Characteristics: Frizzy hair, even when bobbed. Sexual/Romantic Preferences: Potentially Bisexual (She seemed to be acutely aware of Joey’s “peculiarities” so it’s possible she’s either a member of the LGBTQ community or perhaps an ally. Whatever the case it’s up for debate and interpretation.) Notes: Here are several notes I’ve compiled about Abby and some of her traits and mannerisms. There was surprisingly a lot more to work with than I expected.
She wasn’t really into the typical female fashion of the time. In fact, Abby wasn’t exactly fond of the typical mannerisms associated with women and was both notoriously rude and dressed herself in a “scandalously” modern manner (which is basically code for more practical less femenine clothing).
According to Joey, Abby is a very focused and determined person, which is why he admired her greatly. She didn’t know when to quit, however, and sometimes took things too far or involved others in situations or projects they didn’t want to be involved in.
She wasn’t very good at drawing original cartoon characters, and Joey was apparently not overly fond of her attempts at putting his ideas to paper due to her more realistic art style.
Abby was very insistent on Joey looking at Henry's works, even if he wasn't particularly interested in them (While it’s never said if she enjoys his art herself, it can be assumed she appreciates it enough that she’d want their mutual friend to see the potential Henry had).
She didn’t join the studio as the replacement Director of the Art Department until 1931, as during its founding she was still finishing art school. She and Henry never worked together. Despite this, she and Henry remained in touch even after he left for Pasadena.
--{On Sammy Lawrence}--
Year of Birth - ??? (From how Joey describes him, it can be assume Sammy was a teenager around either Joey’s early or late 20s before they officially met on Joey’s 30th birthday) Year of Death - 1946? (Sammy is one of few people who was turned without being killed first so it’s hard to tell if he’s really dead even within the Cycle since it’s a time loop...) Birth City: ??? (Sammy lacks a noticeable accent so it’s hard to tell where he’s from). Physical Characteristics: Has been described as bird-like and insect-like, with either brown or blond hair that’s kept longer than the typical fashion of the time (Not much more is known about his actual appearance but it can be assumed he’s either average sized or on the tall side considering his in-game height and build) Sexual/Romantic Preferences: Potentially Biromantic with a lot of Demiromantic subtones. Possibly Asexual? (Again this is pure speculation on my part because he did seem interested in Susie but isn’t really a people person in general. Does seem to know how to reign in people tho, so ???) Notes: Here are a few curious notes I’ve compiled about Sammy, the circumstances behind his hiring, and how much control he actually had as the music director.
He has an unusual appearance that, while not necessarily described as ugly, was clearly outstanding enough that some people were put off (Buddy) and others thought him handsome (Susie). His hair is also described as messy.
Sammy is an avid smoker.
He was among a few other musicians employed by the theater to drown out projector sounds and match the mood in silent films. Because he was good at improvising music on the spot, Sammy was excellent at carrying the story presented on screen through his melodies, which was what caught Joey’s eye when he first saw Sammy perform.
Sammy also recognized Joey and didn’t believe his dismissal that he was a “town person”. In fact, Sammy pinpointed the recognition to the fact Joey was that one loner that sat in the front row of the theater he played at.
It becomes very apparent that Sammy is suspicious of people in general. The way he observes others indicates he’s had some sort of struggle growing up. As such, he’s not big on sustaining conversations and he managed to aggravate Joey slightly by the way he addressed him on their first proper meeting.
Sammy had a songbook he shared with Jack, meaning they had a strong trust bond, which is why he only agrees to work for Joey based on Jack’s willingness to also be hired. Even so, he immediately set up professional boundaries for his position. He hired his own people without Joey’s interference, and he only ever indulged him if Joey was being particularly exasperating.
It’s very likely that since Sammy was the one hiring who worked for the music department, that he was the one who hired Norman Polk. This theory is made stronger by the fact he immediately demanded a projector and projectionist booth so he could better do his job.
Despite his surly disposition, Sammy is a no nonsense sort who wants things done and over with, rather than sit around and stall. As such Joey considered him one of the best decisions he made in terms of career.
Funnily enough, because the band seemed to be skittish around Joey, Sammy specifically prohibited his presence in the music department unless they had a scheduled meeting. This likely meant Joey was scarcely ever seen in the music department so as to not aggravate Sammy in person.
Alice Angel’s bigger (and failed) presence in the franchise is likely a consequence of another one of Sammy’s stipulations upon being hired. He had immediately noted that if the studio wanted to go anywhere, they’d need a female character (Perhaps Sammy really believed what he told Susie due to despising Bendy and actually favouring Alice as a character).
--{On Jack Fain}--
Year of Birth - ??? (Possibly around the same age as Sammy or a little older?) Year of Death - ??? (He was gone long before a few other people in the studio, likely in the first few experiments Joey performed) Birth City: ??? (Hard to tell, he doesn’t have an easily identifiable accent). Physical Characteristics: Has been described as an atrocious dresser (This man likes wearing bright colors!) Sexual/Romantic Preferences: Potentially Homosexual subtones (Not enough information provided to tell) Notes: Sadly lacking in the information department for Jack.
Jack is incredibly sociable and trusts easily. He's described as making bad jokes but laughing genuinely at them. His smiles are contagious.
Jack is an optimist sort who sees the good in any situation (even when being led around in a dark creepy room by a peculiar stranger).
--{On Bertrum Piedmont}--
Year of Birth - ??? (He was retired, so it’s likely he was around his 60s or early 70s when Joey first met him) Year of Death - ??? (It’s unknown when exactly he ended up in the Ink Machine but it’s very possible he was killed when all hell broke loose in the studio) Birth City: ??? (No clue). Physical Characteristics: Joey describes him (rather rudely) as a very portly man. Sexual/Romantic Preferences: ??? (No idea, chief...) Notes: Lacking in the information department like Jack, but what we get is a lot more substantial.
Bertrum was actually retired when Joey managed to get a hold of him. It took a bit of detective work on Mrs. Rodriguez's (Joey's secretary) part to actually find him as well, so he was not an easy man to get an appointment with.
His creative vision impressed Joey enough that the latter he ignored his apparent dislike for reminiscing so as to get him on board of the Bendyland project.
While discussing the Bendyland Project, Bertrum confidently jokes about it being quite the catch. He agrees to joining forces with Joey as long as he gets full creative control of the entire project. Although Joey agreed to this, he still managed to fight Bertrum on a few ideas, which annoyed him greatly.
It’s very likely that it didn’t take long for their initially friendly relationship to sour into open hostility on Bertrum’s part.
--{On Wally Franks}--
Year of Birth - ??? (No clue, but he was very likely in his late teens or early adult years when he was first hired as the studio Janitor) Year of Death - Supposedly still alive (I really do hope he got outta there like the letter insinuates...) Birth City: Brooklyn, New York. Physical Characteristics: ??? (All we know is he likely wears overalls and a sport’s cap) Sexual/Romantic Preferences: Possibly Heterosexual (Unless the letter is a forgery, he apparently has a wife, kids and grandkids) Notes: I’ll admit I didn’t expect to get Wally lore, but here we are!
Wally's actually quite skilled with maintenance. He can tinker with the projectors, other machinery and even plumbing. His schedule is a little off however, but Joey turns a blind eye to it because he gets the job done without question.
--{On Allison Pendle}--
Year of Birth - ??? (No idea! But she was relatively well known when she was hired!) Year of Death - ??? (She was likely lured back to the studio after everything went down but before Henry) Birth City: ??? Physical Characteristics: She’s a beautiful tall blonde according to DCTL Sexual/Romantic Preferences: ??? (She and Thomas are married but I honestly have no clue how to feel about her, she’s a mystery to me.) Notes: Extra minimal Allison lore for your Allison Pendle lore needs.
She was a famous Broadway actress before joining the studio. Interestingly enough, Joey was the one to hire her to replace Susie, not only breaking Sammy’s stipulation on the matter but also stirring Susie into becoming resentful towards Sammy and actually trying to recover her former role at all costs (even her own life).
--{On Nathan Arch}--
Year of Birth - ??? (He was likely a little older than Joey since they were in the army at the same time but Joey lied about his age to enlist earlier) Year of Death - N/A (Still alive and kicking) Birth City: ??? Physical Characteristics: ??? (I guess Boswell Lotsabucks is sorta modeled after him so go off on that???) Sexual/Romantic Preferences: Heterosexual (He has a wife and son and doesn’t give me any other vibes besides and overall instinctual distrust) Notes: Oh boy...I do NOT trust this man...
Immediately upon beginning reading TioL you get the impression that Nathan is not only trying to appear friendly and trustworthy by referring to himself as Nate A, but also that he’s trying to cover for Joey and make him appear more personable to the reader. But to what gain exactly?
Nathan is, like Joey, very narcissistically vain, and is also writing a book of his own (an autobiography maybe?)
He’s a smoker and prefers cigars.
When Joey discusses his childhood, Nathan is unable to contradict or confirm anything as he noted that Joey was always very private about his origins.
Nathan seemed truly surprised and impressed with Joey’s ability to make up uncannily believable stories, even suspecting that his accounts of “Lottie” might have been false as he couldn’t find any of the supposed letters Joey sent her when he started working on republishing TioL (it’s likely he could see that Joey often lied to himself just as much as he lied to others).
It seemed to Nathan that Joey was rather oblivious of subtle compliments.
By the manner of which Nathan phrases it, he seems to think of Joey as a professional and kind man, capable of seeing the good in others. That said, Nathan remarks that Henry's departure was a great betrayal for his friend, and that the latter shouldn't have been so "gracious" and "forgiving" towards him…
When the studio began to struggle financially, Nathan worried that Joey might not be aware of the issue at all, or that perhaps he was lying to himself to cope. He also later notes that Joey’s memories seemed to have deteriorated in his old age. He was often mixing up information and seemed rather guilty, which Nathan considering to be very unbecoming of the man he knew Joey to be.
A lot of the deeply philosophical Joey and Nathan interactions seen in the book might actually have occured between Joey and Henry (the "I think therefore I am" conversation is an especially telling one for me), hence why Nathan doesn't recall them. It also seems more likely because they contradict the way Joey portrays Nathan, but seem to fit his portrayal of Henry better.
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gloryofluv · 3 years ago
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Order up! (Coffee Shop AU) Chapter 12
Hahaha. I'm actually dying over this chapter! So much going on, but soooo good as far as the banter.
Previous Chapter
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The next day was a big win. She got her doctor's stuff done, ate a big breakfast, and they actually got Leviathan out of his room to help. He assisted with all of her electronics and was extremely meticulous. Of course, Alex actually couldn’t talk to him because he would blush and walk away from her.
Well, she would have to work on him slowly.
That left her with bringing over all the unneeded items to her now cleaned-out bedroom on Friday early afternoon. Then, of course, work. She was pretty tired considering her busy ass days lately. Tons of emotional sifting. Although, it seemed a lot easier with each of the brothers. Even Mammon was taking on a new role; her protector.
After Belphie explained what happened the other night, or at least she thinks he did, Mammon has been a new man. He’s been getting her water, carrying heavy things for her, even complaining about her going to work at night. Totally switched from who he was. Interesting.
Working in a cafe in the afternoon and evenings. Actually, there’s something to be said about that. The clients are different. The creative types who work long boring jobs during the day and need to feed off the energy of caffeine and others. The families that are out and about, ready for the weekend ahead.
There’s also a startling amount of mischief. Alex twice had to tell someone they couldn’t yell on their cellphone in the lobby. Gotta give it to Jess. She was ballsy enough to want to work evenings all the time.
Alex was fixing her displays near the register when she heard someone clear their throat. She turned around and blinked. Simeon was standing there and not in his usual sweater, but a tank top and jeans.
“Oh, Simeon,” Alex puffed with color-dusted cheeks.
“I wasn’t expecting you here this evening, Alex,” he beamed.
“I switched with Jess. Oh, um, did you want me to,” she stopped her stammering and smiled. “Are you drinking tea tonight?”
He nodded and watched as she walked around the counter. “I’m just out with some of the mentors,” he explained and gestured to a table.
Alex glanced over to see two men. One had flowing blond hair and piercing blue eyes, and the other had darker hair in braids with soulful chocolate eyes. Both were quite interested in watching their interaction.
“That’s nice,” Alex beamed with a bounce to her head. “Did you want to get them something as well?”
“Just three of the hibiscus ginger,” Simeon smiled.
She was preparing the cups and glanced back at him. “How are you doing? I feel like this is the first time Luke isn’t with you.”
Simeon laughed and shrugged. “We always see you after he’s done with school. I work in the mornings and evenings. Did you figure out your living situation?”
She set the bags in the cups and nodded. “Yes, Lucifer offered me a room.”
“Interesting. He’s not usually noted for his generosity,” Simeon mused as she set the cups in front of him.
Alex gestured to the pastry case, and Simeon shook his head. “Oh, I don’t know about that, but he has been pretty decent to me. All of them are helping me move my stuff. It’s been pretty,” she paused and exhaled while looking away from him.
“It’s difficult to confess to needing people in our lives, Alex. it gives us more opportunity to have rejection and abandonment. However, it fortifies our hearts,” Simeon beamed.
She bent over the POS screen and scowled. “Simeon, this whole time, I thought I was over it. This whole time and I realized I just never let myself touch it. To truly understand what was lost because then that makes me defective, undesirable, broken.”
“You’re very desirable, and not for being someone serving coffee with a magnificent smile,” Simeon said as his cheeks darkened a touch.
She pressed her lips together before she smiled. “Thank you, Simeon. You truly are divinity in human form.”
“I’d very much like it if you let me take you to dinner. I’ve wanted to ask you for months, but I only see you when small ears are lingering. Would you let me? I very much like you, Alex,” Simeon said with a hint of surprise. He wasn’t expecting to ask her?
“Oh, um, okay,” she smiled and nodded.
Simeon laughed and smiled. “Okay.”
Alex jerked to action and pulled out a sheet, writing out her number. “Now you can text me. I have a challenging time reaching out first. It causes quite a bit of anxiety for me,” she confessed and handed him the small paper.
He held it up before tucking it in his jean pocket. “I will take the first step then,” he paused and handed her his credit card.
Alex beamed and completed the transaction. “Simeon, thank you for having the courage to say something. I know that took so much.”
He chuckled and tilted his head. “Alex, you’re a very courageous woman. You’ve done many things others haven’t in their life and still are sweet and kind. Boldness isn’t about action. It’s feeling. Now, I’m going to go entertain the other mentors, but I will come to say goodbye before I leave.”
She rocked her head and smiled. “Okay, Simeon, have a wonderful time.”
“I will now,” he winked and left with the three cups in his hand.
Jordan, who was working with her, glanced over while wagging his hand. Alex skipped over, and they tucked behind the espresso machine, out of view from the trio.
“What just happened?” he whispered with a wild smile.
“He asked me out,” Alex breathed and covered her mouth.
“So you said yes, right? He’s like chocolate-covered yummy. Toothache sweet. And was that your number you gave him?” Jordan questioned in a low tone.
Alex bounced her head with a snort. “Jordan, I was so not me,” she giggled quietly.
Jordan stood and started to vogue with a beat. “Oh, yeah, that’s right, that’s my girl,” he voiced and yanked her up. “Come on, let’s go,” he snorted.
Alex groaned but started to vogue and laughed as they made faces. “You’re ridiculous,” she laughed.
“Yes, quite.”
Oh. Alex paused and spun around to see Lucifer standing at the counter. “Oh, hello, Lucifer.”
“What type of manic state were you expressing?” He questioned.
Jordan walked up to the glass and smiled. “We were doing our ‘get happy girl’ dance.”
Lucifer arched an eyebrow. “That seizer replication isn’t dancing.”
Alex twitched her nose at the dark roast timer and shook her head. “Lucifer, it’s going to be two minutes on fresh. This is too old to serve you with how sensitive your pallet is.”
He smirked and waved. “I have time.”
“So, doing anything special tonight, Lucifer? Seeing anyone special? Doing anything with someone?” Jordan asked.
Lucifer glared at him with a pointed incredulous expression. “Special? Jordan, what have my brothers been saying to you?”
Jordan raised his eyebrows. “Well, nothing. I was just asking.”
Alex put the brewer up and flicked it on before turning around with a smile. Lucifer eyed her and then wagged his index finger. “You. You know.”
Her cheeks were burning, but she walked toward the counter. “N-no.” Nice. Brilliant. Sound more like a frightened child.
Lucifer’s grin became wicked as he leaned forward. “Tell me.”
Her face was melting as she stared up into brilliant sanguine eyes. “It, well, I only heard in passing, it’s not,” she stopped dead when he touched her cheek.
“Don’t babble, darling. Just tell me,” he smirked.
“Well, I saw a picture of you and Diavolo,” she murmured.
His nose scrunched, and his fingers slithered away from her cheek. “Which of them was it? I was positive I destroyed all digital evidence of that party,” he huffed.
Alex looked down at the counter. Anywhere but his eyes.
“I’m not upset with you. My brothers, however, have been plugging this annoying concept for years since that party. Diavolo and I were drinking, a rarity and Mammon shoved Diavolo into me just as Asmodeus was taking the picture. Diavolo was attempting what Asmodeus called a duck face. I was positive I cleared out everyone’s phone, so Diavolo’s reputation wasn’t at risk, but it seems someone kept it,” Lucifer explained while shaking his head.
Alex blinked and glanced back at him. “You two?”
“Never,” Lucifer spat.
Alex covered her mouth and shook her head.
Jordan snorted. “Wow, your brothers sure love to hassle you, don’t they?”
Lucifer shook his head. “It’s unfathomable how they have so much time for it.”
“Seems Alex was under the impression you were,” Jordan noted.
Alex pivoted and began pouring the coffee. Dammit. She still was going to have to face him. Turning around, he was smiling, and his posture read, alpha man, baby.
“Were you upset at my brothers’ lies?” He asked.
She shook her head and plastered on a smile. “It was just surprising. I wouldn’t have guessed it.”
“Well, now you don’t have to. I’m single, very much available, and diligent at any role I take on,” he smirked and handed her his credit card.
Alex was so glad she was able to keep her smile as her heart was racing like a pack of marathon runners. She swiped it and handed it back. “You do appear to be quite diligent.”
Another form approached the counter, and Alex broke her vision of Lucifer. Simeon leaned and smiled. “We’re going now, Alex. It was lovely to see you this evening.”
“Simeon, I see you brought Michael and Raphael with you,” Lucifer noted as he glanced back at the mentors walking out of the cafe.
Simeon beamed and nodded. “We’re headed to the hills to watch the meteor shower.”
Lucifer rocked his head. “Have a good night.”
“You too. Alex, I will text you tomorrow,” he declared and waved.
Alex smiled and waved. “Okay, Simeon, have a wonderful evening.”
Lucifer scowled and watched Simeon leave. “You’re now texting him?”
Oh… yeah, that’s right. Alex rocked her head. “Yes.”
“They have a date this week,” Jordan pipped with a smile.
“Date?” Lucifer questioned.
Alex felt the size of a flea with how much presence Lucifer had. It wasn’t even that he displayed outward displeasure. No, it was definitely what radiated off of him as he stood straighter and his chest bolstered to pronounced masculinity.
“Yes, he just asked her before you walked inside,” Jordan laughed. By the way, he likely wasn’t going to make it through this shift. Alex was going to murder him. “I guess it makes sense. She thought you were unavailable,” Jordan shrugged. Dead. He was going to die from suffocation on the coffee grounds.
“Well, I’m clearly available. Have a good evening, Jordan. Alex, we’ll talk when you get home,” Lucifer declared and left a tip in the jar before strolling out of the cafe with the same presence he held at the counter.
“I’m going to kill you,” Alex growled and glared at Jordan.
She smacked his arm, and he pouted. “I was only doing what you haven’t done in months, honey.”
“I live with him now, you, numbskull,” she hissed and smacked his arm again.
Jordan laughed and blocked a few more of her blows. “Come on, don’t be so angry. It isn’t like a date is a commitment. I just wanted to see if he’d get jealous.”
“By the slam of his car door, I think he was,�� Solomon laughed and peaked over the counter. “You alright, Alex?”
“Look away, Solomon, I don’t want you an accessory to his murder!” She snarled and hit Jordan one more time.
“Don’t murder my darling J Getlow.”
Alex exhaled and turned fully to see Asmodeus and Solomon standing together. Jordan scowled and dropped his smile altogether. Alex knew a good payback when she saw one. She skipped up to the counter with a bright smile. “Well, hello, you two, are you on a date?”
Solomon arched his eyebrow, but Asmo squealed. “Oh, it could be! We were just going to try this new fro-yo place down the street, and Solomon heard you were working.”
She eyed Solomon with a subtle nod. Click. He got it. “Oh, yes, I had to have an eclectic appetite tonight,” he chuckled.
Jordan was leaning on the glass with a deep-set frown. “Wait, Asmo, you said you were going to be busy when I got off tonight. Is that because you’re with Solomon?”
“Yes,” Solomon smirked at him. “Is there a problem?”
Asmo tilted his head but shrugged. “I guess not.”
Jordan pulled from the glass and began cleaning the machines.
“Doesn’t feel good, does it?” Alex asked.
Jordan glared over at her. “Bitch,” he said in a whisper.
“Now, what are you both really doing tonight?” Alex smiled.
“The frozen yogurt, which I despise. However, Asmodeus was on a mission to convince me to help tomorrow. He says that you have some very private information in your father’s study and need help sorting it,” Solomon explained.
Alex pouted and put her two hands together in a heart shape. “Asmo, you just made my heart go boom. That’s so sweet that you would take time away on your Friday for me.”
“Please stop,” Solomon puffed and waved his hand. “That’s too adorable, and I can’t bear it.”
Alex laughed and leaned over the POS screen at the pair. “Seriously, I need to do something nice for both of you.”
“Get drunk tomorrow. House party. Your homecoming!” Asmo cheered.
Alex groaned and shook her head. “I doubt Lucifer would agree to any of that.”
“After the very flustered retreat, I might estimate your correctness,” Solomon chuckled.
“What happened?” Asmo questioned.
“Well, hunty,” Jordan walked up and clamped his hand on Alex’s mouth. “Simeon asked Alex out before Lucifer got here. Before that revelation, I made him pry out of her that she thought he was with someone else, which is why she hasn’t been answering his texts with little happy faces like usual. So, he just now realized she was into him, and now she’s going on a date with Simeon.”
Alex shoved him and groaned. “You’re a wicked, wicked queen.”
“It’s truly a shame one of our rules is no dating, said 'girl' in the house,” Asmo laughed and shook his head.
Solomon smiled and waved his hand. “How is it that you always seem to find the predicament of always too much but never enough.”
“I don’t know, Sol,” Alex groaned.
“Drinks tomorrow, at your old home to send off your last day actually living there,” Solomon smirked.
“That doesn’t sound like that came with a please,” Alex snorted.
“It wasn’t a request,” Solomon shook his head.
“Fine, but you’re bringing the booze, and I’m not responsible for your ride home,” Alex said.
Solomon nodded. “I have exquisite wine. You’ll enjoy it.”
“We will?” Asmo asked.
Jordan nodded.
“Fine,” Solomon chuckled. “Yes.”
Alex reached over and ruffled his hair. “You’re just a big softy under all that analysis and formulas.”
Solomon puffed and pushed her handoff. “Yes, alright. Don’t patronize my kindness.”
“What am I getting you both?” Alex beamed. Solomon rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced up at the menu. “Decaf americano, two pumps with half and half,” Alex said.
Solomon laughed and nodded. “Actually, yes, that would be appropriate.”
“Multitude of gestures, Solomon,” Alex smiled.
“It’s actually freaky that you can do that, Alex,” Asmo gasped.
“I can remember everyone’s orders, but I have to label where to put my keys. Don’t even know why,” Alex laughed and turned to grab a cup. “Decaf skinny iced vanilla with a sugar-free caramel pump, Asmo?”
Asmo clapped. “You took my evening order once, Alex! That’s so impressive! Oh, I just want to bathe you in aromatherapy and take you to bed.”
“Let’s not go that far,” Jordan glared at him.
Asmo pouted. “Fine.”
Solomon paid, and Alex smirked at the pensive man. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, I was just thinking. There might be an opening in the company for public relations. I could put in a stellar word for you. It’s all research and pharmaceuticals, but you have a delightful personality, and you’re degreed.”
“Solomon, that would be awesome if you would do that for me,” Alex gasped.
He smiled and rocked his head. “Okay, I will. I’ll text you my email, and you send your resume to me.”
Jordan brought over their drinks, and Asmo left a hefty tip before blowing him a kiss. “Come over later?”
Jordan arched an eyebrow. “You’re not going to be busy?”
Asmo snorted and giggled. “No, silly, come on over. I want to have a pamper session,” he winked and sipped his drink.
Alex tried so hard to hide her blush. Wow, these two men. It’s like they were made to outdo each other.
“If you put your phone away during, then yes,” Jordan smirked.
“Fine,” Asmo pouted. “See you when you get off so I can,” Asmo laughed and flitted out the door.
“Strange creature,” Solomon chuckled.
“Says you, Doctor X,” Alex sneered.
Solomon laughed and waved. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Alex.”
Jordan sighed when he left and patted her shoulder. “Guess I’m getting laid tonight. Now we need to work on you.”
Alex yanked herself away and waved a hand. “Stop that. Nope. Not doing it. We’re not having that type of discussion after the man I’m going to live with said he’s going to suck your straw.”
Jordan laughed and skipped over. “Babe, come on.”
“Time to prepare to close, boss,” she sneered at him.
Jordan grinned and winked. “We’ll work on it,” he whispered and got to work.
Alex exhaled and shook her head, but a smile crept on her lips. It was really nice to see Jordan happy. However, the thought of closing came with another issue. What the fuck did Lucifer want to talk about. The thought made her queasy.
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mummybear · 5 years ago
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Talk Dirty To Me
This Is Day 17 Of Roleplay May
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Words: 3181
Warnings: Smut, Phone Sex, Dirty Talk, Rough Sex, Damon’s In Charge, Friends With Benefits, Female Masturbation, Think That’s It ;)
Characters: Damon Salvatore, Mentions Of Stefan Salvatore, Reader
Pairings: Damon Salvatore x Reader
Summary: Damon being gone is harder than you remember, especially when he and Stefan are gone for two weeks and still not back. Can you keep yourself busy enough not to break the one rule that you and Damon have together.
A/N: So sorry still a little behind guys! But they are all comin’ ;) Bear with me I promise It will be worth it :P I don’t wanna put out subpar work just to be quick :)
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Damon and Stefan had left to find some rogue vampire almost two weeks ago now. It had hacked up half Mystic Falls before being scared off by the Salvatore brothers. You were really beginning to miss the little things about your tall dark and handsome friend, but most of all you were missing the benefits of your friendship. You’d had the odd phone call since he’d been gone, but nothing long enough for you to really talk.
You were continually cut off, by either Stefan interrupting or the cell signal cutting out and honestly, it was becoming a royal pain in the ass. Flopping down on your bed, the deathly silent Salvatore boarding house is starting to feel even bigger that it ever has before. It’s getting late now, with still no word from Damon you decide that it might be time to try and get some sleep. You knew it wasn’t safe to call him, just in case he was in the middle of hunting down his prey so to speak.
Undressing you make your way to Damon’s shower, since it’s the best one in the house and take a nice long hot shower. Enjoying the way the hot water stings delightfully at your skin, soothing your tense muscles. Unfortunately it does nothing for the ache still throbbing between your legs. You and Damon had one main rule and you were dangerously close to breaking it, two weeks felt like a year. 
You couldn’t touch yourself unless he told you to, it was just the way that your relationship worked. He was demanding and possessive in all the best ways, but he knew not to push you too far and that was why you worked so well. You of course, knew better than to disobey him, he had made sure he’d reminded you of who was in charge the last time you’d been a ‘bad girl’. 
Climbing out of the shower you wrap one of Damon’s big black fluffy towels around yourself and pull up your black lace panties. Walking over to his wardrobe you run your fingers over the clothes, look through the few flannel shirts that he had. You quickly spot your favourite one, the red and black one. Dropping your towel to the floor you pull it on. Smiling to yourself as you do up the buttons, it feels like he’s close. Looking at yourself in the mirror, you notice where the shirt stops just above your knees, pulling the collar up you inhale gently. The scent of the left over aftershave hitting you immediately makes you sigh.
You jump in surprise when your phone starts ringing out of nowhere, you glance over to where it lays forgotten in the middle of Damon’s massive bed. Frowning you climb onto the bed and lean back against the headboard as you answer the phone. 
“Hello, who is this?” you ask quietly, with a slight hint of confusion in your voice.
“Come on princess, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about me already? It hasn’t been that long.” His voice sends shivers up your spine, God you’d missed it more than you had first realised.
“Damon!? Are you okay? How’s everything going?” you ask hurriedly, worried that the connection will cut out, or something else will come up that will cause him to have to hang up like it has every other time.
“Calm down Y/N. This is me we’re talking about, of course I’m okay. And things aren’t really going anywhere, we still haven’t found this dick. Stef’s gone out for a few hours, he’s sure that he can find something. Personally I’m over it now. One good thing about this hotel though is that it has a decent phone, so we can talk all damn night if you want too.” 
“Aww baby, are you getting all bored without me?” you practically purr, able to hear the tension in his voice, you’re certain that there’s one thing he’s missing almost as much as you are. 
“It’s been two weeks with just my brother, no I’m having the time of my fucking life” he replies sarcastically, making you laugh before he continues. “I’m bored off of my ass and yes I’m missing your sexy ass,” 
“Well, my sexy ass has just gotten out of your shower. Right now, I'm laying all alone in your big bed, wishing that you were here.” you pout, even though you know that he can’t see you. You slowly trail your fingers over your stomach, sucking in a breath when you feel the goosebumps surfacing across your soft skin. 
“Y/N, don’t fucking tease me right now. You’ll damn well pay for it when I get home.” Damon growls the warning, only making you want him that much more, his voice shoots straight to your throbbing center.
Part of you wants to pay for it, the rewards are ten times better after he punishes you.
“Baby, come on please, it’s been two weeks, I need you.” you whine desperately, rubbing your thighs together, trying to gain some kind of friction as you fight the urge to touch yourself. Running your fingers along the line of your black lace panties, Damon’s shirt has ridden up your body so it’s resting just below your breasts.
“Have you been a good girl for me?” Damon asks in that voice you miss, the one that he only uses for you, when you’re both in bed. 
“Yes, so good.” you promise feeling your grip tighten around your phone.
“Okay, well I guess we’ll see if you deserve it baby girl. So, i’ll bite for now. What are you wearing?” he asks seductively and you can all but see that fucking smirk on his perfect pink lips. 
Looking down at what you’re wearing you smile as you get an idea, flipping on the camera on your phone you pose the best you can and snap a picture. Quickly sending the image to Damon, “I sent you something,”
The picture shows your bare legs bent at the knees and slightly parted, you’d made sure that your panties were showing. The thin black lace on perfect display for him, your free hand hovering just above the edge of the lace, leading up to your soft stomach. Finally moving up to the swell of your breasts and ribs hidden beneath Damon’s red and black flannel.
“Fuck princess, you really are missing me, huh?” he asks through the groan he lets slip past his lips. 
“So much. Missing your dirty mouth pressed against my ear. Telling me all the naughty things you wanna do to me when we’re alone,” 
You squirm on the bed desperate for his touch, or at this point you're just desperate to be touched, even if it’s by your own hands. 
“You think you can control yourself and do as you’re told. If I let you?” he asks and you can hear the warning in his voice. Normally he has the power to stop you, but right now he has to trust that you won't come until he says you can.
You also know there’s always that part of him that hopes you’ll disobey, because you both enjoy the punishment and the make up just as much as the other.
“Yes Damon, I’ll be a good girl. Please,” you whimper, letting your fingers brush gently against your inner thighs, back and forth slow and teasing.
Damon seems to consider it for a moment, before he finally speaks again. 
“Right well, we’ll have to see. Put me on speaker, leave the phone on the bed next to you and unbutton my shirt,” he instructs you, keeping his voice controlled and calm. 
You do as he asks, unbuttoning his shirt quickly and letting the sides fall open. Feeling the cold air against your slowly hardening nipples pulls a quiet moan from your lips.
“Okay done,” you breathe out quietly, turning your head to look at the phone. 
He chuckles deep in his throat at your reaction, “Cup those tits for me baby, pinch your nipples just like I would. Get them nice and hard for me,” 
God that damn voice of his is gonna be the death of you. Doing as he had says you cup your tits in your hands, squeezing just the way that he would and you roll your nipples between your thumbs and forefingers. You can’t help but gasp, the sensation after so long, paired with his voice has your hips squirming against the mattress, trying to rub your thighs together for some kind of friction. “Damon please, I need more.” 
“Since when have I rushed anything princess, now do as you’re told. Spread those sexy fucking legs, feet up on the mattress. Are you nice and wet for me baby girl?” he purrs knowingly, you can picture him biting his lip as he looks at you.
Your feet press into the bottom of your ass as you pull them up on the mattress and spread your legs. “God Damon, so wet for you. Please, I just wanna touch myself, missing your cock so bad.” you tell him truthfully, fingers digging into the skin of your thigh as you fight not to touch yourself until he says otherwise.
“You do beg so pretty princess, take those sexy panties off for me. God, I would kill to have my face between your legs right now, your perfect little pussy is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.” he growls deeply, he’s barely got the words out before you’re tugging the panties down your legs and throwing them across the room. 
“Wanna see you, please.” There’s a pause where you expect him to say he has to go, but instead he chuckles.
“Someone is feeling cheeky today,” you don’t answer when you see that a picture has come through from him, biting your lip you open the message and groan at the sight before you. 
Long fingers are wrapped around his thick hard cock, the muscles in his stomach are pulled tight, making the lines of his six pack stand out that much more against his lean hips. “See I miss you too baby girl, really miss having your perfect lips wrapped around my cock, you let me go so deep. Or watching your ass bounce when I fuck you from behind, you always come so hard for me,” he groans at the memories, you know that he knows what his voice and words are doing to you.
You lay there on his bed whimpering with your hands screwed up in the sheets, every word that falls past his lips has you squirming, every filthy word shoots straight to your throbbing pussy and you’re stuck between the need to touch yourself and wanting to be a good girl for him. 
“I need it Damon, need your cock. So wet thinking about how hard you’re gonna fuck me when you get home.” 
“Oh baby girl, I’m gonna fucking ruin you,” he growls voice sounding slightly more out of control, “keep it nice and slow, drag two fingers through your slick little pussy baby. Show me how wet you are.” 
Doing as he says you let out a filthy moan at the contact when your fingers finally move through your heated pussy. Just about managing to grab your phone with your free but shaking hand you aim it between your legs and snap the picture.
“So good, thank you for letting me.” you whimper continuing slowly slide your fingers back and forth, avoiding your clit so you don’t make yourself come, with how wound up you are right now there’s no guarantee that you can stop yourself. 
“Oh fuck look at you, that little pussy is dripping for me.” he groans so loud it’s like he’s right beside you and you swear that you can feel his lips brushing against your cheek. You can’t reply, only moan his name when your fingers brush across your clit, you feel your entire body jolt up against your hand. “Push your fingers inside your pussy baby, tell me how good it feels.”
Nodding although you know he can’t see you easily slide your two slick fingers inside your heat, “Feels amazing baby, so wet and tight. I - fuck!” you cry out, curling your fingers against the spot inside you that makes shivers roll across your skin. 
“Good girl, wish I could watch you fucking yourself on your fingers for me. Use your other hand princess, I want you to rub your clit like I do.” he growls when your breathless moans of his name falls past your parted lips.
Squeezing your eyes shut, you roll your hips down against your hands. Your thighs start to shake and your pussy starts clamping down around your thrusting fingers. 
“Damon please. Can I come, I can’t - Please!” 
“Fuck. I dunno, I do love it when you beg me, the sexiest fucking noises come out of your filthy mouth. You really think you deserve it?” he asks, sounding a little doubtful, you start to panic you know you can’t hold this one back for much longer. Your entire body feels like it’s about to snap in half.
“Damon, please! I c-can’t hold it” you gasp biting into your lip as your walls start to flutter it’s almost painful.
“Fine princess. But I better hear my fucking name. Now, come for me.”
You don’t disappoint him, you practically scream his name when your orgasm hits, sparking through your veins like lightning. You’re gasping for breath, thighs shaking, but you still feel like you need more. Your body is craving him, like it never has before. 
Then suddenly large hands wrap around your wrists and pin them back against the bed.
Your eyes snap open and you come face to face with those gorgeous blue eyes, biting your lip you look down at his body, very happy to see him completely bare on top of you.
“Not that i’m complaining, but what are you doing here?” you ask between your pants for breath.
He shrugs, smirk in full effect as he leans in closer, his lips are just a breath away from your own. “You got me hard as a fucking rock princess. You know the rules.” Swallowing back the moan you nod, seeing the tip of his tongue pressed against his fang which slowly recedes back into his gums.
Climbing off of the bed he pulls you with him easily tossing you back onto it, so that your chest is pressed against the soft bedding and your ass and legs are hanging off of the bed. 
“Nothing like the real thing,” he groans, running the head of his cock through your folds and nudging at your clit when every movement. “Don’t worry baby, I know just what you need.” 
You spread your legs wider when the wide head of his cock presses into your soaked entrance. “Please, I’ll be a good girl tonight.” you beg him, desperate for something more. 
“Oh I fucking know you will. This is gonna be fast, because I plan on fucking ruining you before I leave princess.” Damon growls slowly easing inside of you, hands gripping your waist tightly. 
“God! Yes all of that. Whatever you want,” 
“Like I said, so pretty when you beg,” he groans, snapping his hips forward harshly, sinking the rest of his thick length inside you easily. “Fuck, I missed this pussy.” 
His fingers tighten around your waist, nails biting at your skin as he thrusts into you hard and fast. You can feel the bed starting to budge beneath you, yet you can’t find it in you to give a shit. He feels so good, like he’s everywhere. Every one of his hard thrusts has you screaming into the sheets as he chases his release, he’s beginning to push you towards a second one of your own. 
Picking your knees up effortlessly he pushes them on the bed, almost underneath you. So that only your ass is hanging off the edge, you’re practically screaming his name with this new angle, he’s slamming right into your cervix with every thrust. 
Your mouth is open in a silent scream as your walls clamp around him tightly, “don’t you fucking dare.” Damon warns you with a dangerous edge to his voice, his large hand comes down on your ass. 
“Please. Fuck, I need to.” you whine pathetically, the sting of the slap making you whine as you rock back against him until he stops you.
“No. Hold it.” Damon demands firmly as his thrusts get harder and more harsh against your ass.
Your clit is throbbing and your head is spinning; you're not sure how much longer you can hold it. Pressing your face into the duvet you continue to whimper his name desperate for release, for him to finally give in and let you come. But there’s that messed up part of you that loves it when he makes you beg for it, until you’re a sobbing mess beneath him. 
His chest presses against your back as his leans over you, his lips press against your ear and your clit starts rubbing against the mattress. “You wanna come all over my cock baby? Want me to fill you up.” he snarls, dragging his teeth along your earlobe as his hips start to stutter against your ass.
“Fuck yes! Damon please.” you half sob, half moan into the duvet beneath you.
“Come for me, my dirty girl. Give it to me.” he grunts sliding his hands up to cup your tits in his big hands, rolling your nipples between his thumbs and forefingers as you fall apart around him. Finally giving you everything that you’ve been craving since he’s been gone.
“Fuck! There’s my good girl,” he pants as his orgasm hits him hard, the tip of his fang scraping along your neck, pulling a whimper from him as he laps at your skin. 
You’re still struggling to breathe when he helps you lay back on the pillows and collapses beside you, pulling you against his chest. “Well, hey there. Feel free to do that way more often and not leave it so long next time.” 
“Yeah I know princess. It’s just been something I couldn’t avoid, but after today I thought I better get my ass back here before I explode.” he smirks teasingly, wiggling those eyebrows at you and pressing a kiss to the top of your head. 
When he pulls back you meet his eyes and can’t help but smile, “You’ve gotta go back haven’t you?” you question with a sigh when he nods and he presses a chase kiss to your lips.
“Yes. But that’s why I plan on making it up to you before I go.”
“Well, not a bad start so far Mr Salvatore, what else do you have planned?” you smile running your fingers down his chest, watching the way he sucks in a breath.
“Oh just you wait and see baby girl.” he growls playfully, before pouncing on you and pinning you beneath his solid body.
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