#i wonder if i could find a job for my winter break... but also a vacation from my studies would be nice to spend you know. vacationing. res

[bobombun]

How I look whenever I see posts and my friend talk about Space Marine 2, getting so very tempted but my wallet says no

[buckymorelikefuckme]

what a wicked thing to do

vampire wanda maximoff x fem reader

words: 4.2k

warnings & tags: **18+ ONLY** lesbian vampires yes GAWD, fantasy au, inaccurate historical au, smut, fingering, implied soulmates (?? kinda i guess), biting 👀, mention of blood, does this count as hurt/comfort? we shall see!! and uhhh it's kinda spooky ooky vibes but it's not really dark? i think. pls let me know if i missed anything!

a/n: listen..... i've already got spooky season in the brain and i really wanted to reshare this fic. i've edited it a little but i've also left the link to where i orphaned it on ao3 in the title if you prefer reading there~ any and all mistakes are my own! feedback is greatly appreciated and heavily encouraged pls and thank ♡ xoxo

wanda maximoff masterlist || main masterlist

It’s that time of year in between autumn and winter where it’s only getting colder and colder, no reprieve even during the sun’s highest point of the day. Part of you worries it’s a mistake to wander through the woods like this, especially so close to sunset.

But then you remember the briefest moment when you saw her, when your eyes met hers; it happened so quickly, but also felt as if time stopped. Something flashed in her gaze before she looked away and disappeared in the busy crowds of the village.

That moment, as brief as it was, leads you here. You hug your arms tighter to your torso, cursing the bitter wind whipping around you. Your dress had been a bright idea when you’d first thought of it. Now, you’re wondering why you thought such a plunging neckline would be smart, considering the seasonable chill in the air.

Although, you think with a flutter in your stomach, that’s not exactly true. You know exactly why you chose this dress.

There’s hardly any light left in the sky by now. You’re kicking yourself for getting lost in the woods, wondering if anyone would notice, or care, whether or not you return to the village. You have no family, no money, nothing tying you to anyone or anything. You work odd jobs to be able to make ends meet. The people knew of you, but you are sure they hardly concerned themselves with your well-being.

But then, when your gaze had met her own, you’d felt seen for the first time in ages. It was like she could see everything inside your mind, every ounce of longing and every bit of loneliness, even in the split second she held your stare. You haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since then. Nearly two weeks have passed, and you’d finally decided to find out if the stories that follow her hold any truth. They are quite colorful, full of fantasy and myth, surely decorated to sound more elaborate as the years go on. Fantasy and myth, perhaps, but one particular piece of information continues to remain the same.

She hasn’t seemed to age in the fifteen years she’s spent living near your village. Not one line or wrinkle to be seen on her pale skin. Not one gray hair on her head. Some of the elders even swear they'd seen her when they were children.

Her home is a mystery, one that stays that way out of fear. There is something about her eyes, some say, something off, not quite right. Because of this, no one has felt compelled enough to try finding her home.

At least, not until you.

You’re beginning to think you are truly lost, feeling hopeless, when you finally spot something in the distance. But just as relief washes through you, the rain starts. Each drop feels like sharp, stabbing pieces of ice landing on your exposed flesh, soaking into the thin fabric of your dress. It takes mere minutes for you to become drenched. Your dress is now clinging to your body uncomfortably, the cold even more biting than it already had been.

It comes into view, what you’d spotted several meters back, easier to make out. A looming castle breaks through the trees, windows lit with candles.

Your arms and feet are going numb, but you push through, stumbling your way to a cobblestone path that leads to tall, wooden doors. With a trembling hand, you raise the door knocker and bang it against the door as loud as you can manage, praying whoever is inside will hear.

Your wait is short lived, thankfully. The door creaks open loudly to reveal the very woman you’d been searching for. If she’s shocked to see you, she hides it well. She looks as regal as ever. A black dress hugs her lithe body, her hair perfectly brushed and styled. This close to her, you can see what the people mean. She looks ageless.

“E-excuse me, madam,” you begin, trying your best to keep your teeth from chattering. “I-I’m terribly lost and I d-don’t think I can find my w-way back to the village.”

The woman lets her eyes roam your shivering frame, lingering on your glistening chest for a second, then meets your pleading gaze.

“Of course. Please, do come in. I’m sure you’re cold.”

“Th-thank you,” you reply earnestly.

She steps aside, leaving just enough space for you to squeeze by.

“Think nothing of it,” she assures you. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you need, at least until the storm passes.”

As the door closes behind her, you take in as much of the space as possible. With it being nighttime, the candles can only do so much. For a castle, it is rather large, but it’s not quite as foreboding as you would have imagined. Though, you surmise, you hadn’t really known what to expect at all.

“Would you like something dry to change into?”

You whirl around, almost tripping over your feet as her voice registers, so close to your ear.

She smiles, amusement tickling the corners of her mouth. “Perhaps a cup of tea?”

Swallowing roughly, you nod, offering a smile of thanks in return.

“Very good. You should go sit by the fire to warm up while I get everything sorted.”

She points toward a room where you can see flickering light dancing off the walls. You nod again, letting your tired feet follow the promise of warmth. The closer you get to the large fireplace, the harder you shiver, goosebumps rising along your skin. You stand as close as you deem safe, hands held out to thaw them. For the second time, she sneaks up behind you.

“This is all I could manage to find.”

You gasp as you turn to face her. She’s still smiling as she holds up the proffered item of dry clothing.

“You frightened me,” you state dumbly, huffing a quiet laugh.

“I did not mean to,” she replies.

“It’s okay.” You glance at the clothes in her hand, a frown forming on your face. “A… dressing gown?”

She makes a sympathetic face. “It was all I could find,” she repeats.

Her eyes dip down to your chest again. They flash, just like in the village, but you’re sure it could have just been the fire reflecting in them. You look down to see what she’s staring at and heat rushes up your neck. Your nipples are clearly outlined against the wet fabric of your dress.

“Oh,” you murmur as you lift your arms to cover yourself.

She clears her throat delicately. “Take this. You’ll get sick if you keep your wet clothes on.” She pointedly holds the dressing gown out to you again until you gingerly take it. “I’ll go get the kettle started while you change.”

“Thank you,” you return quietly.

When you’re sure she’s gone, you undress as quickly as you can, more shivers wracking your frame as you stand naked in her drawing room for a few seconds before pulling on the silk dressing gown, tying it securely around your waist.

While you wait you decide to get a better look of the room. A few paintings hang on the dark walls, but mostly they’re covered with floor to ceiling shelves and stuffed to the brim with books. You take notice of a few spots where the dust hasn’t seemed to settle in front of them, figuring those must be her favorites. A plush chaise sits in the center of the room with two chairs on either side, atop an ornate rug that rests on most of the floor. There are a couple small tables between the chaise and chairs with candelabras on them, and a wide, lower table in front of them. You spot a desk by the only window in the room.

There’s nothing particularly personal about the space. It almost feels as if she’s newly moved in. But you know that can’t be true, especially since so many people in the village have seen her visit town for years now.

A piece of parchment on the desk catches your eye. You debate over whether or not you should let your curiosity get the better of you, your feet slowly carrying you over to where the paper lay. There’s writing on the top piece, and you get as far as the addressed “Brother,” but then hear her round the corner and quickly back away.

“I wasn’t sure if you took cream and sugar, so I brought them just in case,” she tells you, setting a silver tray on the low-lying table that held the teapot and teacups.

You walk over as she pours the tea into both cups. You pick one up and carefully drop two lumps of sugar into yours, stirring it with your teaspoon until you’re satisfied it’s melted. A careful sip as you sit down and you hum happily.

“Better?” she asks, smiling and taking a sip of her own tea, sitting beside you.

It occurs to you suddenly that you hadn’t asked for introductions. You scold yourself internally, knowing you had better etiquette than that.

“I must apologize, I seem to have forgotten my manners. I never introduced myself,” you say, then offer your name. “And what is yours, madam?”

“You may call me Wanda,” she replies.

“Well, I owe you a great deal for helping me, Wanda. I cannot thank you enough.”

She waves a dismissive hand. “Please, there is no need. I’m glad I was here and that you aren’t in danger of freezing to death.”

“As am I,” you respond, laughing lightly.

Silence settles between you. Your mind whirls with hundreds of questions, but you don’t know where to begin. Your plan to find her only consisted of just that— finding her. Now that you’re here, you aren’t quite sure what to do. Or say, for that matter.

You can feel her eyes observing you like a caress. You struggle not to squirm or shiver, though you are no longer cold. No, there is no chill clinging to your bones anymore. Her stare alone provides enough heat. You chance a glimpse of her from the corner of your eye, but she catches it. She purses her lips to keep from smiling in amusement.

“So,” you blurt, cheeks pinking, “have you lived here long?”

You bite the inside of your cheek as soon as the words leave your mouth. Stupid, stupid girl.

Thankfully, Wanda laughs.

“Quite,” she says teasingly, like she’s letting you in on a joke.

You nod. “I see. Is it a family home?”

She tilts her head consideringly. “Of a sort.”

What is that supposed to mean? Miraculously, you don’t ask that question aloud.

“Do you… Do you live alone?”

You’re not sure why you ask. Perhaps it’s that you haven’t heard any other movement throughout the castle that indicated a waiting staff of some sort. Afterall, she was the one to fetch the tea.

“I do,” she says.

You don’t want to examine it too closely, but you’re positive you note a hint of longing in her tone.

“S’a lot of space for one person,” you muse in acknowledgment.

She nods. “Indeed. However, I’m sure I’ll find the right companion soon.”

You take another sip of your tea to avoid replying, but are not able to avoid meeting her gaze. The look in her eyes is something you’ve never seen directed at you. You’re hesitant to think it could be want, open desire. Not from a woman like her.

—

Wanda still cannot believe that you’d shown up at her door.

She’s spent months watching you from a distance, never allowing herself to be seen by you—not until she felt it was time. From the very first moment she caught sight of you, she knew. You are hers. Her mouth watered when the wind brought your scent to her. There was not a doubt in her mind about whether she would have you; she simply would.

She had waited, ever so patiently, watching you as you roamed the streets of the village. You didn’t seem to have very many acquaintances, if any at all, and you were always alone. Wanda quickly figured out that you were without a family as well.

Selfishly, she’d been happy about these facts.

Finally, Wanda allowed herself to meet your gaze. It was quick, but she knew her eyes flashed, knew that she piqued your curiosity. It would only be a matter of time.

After nearly two weeks had gone by, however, she had started to think it hadn’t worked. She’d planned on returning to town to purposefully cross your path again, but as luck would have it, you came to her. As soon as she heard the knock on her door, she smiled.

Now, as she sits next to you on the chaise, your skin glowing in the firelight, she finds it harder to maintain her control. This close, your scent is even more intoxicating. Wanda can tell that you’re curious about her. The questions you want to ask are swirling behind your eyes. And now that you’re here, she decides she’ll answer whatever you ask, give you anything you want.

You’ve gone quiet, though, so she does some prodding of her own.

“What were you doing out in the woods?” Dressed like that, blessedly, goes unsaid.

You shyly glance down at your lap. “I, uh, I like to take walks,” you mutter into your teacup as you go to take another sip.

Wanda hums. A plausible excuse, indeed. You carefully lean forward to set your cup and saucer on the table and when you sit back you move your hair over to one shoulder. Wanda’s eyes zero in on the pulsepoint of your neck. If she focuses hard enough, she can see your heartbeat throbbing beneath your skin. It makes her teeth itch, makes her control waver even more.

When she drags her gaze away from your neck, she finds you already observing her. Her desire is clearly reflected in your eyes and the feeling is heady.

—

“Are you warm now?” she wonders.

“Yes,” you whisper, your breathing picking up, making your breasts heave alluringly.

You’d go as far as saying you are overheating. The dressing gown, where you’d been unsure and embarrassed of being nude underneath it before, is now a blessing. Your body feels alight with an unseen, growing fire. Shifting on the chaise, you don’t notice the sleeve slip down your shoulder, only registering the air skimming across your collarbones. You let out a surprised gasp when you feel something cold on your bare arm.

Peering down reveals it to be Wanda’s hand carefully sliding the sleeve back up into place. Your brows pull together in a frown.

“Your hand…” you mumble, trailing off.

She lets it linger on your shoulder for a moment, then slowly traces down your arm, her thumb grazing the side of your breast. Your nipples tighten, thighs clenching together as you watch her fingers stop at your wrist. Though her touch is cold, it feels like a relief against the searing heat of your flesh. You peek at her through your lashes and find her expression to be one of complete hunger.

Feeling emboldened, you hold her stare as you shift to pull the sleeve down again.

Her lips lift on one side, her teeth glinting dangerously. “Are you sure of what you’re doing?” she asks.

You blink, faux innocence shifting behind your eyes. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

Wanda takes a deep, steadying breath, though it only helps in inhaling your scent more. She says your name. “Why do you think you are here?” The question catches you off guard. Wanda shifts even closer to you, watching your throat bob as you swallow. “We both know it isn’t because you accidentally got lost in the woods. You were out there with a purpose. What was it?”

You lick your lips, noticing her gaze immediately drop to them. It makes your heart pound in your chest.

“I don’t know,” you reply, unsure.

She leans in, her nose nearly touching yours. “You do,” she whispers, without doubt. “Why are you here?”

Your eyes flutter closed, head tilting back without you being aware of it, exposing your neck. You feel her presence mere centimeters away from you, her breath puffing out along the column of your throat.

“I… I felt drawn here. It feels like I was meant to be here,” you say, quiet, almost hoping she doesn’t hear you.

It feels ridiculous to say it out loud. It’s one thing to have that thought sit in the back of your mind where you could pretend it didn’t exist, but to admit it aloud is entirely different.

“With me?”

You shiver at her words, her lips having softly dragged across your skin. Helplessly, you nod.

“Are you afraid?”

That makes you frown, but you adamantly reply, “No.”

“Open your eyes,” she pleads.

You follow her instruction, wary, but gasp at what you see. Sharp fangs peek out from Wanda’s lips, her eyes so pale they’re almost white now. Though your heart continues to race, it’s not out of fear. It should scare you, it should send you running, but you find your hand slowly rising to carefully trace a finger down one of her fangs, amazed that she even lets you.

“You’re…” You start, meeting her patient gaze once more. “Beautiful,” you finish in a whisper, because she is. You go to reach for her face to stroke her cheek, but she lurches backward. In a blink, Wanda’s on the other side of the chaise. Disbelief paints her features.

“You think I’m… beautiful?”

“Of course,” you state plainly, brows furrowing. Wanda continues staring at you in wonder. “You said I was here for a reason.” Ironically, she’s now wary of you as you shuffle closer to her. “I know what that reason is now.”

“Which is?” she asks apprehensively.

“You,” you murmur, cupping her cheek. “I’m here for you.”

Wanda looks as if she’s scared to accept this, to hope for it to be real. You steal away those worries by leaning in to place a soft kiss to her lips. She inhales sharply, eyes squeezing shut, her cold hands gripping your wrist almost painfully. You give her a moment, kissing her forehead as she gathers her emotions, keeping her gaze down.

“Are you sure?”

Her voice cracks softly, but her grip on your wrist loosens as you move it. You lift her chin so she’s looking at you.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

She stares at your lips for a few seconds, and then, as your words sink in, they seem to send her into action. She surges forward and captures your lips, more sure, more eager than before. You respond in kind, pulling her as close as possible, sighing into her mouth.

You quickly find yourself on your back on the chaise, Wanda above you, bodies slotting perfectly into each other like lost puzzle pieces. You feel her hand slide down from where it was in your hair to graze along your sternum. Then her hand cups your breast, thumb swiping across your nipple, and you gasp. It’s the perfect opportunity to deepen the kiss and Wanda takes it.

Her tongue slides against yours and you whine, clutching at her like she’s the only thing tethering you to this earth. It becomes so easy to let her settle between your thighs, to arch into her touch and slide your tongue in her mouth, delicately tracing over her fangs. Wanda shudders, grunting inelegantly before wrenching herself away, panting heavily into the space between you. You blindly chase after her, opening your eyes in confusion.

Wanda’s gaze is intent on your neck, full of desire. The weight of the moment hits you, then. What exactly it would mean if you give in to her. So, with full faith in your decision, you tilt your head ever so slightly and she goes perfectly still.

“Go ahead,” you encourage.

She shakes her head. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

You huff. “I do. I want you to do this.” You know she won’t look at you just yet, so you lace both your and her fingers together and squeeze hers as you continue. “I need you to do this.”

“If I do,” she starts, swallowing thickly, “I won’t be able to stop. You’ll end up like me.”

You duck your head to catch her stare. “And what’s wrong with that?”

She closes her eyes and falls silent for a moment. The weight of your words fall over the two of you like a winter blanket.

“I’ve waited so long,” she confesses, voice quiet, shaking and timid.

“For me?” you ask. She nods. “I’ve been looking for something, or someone, to make me feel whole all my life.” You use your free hand to stroke her cheek. Even with her eyes closed, she leans into you. “I’ve waited for you, too.”

When she finally looks at you, you know there’s no going back for either of you.

“It’s going to hurt,” she warns.

“That’s okay. It will only be temporary.”

She smiles then, slow and teasing. “I can ease the pain, you know.”

Her free hand tugs lightly on the ties holding your dressing gown closed, raising her eyebrows in silent question. You bite your lip and nod, shivering in anticipation. She undoes the careful bow you’d tied, easing it open and exposing your body to her hungry gaze.

If you felt heated before, you’re an inferno now. Her hands reverently map out every curve of your body. She leans down and plants a kiss above your belly button. It makes your stomach clench in want, but you make yourself lie there and take whatever she plans on giving you. Her kisses lead up your torso, until she’s eye level with your breasts, and before you can comprehend her movement, she’s taking one of your nipples into her mouth.

“God,” you whimper, head thrown back as you push your chest into her face.

“No,” Wanda giggles, “just me.”

You try to laugh, but it turns into a gasping moan when she pinches your other nipple between cold fingers. Your thighs attempt to close around her, yet it’s futile. Her free hand begins its descent down to the warm heat between your legs. Your hips buck into her touch, crying out when her fingers make contact with your clit.

“I’m going to do everything I can to make this feel good, okay? Let me take care of you.”

You nod quickly, your mouth going dry. When a single finger enters you, you forget how to breathe for a second, but then she’s sliding it out and back in, setting a steady rhythm, and you’re back to panting and whining. Only a few minutes later, though, you’re wriggling around, begging for more. She adds another finger and picks up the pace.

“Oh,” you gasp, your legs falling open wider.

Wanda buries her face in your neck, inhaling loudly, groaning. She licks across the skin there, nipping at you.

“Wanda,” you whimper.

“I know, my love,” she rasps. “You’re so close.”

Your hands have drifted above you, clutching at the pillows on the chaise, your hips moving in tandem with her fingers. Her thumb meets your clit, adding to the building warmth in your belly. It swells and swells, until finally, it has nowhere else to go and explodes within you.

You feel her teeth sink into your neck at the very same moment, and you can only yell brokenly into the air. Pain and pleasure war inside you, both white hot and searing, marrying themselves into a delicious and lethal combination. You can feel blood trickle down your throat, the same way you can still feel her fingers thrusting into you. It seems to never end and you grow limp beneath her, unable to handle the sensations flowing through you.

She finally slows, removing her teeth and licking over the wound. As her fingers slide free, she brushes your sweaty hair off your forehead with her clean hand.

“Sleep now,” she instructs, kissing you softly.

You can’t even attempt to argue, your body listening to her and promptly sending you into a deep slumber.

—

When you wake, before you even open your eyes, you’re aware of a few things.

To start, you’re no longer on the chaise. You’re on a luxurious bed, which is presumably Wanda’s. Your hearing is significantly better, as is your sense of smell. There’s a low thrum of energy coursing through your veins, like you’re on edge but don’t know why. But the more important thing you’re aware of is the feeling of eyes on you.

“I know you’re awake now.”

You crack open one eye and see Wanda smirking at you from the other end of the bed. You smile and sigh happily.

“How do you feel?” she asks.

You carefully sit up and stretch. You notice her ogling your still naked body and give her a smirk of your own. Shifting onto your knees, you crawl over the bed until you reach her and straddle her lap.

“Hungry,” you answer before grasping her face in your hands and attaching your mouth to hers.

With a force she hadn’t used before, she tosses you backward and is on top of you in a flash, a devilish smile on her tragically beautiful face.

“Good.”

[shmaptainwrites]

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 [𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐒𝐎𝐍]

PAIRINGS — James Wilson x fem!Reader

SUMMARY — James has a huge crush on his labmate, the only question is how long will it take him to ask her out? (Answer: it's longer than you think)

WARNINGS — cancer mentions, patient death from cancer, drugs, alcohol (don't be mistaken this fic is tooth-rotting fluff)

NOTE — Okay this fic has come up from my compulsory need to elaborate on anything Canadian so if you ever wanted to see James at McGill, this fic is most definitely for you! Also I guess it's indirectly mentioned that reader was raised in Quebec, but obviously doesn't have to be "Quebecois" for this to work

Pronounciation — Jian = Chyehn

James chewed on the inside of his cheek as he walked up to the Stewart Biological Sciences Building on McGill campus. For some reason, it was so much more intimidating now that he was actually a student. During the tour he had his mother’s reassuring hand on his back, his father’s words of comfort that he would most definitely be accepted when he applied. 

Now that he had made it, he had to prove he belonged, but it could have been worse. His friends at Harvard and the University of Toronto had told him so. He was getting the best of both worlds, a prestigious school and, hopefully, not as much pressure as the rest of them. 

Without loitering any longer, he made his way inside and looked around to find the right lecture hall. It couldn’t possibly be that hard, could it?

After his first semester James had realized he’d made a few mistakes. One was living in a French speaking part of town without knowing a lick of the language, but that one was the easiest to deal with. The others were more in the realm of the amount of sleep he was getting and underestimating how much content the professors could shove down their throats in 14 weeks. 

He was more than happy to return to New Jersey for the holiday break to rest and recuperate before going back to the winter wonderland hell that was Montreal, but this time he was confident he would be more prepared. 

And for the most part, he was. He got enough sleep, partied responsibly (except Fridays, he partied hard then), always submitted his work on time and maintained his good GPA, making up for his poor fall semester. What he didn’t expect, however, was a distraction. 

When you walked into the room James watched you curiously, he thought maybe he’d seen you somewhere before, but he couldn’t quite place it. Besides, you were much more interesting than watching his sample boil for another five minutes. 

You came and took a seat next to him, taking out your safety goggles and lab notebook from your bag before shoving it under the table. 

“You’re sample’s boiling over,” you said, but James didn’t register you were talking to him at first, still looking at you in a slightly dazed manner before you physically pointed to the beaker, making his eyes go wide as he frantically turned down the heat and removed it. 

“It’s a wonder you passed the lab safely quiz,” you teased and James blushed. 

“Good thing I don’t want to be a chemist.” 

“Oh, and what do you want to be then?” you asked, preparing your own sample for boiling. 

“A doctor,” he shared with a little more confidence. 

“Any specialty in mind or just a doctor,” you said, doing air quotes over the word. 

“I’ve been shadowing some of the researchers in the Life Sciences Research Complex and I think oncology might be a good fit for me.” 

“Yeah, as long as you don’t have to boil cancer cells you should be fine,” you assured him. 

“What about you?” he rolled on the balls of his feet as he continued his experiment. “Or are you all talk?” 

“Pfft, you think I’d be here if I was all talk?” you asked. “No, I want to be a medical researcher.” 

“Maybe you should do some shadowing in the LSRC then.” 

“No thanks, I think I’ll stick to my job there.” 

“Your job?” James looked at your wish surprise. “Aren’t you like 18?” 

“Almost,” you smiled. 

“How did you manage to get a job there? They barely let undergraduates in the labs, let alone be responsible for anything.” 

“It’s nothing fancy,” you assured him. “I just do cataloguing for now, but it's a good experience.” 

“Still,” he raised his brows, “you must be like a prodigy or something.” 

“Again, no,” you shook your head. “Just someone who goes after what she wants.” 

There was a comfortable pause where you both took down your distillation set ups and began working on the filtration portion of the experiment. 

“So what’s your name, anyways?” you asked, looking over at him. “Hey, look, clamp it this way,” you demonstrated and he followed your lead, seeing how much more stable the glassware was afterwards. 

“Thanks,” he smiled. “I’m James.” 

You told him your name and continued your work again in silence.

Chemistry labs quickly became the favourite part of James’ week. 

Ever since that lab, James began to see you in all his classes. On more than a few occasions, he’d had to steal notes from his friends on account of forgetting to pay attention. It became an easy thing to tease him about, so his friends began calling him heart-eyes, because who was he kidding, he had a crush. 

“Get your head out of your ass, heart-eyes, I am not giving you my notes again,” his friend, Carlo, shoved his arm and whispered harshly as he could see him getting distracted. 

“Sorry,” James shook his head and began scribbling down what he had missed, his eyes darting back and forth from the board and back to you. 

“Why don’t you just ask her out?” Pierre asked him after class. “Don’t you talk all the time in the lab?” 

“More like I stare at her and she says stuff to make it not awkward,” he cringed at his own actions. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Every time I’m with her I can’t string together a sentence, and– Jesus Christ you should have seen my face last week! Full on red, like I can’t even be subtle about it!” 

“Yikes,” Jian grimaced. 

“It’s bad, I know,” James assured. 

“And this is why we call you heart-eyes,” Carlo patted James on the back. 

“Yeah, say it a little louder, maybe she’ll hear you,” James said sarcastically. 

“Who’ll hear you?” the group of boys heard a voice behind them and all their eyes went wide as they spun around and saw you. 

“No one!” Jian was quick to answer in the least nonchalant way possible, making the rest of the group, especially James, stare daggers at him. 

“It’s not no one,” Carlo attempted to save face. “Just… this girl back in uh New Jersey that James’ got the hots for,” he gained confidence with every word of the sentence before adorning a smug smile on his face and patting James yet again on the back. 

“You’re afraid a girl in New Jersey will hear you?” you looked curiously at James but he just stared blankly at you. “So you call him heart-eyes?” you instead turned your attention to his friends and they nodded. “That’s cute, maybe I’ll call you that too.” 

“Sure,” was all a red faced James could get out before you excused yourself to head over to work. 

Pierre was trying very hard to keep a straight face while you walked away and James slapped both Carlo and Jian upside the head. 

“What the hell was that! Could you not have been more obvious, Jian? And Carlo, a girl back in New Jersey? Now she thinks I’m pining for someone else!” 

“On the plus side, maybe she’ll think all your blushing around her is a circulation issue,” Pierre shrugged. 

“You guys are the worst,” James shook his head and shoved his hands in his pockets, continuing to walk along the path to one of the libraries. 

“No, we just saved your ass,” Carlo caught up with him. “However terribly, but if we didn’t say anything you would have stared at her with your mouth open like a trout.” 

“Carlo does have a point,” Jian agreed, “At least we bought you a little time to get your act together.” 

James sighed, “You guys have too much faith in me.”

“You said that when I started to teach you French and you’ve come a long way with that,” Pierre said. 

“Yeah, sure I went from saying nothing to being able to say Je m'appelle James et je ne parle pas français.” 

“And what a handy sentence that is when you don’t speak French!” Pierre grinned and James couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head. 

“Okay, I’ll try and get my act together and ask her out…and learn more French.” 

“That’s the spirit!” Carlo patted his back. “Now let’s go get a drink and relax.” 

“Maybe after we study for our physics midterm?” James nudged his friend and Jian nodded his head in agreement. 

“Fine, I guess if we have to,” Carlo sighed. 

“Not everyone is naturally good at kinematics, Carlo. Take pity on us mere mortals who have to study,” Pierre responded, eliciting a chuckle from his buddies. 

James was quiet as he thought to himself. If he could get a B on this physics test, maybe there was hope for him getting his act together after all.

—

Summer break rolled around faster than James had expected. While Jian went back to Richmond, Pierre over to Quebec City, and Carlo to Chicago, James was left alone in Montreal, working to help pay his tuition for the next year. Being an international student was no joke. 

He would have gone back to New Jersey, but the positions he applied to in Montreal paid more so it wasn’t a hard decision to make. 

His parents would come visit him for some time in July, but for the most part he was alone. 

On late nights, he’d make his way to the McDonald’s in the neighbourhood, not knowing enough French to go anywhere else nearby. At least there, most of them spoke enough English to take his order, and if not it was really easy to point to the menu. 

“It’s already done?” he asked. 

“Give us some credit, hein. We knew you were coming, we had it ready.” 

James chuckled and handed him the money for the order, exchanging it for the bag which he took to a table and sat down. 

As he was pulling out his fries from his bag he heard the chime of the door and looked up curiously to see who was coming at this time of night. 

He stopped what he was doing when he recognized you, watching as you dug through your purse and spoke to the cashier in French. You both laughed about something James couldn’t quite catch and a little while later, after you had paid they handed you a bag and an ice cream cone when James heard you say something about ‘deux cuillères’ taking the utensils they gave you and turing straight towards James’ table, pulling out the chair across from him and sitting down. 

“I thought you lived in New Jersey,” you said. 

James was still stunned that you had noticed him and couldn’t find the words to speak. 

“Hey, heart-eyes?” you waved your hand in front of his face. “You okay?” 

“Y-Yeah,” he nodded, distracting himself by pulling out his burger from his bag. 

“So why aren’t you in Jersey?” you asked. 

“Work. I got a job here, it paid better.” 

“Hmm,” you hummed thoughtfully while eating some of your fries. “And all your friends?” 

“Back with their families, unfortunately for me,” he nodded. “W-What about you?” 

“Oh, I live here,” you shrugged. “In this neighbourhood actually.” 

“You live here?” he asked. 

“That’s what I said,” you nodded. 

“And so that’s how you know French?” 

“Every kid in Quebec learns French, it’s kind of a non-negotiable,” you shared. “I gather that’s why you’re eating here.” 

“Yeah, Pierre didn’t manage to teach me enough before he left,” he sighed and started to eat his meal. 

“I could teach you if you want. I’m taking a little break this summer so I have some spare time,” you offered. 

“Oh, I don’t want to-,” 

“James, you’re gonna have a shitty summer if you don’t say yes.”

He couldn’t argue with that, it would be nice to communicate more with the people who lived around him. 

“Okay, sure, but I’m warning you, I’m a terrible student.” 

“I used to tutor one of my siblings, trust me it can’t be worse than that,” you laughed. 

You chatted a little more, finishing your meals but not before you handed James a spoon. 

“So this is cuillère then?” he asked. “I-I overheard you talking to Jean.” 

“Yeah, your pronunciation isn’t bad either,” you nodded. “Here.” 

You pushed the ice cream cone between you and began to eat it with the spoon. James had a bit of a sweet tooth and wouldn’t be one to refuse dessert so he began to share the ice cream cone with you. 

“So, are you missing your girl in New Jersey?” you asked and James cursed internally, trying to come up with a lie to tell you. 

“Um, no not really,” he shook his head. “I don’t think we would have worked out anyways.” 

“Oh, so are your friends still calling you heart-eyes?” 

He nodded his head, thinking it was better not to say anything in case he gave himself away. 

“It’s good that you recognized you wouldn’t work out before you asked her out,” you said, “Couple guys wanted to go on dates with me this year, but just didn’t seem like the right fit. Plus, I don’t really think I’m looking for anything like that right now.”

James nodded his head again, silently eating the ice cream. 

“Ever been in love, James?” you asked. 

“That’s a really loaded question to ask someone you cornered in a McDonald’s at 11 P.M.” 

You ignored his response and continued, 

“I haven’t, it seems like such a big thing, how would you even know if it was love?” 

James looked up at the ceiling, silently asking God to not let him say something stupid, 

“I think most of the time it comes on gradually, maybe you won’t even know it at first.” 

“So you have been in love,” you confirmed and he shrugged his shoulders. 

“I…I don’t know. Maybe I have.” 

“That’s not a very straightforward answer.” 

“Then maybe I haven’t. I feel like if it was love, you’d figure it out, eventually.” 

You pursed your lips and nodded your head. 

“I hope I get to fall in love,” you smiled softly to yourself. “Seems nice.” 

“Yeah,” James agreed. “It does.” 

—

A few years later… 

“So how did it go?” Jian asked, as they sat around James’ small living room. 

“It…could have been better,” James sucked in some air through his teeth, recalling a recent memory from earlier that afternoon. 

“What the fuck James! You scared the shit out of me! I could have broken the hemocytometer, do you know how much that shit costs?!” 

“Sorry!” James quickly apologized and dropped his books down on the nearest surface to help you clean up, making you look up again at him with disdain. 

“In the BSC? Really? Now we have to resterilize and all the specimens I have in there are as good as compromised.” 

“Shit,” James muttered under his breath, he was usually so much better in the lab, but the second he was with you he became a bumbling mess. “I-I’ll take care of the BSC, I’m so sorry.” 

You sighed and removed your gloves, pinching the bridge of your nose. 

“It’s not just boiling water we’re dealing with anymore, James,” you said a little more calmly than before. “You’ve gotta be more careful, okay? I’m not losing my job over this.” 

James nodded his head and went to grab the things to sterilize the biological safety cabinet and grab the new specimen from the fridge. So much for trying to get a job at LSRC to impress you. 

“I was not built to be a researcher,” James shook his head. 

“I mean, it’s not that big of a screw up, you fixed it eventually, didn’t you?” Pierre asked.

“Yeah, but not until after a thorough amount of embarrassment.” 

“I thought girls found clumsy guys endearing,” Carlo commented. 

“Not when the girl is determined to become the leading medical researcher on the continent,” James sighed. “Maybe taking this job was a bad idea. From what I can see she hasn’t even changed her opinion on dating, she hasn’t been with anyone these past three years.” 

“Do you hear that?” Carlo removed his feet from the coffee table and placed them on the ground. “You’ve been in love with her for three years and haven’t done anything about it.” 

“Who said I was in love with her? And sure, maybe I haven’t made a move, but I learnt French!” James tried to defend himself, pointing to Pierre. 

“That’s not as good of a comeback as you think it is,” Pierre shook his head. 

“I know,” James hung his head low and sat on the couch between Pierre and Jian. “We’re gonna graduate in a year and she’s not gonna know I’m in love with her.” 

“So you are in love with her?” Jian looked over at his friend sympathetically. 

James leaned back and used the heels of his palms to cover his eyes. 

“He’s gonna have a meltdown, don’t ask him that,” Pierre shook his head. 

“God, I do love her!” he exclaimed like he was just finding it out for the first time himself. 

“What did I say,” Pierre sighed. 

“Can I make it stop?” James looked over at his friends who all shrugged. “I am so screwed.” 

“This time, I think we agree with you,” Carlo took a sip of his drink. “Good luck, man.” 

James squeezed his eyes shut, he would definitely need it. 

—

The year passed to graduation and James was still sitting on his feelings. It was much too late now to say anything. You’d already been accepted to a graduate program through your work with the LSRC and James had passed his MCAT with flying colours and was on his way to medical school at Columbia. 

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was going to miss Montreal, the city had grown on him during his time there and a part of him wished he could stay. 

His friends were also ready for the next stages in their studies, all going to different places across the continent to get their other degrees, with, of course, the promise to stay in touch. 

James didn’t know what the next little bit of his life had in store for him, but he hoped regardless of where he ended up, maybe he’d be able to make up for his missed opportunities. 

The years of medical school, once started, passed faster than James expected them to, and by the end of it, much to his own surprise, he’d also gotten married. 

You were almost all but forgotten in the back of his mind, but time continued to play its games. 

Medical school turned into a specialization in oncology, and a divorce. Then residency and a marriage. Then a second divorce. Then another marriage and more recently a position at a hospital in his hometown, on the board and a well respected oncologist and a few new friends…and a third divorce. 

“House, I’m not asking you to let them all sleep in your apartment, it’s just a dinner for one night, we’ll be out and about for the rest of the time that they’re here,” James sighed. 

“Can’t you just cancel?” House asked. “Divorce seems like a pretty good reason to get out of a reunion.” 

“See, the thing is, I’d rather not be miserable and see my friends instead, and they bought their tickets months ago. Please, House, I’ll do the dishes for a week.” 

“A month,” House said. 

“Two weeks,” James negotiated and House nodded, so they shook on it. 

“Good, now that I’ve done you a favour, you can do me one,” House smiled, but the kind of smile that was conniving, like he had something up his sleeve all along. 

“I paid you in chores for my favour, who says I owe you anything?” 

“Unless you want me to call your friends and cancel for you, you’ll do it,” House continued to walk the hospital’s hallways hobbling with his cane. 

“What is it?” James sighed, catching up with him. 

“We have a patient and he doesn’t speak very good English, but he does speak French. You went to McGill didn’t you? Must have picked up some of the love language.” 

“Unfortunately for me in this case, I did,” he nodded. 

“Perfect, come with me now,” House motioned with his head to the patient’s room and James trailed behind him. 

When he entered the room, House motioned for him to begin speaking. James hadn’t spoken a lot of French since his undergrad so he was definitely rusty, but he supposed it was better than nothing and began to explain that he would be helping with the translation.

“Erm, Bonjour, je suis Dr. Wilson, je vais aider Dr. House avec la traduction.” 

The man looked at James strangely before saying. 

“You’re an anglophone, but you speak French like you’re Quebecois.” 

“I um did my undergraduate in Montreal, I learnt how to speak there,” James responded back in French. 

“Hmm.” 

James could tell this wasn’t going to be fun. Some of the French held quite a bit of hate towards Quebec, who knew why, but his accent definitely wasn’t going to help him in this situation. 

House got James to ask some routine medical history questions and a few things about his symptoms all the while James had to filter out all the insults that were coming his way with regards to his “poor use of language” and “unintelligible accent”. 

When he could finally leave the room, James let out a string of French curses under his breath, still thinking in the other language. 

“House, why can’t you just get a proper translator?” he asked. “I’m terrible at this.” 

“Cuddy said something about making a big purchase recently and being currently unable to do so, especially since you put that you speak French in your resume. Bet you’re regretting that one now.” 

“Yeah,” James nodded his head. “Big time.” 

They began to walk towards the elevator to go to the cafeteria for lunch, when James decided to inquire more about Cuddy’s big purchase. 

“Oh, she said something about money this, medical research that,” House shook his head, “You know I stopped listening the second she wouldn’t give me what I wanted.” 

“She hired a medical researcher,” James said aloud, chewing on the words, “I wonder who she-,” 

His train of thought was cut off when he saw, near the elevator, a face he hadn’t seen since graduation day at McGill. 

Quickly, unable to think of anything else to do, he ran into the administrative area and hid crouched down behind a photocopier. 

House watched his friend curiously before walking over towards him and leaning against the copier asked him if he’d gone insane. 

“No, I just, um, remembered I needed to copy some patient files,” he lied. 

“You don’t have any with you,” House said. 

“I faxed them from my office,” he lied again. 

“I think I need to go get Foreman, clearly you’re having a neurological breakdown,” House said. 

“Can you just stop making it obvious I’m here?!” James exclaimed in a whisper. 

Unfortunately for him, as you were walking past, his harsh whisper made his location obvious, causing you to look down and see his familiar face. 

“Oh my God, heart-eyes, is that you?” you asked with a smile and James pressed his lips in a thin line and nodded. “What are you doing down there?” 

James became speechless and suddenly he was an eighteen-year-old back in his chemistry lab. 

“He’s checking to see if we need more toner,” House said, lying for his friend, but James knew that was all he would get out of him. “Well, that’s my cue to leave, you guys have fun.” 

You reached down and offered James a hand, helping him back into a standing position. 

“I haven’t seen you in so long,” you commented. “Like since we were-,” 

“22,” James filled in and you nodded. 

“Yeah,” you bit your lip before asking him how he had been. 

“Oh, you know,” he shrugged his shoulders. “I-I’m assuming you’re the medical researcher Cuddy hired?” 

“That would be correct,” you smiled. 

“Why did you choose to work here? I thought you were some big hotshot in Canada?” 

“I am a big hotshot, which is why I wanted to come to a teaching hospital. I thought maybe it would give more opportunities to teach other people what I know. It’s a win-win. I get to do what I want to and the hospital gets grant money from my research,” you explained. “It looks like you got where you wanted to be too, Mr. Oncologist.” 

“Actually it’s Dr. Oncologist,” he joked and you laughed, making his cheeks go red after hearing the sound.

“I missed having you around, James. We should catch up sometime,” you suggested. 

“Yeah sure,” he nodded. “I-I’d love that.” 

You excused yourself, needing to go introduce yourself to a class of medical students, waving goodbye to James, leaving him stuck in his tracks for a few moments before he could gather his senses again and head downstairs for lunch. 

—

“We could have rescheduled if this was too much, man,” Carlo watched James as he brought a large roast to the table for them to eat. 

“See? What did I tell you,” House rolled his eyes and James gave him a disapproving stare. 

“No, I wanted you guys to come, we’ve been planning this for months. I wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of it,” he assured his friends. “Plus, we know how hard it is to nail down Pierre, I swear you are always travelling. Every time we talk you’re in a different country.” 

“That’s the life of a parasitologist,” he shrugged and helped James by beginning to cut the roast. 

“And Jian, how’s the wife and kids?” 

“They’re good,” Jian smiled. “Mei started first grade in September. Becky and I are both up for promotions at the hospital, so I can’t really complain. Although I think Carlo can.” 

“Seriously it’s not that big of a deal,” Carlo groaned, “Sure yeah, pharmaceuticals are more flashy than biophysics, but that doesn’t mean that my research wasn’t better.” 

“Well if it was better why did William get the award?” James asked and Carlo just flipped him the bird. 

“Didn’t we go to school with him?” Pierre asked. 

“We did?” James raised a brow. 

“Yeah, for a year, from Toronto, huge stoner. Hated being there and did literally no work, but still managed to get honours,” Jian explained. 

“Sounds like my kinda guy,” House commented and James rolled his eyes. 

Just as they continued to dish out dinner, House’s pager went off and he sighed, excusing himself from the table while practically threatening James to leave him some food. 

When House left, James’ friends saw their opening and began their personal line of questioning. 

“Hey, James, are you really okay?” Jian asked. 

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” James asked in return. 

“You’re getting a divorce,” Pierre said. “Seems like a pretty good reason to not be okay.” 

James shook his head, 

“Yeah sure, it’s a shitty situation,” he admitted. “Did I imagine myself at this point in my life with three failed marriages? No, definitely not. Can I do anything to change it? Also no, and right now I really wouldn’t want to change it.” 

“Can we ask what happened?” Carlo queried. 

“She cheated on me, then left me,” James said simply. 

“Forgive me,” Pierre said. “But you seemed a lot more upset when we talked over the phone last week. What changed?” 

James looked down at his plate and cut into his roast, thinking about what Pierre had said. It was true, even earlier today he was sulking about, that was until he ran into you. 

“I swear,” James started, “if you guys make a big deal about this I will murder you all,” he used his knife to point at all of them and they nodded, swearing their silence. “I’ve got heart-eyes again.” 

“You met someone new?” Jian asked and Carlo shook his head. 

“No, he re-met someone old. Tell me, did your hospital recently hire a medical researcher?” 

James nodded his head and the table was about to erupt into a loud chorus of comments when James gave them a look and they all restrained themselves. 

“James, I’m being dead serious when I say this, but you should have married her,” Pierre insisted. “I never saw you look at anyone else the way you looked at her.” 

“Probably explains the three divorces then, doesn’t it? I was still in love with her the whole time,” James sighed. “It’s going to come up eventually, seems like a pretty big indicator that I’m not good at relationships.” 

“Who knows, maybe she won’t care,” Jian offered. 

“What was it like when you saw her again?” Carlo asked, looking for any opportunity to tease his friend. 

“How do you think it was? I could barely talk, I was a nervous wreck, and blushing like crazy,” he shook his head at the thought of it. “I could literally feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. I feel like a middle school girl every time I’m near her.”

“Who knows, maybe she still thinks you have circulation issues,” Jian shrugged and the table laughed. 

“What I would give to stay here and watch this play out,” Carlo sighed and leaned back in his seat. 

“Knowing James, you’d have to be here for ten years before he made a move on her,” Pierre raised a brow and James threw a piece of potato at him. 

“If you ever do get the guts to ask her out, call us. We’ve made bets on this,” Carlo added. 

“Real comforting, guys,” James ate a bite of the roast. “I thought this was supposed to be my pity party.” 

“Not anymore,” Jian shook his head. “You’ve got heart-eyes.” 

This time around, James thought maybe he didn’t mind the nickname as much as he used to. 

—

“I would think they’d get you your own office at this point,” James commented as he entered his office, seeing you sitting at his desk, eating a pre-packed lunch. 

“Beats me,” you shrugged and continued to eat. 

“So you’ve decided that invading my office is your next best bet?” 

“Oh hush,” you waved him off with your fork. 

“Well, excuse me for wanting to come to a safe place after being verbally assaulted by House’s patient,” he sat on the opposite side of the desk and leaned back in the chair. 

“Verbally assaulted?” you asked. “By a patient who isn’t even your own?” 

“He doesn’t like the way I speak French,” James rolled his eyes. “I’m translating while they’re treating him since the department used all its money hiring you.” 

“What can I say, hotshots cost a lot of money.” 

“You know, you could do the translation, probably much better than I can,” he noted. 

“I could, but you probably need the practice more than I do, chèri,” you scrunched your nose in a cute mocking way and James could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks yet again. “You still keeping up with that posse of yours?” you asked, changing the subject. 

“Yeah, they all flew in to visit a few days ago, we’re gonna go out tonight,” he said. “Do you…maybe want to join us?” he suggested. 

“I don’t have plans, as long as they’re okay with it I’d love to come,” you smiled. 

“Oh trust me, they will definitely be okay with it.” 

—

Later that night, James was drinking deeply from his glass while he watched his friends stare blankly ahead at you. If he looked anything like they did all those times his words were caught in his throat, then he hoped to spontaneously combust right then and there. 

“Heart-eyes, I thought you said they were okay with me coming?” you leaned over and whispered to him. 

James put down his glass and nodded his head. 

“They are okay with it, right?” 

Snapping out of their daze, the three men nodded their heads and finally began professing assurances that everything was fine. 

“It’s just… you said James invited you?” Jian asked with furrowed bows. 

“Yeah,” you nodded. “He mentioned you guys were in town and getting together tonight and asked me if I wanted to join.” 

James bit down on his tongue trying not to say anything, but also gave his friends a look to shut up before they gave anything away. He knew what was running through their minds, they were wondering how the hell he’d gotten the guts to ask you to come, but there was one fundamental difference between tonight and any other time he could have possibly asked you. This wasn’t a date, therefore, there was no pressure. 

“Maybe you could tell them what you’ve been up to since they last saw you?” James suggested. 

“Oh, um, well, I got my master’s degree and doctorate at McGill, both for research in cancer biology-,” 

“Cancer biology?” Pierre interrupted. “I don’t remember you mentioning you were interested in that.” 

“I-I wasn’t initially,” you admitted. “Just after spending more time in the LSRC and a few other irrelevant things I decided it was the best fit for me to focus on.” 

“You and heart-eyes make a pretty good pair then,” Carlo raised his eyebrows suggestively and took a sip of his drink. 

“I guess we do,” you chuckled. “As long as he leaves the research to me. We all know what he’s like in the lab.” 

“I resent that,” James protested only before saying, “but I do deserve it.” 

“It’s a miracle he hasn’t had a medical malpractice suit,” Pierre added. 

You asked the boys about where their various careers had taken them and how they were each doing. The conversation stayed pretty normal until the topic changed to relationships, starting with Jian’s wife and family back in Vancouver and Pierre’s husband who was currently in Australia doing research on some massive insect. 

“What about you Carlo?” you asked. “Anyone special in your life?” 

“Nah,” he waved his hand. 

“What about the mom of the kid who pet sits for you?” Jian asked. 

“That kid charges me per animal, per size. If I were to date his mom he’d probably charge me for dating her too, and I don’t think I can afford his price,” he shook his head and the table laughed. 

“James, you’ve been quiet,” you said. “Nothing to share?” 

James nervously took a sip of his drink and looked over at his friends for help. 

“James hasn’t had the best luck in love,” Pierre settled on. 

“Oh, haven’t found anybody, that’s not a big deal,” you assured him. “I haven’t either.” 

“Well,” Carlo said in a high-pitched voice. “It’s not exactly that he hasn’t found anybody.” 

“So there’s someone-?” 

“I’m divorced,” James blurted. “Three times. Or soon to be three anyway.” 

“Oh,” you paused and tried to think of the right thing to say, but for the moment settled on nothing while Pierre changed the subject. 

After the visit was over, James offered to walk you to your car and you accepted. The walk started off in silence, but you decided to break it. 

“You know, I hope you find the right person eventually,” you said. “It’s unfortunate things didn’t work out three times.” 

“Yeah,” James nodded in agreement. “I-um, do you ever think about that conversation we had, in the McDonald’s by my apartment?” 

“Sometimes I do,” you admitted. 

“Looking back on that, I wonder if we ever really loved each other. If we did this probably wouldn’t have happened. We would have fixed things, worked on ourselves instead of just…giving up.” 

“So I guess you still haven’t fallen in love yet?” you asked, but he stayed silent. “Whoever it is, I’m sure things will find a way to work out for you.”

“The moment may have passed on that,” he said with his hands shoved in his pockets and looking down at the ground. 

“You never know, James. Sometimes life has a funny way of surprising you.” 

—

James watched as his colleagues and a few of the students from the university left the lecture hall while he continued to sit in his seat, watching you walk up towards him. 

“Don’t you have patients or something?” you asked. “You’re at all of my lectures.” 

“Doesn’t it seem appropriate for an oncologist to attend a cancer biology lecture?” he asked as you sat down next to him. 

“I suppose so,” you sighed. “Doesn’t explain why you weren’t taking notes though.” 

James looked down at his empty hands and cursed a little internally. 

“It’s okay,” you assured him. “I don’t mind the staring, it reminds me of school.” 

“You noticed?” he asked. 

“You weren’t very subtle,” you chuckled. 

“Yeah, not one of my strong suits,” he blushed, embarrassed. 

“Do you wanna go grab lunch before your break is over?” you asked and James nodded, standing up and offering you a hand to get out of your seat. 

You went to the cafeteria, running into his friend House who managed to get his food paid for by James, yet again, before leaving to go back up to his office and work on another differential diagnosis with his employees. 

“Did all the guys get back home safe after their trip?” you asked, digging into your food. 

“Carlo and Jian are back home, Pierre went to go be with Ollie in Australia.”

“It must be hard not living near them.” 

James sighed and nodded his head. “It’s a balance. When they’re being annoying, it’s great that they don’t live here and when they’re not, it sucks.” 

“Spoken like a true friend,” you chuckled. 

“What about you? Do you still keep in touch with people from school? During any of your degrees?” 

“Not really,” you shook your head. “After my undergrad I became so laser focused on my school I didn’t pay attention to relationships that much outside of my family. Starting to regret it a bit now.” 

“Kind of hard to have a good conversation with cancer cells,” James said sarcastically and you shook your head. “Do you like it in New Jersey so far?” 

“Not as much as back home,” you admitted, “but it is nice to have a friend here.”

“Yeah, Jersey is…an acquired taste,” he settled on, making you laugh, but your laughter was cut off by the sound of his pager, and he looked down to see what the message was before quickly standing up. “Sorry, I have to-,” 

“Don’t worry,” you assured him. “I’ll pack up your food and bring it to your office.” 

“Thanks,” he nodded and you waved goodbye as he ran off out of the cafeteria and to the oncology floor to go help one of his patients. 

—

James didn’t find himself walking around the campus often, but when he did it was usually because he had to clear his head. With everything that was going on in his life, in addition to the circumstances of this case, he was taking it harder than normal. 

He had left his coat in his office as the hot New Jersey sun was already beating down, his hands shoved in his pockets and his eyes following his feet as he took his steps forward. 

He didn’t notice you sitting on a bench as he was passing by. Curious as to his state, you stood up and went to meet up with him. 

“Hey James, are you okay?” 

Your voice pulled him out of his thoughts almost instantly. He stopped to look up at you, seeing the concern reflecting in your eyes. 

He took his hands out of his pockets and motioned for you to walk with him. 

“I lost a patient today,” he explained. “He was 11.” 

“Oh, James, I’m so sorry,” you said softly. 

“In med school you learn pretty quickly if you don’t find a way to deal with what you face every day the result is never good,” he said and you noticed him chewing on the inside of his cheek, “but it was just too sunny outside. How could it be sunny on a day like this?” 

You didn’t say anything initially, only intertwining your hand with his and giving it a light squeeze which he returned. 

“You know, I think it’s probably okay, every once in a while, to let yourself mourn your patients. Just like everyone else. You have a uniquely difficult job, James, and no one would hold it against you if you need a minute to adjust.” 

James stopped walking and you followed his lead, only to have him let go of your hand and pull you into a tight hug. You easily wrapped your arms around his neck while his arms were around your waist. 

“You’re a good doctor, James,” you mumbled. “I know, even if you don’t quite believe it right now, you did everything you could to help that young boy and make him more comfortable.” 

You could feel him nod his head, clearly not trusting himself to say anything at the moment. 

Neither of you wanted to let go, but you knew that you both had work to get back to. James had other patients he was responsible for and you had some work to do in one of the hospital labs. 

So silently, hand in hand, you accompanied each other back to the hospital, grateful for each other’s company. 

—

“I swear, if I stay there any longer I’m going to go mad,” James whispered to you under his breath as you walked along the halls of the hospital with him to help him run some tests for a few patients. 

“What was it this time?” you asked, huddling in closer, waiting for him to spill the beans on why living with his best friend was becoming unbearable. 

“He keeps pranking me,” he began to explain and you could see how frustrated he was just by his hand movements. “Last night he thought of the genius idea to put my hand in warm water while I was sleeping and-,” James stopped himself, realizing he’d divulged too much, just as your eyes went wide. 

“Oh my God you didn’t wet the bed did you?” you asked in a chuckle and James quickly covered your mouth saying, 

“Shh! The whole hospital doesn’t need to hear you!” 

You couldn’t hold in your laugh, muffled by James’ hand over your mouth and his cheeks were a bright cherry red. 

Eventually you pulled his hand away and said, 

“You definitely need to get out of there. That’s criminal.” 

“Exactly what I’m saying,” James agreed. 

“Hey, why don’t you come over to my place tonight?” you suggested. “We can watch a movie or something together.” 

“That sounds like exactly what I need right now,” he nodded his head. “What time?” 

“Come over at eight, it’ll give me some time to get snacks and get ready.” 

“You’ve got yourself a deal,” he held out his hand and you took it shaking it firmly. 

Later that evening while James was getting ready, House watched him curiously. 

“I still don’t believe that you blowdry your hair,” he said loudly over the sound of the appliance. 

“Believe it or not, I do,” James responded. 

“It just seems so pointless, your hair is messy anyways,” he crossed his arms and James gave him a look. 

“My hair looks fine, yours on the other hand could use a trim and about a billion other things,” James retorted.

“So, is this a date?” House asked, changing the topic. 

“No, it’s not a date,” James shook his head. “It’s an opportunity for me to get away from your insanity.” 

“Are you sure it’s not a date?” he asked. 

“What makes you think it's a date?” he finally gave in and turned around to face his friend, turning off the blow dryer. 

“Well if you asked her if you could come over, probably not a date, but if she offered…” he shrugged his shoulders. 

James shook his head, he didn’t want to allow himself to believe it was true, because if it was, he’d probably overthink things and make a fool of himself. 

“It’s not a date,” he reiterated and House stopped pressing, seeing as his friend would not be reasoned with. 

James finished fixing his hair and grabbed his keys and a coat before stepping out of the door. 

It didn’t take him long to drive to your house and when he knocked at the door he heard shuffling inside before the lock clicked and you opened it. 

“Hey! You got the dress code memo,” you joked, pointing to his McGill sweater and then back at yours. 

“I thought you might like a blast from the past,” he smiled and you invited him inside. 

As he entered he noticed the array of pillows on the couch, blankets draped over arm chairs, and books piled on every surface possible. To top it off, the house was currently only lit by lamps allowing a warm orange hue to fall over the space. It made James’ shoulders relax and he could even feel his nervous heart rate slow. 

“Do you like it?” you asked. “I am by no means an interior decorator, but I tried to make it feel cozy so it’s nice to come back to after long days at work.” 

“I do like it,” James nodded. “A lot. It feels like a home.” 

“Perfect, that’s exactly what I was going for,” you smiled. “You’re the first guest I’ve had here, you know?” 

“Really? No fancy dinner parties with the hospital board?” 

“No, not yet,” you chuckled. “Unfortunately, this guy in the oncology department keeps taking up all my time.”

You grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the couch. 

“But don’t worry, I don’t mind.” 

After he took off his coat, you both sat down next to each other, James extending his hand along the back of the couch and you naturally sat right up next to him, leaning forward to grab the remote and turn on the movie. 

“What did you pick?” James asked. 

“Just some random horror movie,” you said. “I heard it’s really cheesy.” 

“We’ll see about that,” James raised his brows and grabbed the popcorn from the table, putting it in between you both. 

You pressed play once you were both settled and tossed the remote to the side of the couch, curling your legs up and waiting in anticipation for the movie to begin.

It didn’t take long for the horror plot to begin, jumping right into the satanic murders and supernatural deaths. Just as you had predicted, it was cheesy, but that didn’t stop you from being startled whenever something popped up unexpectedly on the screen. 

Both of you were lulled into a false sense of security during what seemed like a quiet part of the movie, then, all of a sudden, the killer jumped into the frame with a loud change in the soundtrack, causing you to shriek and move towards James, also feeling him jump slightly from being startled. 

You both looked up at each other and laughed at the ridiculousness of your collective fright. 

“You’re supposed to be the calm one,” you elbowed him. 

“I know it just-Jesus!” James found himself inadvertently closing his eyes and wrapping his arm around you as if it would give him some protection from what was on the screen. 

You laughed again and leaned closer into his side, patting his leg to assure him it was safe to open his eyes again. 

“You must enjoy torturing me, that’s the only explanation for this,” James looked over at you and you shook your head. 

“Come on, heart-eyes, you think that lowly of me?” 

James couldn’t stop the smile that creeped past his lips, “No, of course not.” 

“Good, that means I still have the upper hand,” you moved your head to look back at the TV, but not before James tickled you in retaliation for your words. 

It took a moment, but you eventually surrendered and moved your focus back to the movie, still feeling a little warm from your laughter. 

You grabbed some of the other candies and snacks from the table, holding a gummy bear up for James to try and he did without so much as a second thought. 

“Still have a sweet tooth I see,” you offered him a different candy which he ate again and nodded. 

“You don’t want to know how many cavities I’ve had.” 

“Here,” you handed him a wrapped treat. “This one’s special from home.” 

“Maple candies,” he smiled. “They don’t make ‘em like they do in Montreal.” 

“They were your favourite, right?” you asked. 

James looked over at you again curiously, “You remembered that?” 

“Of course I did,” you shrugged. “Oh wait, look,” you pointed to the TV before grimacing and covering your eyes, but still peeking through your fingers. “Ew!” 

James just smiled at you, finding it harder and harder to resist the urge to kiss you, the thought bringing a warm sensation to his stomach. 

He settled instead on doing what he’d been doing forever: staring at you with heart-eyes. 

—

James tried to fight a yawn as he grabbed one of the many books on the shelves in his office, taking it to his couch and sitting down next to you. 

“You don’t have to do this, James,” you told him. “You probably have to be back tomorrow morning, you should go home and rest.” 

“No, no, it’s fine,” he insisted. “You look in here for that article I was telling you about and I’ll start proofreading.” 

There were many papers and files strewn around the couch, you couldn’t remember when you first came in, but James never seemed to mind when you worked in his office instead of your own. 

“Are you sure?” you asked. “I feel like I brought a tornado in here.” 

James looked up from your paper and nodded his head. 

“Now hush and let me read.” 

“Sorry, sorry,” you chuckled, opening the medical journal he had handed you, flipping through the contents until you found the article title he had mentioned. 

James had a pen in his hand, scribbling down annotations on the side, correcting a few typos and grammatical errors. 

For the most part, he was able to follow along, but at one point, the words became so incoherent he tapped you to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. 

“What does this say here?” he asked. “I-I don’t know if my eyes just stopped working, but what does stirring in sugar and eggs have to do with this trial treatment?” 

“Oh my God,” you grabbed the paper and looked at it closer. “I must have accidentally copied some of my mom’s cookie recipe on here before changing documents. What in the world is going on with me?” 

Maybe it was the exhaustion settling in or some other things James couldn’t quite pinpoint, but he felt himself letting out a chuckle that grew a little longer, and longer until it was a full blown laugh. 

It was an honest mistake, and arguably not that funny, but you’d be hard pressed to convince him of that in that moment, and instead, seeing the silliness of the situation, you joined in.

Eventually, when the laughter died down, you and James both leaning far back against the couch, he turned to you and apologized. 

“I’m sorry, I should probably read this when I have a bit more sanity.” 

“Don’t be,” you patted his leg. “I can always use a good laugh.” 

With your heads still turned to face each other, you suggested to pause the work and resume it another time, to which James agreed. 

You both continued to sit there in silence, looking over at each other and James caught a glimmer of something in your eyes and had to blink a few times to make sure it was still there. It was a soft look, a little dazed, like you were happily daydreaming about something far off. It took him a moment to realize it, since he had been the one giving that look, he’d never really had a chance to see it for himself. 

You had heart-eyes. 

And more importantly, you had them while you were looking at James. 

With a sudden boost of courage, fuelled by lowered inhibitions, he started by asking, 

“Have I ever told you why my friends call me heart-eyes?” 

You tilted your head a little, following his lead and sitting up straight. 

“Wasn’t it because of that girl you had a crush on that was from here?” 

James opened his mouth and then shut it, shaking his head. 

“There was never a girl from Jersey,” he admitted. 

“Why would they say it was a girl from Jersey if there was…” as you said the sentence you slowed down, the realization dawning on you. 

“All the staring makes a bit more sense now?” he asked. 

You blinked a few times, “I just thought you were really awkward,” you said. 

“I was, but if the staring didn’t give it away the blushing really should have done it,” he chuckled. 

“I thought you had a circulation issue!” you exclaimed and James burst out laughing, of course you did. “God, James, why didn’t you say anything?” 

James shook his head, “I could barely string out a coherent sentence when I was around you. Makes it a little hard to say anything.” 

“Makes me wish I had said something,” you said, feeling your own cheeks heat up at the admission. 

“Y-You would’ve said something?” 

Now it was James’ turn to be surprised. 

“I think most of the time it comes on gradually, maybe you won’t even know it at first. That’s what you said to me, but that eventually, if it was love, I’d know it.” 

You reached out and held James’ hands in your own. 

“I should have said something. I could have said something. We could have had so much more-,” 

“James,” you whispered, interrupting him and he stopped. “Shut up and kiss me.” 

James wasn’t going to waste another second, removing his hands from your to instead gently hold your face, bringing you closer to him so he could finally do what he had been dreaming about since he was 18 years old. 

The dim light of his desk lamp, the papers crumpled beneath and around you, the way you moved closer and slid into his lap, his hands now on your hips and your fingers snaking through his hair, it all melted into one and if you let yourselves imagine, just a bit, the lamp became a light in the library; the papers became unfinished homework assignments and lab write-ups, and you hadn’t missed a second of the time you could have spent together. 

Your kisses soon turned slow and repetitive and neither of you wanted to pull away, living in the moment like it was your last. 

“When…did you realize…you loved me?” you asked between kisses, moving away from his mouth, instead letting your lips find their way across his jaw and up to his temple. 

“Our last year of school,” he paused your kisses so he could kiss you properly again. “Carlo said something and-,” he shook his head and sighed. “I realized I was going to leave without you ever knowing how I felt and even though eventually I thought maybe I’d stopped loving you and started to love other people…I just kept trying to fill that space that only you fit in.” 

“First year of my master’s for me,” you rested your forehead against his. “Suddenly you weren’t there anymore and I really wished that wasn’t the case.” 

He tilted his head up to meet you in another kiss that was far too easy to melt into. Neither of you had any complaints and you knew you’d never get tired looking into his heart-eyes.

@cuntyvicodin

[noxi3xe]

Unfortunate turn of events

AFAB reader x Pantalone - NSFW (Minors DNI) Synopsys: You're in a tough spot and have terrible luck with finding jobs. Whatever might happen once you apply for a job at the Northland bank?

Warnings: Smut, Porn /w plot, public sex, hair pulling, overall just a quick smut scene w some plot

Words: 3.5K

Author's note:

This is also posted on AO3 HERE!!

this is a quick fic I wrote while bored, the *smut* scene is short and awkward so I apologize, but still enjoy!!

Minors dni!!

｡ﾟ•┈꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱┈• ｡ﾟ

»I— I'll fix it.. I swear!«

I beg and plead as the shop owner shoves me out the door. I was a good employee, I really was, I always tried my best and always put my everything into every shift. I slump down against the door and begin to sob. This job was barely enough to cover for monthly food rations.. and aside from food I needed to fix up my house and save up for new clothes. I was going to even look for a second job to cover all of my expenses but now I don't have anything! I do not even know what triggered that immediate reaction, I mean, firing me on the spot? After breaking a simple vase that the shop manager bought just a week ago? From what I overheard it wasn't even expensive!

I stand up slowly and make my way back home, head hung low in defeat. I wasn't sure what to do now, I mean.. I've got to find a job, sure, but that was harder done than said nowadays, especially at this time of the year. Snezhnaya was a cold country all year round but winters were especially harsh. I wonder how I'd survive this year, I mean my roof is busted, my water supply is running low due to my pipes freezing up thanks to my broken heating system and not to mention that one of my windows cracked. With no heating, cracked windows and a part missing roof my house was as cold as the outside and I was barely surviving. I wasn't sure what to do till I saw freshly hung posters in the town square as I passed.

'Looking for hire.'

They said, and I stepped closer, considering the idea without even checking for the publisher. I'm glad I did because my eyes almost jumped out of my skull. It would've been a death sentence to join the Fatui and there's no way I'd even consider taking up this job offer, even if my life depends on it. The Northland bank is looking for hire? Yeah no thanks..

I stumble along and head home, hugging myself tightly, already missing my warm.. well.. as warm as it can get, blanket.

________

I stare at the dry piece of bread and the already lukewarm coffee set before me on the table. Everyday is getting harder and I don't know if I'll have enough money to buy food for next week. I lean forward and rest my head into my palms, sighing loudly. I don't know what else to do, I cannot find a job and donations from doing community service aren't enough. It's getting colder each day and I have a feeling I'll freeze if I don't get my house fixed up. That's when I decide that enough is enough and stand up, grabbing my coat.

I step out into the cold and begin to venture downtown, ready to start my search. I couldn't continue on like this knowing I'll eventually starve without a stable income. I knew I'd have to get up and start looking this morning when I found another window cracked.

—

I shuffle through the thick snow, snow slowly falling from the sky. It's a beautiful sight, the sun rising behind the parting clouds coloring the sky a bright gray-orange-blue-ish color. It was barely 6:30 in the morning and I was already threading through the city, heading towards the commission's guild, knowing I could make a quick buck or two there. Then I'd head towards the community board in the city center at around 9 to check for any new posters. The idea was great and It worked out perfectly.. to a degree.

I stopped by The adventurers guild like I said I would, greeting Katheryne and wishing her a wonderful morning. I accepted two out of three commissions offered to me, seeing as the third involved fighting some Hilichurls and I wasn't very skilled with weapons. I barely used my Pryo vision and even that was when I needed a source of heat, having no other use for the darn thing. The other two commissions were the delivery type. Ivanka, a widow living on the outskirts of the city required a fresh batch of groceries delivered and Jasmine, a local florist required some fresh soil that needed to be picked up from the dock and delivered to her straight. The commissions didn't take long and I was done very quickly, before the clock even struck 9.

I made my way back towards the Adventurer's guild, waving towards Katheryne from a far.

»I'm back!«

I exclaim excitedly. Katheryne offers me a bright smile, opening her mouth to speak.

»Thank you for completing Today's commissions. Here is your reward.«

I grab the pouch she holds out to me and flinch due to it's weight.

»A-Ah! Thank you!«

I grin and straighten a little then look around. People were beginning to wake up, go about their day and open up shops. I turn back to Katheryne and stare at her for a second then ask.

»Do you know if anybody's offering jobs of any kind for a little income?«

She thinks for a second then nods, giving me a reassuring smile.

»Well I believe the Northland bank is still searching! Best of luck if you do choose to give it a try!«

I freeze and look around. The Northland bank? Still? It's been a week and the spot hasn't been filled yet? There's no way I'd even get the job if no other has been able to in the past week! Still I believe there's no other choice I have.. Katheryne would've mentioned it if there were any other job offers available but I doubt there is since she hasn't mentioned anything. I slowly make my way towards the plaza hoping and praying to the Tsaritsa and any Celestial force that might hear my prayers to bless me with a job that is NOT working at the Northland bank.

I round the corner, passing by the local bakery and spot a younger girl standing by the notice board, either taking something off or nailing a poster to the board, I wasn't sure. I approach her slowly before making my presence known as to not startle her.

»Hey! Morning..«

I say and she turns around to look at me then offers me a friendly smile.

»Mornin'«

I now stand next to her and look over at the board confirming my suspicions. She indeed was taking a poster off, the one for the local flower shop. I tried applying for a simple cashier job there but I was too late and the place was taken before I could even ask about the offer. I sigh, spotting the last job poster on the board and my heartbeat speeds up a bit. I groan and the lady looks over at me, worriedly.

»You alright, ma'am?«

She asks and I nod, apologizing.

»Indeed, I apologize, I'm just having terrible luck looking for a job.«

She hums, nodding.

»Good luck, hey the Northland bank seems to still have an open spot? Considered checking it out?«

»I have but I doubt it's smart to get involved with the Fatui..«

»That is true.. well best of luck!«

She wishes me a good day and I return the kind words, watching her disappear around the block. I stare at the board. Town info, news reports, missing person posters, the board was filled with crap like that yet no job offers. I snatch the Northland bank poster, ripping it off and turn towards home, deciding that perhaps this was my last chance. I'll put on my best clothes and warmest smile and hope for the best.

_____

I stand before the large doors, shuddering at the thought that if luck's on my side today there might just be a chance I'd have to pass them every day. I take a moment to collect myself then slowly push the pine doors open, taking my first step inside. The warmth hits me in the face immediately and I stop for a moment, taking in the warm air and sweet smell. The Bank smells like a bakery would and it isn't as loud as one would think. People are speaking in hushed tones and keeping to themselves, not one dares to speak up. The place is clean, and I mean clean. Even the plants look perfect!

I step up to the front desk and the secretary looks up from the papers, giving me a warm smile.

»Good afternoon! How may I help you?«

She asks in a tone so cheery I didn't think was possible.  I look around for a brief moment then back to her, forcing myself to return the gesture.

»I heard you were offering a job?«

Her cheery facade drops and she stares at me, dumbfounded. I wasn't sure whether she was about to laugh seeing as somebody like me was definitely not fit to work in a bank, or because I was ballsy enough to actually show up to the bank without hesitation and ask about the job? I mean the poster was up for a long while therefore I'm guessing nobody realllllyyy wanted to even think about taking up the offer.

»M-Ma'am?«

I stutter and freeze up when she suddenly snaps out of whatever trance she was in and her warm smile returns.

»A-Apologies..! Come with me!«

She doesn't ask for my information, for even my name nor what the job would be other than working behind a desk! She just asks me to follow after her and seeing as I hold no authority over her I do not really have the right to stop her and ask her pointless questions that have a chance of getting answered even after I follow her.

We make our way up a looped staircase onto the first floor which is connected to a balcony that overlooks the bank. Every millimeter of the bank walls is covered in golden and wooden details, gems and crystals of different kinds. Even the floor looks expensive and neatly polished. I heard that the maids get paid quite a lot and they don't have to deal with customers or any of the Fatui officials therefore I wonder how much I will get paid for doing both! I could salivate at the thought of how well I'll fix up my little house with the hard earned money but I decided to push those thoughts away seeing as there's a chance I'll jinx myself and not get the job if I think about it too hard. I focus my attention back onto the bank worker and offer her a soft smile as she opens the glass double doors for me, the ones we stopped in front of after leading me down a maze of hallways.

»One of our employers should be in right now, they'll take it over from here. Best of luck, Comrade!«

She says and turns on her heel, leaving me alone. I take a deep breath before creaking the door open slowly, dipping one foot inside the room then following with my whole body and finally the other foot. I now stand inside the room my attention immediately falling onto the circular desk in the middle of the room. Behind it sit three ladies, all facing away from each other, a slim pillar extending outward towards the ceiling stands in the very middle. Their desk looks awfully messy and they seem to be in a rush. I step over and greet the black haired one, offering her a smile although I do not get one in return.

»Make it quick please, I'm busy.«

She chews on a piece of gum rather loudly, clicking the pen impatiently. I stutter but step closer, placing my ID onto the table.

»[Last name][Name], [Age], I saw you guys were looking for a secretary and was wondering whether there was any chance it was still open. I'll be honest I have no work experience in this field and don't really know what the job of a secretary involves... b-but I learn very quickly...!«

She stares at me and sighs, shaking her head. Her demeanor went from annoyed to tired in an instant and she didn't seem so hostile anymore.

»No experience you say? Ughh... erm.. well this job requires a lot of running around and a good memory s—«

I cut her off immediately, scrambling to catch my words. She shoots me a glance but doesn't stop me.

»That's no problem, really.. ! O-Oh and I remember things quickly!«

She nods, signalling that she indeed was listening as she writes something down.

»Well you'll have to wait because we were ju—«

Just as she was about to finish speaking she gets interrupted for the second time, this time not daring to look a bit annoyed. Through one of the hallways enters..

The Regator

The doors opened by Fatui Skrimishers as they escort him into the room and he sets eyes on one of the desk workers, unfortunately exactly the one I was speaking to.

»You!«

One of the Skrimishers calls out and she yelps.

»M-Me..?«

The Skrimisher walks over, slapping a pile of reports onto her table.

»Go make a copy for each and every one of these separately, now!«

The Regator stares at us intently and she looks up at him, then at me and finally at the Skrimisher.

»But.. M-My Lord.. I was tending to this young lady, she's here for an interview..!«

His smile twists into a large grin upon hearing those words and he finally speaks, his voice silky smooth.

»Wonderful, I'll take over from here.«

He purrs and I freeze. Take over? I'll get interviewed by The Regator himself? This is a joke..

I step back towards the desk and stare at the man who takes a step closer, eyes narrowing.

»Chop, chop! I don't have all day.«

He says, his tone changing immediately. He moves past us towards the back of the room where stands an impressive set of double doors which leads to another hallway. The Regator looks over his shoulder and I jump, realizing I have to follow and not just stare! We enter another expensively decorated room which seemed to serve as a waiting room. At the very far right wall stood yet another set of doors. I wonder how many this place even has. The Skrimishers open the door for the 9th and he steps inside. I hesitate for a second but just for a second as the next moment I am standing inside of the office, doors closed behind me. I was shoved inside and didn't really have a choice.

»Well then? I sure don't have all day. Come on, sit.«

His demeanor changed immediately, his smile gone and his eyes cold, staring daggers through my form. I approach slowly and pull the cushioned chair out, cringing at the sound it makes as it scrapes against the floor. I cautiously sit down and The Regator leans back, pulling out a blank form from one of his drawers.

»Let's make this quick. I'll need a full name and age, address, previous work experience..«

He continues on but I don't really listen to him, more than what not staring at the blank form. Would my picture go there? Why do they need so much information? What would happen if I just refused and got out of here. He snaps me out of my thoughts as he clears his throat.

»Are you still with me?«

He's becoming irritated.

»My apologies, My Lord.«

»Ah so you can speak after all.«

He grins, sliding me the sheet.

»Make sure to be quick, we'll have to interview you properly.«

I nod and swallow nervously as I rake my eyes over the sheet of paper. He holds out a pen, his long slender fingers adorned with all kinds of rings and jewels. He smiles, although his smile unlike the other employees' wasn't warm and welcoming, more like threatening. I return the smile awkwardly as I take the pen, focusing back on the paper. There wasn't much to fill out except for personal information. Why would my work place need my address? My previous one sure as hell did not, so why now? Well perhaps it was to mail me the check, but still I can collect it at work!

»[Name]..«

He mumbles as he watches me write my name down. I look up immediately and he grins, waving me off.

»Is there a problem, M-My Lord..?«

»Oh don't you worry your pretty head off, nothing's wrong, continue on.«

I hum and skip through the attention notice, then finish the task I was given. I lay the pen down and look back up. He's focused on the sheet rather intently. He reaches forward, sliding it over the desk and I freeze. Oh right, he actually has to read this. His eyes scan the page and he frowns. Oh no..

»Antique shop manager? That's unfortunate.«

»I— Is there a problem...?«

»I don't think your past work experience matches what we are looking for. Quite unfortunate I must say.«

He sighs and stands up and my heart drops. Wait.. so I didn't get it? But..!

»W—Wa— My Lord! I seriously need this job I..«

I cannot believe I'm begging for a job I was at first hesitant to even apply for but at this point it is my last chance, the only means of survival.

»Oh really? Do tell me why this position should be granted to exactly you over every other person twice as experienced as you.«

As experienced as me? For fucks sake it's just some numbers! I grit my teeth and look at him, knowing I'd regret my words immediately.

»What every other person? As far as I've noticed I'm the only one applying for this job, no other was in line behind me!«

His smile falls and I freeze yet again.

»Oh?«

»I— W—«

He slams his hands onto the table and stands up, I gulp.

»You've got guts to bark out against a harbinger, I'll give you that.«

I melt into my chair as I watch him round the table, staring down at my form.

»Not only you decide to go against my word and my beliefs you as well try to demand things from me?«

»I—«

»So tell me, Gem. Why should a job as highly paying as this go to somebody lowly like you?«

»M-My Lord..«

He scoffs and stops before me, leaning against the desk just two or so feet away from me. I look up and he grins widely for what feels like the 100th time, knowing I'm afraid and won't even think about acting out again.

»W-Well.. a tree fell and some windows cracked.. I— I have been barely s-surviving...I—«

I stare at my feet, fumbling with my hands. I know there's no chance of redemption now but all I can do is pray. He hums, grabbing my face and I flinch, staring up at him in disbelief. The cold metal of his rings digs into my face and I grimace at the feeling.

»I have an idea how we could fix this mishap..«

I try to pull away but he grabs at his belt and I think I've got just the Idea.

___

He pulls at my hair, bringing my head back as I gasp for air. Tears run freely down my cheeks as I choke on his precum and my own saliva, barely catching a breath before he brings my head back down, stuffing my mouth.

»Yo-You know— haah..«

He bites at his lips before pulling my head off again.

»I usually don't do this but.. celestia.. I couldn't help myself..«

I sob as he brings me up by my collar, chasing my mouth with his own. He groans as our lips connect, moving together furiously, melting into each other. A string of saliva connects us as he pulls away, the scene is absolutely filthy.

»The way you looked up at me.. dear Tsaritsa.. haa—«

He groans as I trace my hand up his length and attempt sink back to my knees to finish what I've started but he stops me, gripping my arm before I could. I look up at him again and he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Suddenly I'm flipped around and over his desk as he grips my hair, forcing me forward. I gasp as he grips my hips, leaning over my body.

»You know... I'm tempted to sign you up as my personal assistant right about now. You'd like that, wouldn't you?«

He says as he slowly slides pulls my pants down, slapping my ass.

»I asked you a question.«

He grips my throat and shoves me further into the table and I cry out. His cold rings making me shiver.

»Y-Yes! I would love to—«

He slaps me again, this time harder before pulling my undergarments off with such force I swear to everything I own I could have heard a rip. I can hear the grin on his face as he speaks again, fingers tracing my opening.

»I'm sure of it..«

He slides his fingers inside my heat, curling them upwards and I jolt, sobbing into my hand.

»We'll have to train you then, you said you were a fast learner? Did I hear that right?«

I simply nod but he frowns, not that I could see it, of course. He removes his fingers with a whine from my side and smacks my ass again, hard enough to leave a mark.

»I expect a proper answer whenever I ask you a question.«

»Y-Yes! Ye—ees My Lord!«

He grins again, rubbing the spot he just struck.

»Wonderful, don't you worry I'll call off my next meeting then we'll have plenty of time!« ｡ﾟ•┈꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱┈• ｡ﾟ

Written by DottoreEnjoyer69 on AO3

[nylwnder]

lake house

a/n: HELLO SWEETIES!!!!! welcome to my first 2024 fic n series! i started it off with ryan cause if you know me, you know he was everything to me for the 4 months we had him. also, HUGE SHOUTOUT to @shoot-the-puck for in a way co-writing this and the others with me i love you so much scoob thank you for being my asylum roomie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! anyways, enjoy and dont forget to tune in to the other drops <3 mwah!

pairing: ryan o’reilly x fem!reader

warnings: SMUT, its giving soft sex (unprotected), lowkey body worship, lowkey exhibitionism, cockwarming, childhood friends to lovers, use of “snook” and ryan being such husband material. gawdamn.

word count: 1.9k

taglist: @11livpangburn , @domi-max , @boqvistsbabe , @sweetiet , @p1tstop , @occasionallyaurora , @laurenairay, @fallinallincurls

series masterpost

the drive to the lake house was as calming as ever. although it was a couple hours, it was a trip you knew all too well. one you were dying to take every june the minute the last bell rang for summer break.

sometimes it was just you, your parents and your brother. most times, it was you and the o’reilly family. a lot of kids shared between two vans, snacking on chips and freezies from the coolers at the back of the cars.

the tradition never stopped when the lot grew older. you escaped to the house every time your winter term ended, then after your internship finished, and then when you could use up all your saved vacation time from your new job. ryan always followed when his nhl duties came to an end. both respective families coming in to stay in between.

that being said, this was the first time you drove to the lake house with ryan in the driver's seat and with you in the passenger's seat. it was the first summer since he came back home to toronto. but more so, to you. officially.

he was sick of waiting until your usual shared break, and you were very much sick of coming home to a cold bed.

before any headline could find you, ryan called you that night. and it was as if the 100 ton weight was being lifted off of your desperate shoulders. because it was. after ten years of long and needy facetimes, one-night lustful visits, and the best stanley cup celebration you two could possibly have imagined, you were going to have him, at your full disposal, “whenever you fucking want” as ryan had told you.

ryan put the car in park and you couldn’t help but smile about the fact that this would be the first time you’d be stepping into that house, as a proud pair. the “finally” ’s already shed by your parents who were following in behind the two of you.

—

the first night was spent with take out, laughs, pjs and movies and it always makes you grateful for growing up with a group with such a tight knit bond. your heart was full when you heard inside jokes from circa. 2006 running through the house — which are still ever so applicable, presently.

the next day, you didn’t wake until you heard the cars drive off in the late afternoon. it had been a while since you had the time to sleep in, so it seemed your body pranced at the chance. after heading to the bathroom, you couldn’t find ryan in the rooms or common areas. he always made sure you get as much sleep as you need, not only because he knows how grumpy you get if you don’t, but also because he always wants the best for you.

as you made your way to the kitchen, you looked out the windows casing the large lake. you saw the large figure of the man sitting at the edge of the dock and didn’t do anything else but make the walk over to him.

you sat beside him as he turned to face you with a toothless smile. you smiled at it, you always told him he looked cute like that, and he started listening to you. “sleep good, sweetheart?” he asks as he looks down to cut the leaf caps off the pack of strawberries between his legs. “wonderful” you emphasised before you reached for the strawberry he handed you. “i’m glad. you deserve it.”

you took a bite out of the soft strawberry, the juices from the flesh spilling into your mouth. you couldn’t help but let out a little innocent moan. the first time you tried these, they were immediately the best strawberries you have ever had in your entire life. and they just so happen to be locally farmed near the lakehouse.

ryan giggled, “had to stop by the market and buy you a few packs during my run. wouldn’t be a lake house summer without these guys right here.”

“this is why i love you. thank you.”

he only responded by handing you the bigger piece between the two in his hand. you put your head on his shoulder as you two looked out in front of you. the sun was bright but not exhausting, as the wind from the water dismissed the heat.

“the folks went to gather some things for this week's meal plan.”

you hummed a response. but it got you thinking. and so you didn't waste time.

you turned yourself around in order to lay your upper body on ryan’s lap. he placed the knife and strawberries safely aside as he smiled. you gave him a small smile before shutting your eyes for a bit.

you reached for ryan’s hands from his sides. you played with his big and thick fingers for a bit, before taking his hand and placing it on top of your shirt. then you moved his hand under the hem. as you began to move it further up, the material of your shirt wrinkled with your movements and began to expose your skin.

ryan kept his hand in your grip and his eyes firm on you. you kept moving it up, reaching the curves of your boobs. “take it off” you mumbled as he obliged. taking off the tshirt and throwing it on top of the other items he had set aside.

you didn't reach for his hands again. he knows what to do. he always knows, ever since your first kiss.

the sun shined on your supple flesh. his calloused hands moved back to your curves. pushing down your pants a tad, in order to squeeze your love handles. later, his fingers lightly trace up the soft line marks found upon your hips, and the ones on the sides of your breasts.

your cheeks begin to mimic the berry blush as you open your eyes to look at ryan. you loved how comfortable you are to be vulnerable around him. you always felt adored, and safe.

he pulled you up swiftly, allowing your legs to straddle him. your arms naturally wrap around his broad shoulders. you look into his gentle eyes, “i love you, snook.” you lean in for a tender kiss but his hands push your body tight into his. “i love you more, sweetness.” his lips finally meet yours and he envelopes you perfectly. “always have. always will.” he whispers.

his lips meet your cheek as he leaves wet kisses on your jaw and neck. you let soft moans escape your parted lips, your body melting into his figure. ryan often joked that his body was made for you specifically, with the way you fit against him so perfectly.

“gorgeous.” he whispers into your ear as his beard scrapes against you. you bite your lip at his words. one he's been telling you since you grew butterflies in your stomach every time you saw him. “want you snook” you plead, your pussy twitching as his hands squeeze your bust. you grind down on him, and he huffs outs. “just had you yesterday morning, honey.”

“dont play with me, ry. you know i always need you.”

he hums in response. “thats true. i can never say no to my girl.”

he lifts you once again, getting to lay you down on the thin throw ryan had brought out with him. your eyes close again as the sun hits your face, but you feel kisses pressed all over your skin. ryan’s lips trace from your lips to your cheeks down along your jaw, and onto your neck once more. he sheds a few soft nips while he makes sure your panties and shorts are discarded.

its not long before he nips on your nipples, noises escaping your exposed body. your fingers pull down his own shorts and you feel his cock against your skin.

two digits slip smoothly into your damp cunt as ryan cups your face. you bite up a cry. but before you know it, he’s lined up at your entrance and you're pleading for him to move.

you let out a lewd moan as he pushes in. ryan followed with a low groan and you clenched around him immediately, “that’s my sweet girl. so divine.” he says as he gives kisses on the edges of your collarbone.

his thrusts are a blend of slow, long and quick, hard movements. his hands held your hips as he didn't let his lips leave your body. his hair tickles your chin as he gives your breasts some love once again. you felt yourself reaching the goal closer and closer. the all too familiar feeling of your wet walls stretching around ryan’s thick length driving him crazy.

your effect on him was always so strong. right from when you both were young. the minute you got hurt, it broke ryan to see you cry. it was his dire mission to help clean you up or provide you with the necessary pick me up. oftentimes that was bringing you your favourite snack or sometimes a kiss on your cheek was all you needed. when you laughed, ryan laughed. and even when it seemed like ryan and your brother were picking on you, he always made sure to give you a hug later on. he would never hurt you. and he'd never let anyone hurt you. that was for sure.

you were pleased that there were laughs, screams and talk from the surrounding residents that can help drown out your shared sounds. at the same time you couldn't possibly care if they heard either. your mind was far too fuzzy.

“make me cum snook. make me cum all over your cock” you were desperate and needy, i think that was already established. ry smiled at your words, pulling your body up into him once again.

your arms were so tight around him, you stuck to his body like gum on a shoe. he pumped into you as you also began riding his length. the way your body swayed with your hips helped bring ryan even closer to his climax.

your head fell back as you felt the wave of pleasure overcome you. ryan continued your movements for you until your whines dyed down. once you both finished you kept yourself on his lap “don't move, ry. still need you there.” you mumbled.

“till they come back?”

“please.”

a smile appeared on both of your faces. droplets of sweat trickled down his chest and you crushed them with your finger as your head laid on his shoulder. his hands rubbed the sides of your body as his face was cuddled on top of your head. his nose tucked into your thick hair. your smell, your weight, your breathing and your warmth calmed him. his mind never wandered off. he was the most present, the most grounded with you, like this.

“why is it that every time we have sex you’re so quiet?” you asked ryan as you looked up at him. it was a thought you had often so you figured you’d ask. “sometimes you used to make me feel as if i did something wrong…” you said with a little titter.

it was a stupid idea to think about, you knew ryan loved you so much.

he scoffed, “no honey, you could never.” you smiled. “you just take the breath out of my lungs”

you both start laughing. “you’re a pro hockey player and i’m the one who can kill you? i’ll take it.”

ryan lets out a chuckle again. “all i know is words cannot express how i feel when i’m with you, but i want to experience it till my dying days.”

your heart warmed. you grab his face and eagerly kiss him. “and so you will.”

[ enjoyed reading? join my taglist! : click here <3 ]

[believesthings]

How Can Anybody Stay The Same? // Ted Lasso x Reader

A/N: A story inspired by the JP Saxe song “Changed”

Warnings: a fuck ton of angst. A lot of mentions of Michelle

Ted had been trying to get used to calling London “home.” He rolled it around in his head, rolled it around on his tongue. The way he figured it, it’s like a new pair of boots. He needs to break it in. And he’s getting there, he can feel it a little more with the passing days.

His story has always been that he took this job as a way to give Michelle the space she needs; and of course, to a degree, it is. But whether he admits it, consciously or subconsciously, he’s also here for himself.

He’s spent so much of his life wearing different hats: Father, Husband, Coach. Each of which he takes great pride in, but in the shuffle of all of it he worries that he’s lost sight of just being Ted. He’s been learning the parts of himself that he never got to know. Being married to your high school love, growing up as a unit, it’s… different. He meant when he said that wouldn’t change a single moment of it. Of course, he did. It was a wonderful marriage and brought him Henry, the one part of his pedigree he could never find fault in. But since he and Michelle were in tandem for so long, it greatly affected his decision making. Every time he had to make a choice, she was his first priority. Number one, always. Then Henry. Then, and only then, after all the facets of their feelings were considered, he would consider himself.

With London, came a change in titles: Father, of course. Coach (although a different kind of football that he was still adjusting to) and now, freshly added to the list: ex husband. That was a pair of shoes that he never thought would fit. He thought he was good at it, it was all he had known for such a long time. Who was he when he wasn’t the husband of Michelle? That was part of what he came to London to know. While the title of husband fades, the focal point of Ted comes in sharper focus. Father, Coach, Friend, Tea Hater, possibly a functioning alcoholic, which is something that he really should stop and examine about himself one of these days but not now.

He’s growing into the shoes. And the word home is getting more comfortable on the tongue. The more he lets go, the more room he can make for himself.

Of course, this doesn’t all happen overnight. You gotta start somewhere. Ted was no exception. And lord, he started at rock fucking bottom.

When Ted first came to London, he could always tell if he was going to have a good day based on the temperature of his hands.

The two most common phrases about the weather that he heard growing up were, “it’s not the heat that gets you, it’s the humidity” and “it wouldn’t actually be that cold if it wasn’t for the wind.”

People told him that London wasn’t actually known for having super hot summers or frigid winters. One of the first interactions he had when he landed was a man shrugging his shoulders and saying “Mate, London is just London. All the time.”

Ted still wasn’t quite sure what that meant.

He figured the London equivalent was “it wouldn’t actually be that cold if it wasn’t so damp.” The rain often had a way of making it seem colder than it was. And it was a big adjustment for him when it came to trying to get over his wife.

“Aw. Heck.” Ted huffed, seeing his breath in front of his own face. It was early in the morning. He went to bed far too late and he awoke to snow blanketing the town. Now to top it off, he left his civics textbook in his car and he couldn’t seem to unlock it to get a hold of it.

“Um, excuse me?”

Ted jumped, looking up to see a blonde girl he had never seen before.

She looks at him expectedly before saying, “Is there a reason you’re trying to break into my vehicle? I can promise you, I don’t have anything interesting in there. Unless you’re looking for some loose change and some Sonic peppermints.”

“I’m sorry, you seem to be mistaken. I’m trying to get into my car. I left my textbook right there in the backseat.” He steps closer, peering into the window and finding… nothing. He looked back at this mystery girl like she had just performed a magic trick.

He looked around to find the parking lot full of cars, but they were the only two people in it, which seemed… odd. Maybe this was a dream. That had to be it, he was still in bed and he would wake up any minute.

The mystery girl pulled out her own set of keys and unlocked the car, reaching in to pull out a pair of gloves. He took a minute to examine her profile. Snow in her hair, cheeks flushed from the cold. She was beautiful. Ted couldn’t believe he’d never met her before.

“Come on now, you didn’t mention you had gloves in there. If I had known that, I wouldn’t have given up so quickly.” It wasn’t his best, but he was freezing, tired and still not entirely sure he wasn’t dreaming.

But, she laughed. And Ted thought it might have been the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.

“Well, I’d offer to share with you but I only have one pair so we’d both have one gloveless hand.”

Ted figured that wouldn’t be so bad. He thought about saying something about holding their gloveless hands together to stay warm but that seemed entirely too much for a girl whose name he still didn’t know, so he kept quiet.

“May I?” She was holding her hand out to him. Oh god, was she actually going to try to hold his hand? He found himself nodding, dazed. Even though he didn’t really know what he was agreeing to.

He tried to stifle the jolt he felt in his stomach at the feeling of her skin touching his. She grabbed his own car keys out his hand, pressing the car alarm button and Ted practically jumped 10 feet in the air.

He whipped his head around to see his own car, the exact same color, make and model as this mystery girl’s vehicle, two rows over, covered in snow. “Huh. I guess in all the lack of sleep last night, I forgot where I parked. I promise I’m not the type of guy that would normally go snoopin’ around a woman’s car.”

There was that damn laugh again. “I believe you. Despite all evidence to the contrary, I believe you. You have a very honest face.” She holds out her hand again, “I’m Michelle.”

Michelle. The mystery woman has a name.

“I’m Ted.” He holds out his own hand, freezing fingers meeting freezing fingers, clasping around each other.

“Nice to meet you.”

What the hell were the odds that they would be the only two in this freezing cold parking lot, both driving the same type of car, both trying to get into said cars at the exact same time?

“Yeah, you too.”

So yeah, when he comes to London, he still misses her, but only on the days when his hands are cold.

———

Denial. That was what he felt the first time that Michelle told him he had changed. If anything, he figured she had changed. She was the one who didn’t laugh at his jokes anymore. She was the one whose smile didn’t fully reach her eyes when they were together. She was one who let his hand fall out of her grasp when they were out in public. He wished he had changed. He would have given anything to change into someone that she would continue to love.

You’re not the man I love anymore, Ted.

So teach me, Michelle. Teach me how to be the man you love again. I’ll fucking do it, you know I will.

————

The night in Liverpool, after his panic attack, the denial bled into goddamn anger.

It wasn’t the first time he had a panic attack, but it had been a long time since it had happened. They became a pretty frequent occurrence for him after the passing of his dad. And Michelle, the old Michelle, the woman she used to be before “he changed” would help him come down from it. She would hold his hands and tell him stories to distract him. Reminding him of sweeter memories like on their first date when it turned out that the restaurant he was going to take her to was actually converted into a shoe store.

The angers cools to depression at the thought of all the parts of her that he’ll never get to know. But it flares up into anger again at the sight of the divorce papers in front of him.

She wasted no time sending over the divorce papers. Throwing his phone down on the table and pinching the bridge of his nose, he was fucking angry. She liked to tell him he changed all the time, and even if they were true, how could she expect someone to stay the way they were in high school? Nobody ever stays the same. People change. People grow. That’s part of life. A big part of it. You spend your youth learning how to become a person, and your older years learning how to become a good person.

He hates it because when he’s like this, he wants to talk to someone that knows him. He would have to explain all this to Rebecca or Keeley. He laughs bitterly into his whiskey. The one person that could help him through his divorce is the very person he’s divorcing from. The goddamn irony of it all.

He could call his mother, but he knows that’s going to open up a whole plethora of questions. She’ll want to know how Michelle is doing, what she’s been up to. “Gee honey, don’t you think there’s a chance you’ll get back together?” He can’t stomach that line of questioning right now.

And it’s not like he can just close her out of his life forever. They have a child together. A child that has his mother’s eyes. Which he also doesn’t want to think about.

Obviously, pain is an aspect of life. But god, right now, he wished there was someone, anyone else that knew him as well as Michelle did.

He really wanted it to be her. Until he realized that she didn’t want it to be him.

—————-

Ted was nervously playing with the glass in front of him, avoiding going back home.

He knew you would be there, waiting for him. Wanting an explanation that he didn’t want to give.

He kept going back and forth with himself, he knew you probably wouldn’t be mad but there was a difference between logically knowing something to be true and emotionally believing it.

On the other side of it all, Michelle has become something that he explains to his new love. Why he reacts the way does, Why he doesn’t have confidence in himself, why he sometimes can’t accept the love you are so easily willing to give.

He still has some habits that you’re helping him to break. Constantly reminding him that he’s not a burden, that his optimistic nature is a feature and not a bug of his personality.

There is no secret alchemy, relationships just take a lot of work, something he’s learning with you.

It’s still odd for him, to have someone work through the struggle rather than break down and leave.

And when he does get home, you’re there. Like you always are.

“You wanna talk about it?” You ask. Leaning against the doorframe.

He shrugs sheepishly but doesn’t actually say anything.

“It’s okay if you don’t, you know. We don’t always have to be talking.”

He nods and makes his way to the couch. His fingers tapping on the tops of his thighs.

You make your way over and sit beside him. Not touching him, not speaking, just sharing the space.

The argument that broke out between the two of you earlier is playing in your heads.

“You gotta let me in, Ted. Just a fucking little bit. I don’t understand what you want me to do. Whether you realize it or not, you’re punishing me for things that she did and that isn’t fair to me. I’m sorry that she hurt you, I am. I truly believe you didn’t deserve it. But, I don’t deserve it either.”

“I’m sorry, darlin’” Ted reaches his hand out to yours and you intertwine them together.

“It’s okay. I’m sorry too-“

“No. There’s no need for you to be. Everything you said was true.”

“It’s just something we’re gonna have to work through together, honey.”

“Yeah.” He whispers, bringing your hand up to his lips and kissing your knuckles.

You cuddle into his side, “so what do you think, time for bed?”

“Heck yeah.”

You don’t let go of his hand, keeping your fingers intertwined. His hands aren’t cold anymore and he’s found something new in himself, a man that you can love. Openly and easily. And he didn’t have to change a damn thing about himself to make it happen.

[agaypanic]

Love your work btw you’re amazing 😫😫! But anyways could you pls do a Bernard x reader where she’s Scott’s daughter and her and Bernard are dating but keeping it a secret and he finds out and like gets upset about it and overreacts a little and tells them they can’t see each other anymore and maybe like she has to leave the North Pole for some time but Bernard sneaks to her house and idk just some angst ouuu and maybe in the end everything works out and Scott apologizes, sorry it’s so long but i feel like this one’s a good one<333

The Boss' Daughter (Bernard the Elf X Calvin!Reader)

Masterlist

Request Something!

Summary: The best part of your dad becoming Santa Claus was probably meeting his right hand elf Bernard. But when your dad finds out about your secret relationship, he thinks the best thing is to keep you away from the North Pole until you get over your “little crush.”

A/N: thank you so much for 1.3k followers!!! it means so much! reader is in college, spending her winter break at the north pole. possibly ooc scott/santa ?? also lowkey forgot that lucy existed lmao

***

You loved Christmas. Even before your dad became Santa Claus, you enjoyed the holiday. Well, as much as you could, considering that some of your pre-Santa Dad memories involved your parents fighting and having two somewhat bland celebrations at different houses. Other than that, you enjoyed the occasion.

But you loved Christmas much more now, due to a certain elf.

“Here’s some cocoa.” You said softly, setting the piping hot mug on Bernard’s desk as he read over some paperwork. He quickly scanned over the last paragraph on the page before looking up at you.

“Hey,” Bernard said softly, giving you a smile. “Thanks.” He grabbed the mug and took a sip, visibly relaxing from his stiff, hunched-over position. You leaned against his desk, drinking from your own cup. “How’s your day been?”

“Probably better than yours.” You laughed, looking at the vast amount of papers on Bernard’s desk.

“Yeah, probably.” He agreed, sighing at the sight before looking back at you. “But my day’s getting better now that you’re here.”

“Well, aren’t you sweet?” You giggled, feeling your cheeks heat up. No matter how cold the North Pole was, Bernard’s words always made you feel warm and fuzzy inside, as cheesy as that is. You push off from the desk and stand, taking another sip of your cocoa. “So, I have a question.”

Bernard pouted, turning his chair to face you.

“And here I thought you just wanted to see my handsome face and give me treats.” He joked. You snickered, slapping his shoulder lightly before settling in his lap, putting an arm around his shoulders to stabilize yourself. Bernard put the hand that wasn’t holding his mug on your waist, keeping you close. “What’s your question?”

“Well, I know that you get really stressed leading up to Christmas.” You twirled some of Bernard’s curls around your finger as you spoke. “And I know that you’d probably rather be running around the workshop making sure everything’s in order while my dad’s gone. And I came up here to spend my break with you, but I don’t exactly wanna spend it chasing you around the workshop.”

“Isn’t there supposed to be a question?” Bernard teased, and you rolled your eyes.

“I was getting there.” You said. “Anyways, I was wondering if we could do something together while my dad’s gone. Like go ice skating or look at the lights around the North Pole or something.”

“Y/n, you can do that any day.”

“Yeah, but not as a couple.” You argue gently. “Whenever my dad’s around, everything feels so awkward because we’re trying so hard not to give away the fact that we’re together. Christmas Eve is the one day that he’ll be away, and everyone else will be so busy making sure the night goes smoothly that they won’t notice us sneaking away.”

“Angel, I’m like, the main guy who has to make sure the night goes smoothly.”

You pouted, knowing Bernard was right. Although you knew he loved his job, sometimes you wished he wasn’t Head Elf. More of your limited time could be spent together. Plus, you wouldn’t have to worry so much about your father, who your boyfriend worked directly under, finding out you were dating.

“It was just an idea.” You sighed a bit dejectedly as you leaned more into Bernard. “I just… I wish we could do couple things, you know? Like in public. But I know Dad would probably go ballistic, and I’m not exactly confident in the other elves’ ability to keep a secret.”

“Yeah, I know,” Bernard replied softly, kissing the side of your head before taking a gulp of hot chocolate. “One day, it’ll be different.”

The two of you fell into a comfortable silence, drinking and taking each other’s warmth. Eventually, Bernard looked down into his empty mug and sighed.

“I should get back to work.” He said, clearly not wanting to. You nodded, shifting in his lap to stand up when Bernard squeezed your hip. You looked at him with a raised brow. “At least give me a kiss before you go, angel.”

You grinned and did as he requested. Both of you tasted like chocolate and peppermint, and you couldn’t help but giggle when Bernard went in for another kiss when you pulled away.

Distracted by what you were doing, you and Bernard failed to hear a knock on his office door or the person opening it.

“What’s going on here?” You and Bernard broke apart, looking over to see your father looking at you in shock. You jumped out of Bernard’s lap, trying to seem like you weren’t just making out with him.

“Hey, Dad.” You said, your voice wavering from your nervousness. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” It was clear that he wasn’t a fan of what he just saw. “What are you doing here, on his lap?”

You and Bernard didn’t answer; you didn’t really know how to. All three of you stared at each other, you and Bernard with slight fear and your dad with sternness. The tension grew unbearably thicker by the second.

“How long has… this been going on?” Your dad finally asked. He wasn’t stupid; it was safe to assume that there was some kind of relationship between you and his Head Elf.

“Um…” You were glad Bernard decided to answer the question, because you’re pretty sure your voice died in your throat. He played with a pen on his desk, not wanting to look up at Scott. “About two… Yeah, two years.”

“Years?” 

“Dad, don’t freak out.” You took a step towards him, and his gaze snapped to you.

“I forbid this. Forbid it, Y/n.”

“I’m an adult; you can’t stop me from dating Bernard.”

“Oh, yes, I can.” Your dad laughed, but he was far from amused. “You’re my daughter, and he’s my employee. My elf employee.”

“We’re grown-ups; we’re allowed to decide whether or not we want to date.” You knew arguing with your dad was a bit pointless, but you figured you might as well try. 

“You’re right, you are grown-ups. Bernard is over a thousand years old!” Under different circumstances, you would’ve laughed. Although you looked the same age, Bernard was an immortal being. One of the things you teased him about was being a grumpy old man, which he would always respond to with an eye roll. Your dad sighed, putting his hands on his hips as he thought. “Y/n, pack your stuff. I’m sending you to your mother’s.”

“What?” Bernard was out of his chair and by your side in an instant, both of you shocked by your dad’s words. “You’re not serious.”

“I’m as serious as frostbite! And until you get this little crush out of your system… Y/n, you can’t come back to the North Pole.”

***

You felt numb all over. It had been five days since you left the North Pole, since you last saw Bernard. Your goodbye was filled with tears and kisses that your dad didn’t see. Bernard promised that he would see you again someday soon, and you didn’t have the heart to tell him you didn’t believe that.

You tried to put on a happy face for your family. But they all knew better. Your mother was mad at your father on your behalf, unable to understand how Scott could break his daughter’s heart by sending you away. Neil did his best to comfort you, being a psychiatrist and all. Charlie went on about how unfair it was that you couldn’t go to the North Pole anymore, slightly ignoring the fact that you didn’t care much about the North Pole compared to Bernard. And Lucy just hated to see you so sad, bombarding you with hugs every chance she got.

When Christmas Eve arrived, you wanted to hide under the covers. If your mom and Neil wouldn’t try to drag you out of bed, you’d sleep your way into the new year.

Your parents coaxed you into watching movies with them later that night. Despite the occasion, they steered clear of the Christmas movies, not wanting you to cry more than you already have. But Bernard was still on your mind as you toyed with the necklace that he had given you for Christmas one year, right before he admitted that he liked you.

While your family argued over what to watch next, you got up and went to the kitchen to make yourself some tea. 

You put the kettle on the stove and picked out some sleepytime tea, hoping that would make the night end faster. When it started whistling, you took the kettle off the burner. You heard frantic knocking on the door as you poured the hot water into your mug.

“Who could be knocking at this hour?” Neil murmured as he got up and went to the door. When he opened it, he froze for a second before popping his head into the kitchen. “Y/n, it’s for you.”

Confused, you left the kitchen. You didn’t tell any of your friends that you were in town, so you had no idea who was waiting for you on the other side of that door.

“Hey, angel.”

You couldn’t help but gasp at the sight of Bernard standing in front of you. At first, you thought it was your imagination, some cruel joke being played by your subconscious. But when you reached out to him, and he immediately laced your fingers together, you knew it was real.

You yanked him into the house, wrapping your arms around him with almost the strength of a death grip. Bernard did the same, burying his head into the crook of your neck.

Being too wrapped up in your little reunion, you didn’t notice your parents tell your siblings that it was time for bed in order to give you and Bernard some privacy. When you finally pulled away, you were a bit surprised to find the room empty. But you weren’t going to complain about it.

“What are you doing here?” You asked Bernard, still trying to wrap your head around the fact that he was here, right in front of you.

“You said you wanted to be together for Christmas Eve.” Bernard held your cheek and kissed you sweetly, showing all the yearning you had both felt this past week. “I don’t care what your father says,” Bernard whispered against your lips, giving you a few pecks. “He can’t keep us apart. I’ll retire and leave the North Pole if I have to.”

“You don’t mean that.” You shook your head, grabbing Bernard’s hands. “Bernard, you love your job, even if it drives you crazy.”

“I’d go even crazier without you, Y/n. Not knowing where or how you are.” Bernard argued, squeezing your hands. “You know, I liked having you all to myself at first, but it’s so hard having to pretend I don’t love you as much as I do.” Your breath hitched at the sincerity in his confession.

“You love me?” Your voice was barely above a whisper, but with how close Bernard was, he heard it as clear as day.

“Of course I do, Y/n.” Bernard kissed you again, and then a few more times.

“I love you too.” You responded between the kisses.

Eventually, you were somehow all out of kisses to give. The two of you moved to one of the couches, where you cuddled up together. You didn’t need to put on a movie or say anything. You just soaked up each other’s presence that you had missed so dearly.

“Should we head to bed?” You asked after a long silence. “Or do you need to head back home?”

“I left Curtis in charge.”

“Oh, then you should definitely go back.” You snickered. You knew Bernard wasn’t entirely fond of Curtis, but he could probably hold down the fort for one night. “Come on, I’m tired.”

You stood up, Bernard close behind you. You started to lead him out of the living room when you heard a thump. Startled, you turned around to the source of the sound, seeing a giant red sack in your fireplace.

“Oh god.” You whispered, gripping at Bernard’s arm. You’d run up the stairs and hide in your room, but you felt frozen in your place. Bernard seemed to have the same sentiment, because the two of you stood and watched black boots appear in the fireplace.

Soon enough, your dad emerged, freezing as he saw the two of you.

“Y/n, I- Bernard? What are you doing here?” He straightened up, looking at the two of you inquisitively. It was softer than the last time he looked at you and Bernard, but you were still a bit weary.

“I came to see Y/n,” Bernard answered, feeling braver than he did while interacting with your father for the past week. 

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“Look, Dad.” You took a deep breath. As happy as you were to have Bernard back, you wanted to go back to hiding under your covers. “We don’t care that I’m human and he’s an elf. Or that he’s a thousand-year-old grumpy man.”

“Hey!”

“Bernard and I, we love each other. You represent a holiday that’s all about being together with the people you love; how could you try to keep us apart?”

Scott was quiet, staring at you with a blank expression. Eventually, he sighed.

“You’re right.” He said. “It was wrong of me to do that. I just… I don’t want my daughter getting hurt, is all. No father wants that. I’m sorry.”

Happy that he seemed to change his mind about the situation, you ran around the couch and hugged your dad. Being the big, jolly man he was, his embrace lifted you slightly off your feet.

“If you want, you can come back,” Scott said when he set you down. “To the North Pole.”

“Maybe.” You say, going back to Bernard. “Maybe I could go in the morning, bring the rest of the family.”

“That sounds good to me.” Your dad said, taking presents out of his giant sack and putting them under the tree. While placing them, he glanced at Bernard. “Bernard, if you’re here, who’s looking over the shop?”

From the corner of your eye, you saw Bernard’s jaw clench, and you let out a small giggle.

“Curtis…” 

“Oh boy. Have fun with that.” Your dad laughed, setting down the last of the presents and tying up the sack. He pointed at you. “No peeking, Y/n. Not until morning.”

“I promise.” You said, knowing that you would grab a present to open right after he left. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’m guessing you’re staying here tonight too?” Scott asked Bernard, who nodded. “Okay. Take care of her.”

“I will.” The two men knew they weren’t talking about Bernard caring for you for just the night. They knew it would be much longer than that.

You waved goodbye to your father, and he soon disappeared up the chimney, leaving you and Bernard alone in the living room once again.

“I’m glad you came.” You said, leaning into Bernard’s side and resting your head on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around you and looked down at you.

“Me too.” He kissed your head. “I know you might still be tired, but there’s still about an hour of Christmas Eve left, and this neighborhood has really nice Christmas lights. We can go look, if you want?”

You squealed, kissing Bernard’s cheek and running to get your shoes.

***

Bernard the Elf Taglist: @katerinaval

[bisexual-horror-fan]

Through The Heart Is The Only Way. Chapter Eleven. "Trying To Get Settled."

I know a bit late today but here is today's addition to Multi-May! The long awaited update to Through The Heart Is The Only Way! Sorry for the eight fucking month long hiatus, but we are back! Hopefully updates will be more frequent from here on out! Series Masterlist is here. Hope you all enjoy this and find it worth the wait! Also partly inspired by me going to my first gay club last summer.

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Rating. Explicit. Length. 4K. Charles Lee Ray/Tiffany Ray Valentine/FEM! AFAB! Reader. She/Her Pronouns. Warnings: Stressed And Anxious Reader. Drinking. Softness. Making Out. Fingering. Implied Threesome.

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The rest of the shift goes by in a blur. Rachel stays behind after close, you and your coworkers sit, huddled around a table, all the other ones already wiped down, chairs upside down on top of them, hushed tones as you try to comfort her. Logan makes drinks, the lights are low as you all talk it over, trying to make her feel better. By night's end she looks less shaken, you and Jackson walk to the train station, hand in hand. 

You hold his hand very tightly, fingers interlaced, you wonder if your grip makes his knuckles ache. You walk with him and the air feels a bit tense. Jackson and you talk about anything and just about everything, filling the spaces with whatever else mundane shit that you can. When finally on the train platform, a moment of silence has overtaken. You are the one to break it. You ask quietly into the cold, breath fogging in front of your face, “Why am I so scared right now?”

Jackson’s head turns, so does yours, he looks down as you look up and concern has painted his features, his mouth opens and then closes. He seriously considers what to say before responding, “Because it’s normal. It’s really normal to be scared by this kinda thing, Rach was…She was freaking out, and we care about her, so we are freaked out too.”

You know it’s more than that, you are sure Jackson knows it is more than that, too. You remember a conversation you had with him over a year ago where he confessed to you his own story similar to the one you had about Trent.

It was winter back then too, it was cold, you and he were having a drink post work, crowded around a table, hoping the snow died down a bit before leaving as he filled you in. Jackson told you about some guy who came onto him and then, asshole that he was, got violent with him after, making claims that he “wasn’t really like that” and blaming it all on him, that Jackson was asking for it on and on. You held his hand and listened intently over half drunk cocktails and didn’t judge him, handing over a napkin for him to wipe his eyes. 

It was totally unfair bullshit. 

What happened with Rachel is another fucking reminder that this job is a touch more dangerous than you’d like. It reminds you that there are total fucking jerks at every turn, whether it be customers who treat you like shit and less than human, or even some of the good ones could be at the mercy of similarly terrible treatment. You love your job most of the time, but it is exhausting on nights like this.

You rest your head on Jackson’s shoulder, and he says as he leans his head on yours, “She is going to be okay. I am going to be okay, and so are you.” 

Your mind wanders to them, thoughts flood your brain of your newly minted boyfriend and girlfriend. You worry. What if something were to happen to them? What would you do? Your heart is beating out of your chest and your palms are sweaty, you are thankful for the gloves you wore, that Jackson couldn’t feel how slick your hands were and feel in turn your massive anxiety. Christ you are being crazy you just started dating them, you need to reel in your emotions right now, this is an outlier of a situation, this is fine, you are fine. You shake off the bad thoughts and look back up at him, a quick glance as you make the decision to try and believe him, you say, “Yeah you’re probably right. Thanks.”

Jackson smiles. It doesn’t reach his eyes. “You’re welcome.”

You stand in heavy silence once more, both your eyes and his staring forward until the train comes. When it does arrive you part from Jackson reluctantly, waves and promises to see each other the next day at work again. The ride feels too long, when you come to your stop you race home and once there you have trouble sleeping, when you eventually attempt to. 

Tossing and turning, sleep claims you after quite some time. 

Over the course of the next few days, you slowly start to calm down, but you are still on edge, the knowledge of what happened to Randall poking at the back of your mind, reminders cropping up at inopportune moments and giving you small setbacks. You should be over this, it’s been a long time, why is this sticking with you so badly?

There was no news.

You’d see Rachel at work and meet her eyes and she’d know what you were going to ask, she’d shake her head and your look would turn from pleading to know what she did, to instead sympathetic as your stomach turned and heart ached for her. 

It’s late, it’s after work on a different day, you need some serious stress relief, Jackson had the day off and so you didn’t have accompaniment to the train station, too alone with your thoughts at the moment. You can’t keep feeling like this, you can’t keep hiding, so you make the decision to do something for yourself, try to feel a bit better. 

You go to your favourite rink. 

Winter is slowly on the way out, the extreme storm is beginning to thaw, this will probably be your last skate of the season. The rink is closed this late, you weren’t planning on this and don’t have your skates, so you snagged a pair that other people would pay to rent, no one was around, not like you’d get caught. You find your size easily under the open air renting counter, and soon you are at a bench, boots off and lacing the skates up. 

Your bag is left near the bench, and you make your way out onto the ice. You start to skate, gliding on the ice easily, it’s quiet, cloudy but not snowing, it’s very still and the only sound is metal on frozen water and your breath. Mind turns to them as you turn on the ice, the last time you were here was on your date, you smile, lips turning up as you recall how shitty Chucky was at skating, how he had to cling to you and Tiff to stay upright. You wonder if you will still be together to do that again next winter, maybe you can teach your new boyfriend a thing or two. 

You pick up the pace, skating faster, sharper turns, you enjoy the speed, the wind on your face, the chill and then the silence and rhythm you had gotten into before it is broken, a call of, “Hey!”

It makes you stop short, ice shavings kicked up from the abrupt halt, a turn of your head towards the voice and look who it is, boots crunching through snow, tight jeans, a fashionable jacket and that familiar blonde head of hair with a warm smile. 

You skate up as she reaches the edge of the rink, she holds her hands out, and you take them, a quick glance and no one is around, so you do it. Leaning in, she meets you in the middle, she kisses you and the cold of the night is forgotten. The bliss is short-lived, but it is a balm to your frayed nerves and calming to your rushing mind. You pull back, smile stretching wider as you say softly, finally returning her greeting, “Hi.”

You squeeze her hands and ask, “What are you doing out?”

“Coming back from seeing a friend, just cutting through the park on the way home-” She leans closer while looking in your eyes she jokes, “-probably a bad idea with all the news lately.” 

You stiffen immediately and without meaning to, your smile faltering a little. The reminder isn’t helpful, it’s well after midnight, and you are skating alone in a park, it’s asking for fucking trouble. Gaze has dropped, and your mind is churning, one of her hands releases yours and cups your cheek, tilting you to look at her again, “Hey, you okay?”

You bite your bottom lip, and you know that you should be honest, if you can’t be with your girlfriend than who could you be? You spill, “I’ve been having some stress lately, not been feeling the best, just kinda, bogged down.”

“Oh sweetheart.” She hums, she pulls you into a hug, arms tight around you, “I am so sorry.” 

You slip your arms around her, return the affection, and melt into her closer. God, you needed this, needed her, you had really been missing her without realizing it. The smell of lingering cigarette smoke and her favored perfume has become an intimate comfort, mixing with the winter night air, it’s more than welcome, it was craved. Eventually she pulls back, her hands on your arms, and she says, “I think you need some help with your stress and if there is one thing I am good at, it’s relieving stress.”

A small laugh bubbles out of you, “Okay, doctor Valentine, what do you recommend?”

“I’m gonna take you out, night on the town just you and me, a special date.” She offers, and you ask, intrigued, “A special date?”

“Yeah! I know a great club, I think a night to cut loose would do you good.” Her eyes were alight with mischief, she seemed excited and honestly, so were you at the idea, your first official date out with her being your girlfriend. It had been forever since you’d gone out to a club, last time was probably before you started working at one, the idea of going out to one with her sounded like just what you needed. 

“Tiffany, that sounds amazing, I’d love that.” You tell her sincerely, and she makes a sound of pure delight, it’s adorable,  “Yessss! When is your next day off?”

You tell her and the date is set for then. You end up taking your skates off and returning them, she walks you to your train station as you talk and get caught up on the past few days she had, and then she bids you goodnight, leaving you excited about your next night off.

Tiffany came by to get you as opposed to you meeting her out and that felt nice, not like you didn’t like going to her, but getting picked up was still special and an appreciated gesture. 

You’d seen her dressed up for clubbing before, obviously, the many times she came to your work, this was just a touch different, almost hard to put your finger on, but then it clicks. She is wearing things you’ve complimented on her previously. The instances flit over your mind, times you’ve told her particular hem lines or cuts look good, what colours you think look best on her skin and further, she absorbed every sweet word, took it to heart and was dressed not explicitly for you, she was still dressed like herself, but had just taken what you’d expressed that you liked and applied it. Her coat was open at the moment, leather gloves on her hands to combat the cold outside your apartment building, the skirt was tight, the top was flattering, the belt sitting on her hips was more decorative than to help keep anything on, and you wanted to dip your fingers in the shiny chains and tug her close to kiss her, ruin the pretty lipstick she wore. 

Your arms open, lean close, inviting her in, the hallway is empty, and she takes you up on it, the hug is nice, the kiss is nicer, you breathe the compliment as your lips break apart, “You’re stunning.” 

“And you’re sweet.” She hums, pulling back she tells you, “And you’re one to talk, you look incredible, angel.” 

You preen under her praise, you had purposefully made sure to wear something different from what you usually did to work, typically dark colours and clothing designed to get boat loads of tips as opposed to something that reflected your personal style, not tonight. Now you’d chosen something with colour, a dress that was well suited to go out, on the tighter side, you felt good in it and hoped it’d invite her to touch, give her that same craving you found yourself always infected with when near her. 

“You ready to go?” She asked, and you nodded, your own coat was shrugged on, purse over your shoulder, and you closed the door, she stood next to you as you locked the door. Soon you and her were walking down the hall, headed to the stairs, and you asked, “So where you taking me?”

“I told you already, M’ taking you to a club, gorgeous.” She teased, and you laughed slightly, “Yeah I know that, but what club?”

She refused to tell you, not until you were there. The club entrance was a little hard to find, well it would have been hard to find if you were trying to get there solo just off the address information, Tiffany seemed to know just where it was, the front of the building was dark, a single light over the metal industrial looking door with one person standing out front to let people in. 

You were ushered in with no issue, the music now reaching you once the door was opened, you check your coats and let her lead you deeper into the bar, coming near the end of the darker hallway you ask, “You finally gonna tell me what is so special about this place?” 

In a moment of ridiculously perfect timing, you come around the corner, the music gets louder, the lights are bright, and you see the crowd, people close together, dancing and as your eyes struggle to adjust, she leans closer. Next, she is saying into your ear so you could hear over the thrum, “It’s a gay bar.” 

Holy fucking shit. 

What that means hits immediately, you can act like any other couple, can act like her and Chucky do out at your work or how you and her do in private, you can hold her hand and kiss her and more without worry. A full on date without restrictions in public. You had no idea this was possible for you and her.

You were so happy you could hardly stand it, you threw your arms around her neck and hugged her tightly to you, “Oh my God, are you serious?!”

She laughs, her hands rest on your waist before sliding slowly over your lower back, hugging you as she responds, “As the dead, beautiful.” 

You pull back, hands on her shoulders as you say, “Well c’mon, I don’t want to waste any time.”

Tiffany grins and let's go of you, taking your hand she leads you deeper inside. First order of business was getting you both a drink, you pass through the moving bodies on the dance floor towards the bar. You stand next to her, fingers lacing together with hers as you observe the people nearby, you try not to stare any place for too long, which is easy because you can’t help moving from one person to the next. You see couples not unlike Tiffany and yourself, groups of friends, easy displays of intimacy in any and every direction, it makes you feel warm and affectionate. You lean closer to her, press a kiss to her cheek, and she turns her head, saying, “You can do better than that, can’t you?”

You take her hint, the hand that wasn’t currently holding hers coming up, fingers stroke over her impossibly soft cheek, and you lean in, soon kissing her. She kisses you back, the taste of her lipstick and faint cigarettes greets you, it is easy to get swept up in it, in her, you can’t believe you can do this in a crowded public place. One thing snaps you out of it, namely a person misjudging how close they were to you, accidentally bumping into you, the kiss breaks and the person says, with a wave, “Sorry!” 

The stupid grin takes over your face, you squeeze Tiffany’s hand and say, “No problem.” 

And there really wasn’t. Just the fact that it has the potential to happen, a totally harmless and innocuous annoyance of someone accidentally interrupting you kissing your girlfriend, is a fantastic change of pace. You would gladly take it over trying to steal small moments of affection, terrified of someone seeing you and outing yourselves.

You get your drinks after that, fruity cocktails that Tiffany selected, you end up at a standing table near the dance floor, it is hard to talk over the thrum of the music, but you are just giddy to be out with her. After the first drink you can’t help it, pulling her out onto the floor, the music isn’t even necessarily to your taste but who gives a fuck about that when she is pressed against you like she is at this moment. The smile on her face is infectious, the sway of her hips captivating, and the mood is undeniably high. You realize you’ve only ever watched Tiffany dance before this, never had the opportunity to dance with her and God, you need to go out clubbing more often for the chance to. 

You love the time you spend with her and Chucky together but getting to have her to yourself is addicting, how she brushes hair aside to whisper in your ear, leading you as you dance, you find yourself forgetting your stress, all your problems seem so far away. 

After getting both of you another drink, you come back to someone hitting on Tiffany. She looks amused at the nervous attempt, the short haired redhead is doing her best, and it’s endearing, sweet, you come up and slot yourself against her side, giving her the cocktail, she takes it as you kiss her cheek, “Hey honey, who’s this?” 

“Someone who I think is trying to ask me out.” The blonde responds with a smirk. The cute girl ends up profusely apologizing not aware she was seeing you, “Oh my fucking God, I am so sorry, I wouldn’t have if I knew-” Tiff and you laugh it off, and end up having a good conversation with the girl.

The night stretches on, you end up talking to some other people, you have more drinks and dances, at one point you are in the bathroom, she is washing her hands, and you are looking at her in the mirror. Her eyes caught yours, and she grins, “What? Something on my face?”

You laugh, a shake of your head, “Sorry, just, I can’t get over how great tonight has been.” 

“Yeah?” She asks as she dries her hands, and you nod once, finding it impossible to look away, “Yeah. I am so out of the loop, I’ve never been to a place like this and coming here with you for my first time has been incredible, you, Tiffany, are incredible.”

She tosses the paper towel into the trash. She inquires, “You always this soft and sentimental when you drink?” She closes the distance, no one else is in here at the moment, funny how you keep finding yourself alone in empty club bathrooms with her. 

“Hardly.” You reach out, fingers brush down her arm as you tell her, “You just bring it out of me.” 

“My sappy little sweet thing.” She hums before leaning in, she kisses you, and it has the ability to do your head in more than any drink. The realization you are kissing again in a club bathroom is not lost on you.

The time together flies by after that. 

The club is getting near closing, you and her are splitting one last drink, you ask over the music, “Can we come here again sometime?”

She beams and tells you, “Anytime you want.” 

Lucky you. 

The last dregs swallowed, the last call completed, you and her are headed back out into the night, you see that redhead from earlier ended up with someone else, and it makes you happy to see. Your coats pulled tight around yourselves, holding hands and unable to stop smiling.

“You wanna come back to our place?” She asks, and you couldn’t agree faster. 

Your feet ache, and you feel lightheaded and joyful as you stumble into her apartment, heels are discarded, you are moving backwards towards the couch, fumbling to get your coat off. She has shrugged her own coat off, letting it drop onto the floor along with yours, you’d pick them up later. 

Her mouth is moving down the side of your jaw and down your neck and soon the backs of your knees hit the edge of the couch, and you flop onto your back, hands hooked on the straps of her top you pull her down on top of you. 

The heat sparking inside of you is stealing your breath away, you gasp her name as her leg slots between yours as she starts to suck a mark into your collarbone. You tug uselessly at the straps, she is already as close as could be, but the move shows just how needy you are, a move of your hips, grinding on her thigh you let out a weak moan. 

She breathes out your name as your hand moves, slides down her body and between her own legs, her head tips forward with a sharp inhale from the rush you provide her. You are constantly taken aback by how she can make you feel, whenever you have a moment like this, that you affect her in just the same way, it does everything for you, strokes your ego, turns you on further. 

She helps with her clothing in the way and your hand is in her underwear now, you can feel how wet she is and when your fingers slip inside, curling to find that spot you’ve come to know so well, you remember you aren’t alone. 

“Man, you two are not good at being quiet.” Your head jerks up as does hers, a look over, and you see Chucky standing there in the doorway of the living room, cocky half smile on his face. 

“Who says we were tryna be?” You giggle as you press, fuck your fingers in and out of Tiffany, and she moans louder, unapologetic smile on your face at the sound you dragged from her. 

“Ye-ahhh, sorry sweetface, did we wake you up?” Tiffany asks with a small upward curve of her own mouth. 

“You did! Terrible, the both of you.” He laughs, very amused, as he comes over. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, or socks, just a pair of pyjama pants sitting low on his hips, and you want to reach out and touch him too. 

“We are the worst. You should come teach us a lesson.” You tease, and he gets onto the couch next to you, a hand reaching down, fingers stroke under your chin, tilting your head up, and he says, “Yeah I think you are right about that. Can’t let you go around thinking you can just do whatever you want, when you want.”  

“Mmm, that would be truly awful.” Tiffany mused, watching as Chucky kissed you, making you melt. Being pressed between both your partners, passed back and forth, in the early hours of the morning, there isn’t anything better than tasting the heady mix of him and her.

[simplyholl]

A Christmas Wish [Loki x F. Reader]

Summary: A drunken confession at a Christmas party leads to delightful consequences. 

Pairing: President Loki x F. Reader

Warnings: Smut. Minors DNI. 18+ ONLY. Dub Con. Choking. Rough Sex.

W/C: 1.2K

Part of The Winter Warmers Collection

See my Masterlist here

The overplayed Christmas music filled the large room in the White House. I examine my handiwork, mistletoe hung in every doorway, far too many overdecorated trees, and lights I carefully placed along the walls. It had taken me all week to get it perfect. My boss, President Loki had demanded it be the best holiday party the White House had ever seen.

As his personal assistant, I never handled any important matters. My job mostly consisted of scheduling his appointments, getting his meals, coffee, and anything he deemed too insignificant to bother anyone else with. In other words, I’m his lackey. I would have quit long ago, but I couldn’t stand to be away from him. He is the most attractive man I have ever seen, almost otherworldly. He is endlessly charming. He wouldn’t be so successful, if he wasn’t. There’s also a dark side to him that he hides from the public. He can be arrogant, bossy, and mean. I have seen him fire people for walking in the room in a way he deemed unbecoming of his brand. But he had always been kind to me.

I know, it’s such a cliché to have a crush on your boss. But he has that effect on women. Every woman in our office is under his spell. It’s like the Bachelor every day, the way they fight for his attention. Even the older ladies dote on him, making sure he eats and baking him sweets.

 “Y/N, this is wonderful. Exactly what I imagined for the party. Everyone I have spoken to loves the decorations. You have outdone yourself. Make sure you enjoy yourself tonight. You deserve a break.” Loki pats me on the back. His attention is taken off me when a leggy brunette walks by. “If you’ll excuse me, Y/N, I must see to my guests.”

I find my friends, Emma, Hannah, and Meg. They work on Loki’s campaign team. They have been working overtime, since he is up for re-election. They are taking shots; their laughter rings out above the music. “Y/N, you need to get started, you’re a few shots behind.” They hand me a glass; Meg fills it to the top. I press it to my lips; the alcohol burns my throat on the way down. I repeat the process four more times. Loki did tell me to enjoy myself and I’m having a blast with my girls.

“President Hottie was looking extra fine tonight.” Hannah slurs. “Y/N, I don’t know how you are with him every day, and still haven’t tried to sleep with him.” Emma interjects. “It’s not that I don’t want to, he’s just not into me. He’s had plenty of opportunities when we are alone, but he has never made a move.” “Ugh! Can we change the subject? I’ve had enough of his royal highness to last a lifetime.” Meg whines. “What do you all want for Christmas this year?”

Emma thinks about it for a moment, “I told my husband I wanted a new tablet for work.” “I’m hoping for a new handbag.” Hannah says. “What about you, Y/N?” “I don’t think there is anything I want this year.” Meg looks shocked. “There’s nothing you want? Come on, if you could have anything in the world, what would be your Christmas wish?” The effects of the alcohol have taken over. I’m just as surprised as the girls when I say, “All I want for Christmas is for Loki to rip this dress off me.” They giggle and squeal with delight at my answer. The fun stops when a large hand appears on my shoulder.

“Y/N, I require your presence for a moment.” My soul leaves my body when I realize my boss just heard my inappropriate comment about him. I am absolutely getting fired. I’m right behind him, my head hung in shame. He leads me away from the party into his office. I wait for him to shut the door before profusely apologizing.

“Sir, I am so sorry. I don’t usually drink this much, and the girls – “ “Kneel.” He interrupts me with his command. “What?” “Don’t make me tell you again, pet.” I notice his erection straining against his pants as I sink in front of him. “Do you wish to please me, pet?” I nod my head yes. “Of course, you do. Always so good for me, exceeding my expectations. You look so pretty on your knees for me. I want your mouth, sweet girl.”

I unbutton his pants freeing him. I reach for his length, pumping gently while taking him in my mouth. He is way bigger than I’m used to. I gag as he thrusts too deep. I flick my tongue tracing the veins along his glorious manhood. I relax my throat taking all of him. I hollow my cheeks sucking as he pulls my hair, guiding me. He moans my name as I slurp his tip, my hand working the rest of him. He thrusts harder hitting the back of my throat causing me to choke. He doesn’t stop. I hold onto his strong thighs for support. His thrusts become sloppy letting me know he’s close. His grip on my hair tightens. He slams roughly into my throat. He places one finger under my chin lifting my head. I look up meeting his gaze. “Swallow.” He commands as the warm liquid slides down my throat. He helps me off the floor.

I notice he is still hard. His hungry eyes trail over my body. He takes a step forward; strong hands grip my dress. It feels like he barely tugs on the material, but it comes apart in his hands as slides it down my body. He strips me of my underwear. “I have fulfilled your Christmas wish. Now you can grant mine.” He reaches between my thighs, swiping a long finger down my center. “So wet for me. I haven’t touched you yet. Choking on your President’s cock has ruined you already.”

He picks me up, slamming my body against the cool wall. He sucks bruises against my neck. I squirm in his arms, moaning his name.  I tangle my hands in his raven curls. I grab the band of his head piece. I try to remove it so I can see his face better. He clutches my wrist stopping me. “The horns stay on.” He growls. He forcefully thrusts into me. I cry out, placing one hand on his muscled arm, the other holds the right horn of his head piece.

He holds me against the wall his expert fingers circle my clit. “You take me so well. So good for me.” My legs shake as he pounds into me. “Loki I’m gonna come. I…” “Come for me. Let your president have all of you. Let me claim you.” I come undone with his words.

He grasps my hips using me as his human sex doll, fucking me relentlessly. My body slams against the wall with every thrust. He wraps his porcelain hand around my neck squeezing tightly. His moans are music to my ears. He comes apart panting against my neck. He places me back on my feet. He removes his suit jacket tossing it to me as I collect my underwear from the floor. “You can leave out the back.” He adjusts himself zipping his pants and straightening his clothes. He opens the door taking one last look at my disheveled appearance. “Merry Christmas, Y/N.”

Tags

@lokisgoodgirl @sarahscribbles​ @fictive-sl0th​

[kyleraynermybeloved]

One Of A Kind -Chapter Two

Pairing: Kyle Rayner x Batsis!Reader

Summary: A surprise is discovered. Is it terrifying? Absolutely!

Warnings: Swearing, fluff, mentions of morning sickness, pregnancy, canon-level violence, my bad writing

Word Count: 2.9k

A/N: I'm very late but HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! Its FINALLY here, and guess who has covid! Sorry it took ages to arrive. If the pacing feels a bit off it's bc I wrote this a little drunk a while ago. (I did end up misplacing it and i finally found it so no proof read, we die like heroes) I hope yall enjoy this, if not then I'm sorry :/ ALSO, this is going to be the last short chapter of the series so expect the others to be a little longer from now on!

OOAK Masterlist

The overwhelming nausea woke you up, and you barely made it to the toilet before the contents of your stomach emptied out. You heaved some more, your body shaking from the force after each one. The bile in your mouth was enough to make you wince and spit into the toilet hoping to get rid of the taste.

Groaning, you set your head against the cold seat as the dizziness subsided a little. It was just the wake up call you needed before heading back to work. It seems the few days you had off were too short of time to readjust to your normal routine. You might as well get ready now that you’re up.

You were too busy leaving in a hurry to say bye to Billy once you checked the time, effectively running late. Hopefully you'd have time to check in with him later to see if he was faring the same. You had felt sick the entire time getting ready upon arriving on base, your stomach churning uncomfortably with unease. It might have been the food and drinks from last night or the winter air doing a number on you. For now, you shrugged it off to the best of your abilities.

There were plenty of other agents walking around when you arrived at the tarmac. A few faces you haven’t seen before looked towards you as you made your way to the chopper Sormael had instructed you to from this morning's message. They might’ve been the new hires you heard about coming in the other day. Deciding to put on a friendly face, you smiled and waved towards them as you continued walking.

“Thrasher! About time you made it, what happened to always being on time?” Sormael engulfed you in a hug, giving a firm little shake before breaking away.

“Sorry, sir. I wasn’t feeling all too well this morning and that seemed to cut into my arrival time. Won’t happen again, unless the husband has a say in it.”

“They do love to make things a little more interesting don’t you think? Are you feeling better, or do I need you to sit this one out? I have Zeru on standby seven klicks out from the target site.”

“Negative, sir. I’m much better now, only needed some fresh air and to see your wonderful face,” You bumped his shoulder against yours, sending him a lopsided grin. A gesture you’ve done countless times to let him know you were fine.

There was no chance in hell you would let Zeru, a colleague you’ve been competing against, take this job just because you felt a little sick. The two of you had an ongoing bet to see who could get more jobs done in the span of eight months, the loser had to buy the winner dinner for three weeks. And the eighth month was now coming to a close, you had one job on him but it was only a matter of time before he caught up.

“Alright, well, here’s everything you need to know,”  Sormael handed you a folder that was banded shut. “It’s a covert mission, a simple extraction job. Retrieve the data and get to the rendezvous point for further instructions. Like usual, you’ll have a ride there but you’ll need to find a way back to ensure no one can link you back here. Stay safe, the roads are freezing over. Do whatever you need to get back to us.”

“Always am.” Nodding your head in affirmation you turn to the awaiting helicopter. The snowfall began to pick up causing you to pull your coat closer to fight against the bitter cold. Harsh snowflakes pelted against your face once you got to the aircraft door. The aircraft shielded you from the oncoming storm once you got inside, sliding the door shut and getting situated in your seat.

“Morning, Agent Thrasher. Our eta is four hours, I would catch more sleep if I were you.” The pilot you recognized from previous assignments spoke through the headset. Giving him a half-assed response you went to look at the contents of the folder.

It was a fairly light folder, flipping through the papers and memorizing everything  given. Information on the building’s layout and number of personale working. Only select people had access to the server room which was located on the fifth floor, third room on the right. Attached to the last page was a small flash drive still wrapped in the package.

The nausea had finally settled down, giving you a break for the time being. But you had a sneaking suspicion that it would come back. If that was the case you'd have to make this quick.

You sent Kyle a brief text, letting him know of your whereabouts for the next few hours and decided against telling him of your sickness from the morning.

The sun had peaked through the clouds once you were high enough in airspace, warming you up from the chilly temperature. It was odd that you were cold for this long, your body had gotten used to adapting to the different temperatures over the years of constant traveling in different climates. Pulling your thick coat impossibly closer you thought it best to reserve your energy and get some sleep while you still had time.

*****

You had everything under control, the mission was going smoothly. Entering the building and getting into the server room had gone seamlessly. The flash drive had all the needed information and the only thing left was your escape.

The earpiece you had in your ear was patched into a secure channel only the rendezvous team had access to. It was silent for now.

Normally, you would have to reach out first once in range of any rendezvous point or an appointed team member would reach out if you’ve been dark for too long.

You had carefully tucked the flash drive into a secure pocket, adjusting to make sure it was unnoticeable. The uniform you had acquired once getting into the lobby at the beginning of the mission had been doing its job perfectly as a disguise. No one was the wiser when you had gone in and when exiting the server room, the door locked after shutting closed.

Keeping your head down you walked through the hallway successfully keeping attention off of you. Turning around the corner to the stairwell, you quickly descended down the flight of stairs only passing by two people as they left through the door you just went through.

After reaching the second level another wave of nausea washed over you making you unsteady. Not again, you could only do so much while your whole world was spinning. The stale air wasn’t helping at all either. It made everything feel more restricted and claustrophobic.

You carefully walked down the remaining steps to the floor level, supporting most of your weight on the railing and wall so as to not stumble down. The more you had turned the corners of the staircase the harder it got to keep your composure. There was only one more turn before the ground floor, deciding it would be best to take a breather once you were far enough away from the building, you pushed on. Finally leaving the stairwell and taking the closest exit towards you welcomed the fresh winter air, inhaling deep breaths as it helped ease the bile that was threatening to come up long enough to make it past the parking lot to a lone car where you had stashed your things.

You shed the uniform changing into the spare outfit you had packed in the warmth of the car. Digging through your bag you found something to ease the nausea for the time being until you could take something once you got home. For now, you just hoped it would work.

Little flecks of snow slowly drifted down, dark clouds were filling up the bright sky. You drove until you were three miles out from the rendezvous point, hidden well enough to not stick out to oncomers, after concealing the car  and wiping it down of any prints left you grabbed your bag and walked the remaining way there.

As soon as you made it inside the hidden cabin and debriefed with the team after handing over the flash drive, you threw a few more logs into the dwindling flames of the fireplace to heat the small cabin up.

Your hands felt like icicles and your legs had gone numb a mile into the journey. The layers you’d put on did very little to help maintain heat.

The team informed you before they departed that the cabin was yours for the time being, well at least until after you leave before the cleaning crew arrives.

Knowing you had enough time to shower and change into more comfortable clothing made you physically relax, letting out a content sigh.

Thinking now was a good enough time to check your phone, possibly give Billy a call. If he was fairing as badly as you were then you definitely needed to apologize for possibly getting him sick.

“Billy speaking, what’s up?” He answered on the second ring, judging from the noise in the background he must’ve been home.

“Hey kid, glad I managed to reach you. Sounds like you’re home, did you make it back safely and in one piece?” Shifting the phone to hold it with your shoulder, you were able to take out an outfit and some essentials into the bathroom.

“Oh, yeah I made it back just a little after you left. I was gonna say something but you left in a hurry and I didn’t want to keep you back any later than you had to.” That seemed about right. Both you and Kyle had told him on many occasions that he didn’t need to keep things to himself, whatever it was that he needed the both of you would pause what you were doing and give him your undivided attention.

“No worries, next time go ahead and ask me to stay back a little. Speaking of which, I wanted to ask how you’re feeling? I’m feeling a little under the weather, it might’ve been the food from last night.”

“You know how I get, I just didn’t want to bother you too much. And I feel fine, if you want we can head over and bring you some soup or something?” There was a muffled sound on the line before he spoke up again. “Hey, I got to go. Keep me updated though, I think we’ll head over later today, if not tomorrow. See you later.”

“Will do, see you later kid.”

Well that was interesting. What else could be making you sick if not the food? At least he wasn’t under the weather, that made you feel better knowing you didn’t get him sick as well.

A ding from your phone pulled you out from your thoughts. It was a message from Kyle saying he was back on Earth. You sent a reply of your location and asked if he could bring a thermometer and cold medicine before hopping into the shower.

The water pressure wasn’t great but it also wasn’t the worst you had. It came out in soft bursts, fortunately the shower head was large so it covered more than a small area. The water did wonders for your aching muscles, which had been unusually sore and stiff for the past few weeks. You knew it couldn’t have been from either of the previous assignments you were on. Or for this one as a matter of fact.

At some point you must’ve dozed off, still on your feet. Deciding it was better to get out and get some actual rest without any incoming injuries, you turned off the shower and wrapped yourself in a towel. Kyle would be on his way soon, in the meantime you could busy yourself getting ready and warming up on the couch in front of the fireplace.

By the time Kyle came around you were passed out.

“Hey sleepy, I wasn’t sure what to get so I bought whatever I could find. I also brought some soup from your favorite place, it should still be hot.” Kyle helped ease you up to sit on the couch, you must’ve laid d0wn while you were sleeping. 

“Oh, hi,” you rubbed the sleep out of your eyes with a smile. “How long have you been here?”

He put a hand to your forehead, “Long enough to know you were tossing and turning for a while. On the bright side you don’t have a temperature but better safe than sorry, take this.” He handed you a water bottle and two tylenol from one of the two bags he had, which you gladly accepted and took.

Once you finished your water Kyle traded it for a container of soup. It was still hot enough to warm you up. He plopped down next to you with his own food, digging in once he knew you could eat fully on your own.

“Thank you, I think the soup is helping me some. How are the fellas doing? Causing more chaos for the team I assume?”

“Oh you know it, nothing but the best from Guy. I also may have enabled him… just a little bit.” his smile had a hint of mischief with the knowing look he gave you.

“Of course, babe,” you nudged him with your shoulder, “ ‘Just a little bit’ my ass. You totally orchestrated whatever it was. I feel bad for the poor soul who was on the receiving end of you two maniacs.”

He threw his head back in a laugh. “You know me so well. It wasn’t too bad this time, I swear. Oh, I forgot. Before I left you said you had something you wanted to tell me?”

Ah, you had completely forgotten about that. You tried racking your brain for the right words to explain this best. After five years together it was kind of hard to just come out and say you had been lying to him all that time about yourself. Well, in a way you weren’t lying, just always avoiding mentoning your past and family.

“Uhm,” your hands clasped together in your lap as you leaned forward, “You know how I aoid talking about my past with you or brush it off when you ask me about it?”

He put his food down to give you his full attention, motioning for you to continue once he sat back, grabbing one of your hands in reassurance.

“Gosh this is hard, uhm. I want you to know that I didnt tell you because I don’t trust you, more because I was scared to tell you. I guess the best way is to rip the bandaid off. But more or less I was… Batman’s daughter, this was years ago of course. I don’t actually know if he told anyone in the league about me since I wasn’t one of the many side-kicks.”

“I think I remember Alfred having some photos of when you were young laying around the mansion when I lived there for a bit, I asked them about it but no one really said anything. Figured it was a sore subject. Im going to be honest, I’m a little hurt that you didn’t tell me sooner but I understand having moments of the past haunting you.”

“There’s more I would like to tell you,” I pulled him towards me more, “But I’d rather tell you once we get home. How about we head over once we’re done eating?”

“No problem, eat as much as you can and we'll take the leftovers with us.” Kyle grabbed his container and gestured at you to eat with a forkful halfway to his mouth.

*****

It had been two weeks later when you decided to see your agency’s doctor to check out your recent sickness. You had been expecting a stomach bug, or the flu, the last thing you expected was finding out you were ten weeks pregnant. Ten weeks. Kyle, who went with you almost and passed out from the news, was still taking his time processing everything you told him, rightfully so. The two of you were sent home with congratulations and several pictures of your growing bean. It had felt too surreal, and overwhelming.

All that happened three days ago, now you and Kyle were just entering your apartment after buying some pregnancy essentials for you when a noise from the kitchen alerted you of an intruder. You reached for your sheathed knives, usually strapped to your thighs, out of reflex before Kyle stopped you, rushing forward with the bat you normally kept by the front door.

“Fuck man, I could killed you!” Kyle’s alarmed voice steadied your racing heart after realizing it was someone he knew. You slowly made your way to the kitchen, their muffled voices getting clear the further you walked down te hallway. One being Kyle’s and the other you now recognized to be Guy Gardner, who you haven’t actually met but have seen through videos either of your boys have shown you.

“You’re brave for knocking up Batman’s long lost daughter,” Guy pointed to the ultrasound photo pinned on the fridge. “I don’t envy you one bit man. And you must be the lovely wife. Guy Gardner, great to finally meet the mysterious lady Rayner’s been hiding from me.”

“How’d you know we’re married?” Kyle looked alarmed and confused.

“Well, you do have your wedding pictures laying ‘round the place.” He pointed out to the living room where the photos had been conveniently placed on the coffee table.

With a sigh and shake of your head, you held out your hand to Guy. “Y/N Rayner, pleased to finally meet this doofus’ best friend he speaks highly of.”

Taglist:

@esposadomd

[valpogossip]

VALPOGOSSIP TEACAP: JUNE 2024

You lot sure have be busy the last month. If I was of lesser mind or simply someone with something better to do, I would have resigned myself to my silence and let you all carry on. But business pays. And unfortunately for you, it's yours that pays me, and you're all not going to believe this.

A natural good citizen, Abril Valdivia out of the kindness of her heart ( or her lust ) returned a ring ( allegedly ) to one Mallory Watson. How did she get this ring? Unknown, but the two seem pretty familiar with each other and their addresses but who knows ! Maybe they're just quilting together?

Speaking of Mallory, the winter wind whispers and it all says that Wylie Henderson ( Mallory's ex? almost? unclear) has also wandered back into the Valpo region. Will there be room in their hear with all their puppets and clown memorabilia? Only time will tell.

Anayeli Chavez was seen exiting Charlie Hastings office at the university. But then again, Charlie was also seen entering and at some point exiting out of Anayeli's office too. And back and forth they go, but something tells me that they're not using office hours for their intended purpose. Does anyone else find it strange that where Rohan is Anayeli seems to be too? Interesting.

A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR ADEM KARTAL ! Valpo's favorite dad has finally found use for another D word ! Dating ! The word was dating you freaks. He asked the beautiful Ysla Alonso out for their first official date. We're so proud of you and can't wait to see where this goes !

Aivryn Johnston made an interesting dye job choice, but don't worry after being absolutely terrified, Dixie Harrison found it within her to help the younger one out.

According to our sources, Arlo Hwang has been spending a lot of time at the Harrison household for one Leia Munoz-Silva. Don't worry though, all that time in the bedroom and the only screams coming from there are a video game. He's not the only man coming in and out though, Rohan Kaur has been making his own rounds. Hm. Wonder what could be all the way out in Casablanca that he needs to make that drive for. Interesting.

Astrid Blackwell and Noah Fontaine have laid down the law ! After laying down their lips together back in May (what? did you think we forgot) ? It only took another showcase of their undeniable jealousy for them to decide to... not? act like friends? but be? best friends? Interesting ! Best of luck to you both !

When he's not in Anayeli's office, Charlie can be found hanging around Secondhand Style. Though, he never goes in? We're thinking it may have something to do with Saffron Barton? What do we think, Valpo?

Drew Crane is back in the Valpo region ! The slushie machines in every local gas station has been quickly depleting upon his arrival and so has the raccoon population? Someone call PETA? He's staying with the Dominguez-Herreras/Cisneros, and five in one house? Seems to already be causing some distress with Luna being upset he's sharing things with their family but not with her. They say loose lips sink ships but maybe sealed ones do too?

Hiyori Ito and Luna Dominguez-Herrera were seen taking a bus out to god knows where and not returning until the next morning looking sleep deprived, excited, but also (in Hiyori's case) terrified ! They must have had quiet the time! Who wouldn't want to go missing with them? (Me)

Speaking of returns, Leon Amos is back in town! Wasted no time making quick work in Salem West's DMs and pissing Luna off. What exactly does it mean to break up with someone because you don't trust yourself? I don't know but I do know it goes down beautifully with my popcorn!

Omar Osei found like a deer in the headlights at the appearance of his ex Nevaeh Thompson! I guess you can never really outrun the consequences of your own actions, but how funny it is to watch him try!

Between dodging Charlie and dodging Zak Torres, Saffron has become as hot of a commodity as the clothes she carries. Maybe one day she'll give that friend of Zak's a chance or for entertainment purposes she'll rehash some memories with Charlie. Only time will tell.

In lighter news, it looks like Yazmin Taylor might be in the market for a new job! If my professor looked like she does, I know I'd never miss a class either. We're wishing you all the best!

That's all I have for you today, but don't worry. We'll be back next month with even more delicious tea for you to catch up on. And to Vanni, Felix, Elias, Javi, Nikhil, Poet, Rafael, Rania, Reyna, Sade, Sebastian, Zaid, and Vicious; i'm always watching.

[cassiaratheslytherpuff]

Drarry podfic recs - length 1-3 hours

A list of podfics I've enjoyed. Sorted first by length, then alphabetically.

This is the list with podfics that are 1- hours long. I also have lists for Length 3-6 hours, Length 6-10 hours and Length 10+ hours or you can check out the masterlist.

1+ hours

Title: Newts Read by: Lazulus Authour: astolat Length:~ 1.5h Rating: Explicit Summary: “I’m twenty-eight!” Harry said. “I’ve been an Auror for ten years! You want me to go back to Hogwarts now?" 

2+ hours

Title: In Evidence of Magical Theory Read by: Sandstripe Authour: bixgirl1 Length:~ 2.5h Rating: Explicit Summary: When a hex meant for Draco accidentally catches Harry as well, they're forced to learn to understand each other in ways they previously might have thought impossible. In which Harry and Draco can't fight, so they fall in love instead. Wonderfull read of a wonderfull story! Accidental bonding and forced proximity in a Hogwarts 8th year story hits all the spots.

Title: Burning day: A Tale of Rebirth Read by: fire_juggler Authour: tealeaf523 Length:~ 2.5h Rating: Explicit Summary: Looking for a bit of solitude over his winter holiday, Harry Potter rents a home in Scotland, only to end up in the middle of adventure amongst the snow-blanketed hills. There is a local in Castle Valley who looks uncannily like his Hogwarts school rival, but he has no memory of meeting Harry in the past. However, Harry is determined to find out what happened to Draco Malfoy between his disappearance and finding his new identity as a charming unicorn trainer at the Scotland Unicorn Reservation for Lost Youths. Unicorns and memory loss and falling in love? Sign me up! fire_juggler did a brilliant job bringing this to life.

3+ hours

Title: An Owl Named Romeo Read by: fire_juggler Authour: Rickey Length:~ 3h Rating: Explicit Summary: Draco breeds owls, Harry’s an Auror, and an owl named Romeo is going to bring them together. This one has Auror!Harry and Owl breeder!Draco, and it’s a wonderfull mix of humour, mystery, angst and fluff. Romeo is an amazing owl, and fire_juggler reads the story wonderfully.

Title: Blue Roses and Other Impossible Things Read by: Sandstripe Authour: Cassiara Length:~ 3h Rating: Explicit Summary: After Harry saved Draco from the Room of Requirement there was a moment when Draco gave Harry a look. Harry didn’t know what to make of it, and he had a war to fight so he ignored it. Now though, they’re back at Hogwarts sharing a dorm and Harry is obsessed with seeing that look again. I wrote this fic, but I had to rec it here anyways because Sandstripe does such a wonderful reading of it. It's an 8th year fic with coming out and first times and a little angst.

Title: Higher and Higher (Temptation) Read by: birdsofshore Authour: cailynwrites Length:~ 3h Rating: Explicit Summary: Only Harry Potter could manage to put on a magical collar on impulse and find himself unable to take it off again. Now following Draco’s direct orders gives him intense pleasure, and Draco has a whole heap of troubles to deal with, not least the way Potter looks when the collar has him gasping with bliss. The whole situation would test the morals of a saint... and Draco’s no saint. This fic is HOT, and the reading of it only adds to that. Absolutely brilliant.

Title: Open for repairs Read by: RattleandHum (ThirdEye1234) Authour: FeelsForBreakfast Length:~ 3h Rating: Mature Summary: After the war, Draco works at a tv repair shop and Harry breaks things.Feat. sad boys in jumpers and more ABBA than is probably necessary. I forgot how much I loved this fic, but the podfic made me fall in love all over again. I loved all the voices and the portrayal of the emotions.

Bonus (podfic from my tbr)

A Mist That Appears (For a Little Time) written by dodgerkedavra read by reveriepi 2.5h

[themculibrary]

Fics Including Brock Rumlow Masterlist

asset management (ao3) - UnderTheFridge brock/jack, steve/brock M, 36k

Summary: The previous handler is cooling on a slab in the morgue - the knife still lodged squarely between his eyes - when Secretary Pierce calls Rumlow into his office and gives him the dead man’s job.

before you close the door on me (ao3) - quillingyousoftly jack/brock M, 3k

Summary: “I think we should break up,” Jack says, and he does so with a heavy heart, even if it’s easier to say it to his back than his face.

Brock pauses with his hand inside the shopping bag. He nods. “Yeah, I guess we should.” He finally moves his head to look at Jack. “Breakup sex?”

bruises on your thighs (like my fingerprints) (ao3) - RedTeamShark clint/brock E, 44k

Summary: It’s nothing but another mission for Brock Rumlow, S.H.I.E.L.D. S.T.R.I.K.E. Commander and undercover Hydra agent. Clint Barton is a target, an objective, an Omega that the Alpha need only manipulate into sex. It’s a success as soon as he steps into the room, even if he keeps finding reasons to not just hold the heat-rattled Omega down and force him to take his knot.

Nothing Barton could do would change the outcome of this. Nothing.

(Roughly canon compliant with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, if there was A/B/O and the timeline was sped up and also Clint was around.)

Burn (ao3) - Marvelicious (Jayjaybe) bucky/brock E, 3k

Summary: Sometimes they let the Winter Soldier out long enough to have heats.

dirty love (ao3) - artificial_ink darcy/brock M, 13k

Summary: If SHIELD doesn’t want Darcy and Jane to run away from their Tromso security detail, then SHIELD shouldn’t make it so easy. Though Darcy’s starting to wonder if Rumlow just likes the chase.

(it’s not always) flowers and butterflies (ao3) - quillingyousoftly jack/brock, brock/janet T, 23k

Summary: Sometimes it’s strip poker and cold nights, fake dates and a trickster god locking you out of your bedroom.

Brock Rumlow spends his days in Avengers Academy bullying British spies and reminiscing about Hydra School. A peaceful year passes; one might say it’s boring. It all changes when a new student joins the Academy.

Jack Rollins is a dick. Brock is determined to show him his place.

It's Not Personal (ao3) - TheMeaningofHaste steve/brock E, 5k

Summary: There on the mats of the dirty gym floor, with Rumlow pinned beneath him, Steve expected to get hit, he really did, when he leaned in for a kiss. What he didn’t expect was a hand to fist in his hair, pulling just this side of too hard, and keeping him close.

That was the first time Steve had sex with Brock Rumlow. He was a little ashamed to admit that wasn't the last.

Make the call and take it all (again) (ao3) - itallstartedwithdefenestration bucky/brock E, 13k

Summary: “I—” Bucky began, and Rumlow held up one hand: be quiet. Bucky shut his mouth instantly, without thinking about it. He remembered in Selby’s bar, how easy it had been to do things without thinking about them. To do them because he knew it was required of him, to have no will of his own, no power—

“You didn’t come find me for the first time in almost a fuckin’ decade to ask me about a serum,” Rumlow said.

Old Faces in New Places (ao3) - SubverbalDreams bucky/brock, bucky/everyone E, 44k

Summary: “The fuck do you want.”

That voice. A hundred, thousand dreams. Bucky’s lower half turns to water and he forgets how to speak for a minute.

“What, jaw ain’t workin’ after you been suckin’ off Wilson all this time?” Rumlow asks in a flat tone. “Fuck off, cyborg. Go back to your new handler.”

Something Broken (ao3) - Exorin bucky/brock E, 23k

Summary: Bucky and Rumlow really fucked each other up over decades of brutal conditioning, maybe (definitely) more on one side than the other.

It turns out that Bucky can't get over the wiring in his brain that makes him really susceptible to following orders and dropping to his knees anytime his old handler shows up PLUS he hasn't had a chance to test it a ton, but he can't come unless he's told? Oh and he also went back for Rumlow's very specifically modified sidearm back during the collapse - I'm sure there's a totally normal and not weird reason for that.

And Rumlow? Well it turns out that having a building dropped on him and then almost being burnt alive by his own fucking bomb (which frustratingly did not kill Captain America) has rendered his dick pretty much out of service which could be a good thing - the bomb not killing Cap A - since Steve went and abandoned a traumatized Bucky Barnes and left him totally open to having his handler waltz back into his life.

Also the dick thing is probably fixable with the right encouragement.

the stars were not enough (ao3) - kalika_999, Neutralchaos jack/brock M, 85k

Summary: It’s been two years since Brock’s been anywhere near Jack after their break up, let alone in the same house on some private island. But now that his two best friends are getting married, he’s going to have to try dealing with it.

It should be easy. They’ve both moved on and he’s made himself a better life without him. The feelings he once had are long gone and it was really just a silly infatuation anyway, not love.

Right?

thine own self (ao3) - trill_gutterbug jack/brock E, 19k

Summary: Brock has never let anyone get at him during a heat. Not once.

(Or: why condoms are a good idea.)

torture and cheese fries (ao3) - PumpkinDoodles darcy/brock M, 19k

Summary: Brock Rumlow really wishes he hadn’t agreed to go on this blind date with Foster’s assistant…

when (brock) falls in love (ao3) - winter_angst jack/brock M, 10k

Summary: Jack needs to set the record straight on the untimely passing of his husband, disgraced actor Brock Rumlow.

[jackies-ear]

.

I love my job but the fucking pay man

I budgeted it out better this month, like beg of the month I wrote out all my monthly’s- rent, utilities, loan, bus pass (bc they only do monthly, my one in or did a 3 month pass which was wonderful), dance subscription, pet insurance. Like my ‘have to pay’s. Threw a little bit at both credit cards (one is a store card that I don’t use a lot so I can usually just pay it off in one but I have bought more things last month so there was more on it and I don’t think I payed it all? And then my reg bank cc is…… almost a limit and I could only like 100 to it which basically just covers my therapy charges but I also have a utility on that and my Hulu (only subscription!)). I just changed dance to an annual plan, so that’s going away monthly and there’s a discount for annual so it helps. If I didn’t go shopping, I’d have maybe 200 after all that for the month? But I need groceries, I have pantry stuff but I need veggies and I can only find small boxes of my waffles so I have to buy more each week. I’m not giving up my new weekly flower routine, but I only buy 1 or 2 bundles of the 3$ so it’s nothing crazy. So after all that, I have like. 20$ for the rest of the month. And I have to go shopping again this weekend. I wanted to host Thanksgiving (just fam and dads house is kinda messy so it’d be easier here) but I’m not going to be able to buy anything for it! Like dads prob plannning on buying the food for it anyway so I could just ask him to bring it here instead? And group is in person next week and I wanted to bake again, and I think I have enough gf flour to make like chocolate chip cookies? But I need more chocolate chips… I could do snickerdoodles? And like melt the rest of the chips I have and dip them in it? As long as I can scale the recipe to what gf flour I have left I guess. Or I can just not bake but I really liked it last time! And I’m in a place where I can bake again and it makes me so happy! So I don’t want to not.. and I can’t change anything to my cc bc it’s almost at limit and I need some left for the utility and therapy. so I was like I’ll find a second job. Bookstore turned me down bc I have like no availability. I basically only have weekends, after 1. Bc I refuse to give up gym classes, which are weekday evenings and weekend mornings. And the evenings I don’t gym are therapy. NOTHING wants to hire for those hours. So, I thought the gym school break camps, but their winter break is only for like the last 2 days? There’s a spring break one but that’s my only week off lol. So I wait for summer camp again, bc that pay was good but I spent most of last yrs on moving and actually paying off my bank cc bc I can never do it otherwise. But that’s in June in 7.5 months…. I don’t know how I’ll make it til then esp w the holidays coming up. I already have smth for teacher coming (and it might bc bday and Xmas together which I hate doing but). Got Sarah’s parents already. Bro gets like a gift card. But he doesn’t buy gifts for dad (selfish asshole) so that falls on me. I have 1 so far and some ideas. Bc teacher bday is coming up we might do pottery again so that could be another if she chooses that but we also just did it for another bday.

I’m emailing work in the morning asking if I can change any of my contributions, hopefully I can lower my retirement and hsa so that’ll give me a little more. Thought abt either going annual or canceling Cassie’s insurance. I’ve only used it… twice? in the like 3 yrs I’ve had it. I can also try to change the coverage to lower it but idk if they’ll do that outside of the reg annual renewal. It doesn’t cover annual exams just accident/illness, which she doesn’t get, but if she did I’d have it and it’d pay me back. But it’s also a lot monthly. So annual would be nice I guess but that means I have to put up 200-smth now. Which I don’t have. I already had to go into my savings (again) to change to the annual dance just now. I’m using up all my savings for all this. And it’s nothing extravagant! I do coffee at dad’s! I only have 1 streaming I pay for! Maybe I start going to walmart idk man idk how much cheaper that’d be. I stopped Costco and Trader Joe’s, I just go to the H-E-B by me. But again it’s weekly bc veggies and waffles and flowers.

so I’m just stressed bc no one’s gonna give me a weekend only part time and now it’s 2 am and I’ve been up for an hr over this. I knew it was bad but actually writing it out this month and tracking it in like… oh god…

(and god forbid dad cancels the gym or like kick me off the phone plan and I have to start paying those (ik I’m lucky I’m on the family plans still and I know he won’t for the phone, but gym price goes up at new year and bro doesn’t go, dad hasn’t been bc he hasn’t been feeling well. I’m the only one using it. I think he should kick bro off and go to a 2 person and save that bit but))

[virtie333]

hello there! i noticed in your most recent ask you stated that you used to train raptors and parrots for a zoo. as someone who’s incredibly interested in that career, i was wondering if you had any tips or tricks for getting started?

i’ve been consistently volunteering at a local wildlife shelter, and im working to join the education program they have so that i can begin to work with their raptors. is there anything else that people interested in this career can do?

thank you!

I'm going to be honest with you, I got very lucky to get into the world of birds. When I applied for a summer job at the small zoo in the Black Hills, which actually specializes in reptiles, my desire was to work with the miniature horses they also raised. I spent my first summer giving pony rides to kids!

However, the area we gave rides looked over the weathering area, the place they kept the raptors, and I would see the person run back to get the eagle they used as the final bird for every show. When they asked me that winter if there was any other department I was interested in, I told them the birds. I spent my winter break getting introduced to them and spent the next four summers working with them.

My boss was a falconer and a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. All her staff were temporarily licensed as well, so we could handle all the raptors. We performed shows (that's Skyler above, a Harris' Hawk), took care of sick and injured raptors, and took care of the parrots that were on display in the Sky Dome.

Moche, the blue and gold Macaw I helped raise from a baby, is still there, almost 30 years later.

I'm going to assume you live in the U.S. (or at least North America)?My suggestion would be to keep volunteering, keep getting whatever experience you can. If you know of a licensed rehabber in your area, volunteer to help them. If you can find any falconers, ask to shadow them as they care for, train, and hunt their birds. The more experience you get and the more professionals you can use as references, the more likely you'll be able to find a job in the field.

Are there any zoos/theme parks nearby? The smaller the zoo, the more likely you'll be able to get a position with limited experience, as I did. Obviously, the bigger zoos and theme parks will want professional experience. My boss worked for Bush Gardens before she came to us, and she is now the Education Director at the Minnesota Raptor Center.

If all else fails, just study up on falconry as much as you can and find one to apprentice under. Every state has different laws, and since North American Birds of Prey are protected federally, they have rules, too, but it's definitely a reachable goal.

I hope any of this helps! When I graduated college, my main goal was to work with horses, but I ended up working as a vet tech for 18+ years. I was the designated 'bird lady' at the clinic for all those years, as none of the vets had a huge amount of bird experience, so they always made sure I was their tech for bird appointments. I don't get to work with them much now that I'm at a boarding kennel, though we have boarded one or two in the past few years.

I miss it and them very much, but I will always have the memories.

[tauforged]

we wanna try and get back to streaming dnd sessions soon since we were doing it for a while before shit started hitting the fan and we took a break from livestreaming (though we still record sessions regardless. one of these days i’m gonna go through and upload them all somewhere. just to have it out there) but i guess this is just like. an interest check?

we’re tentatively planning on getting back into the swing of things next sunday, with weekly sessions starting at around 7:30-8pm EST, and we’re gonna do a recap session to pull everyone into the loop since it’s been a hot minute since we’ve gone live.

for the recap, we’re take it from the top and go back over not just everything that happened during our break (because a LOT happened during the break) but if a decent amount of people are interested in tuning in that haven’t been around for the past couple years we might just go over the whole thing — it’s a really wonderful campaign, pretty much entirely homebrew and crafted with love and care by vik who has been a fantastic DM all this time and really goes the extra mile to bring the whole show home (and i’m NOT just saying that because we’re married)

if y’all are interested i could try and whip up a short-ish summary to lay some groundwork. it’s a feywilds-centric campaign with a party of 6, though a few of us also play double duty by acting as NPCs we’ve created along the way too, and it’s been in the works for… god. a couple of years now. (we started this campaign back during my petco era. it’s outlived three jobs LMFAO) with the main overarching conflict being between the twin queens of the winter and summer fey courts, and the winter queen’s sudden pivot into attempting to invade and lay siege to the mundane realm in an attempt to gain the upper hand over her sister. from the perspective of a handful of near-total strangers who met for the first time at a funeral and all happened to get dragged into this mess while trying to help a new friend find a missing loved one and now they’re all inescapably entwined by the strings of fate forever. it’s been an absolute blast and i really do miss sharing our shenanigans with eachother, so i’m really looking forward to starting it back up again