#if it helps i finished writing it at my desk at 11am too

[freeuselandonorris]

Today I found out what oviposition means and I feel like I “dead doved” myself

(I did also really enjoy the fic but I maybe should have seen the monster porn tag and not read it at my desk at 11am)

lmao anon i’m sorry 😭 the thought that you started reading, went oh shit this is weird monsterfucking egg laying porn and i am at work, and then kept reading... you’re my kinda people

[circle--of--confusion]

The Cardinal and the Seamstress

Chapter 3 folks!

Copia gets some news from Terzo. Sarah and Copia start texting each other and they get a bit more comfortable around each other. I tried to format the texting sections as less annoying as possible. Hopefully it doesn't break the flow too much! Also, there's 2 more chapters after this one and then it'll be finished.

Pairing: [dracopia] Cardinal Copia x OC

Warnings: suggestive dialog. Terzo is a menace, again.

Words: 2k

Chapter 3: You Can Always Reach Me

| ONE | TWO | THREE | FOUR | FIVE |

Read on AO3

MASTERLIST

banner and dividers courtesy of: gothdaddyissues AND ghuleh-recs

Around 11am Copia is nearly ready to call it a day; he feels like he’s running on fumes. Several lines of notes have been scratched out due to typos and his eyes are crossing while reading the ancient texts he’s picked for the day. Copia sighs deeply. Why did I decide to try translating Latin this morning?

His phone chimes into the quiet office.

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Sarah: 11:13 am

I actually managed to fall asleep last night. Thank you for the sweet dreams.  

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If Copia’s heart was still beating, it would’ve skipped. Sarah.

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Copia: 11:15 am

Very happy to hear that, cara. I don’t want you losing focus while Amelia puts you through, what did you say yesterday? The Gauntlet?

--------

Copia sets his phone down to attempt more work. His phone chimes Sarah’s response but his office door slams open with a jolt before he can read what it says. “Ah! Cardinale! Just the man I was wanting to talk to today!”

Satan below, not now Terzo. “This is my office, Papa. Who else were you aiming to find in here?”

“Well someone woke up on the wrong side of the coffin this morning.” Terzo waives his hands as he sits down in the chair across Copia’s desk.

Copia’s phone dings again and Terzo’s eyes flick to the phone, his eyes go wide at the name on the screen. “Papa, why are you here?”

Terzo ignores the cardinal. “Who is that? Could it be your amore?” Terzo moves to lean on Copia’s desk with his elbows. “Are you texting each other now?”

“What are you talking about, Papa?  

Terzo tilts his head to the side. “Copia, I can see into the gardens from my room.”

“Ugh. This is none of your business!” Copia tries to hide his screen while he reads the message.

“I am Papa! Everything is my business. Oh! Is this for your eyes only? Did I walk in on something I shouldn’t have?” Terzo’s eyebrows raise up and down a couple times. “Hey! I could give you some tips! Did you ask her what she’s wearing?” He moves closer to see what’s on the phone but Copia’s clutched it out of Terzo’s eyesight again. Copia closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. He gasps. “Oh, please don’t tell me you’re a virgin, Cardinale! Is this your first time?”

Lucifer give me strength. “No, Terzo, I am not-.” He sighs. “I’m just out of practice. Again, Papa. Why are you here?”

Copia’s office door opens again this time only slightly before Sister Imperator’s head pops out. “Oh! Is everything alright in here?”

Copia throws his hands in the air and huffs. “I guess!”

Sister Imperator walks deeper into his office. “I just came in to check and see if Papa delivered my message.”

Terzo scoffs. “I don’t need someone to check in on me.”

“Have you told him?”

“…No. Not yet.”

Sister Imperator rolls her eyes. “Now that you’re going to lead the band, Copia, you need to start writing songs. I trust that you can find some inspiration from your past to help you. You have all of my faith, Cardinal.”

“Thank you, Sister.”

She glances at Terzo as she turns to leave the office. “Was that so hard?”

Copia sits back in his chair after hearing her news. “Has it been announced to the Clergy and the Siblings that I will be taking over?”

“Not yet! Sister,” he points back to the closed door “and my Old Man want to wait.” He rolls his eyes. “They want to do a small Ritual soon to officially announce you to the Clergy and everyone else.” He sits up and then leans forward. “So. get cracking!” Terzo taps his knuckles on the desk a couple times and goes to walk out of Copia’s office. “Have fun texting your Amore.”

Copia starts to yell but Terzo has closed the door before Copia could get anything out. He goes to his phone and starts typing out a response to the missed text from earlier. She’s not my amore. Yet…

Sarah has been waiting for Copia to respond. After every seam and press from the iron she checks her phone to see if he’s sent her another text. Amelia looks up from her spot at the table. “You do know a watched pot never boils, right?”

“I know… Oh! He responded!” Sarah perks up in her seat. “Copia has to start writing songs! Papa also said they want to wait on announcing him until he has something to perform for the Clergy.”

Amelia lets out a ‘hm’ sound.

“And speaking of Papa… You guys seemed comfortable the other day.”

Alex lets out a gruff and boisterous cough at his desk. Sarah looks over to see if they’re alright and he’s rapidly shaking his head while mouthing ‘don’t. Please don’t get her started.’

Amelia is not amused. “I saw that, Alex.” He gives a smile and a thumbs up in return without looking away from his computer. “And yes, we’ve fucked.”

Sarah’s face twists and her eyes go wide. “Oh! I wasn’t- I wasn’t trying to imply anything like that.”

“Of course you weren’t.” She sighs. “He’s very sweet and charming when he wants to be. One time I wasn’t feeling well from a cold. He had brought me some flowers from Primo’s garden- he still had dirt on his shoes- and some soup. Papa Secondo’s famous chicken noodle.” She gives a half smile.

Aw.

“And let me tell you, his appreciation for the female orgasm isn’t just for show.”

Oh. “So what went wrong?”

“Terzo is a man who, to me, doesn’t seem like he really knows himself or knows what he wants outside of the Ghost project and being Papa. I felt like there could be more for him and he was being pulled in different directions. We never had a chance to talk about it.” Amelia sighs. “I had a feeling I would get my heart broken so I ended things and Terzo didn’t quite understand at first.”

“That’s sad. I’m sorry.” Sarah says. Would Copia have time for me?

“Ah well! He eventually moved on.”

Sarah furrows her eyebrows. Are you so sure about that?  She turns back to her work at the machine and continues on the second mockup.

--------

Sarah: 11:50 am

Sounds exciting! Have you ever written songs before?

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Copia: 11:52 am

No. I don’t consider myself much of a poet.

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Sarah: 11:53 am

What? In all of your centuries on the planet you’ve never penned an inspiring word of verse?

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Copia: 12:08 pm

I was giving it a thought. What if I did a vampirey song? How’s this?

“I ‘vant to suck your bloooood / let’s get together for the Olde One. / the moment is right / what do you say about tonight?”

--------

Sarah: 12:10

Ladies and gentleman! The Grammy! Goes! To! -

--------

Copia’s head throws back in laughter from Sarah’s text. He hasn’t focused on his work in the past half hour since Terzo entered his office and he’s decided to throw in the metaphorical towel. “Ehh. Fuck it!” Copia rolls his chair back and stands up. “These heathens can wait one more day.”

On the way back to his room Copia is passing by the sewing studio. Will I be able to see her through the window? He walks up and thinks about knocking so he can wave to her but when he sees the concentrated look on Sarah’s face, he is slightly mesmerized. Her eyes are focused on the fabric being fed through the machine; her skilled hands are poised to keep it in place under the rapidly moving needle.

Copia tilts his head as he watches on and his hand finds his phone in his pocket. She looks so beautiful. I wonder if I can text her that I’m here? Copia takes a second to look down at the screen and when he looks back up, Sarah is looking at him. Oh! Copia smiles at her and puts up his free hand to give a small wave at her through the window. She gives a small wave back. He points to the side with his thumb and mouths ‘Sorry! Gotta go!’ He's back in his room now and feels so much better. The old NES has been calling Copia’s name from the moment he left his office.

Copia ends up working late into the night the following few days to catch up on missed work.

--------

Copia: 1:45 am

I’ve been trying to write some lyrics for the past few days and I’ve discovered something! Did you know Papa Nihil can play the saxophone?

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Sarah: 1:50 am

Yes?? How did you not now? He’s been carrying it around with him lately.

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Copia: 1:53 am

I didn’t think the dickhead could actually play!

Copia: 1:54 am

Mi dispiace, I just realized how late it was. I didn’t wake you up, did I?

--------

Sarah: 1:56 am

Nah, you’re fine. It’s another night of little sleep.

Sarah: 1:57 am

Did you think Papa Nihil just… carried around a saxophone for fun?

--------

Copia: 1:58 am

maybe

--------

Sarah: 2:00 am

Oh Copia… what am I going to do with you!

---------

Copia: 2:01 am

hopefully you can let me sleep. I’m just now heading to my room from the office.

--------

Sarah: 2:01

:-O wow!

--------

Sarah really can’t judge. Tonight, she’s come by the studio to sew the last couple things for Copia’s next suit mockup. The machine has lulled her eyes closed and it’s taking a lot of effort not to fall asleep at the machine. Someone knocks at the door.

“Oh!” She jolts up in her seat. “Come in?” The door opens to reveal Copia.

“I saw the light was on and thought it might be you. What are you doing?”

Sarah sighs. “Your second fitting is tomorrow and I wanted to work on the last couple things.”

Copia walks over to her and clicks off the machine. “Cara. You need to be rested for tomorrow. How about I let you walk me home and you head on to bed, hm? You look exhausted.”

She nods in surrender and gets up. After the door to the studio is locked behind her, Copia holds out his arm and they walk arm-in-arm the rest of the way.

She sighs. “Like I said, I couldn’t sleep. I thought maybe sewing would tire me out enough and I might’ve been right about that. I took a page out of your book tonight: working when I can’t sleep”

Copia scoffs. “Oh dolcezza, I wouldn’t recommend that book. It’s a shit book. Very boring.”

Sarah tilts her head. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I think it sounds like a lovely book. One I’d like to know more of?” She turns her head to Copia and they look at each other for a moment before looking back ahead.

A few silent steps pass between the two.

“I watched while you were sewing the other day, before you looked up to see I was there. You looked so deep in concentration. It was fascinating!” Copia admits. “I could probably watch you for hours.”

She blushes. “I was really in the zone before I looked up. My face probably looked funky.”

Copia moves his free hand to pat her hand on his arm. “Ah, don’t worry. I’m sure my face must look something like that when I’m on a particularly rough level in one of my games.”

Sarah hums. “Maybe I’ll see it one day.”

Copia slows down once they reach his door. “Maybe.”

They separate from each other and stand there for a few seconds. “Good night, Copia.” She hesitates a moment before lifting on her toes. Her lips go to Copia’s left cheek and she gives it a light kiss. “Sweet dreams.” Sarah turns and walks down the hall and has to force herself not to look back at the smiley Copia watching her walk away.

As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thank you to those who have liked, reblogged, and left kudos and coments on the previous 2 chapters! Chapter 4 should be out soon, I just want to get some final tweaks worked out.

[btsqualityy]

Fools Rush In: Chapter 4

Jungkook x Reader

Genre: Strangers-to-lovers, age gap!AU (reader is 30, Jungkook is 23), Angst, smut, fluff

Summary: You have your first doctor’s appointment, and you and Jungkook come to an agreement. 

Warnings: Protected sex, dirty talk, slightly dominant Jungkook, slightly submissive reader, big dick!Jungkook as always lol

WC: 2.4K

That Thursday, you stood outside of the obstetrician’s office, bouncing on the tips of your toes as you waited for Jungkook. He was running a little late and you tried not to think much of it as you sucked on a ginger lollipop. 

“Hey!” You heard a sudden voice shout and when you looked to your left, Jungkook was running down the street towards you. You stood up straight, taking the lollipop out of your mouth as you turned to face him. “I’m so sorry I’m late, I overslept.”

“It’s 11am,” you deadpanned, sighing heavily when he just shrugged sheepishly. “Come on, let’s go.” He held the front door open for you and the two of you stepped into the building, where you immediately went over to the front desk to sign yourself in with the receptionist. Once you had done that and received some forms to fill out, you and Jungkook took a seat together to wait for the doctor to see you. 

“You know Korean?” Jungkook asked as he watched you fill out the form that was a mix of English and Korean with relative ease. 

“I can read it and understand it, but I can’t speak it worth a damn,” you chuckled as you took the lollipop out of your mouth. “I know a few languages though.”

“Yeah? Which ones?”

“Well English, Korean, French, Japanese, a little Spanish, and some Portuguese,” you listed. 

“Accomplished,” Jungkook chuckled, making you do the same. 

“It has it’s advantages when you play in different places and do interviews and stuff,” you said as you finished writing on the form. “Here, hold this.” You handed him the clipboard, reaching into your purse and pulling out another ginger lollipop.

“What’s up with those?” Jungkook wondered as he watched you unwrap it and stick it into your mouth. “Is that ginger?”

“Yeah, it’s supposed to help nausea,” you explained. “I’ve been puking my guts out for weeks now and I’m willing to try anything.”

“Damn,” he murmured. Just then, a door opened and a short, grey haired woman stepped out. 

“Y/N L/N?” She called out and both you and Jungkook stood up, walking over to the door and stepping inside. The doctor led you down the hallway to an examination room, waving both you and Jungkook inside before she shut the door behind you all. 

“I’m Dr. Na Da Rae, nice to meet you both,” she introduced herself, stepping over and shaking your hand before moving over to Jungkook and doing the same. “I’m assuming you’re the father?”

“Yeah, Jeon Jungkook,” he smiled. 

“So, how have you been feeling Y/N?” Dr. Na questioned as she sat down on the stool that was placed in the room while you hopped on top of the examination table. 

“Mostly ok,” you began. “I’ve been having some lower back pain, as well as some terrible headaches. Oh, and the nausea.”

“Explains the ginger lollipops,” Dr. Na laughed. “Well, why don’t you get undressed from the belly down so that we can do an ultrasound?”

“Sounds good,” you agreed easily.

“I’ll be right back,” she said before getting up and walking over to the door, pulling it open and stepping out. 

“Uh, should I..maybe leave too?” Jungkook wondered and you shook your head as you got off of the examination table. 

“You’ve seen my vagina Jungkook, remember?” You giggled as you unbuttoned your jeans, pushing them down. “That’s how we ended up here.”

“Yeah but still,” he mumbled as he averted his gaze and looked down at the ground, making you smile as you pulled your jeans off of your feet and left them folded on the chair next to Jungkook. You then grabbed a thin sheet, placing it over your lap for modesty as you got back onto the examination table. 

“I’m done now,” you called out, giggling when Jungkook lifted his head but still didn’t make eye contact with you. A knock sounded on the door and Dr. Na peeked inside as she pushed it open. 

“All done?” She asked and once you nodded, she stepped inside and paced over to you. “So, what we’re going to do is a transvaginal ultrasound. I’m going to put this transducer inside of you and we’ll be able to see the baby. Lay back for me.” You did as instructed, laying back on the table and setting your feet in the stirrups as Dr. Na put some gel onto the transducer. 

“It’ll be cold and it might hurt a bit,” she warned you, and you winced as she pushed it into you. She then pressed a few buttons on the machine while you watched the screen next to your head. 

“Jungkook, you can come closer,” Dr. Na smiled and Jungkook got up out of his chair, coming over to stand next to where your head was laying. “Do you see this black area here?”

“Yeah,” you and Jungkook replied at the same time. 

“That little white spot inside of it is your baby,” Dr. Na revealed and your eyes widened as you looked at the screen. 

“They’re so tiny,” Jungkook chuckled in disbelief. 

“Y/N, you’re measuring right at 11 weeks,” Dr. Na said. “Does that sound right to you?” You did the quick mental math in your head, nodding your head once you realized that 11 weeks was three months ago.

“Will I be ok to play tennis on Saturday?” You questioned hesitantly. 

“The Korea Open?” Dr. Na murmured and you nodded your head. “You should be just fine. The baby is positioned well and everything in your uterus looks great. Of course, you should listen to your body if anything pops up but as a medical professional, I can tell you that you don’t have anything to worry about in regards to the baby.”

“God, that’s a relief,” you sighed happily. 

“Would you like to hear their heartbeat?” Dr. Na offered. 

“We can hear it already?” Jungkook gasped and Dr. Na nodded, reaching over to press a few buttons on the machine and suddenly, a loud whooshing sound followed by steady pounding filled the room. 

“It’s so strong,” you whimpered, tears welling up in your eyes as you listened to the boom, boom, boom.

“It’s the most beautiful thing I think I’ve ever heard,” Jungkook murmured, tears already slipping down his cheeks. He reached down, grabbing your hand and intertwining your fingers with his and you looked up at him, the two of you sharing a silent look as the sound of your baby’s heartbeat surrounded the two of you. 

..........................................

“Jungkook, fuck,” you moaned, clutching the sheets beneath you as Jungkook plunged his cock into you from behind. After your prenatal visit, your emotions, as well as Jungkook’s, were running high after seeing your baby and you ended up inviting Jungkook back to your place. Once you got there, it didn’t take long for that same sexual tension from the night that you two met to show up again and that’s how the two of you ended up in bed together. 

“So tight Y/N-ah,” he grumbled, palming your ass cheeks in his hands, his grip on your skin tight. You hadn’t had sex with anyone else since the night that you met Jungkook so you thought that maybe that was the reason why he felt so good inside of you, or maybe even because you being pregnant was making you more sensitive than you usually were.  

The truth was though, Jungkook was really fucking good at fucking you. He was just so intuitive, knowing exactly how to kiss, touch, and fuck you in a way that had you falling apart in his hands and feeling like you were loosing your mind. 

“Yes, right there,” you gasped as you felt the tip of his cock nudge against that spot inside of you. “There, just like that.”

“God, come here,” he grunted, pausing his thrusts as he reached down and grabbed the backs of your arms, pulling you up so that your back was pressed against his chest. He wrapped one arm across your chest and stationed his free hand on your hip as he began to thrust into you again, and your body shivered from the change in position and from how much deeper you could feel his cock inside of you.

“Holy fuck, that’s so good,” you whispered, your head falling back to rest against his shoulder. 

“Such a good girl baby,” he murmured into your ear, panting heavily in between his words. “Taking my cock inside of you so well.”

“Feels so good Jungkook,” you purred as you reached up, clutching onto his arm that was stationed on your chest. “So deep.”

“I know baby, I feel it too,” he groaned. “Give me your hand.” He took his hand off of your hip and held it out to you, waiting until you had placed one of your hands in his before he trailed them down your body, settling right below your belly button. 

“Fuck,” you blurted, feeling the small curve of something moving inside of you. “Is that,-”

“That’s my cock inside of you baby,” he finished for you. “Feel it? That’s how good you are for me, letting me get so deep inside of you and fuck you the way you deserve.”

“Shit, I’m gonna come,” you announced suddenly, the mix of Jungkook’s cock and his dirty talk rushing you towards your orgasm. 

“Come on my cock baby,” he whispered and you clutched onto his hand tightly, your other hand digging into the skin of his arm that was on your chest as your orgasm slammed into you. Your body convulsed against his, small yelps escaping you as he continued to fuck you hard and deep. 

“Oh, there we go,” he moaned as the walls of your pussy clamped down around his cock. “Keep coming for me baby, don’t stop.”

“I-I can’t t-take it,” you stammered as your body jostled up and down in time with his thrusts. 

“I’m almost there baby, don’t move,” he said through grit teeth and you just held onto him, moaning as another smaller orgasm hit you. When it did, it triggered Jungkook’s orgasm as well and he came into the condom that he was wearing. 

“Holy shit,” you sighed as you slumped back against him, letting your muscles that now felt like jelly relax and sink into your post orgasm haze. 

“Wait, let me pull out before you get too comfortable,” Jungkook said and you whined as he gently pushed you forward and helped you lay down before looking back down at the condom. “No fucking way.”

“What?” You asked as you watched him pull the condom off.

“It fucking ripped,” he chuckled and your eyes widened as he held up the condom so that you could see the small amount of his cum that was escaping it. “It must’ve happened like this the first time too.”

“You fuck me too hard, that’s why they break,” you commented as you made yourself comfortable against the pillows. 

“That’s your fault,” he replied as he moved to throw the condom into the trashcan that was next to your bed. 

“How?” 

“You always sound so pretty moaning for me, it makes me want to make you come,” he smirked as he laid down next to you and you just rolled your eyes at him. The two of you laid there in a comfortable silence, basking in the post orgasmic glow and feeling of satedness. 

“You know, it’s rare that someone here gets to look over the whole city,” he spoke up after a few minutes and when you looked at him, you saw that he was looking out of the window, where the balcony and your picture perfect view of Seoul was. 

“The company that sponsors me puts me up in this condo whenever I come here and it’s easily my favorite part about coming to Seoul,” you told him. 

“And meeting me isn’t?” He joked as he turned his head to look at you. 

“Keep fucking me like that and maybe it will be,” you teased him, making him smile as he reached over and grabbed one of your hands in his. 

“You know, I’ve been thinking,” he began. “Maybe we should give this a try.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, being together, in a relationship,” he elaborated. 

“Are you serious?” You giggled. “We hardly know each other.”

“True, but we’re having a baby together,” he pointed out as he reached over and set his hand on your stomach. “We’re gonna be co-parents so we might as well try a real relationship out.”

“Jungkook, this is exactly what I was talking about when I first told you,” you said. “I don’t want you to feel forced into having to do anything. You don’t have to force yourself into being with me because you think that’s the best thing for the baby.”

“I’m not forcing myself,” he rolled his eyes. “After you disappeared that night, I always thought about you but I had no real way of contacting you without seeming like a creep. In some weird way, I think that maybe the baby was a chance for us to reconnect.”

“A really extreme chance, huh?” You joked, making him chuckle and nod his head. “So what are you saying? You like me?”

“Wow, real mature way of putting it,” he teased, wincing when you reached over and pinched his thigh. “But yeah, I’m interested in you and I’d like to see where this goes.”

“Jungkook, I’m interested in you too and I do find this chemistry that we have between us intriguing but I don’t think we should really be rushing into anything,” you explained.

“God, are you always so logical?” Jungkook asked. 

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Do you remember when I talked about how people should follow their instincts?” He wondered and you nodded your head. “Do me a favor and stop listening to what your head is saying and listen to your instincts. What are they telling you?”

“To say yes,” you admitted. Jungkook then took his hand that was on your stomach and grabbed onto your hand, pulling on it and bringing up to his lips. 

“Then say it,” he whispered, pressing a few soft kisses onto your skin. You and Jungkook had already done so much out of order, so you figured that it wouldn’t do any harm to actually try this with him. 

“Yes,” you stated.

“Yes what, baby?” 

“Yes, we can try,” you agreed and Jungkook didn’t hesitate to lean over and kiss you passionately. As you wrapped your arms around his neck and opened your legs for him to slot himself in between them, you figured that it definitely wouldn’t hurt to try if it being getting fucked within an inch of your life on a regular basis. 

..........................................

Tag List:  @mwitsmejk @hey-youre-appreciated @bettyschwallocksyee @jaiuneamesolitaiire @knowlestaehyung @missseoulite @afangirllikeme-blog​ @fan-ati--c @d-noona @bang-bang-bangtxn @claricedelune @daydreambrliever @dunixxd @unicornbabylover @paperpurple @addictedtohobi @bbtsficrecs @bts-junseagull @eltrain80

[peralta-guaranteed]

hc or ficlet of teddy proposing you amy again but this time jake decides enough is enough

(Read it on AO3)

“You’re probably wondering why I called you here.” Charles says in a deep, low voice.

“Are we not just having drinks?” Jake asks as he hands Rosa her beer and Charles his fruity rosé-tinted cocktail with a berry garnish.

“No! There are far more pressing matters at hand!”

Jake and Rosa clink their bottles together before the first sip, waiting for Charles to continue on his dramatic tangent, as he needs to do sometimes.

“Amy is going to a seminar in Staten Island next week.” He gives them both a deep stare.

“You might be surprised, bud, but I do know that.”

“Teddy is also going to that seminar.”

Jake stops mid-drink.

“I did not know that.”

“Neither does Amy.” Rosa cuts in. “Or she definitely woulda mentioned it.”

“He’s actually attended this seminar twice before, so I deduced that he’s not going for the learning material this time.” Charles leans back almost triumphantly.

“Yeah, it really doesn’t take a detective to figure that out.” Jake is trying to keep busy peeling the label off of his bottle, but Rosa can tell he’s clearly failing. There’s a furrow in his brow she’s rarely ever seen before.

“We have to stop him! He’s going to propose again, or do something romantic, or make a call-back to the seminar where they met, and Amy’s gonna get all confused-”

“My wife of four years and mother of my son is going to get confused by an unstable ex?” Jake’s voice is - bitter, Rosa thinks, is the best way to describe it, and she doesn’t think she’s ever heard that tone from him. Neither has Charles, it seems, because he backpedals immediately.

“Well, no, but- I mean- Amy is going to be upset- she’s been looking forward to that seminar and Teddy is going to ruin it!” He sputters, and Rosa can’t help but nod.

“And what do you suggest we do about that? We can’t keep Teddy from attending a work-thing, and I’m not going to stop Amy from going.”

“We can- we could kidnap Teddy just for the week, and then-”

“Kidnap a police officer.” Rosa interrupts again. “Because that’s gonna go over so well with the authorities.”

“Well then Jake can go to the seminar as well, and punch him out if he tries anything-”

“Yeah, because Holt’s totally not gonna be suspicious when Jake asks to go to a seminar that doesn’t involve some action training.” Rosa quips.

“I’m also not that big a fan of the idea of punching a man for, like, talking to my wife.” Jake grumbles, the label of his beer now completely gone, and only half-sounds convincing.

“It would be for love!” “It would be fucking creepy, is what it would be. Like I’m laying claim to some property or something in the most machismo-asshole way possible.”

“Yeah.” Rosa nods. “Amy’s a grown woman, she can tell him to fuck off herself, and she’s done it before. She doesn’t need us to bring chaos to her ‘fun’ little seminar.” She does sarcastic finger quotes around ‘fun’, but she also does know how much Amy is looking forward to this boring thing again - it’s her first time away from Mac on her own, and she’s planned her own trip just as meticulously as she’s planned for Jake’s stay with the kid, as if he has never taken care of his own child before, and kept her up to date on all of it in case she needs to jump in and help in any situation (which she won’t, but she might go over for a playdate anyway, just to see her godson).

Charles grumbles a bit more, something about ‘true love’ and ‘knights in shining armour’, but he drops the subject before their first round is finished and they can actually spend a nice evening together.

-*-

Rosa hands Jake a beer in return, once Charles has called it quits for the night because he has to go say goodnight to Nikolaj (Jake facetimed Amy and Mac instead and promised he’d be home soon, to which Amy rolled her eyes and said ‘Sure, babe. Tell Rosa to keep you out longer for some fun, please.’ the same way he had when Rosa had picked her up for a girls night two weeks ago).

“You okay?” She asks as she watches him peel the edge of the label almost immediately.

“Charles has really gotten into my head. I hate it when that happens.” He sighs as he lets go of the paper and drinks instead.

“Again: Amy’s a grown woman.”

“I know.” He’s fiddling with the label again after just one sip. “It’s just that all this Teddy-shit really does upset her. I mean, not in the ‘confused’ way like Charles said, which is bullshit.” The furrow is back for a second, Rosa notes. “But like… she just mulls it over in her head so much and it makes her feel like shit even if she won’t say it. I think the stunts he pulled at our wedding bothered her more than the whole thing actually being cancelled.”

Rosa nods as she takes her own first sip. She remembers Amy’s face when she realised Teddy was also at that stroller-contest thing she dragged her to. She remembers her face when they finally drove back to the precinct together too. She knows her friend, and if there’s anyone who knows her even better, it’s obviously Jake.

“So we gotta prevent that somehow.” She tries to continue the conversation without delving into Charles-level shenanigan-planning.

“”I just don’t want Amy’s first time off from Mac to suck because of some inconsiderate asshole. But I can’t exactly go along with her like Charles suggested, I have a kid to take care of, and also that idea is kinda insane.”

“Guess I gotta make sure it doesn’t suck, then.” Rosa finishes her beer and tries to ignore Jake’s gobsmacked stare at her. She doesn’t know when it happened, but at some point, apparently, she’s become willing to attend a boring seminar for Santiago.

-*-

Howzit goin

learn to write like an adult Peralta

also your wife will not stop talking about your kid

you love him

I do

but I don’t need updates on his bathing habits

no Teddy sightings yet but we’re also way too early because Amy. Keep you posted

Jake smiles at the text chain on his phone and makes a mental note to send her a picture of Mac in the tub later tonight, just to annoy her a bit more. Amy had handed the baby over to him at the precinct like she was going on a year-long world-cruise instead of just a five day overnight stay in another part of their own city, and Rosa had been standing behind her with her travel bag, rolling her eyes.

It had taken surprisingly little to convince both Amy and Holt that Rosa was actually interested enough in the seminar to join it at the last minute, and Amy had immediately included her in her itinerary, as well as offered to drive with her so she didn’t have to carry all her luggage on her motorcycle. Jake was going to owe her so, so many favours after all this.

The Mac-inna-tub picture only gets a grumbling emoji response, but she texts him again at around 9, when Mac is already fast asleep and he’s finally turned on Die Hard at the lowest possible volume to not wake him up again.

Teddy showed up

tried to say Hi (or worse) to Amy but I stared him away

going out for first day drinks with the group. I’ll keep him away. Maybe slip something into his drink.

why do I not question you having something to slip into drinks?

I can do more than just knives

don’t stay up all night watching all Die Hards. You gotta take Mac to daycare early tomorrow

Amy told me to tell you that

sure

and it’s only Die Hard 1 tonight

gonna spread them out over all the evenings

got one night left if you skip 4

The Holiday is on Netflix

you’re a good one Peralta

There’s no more updates until 11am the next morning, long after Mac has gone to daycare right on time, as he’s informed Amy via text to calm her down, and he was at the precinct only 15 minutes late this time.

Teddy pulled out the big guns

he had an actual ring this time. Looked expensive

There’s a sinking feeling in his chest, and he wonders what he should answer before his phone pings again.

I broke the ring

and the box

also his hand (‘accident’ - have to say that for liability)

anyway he’s out of the seminar now I guess because he can’t write anymore

so no need to worry

Jake tries to suppress his grin by biting his lip as he texts her back, Charles already getting a bit suspicious over him smiling at his phone constantly two desks over. He can probably explain it away by claiming he’s been messaging Amy, instead.

You’re my goddamn queen, Diaz

no

Amy is

but I definitely own your ass now too since I have to spend 4 more days in this shit place for you

There’s very few updates the rest of the week (apart from several pics of Amy either working, drinking, or lying hungover in bed in their shared hotel room - Rosa has resolved to make the whole boring thing a whole lot less boring, it seems) even as he keeps texting both ladies with Mac-updates and Mac-pictures.

Amy is all smiles and definitely not upset when they get back to the precinct and he’s already there to pick her up and hand the baby to his excited mama, and even Rosa spares a smile for the two Peralta-boys after the week she’s had.

He sidles up to her as Amy coos over her little boy giving her a hug and hello kisses.

“I really do owe you one, Rosa. Thanks.” “Dude, you owe me several.” She growls. “At least I won’t have to do that ever again. I’d say Teddy’s out of the picture now.”

“Because of one broken hand?”

“Yeah, I visited him in the hospital when he was getting his cast on. To ‘apologise’ for the injury.” Rosa grins, and even her sarcastic finger quotes seem intimidating. “Not even he’s that stupid to try and come back.”

Jake raises his fist, and Rosa reluctantly bumps it before both turn their attention back to Amy, who’s already chatting about weekend plans and offering Rosa a ride home. She takes the offer, if only to play peek-a-bo with Mac in the backseat.

[adrenaline-roulette]

Four Eighths

Pairing: Four x Eight (Reader) Word Count: 8K+ (She’s a doozy!) Warnings: Language, angst, very basic medical procedures *Disclaimer: Hey again guys, so sorry about the delay with this chapter. But I’ll admit, I actually got this posted a lot sooner than I thought I would! So kudos to me I guess? I just want to say a huge thank you to all of those who have been with this story since the beginning, and those who have joined us along the way. This isn’t the end of this story, but I just want to let you all know how much you all mean to me.  And please remember, if you read this story and you like it, give it a like, a comment and maybe even a reblog if you think your followers may like it? I know there isn’t much happening in the 6 Underground fandom these days, but the only way to keep it alive, is if people keep reading and writing for the characters!

All my love my dudes ❤❤❤

Probably best if you check out the other chapters first..... One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten

Chapter Eleven: Don’t let me fall, at least not alone

“Four? Can you hear me?” Billy felt weak, and highly disoriented. His head was spinning, as if he actually was fighting a migraine, unlike the one he was supposed to be faking…. Faking, why was he faking a migraine again? “Four, stay with us!” The voice continued calling out, though why was this person yelling out a number? A name sure, he could understand that. But calling out random numbers? That just served to confuse him more.

“Four, god dammit! Keep your fucking eyes open!” This was a new voice now, one which sounded just as Billy’s eyes had slowly drifted closed against the harsh fluorescent lights above him. How strange, surely these people weren’t addressing him were they?

“Four, please just stay with us a little longer! Five, how are you going with those injections?” The same voice from before was firing orders, her voice holding an edge of fear and concern. Suddenly a shadow appeared above his closed eyes, and carefully he peeled them open, relieved to not be greeted with bright lights, and instead by a shadowed figure. “Billy, please just keep your eyes open for me. You’re going to be fine, I swear.” She was whispering to him, or at least that’s what it sounded like. Though it was hard to be sure, especially as he struggled to keep his eyes from falling shut once more.

How had things turned out like this? The last thing he could recall, was speaking with a woman dressed in white at a reception desk. Then it had all gone blank for him.

*****

You paced around the small living room of the house you had all been calling base for the past few weeks, sucking in deep breath after deep breath, all the while clutching your arms around yourself in a tight embrace. “Nope, I can’t do it. I cannot do this guys!”

Two looked up at you from her gossip magazine, having taken great pleasure in the abundance of French reading material. She was the only one of you in the group to have settled into your temporary accommodation, and was fitting in with the locals perfectly. Rolling her eyes at your outburst, she returned to her reading. It wasn’t that she was being unsupportive, far from it actually. It was just that she had reached her limit of words of support, forty odd minutes ago, at the beginning of your breakdown.

“Yes, you can. You know you can! We’ve been over the plan hundreds of times now, everything is in place. Weapons are stored in the hospital, the Lushnick’s are there, we’ve seen them! Everything is working out according to plan. Four will be on his way to Emergency within a few hours, then it’s all up to us. We can’t leave him.” It was One’s turn to play reassurer this time around, and he was the first to raise Four as if knowing it would get a rise out of you.

You whirl on the spot, eyes growing wide and pupils blown. “I never suggested we leave Four! I ju– I just don’t know if this mission is a good idea is all?”

One sighed, squaring his shoulders before smoothing his hands down his turquoise scrubs. “Eight, if you had one shot, or one opportunity. To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would capture it? Or just let it slip?”

You stare at One, blinking slowly as silence fills the room. “Is – Was that Eminem?” You stammer, shaking your head gently, as if to clear the fog which had settled there. Surely you were mistaken, One couldn’t be quoting Lose yourself, right?....

“Does it make it any better or worse knowing this isn’t the first time he’s used that as a motivational speech?” Seven grins, winking at you impishly.

“I think what makes it worse is knowing that no matter what reaction he got last time, he still decided to try it again!”

“Touché, and dude, get yourself a better speech already!” Seven smirks, patting One on the shoulder as he walks by and towards the kitchen. His uniform shirt half buttoned as he goes.

“Why does everyone know that song straight away?” One groans, looking genuinely confused.

“Because it’s the bloody 2020’s! And not to hate on Slim or anything, but for the love of god, replace your ipod shuffle, and listen to some new music. Please!” You plead, as the startling thought of One thinking lose yourself was a new song creeped its way into your mind, causing you to shudder.

Five steps out of the bathroom, a cloud of steam billowing out behind her. Looking like the absolute goddess she is, with her hair wrapped in a fluffy towel, and a robe concealing her, she fixes you with a strong look. “Eight. You are ready for this. Upon our first mission, we were all terrified. But we pulled through, one way or another we did what needed to be done, and look where we are now. I know what you’re feeling, we all do. We’ve all been there, trust me. But the only way this will work, the only way we will be able to get to the Lushnick’s, is if we stick together and work this mission just as we’ve planned. That means all of us. We can’t be a member short, not this time.” Without waiting for your response, Five walks away, closing a bedroom door behind her.

You have no response, no witty retort. Nothing. Not that it would matter, Five wasn’t there to hear it anyway. Chewing on your bottom lip, you turn back to One, who still looked somewhat put out by your ipod comment. “Has anyone seen my uniform?”

*****  

Just after 11am, Billy made his way to the hospital and into the Emergency department, cradling his head between his palms, and groaning in mock agony. His earpiece was safely tucked in his ear, providing him contact with his team. Contact which he had been severely missing these past few weeks. At first it had been bearable, what with your secret texts on your burner phone. But when One had arrived at the safe house, it had been harder to sneak messages, until finally they had ceased all together. But hearing your voice now, ringing through his ears, he felt like he was home. Despite walking into a hospital.

“Genevieve Lushnick is on the move. Last seen leaving Ward 11A.” You advise everyone.

“She finished her rounds in Paediatrics much earlier, not sure where she’s headed now.” Five recalls, the sounds of crying infants in the background of her voice.

“Usually her roster would have her checking on Geriatrics in Ward 7B next. But She’s already been there. That was her second visit of the day.” Seven advises, though he sounds confused. To be fair, so does everyone else. Genevieve was changing up her routine, something she hadn’t done at all during their surveillance of her. So why now?

“Hold on, let me see if I can track her down through the live camera feeds.” You suggest, the sounds of your fingers flying across a keyboard breaking the silence which followed.

Billy’s concentration on the conversation happening in his ear is cut off by a woman dressed in white sat at the Emergency reception desk. A nurse from the looks of her. “Bonjour, comment puis-je vous aider?” She blinks wide amber eyes up at Billy, who stares back confusedly.

“Uh, En-English?” A part of him wants to chastise himself for not learning French for this mission. But knowing he was playing the part of a tourist he allowed himself some leeway in the preparation department.

The nurse smiles further, though the more teeth she shows the more forced it looks. “Of course. How may I help you today sir?”

“I just flew in a few days ago, and I have an awful headache. I’ve never experienced anything like it before. All lights are too bright, I feel weak, my head is pounding, and I feel nauseas.”

“Has this just begun, or is this an ongoing issue?”

“No, it just started this morning. I took a couple of paracetamol to help when I woke up, but they’ve done nothing.”

The nurse nods her head, looking down at her computer, as Billy adds in a groan for effect. Just as the nurse asks for personal details, One appears from the behind the desk. “Goodness, what’s wrong with this man? He looks like death on two legs!”

Billy repeats what he had just told the nurse, with One nodding along, and playing every part the good doctor. “You need to be seated immediately. Someone, bring me a wheelchair!” One calls in the direction of the wardsmen who are stood around the waiting room. “Jennifer, you need to be more familiar with signs of a migraine. This young man, what was your name sir?”

“James.” Billy moans, falling back into the wheelchair once it appears behind him, laying his head back for added effect.

“Yes, James could have collapsed at any moment. Please be more mindful next time.” One warns, a harsh glare in his eyes directed at the young nurse.

“O-of course Doctor Cleavers. It won’t happen again.”

Billy can barley contain his smirk at the sound of One’s alias, covering his attempted chuckle with a well-timed groan.

“Does anyone have eyes on Gregory?” Two whispers harshly into her earpiece, causing Billy to flinch slightly, just as one does the same. Christ, Two needs to keep her tone down!

It’s Three’s turn to respond first now, who sounds quite proud of himself as he speaks. “He’s up in theatres, doing God knows what to God knows who.” The sound of a trolley filled with rattling dishes being pushed, barely making his mumbled voice audible.

One moves around behind Billy, kicking up the brake on the wheelchair, and pushing him towards the swipe pass activated doors, leading to the Emergency treatment area. The deafening silence flowing through both his and Billy’s earpieces cause the two men to glance at each other nervously.

“How long ago did you see Gregory heading to theatres?” You ask, an edge of worry hinting at your tone.

Yet another long pause, until. “During breakfast rounds… I suppose two hours ago, maybe?” Three no longer sounds sure of himself, which sets in a sinking feeling in all those on the team.

“He was scheduled to finish surgery one hour ago. Has anyone seen him this past hour?” You snap back, perhaps more of a bite in your words than you had intended.

“Negative.” Replies One in a quiet voice, while smiling at fellow doctors as he pushed Billy.

“No.” That was Two.

“Nope.” Five now, who had been awfully quiet so far.

“Neither.” Three mumbles, likely feeling as dejected as he sounded.

“Well you know I haven’t.” Billy smirks. It was a risk him speaking to the group like this, but currently with his head tilted back, and staring up at the ceiling as he was being wheeled down a corridor, no one really paid any attention to him.

“I’ve only seen Genevieve. The two haven’t been together all morning sorry.” Seven whispers.

“Fuck me…” You breathe out, slamming your fists down on the desk. “I can’t see either of them on the live feeds!”

Carefully, Billy lifts his head once again, turning over his shoulder to peer up at One, who was frowning and staring dead ahead.  “Is there a problem Doctor Cleavers?” He mumbles, keeping the act up for anyone who may pass.

“There very well may be.” One mutters, only glancing down at Billy for a brief moment.

The two continue down the corridor for another few minutes, the bright clinical lights beginning to bring on a genuine headache for Billy now. Finally, they come to a stop in a large treatment room, multiple beds lining the walls, all encircled by blue curtains. Some had been drawn for patient’s privacy, while others remained opened. In the centre of the room was a large desk where Nurses and Doctors hurried to and from, collecting and depositing various prescriptions and clinical orders. “James, are you able to stand to bring yourself over to the bed?” One asks, raising his voice enough to somewhat put on a show for those nearby.

The temptation to ask One to pick him up is almost too great to pass up, but knowing that somehow it would come back to haunt him, Billy opts for standing himself. “I think I can manage, thank you Doc.” Standing slowly, Billy pivots on the spot, and shuffles over to the bed, hoisting himself up and laying back.

“We’ll need to bring your fluids up, I’m worried about you becoming dehydrated. We’ll need to cannulate you. Have you ever had a cannula before?”  One asks, waving for a nurse to come and assist him.

“No, I don’t think I have.”  

“Not to worry, it’s relatively quick and painless.”

The nurse hurries over, and listens as One fires orders at him, orders which he had picked up from watching medical shows, mostly scrubs…. “We need James on a drip ASAP, get that started now!”

“Right away Doctor Cleavers.” The nurse agrees, before moving off to grab the necessary equipment.

Billy turns his attention to One, raising his eyebrows in concern. “Are you seriously going to stick a needle in me?” He hisses, emerald eyes flashing in fear.

One shrugs lightly, turning away from Billy to keep an eye out for the nurse. “Well, I’m not going to be injecting you. Can’t say the same for the nurse though.”

Billy wants to scream, at no stage during the briefings had there been any mention of him having a needle jabbed into him! Hell, if there had been any discussions of such a thing, he likely would’ve backed out! Perhaps that was why there was no mention? The nurse reappears, and preps his work station, all the while One, or Doctor Cleavers stays around to supervise the proceedings, occasionally chiming in with his theories as to what the cause for his sudden pain could be.

“Four! One! They’re coming!” Your voice breaks through the stinging sensation of the needle, panic flying through Billy’s veins. “The Lushnick’s! I finally found them on the cameras, they’re headed straight for-” Your voice is broken by puffing breaths, and the sound of your feet pounding on the tiles as you sprint from somewhere else in the hospital.

“Emergency.” Billy finishes, as the two people who he had been staring at photographs of for months now, strut into the treatment room, patients and doctors alike parting like the red sea as the couple head towards Billy and One. Four sets of eyes meet, and no member of either team is willing to break concentration.

“We’ve been expecting you.” Genevieve grins, her canine teeth almost too pointed, like fangs brushing against her ruby painted lips.

“Thank you, Eric, you’ve done a wonderful job here.” Gregory turns to the nurse and nods his head, the nurse returning the gesture and leaving the group.

“Eight for Four, come in Four!” Your voice shouts in his ear, causing Billy to flinch away.

“Ah, that must be the rest of your team I take it? Not to worry, we have our people taking care of them as we speak.” Genevieve shrugs, before turning to One. “Seeing as you’re so good at playing Doctor, you’ll be pushing your friend. He won’t be awake much longer. I would hate for him to collapse.”

At these words, Billy shoots up on the bed, his head spinning as he does so. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Genevieve waves him off, her nails painted the same shimmering ruby as her lips. “Surely you don’t expect me to give away our secrets? That’s not how people like us work.”

One steps behind Billy’s bed, and begins driving it forwards, following behind the Lushnick’s with a scowl. Billy could see the wheels in his mind turning, as he tried to formulate a plan of escape, though from every way he looked at it, they were pretty well fucked. He could feel his body growing tired, and his mind becoming clouded and dazed, whatever they had given him, it was taking over his body quickly, and any minute now he would be useless to the team.

*****

Fuck! The entire team had lost the Lushnick’s! How did that even happen? Seven was supposed to be trailing them, he had been doing so every other day perfectly, but what the fuck had gone wrong today? Your fingers fly across the keyboard, frantically switching between all the cameras in the hospital. Some provided a live feed, while others only offered playback, but at this point in time you would take what you could get. Window after window pops open on your monitor, squinting at the slightly pixelated images to try and identify who was being filmed.

“There!” You practically scream, causing one of the guards walking past your office to jump, turning a concerned look your way. “Sorry, just uh – finally got a fly that’s been harassing me all morning.” You blurt out, though with a shrug, the guard walks on, either having bought the lie or not caring enough to question it further. You gaze back at the image on your screen, it was from one of the playback cameras. Both Gregory and Genevieve were spotted seven minutes ago in one of the staff only corridors, leading between the imaging department and emergency. “Seven minutes…. How long does it take to get there?”

“Three! Come in Three!”

“Bloody hell, no need to yell Eight. What is it?”

“On your delivery route, how long does it usually take to get between X-ray and Emergency?”

Three pauses to think, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he does so. “Roughly twenty minutes.”

“We’re fucked.”

“What? What does that mean?!”

You ignore the frantic questions streaming from Three, the others shortly joining in with their own confusion. But you didn’t have time to address their concerns, right now there was only one thing on your mind. Beating the Lushnick’s to the Emergency room. With your heart hammering in your chest, and breathing coming out in desperate gasps you turn back to your computer, snaking your way into the hospital power grid.

You know how to do this, it’s just like what you did for your museum heist way back when you had met One. But for some reason, your brain can’t seem to summon the image of what you need to do. You could try a keyboard smash now that you’re in the controls, but that could seriously damage literally everything… “Come on, just think dammit.” You snarl at yourself, clasping your hands into fists, and pressing them against your temples.

Eyes springing open, you fix a harsh glare at the blinking screen before you, asking for a password. “Y’all Lushnick’s are fucked.” The password it simple to guess, trust the Lushnick’s to use their fucking last name as a password. They may be smart in what they do, but they sure as hell know nothing about internet security. The screen turns black, with a 3D model of the hospital slowly building itself on your screen. With each scroll of your mouse, the model shifts, and enlarges to a new section of the hospital.  A blinking blue bar in the top left of the screen offers a text space, and going on a hunch, you type in ‘Geriatrics’ and press enter. The model disintegrates into tiny pixels, before rebuilding just the section you had searched. “Brilliant…” You whisper to yourself.

The geriatrics ward of the hospital consisted of one main power source, with a backup which would boot up and provide energy to the most necessary equipment and lights in the event of the main grid failing. “Five for Eight, come in?”

“Eight here, what’s going on?”

“I’m being followed. There’s security blocking off just about every exit on this floor, and no matter where I go, there’s someone behind me, or waiting for me.”

“Has anyone else got this issue?” You call out, eagerly awaiting replies. There’s a resounding yes in response, with the only discrepancy coming from Seven.

“A couple of guards caught up to me in 11B, they’ve brought me along to help catch the infiltrators.”

“So they don’t know you’re a part of this?”

“Seems like it. And from what I gather, they aren’t onto you either…”

“Perfect, Seven stay with your team. There’s about to be a Code Blue in geriatrics. I’ll put the call through to all security to get to the ward, that should give the rest of you time to escape. Rendezvous in Staff corridor D.”

You don’t wait to hear the replies from your team, once again your body working quicker than your mind. Your hands already working on shutting down the power to the Geriatrics ward. You should feel worse than you do, you were putting innocent people’s lives at risk. But the one thing which had been drilled into you from the begging was, the team comes first wherever possible. It was Seven who insisted on this. But who were you to argue with him?

Your eyes are glued to your screen as you watch a warning light appear over the 3D model you had been working with. ‘WARNING! Main power grid will be turned off. WARNING!’ It was rather polite of the system to warn you of the damage you were about to inflict, however the flashing red image did little to stop you. With one final mouse click, a new pop up appeared on your screen. This one somehow even more urgent, despite no red flashing lights. ‘WARNING! Main power grid for geriatrics has now been turned off. Back up system now operating.’ An alarm was blaring throughout your office, warning you and all security who remained nearby of a system failure. “All units. Repeat, all units to Geriatric ward immediately. Power failure. All units report.” You instruct through the P/A system.” Instantly, you watch as two security guards’ race past your office, down the hall and towards the stairwell.

“Five, have they gone? Can you get out?” You ask carefully, keeping your voice low in case of any security stragglers.

“Yeah, they’ve all gone now. Jesus Eight, what kind of a system failure did you make?” You can hear her laughing now, though you know the doctor side of her is genuinely concerned as to what chaos you had caused.

“Nothing that should cause any real harm, but it’s done the trick.” You smirk, locking your computer and stepping out of the office.

You knew the security alert wouldn’t deter the Lushnick’s, hell even if the building was on fire, you doubt they would stray from their current target. But if your calculations were correct, you still had at least five minutes to warn One and Four of their impending arrival. Your heavy combat boots pound against the tiles, sprinting your way towards corridor D, praying the others would already be there, or at least arriving soon. Pressing your index finger against your earpiece, your voice sounding frantic even to you. “Four! One! They’re coming!”. They had time, they had to have time….. But with no response from either, you try again. “The Lushnick’s! I finally found them on the cameras, they’re headed straight for Emergency!”

Nothing, not a single word from Four or One. This wasn’t right, they were supposed to have time still, plenty of time to get out of Emergency and meet you and the team. But as you round the corner to Staff corridor D, there’s no One, and sure as hell no Billy. “Thank God you got here alright!” Five gasps, running over to you and wrapping her arms around you. You had never known her to be much of a hugger, but you suppose high stakes situations like this could change a person. Checking over her shoulder you spot Three, Seven, and Two all talking amongst themselves. “Where’re Four and One?” You ask timidly, stepping away from Five’s embrace slowly, and looking between her and the rest of the team.

No one seems inclined to answer you, which only serves to send a deep chill down your spine, and for a solid mass to feel as if it had been lodged in your throat. Pressing on your earpiece again, you try calling for the two again. “Eight for Four and One, come in both of you.”

There’s again no reply, and your heart feels like it’s being strangled. “I heard some of the guards talking. There was talk of a couple of intruders being found…” Seven begins, his dark eyes meeting yours, with a look which could only be described as true sympathy.

Sharp, electric static echoes through your teams ears, all earpieces but yours going haywire for five seconds, before silence once more. “What the fuck was that?” Three snarls, ripping the piece out and glaring at it between his large fingers.

An all too familiar voice speaks slowly now in your ear, but as you look around you realise this voice was only speaking to you. No one else could hear her. “Well, who do we have here. You’re not the Doctor, I would recognise her voice anywhere. And you’re obviously not the French one, unless you’ve managed to disguise your accent, which I truly doubt. So who are you…”

“I’m not playing any of your sick little games Genevieve. Where is the rest of my team?” You hiss, causing the others to look up and over to you.

“Eight? What’s going on?” Two asks carefully, stepping towards you slowly.

“Who are you talking to? Three asks, lifting his brows up.

“Ah, see. There’s the French one! I knew you had to be someone else! Eight was it? Oh how interesting. So what, did another one of your team die? Is that why you’re here?”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about! I’m not someone’s replacement.”

“Oh aren’t you? Well that just makes this even more special then doesn’t it? Tell me, which one of these charming young men is Four who you seem so concerned about? Is it this ruggishly handsome tall fellow who keeps glaring at me? Or is it the pretty blonde, with the gorgeous green eyes, who’s having a hard time staying awake right now?” It’s an involuntary reaction, but at the mention of Four, your breath catches in your throat, causing a small gasp to escape your lips. “Ah, the blonde it is..”

“What have you done to him? What can’t he stay awake?”

“My my, so many questions! If you didn’t want anything to happen to him, then maybe you shouldn’t have used him a bait silly little girl!”

“Where the fuck is he?”

“I suppose I could tell you, it would be rather enjoyable to see the look on your face as we operate on him, while there’s nothing you can do about it…”

You don’t wait to hear anymore, ripping the earpiece out and throwing it as far down the corridor as possible. “Theatres. The Lushnick’s have Four and One. They’re about to do something to Four.” You gasp out, barely able to catch your breath, as tears prick the backs of your eyes.

“Shhh, Eight it’s going to be fine, I promise.” Five offers, soothing her palm down your back gently.

“Don’t you dare make empty promises.” You growl, shaking her off and racing down the hall, towards the stairwell.

*****  

“What have you given him?” One growls, glaring between both the Lushnick’s and Four who lay on an operating table, barely moving and occasionally groaning. He rattled his arm against the handcuffs which kept him bound to a side railing. He was completely useless, both to himself and to his teammate.

Genevieve turned to him now, regarding him with a cold stare. “I hardly see why that matters now? You can’t do anything to help him, especially not in your current predicament.” She chuckles darkly, before turning her attention back to Gregory. The man barely spoke a word, but the sick sadistic smile which had been growing across his lips these past few minutes, was enough for One to get a better sense of his character.

“At least tell me what you’re going to do to him!” One tries again. He was running out of questions, and by the looks of things, time too. He had hoped he would be able to keep the Lushnick’s occupied long enough for you and the rest of the team to get here, but ever since Genevieve finished her conversation with you, she seemed all the more eager to get this started.

“Well that’s the fun part. Greg doesn’t know yet! Here’s how this works. Greg cuts the patient open, has a bit of a poke and prod around. Takes out what he wants, and then stitches ‘em back up! You never know what will be taken!” Genevieve grins, pressing a red kiss to Gregory’s cheek, who only grins broader.

One has to fight back to urge to both vomit, and throw punches, instead opting to glare at the duo. “You’re both sick, and you’re going to rot in hell once we’re through with you!”

Genevieve waves him off, turning her attention to Four, who was more unconscious than conscious now. Though he occasionally made a slight jolt, or mumbled a quiet sentence. “Should we wait until he is a bit more under before beginning the procedure?”

Gregory turned to her, lifting a brow in curiosity. “And risk the others getting here, before it’s too late for them to rescue him?”

Just as his words die off, a loud crash against the operating theatre door causes both Doctor’s to glance towards the sound. The crash was quickly followed by another, before a gunshot can be heard echoing throughout the circular room, the sound of a heavy body hitting the ground following. “Greg…..” Genevieve whispers, turning to the Doctor, as the double doors slam open. The metallic hingers screeching under the sudden movement.

“Where the fuck is my boyfriend?” You scream, pistol raised, and aimed directly at Genevieve Lushnick.  Seven and Three stand beside you, each holding a gun of their own, with Three aimed at the nurses in the theatre, and Seven poised to fire upon Gregory. Two and Five stand either side of them, aiming at the guards behind them who were writhing on the ground, though they both remained vigilant for any further arrivals.

Gregory lifts a scalpel and hovers it directly above Four’s abdomen, poised and ready to cut. “Ah, you must be Eight.” Genevieve grins, taking a careful step towards you, as Gregory lowers the scalpel closer to Four’s bare skin.

Seven aims at the wall just above where Gregory stands, the bullet ripping a hole in the sterile room, causing Gregory to jump back almost an entire foot. “Don’t even think about trying that again.” Seven hisses, fixing the Doctor with a glare.

“Now now, there will be no need for violence.” Genevieve begins, before taking a look at the guards who were slowly bleeding out in the entry way. “At least, no more violence that is.” She steps forwards again, fixing you with an interested eye. “My goodness you look familiar. Have we met before?”

“I’m positive I would recall meeting someone as wicked and vile as you.” You spit, keeping your pistol trained on your target, your eyes following her every step.

“Hm, yes I suppose so.” You were now engaged in an odd type of dance, Genevieve was slowly circling around you, and you followed her every move, moving in a circle on the spot. “This is where the negotiations begin, I imagine.”

“There will be no negotiations. You tell us what you gave Four, you let him go, and we take you to the authorities who will make sure you both rot in a prison cell for the rest of your sorry lives.”

Genevieve shakes her head no, still walking in her slow circle around you. From an outside perspective, it was that of a lion circling its prey, though to your perspective, you had the upper hand. Or at least, you had the weapon. “No, you see that doesn’t work for us.”

“Fine. You tell us what you gave Four, you let him go, and we kill you both right here, right now.”

Genevieve shakes her head again, looking over to Gregory who was clutching the scalpel for dear life. “Eight, something’s wrong…” One calls, looking over to Four. The young man was beginning to convulse on the operating table. His skin was flushed in tiny pinprick sized red dots, and his chest was rising and falling in rapid laboured breaths.

You chance a glance over to Four, and your heart stops. Something was horrendously wrong. “Five, go check on him!” You screech, turning your full attention back on Genevieve as Five races past you. In a split second, you pocket your gun in the back of your jeans, and lurch forwards, fists griping into the collar of Genevieve’s shirt. You hold the fabric with such ferocity the seams popping in her shirt is almost audible, but your blood is pumping too loudly in your ears for you to hear. “Tell me what you gave him!” You’re practically screaming now, directly in her face, yet Genevieve doesn’t seem phased at all. She was used to outbursts such as this, granted they were typically from a grieving mother or father, and not someone threatening her life, but none the less, it felt like just another day in the office.

“Not until we strike a deal!”

There’s only one thing running through your mind as your eyes lock onto Genevieve’s, the training fight you had had with Three all those months ago. Only this time, there was no one fighting back, you had the power. Your leg steps behind Genevieve’s left, and you sweep out with your entire weight, releasing her collar just as her knees gives way and buckle beneath her weight, and she crumbles to the ground bellow you, her back smacking the hard tiled floor with a crack. Instantly, you’re on top of her, kneeling down against her stomach and pinning her to the ground.

“You bitch!” She shrieks, coughing as she attempts to regain the breath you had knocked out of her, though with almost your entire weight leaning into her now, it was unlikely she would.

“I’m terribly sorry. I guess I lost my footing.” You smirk, pressing your knee harder against her. Causing Genevieve to cry out in pain.

Gregory races forwards, his scalpel dropping to the ground in his haste. “Get off of her!” He calls, wrapping her palms over your shoulders and attempting to tear you away.

Three steps in, shoulder barging him in the stomach and sending the Doctor crashing to the ground beside his wife.

“Guys! I think Four’s having a severe allergic reaction to whatever concoction he was pumped full of!” Five yells, a stethoscope looped around her neck, as her frantic eyes meet yours. “Is he allergic to anything you know of?”

You stare back at Five, your mind going completely blank, you feel like a deer caught in headlights. Surely Four would’ve told you if he had any allergies, right? And perhaps he had done just that, but standing here now, with all hope resting on your shoulders, you couldn’t think of a single thing which may be useful in this situation. Shaking your head, a growing sense of dread filling you, as the rest of the team remain silent. “I- I don’t know….”

“I can give him an Epipen, but I need to know what he’s either had, or what he’s allergic to so I can get him the proper antidote!”

Tearing your eyes away from Five, you look over to One, who not only felt but looked entirely useless, chained to a handrail on the opposite side of the room. Your eyes searching his for an answer. Your mission was to capture the Lushnick’s, and right now, that was exactly what you had done. But if you kept them as they were now, as prisoners, Four could die….. Was that a sacrifice you were willing to make?

All One could offer was a gentle half smile, shrugging his shoulders slightly in his compromising position. He couldn’t offer you an answer, hell you couldn’t even offer yourself an answer….

Carefully, you release some of the pressure from Genevieve’s stomach, just enough for her to look up at you in surprise, blinking wide eyes up at you. “Tell me what you gave him, and we’ll let you both go.” You mutter, fighting back the urge to swallow back your own words.

A wicked smirk unravels over Genevieve’s lips. The kind of smirk which one would associate with a wicked stepmother, or evil queen from a Disney film. “Deal.” You release more pressure from your hold on her, until she can breathe properly once more, and Three steps away from Gregory, giving the man a swift boot to the hip just to make his point. “We gave him a combination of penicillin, general anaesthetic, codeine…” Genevieve stands, as does Gregory, both stepping backwards towards the door. Your team moving out of their way upon looking at you for clarification. No one wanted to move, that much was obvious in the frantic looks the others were throwing your way. But at the same time, they all knew the price they would have to pay if they kept the Lushnick’s as they were now. A price no one was prepared for.

“There was some paracetamol mixed in too….” Genevieve continues. They were at the doorway now, hand in hand, gazing behind themselves to make sure the way was clear. “Hm, what else?”

“Gosh, I just can’t recall.” Gregory shrugs, an evil smirk crawling its way over his lips. His eyes glowing with malice. “I simply have no idea what ese they’re may have been!” He calls with enthusiasm, before both pivot on the spot, racing from the theatre.

“I’ll fucking kill you!” You shriek, your sight going red as you sprint after them down the corridor, pulling your gun out as you give chase. Genevieve looks at you over her shoulder as they reach the stairwell, regarding you with a look of familiarity.

“Eight! Eight, it’s not worth it!” Two yells from the doorway, watching you with a deep concern. She knew what you were capable of, your whole team did, but not the Lushnick’s. And from the looks of things, they didn’t care either. You stop halfway down the corridor, releasing the safety on your pistol and firing three shots at the door Gregory hand his hand pressed against. He jumps backwards in shock, glaring back at you, pure fury masking his features.

“Yes Eight, listen to your friend. She seems to be the brains of this group. We wouldn’t want you getting hurt now would we?” Genevieve snarls, baring too many teeth to be considered even remotely friendly.

Aiming the pistol once more, you line up your sights, finger hovering over the trigger. One shot, that’s all it would take. A bullet to the middle of Genevieve’s forehead would kill her instantly, and Gregory would have no choice but to surrender. “Are you going to kill me? Shall I say hello to Kellie when I see her?”

You stare at Genevieve, her words ringing through your ears, and sending a jolt of shockwaves straight down your spine. In that moment of hesitation, the Lushnick’s push through the stairwell door, and flee.

You’re paralysed on the spot, staring after where the Lushnick’s had stood moments ago. They recognised you. They knew who you were and why you wanted revenge. But how? It had been years since you last saw them, you had been a child! Surely you looked different now from back then? But they knew you! They remembered Kellie… A gun shot rings down the corridor, the sound of metal clanging to the tiled floor following directly after.

“Eight! What happened?” One yells, now free of his handcuffs, and jogging down the corridor to meet you. You hadn’t moved. Still stood with your arms raised, and gun pointed to where Genevieve had stood.

“They – They knew me.” You gulp, putting the pistol away with shaking hands, and turning to look up at One. Tears were brimming in your eyes, though you refused to let them fall. At least not yet.

“What? But how?”

“I don’t know! That’s the fucking problem.” You hiss, storming away from One back towards the theatre. Once back, chaos surrounded Four, with everyone racing around him handing various different equipment and medications to Five, as she prepped some kind of antidote perhaps. “How’s he doing?”

Five looks up at you, regarding you with a careful mix of sympathy and hope. “The EpiPen gave him enough adrenaline to wake up again, though he’s extraordinarily groggy. Now I’m just tyring to figure out exactly what to give him to counteract the other shit that’s pumping through him.”

You nod your head in thanks, knowing you would find the time to thank Five properly once all of this was over. “What can I do to help?”

“We need to try and keep him awake, he keeps coming in and out of consciousness.” Three replies, as he passes Five a vile of clear liquid.

“Four? Can you hear me?” You ask carefully, stepping over to him and squeezing his hand tightly. His warm fingers curl around yours in reply, before falling limp against your palm.

“He’s out again! Wake him up!” Five yells to those in the room.

“Four, stay with us!” You plead, pressing a soft kiss against his knuckles. To hell with anyone seeing the act of intimacy, if One wanted to give you shit for it, he could do so when you were all in the clear. Though checking the room, you can’t find One or Two for that matter, they must still be in the corridor where you had left them?

Slowly, Four blinked his eyes open, frantic emerald flickering around the room and searching for something, or someone. Just as his eyes landed on yours, they fell shut again, and his body spasmed once more.

“Four, god dammit! Keep your fucking eyes open!” It was Seven yelling this time, his voice booming above all other noises in the vast room.

“Four, please just stay with us a little longer! Five, how are you going with those injections?” You can hear the tears in your voice as you beg for him to open his eyes again, but they remain closed. Turning to look at Five, she looks frazzled. Her hair which had started in a neat, slicked back bun, was now hanging loose down her back, and was wild with frizz. She looks up at you, not quite in a glare, but with enough ferocity behind the look that you know better than to bother her anymore.

Leaning down, you card your fingers through Four’s blonde curls, brushing away a few stray locks which were plastered to his forehead with sweat. Barely more than a slit, his eyes open and stare directly up at you. “Billy, please just keep your eyes open for me. You’re going to be fine, I swear.”

Three looks over at you, his ears perking up at the use of his teammates real name. It was one thing to use names in privacy back home. But during a mission, however failed that mission may be, now that was new. Shaking his head, he spots One and Two heading over, but with grim looks on their faces. “What’s the plan?” Two asks, her eyes locking with Three’s.

“There isn’t one, not really. We just need to keep him awake.” Five sighs. “I think I know what to give him to help, but I want him awake when I administer it. If it works correctly then it should knock him out for a bit. If he’s already unconscious when I give it to him, then I won’t know if it’s doing more harm than good.”

One turns his attention over to you now, lifting one brow as you meet his gaze. “Any idea what will keep him awake?”

You pause, clutching Four’s hand tightly, and staring blankly at One. “Trivia. He loves random trivia facts!” You blurt out after a beat of pause. All eyes turn to you in surprise, no one quite knowing how to respond to this information. You shrug lightly, averting your gaze from One’s. “We play a lot of trivial pursuit back at base.”

Seven is the first to break the silence, though not to mock you as you had thought would be the case. Instead, he looks down at Four. “Hey mate, did you know high heels were originally invented for men. Imagine Three chasing down the Lushnick’s in stilettos.” He laughs, which causes Four to stir slightly, his eyes opening just a tad.

“Fuck, you’re right. That did work.” One blinks in surprise, running a hand through his short hair.

“Of course it did. I know Four, I know what works on him.” You mutter quietly.

Without looking up, Five smirks to herself. “You sure do kid.”

There’s no fighting the embarrassment which claws within you. Perhaps now wasn’t the time to be making suggestive comments… “Alright, keep ‘em coming guys!”

“Um okay…. Uh, Canada has more lakes than anywhere in the world.” Seven offers unsurely.

“Those greedy fucks….” Four moans, causing everyone to pause, before laughing quietly. Good, his sense of humour was still intact, that’s surely a good sign!

Two steps closer, and looks down at Four in deep concentration, before leaning back slightly. “David Bowie, he did not in fact have two different coloured eyes. One of his pupils was permanently dilated after he was punched in the eye during an argument over a girl.”

“Bugger me, really?” Five pipes up, both brows raised in surprise. “I always thought he had one blue and one brown eye.” She shrugs, priming a syringe carefully.

Slowly, Four was waking up. Granted he wasn’t exactly moving very much, but his eyes were opening, and he was grinning somewhat at the facts that were being thrown at him.

Staring down at Billy, something pops into your mind, a fact which you had learnt years ago at school but never shared with anyone else. “Okay, here’s one for you. Madonna’s like a prayer, is actually not about praying, it’s about giving someone a blowjob!”

Silence follows, and you swear you could hear crickets chirping. “Why the fuck is that something you know?” Four groans quietly, his eyes searching all over your face, before finally meeting your own.

“Shit, I don’t know… I also didn’t think that would be the fact that would wake you up the most! I was hoping someone else would say something after me!” You grumble through a grin.

“Nothing could possibly beat that fact.” Four chuckles weakly, squeezing your hand as tightly as he could muster.

Five turns around, holding a full syringe in her right hand, and a sterile swab in the other. “Glad you’re awake. What I’m about to give you however, is going to send you right back to sleep. Sorry about that. But I assure you, next time you wake up, you’re going to feel amazing.” She grins, ripping open the swab, and swiping it over the inside of his elbow.

For the second time that day, Four winces in pain as a needle plunges through his skin. Squeezing his eyes shut against both the sight of the injection, and the stinging pain. Whatever Five had given him was fast acting, and soon enough Four finds it nearly impossible to reopen his eyes now that he’s closed them.

“Move him into the wheelchair there, it’ll be easier than carrying him out of here.” You suggest, pointing to the blue cushioned wheelchair in the corner of the room.

One, Three and Seven all nod their agreement, and move around the operating table, getting into position to lift Four. “Count of three…. One, two, three.” Three instructs, as the men lift Four who simply groans in protest. You watch his limp body be carried across the room, your heart aching at the sight. ‘It could be worse… He’s just asleep.’ You repeat to yourself, once again fighting back the tears which had remained ever present at the corners of your eyes.

Three pushes the wheelchair as you all follow in a daze. Your mind felt as if it were a million miles away from the current situation. For the briefest of moments, you had genuinely considered murdering Genevieve. Never once had you thought yourself capable of doing such a thing. But yet, there you had been. Gun poised, and trigger finger rearing to go. If it hadn’t of been for her words, then she would be dead…

The escape route was an easy one, especially with security still trying to figure out what had gone wrong on the geriatrics ward still. Swiping the keys to an ambulance at the docking bay, you load Four inside the back with Five to monitor him. One drives, Three and Two sitting beside him up the front. While you and Seven sit quietly in the back. Occasionally your focus returns to Four, but mostly you stare out of the back windows, watching as traffic zips around you. You nearly killed someone today… What sort of a person were you becoming? And did you even like the person you were turning into?

Four Eighths taglist (If you would like to be added, please let me know!) @sj-thefan  @not-the-cleavers  @jinxfirebolt18902  @softnorris  @dear-vista  @mixer2b  @rintheemolion  @shane-isa-shame  @keithseabrook27  @tammykelly  @himarisolace​  @buckingpeterparker​  @cailin-lefantasy​  @riddikuluslysirius​  @vivalakatee​  @pxroxide-prinxcesss​

My Masterlist for all my other nonsense! 

[fluffypeachwriting]

Hello again! I'm so glad to see your work again (I loved nemu's interviews and just went back to read them!) and I truly hope you're doing well!

And by the opportunity, could I possibly ask for a fem co-worker of Hitoya's helping him out during a stressful week at the office (for both of them) whatever you think it entails,

thank you so much for sharing your writing with us!

I’m glad you enjoyed Nemu’s interview, because it was really fun to do! It was nice to get a better feel for her character and how I’d write her. Me... I’ve been better, but I’m okay!  (o´▽`o)

I hope you enjoy this nice slice-of-life Hitoya scene! I’m still trying to get the hang of his personality, so forgive me for any ooc moments.  ( ´ ▿ ` ) I think Hitoya would be really nice to have as a co-worker.

You winced upon seeing the client storm out of Hitoya’s office. It was another one of those people who would never be happy, no matter what the outcome of their case was.

Just before the door closed, you caught a glimpse of Hitoya, sitting at his desk, and he didn’t look happy in the slightest. Finding him so downtrodden was sad, since he always worked so hard, and with the best intentions.

Having just finished what you urgently needed to do for the day, you took it upon yourself to cheer him up. Hitoya appreciated small gestures more than lavish gifts, especially at work, and you found yourself in the office kitchen before you knew what you were going to do. It was only 11AM, so it wasn’t really the appropriate time for whisky. Instead, you got up from your desk and headed to the kitchen to make him a coffee. You had had enough breaks together to recall his favourite coffee from memory: next to no milk, with a hint of vanilla syrup. You also took a few coffee biscuits for good measure.

You steeled yourself to enter the office, only to find Hitoya mumbling to himself once you stepped inside. He was close to putting his head in his hands.

“If there’s two things I hate, it’s –”

“– people who don’t listen, and cold coffee?” You said, trying to lighten the mood.

He looked up from his desk, and his face softened when he saw you. A small smile pricked at Hitoya’s mouth – you did something right.

“I can’t do anything about that client, but I hope this helps.” You set the coffee down on the desk. “Would you like some time alone?”

There was silence for a moment as Hitoya thought. He reclined in his seat, letting the cool air from the open window blow through the room. It felt like evening for a moment, and with how slow today was going, you really wished that was the case.

“No, you can stay. Your company’s nice.” He gestured to the chairs beside his desk.

“Woah, a compliment? It’s my lucky day.” It wasn’t often that Hitoya was keen on socialising during work hours, so you didn’t hesitate to sit down.

“Don’t push your luck. I hate to break it to you, but that client is about to be our client. You’re working on this case too, starting tomorrow.”

“Oh man… I mean…! Good to be working with you. I know we can get a good result!”

You did your best to hide your disappointment. Working with the general public wasn’t the easiest job, and both of you were fully acquainted with this unfortunate truth. However, Hitoya was close enough to you that he could see through your politeness too easily. He found it endearing when you first started, now it was just a way to avoid complaining about temperamental clients.

“Whatever result we get, it’s gonna be a tiring one. Either way, I won’t settle for failure.”

“Well… we can go out for coffee after we’re done with this case! I can pay, Hitoya.” It was the least you could offer in return for Hitoya’s motivation, which always showed itself, even in the face of the worst cases.

“It’ll take a while to get anywhere with this one – let’s go somewhere for lunch, today. And thanks for the idea.”

“You got it, boss!”

“Heh, ‘boss’? If you say so. We can call it for this morning.” He threw up his hands in defeat and gathered his things.

“Call it?”

“Get your coat.” Hitoya downed his coffee and stood up from his desk, “Let’s talk more somewhere else – and not about work. And another thing: I’m paying.” Hitoya said, matter-of-factly.

“C’mon, Boss. This case is both –”

“No work talk. Are you in the mood for sweet or savoury?”

“Give me some time to think. What are you in the mood for?”

Through the office and out the front door, you and Hitoya were deep in conversation about various lunch foods, already weary from this work week. It would be tough, but as long as Hitoya was there, you knew you could both make it out onto the other side in one piece.

[stab-the-son-of-a]

Whumpers Only

I wish I could explain how this got away from me but I have no words. Not quite a caretaker, so, sorry anon, but here you go.

CW: Brief drug and alcohol mention

The itemized call history that crossed Detective Vance’s desk is deceptively extensive and several pages thick, despite being only for a few months’ span of time. Forensics still have their hands all over the cell phone itself, and the detective has a few choice words they could say about the forensic team’s work ethic, but they’re not in the practice of layering their insults in honey. Their bread and butter is to to dig and root around for information, like some sort of truffle pig, and their tongue is regularly knotted. The detective finds themself quite defective when it comes to spinning the same pleasant, nuanced banter, certainly not enough to keep up with the man down in forensics with the sugar sweet smile.

So, itemized call list it is. It took the detective an obscene amount of time to cross reference the numbers against every possible database and to confirm the pattern to the suspect's behaviors and narrow down which numbers are legitimate. Most of all, which of these numbers matches the spurious rumor of a hotline.

A ��whump’ hotline. There are many, many similar mentions in certain circles and apparently coded messages sent through various forms of advertising, and yet, this is the closest Jesse has come to interacting with that sphere. They’re not sure, but they think that might be why they still can’t bring themself to finish dialing.

The information has always been there, readily accessed in the same sort of way drugs and alcohol are accessible - a thinly veiled barrier, a little social based pressure to avoid or partake depending on the circles. For years, Jesse has been a teetotaler and avoided whump content in any respect, and kept that influence from their life.

It’s odd to abandon that part of their life, that internal badge of never having indulged.

It’s for a case, however, so they finally stop their waffling and dial.

Not long after, on the second ring, someone picks up. “Hello and thank you for calling 1-877-WHMP-NOW, the whump specialist hotline.” The person on the other end, an operator of some sort, offers a friendly greeting.

Off balanced by just how cordial the other person sounds, Jesse hesitates a moment to collect themself. They just have to pretend to want to be a whumper. That couldn't be too hard. “Um…” they mumble, then clear their throat. “Um, hi, I... want to learn to whump. My name is-”

“Oh. Excuse me, I’ll have to place you on hold while a representative finishes with another client.”

The cheery hold music is far more underwhelming than anything else and Jesse frowns at the phone, as if it’s the device’s fault, before sighing and settling on their couch, one leg tossed over the arm while they wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Eventually they start mirroring the words of the automated voice recording, interjecting with their own commentary in the brief pauses between statements.

“All our lines are busy at the moment.”

“And here at Whump Corp or whatever these moments last a lifetime,” Jesse snorts as they try yet again to find another position on the couch. Their curly hair serves little by way of cushioning from the carpet as they sit upside down. The phone sits a few inches away from their head, speakerphone enabled, and Jesse crosses their hands over their stomach and their ankles behind the back of the couch.

Undeterred, because of course, the message continues, “Please remain patient. Your time is very important to us. We will be with you momentarily.”

“Momentarily means for a short period,” Jesse corrects under their breath. It’s a small pet peeve, something that normally wouldn’t have drawn their attention either, but as they hear the same spiel for the dozenth time, it’s like getting the last final small pebble thrown in their face- just enough to burst the dam. "Not in a short period of time."

“We are currently experiencing greater than usual call volume. Continue to hold the line, and you will be connected as soon as possible.”

“How many people can there even be calling at 11am on a Tuesday?” Gravity draws Jesse’s blood into their head until the pressure and dizziness build uncomfortably. They roll off the couch and root around in their mini fridge for a drink. At this volume, they can hear the same three bar hold music repeat yet again, despite the distance. Cracking the seal on their iced tea, Jesse settles cross legged beside the cellphone. “Don’t whump on company time, guys, jeez.”

“Just a moment please, the next available team member will be there for you shortly.”

Letting out a drawn out groan, Jesse lies back and stares up at the ceiling. It’s been hours. “Starting to think I’m waiting for the next available team member to be born.”

Click. Jesse bolts upright, fumbling with the phone and nearly yeeting it across the room in their haste.

“All of our employees are currently busy assisting other clients,” the new voice announces. The faint static and electric tone warns Jesse that they’ve simply stumbled into another robot. “Your call and phone number has just been noted and a representative will call you back as soon as possible. We thank you for your understanding.”

“What?” That doesn’t make any sense. Jesse runs a hand through their curls, only to freeze as the line goes dead. “What?! No! I did not just sit through hours of happy fun time hold music just to get hung up on by a robot!”

Except that’s exactly what just happened.

They stare down at their screen in acute betrayal. What now? Try again? Their number is now in a whump call center database of some sort.

-

Half an hour after the call disconnected, Jesse still hasn’t moved from their position. Their mind is a blur as they try to figure out what it is they really ended up doing- if they would have to explain themself and the call to anyone- their family, friends, service provider, work. They don’t even know if anyone will know, let alone if they will care.

The house is absolutely silent, the muted television still playing in the background as they’d forgotten to turn it off or to return the volume.

Silent until the phone rings. Shock and no small amount of recklessness has Jesse answering the unknown number.

“Hello, and thank you for holding!” It’s the operator from before- Jesse recognizes the faint impediment or accent that sharpens the glottal sound of their h’s.

“I wouldn’t call that holding,” Jesse grumbles.

Either not hearing them, or not addressing their commentary, the operator continues, “At this time, I'd like to let you know that this call may be recorded for quality assurance and training purposes. Please answer the following survey questions.”

“I’ve been on hold for hours and you want me to perform a survey? About what? I haven’t even gotten helped!”

“I’m sorry you feel that way, friend. Were you highly satisfied with your service experience?”

Bewildered, Jesse cries, “No!”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Did you receive the result you needed from your service interaction?”

“What interaction?!” Are they in the Twilight Zone? Are they still speaking English? Did they have a stroke and now they’re mumbling incoherently? What sort of madness was this, an elaborate prank?

“Thank you for your response. Did you receive friendly service?”

“I didn’t get any service! Rude would have been preferable!”

“Your feedback has been noted.”

Jesse groans again and scrubs their face.

“Was our service timely and convenient?”

“Not on your life!”

“Thank you for your responses. Now, would you recommend our service to others?”

They can feel their head pulsing and pounding, a twitch behind their temple and their eyebrow jumping, but as soon as they hang up, their blood pressure begins to lower with a rush of relief.

Their iced tea now room temperature and bitter, Jesse takes a few more sips and leans against the couch, resting their neck against the cushion. “What a disaster,” they sigh.

After a few seconds of blissful silence, their phone goes off again. Swiping the decline button with a vicious smirk, they return to enjoying what more of their day they can.

Said enjoyment ends with another call, and another.

“Fine! Hello?”

“I’m sorry, it seems we were disconnected. Please finish providing your feedback so we can improve our services.”

“My feedback is that this was an exercise is madness! You kept me on hold for over two hours, but you’ve repeatedly called me for a stupid survey when before you couldn’t give me the time of day!”

“I’ve very sorry you were not satisfied with the level of response and attentiveness. You are welcome to try calling again tomorrow-”

“Absolutely no-”

“As I was saying, Mx. Vance, you may call the hotline again tomorrow during regular business hours. Thank you for completing the survey and for calling 1-877-WHMP-NOW. Have a whumpderful day!”

“A pun?” Jesse tosses their phone to the couch and storms off to the bathroom to wash the rage and boiling heat from their face. “All that for a stupid pun?!”

-

Over at the call center, Gladys and Fran sit huddled around the phone, Gladys actually sitting on the desk and perched precariously on the edge. The speaker button still flashes from the abrupt disconnection.

“Did you hear them?” Gladys roars with laughter, holding her aching ribs. It took everything in her willpower and then some to keep quiet, both while listening to the detective while they were on hold, but especially while Fran spoke with them. Now free, she lets loose, uncaring of who else hears her. “Oh God, oh man, I’m gonna bust a rib. Babe, you’re the best.”

“I’m actually proud of that pun. Like, really proud.” Fran takes out their pen and quickly scribbles that one down.

“Uhhh, Fran, I’m pretty sure Craig in finance already-”

They raise up one finger imperiously and continue to write. “Let me have my moment, Glady-girl. Just this once.”

Smiling, she rolls her eyes and slides off the desk. “Since you gave me the best lunch break surprise ever, want to head down to the cafe?”

Fran takes a final quick look at their work space, how messy and disorganized it is now that it’s no longer Gladys’s chair, considers the amount of time left in their shift and how long this high of a well played prank might last, and wheels back from their desk. “Lead the way!”

“Oh, no, you’re my hero,” she insists, dramatically bowing to allow them to go ahead of her. The angle is perfect for a quick peck on the cheek before they make their way down the corridors.

[foronceleavemealone]

Long time no see

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 

A/N: First time writing. Really wanted to write, but I think this is very bad. I don’t know how repetetive this is, but to me it seems very repetitive. Please be kind, but also I’m open for roasting. This isn’t a reader insert, this is more of an OC, but not really either. I feel like it’s somewhere in the middle. The watch that I wrote about is inspired by this watch. Also I don’t know much about 90s fashion, especially work fashion/clothing, I just think those type of necklaces that I made her wear look very neat. 

Summary: She’s very done with work. On her way out she sees an old friend and they begin to catch up.

Pairing:�� Javier Peña x OC (I guess? But it can also be an insert. Seems somewhere in the middle for me. idk..)

Genre: angst(ish), fluff(ish)

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

She layed in her bed on her left side staring into the distance of the room. Her heartbeat felt a lot more annoying than usual and even in a way painful. She looked at the clock. 4.37am. Not too bad?

‘If I fall asleep right now I'll be able to sleep for 3 hours and 23 minutes, which isnt that bad. I've had worse’. But she couldnt fall asleep. Various thoughts were plagueing her mind. After a couple more hours she couldnt take it anymore.

“For fucks sake” she mumbeled to herself and looked at the clock. 6.42. “good enough”  she got up and went to the bathroom. Getting ready took up quite some time. She did want to look professional one last time. White button up, with a couple upper buttons undone, black blazer, black pants, black heels, a lariat necklace and a watch completed her look. She never liked pencil skirts. Not that it was a statement of some sort, more so that it made her feel uncomfortable. The hip hugging sensation, the way it looked, it just wasnt her cup of tea. Also she couldnt get much field work done in them.

She looked at herself in the mirror.

‘Looks like I'm going to a funeral’ a thought ran through her mind. In a way this was a funeral. The funeral of her career.

She thought about having breakfast but was too afraid to ruin her clothes.

‘Why didn't I think about this’ is all she thought mentally cursing at herself for not planning the little things.

She grabbed an apple, took a few bites and realised that that was not going to work, the nerves were kicking in and food didn't seem like their right companion. She grabbed her keys, her bag and went to take the last trip to the HQ.

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

“Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?” her boss asked.

“Absolutely. I don't have any doubts” she said with a smile forming on her lips, but she knew she wasn’t sure. 

“Well, it's difdicult to let such people like you go. It's tough losing good agents. But I wish you luck”

“Thank you. It was an honor working here and with you, sir” she said as she stood up.

“Likewise” her boss put out his hand and she reached out a shook it.

They nodded to each other and she walked out of his office.

It's not that she was a bad agent. Like her boss said, she was good, great, fine. But not great enough. She always felt underappreciated, but that wasn’t the reason why she decided to resign, or so she thought. It was everything else. Both physical and mental trauma. Getting shot left it's toll. She was never severely injured and thank goodness for that, but a couple of bullets pierced her arm once, one went to her lower abdomen and not to mention the times the tac vest saved her life, only leaving a pain in her chest rather than a gaping wound. All of these incidences made her think that maybe she was not only a lousy shot, but also a bit shortsighted, not quick enough, yet she never spoke about these worries and kept everything to herself. The physical scars were fine, they healed and stopped hurting, but the mental ones... She never forgot those moments when she got shot, or when she shot someone else. Losing coworkers left a mark. Losing partners, now that  left a huge mark... After working for what felt like centuries, she started thinking whether this is really making any difference. Is it actually doing any good? So many people dead, so much blood shed, so many lives ruined. Being morally gray? Yeah, seems about right.. 

Working overtime surely didn’t help the situation. She wasn’t a workaholic, at least that’s what she had told herself. Working overtime, obsessing over details and usually getting little to no progress at all led her right into burn out teritory. And one day, she had enough. She talked to her boss about quitting after she finishes off one last case. He tried to talk her out of it, somehow drag out the case, giving her more paperwork or by making her chase loose ends, hoping she would change her mind. She did her job, being the great agent she is (or was), and finished everything yesterday. As she handed the case report to her boss, a letter of resignation was attatched to it. Today she only came in to gather the rest of her stuff from her office and tie up any loose ends, and say goodbye to her coworkers. 

She didn’t have that many things in her office. She kept it simple, nothing too personal. She didn’t even need a box, she had cleared most of the framed honors yesterday. She looked through the rest of the office to see if she forgot anything. She checked the drawers of her desk and in one of them there was something she’d left yesterday, not knowing whether to leave it there, throw it out or take it with her. It was a watch. She hesitated.

“Oh what the hell” she said as she took it and put it in her pocket. 

Finally she was done. She didn’t even stop to look at the now empty office. She was quite done, she had been for a while. She started walking down the corridor. As she reached the first floor she glanced at her watch.

“11am, not too bad” she mumbled to herself. 

She looked up and a few meters right in front of her she saw a man. They locked eyes and something felt so familiar, so nice, so heartwarming. A smile formed on the man’s face.

“My my my, what a sight for sore eyes” she said with a huge smile which almost made her chuckle.

“Sad to hear your eyes are sore” he said and chuckled a little bit himself while going in for a hug. He smelled like he always had (she could never tell the exact composition, but it reminded her of cardamom and cedar) and she found it comforting in a way, especially on this day. 

“How have you been?” she asked pulling away from the hug.

“I’ve..” he hesitated for a bit while looking at her. “I just resigned. Had enough of this bullshit”

“Oh wow. How come? I heard you did a great jo-”

“I did what I had to do. Or at least what seemed right to do” he said as he looked at the floor. “Anyway, what about you, how have you been?” he asked trying to change the subject.

“Oh I... I actually quit today too” she said, with a little quiver in her voice.

The man looked at her and raised an eyebrow. This not only surprised him, but made him a little bit upset. He was never big on picking up emotions and feelings, but this just felt somehow a bit off.

“You? Quitting? That doesn’t seem like you”

“Well, I had enough of this bullshit too”. She forced a smile.

“So, are you done for today then?” 

“Yeah, pretty much so. I was just about to head out. Go...home.” she said with a sudden wave of sadness washing over.

“Wanna get a drink?” He thought that whatever she was going through could be washed away with a drink, at least for a moment.

“It’s like 11 am”

“Right... and I forgot you don’t drink”

“Yeah, I don’t drink. So how about some coffee?”

“Yeah, sure”

“Javier Peña, man of many words, like always” she smiled with some memories flooding her mind.

“Shut it” he said smiling, feeling surprisingly blissful at the sight of her smiling.

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

“So why did you quit?” Javier asked bluntly.

“Straight to the point, huh” 

He tilted his head a bit and smiled.

“It just doesn’t seem like you. You always seemed to love the job, the rush it gave you”

“It did once. But it was getting too much. And I couldn’t take it after I lost my partner” she said with a shaky voice. She visibly got upset, but cleared her throat “sorry” she smiled.

“No, it’s ok. We don’t have to talk if you do-”

“No it’s fine. I should talk about it. It’s been months. And the longer I keep it to myself the worse it’ll be”

Just as she was about to begin talking the waiter came and brought their drinks.

“Thank you” she said to the waiter and flashed a smile. Javier always loved how she was kind like that.

“Black coffee? I thought you hated straight up black coffee” 

“Well, I thought I’d spice up my life with something I don’t usually get” she said and took a sip, regret forming on her face.

“How’s that spice?” Javier said trying not to laugh.

“It’ll... It’ll grow on me”. They both giggle. 

“I’ve heard that many times before. It’s been years and still no progress” he said still trying to control the slight chuckle.

“It’s really been years, hasn’t it?” she said and looked at him. They both stared into each other’s eyes for a bit, some form of nostalgia washing over both of them, until she reached out into her pocket and pulled something out. “Speaking of years, or well, time I guess. Here’s what I found”. She showed Javier that silver watch she took from her drawer before she left the office.

“No way.. is that? Is that my watch?” he said and reach out for it. She handed him the watch, their hands touching for a bit and she remembered that day.

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

It was a hot summer day and the car surely wasn’t parked in a shade before they got in it.

“Oh fuck” Javier said as he sat behind the wheel. 

“You could actually cook something in here” she said and fanned herself with her hand. 

They sat in silence for a bit. Javier rubbed his face with his hands while she sat on the passenger side with the door wide open, rubbing her right temple. 

“Are you sure you’re ok?” Javier asked as he looked over to her.

“Yeah, I’m fine. He knocked the wind out of me, but everything seems fine”

“He would have thrown you out the window”

“He would have done a lot more, if it weren’t for your quick thinking. Thanks by the way”

“That’s the least I could do for a partner” Javier said as he looked her up and down.

They sat in the silence for a little bit.

“He tore off my watch, broke it” she said as she rubbed her left wrist, which most likely hurt since her facial expression shifted once she touched it. “It was my dad’s gift” she said with sadness in her voice.”I have a date tonight, and I don’t even know what time it is” she smiled a bit, thinking to herself that it was a bit absurd to think about such a thing after all that just happened. 

Javier looked at his watch.

“Well it’s currently 6:47pm. And as I remember you have that date at 8pm.” Javier looked at his watch for a bit too long and unclasped it. “Here, take it” he said holding out his watch.

“What? Javi, I don’t need a watch that desperately, I’ll manage” 

“Just take it for tonight, I know you don’t wanna be late, you like that guy. And we always get too focused on paper work to pay attention to the lobby clock” 

She looked at his hand with his watch in it and thought for a moment before reaching out and touching Javier’s hand.

-------

“Some last day of trainee work that was” Javier said placing the watch on the table and bringing her back to present day. It seemed like he was reliving that same moment. “And you’ve kept the watch for so long” 

“I forgot to return it the next day. And then we were transfered to different locations. I couldn’t just throw it out. I always wanted to return it.” 

“It stayed with you for that long you should keep it” Javier said and took a sip of his coffee. 

“Well it did get me through that date”

“Some date that was. You married the guy” he said with some heartache and bitterness, regretting his words seconds after as he cursed at himself, he should’ve thought more before speaking, he didn’t want to upset her. 

“Some marriage that was. We ultimately got divorced” she took a sip of her coffee to wash away those rancid words with the bitter liquid, but decided that she hated it.

“Sorry for bringing it up” Javier said and looked at his own coffee cup. He felt like he was hitting all of the wrong spots today. Like poking a wounded animal with a stick. He didn’t want to do that. He’s been fond of her from their academy days and the feeling always increased with their every meeting, especially when they moved up from being just trainees to special agents.They didn’t get to see each other as much, but they would run into each other from time to time, catch up. The last time they had a catching up session like this was after the Escobar case, right before Javi went to spend some time back at his hometown. 

“No, it’s fine.. It’s fine. So what are you going to do now that you’re free?” she emphasised the word free.

“I’m going back to Laredo. Gonna spend some time with my dad, help him out. He’s not getting any younger. What about you?”

“Oh, I don’t....know” she said as she twisted the cup of coffee in her hands.

Javier didn’t like this mood she was in. Quitting her job, not having a plan on what to do next. She was always one step ahead, organised. He knew that something was wrong and it broke his heart. She was probably hurting, as he guessed. 

“Why don’t you come to Laredo with me for a while?” this time he said it after some thought, but still it felt like a wild card to him.

She looked up at him, with surprise on her face. 

“Javi I-”

“I’m sure some fresh air and good company would do you go. We have plenty of room at home, you’d be welcome. And you don’t have any plans so” he clears his throat “I think..I’d be a good..idea”

“But, Javi, I wouldn’t want t-”

“You won’t be bothering anyone”

“What about your dad? I wouldn’t want to impose”

“Trust me, he likes company. So what do you say?”

“I mean it’s a big deal”

“It’s really not. Just for a couple of weeks”

“Ok, fine” she said as she took the watch that was still laying on the table and put it in her pocket.

“Great” Javier said as he took a sip of his coffee. He finally felt some relief in his heart. 

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

When she got back home it was already 5pm. Where did the time go? They spent their time talking about their academy days, and their trainee days, also talking a bit about the trip. 

“What did I get myself into” she said as she poured herself a glass of water. 

She brushed a hand over the side of her blazer and was reminded of the watch that was still in her pocket. She took it out and looked at it, caressing it with her thumb as a smile grew on her face. And to think she wanted to throw it away. Gosh, what a foolish move would that have been. She never realises just how much she had missed him until they meet again and this time was to exception.

“Yeah... Some date that was” she said as she sat at the kitchen table still looking at the watch, contemplating the events of today. She stopped her thoughts and realised what she actually had agreed to do - travel to Laredo with Javi- and laughed to herself. 

“Well... maybe it’ll be fun” she said to herself, as she took a nother sip of water, with somewhat forced positivity, but excitement too.

[erixyin]

Idk where i saw this but i need to write my own

MLQC Boys React - MC wearing their shirt/tshirt as a dress in public.

Note: have been dating for a while, like 6 months?

A little NSFW but not too bad x

Victor:

You had stayed over at his for the weekend and now it was Sunday and you had run out of clean none-casual clothes. And you had forgotten to pack any with you or go shopping because you had been very distracted all weekend. By victor without a shirt on wahhhhhh

You rummaged through his closet quickly. Boi was already at work he had a 6am meeting. You dont know how he has the energy to do that. You would literally die if someone said you have to be out of bed before 6am

He looked at his long fancy shirts and you had an idea. You grabbed the one that felt the nicest and that was not the boring grey shirts he usually had. It was a purple silk shirt and it came down to about your knees. MC is so small.

Little did you know that that was literally one of the most expensive shirts he owned...

NOT IN THE CAPACITY TO KNOW FANCY BRAND NAMES OK

You sinched it in at the waist with a belt you had worn over the weekend and put on some gold earrings and necklace. You finished the look with black tights and your black doc martens, PRAYING that no one at work would mind that you looked more SMART CASUAL than SMART.

You thought u looked hella cute in the mirror so u went to work at 9am.

You had forgotten you had a meeting with Victor at 11am.

he did a double take when you walked into the room.

He squinted at your “dress” and you could tell he was going through his memory bank of where he had seen it before.

“Is that... new?” He asked eyeing you every so often before glancing back down to your weekly report

“Uh... yeah relatively. Do u like it?” You asked innocently batting your eyes.

“Where’s it from?” He passed you back your report, forgetting to give any negative comments unusually. He thought you looked hella cute but he totally wasn’t going to tell u that.

“I-I can’t remember.” You blushed hiding behind the report a little.

He stood up and leaned against the front of his desk, now towering above you casually. “I thought you had enough clothes, without needing to borrow mind”

Ok. Now you were bright red.

“D-d-do you not like it?” You stammered and then flashed him a cheeky smile, “i can take it off and give it you back”.

Victor’s hear stopped momentarily before going “Dummy” and patting you gently on the head.

You walked out of his office 2 hours later feeling on top of the world. that’s not the only thing you were on top of

Mr CEO was surprisingly in a good mood for the rest of the day and even gave Goldman a small smile. GOLDMAN IS FREAKING OUT.

Lucien:

It had been a last minute decision sleepover... totally innocent absolutely nothing happened what are you talking about.

Lucien had already left for a lecture he was giving at the university. You had promised to meet up with him once he had finished his schedule.

Now you totally COULD simply go back to your apartment and pick out something you’d worn a few times and Lucien had seen you in. OR you could actually conduct an experiment of your own and make Lucien hella blushy - even if boi went a little red it would be a triumph in himself. BOI HAS A BETTER POKER FACE THAN VICTOR HOW

Being a little bit devious you decided to raid Lucien’s closet. BOI LIKES TO BE STYLISH

He has everything coordinated by colour and by season/activity. Jumpers go in the bottom right next to the winter coats and shirts were hung up towards the left for those “casual days”.

Boi doesnt own a tshirt, he only knows smart casual and smart. Loungewear? Sweatpants?? Boi has never heard of em

Most of his clothes were black and white with a tad bit of grey and brown in there but you found at the very back of the wardrobe a white shirt with pink butterflies patterned over it. Masculinity is so fragile, let the man wear pink. He can OWN it.

You decided to go for it and match it with thigh high suede wedges to give yourself a little extra height. You sinched it in with a simple black studded belt and added nude tights. You put your hair up into a “cute messy” bun and popped a pencil in to keep it in place. You paired it with a little black satchel and “natural” makeup with maybe a red lip tint? Lucien likes a red lip and you can’t tell me otherwise

It was about 2pm and you decided to head over to the university. A little spring in your step.

You knew his schedule by now so you knew he’d be in his office round about now. You checked the times 2:30pm. Half an hour before his next and final lecture.

You entered his office, you didnt need to knock anymore. He knew it was you. Students would always giggle LOUDLY outside his office before knocking. Mainly female students and you PRETENDED not to notice.

He could totally tell you noticed and were trying to hide it

You saw him tapping away on his computer, eyes lost in data.

You plopped your bag over the sofa and walked over to his desk. Kinda annoyed he hadn’t noticed you but also kinda excited because of the build up?

He had a light smile on his face, “Hello MC, i was expecting you a little lat-“ he glanced at your outfit. Boi actually halted his sentence. You were delighted.

You saw the tips of his ears turn pink. successs

he gulped and brought a hand up to his face as his eyes looked at your outfit in detail before looking you directly in the eye, a michevious look on his face, “i haven’t seen that shirt in a very long time. Have to say, it looks better on you”. He watched as you leant over the desk resting on your elbows.

“I think the thigh highs are a nice bonus” he said making it very obvious at where he was looking.

“What time is your next lecture again Luci?” You asked sweetly, leaning over to boop his nose gently.

“Actually my last lecture had to cancel due to some strange unforeseen circumstances”, he said typing the email as he spoke.

“Isn’t that lucky?” He chuckled while glancing at the office door

You gave him a brief kiss on the cheek, “very lucky”

He didn’t make it to the 3pm lecture

Gavin:

He had left some of his clothes at yours before heading out on a mission. He’d been gone for a few days but he had called and said he would be home soon. Weekends were usually spent with you waiting for gavin. He had promised he would stop going on big missions now he had something to come home to.

You kinda got bored waiting for him, because he said he’d be home today. You had told Eli that if he came back with a new bandage you were going to kill him and make him sit in a salt bath. Eli knew you weren’t joking.

You decided to pull out one of the many tshirts he had left at yours. It was an old rock n roll band tshirt. You didn’t know them too well but Gavin had liked to listen to their music every now and then. He didn’t wear it that often anymore, it was a bit too tight on him since he had bought it in his college days.

You had washed it already because you sometimes slept in it. You had been binge watching DIY youtube videos all day when you had a great idea. You really liked the look of the cut out ladder look the girl had done in her youtube video so you decided to do the same. You grabbed a pair of scissors and got to work.

You also decided to give the thsirt a little bit of a v-neck but leaving a piece around the neck for that fake choker look. You looked at your handy work and decided you really quite liked it. The back wasn’t too exposed because of the laddered look but you could always wear something underneath like a mesh top.

It came down to just lower than your thigh. You looked at yourself in the mirror. Considering it was the only piece of clothing you had on right now besides your little running shorts, you thought you looked really cute.

You spun around happy when you saw gavin staring at you COMPLETELY RED outside the window.

“Gavin!” You squealed excitedly as you went to open the window and let him in.

The wind blew underneath your dress/tshirt a little to lift it. You quickly pulled it back down.

Bird cop has stopped working

“You look...” Gavin stood in front of you staring at you. You could see there was a new scar on his neck and arm but no bleeding on any of his clothes.

“I’m so glad you’re home!” You wrapped your arms around him, breathing in his scent

He hugged you bag but went even more red - is that even possible??? - when he felt that the back was laddered and an entrance to your bare back.

“Um you look... very cute” he was now imaging you wearing all of his clothes. Boi was beetroot red someone help him.

“I could pair this with some denim shorts and it would be a date night outfit yeah?” You said taking a step back and spinning round for him

MC why u wanna make this precious boi jealous?? XD

He pulled you in for a quick kiss, “no this is just for me. You’re mine. No one else can see you looking this...” he paused as his ears started to go red again, “good”

Safe to say you didnt kill him for discovering he had several bruises across his back. BUT MC U SAID NO BANDAGES OR BLEEDING SO TECHNICALLY ITS FINE

Kiro:

You had woken up super late - like 11am - after gaming and doing other stuff.... all night. Your body still kinda hurt and ached a little... clearly from doing all of that just dance marathon stuff. If you think kiro isn’t a just dance kinda man i will fight you

The bed was more spacious than normal and you didn’t have a cute blonde cuddling up next to you. Odd. You looked over towards the bathroom but the light was off.

God what day was it? You reached over sluggishly to the bedside table and looked at your phone. It was Wednesday but thankfully you were having a week off after finishing a big project with Kiro’s help.

You had worked the hardest with the late nights and the weekends you had sacrificed. Anna and Kiki thought it was best for you to have a little holiday.

You stretched and sat up. You looked around. Kiro’s jeans were gone and phone. Maybe he had gone to the shops?

You honestly couldnt remember if had anything in his schedule today. Even though he was taking a mini holiday himself - you both timed it perfectly - he still had to do interviews here and there to make Savin happy.

You rubbed your eyes. You didn’t remember where you’re clothes from last night were but they were in NO state to wear. Clearly because of all the sweat from just dance AND NOTHING ELSE ;)

You opened Kiro’s walk in wardrobe. You lazily looked for something to just wear so that you could walk round the house, comfortable but not just nude. Kiro’s house was big and Savin had a key

You picked up a signature yellow and white tshirt that Kiro often wore to events and fan signings. It matched his hoodie but it was perfect for the warmer weather.

Boi was only a few inches taller than you so it JUST came to below your butt. You’d have to bend from the knees and not the waist. Unless you want your butt to be on show.

You found some black unused underwear and popped them on. You debated onto weather you could be bothered putting socks on or not. Then you remembered that Kiro had central floor heating so nahhhhhh

You wandered round the house looking for Kiro. Your bare feet making a gentle thudding noise across the marble floor.

You gave up home when you couldnt find him in the games room or living room so you decided to go get yourself a snack.

You walked in and froze as you saw Kiro. In front of a camera. A LIVE camera. And Savin sat just out of frame.

You just remembered that wednesday afternoons were the weekly Kiro livestreams.

KILL ME

Boi instantly caught your eye and then looked at what you were wearing - barely anything

Whatever he was saying before he was silent. Boi was SHOOKETH. He COUGHED LOUDLY and went a bright scarlet red from his neck to his face.

The livestream chat was going mental as they couldnt see you from the camera angle positioned on Kiro’s face. They were wondering what he was getting so worked up about. It was a really good job that the camera could only see from the waist up

“H-hey guys, sorry I’m gonna have to cut the livestream short.” Savin had his head in his hands, “I’m just not..” he stole another glance at you while you were trying to reach the top of the shelf where the cookies were and his tshirt lifted up higher exposing more. “I’m just not feeling too good.” He chuckled bashfully as he rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed.

The chat soon filled up with #get better soon kiro as well as #curiouskiro was trending. Some people speculated that Kiro might have a lover. The fan theories went mental.

“I’ll see you guys next week bye!” And the livestream ended. You blushed as you saw Kiro’s gaze and you crunched on your cookies while looking at the floor.

Savin got up to go and leave and sort things out for Kiro online, to make ensure his reputation wasn’t going to fall because of this unexpected situation.

“Thats my tshirt!” He said as he came over to you still red

“Yeah... and?” You mumbled a mouth full of cookies. Thats not the only thing your mouth’s gonna be full of in a minute miss chips - I’m sorry please forgive me i had to XD

“Miss chips is not allowed to look that good” he whined, “i was doing an interview, i was gonna be back in like half an hour and you looked so peaceful-“

You pressed a finger to his lips to shush him, “well we can still go back to bed now...”

SAY. NO. MORE

Boi picked u up and carried you upstairs, bridal style.

A week later you made your relationship public. At first the fans were a little upset but then soon adored you when you revealed a little of why Kiro was so blushy the previous Wednesday. #blushyboikiro was trending for a MONTH

BONUS: Shaw:

He had to rush off to his exam in the morning after promising to meet up afterwards for breakfast/lunch

This was at 8am. [bitch you aint getting out of bed at 8am on a day off? Beauty sleep is very important]

His exam was three hours long [the pain of uni exams, i get you Shaw i get you] and you woke up at 11:39

SHIT

You scrambled for your things but the night before outfit was not really brunch appropriate so you settled for something a lil more casual [and devious]

You grabbed one of his favourite tshirts which fell down to your mid thigh, and cut a slit at the bottom and safety pinned it together [ya know for that EDGY look] [i dont know what the kids are up to these days but i saw my friend do it and she’s cool so]

You grabbed ur cropped zip hoodie, put on some thigh high stockings, put on ur black boot heels from last night and you were ready to go. [you also sprayed some perfume on ur neck, wrist and garter while u were at it. LOOK SIS YOU DEVIOUS AND U KNOW THAT SHAW LIKES IT]

You rushed out the door and thankfully the subway wasnt busy and you got there just as the doors opened and the students came plodding out. You stood there with a coffee in your hand and the other one twiddling your hair in an OH so cute way. [you know how to look cute mmkay]

Several students walked out through the doors but you didnt end up seeing him. Darn you for being so short.

So you sat down on the low wall near the university’s fountain. Your little safety pin glistening in the sun and the tshirt putting your garter on show. [we like that casual but i secretly put in loads of effort kinda vibe]

You started scrolling through Moments incase he got out early but the shitty university wifi meant that it wasn’t refreshing. Furthermore the sun was shining in ur eyes so you couldnt really see much even when your phone was on full brightness

Then a tall shadow blocked the sun and you looked up and saw Shaw stood over you with a sleepy but piercing gaze.

“What are you doing wearing my Black Sabbath Tshirt?” He looked you up and down. Boi was clearly shook but he was damned if he was going to let you know this. Even though you already knew this.

“What you don’t like it? How did your exam go?” You said getting up to give him a quick hug. You knew Shaw had expressed he wasn’t a fan of physical affection but he secretly enjoyed the odd hug/hand holding or head scratch from you. Though he would never share this

“You really think you can distract me from your lazy sense of style?” He raised his eyebrows and looked you up and down again. You could see the twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

“Your rebelliousness has rubbed off onto me” [in more ways than one] you gave him a little spin raising your arms a little so that the top of the stockings and garter would come on show.

You could see that his nose went a little red along with the tips of cheeks. He coughed and placed both hands on ur arms firmly. “Let’s go get something to eat.” He swung you around so that you were now walking back to the subway, with his arm round you.

“But this is the way home...?” You started as you turned to look at his face, still walking

“Well we’re skipping straight to dessert” you could see the glint in his eyes and you allowed yourself to be lead.

Now that thsirt was his absolute favourite, especially whenever you decided to surprise him with it after an exam x

[seoultraveller]

[A/N: I am kind of writing this for myself (ngl) but I thought it would be interesting to see how something like this plays out. A multi-part AU where the characters are attending university in South Korea. The main female character is black/African-American but that will later become more of a factor as the story goes on. Seonghwa and the MC exchange letters through a book in one of the libraries on campus and without know each other, grow a connection through that. Hongjoong is the classmate and group partner of the MC but has no idea that they are exchanging letters to each other until further on in the story. This part is just a quick introduction to the characters and their overall placements in the story.]

Her Secret Scribe, His Winter Dream (1)

Pairing: Seonghwa x Black Female MC & Hongjoong x Black Female MC

Genre: College!AU

Word Count: 2,885

October 29, 2020 ~4:50am

Waking up at around 4:50am, Seonghwa notices that his textbook, notes, highlighters, and pen are all still neatly placed on his desk. He placed it there with the intent to get some early morning studying in before his shower and a little bit after his shower, just before he left for his first class of the day. He wills himself up from his warm, soft, and comfortable bed to walk to the bathroom to freshen up. On his way to the bathroom, he passes by his roommates partially opened door and takes a peek to see if he made it in last night. Or more like, early this morning. Poking the top of his head through the door opening Seonghwa sees his roommate. There lies Hongjoong, fully clothed, face-first, bag still hanging off of his shoulder, lying on top of his bed, and in the starfish position. All Seonghwa can do is shake his head at his friend, knowing how bad his sleeping habits are and how much is is hardly at the apartment nowadays.

After checking on Hongjoong, Seonghwa goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. Then he strips himself of his pajamas and gets into the shower. Showers have always been a bit of a meditative practice to Seonghwa. His average time is forty minutes but there are occasions where he has spent up to 50 minutes or an hour in the shower. He prides himself on his cleanliness, both in how he physically presents himself and the spaces that he exists in (apartment, bed, desk, etc...).

Once his shower is done, he wraps his towel around his hips and then makes his way to the kitchen. There he takes out four eggs, a container of rice, and some steak that he grilled left over from the night before. Next, Seonghwa fills up a pot with water, sets it on one of the eyes of the stove and puts the fire on 8 (one of the highest settings). After dropping the four eggs in the water he rinses his hands off and proceeds to his bedroom to get changed.

Never one to make to much of a fuss of what he wears, Seonghwa puts on an undershirt, then throws on a grey long-sleeved thermal and a pair of black jeans. Long black socks to warm his feet, and he takes out a sweater and a jacket to keep himself warm on his way to class.

It’s around 6:00am by the time he is finished getting dressed and now, he tends to the food that is set out in the kitchen. Reheating the steak and rice, turning off the fire underneath the pot and taking out two of the hard boiled eggs for himself. He puts it all in a bowl that he takes back to his room, and eats at his desk, while going over his notes.

Seonghwa broke up his study time into two 45-minute sessions, which allows him time to prepare a bowl for Hongjoong for breakfast (if he eats it) and make it down to his bus before it pulls up at 8:30am.

Having followed his schedule to a ‘T’ this morning, he was proud of himself for making it to the library before the morning rush and acquiring a desk, with a view, on the third floor before they were all occupied. Instead of pushing himself to study a bit more, since today’s schedule was not Seonghwa’s usual schedule, he decided to write a letter on the off-chance that he can bring comfort to someone during mid-term season. Instead of writing on bathroom doors, or in the dark corner of a desk, Seonghwa decided to write a letter. Writing a letter and stashing it in a random book. It’s getting a bit chillier in South Korea, so although it was a long shot, perhaps he can create a pen-pal through this and maybe even get close and intimate during this period as well. However, that is a very, very, very long shot.

So with romantic thoughts of meeting someone who shares a like mind or sees life from a different perspective, he writes.

“Dear Student that is Enduring Mid-Terms and an Incoming Winter,

We are nearing the beginning of a new month which could mean a fresh new beginning for some. It could also mean nearing the end of something larger, like the semester. I know that it’s mid-term season but I am unsure if it has ended for you. I could only pray that you stay warm as the winter will be harsh as it usually is, but I am sure you knew that.

I honestly thought I would have more to say... but obviously not. I figured a formal letter would be better to connect with someone during this time, then short, informal, and weird messages written aimlessly. Now, I’m getting embarrassed... Sorry.

No one will probably read this so...

With Care,

The Secret Scribe”

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

October 29, 2020 ~10:52am

Waiting in a hallway right outside the classroom, she, scrolls through her student email account on her phone and sees an email from her linguistics class. Linguistic Acquisition through Different Ages - LIA 3006. Although she knew, that to pass this class she must complete a project, she totally forgot that it had to be completed with at least one or two other people. A group project... “how despicable” she thought. The email that the professor sent, laid out the regulations of the project and even placed the class in neat groups of two or three. She was lucky enough to get paired with “Mr. Fashionably-Late because Staying Up to Work on My Art is More Important”. As the time got closer and closer to 11:00am, Hongjoong is still nowhere to be seen. She’s just praying that he comes through at least ten minutes into class and not twenty minutes before it’s over. However, she could only pray for such a thing.

At 11:11am on the dot, Hongjoong comes through the door quietly. Chest heaving up and down because he was sprinting through the campus and hallways to make it to class... not too late. She notices him out of the corner of her eye and does a slow eye roll as he tip-toes his way in her direction.

“Was that a look of displeasure on your face? Or are you just containing your excitement to see me?”, he whispers into her ear while trying to quietly slither down into his seat, quickly, while the professor has her back turned.

“You are one minute late past our deal, Hongjoong.” She scolds.

“So you will not share your notes with me from today?”, he asks while giving her a pout.

“There is nothing to share. She is still reviewing the content we learned two days ago before starting a new lesson.” She retorts.

“Why did you roll your eyes then?” He questions again, as if his academics are the last thing he cares about.

“Hongjoong- “, she starts. “If there is something that you two would like to share with the class, please come up to the front.” The professor cuts in.

The look of two deer in the headlights is what can be seen from the professor’s viewpoint. With mouths agape and eyes wide, the two whispering chatterboxes were rendered speechless.

The professor continues on, “Please stop whispering behind my back. Also, I need to speak with the two of you after class.” The two of them shake their heads rapidly affirming their professor’s request.

Their class is currently on the topic of children acquiring their mother tongue and how the brain develops as the children learn how to speak or bring attention to their wants and needs as they grow. A topic such as this excites her all the more because it ties into her study abroad research topic. Learning how to speak amidst all of the culture that one’s language is tied to really fascinates her. Seeing as how her major of study in her home country is Linguistics and she took Korean because of the small intimate nature of the class, she has wanted to do and learn so much more.

As the lecture winds downs to a close for this session, Hongjoong becomes more and more anxious about what the professor wants to talk about before letting them go. Then, he hears the professor harp on,

“As for the email I sent earlier today-“, Hongjoong’s ears perk up. “You will see that for the group project you will have two different options to choose from. It can be turned in as a 10-page research paper, or completed as a presentation. Your groups have been chosen for you, by me. Please consult me if you have any questions on the project or the partners that you will be working with.” After the professor gives her parting words to the class, her eyes fall onto the two little songbirds that had her interrupt her lecture earlier.

With a knowing look, they make their way to the front of the class with a downcast gaze. As if they were to be physically reprimanded. “You know that you two are partners for this group project.” The professor starts. “Hongjoong you must be a reliable partner. I set you two up together because I’ve noticed a great partnership between you two throughout the semester. Your partner is also fairing better than you are this term. You can learn a great deal from her, in fact, you can learn quite a bit from each other. I want you to succeed Hongjoong, and I know you can.” The professor softens her gaze and turns to his partner. “She’ll do everything she can to help, won’t you?” She shakes her head ‘yes’ then looks down again. Then the professor continues to finish, “well, that was all I needed to say. Any questions?” The two students shake their head ‘no’ and bid their professor farewell before leaving the class.

“Buddies until the Christmas break?” Hongjoong says as he winks at her.

“Group partners, more like.” She says back to him.

“Wanna talk about the project over lunch?” He asks.

“Ah- that sounds like a really great idea since we’re both free at this time, but...” she trails off, but then picks up again. “Where are your eating? On campus, or off? Just asking because I figured I should check out a few language and culture books to get some foundation on our project. I’ll meet you wherever you are.

His eyebrows raise at her go-getter attitude. “Sure. Meet me at the small Vietnamese spot two blocks down.”

“Got it.” She winks at him as they break apart.

She has her mind filled with countless ways to approach the project, while his is filled with hunger and images of a big flavorful dish filled with meat and vibrantly colored vegetables.

Before aimlessly searching around the library for what she needed, she looked up the language, literature, and culture and linguistic sections of the library. Literature happens to be in the basement, while language, culture, and linguistics just happen to be on the third floor. So, she sets off for the third floor.

Although quiet, the third floor is warm and the ambiance is calm. Compared to the rest of the library, this is the floor that most people like to be on, and she could tell, because there was not a place to sit. However, her journey to this floor was not for studying but a quick search. So she set off. The part of the library she set off to was a little empty, and not as cramped as the other parts but she liked it that way. The first book she pulled from the shelf had to do with children’s speech patterns and babies recognizing sound. Noticing that there was a folded piece of paper sticking out from the top, she flipped to that spot in the book thinking there might be valuable information on that page right from the start. Nothing out of the ordinary was written on the page. No sticky notes, no annotations or drawings, just words. Next, she took to opening up the folded sheet of paper and to her surprise, it read as a simple greetings letter.

A random letter in a random book. What was the point? Was this fate, or was it meant for someone else? She thought it was cute; with the well wishes to stay warm during harsh Korean winters, and the impending embarrassment of the writer, as well as the writer giving themselves a name. She fell for it. She fell hard. Almost immediately she began having romantic notions of trading love letters to someone in a new environment. However, romantic thoughts quickly left her as she thought it could also be a woman, instead of a man. There is nothing indicating the gender of the writer and she honestly feels a little bad for passing such a judgement so quickly. Her train of thought comes to a halt as she feels the buzzing of her phone indicating a text messsage coming through.

🎧 HJ: should i order ahead for you too?

HER: sure, you’re there already?

🎧 HJ: yeah

what do you want?

HER: something mild. not too spicy.

🎧 HJ: got it

when are you coming down?

HER: actually on my way now. see you in a bit.

🎧 HJ: 😉 😉

She rolls her eyes at his latest text. She puts the letter back in the book, skim a few other book titles, take them off the shelves and makes her way over to the check-out counter.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Now, sitting and eating in the small restaurant they begin talking about why Hongjoong is late all the time, their interests outside of the classroom, and plans for the Christmas break after the project is done.

Hongjoong reaches for one of the books and questions to himself whether she’s started taking notes already because he sees a folded sheet of paper sticking out at the top. While she is busy eating and busying herself with her phone, she doesn’t notice Hongjoong going through the book. Him being as perceptive as he is, notices that it’s a small note signed by a “secret scribe”. Did she know this was here? He asks himself. In fact, taking a closer look at the writing, the tone feels oddly familiar and so does the handwriting. Or maybe he is just thinking too hard about this. Either way, he tucks the note back in its proper place and continues with skimming through the index and other parts of the book.

Hongjoong brings her attention to him by breaking the silence. “Since you have four books, how about I take two to read and you take two?”

“Sounds good.” She responds. After making her choice of books to take, they set up a time to meet, outside of class, to get started on the project.

She makes her way back to the library, while Hongjoong walks through another part of the campus to work on his music. After making it safely to the library, she struggles to find a spot. Settling for the floor in the basement, she sets off to write a letter to the “secret scribe”.

“Dear Secret Scribe (?),

I came upon your letter by chance for a project but for some reason I feel as if I am imposing. As if I was not supposed to read it and respond, but here I am writing to you anyway...

My writing may look odd and the sentence structure may be weird, but it’s because I am a foreign student.

The weather is not too bad so far, however, I am doing my best to stay warm. The change of seasons in South Korea is very beautiful to experience. Not only can you see it and smell it, but you can also sense it. Does that make sense? Anyway, my mid-terms are over, I only had two. Now, I am working towards finals. The final project that I am working on is for my Linguistics class. Actually, I am a Linguistics major. What are you majoring in? Also, are you a man or woman? I am a woman if you were curious.

I truly hope that you are managing to stay warm and stress free as the semester is coming towards an end.

You’ll Be In My Thoughts,

Your... Winter Student... A Winter Dream

P.S. I kind of need to take this book with me for research, but I’ll keep it here for you until we can agree on a place to drop off our letters... Only if you would like to continue this correspondence... Your Choice.”

With that, she leaves her letter in the book and goes up to the third floor and places it back on the shelf that she took it from. Her heart is racing, but she doesn’t know why. He probably will not respond too quickly, she thinks to herself. “You did your part, now let it go”, she tells herself as she makes her way back to her apartment for study and research.

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

Sorry I haven't been active beyond shitposts lately, I've been busy getting my thesis up and running and barely have time or brainpower to spare to write at night before I pass out

On the bright side I read 6 pages of an academic paper this week and understood EVERYTHING. Yes I had to Google every other word (not literally, but it sure felt like it at times) but I actually understood it all in the end and I am so proud of myself.

6 pages, u might say, 6 pages is all u did in 3 days?? Well... Yeah XD It's a math and theory based paper, have mercy pls. I gotta work everything out on paper and then take notes that are informative enough for future reference and I get tired after every 2 pages to the point I'm falling asleep at my desk... I have a poor work ethic.

I also think I'm close to tying in what I wanna do to Systems Theory like my prof. Wants. He's very into reconstructability analysis and multidimensional relations with his probabilistic databases and well. I found that probabilistic deductive databases are a thing and You Know Me...

There's this thing called a trilattice right. And it consists of 3 partial orderings on the same set each going a different direction with each direction also being a lattice, it's actually *really* cool. Anyway, my profs catchphrase is BASICALLY "information is constraint" and GUESS WHAT BABEY. One of those partial orderings on the trilattice for the rules in the PDDB (probabilistic deductive database) is named Knowledge in a interval of [0,1] because it tells you the amount of information that specific fact gives you!

So I'm gonna ask him for help tomorrow morning to see if that can't be tied back in to a sort of reconstruction but for probabilistic deductive databases and their rules. Because with regular probabilistic databases it's easy to have 3 variables (ABC) then split into 2 (AB) and 2 (BC), and then reconstruct it from there right? But. I don't know how that would be possible with Rules based on facts and logic not just probabilities, and I wanna know if it's even possible because there IS still math involved with the rules, I just don't know if I'd be able to reconstruct anything with it cuz I don't even know the first step to that problem cuz it seems so different from the Regular PDB reconstruction problem and I GUESS that's what the whole thesis research thing is for, but STILL. I am just. So Tired. Let me sleep.

I put off so much work today just to do more research on my thesis like a CHUMP. I should've finished my parallel programming hw, but I didn't. Haha. I put it off too long already it's due Friday XD

Oh also I start work tomorrow so I will have even less time. But I am starting work!!! I'm actually kinda excited. I'm gonna be TAing 2 classes which sounds cool! except a lot of the students are my friends (4/5 in one class and 2/2 in the other!!). So it will be kinda awkward since I am the extra help session. At some point my prof (same one who is my thesis advisor) wants me to actually teach an entire lesson myself. I am so nervous I have super bad stage fright lol. Actually tho, these two classes tie right into my thesis subject so hopefully by then I will be well read on all the subjects necessary to teach. I can, at the very least, teach them reconstruction. Maybe not much else, but I got that going for me haha

Oh God what happened I was gonna go to bed with an apology like, "yes Ive just shitpost for the past like week sorry about that" but here I am 1am, meeting at 11am (I can't be fully rested on sub-11/12 hours of sleep fml), just rambling about my life I am so sorry

You guys wanna see a candle I made today as a gift for actually reading this (and as part of the apology)

It's so beautiful

I was gonna put one of my borderlands stickers on but I was worried it'd peel when I lit it, so I chose a sticker I had 2 copies of

My mom thinks it's hilarious and that's all I needed I also got her to say "big yikes" today because we spilled wax on the oven mitts my power grows

[drkcnry67]

is it really you?

title: is it really you?

pairing: Jared x reader

rating: pg-14

fluff: soulmate au

H&H: free space (reincarnation)

tags: finding your soulmate, meeting for the first time, memories of past lives, finding eachother and never letting your S.O die, ending the cycle of reincarnation through some massive self exploration.

summery: there is none

mentioning @sweetness47​

created for @spnfluffbingo​ @heavenandhellbingo​

the beginning of your problems (what you know now as your first life) started with someone you love, someone who was yours as well as your lovers doom. the person who loved you was called “Cathal”, you were called “Caitir”. 

you were not betrothed to this man, but somehow you and he still found comfort in each other’s arms. the man who would soon take you both from this world was called “Seoc”. 

Cathal: to my love i present thee with this dagger, this is my gift for your hand in marriage. sweet Caitir forever is all we need, forever is all we shall have.

Caitir: brave Cathal, i shall accept your proposal for marriage. 

whilst “entertaining” Cathal in your chambers, you both were too preoccupied to notice someone sneaking in behind you. Seoc waited till both you and Cathal were asleep and then stabbed you both killing you both instantly. 

a curse placed on you both would reincarnate you both till such a time as the curse could be broken, but would the cycle end easily or have to be done the hard way. 

“this curse placed on 2 murdered sleeping helpless. lovers written in stars for time cometh. these 2 coming together again and again as they are reborn, till the viscious cycle breaks, shall they live out normal and die for the last time. forever shall this incribed be to this dagger!”

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

today, one mild summer day in what we call Vancouver British Columbia in what is known as Canada. you are called YN, your job is wardrobe for actors of a hit tv show. this would be where you would soon re-learn the truth. 

the dagger you had received as a proposal present, was sitting as a long time artifact in a museum. you on the other hand were laying out the wardrobe for the 2 gentlemen you were working with that day. the same 2 guys that you worked with well every single day. 

you were picking some stuff off the floor completely not paying any attention to your surroundings, Jared (Cathal-present day) had no idea of your past lives either till this moment.

Jared wasnt paying attention to where he was going, he didnt see you. he tripped over your crouched form, instead of falling on his face he grabbed you, pinning you to the ground keeping both of your heads off the ground. 

he looks down at you, then the memories came to both you and Jared in flashes slow and fast. but in each memory was the both of you in this exact position. after 10 minutes of just layign there lost in eachothers eyes.

Jared: are you alright? Am I hurting you?

Yn: I'm alright and no your not hurting me. Did you happen to see..

Jared: visions of sorts after we fell ya I did. What does it all mean?

YN: it means I guess we know each other. It seems like we know each other very well. Cathal.

You say as if it was normal for you to call him that.

Jared: it would indeed seem as such Caitir. The question is what the hell happened to us to make us like this.

YN: obviously we have alot to figure out. let’s start with whatever happened to that dagger that i saw...

Jared shrugged helping you off the ground. 

Jared: we could check where it all began. up for a trip to cairo?

YN: i guess we don’t have much of a choice if we want to figure out what happened to us... figure us out... 

Jared ushers for you to sit beside him as he pulls out his laptop and begins looking for flights. found one on expedia the details were as follows for what was being booked:

one way flight from Vancouver to Cairo expected to take 21hr 41min to arrive

leaving vancouver at 1:20pm fly for 4hr 33min to montreal for a 2hr 12min layover

leaving montreal at 11:05pm (stupid time change) fly for 9hr 30min (over night flight meaning cuddles yay!) to instanbul for a 3hr 5min layover

leaving instanbul at 6:40pm fly for 2hr 20min to arrive finally in cairo for 8:00pm

you look at jared who also adds a hotel near the pyramids for you guys to stay in figuring you wouldn’t want to ruff it. 

Jared: before I finish purchasing, I want you to know that whatever we find out in Cairo, it might as well be the biggest discovery of our lives.

Yn: I know but aren't you the least bit scared of what we might find out... I mean it isn't like we can just...

Before you can finish speaking Jensen busts through the door.

Jensen: umm Jared what are you doing and with our wardrobe artist.

Jared: about that ya come sit down buddy there is something we need to well show you.

Jensen sits between you and Jared as he eyes you both very suspiciously.

Jensen: alright what's going on buddy your acting very strangely.

Jared and you both place a hand on either side of Jensen's head willing for the memories you both had just experienced to flow into his mind to see what you both did.

Jensen falls off the couch a few moments later, looking between you and Jared.

Jensen: so what the hell are you...

Jared: we are going to Cairo to figure this out. Cairo is where it all began for us, Cairo is where we will find answers. 

Jensen: when does your flight leave?

Jared: tomorrow afternoon. we have to be at the airport for 11am i think... 2 hours before flight leaves for international flights. we still have to pack and talk to Rob and the others to make sure I'm covered to go. That we can figure this out. For the entirety of our lives we have died and come back to find eachother for years now and we just want to figure this out. 

Jensen got up and began towards the door. 

Jensen: well lets go present this to Rob and the crew. and get set for your time away... it will not help to be unprepared for any of this. if what you showed me is true then you both have alot to discover and im gonna do whatever i can to support you both. 

Jared: thanks dude, now YN are you ready for whatever lies ahead of us?

YN: im ready to find out why we have only just remembered all of this now, how many times it has happened and the story behind it of course. 

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

that was how the journey started, after a very long conversation with Rob and the crew, you and Jared were cleared to go on your trip. going to your hotel first checking out and taking your backpack with you. 

you and Jared decide that you both should stay at the airport hotel considering it would just be easier. settling into the room, you sit down to make a journal entry. you did this every single day, but today felt like you definitely should document this. 

Jared came out of the bathroom to see you sitting on a pillow on the ground with a pen and a notebook. you were writing out your journal, you didn’t see Jared approaching. 

Jared came up to you placing a hand on your shoulder. 

Jared: what are you doing?

YN: writing in my journal. making sure that whatever happens we can document what the hell we go through on this journey. maybe just maybe one day we can look back on this and realize that this was destined to happen as it has so many other times before. 

Jared: look i know its alot to process and believe me i too am having issues processing this but i might have a way to take our minds off it. 

you finished the entry, and then closed the book. turning to face Jared smiling.

YN: what did you have in mind? 

Jared picks you up and kisses you, fierce are his lips against your own. his arms supporting you as your legs curl round his waist. he tears your shirt from the back as he falls while holding you onto the bed. 

the rest of that evening well the next few hours were spent in the bed. Jared now petting your hair speaks. 

Jared: that was amazing. definitely took my mind off things. 

YN: that was an amazing way to loose my virginity. and i couldn’t have lost it to a better man. 

Jared: do you think this happens every time we reincarnate?

You shrugged but stayed right where you were knowing you were comfortable and safe. 

YN: no idea but im not ready to move can we just lay like this for the rest of the evening. we can eat in the morning. 

Jared: that’s why we got the continental breakfast. plus i think i owe you a new outfit. 

You looked to where Jared was pointing. 

YN: that’s okay i think i owe you new boxers

jared looks to where you are pointing. 

Jared: well we can do some shopping when we get to the airport. gift shops exist for a reason and money is no stranger. 

YN: that’s true. 

now that you both were settled into bed you both decided to get some rest. it was a long day the next would be, and being on a plane you both would probably sleep anyway. 

you both woke up the next morning to a phone call from the front desk, telling you there was breakfast and that we had to be at the airport within the hour for the 2 hour head check in.

you hung up the phone and watched as jared slunk to the shower. you followed cause he looked like he could use a pick me up. after some shower fun and getting dressed into something comfortable for the plane ride. 

you both head with your bags to breakfast. eating lots to avoid being too hungry later on, you decide that its time to check out and find the airport shuttle. getting to the airport you both get through check in and security and now its time to kill 2 hours. well that was easy, shopping and playing cards and crib and tic tac toe and buying some jewelry just for fun. 

then it was time to board the plane. doing so and the plane took off. you and jared holding hands you resting your head on Jared shoulder. you both cuddle for the flight to montreal planing to take a couples photo and pick up some souveniers along the way. 

same thing with instanbul except that flight was an over night so you both mostly took the opportunity to sleep. upon arrival in instanbul you both stretched and looked around and grabbed souveniers boarding the final flight to cairo. 

cairo in the evening damn it was gorgeous. just the way things were supposed to be. Upon this their arrival to Cairo, they took a shuttle to their hotel. The entire way there Jared held your hand, walking into the hotel you both go to the desk to check in. 

Clerk: checking in? 

Jared: yes under Padalecki. 

The Clerk types into the computer for a moment and then speaks once more. 

Clerk: ah here you are, ah your in one of our exclusive suites. Give me one second to grab your package that goes with it. 

You still holding onto the hand of the man you apparently have known for centuries, & just lost your virginity to night before last, made you all the more happier. The clerk a while later places a packet on the counter in front of you both. 

Clerk: this has all the information one could possibly need as well as a list of shops near by and when tours leave and some information on local legends. 

That caught both yours and Jared's attentions. 

Jared: local legends???

Clerk: oh yes, our most popular one is of a High priestess who fell in love with the prince of this region, but they were cursed and murdered for it by his father's advisor who grew jealous of the young lovers. The advisor used the Dagger the young prince had given to the priestess as a token of his affection to murder them in their sleep. He then lied to the prince's father about the whole thing. He was never brought to justice for murdering that young couple. Legend also tells of their curse. In short form, Destiny will reincarnate them for all time till they can somehow break the vicious cycle of reincarnation so they can finally live and die like normal people. 

you looked at the clerk, Jared knew you were struck, he was too but you knew what this clerk was saying had to be true. 

Jared: is our room key in here?

clerk: yes it is your suite includes a jacuzzi and fabulous egyptian royal inspired decor. as well as complementary royal silk robes. these keys will also get you access to the pool area and the buffet. welcome to the pyramid valley hotel, please enjoy your stay and don’t hesitate to ask questions if you have any. 

Jared holding the package walks with you to the elevator, he then turns to you while he continues to hold the bags and the packet.

Jared: are you ok?

YN: no, did you hear that story...

Jared: i know, don’t worry we will explore this more when we get into the room. amongst other things. tonight is all distractions, tomorrow we are gonna start checking this out. starting with this legend, then checking out where me and you back then would have been. 

you nod as Jared and you final approach to your room. once there you and Jared walk in and are instantly amazed by the sight of this room. 

jared closes the door behind you locking it before putting down the packet and the bags he was holding as he came up behind you. 

YN: is it distraction time?

Jared: its distraction time as long as we need... 

thats when he started kissing your neck and that was the night. that began the trip of your life. 

- after a very very passionate time in bed you both woke at noon the next day. it was time to make the start to your day.

-you didnt want to move, Jared grabbed his laptop to do some research, he had put the packet with his laptop so it was all in one swoop. as he kinda sat against the head board and you were still kinda curled but kinda propped. 

Jared and you make note of several locations to check out during your trip. this included the sphynx, the giza necropolis and a few more places. 

Jared: what do we want to check out first?

YN: the museum. maybe we can find some clues there first. 

~thats exactly what you did, you both got dressed and hit the museum. you both walked in and found out that the museum director who was kind enough to speak with you both was a firm believer in what you both had told him. he decided to show you some of the stuff that had been taken from both of your areas. this was to include the dagger. yes you had found the dagger. now the last thing that he told you both was that the dagger had to be taken to the spot where it all first started and you had to plea to the triple goddess, she would grant the curse to be lifted and reveal who Soec is to you in modern day. you both got the location of the original incident from him and decided to go into the halloween costume shop and grab the egyptian outfits. making sure to bring them with you both when you would go the next day to this place that will hopefully end your curse once and for all. Waking up bright and early the next day you both rent an atv to get you both to the sight. A little cavern within one of the pyramids there was no way in there except for this one entrance. It was sealed when you both arrived. But unlocked when both your hands touched the door. Must have been sealed with some pretty powerful stuff. Going inside you both saw what seemed to be a cavern which had been untouched by dust or anything for centuries or eons if you will. It would soon be your greatest feat. But Jared held the torch in one hand, your hand in his other and you carried the bag on your shoulder. Looking at the surrounding architecture, you both made sure you were safe but this seemed very very familiar to both of you, it was like a secret passage or something. We head back to the story now with a conversation between you and Jared.~

Jared: I know there is something bothering you. Is it the feeling of being in here. 

YN: yes it is… Something isn't quite right about any of this. That dude at the museum seemed a little too excited about all of this. But you know what, as long as we figure this out and stop this curse normal is what we shall be eternally, or ya know as long as normal lasts. 

Jared: whatever happens in here know that this will not change how I feel about you. 

Yn: nor I about… Holy shit… Jared look! 

You point ahead and Jared looks where you are pointing seeing the gold architecture turn into columns and statues of anubis and then blood on an alter shaped bed, with a canopy draped over. 

YN: this has to be the place. The blood, the hole in the canopy. Don't touch anything yet we need to change into our outfits. 

You and Jared careful not to touch anything get changed. Then you pull out the book and place it where it looks like it went. Suddenly the room shook. 

Jared: what's happening? 

YN: I think it's time for us to call on the triple goddess. 

Jared: well whatever we do we should do it quickly… 

you went over to the book, and opened it to a marked page, you brought it to the bed and sat beside Jared, both of you now finding it easy to read the arabic pages. 

YN:  نحن نلتزم بدعوة الإلهة الثلاثية ، فلطالما تجولنا في هذه الأرض ، ولفترة طويلة انتظرنا في دهشة. حان الوقت الآن ، نتمنى الآن أن تتعفى هذه اللعنة التي وُضعت علينا في اليوم الذي قُتلنا فيه ، وأن نتحرر من حياة التناسخ هذه. يا إلهة ثلاثية ، أرسل لنا لخدامك المخلصين علامة متواضعة للتأكد من أنك قد سمعت دعوتنا (we adhere to the call of the triple goddess, for too long we have wandered this earth, for too long we have waited in wonder. now it is our time, now we wish that this curse placed on us the day we were murdered be appeased, that we be freed from this life of reincarnation. oh triple goddess send us your faithful servants a humble sign to be sure you have heard our call)

that was of course when this light radiated from both you and jared, then a figure appeared before both of you.

Anubis: i am anubis, i am your guardian High priestess Caitir, in this time i would like to say the curse shall be lifted once the one who killed you both originally is dead. you will find him back where you both have come from, he has been living among you both, pretending to be your friend. but really was unfazed when you showed him your little secret. Seoc goes by...

a flurry of rage and anger filled both you and jared. that cut your trip short. you got reimbursed for the days you didn’t stay, as you both flew back to vancouver. you waited till it was night fall then approached this person at the studio...

the announcement of yours and Jared’s arrival seemed not to phase this person, after he had been a dear friend to Jared for many many years, and a loyal person to you. neither of you could understand why he would ever do such a thing. 

Jared: Jensen, why did you do it?

Jensen turns to face you both, he once more didn’t seem surprised by the fact that you both were back early. 

Jensen: what exactly do you think i did?

Jared: why did you kill us?

the cast and crew backed away from you Jared and Jensen as you three began to glow, the final showdown had begun.

Jensen: because i had to raise my status with your father Cathal, this bitch here was just a side piece that got in the way...

[theasstour]

0105. La fille aux cheveux de lin.

Sunday, 7 December 2014

FIC PAGE | CHAPTER SYMPHONY | WORD COUNT: 7.2k

NB: explicit language, alcohol

A/N: special thanks to the legend @sydneysuit for teaching me about the violin! ily abbie!

VOTE FOR SOY AS FEBRUARY FIC OF THE MONTH💛

Y/N needed money. It hadn’t occurred to her just how bad until she stood in the check-out in Tesco, her mum on the phone to ask her for money, and panicked tears in her eyes. So, on this Sunday, Y/N was frantically looking for part-time jobs in the Clapham and Battersea area of London, though she knew she’d most likely end up working in a dodgy tourist shop in Westminster with absolutely rubbish pay. Running both hands through her hair, Y/N stared at the hundreds of different offers, none seeming appealing and none very good. The panic of having no income, of not having enough money for a train ticket home unless her parents paid for it, all came rushing down all at once. Will just have to suck it up, Y/N thought to herself, opening different tabs on her browser with all the jobs she could apply to.

Her pulse rising, Y/N let her eyes fall shut for a few seconds before she focused on the work ahead. She would have to write a CV, probably ask her dad for help as he had already offered to do so. Ever since Y/N was 13 and had her first anxiety attack, her parents had been eager to learn more about it. Neither of them were very anxious people themselves, but for their daughter, they would try to understand and learn as they wanted to know what to do if it ever occurred again. Whenever Y/N would show signs of being extra anxious, her parents would always be by her side to calm her down. Before Y/N could even open her phone to call her dad, there came a knock from her door.

“Who is it?” She asked, ready to make an excuse so she wouldn’t have to be social. She was sitting in her lounge wear, a fluffy pink blanket draped around her shoulders, and the white light from the cloudy day outside shining in through the window to her left.

“Tiana.”

“What’s up?” Y/N asked as her flatmate poked her head in through the door.

“Can I chill? Or are you busy?”

Y/N looked back at the jobs she would be applying for later but closed her laptop to show Tiana she had all her attention. Tiana put Y/N’s doorstop in under the slit at the bottom, the sound of cutlery being used in the kitchen and someone laughing making Y/N aware that her and Tiana weren’t the only two up before 11am. Sitting down in Y/N’s bed and nicking one of her blankets, Tiana sighed heavily, back resting against the cold concrete wall.

“You know what we were talking about the other day?” Tiana asked, running her hand over the soft fabric of Y/N’s blanket. “About the housing situation next year?”

Over Domino’s three weeks prior, after the pregnancy scare, Tiana had asked Y/N if she had given any thought as to where she’d be living the next two years of uni, as student accommodation provided by the university was only offered to first-years or international students. Y/N, who mostly spent her time either in her head or in a state of unescapable stress, had not. When revealing this to Tiana, she gave her a soft smile, the kind that made Y/N realise she had done good befriending this girl. Curled up in each their blanket and Tiana’s laptop perched on a chair before the bed playing Friends, a pizza in each their lap and the scent of peace in the air, Y/N became aware of the fact that she very much did not think she’d experience anything like this. When she went to uni, she had not thought she’d experience friendship like what her and Tiana shared. And it made her very happy when Tiana asked, “Should we move in together then?”

And so they were. They had been looking at flats, but the two-bed student ones were few, especially in the Battersea, Clapham, Wandsworth, Chelsea and Brixton area. They wanted to stay close to uni, to not have to use the tube as it would be too expensive in the long run.

“We’re going to end up in bloody Hackney if we don’t find a place soon.” Tiana said, crossing her legs.

“We’re both so busy, though.” Y/N reasoned, turning her chair around and resting her legs on the bed. “And besides, Christmas Break starts this Friday, we won’t be able to find somewhere before then.”

Tiana sighed. “Yea, I know. But I so wanted to find something before Christmas.”

“Me too.”

“I found this really nice flat, with hardwood flooring and double beds, but guess where it was?”

“Where?”

“Fucking Holloway.” Tiana rolled her eyes. “I swear to God, nothing nice is anywhere near Battersea uni.”

“Guess loads of pairs are moving in together.” Y/N said. “Finn found a place, he told me last night while we were eating dinner.”

“Really?” Tiana asked. “Where?”

“Alfriston Road. Right by Clapham Common.”

“Of course he’s right by Clapham Common, the lucky git.” Tiana groaned again, taking the elastic band off from around her wrist and putting her hair up in a ponytail. “Why can’t we be lucky?”

“It’s a cruel world.”

“Amen.” Tiana said, looking up at Y/N’s ceiling. “Did he tell you how many he’s moving in with or if it’s just by himself?”

“He didn’t mention anyone, so probs by himself.”

Tiana took her phone out of her hoodie, looking at the time before throwing it down on the bed. “Let’s just keep looking over the Christmas Break, and hopefully we can go to some viewings when we get back.”

Y/N nodded, looking to her open door as the door into the kitchen opened and closed. She saw Annie reaching for the door handle to walk up to the second floor. Never before had Y/N concluded and done something this fast, but she got an idea the second she saw Annie.

“Annie?”

The flatmate looked in at Y/N, giving her a small smile.

“Wanna come chill?”

The smile grew bigger and Annie walked into Y/N’s room, sitting down on the bed next to Tiana who gave her some of her blanket so they could share it and warm each other up.

“Have you thought anything about your housing situation for next year?”

Tiana lit up, gasping a little as she laid a hand on Annie’s thigh, grinning so big that you’d think her face would split in two. Annie, most likely thinking Tiana mad, stared at Y/N with a bit of an open mouth, shaking her head.

“Not really.”

“Do you want to move in with the two of us?” Tiana asked, having caught onto Y/N’s train of thought pretty quickly.

Annie seemed a little shocked, letting her brown eyes scan Tiana’s face and then Y/N’s, going back and forth between the two. Trying to show her with a small smile that it was okay for her to say no, Y/N moved her chair closer to the bed, not wanting Annie to seem intimidated in any way, but also wanting to let her know that she really wished she would say yes. But Annie’s facial expression softened, somehow seeing it on both of her flatmates’ faces that they truly hoped she would move in with them.

“Yea.” Annie said. “Yea, I think that would be good.”

“Yay!” Tiana clapped her hands together before throwing her arms around Annie and laughing into her shoulder. “We’re going to have the best time together, I just know it!”

“We have been trying to find a two-bedroom flat, but it’s literally impossible.” Y/N explained, smiling at Annie.

“God,” Tiana sighed. “We were so scared we’d end up in Hackney, and you just saved us. There are so many three-bedroom places out there, especially around Battersea and Clapham. Oh, my God,” Tiana got out of Y/N’s bed, clapping and jumping up and down. “We might actually find a house together and we’ll have the best time!” She opened her arms, giggling. “Group hug!”

Y/N laughed and both her and Annie got up, the three of them embracing each other and Tiana jumping up and down, her excitement too much for her body to handle. The three friends just stood there holding onto one another, knowing that this might just be the best decision of the year. Euphoria filled all of them, security of having a small indication of what the future would hold for them making the small gang hold onto one another even tighter. They hung out some more, looking at some flats and just chatting about anything and everything. Spencer joined them for a bit, sitting on Y/N’s floor and helping them find someplace nice to live. Whenever he had the time, he’d spend time with the flat, but he was incredibly busy with uni and would mostly spend time in his room. However, he mostly liked hanging out like this when he wasn’t studying; in a relaxed and quiet environment. Spencer revealed he had moved loads growing up, and his dad had shown him what to look for and what questions to ask when going for viewings. He wrote them all down for the gang of three, making them promise to ask him anything if they were unsure about a flat or anything of the sort. As he left and walked on his way to the kitchen, a shout from Ian’s room sounded, clearly excited to see Spencer, and the two boys went into the kitchen where Finn and Becky were hanging out.

Annie left after a while also, explaining that she had a report due tomorrow that she needed to finish. So, once again, it was just Y/N and Tiana in Y/N’s room. Getting up to close the door, Y/N put her laptop back on her desk before turning to Tiana who had suddenly grown very quiet. If it was one thing Y/N didn’t do, it was press for information that wasn’t hers to ask for. Like why Tiana was quiet, or why she had a very distant look in her eyes Y/N had never seen before. Instead, she waited it out till Tiana snapped out of whatever train of thought she had been on, eyes meeting Y/N’s. Y/N let her stare speak volumes, making Tiana sigh heavily as she knew what Y/N was doing. She folded her hands in her lap.

“Danny and I stopped seeing each other.”

Y/N frowned a bit, crossing her arms as she kept silent.

“He… He just said he didn’t want to any longer.” Tiana said. “And I don’t know what to do anymore- What to do with that information. He’s obviously done with us, but… I don’t… I don’t think I am.”

With that, Y/N got out of the chair and sat down with Tiana. Draping the fluffy blanket over herself as well, Y/N wrapped an arm around her friend, silently offering her shoulder to lean on. And Tiana accepted. Head on Y/N’s shoulder and her eyes staring blankly out into nothing, Tiana did not elaborate. Did not air any theories as to why Danny would break them up, or if they had even been serious enough to consider themselves a couple in the first place. But Y/N wouldn’t press for information, wouldn’t force Tiana to say anything she did not want to. It was so unlike Tiana not to talk, not to think out loud, and Y/N knew that if she did not, it would all end in her crying. Danny and Tiana had seen each other loads, had hung out at Danny’s flat in Cotton Row and in Tiana’s room in Westbridge, and it would be weird for Tiana to continue on with life at uni without Danny around her. So, instead of telling Tiana she would be better off without the twat that was Danny Hales; that she could do better than him, Y/N let her embrace speak for her. It was no use talking when talking would cause even more pain; to put words to your feelings and thoughts when your body was already doing that for you. So, the two friends just sat there, leaning against one another and not speaking, because neither of them had to.

It didn’t matter what day of the week it was, students would always found a reason – or just not give a reason at all – to drink. Maybe it had been a rough week; maybe the essay you handed in last night was so shit it gave you a headache; maybe it was because you missed the taste of alcohol on the back of your tongue. Whatever reason, flat 34 of Westbridge had decided to sit down together in the kitchen that Sunday to drink. Tiana, Becky and Y/N had gone to Tesco to get some alcohol each. Tiana helped Y/N pick a bottle of white wine, while both Tiana and Becky got vodka and some cranberry juice themselves. Y/N tried not to make it show just how much she disliked the mere sight of cranberry juice. When they got back, Y/N worked some more on her violin, trying to get the Paganini Caprice No. 24 right. After rehearsing it over and over and over, Y/N seemed to finally start to get the hang of things. She suddenly felt incredibly relieved, like a weight was beginning to lift from her chest and shoulders. After weeks of preparing, she was beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. With some more days of rehearsing, she would be ready to go for the exam on Tuesday.

Evening came, and Y/N walked out into the kitchen to make herself some dinner. Finn, Ian and Spencer were already sitting by the table eating, giving nods of greeting before continuing on with their conversation.

“That’s what Wade said, at least.” Finn said, shoving a spoonful of soup into his mouth. “On Thursday.”

“But ain’t their flat like… really small?” Ian asked, resting his back against the wall and his speaker in his hand, ready for later.

“Yea, so it’s going to be interesting.” Finn continued, Y/N putting some penne pasta into her saucepan that was starting to heat up. “Probs going to be sick, though.”

“But very crowded and messy.” Spencer continued. Y/N didn’t want to ask what was going on or what they were discussing, the slightly nosy side of her hoped they would elaborate more.

“El and Blessing won’t care, will they?” Finn sighed, sitting back in his chair and sighing heavily. “They rarely care for anyone but themselves, Harry says.”

Y/N looked over at the boys for a second, Ian bobbing his head in agreement and Finn putting his spoon back in his now empty bowl. Quickly, she focused her eyes on her food, swirling a spoon around in her pasta.

“So, Blessing and El are having a party? And neither Wade nor Harry are okay with it?” Spencer asked.

“Nope. Haven’t really been very fond of the two girls since the very beginning, to be honest. Never really spoke warmly of them.” Finn snickered. “Danny is keen, though. And he’s basically the boss, Harry says. Whatever Danny says goes.”

“Huge fan of Harry, are we?” Ian teased, winking at Finn as Spencer snickered. The door into the kitchen opened, Tiana and Becky entering. Y/N smiled at Tiana who walked over to her, giving her a hug as Finn let out a loud laugh.

“Man’s a fucking legend. Simply cannot resist his charm.”

“Who?” Becky asked, sitting now between Spencer and Finn.

“Harry.” Ian said, connecting his phone to the speaker so they could start listening to music.

“Ah.” She nodded, opening her vodka bottle. “Same. Bloody irresistible.”

“You got a thing for him?” Finn asked, getting up to wash his bowl.

“Fancy him like mad. Been trying to make it obvious to him since we started hanging out, but he doesn’t seem to take the hint.” Becky watched Finn as he walked over to the sink, clearly onto something. “You know him well, yea?”

“We chill abouts every day, yea. Why?”

“Ti, can you fetch me a glass, please?” Becky smiled at Tiana who did as she was asked, sitting down in a free chair afterwards. “Thanks.” Becky turned her attention back to Finn. “Could you help me out then?”

Finn put his bowl in the dish drainer. “Want me to tell him you wanna shag?”

“Don’t be blunt about it.” Becky rolled her eyes. “Just ask him if he’s interested and then talk me up.”

“Why can’t you just do it yourself?” Finn walked back and sat down, arms crossed over his chest.

“Because the times I’ve tried talking to him we’ve been around loads of other people, and it really hasn’t been the time.”

“But if you’re hammered at a party, that is the time to talk to him.”

Finn and Becky continued to talk, but Y/N zoned out, not really in the mood to listen in on a conversation she did not care for. She finished her dinner and walked over to the table just as Annie emerged, sitting down beside her. Everyone got their alcohol out, and the flat was at it again. Y/N ate her pasta while sipping on her white wine, feeling the effect of the liquor as early as she always did. She had never really been used to drinking back home in Hawkley, and almost felt ashamed at how fast she felt a little dizzy from the alcohol wrapping itself tightly around her brain. She tried not to say anything, though. Just eating her pasta and keeping quiet unless otherwise spoken to. Once she was done however, she got up out of her seat and walked over to the sink, swaying a little. Ian howled with laughter.

“You alright, Y/N?”

Y/N smiled back at him, and the rest of the gang laughed along. She came back after washing up her dishes, the night continuing on in a blur. They just sat talking, singing along to Don’t Look Back in Anger and moaning about how much each one of them had to do for the tons of exams they had this coming and last week before Christmas. Tiana was complaining about how they should have gotten a Christmas tree for the flat, and at the thought of Christmas, of going home to his family, Finn started crying a bit. It was an incredibly fun night. And around 00:30am, Finn got a snapchat from Wade.

“Bloody hell.” He mumbled. “Boys, look at this.”

He held his phone out for everyone to see. Cotton Row flat 8 did not look good. Alcohol was spilled on the floor, one of the chairs in their little kitchen was ruined, glass was shattered, and something brown was smeared all over their white cupboards.

“Looks like the party El and Blessing held went to literal shit.” Tiana said, pointing to the cupboards, making Y/N giggle.

Finn started texting Wade, concentration etched in the furrows of his brows. The party at flat 8 Cotton Row was soon forgotten as conversation rose around the table again. Y/N sipped the last of her wine, eyes gliding over the room. With the alcohol buzzing through her body, hot numbness in her shoulders, fingers and toes, Y/N felt oddly at peace. The people around the table were people she had now lived with for three months, and she felt very calm around them. Like if she opened her mouth right now to say something, she was somehow sure they wouldn’t look at her weird and mock her. It was a good feeling. And some minutes later, Y/N’s phone vibrated. Thinking it was a text from Edward, she fished the phone out of her pocket to answer him.

Harry Eloise and Blessing had a party at our flat.

Just reading his name made an involuntary smile creep onto Y/N’s face. Biting her bottom lip so no one around the table would see her grinning, she typed back to him.

Y/N Finn showed us a snap Wade sent.

Harry It’s ridiculous. They let people into my room and now it’s fucking disgusting in there.

Y/N frowned a little.

Y/N They let people into your room? Why?

Harry Because they’re both dead from the neck up.

Y/N looked up from her phone to think, but quickly looked down as another text came rolling in.

Harry Said they’d clean it up in the morning, but I don’t really feel like sleeping in a room smelling of apples Sourz.

Y/N Does it smell vile?

Harry Not vile, just of bad memories from my 16-year-old self drinking a whole bottle and throwing up lime green sick at 4am in my bed.

Y/N giggled, and Tiana quickly looked over, eyebrows arched.

“What’s this?”

“Just Edward sending me a meme.” Y/N explained.

Tiana cocked her head a little before looking away from Y/N. Y/N knew she knew it wasn’t Edward she was texting and was very grateful that Tiana didn’t press her for information. Turning back to her phone, Y/N answered.

Y/N I’ve never had some.

Harry You haven’t?

Y/N Nope.

Harry You’re not really missing out. Tastes like sweet piss.

Y/N bit her tongue from laughing out loud. She looked up as Finn threw his head back and laughed, clearly amused by something Spencer had said, who was also laughing. Y/N looked around at everyone, Taking Body by Tove Lo playing in the background as her flatmates started a loud conversation again, laughter hanging comfortably in the air.

Harry Smells like sweet piss as well. Can’t wait to literally gain 5 stone just inhaling Sourz all night.

Y/N You could sleep here.

Y/N didn’t register she was typing it until she had sent the text off to Harry. He usually answered right away, always quick to get back to anyone who wanted his attention, but at this he seemed to stop for a bit. Y/N watched her phone intently, her anxiety taking over as she started typing another message apologising, saying that someone took her phone and sent that message to him as a joke. If there was someone she didn’t want to scare away, it was Harry. She had no idea why, but the time they had spent together had made her very happy, and he seemed to care for her well-being more than most of her friends from back home in Hawkley. She didn’t want him to think that she was offering to have sex with him, that that was the only reason she wanted him to come over. She just didn’t want him to be uncomfortable in his own house. And besides, if El and Blessing said they’d clean it up the next day, then Harry wouldn’t need to sleep over two nights in a row. Y/N was about to hit send.

Harry You sure?

She blinked. Did he want to then? He wasn’t weirded out by her asking? So many questions ran through Y/N’s mind, and none could be answered unless Harry showed up and actually stayed the night.

Y/N Yea.

Harry Cheers. On my way. See you in 10.

Y/N put her phone back on the table, not really knowing what she had just done. If she had not been drunk, then she wasn’t sure she would’ve even had the balls to ask, but with alcohol in her system, asking Harry hadn’t seemed to scary. Not that she thought he’d cut her off if she ever offered her room for him to sleep in would he need it, but putting herself out there, exposing herself to possible rejection, made Y/N so uncomfortable she felt a slight cold shiver go up her spine at the mere thought. Y/N watched as Finn went up to walk to the bathroom and bit her lip as her eyes fell to her phone again. Harry would be here any minute now, and for some reason she felt nervous. Harry would never make her uncomfortable, she knew that, but just being around her made her nervous in a way she had a hard time explaining.

Harry Outside.

Y/N got up from her chair, taking her phone with her and leaving her empty wine bottle on the table. Walking over to the door, she was stopped by Tiana’s cough.

“Where are you going?”

Y/N blinked, mouth falling open as she thought of a reply. “A-A bit tired. Think I’m just going to head to bed.”

“Aww.” Tiana pouted as the conversation around the table continued on. “Hope you wake up well rested tomorrow. Nightie, sweets.”

“Goodnight.”

“Harry!”

Y/N had just opened the door when Finn, emerging from the downstairs toilet, saw Harry waiting outside their front door. Not really knowing what to do now, Y/N stood motionless as Finn opened the door, letting Harry in. With an arm around his shoulders, Finn walked Harry into the kitchen, the biggest grin on his drunk face as they walked into the communal area, stopping in the middle of the room. Y/N watched from the door, biting her lip.

“What’re you doing here, mate? Want a beer?”

“No, I’m good.” Harry answered as Finn let go of him to fetch one for himself.

“You sure? Everyone’s pretty much legless.”

Harry let go of a chuckle. “No, I’m not really here to get drunk, Finn.”

“Oh?” Finn raised his eyebrows. “To see your handsome mate, is that it?”

Harry laughed, and Y/N noticed how Becky seemed to be so entranced, so incredibly captivated by Harry, that she almost felt a little bad. But as soon as that feeling resurfaced, it disappeared. Because looking down at her exposed cleavage, Becky made sure to press her upper arms against her sides, making it bigger. And for some reason, Y/N suddenly didn’t like Becky very much. She hadn’t really cared much for her obsession with Harry before, but this she did not like.

Harry turned around to Y/N. “You good?”

She nodded.

He smiled before looking back at the rest of the gang. “Have a lovely night. Don’t drink too much, Finn.”

The looks on everyone’s faces as Harry turned around, opening the door for Y/N to walk through, was so priceless that Y/N wished she could’ve taken a picture of it. Everyone sat there open-mouthed, either smiling or just completely dumbfounded. The only one who didn’t look either was Becky, who seemed so offended Y/N didn’t know what would happen next time the two of them had a conversation. Harry gave Y/N a small smile, and she walked through the door and down the hall toward her room.

“You sleepy, then?” Harry asked, hands in his black aviator jacket pockets.

“A bit, but once I start brushing my teeth and stuff my brain kind of tells me to become tired enough to go to bed, if it makes sense?”

Harry giggled, walking into Y/N’s room and closing the door. “No.”

She smiled, rolling her eyes at him. “I don’t know how you want… how you want…” She gestured at her bed, avoiding his eyes.

Harry smiled. “I’ll take the floor, Y/N. It’s carpeted.”

“Right.” She nodded. “But do take all the pillows and blankets in my bed and make yourself comfortable on the floor, yea? I know it’s carpeted but once I slept on a carpeted floor and my back hurt for a week.”

Harry laughed, taking his jacket off and hanging it on the hanger by the door. He was wearing a pair of black drawstring waist joggers, a pair of white vans, and a white tee shirt. His glasses were perched on his nose, hair in disarray, but Y/N found him so handsome just then that there didn’t seem to be anything wrong about his hair being a little greasy or a spot starting to form on his chin.

“Why did you sleep on a carpeted floor?” Harry asked, taking his shoes off and walking over to Y/N’s bed to take the 500 blankets and pillows to make his own bed on the floor.

“A friend’s birthday party. I didn’t bring a sleeping bag or air mattress myself.” She said, putting some toothpaste on her toothbrush. “So, I had to sleep on the floor.”

Harry frowned, making his bed. “That’s rough. They could’ve at least given you a proper bed to sleep in if it was at a friends’ house.”

Y/N shrugged her shoulders as she started brushing her teeth. “Didn’t really care.”

Harry stopped putting blankets and pillows on the floor to look over at Y/N, a frown on his face. They shared a glance through the mirror in front of Y/N, and her heart started racing a little.

“Didn’t really have any nice friends back in Hawkley if I’m being completely honest.” She said through her toothbrush, not caring that Harry saw the white of the paste at the edge of her mouth.

“Fuck, Y/N, I’m sorry.”

“No need to be.” Y/N said, trying to smile. “I’m here now.”

At this, Harry softened a bit, the edges of his mouth twitching into a smile. “Yea.” He said, something in his voice she couldn’t quite put her finger on. “You are.”

Silence fell over them then, and Y/N watched as Harry made himself comfortable. Laying down on the floor, he whipped his phone out and started texting away and looking through his Instagram feed. Y/N spat out her toothpaste and put face cream on, making sure to rub it in good and softly before she turned all the lights except for the fairy lights above her bed off. She crawled into her bed, still fully clothed and put her duvet comfortably over her frame. Sighing deeply, Y/N opened her phone as well.

Tiana OH YM FUCKING GOD YOU AND HARRY??????

Tiana Y/N I SWEAR TO GOD WHAT THE FUCK

Tiana YOU AND HARRY

Tiana ARE YOU SHAGGING?? TELL ME YOU’RE NOT ONLY SHAGGING HIM HE’S WAY TOO CUTE TO ONLY BE A SHAG

Tiana BECKY IS SO FUCKIGN MAD OH MY GOD Y/N

Giggling, Y/N answered Tiana.

Y/N El and Blessing’s guests trashed his room so I offered my floor for the night.

Tiana So you’re just friends?

Y/N Yea.

Tiana Sounds fake, but okay.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you.” Harry said a she put his phone on silent and turned it off. “What is your favourite thing to eat in the whole entire world?”

Y/N frowned. “Favourite… thing? You mean food, right?”

“No.” Harry said. “I mean thing, like do you enjoy eating loo rolls or books better?”

Y/N laughed, and so did Harry, grinning up at her in the faint light above her.

“No, I mean foods, yea.”

Y/N hummed as she thought for a bit. “Probably Caramels.”

“Caramel?”

“The Scottish biscuits?”

“Oh!” Harry nodded. “Right. Yea, yea, yea. They’re fucking delicious.”

“I know!”

Harry smiled. “Mine has got to be Chinese takeout. Tastes as good the morning after as it does fresh.”

“Never had it.”

Harry paused. “You’ve never had Chinese?”

“I come from a small village in the middle of nowhere in Hampshire, of course I haven’t.” Y/N said. “I’ve basically been eating Sunday Roast seven days a week for 19 years.”

Harry huffed. “Nothing better than a good Sunday Roast, yea?”

“Absolutely nothing.” Y/N agreed.

“Best thing about a Sunday Roast?”

“The Yorkshires.”

“What?!” Harry narrowed his eyes. “No way! It’s the potatoes. Everyone knows the roast potatoes are the best thing about life itself.”

“I stand by what I said.”

“Roast potatoes with gravy?” Harry suggested. “Come on, it’s the best thing invented.”

“It’s good, but not as good as Yorkshires with gravy.” Y/N giggled as Harry closed his eyes in frustration. “Sorry.”

Harry removed his glasses, rubbing his hands over his face. “I cannot believe this.”

“Can’t believe you’ve done this?”

Harry’s arms fell to his sides. “A Vine reference, huh?”

“You know them?”

“Know them?” Harry smiled. “I breathe them, darling.”

Y/N giggled. “Good, couldn’t have been seen with you if you didn’t.”

Harry smiled, rubbing at his eyes. It was 1am after all, so no wonder both of them were tired and ready for bed. But Y/N started talking before she could help herself. She saw the tattoos on his right arm, from his elbow and down to his wrist. All the numbers she had been thinking about for well over a month now. Needing to know what they meant.

“Your tattoos.” Y/N blurted. “What do they mean?”

Harry put his glasses on again before holding his arm up so they both could see them. “Promise not to think I’m a bloody plonker for it?”

“You already are in general so-“

“-Alright!” Harry looked up at her, making her laugh. “Don’t hold back! Do fire off insults!”

“I’m sorry!” Y/N chuckled. “I won’t think you daft. Go on.”

Harry held his arm up again. “It’s all the articles that made me want to study Law.”

Y/N smiled a little, intrigued.

“Which articles?”

“Most from the Human Rights and Equality Commission.” He explained. “The Human Rights Act.”

Without thinking, Y/N reached forward and placed her index at the very top where 2.1 was written. Slowly she let her finger trace down until it reached Harry’s pulse, to the light blue veins there, that beat along to the rhythm of his heart. Harry looked up at her, studying her make-up less face and the look on her face. He hadn’t expected her to touch him like this, to want to know about his tattoo, to want to know him like this, but he couldn’t help but want to share every little detail of his life with her. So, tearing his eyes away from her face, he glanced at her finger until she drew back, wondering if she had felt just how quick his heart had been beating.

“2.1.” Y/N said, eyes taking in the tattoos.

“Article 2: Right to life.” Harry said. “’Everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which the penalty is provided by law.’”

Y/N met his eyes. “You know the articles?”

He smiled. “Each and every one.”

Y/N smiled back, looking at his forearm. “10.1?”

“Article 5: Freedom of expression.” He started. “’Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.’”

Y/N, incredibly fascinated, went on. “7.1?”

“Article 7: No punishment without law.” Harry smiled at how much she wanted to know. “’No one shall be held guilty of any criminal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence under national law at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the criminal offence was committed.”

Y/N closed her eyes, the sound of Harry’s soothing voice lulling her to sleep. “You really know all this?”

“Yea.” Harry let his arm rest beside him. “I do.”

Y/N smiled. “That’s so impressive.”

“Is it?”

“I didn’t know any of the human rights.” She giggled. “Well, I knew some but not this well.”

Harry smiled, studying her as she fell closer and closer to sleep. “It’s what I study after all.”

“Yea, but you’re good at it.”

“At remembering?”

“Yea.”

“I’ve always found law and stuff like that interesting. It’s what ties all of humanity together in a way, you know? The Human Rights are something we all have in common; something we all strive for and work for.”

Y/N smiled a little wider. “I love that.”

“I want to work in the EU, maybe move to Brussels.”

“Do you know what you’d do? Like what kind of job you’d have?”

Harry shook his head, but when looking up at Y/N, seeing that her eyes were close and her breathing heavy, he stopped himself from answering. She might not be totally asleep, but she was close to it. And he wasn’t about to wake her. She’d had a long day probably. So, giving her a little smile, Harry flicked the switch on the plug, letting the room fall into darkness, and he went to sleep also.

Tuesday, 9 December 2014

“Y/N, your turn.” Mr Goddard said, motioning for Y/N to get out of her seat and walk to the front of the class.

Y/N had been deep in her own thoughts until she heard her name being called. Mentally, she had been in her bed that previous Monday morning, Harry standing hunched by her bed, shaking her lightly awake. She had rubbed her eyes and glanced at him while he smiled at her.

“I’m sorry.” He had said. “Wish I didn’t have to wake you up, but felt weird not telling you that I was leaving.”

Y/N frowned. “You’re… You’re leaving?”

Looking down on the floor she saw that his bed was indeed gone. All her pillows and blankets laid folded on her desk. Blinking a few times, she started sitting up in bed.

“No, no, no.” Harry said, pushing her lightly down. “No need to wake up, know you don’t have any lectures on Mondays.”

Y/N frowned. “How?”

“Finn.”

Y/N nodded, looking at her blankets again.

“But I do.” Harry informed. “Completely forgot I did, but I have one in approximately-“ He checked the time on his phone. “-15 minutes.”

Y/N nodded again, not really knowing what to say.

“I’ll see you, yea?”

She nodded again. And then Harry walked out of her room and away. She had not seen him since. But as she rose to her feet in Ensemble I, Y/N forgot all about Harry and Sunday night, Monday morning, and everything in between, before, and after. With her violin in her hand, she walked to the front of class, looking at all of the students before her. Teresa smiled at her, giving her a thumbs up, and Y/N tried to calm herself down, knowing that if she did just that, then everything would turn out fine. Placing the sheets on the stand in front of her just in case, Y/N brought the violin up to her neck and chin. She closed her eyes, trying to relax completely before opening them again to focus on the sheet before her, and then on the piece.

Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 started flowing from Y/N’s violin as she played. With a light grip of her fingers and thumb, bow gliding over the strings quickly, Y/N felt in complete control. If one managed to play a Paganini piece without failing, one felt like the most powerful person in the universe afterward, like playing it was like overcoming a hug obstacle. As much as Y/N loved playing the violin, the feeling afterward when you were done, having completed and mastered a tricky piece, she felt so amazing it was hard to properly put into words.

Pressing her fingers onto the fingerboard as hard and fast as she possibly could, a furrow to her brow as she tried to concentrate. But her mind suddenly went elsewhere. She started thinking about going home. The sight of the Picot Farm when driving down the mud road, trees surrounding her and birds singing all around. Edward in the gate into the farm, waving his arms at her and shouting her name. The cows not even a little bit interested in the vehicle making its way past them. Suddenly, it was very hard to concentrate on the piece. It was hard to move her fingers quick enough and it was hard to see the notes through the blurriness of her eyes.

She failed. Stopping completely once she started hitting the wrong notes; once it all started to sound very bad. Panicked, Y/N looked down at her sheet, blinking away the tears, and then meeting Teresa’s gaze. She smiled at her, mouthing at her to try again.

“Again.” Goddard said.

Y/N knew you got three tried in total. So, she had to play her best this time or the time after. Leaning her chin on the violin again, she glanced at the neck, her fingers lightly pressed against it as she started playing again. She watched her fingers this time, knowing that if she saw herself play then surely she couldn’t do anything wrong. Quickly, her fingers moved over the strings, Paganini once again gracing the room. Everyone was impressed. Y/N was an incredible violinist, she knew this herself as the only thing she was really confident about was her ability to play the violin. When she played and felt the quietness around her, all eyes on her and her violin, she didn’t much mind being the centre of attention. As long as it was the kind of attention she wanted herself, that she created, then she liked it.

But as she started thinking about everyone else in the room, about what everyone else might be thinking of her where she stood, she lost focus again. This time quicker than the one before. It was then that she realised just how bad she had screwed herself over by picking a Paganini piece, especially Caprice No. 24 that needed all the focus and discipline in the world. It was such a complex and fast-tempoed piece, and Y/N knew right then that whichever way she played this next and last time, she would not be able to go through with it.

“Go on, Y/N.” Goddard said.

No matter how much Y/N didn’t like him, there was a tone of encouragement in his voice that made her sigh with relief. She started once again, looking at her fingers and then at the sheet. But she missed another note, placed her index incorrectly, felt a drop of sweat run down the back of her neck, and knew right away that she was done. Removing her violin from her shoulder, she looked at Goddard, giving him the slightest smile before walking back to her seat next to Teresa. The seminar room was a little to quiet, and no one seemed to move or breathe or speak until Goddard called the name of the next student. Y/N put her violin away and sat back up, straightening her back and bringing her phone forth. She found her mum in her messages.

Y/N I’m going home for Christmas today, can dad and Edward pick me up at the train station around 8? Just failed an exam and I don’t want to be here anymore. I’ll leave as soon as my seminar is over.

She put her phone away again, looking up at the boy who sat down in front of the piano. Swallowing hard, Y/N fought the tears from falling, knowing that once one did, the rest of surely follow. Teresa reached over and took Y/N’s hand in hers, squeezing it hard. When looking over at her friend she didn’t look at her, Teresa’s eyes were on the guy playing. And for some reason, not having anyone look at her right then, was exactly what Y/N needed as she felt her bottom lip almost wobble.

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[chrysolina]

I can always hear you singing Phantom of the Opera so I decided to sing the duet with you. I LOVE THIS ONE please I need something with this prompt it's my dream

OMG ME TOO ANON I literally screamed at it, it was that adorable!! Enjoy!!

There were many perks of being the co-head of the science faculty at the Avengers compound. 

For one, you always had a place to stay. During your trial period in the acclaimed building, you would usually have to wake up at least two hours earlier than your usual time of 6:30am, the trek up the state of New York always left you somewhat rushed and tired by the time you’d stepped through the doors to the labs. It wasn’t until one particular rushed September morning that you finally felt the heat and slumped at your desk at bang on 9am - the exact time Tony or Bruce (your bosses) would walk in. 

After seeing your slumped state they decided there and then that after your ‘trial period’ had finished you would be moving into the high-tech facility permanently and the compound would be just as much as your home as any other avengers. You couldn’t help but smile at the memory. 

Another great perk of living in a tower full of superheroes and slightly imbalanced individuals; you were needed, in more ways than you’d ever assumed. 

Unlike what the tabloids painted of them, the avengers weren’t always as harmonious as you first thought. They fought, squabbled, cried and fumed like nobody you’d ever seen, the world ending problems they’d face often getting the best of them. Take Tony Stark, a genius and charismatic leader who never misses a trick. Well, until the day you decided to head out for your usual 11am coffee. 

Tony was in a world of his own that day, his head just wasn’t screwed on properly. He was far too preoccupied with the thoughts raging in his head than on the current deconstruction of the firewall a HYDRA nano-tech bugs had, thus causing the bugs to go into overdrive and blow up half the labs, sending the compound into a state of immediate lock-down - until you showed up. 

You quickly jumped in and deciphered a code to stop the bugs from, well, over-exploding and set them back to normal. Tony wasn’t allowed in the labs for two weeks after that fiasco. 

Another great thing about living and being a part of the avengers? You finally had the chance to see your five-year crush of none other than Captain America every, single, day. From sharing breakfast with him to even having living quarters right next to his, it was all a bit of giddy dream for the fangirl within you. But, like every man or woman, Steve had his flaws. 

For one, he never did his laundry routinely like mostly everyone else. Since he was the Captain, he always had the clever excuse of ‘I’ve got paperwork to do’ or ‘I need to run through these reports Y/N.’ - an excuse you’d hear on the daily every time you’d go to ask of he was coming to the laundromat down the way. 

That wasn’t the only thing that had fallen into a routine with you and Steve. You also noticed that every night, at roughly 9 or 10pm Steve would lock his doors, turns his lights out (you only knew this because of your balcony was right beside his bedroom window) and play whatever film or musical he wished - all at a ridiculously arrogant volume. 

Tonight, it was the Phantom of the Opera - a favourite of Steve’s, you’d come to understand. Judging by the sound of heavy organ playing seeping through your walls, you knew he wasn’t far into the film. ‘Great,’ you thought with a huff, ‘another lovesick duet’ You rolled your eyes at the cliche nature of the musical and threw your makeup wipe in the bin beside the wash hand basin. 

Instead of getting in a huff over the loud volume of the cliched musical, you grabbed the book you’d been reading these past weeks and continued on with it, flicking through page after page intently - that was until it got to Steve’s, and your own, favourite song of the play; all I ask of you. 

As the song began, you couldn’t help but hum a little hum along to the song, eyes still glued to the writing on the pages below you - until you heard another male voice. You stopped humming at the sound coming from behind you, a knowing smile adorning your lips at the sound. 

It was Steve singing. 

In his defence, he may be rubbish at doing the laundry but he’s one good singer. His voice was deep, smooth like caramel and incredibly romantic (a little on the arousing side too) - just listening to it made you want to sing to the incredibly loving duet. And, you did. 

“…Let me be your light, you’re safe; no one will find you, your fears are far behind you.” Steve sang in a deep timbre, your eyes clenched tightly shut at what you were going to do next. 

“All I want is freedom, a world with no more night; and you, always beside me, to hold me and to hide me.” Your cheeks turned a fresh crimson colour at the sound of Steve halting his singing. 

You thought you’d overdid it, an act too ballsy for even yourself - of course he wouldn’t sing back; but, without missing a beat, he continued. “Then say you’ll share with me one love, one lifetime; let me lead you from your solitude. Say you need me with you, here beside you, anywhere you go, let me go too, Christine, that’s all I ask of you.” 

You couldn’t help but smile at the way he sang, as if was all meant for you and only you, your thoughts kept you occupied from the sound of moving feet in the room next to yours. “Say you’ll share with me one love, one lifetime; say the word and I will follow you. Share each day with me, each night, each morning.” As if the angels had put your voices together for this one moment, you shut your eyes and revelled in how pretty your pretty your voices sounded together - albeit the fact that Steve’s voice sounded a little close for your liking but you didn’t care. 

You were too wrapped up in the moment to care. 

Well, that was until you felt a warm hand caress your cheek idly, your eyes shooting open to find a set of beautiful baby blue eyes looking straight into yours. “Steve I-” You tried to has out a reason for ruining his private time watching his favourite film, but he shushed you before you could begin. 

Wordlessly, Steve placed his lips tentatively on yours and engaged your lips in a beautifully endearing kiss, a kiss that had you pressed up against him in the most romantic way possible. It was obvious what Steve was trying to tell you, it was a wordless confession that you could only reciprocate and deepen with the use of your tongue and sheer force. 

With a shared parting breath, your lips both parted ways but your bodies stayed as close as ever. “Took you long enough.” You let out a cheeky laugh and kissed Steve’s slightly scruffy cheek with a smile. 

“Took you long enough to join in though.” Steve quipped with a smirk, making quick work of placing sloppy wet kisses along your bare neck. You couldn’t help but hum in content and card your fingers through his blonde locks. 

“Now, Steve pulled away with a mischevous glint locked in his deep blue eyes. “I showed you my vocal range, now it’s about time you showed me yours.”

[notdeadyet-bpd]

week in the life of a med student: tuesday

5:45am: Wake up. I am noooot a morning person. Also, I’ve been aiming for 8 hours of sleep (yes, I know that that probably won’t be achievable once I hit clinical years), and I only got 7 at most last night. Tuesdays are always tiring because of band on Monday night.

6:30am: Go to uni, same way as yesterday (drive to train station and then take public transport from there).

8:00am: Immunology lectures. We have two 45min lectures with a 15min break in between. Today, the two lectures are both on T-cell (a type of immune system cell) development and activation, and they are given by two different lecturers. There are a lot of details to take in and my brain is a bit too tired. Between lectures, I look at my schedule and realise that I only have two lectures in the afternoon rather than three, and get super excited.

9:45am: Morning lectures are over, so I go over to the children’s hospital, where I do some volunteer research work. I polish off a paper that I’ve been working on with a couple of coworkers and send it off to our supervisor.

11am: I reheat my lunch (leftover fish and rice from last night’s dinner) and munch on it while slowly working through Anki flashcards at my hospital desk.

12pm: Physiology lectures. Today, the lectures are on physiology of the central nervous system, such as how the parts of the brain work together to help us function in everyday life.

1:45pm: Get on the bus to start heading home- I’m still sleepy! A classmate sits next to me on the bus and I tell her that I plan to get a Krispy Kreme on my way home. She plans to get churros.

~2:30pm: Get a jam doughnut from Krispy Kreme on my way home from the train station. I eat it when I get home.

~3pm: 20min nap.

3:20pm: Start working on making Anki flashcards out of my notes. I have a penchant for procrastinating, though, so I alternate between making flashcards, looking at random stuff on the Internet, and writing yesterday’s Tumblr post.

6pm: Shower.

~6:30pm: Get back to finishing off making new flashcards and start learning the flashcards that I just made.

~7pm: Dinner. Tonight’s dinner is chicken kiev, potatoes, and steamed vegetables.

~7:30pm: Get back to my weird studying/procrastinating hybrid combo.

9:40pm: Suddenly remember that I have a mindfulness meditation on my to-do list for the day.

9:50pm: Finish off the last of the Anki new cards and do the mindfulness meditation.

10pm: Bed.

[felixsaussieaccent]

To All The (Stray) Kids I’ve Loved Before | viii

Member: Bang Chan

i  ii  iii  iv  v  vi  vii   ix

I threw the math notebook on my bed and sighed loudly. I took a few deep breaths before texting Seungmin.

Me

Seungminnie….

Seungmin📚💚

What do you want, dork?

Me

You’re tutoring me in math tomorrow after school, you have no choice...THANKS!

Seungmin 📚💚

Ugh, you just love me because of my brains

Me

Bold of you to assume I love you 

Seungmin 📚💚

Shut up lol, meet me at the café near school then, ok?

Me

Issa date, nerd

Seungmin📚💚

As Seungmin tried to educate my 0.25 braincell, I couldn't not notice that there was a new waiter. “Seungmin, have you seen him around?” I asked “Y/N, if you’re gonna look for your new love victim, then you’re not gonna get math, deal with it.” He sassed making me fake pout “And yes, his name is Bang Chan or Chris, he’s a 97 liner and he’s from Australia, need anything else, dork?” Seungmin added “Yes, his number.” I joked, making Seungmin roll his eyes at me before forcing a math book into my face. 

Since that day, I’ve been at the café every day, forcing either Jeongin or Jisung or Yeojin or Changbin or Seungmin or anyone to go with me. I swear I’m not creepy. One day, we had a free first period so me, Jeongin and Jisung went to the café as we had a test the next period and we wanted to study while getting coffee. 

“I’m so gonna fail....” I sighed as Jisung laughed “Yah! What’s so funny, squirrel boy?” I asked “You do realize you look like such a drama queen.” He answered as I sighed again and looked back at my book. Jeongin excused himself to go to the bathroom and Jisung went to call someone, leaving me alone, when I got startled by someone sitting next to me. 

“Hate to eavesdrop, but here.” Chan said, putting a drink on the table “It might help you concentrate, I always drink it before an important test and it always helps” He added, after noticing my shocked and confused face. “This might seem creepy, sorry.” He looked down, nervously giggling. “Oh, no, I was just shocked, but yeah, thank you so much! I need all the help I can get.” I said, taking the drink in my hand “Wait, what even is this?” I asked “Secret recipe.” He said, winking before leaving me alone.

I wasn’t alone for long, as Jisung came back and asked me where the drink is from and when I explained, he looked at me worried. “Y/N, you’re gonna drink something a stranger gave you?” He asked “An attractive stranger.” I mumbled “He seems like a good human.” I replied “He is....” Jisung admitted, his tone sounding as if he was defeated. “He’s the 3rd member of 3racha, cool guy, very nice, too bad he’s a major dork.” Jisung sipped his tea “Oh, so like you.” I joked as he chocked on his drink as I laughed. 

I took a sip of the drink. “Omg, this is amazing.” I said “Can I smell?” Jisung asked “Oh, this is THE Bang Chan drink.” He said after smelling the drink “The what?” I asked “He made it for me once when I was having a hard time studying and I ended up being the student with the top score.” Jisung explained “See? Chan is amazing.” I said “Oh! You have a crush! That explains it!” He said “Shut up!” I said laughing and drinking my drink while looking at Chan, until he noticed my stare, which was when I turned to face my book again.

~

I got my test back and immediately ran to the café after school. I went up to the counter and sat down. “Well hello, stressful student, what will it be today?” Chan asked “The recipe for THE Bang Chan drink!” I answered, causing Chan to laugh “Was it that good?” He asked “Was it drugs?” I asked jokingly “No, but it’s just as addicting.” He winked “If you like it so much, I can teach you how to make it some time, but then you won’t need me.” He said pouting, making me blush “But I shall, since it will mean your happiness and I’m willing to sacrifice my happiness for yours, as yours is mine.” He added, dramatically. “Drama queen.” I joked “Besides I won’t be making it on my own all the time obviously.” I defended “Ok. So next Sunday? Around 9?” He asked as I nodded, he smiled before going to another table to get their order.

~

The cafe doesn’t open till 11am so me and Chan had plenty of time for the drink, but I arrived earlier since I didn’t want to be late. “Oh, you’re already here, I have to put some of these napkins in the dispensers.” Chan said as I entered the cafe. “Do you want some help?” I asked “Sure.” He smiled before I put my bag down and helped him out till we were all done preparing the cafe. “All done.” He smiled and looked around proudly “So, do you want a break before we start or?” He asked as I shook my head no “If you don’t want one, it’s not needed.” I replied.

“Then let’s get down to it.” He smiled before we went behind the counter. He started describing the ingredients and what they’re good for and why he puts them in his “Bang Chan Special”. After that, he began the process as I tried to mentally take notes of what he was doing. When he finished, he smiled at me and asked “You think you can make it by yourself?”. “It can’t be that hard.��� I laughed as I tried to recall the process.

As i reached out for a glass, so did Chan, causing our hands to accidentally touch and us to awkwardly pull them away, blushing.

After I made the drink, very successfully may I add, we still had time before the cafe opened so we sat down and talked till it did. Chan talked about 3racha a lot and how he’s always liked music and he feels like music is a gift that has been given to him. The way he talked about it was very mesmerizing and I couldn’t help stating with probably literal heart eyes. When the clock struck 11am, Chan got to work and I went home to study and to write down the recipe so I wouldn’t forget.

~

“Hey, drama queen.” I said as Chan came to get mine and Changbin’s order. “Hello, my one-day assistant.” He said with a smile “What would you two nerds like?” He added “I’ll get a coffee as dark as me.” Changbin answered “One milk with sugar coming up.” Chan joker “Haha, very funny...now get me an iced Americano.” Changbin said with an unamused expression on his face. “And for you, kind customer?” Chan asked, looking at me “I’ll have The Bang Chan Special.” I answered smiling “Awww, you need me in the end after all. You know it and you still order.” Chan said, fake flustered “Such a drama queen.” I laughed “One iced Americano and one Bang Chan Special coming up!” He replied before disappearing behind the counter.

After that day, I got home and sat down at my desk.

Dear Chan,

...

A/N: short and bad, but then again so is all my writing WOOPS also I might be writing something special for this series so 👀 also please interact and tell me if you like this series or not, it’s such a help and a motivator, I sometimes think I shouldn’t continue it until someone reblogs it and says it’s good, it really does make a different.

Anyway, Woojin’s part is next and then we have all the letters...can you guess what’s next 🤔