#if we want this report sent off by Friday

[klywrites]

been working on this stupid complex med-legal case report that our retired senior physician decided to take on and requested my help for that we need to complete ASAP because the counsel wants it expedited and he's pissed and I've been too busy to work on it, so now I'm desperately trying to get it done because I don't want to let him down, and he's just like

[pinkydevil16]

Unsub! Reid x Reader

18+ murder, blood, sex 

Y/n typed away at her computer as she thought about what to have for dinner, her mind going back and forth between forcing herself to cook or ordering takeout. Sighing she looked at the clock, 10 minutes left and she could pack her bag and be out the door by 5pm. Her nails clicked against the keyboard as she finished up the last report, her job just to check the BAU’s reports and finalise any details before they were sent to head office for review. It sounded easy, but each case brought in one report per BAU member and some of them ran behind more often than not, not that Y/n blamed them with their insane work schedule.

“Hey Y/n.” Spencer’s voice was chirpy as he poked his head into her little office, a small smile gracing his face as Y/n grinned and ushered him in.

“Hey Spence, you got more reports for me?” Y/n teased as she held out her hand, Spencer blushing slightly with a nervous smile handing her three folders with messy papers inside as Y/n shook her head and laughed.

“I swear if you weren’t so cute i’d kick you out of my office for handing these to me at 10 to five.” Spencer could feel his ears burn as she complimented him, her eyes now on the paperwork as she skimmed it, she knew she’d only have to upload his work since she’d never found a single error in the past 3 years. 

“Thanks Y/n.” Spencer stumbled over his words as he pushed his hair back and waved, exiting her office as Y/n sighed and placed the folders on top of the others she had accumulated in the last few hours. It was a friday and she didn’t want to stay late but the thought of picking it all up Monday was much less appealing.

She could hear everyone saying bye and leaving, JJ, Emily and Derek popping their heads in to wave goodbye whilst Y/n waved and continued typing up the reports. 

“Hey Beautiful.” Penelope spoke as she entered, sitting across from Y/n as they grinned at each other, Y/n taking a break to lean against her hand and stare at her friend.

“Hey gorgeous, what can i do ya for?” Y/n winked at Penelope as the blonde giggled and looked at her desk.

“I fancy a sex on the beach and you’re just the gal i’m looking for to provide it.” Penelope flirted back, the two laughing as Y/n leant back in her chair and looked at her reports, she was only half way through the first of three that she wanted done. Penelope quickly stood and placed her hands on the folders, Y/n pouting at her friend as she gave her a devilish grin.

“The reports will be here Monday, however $3 cocktails and nachos won’t be.” Y/n rolled her eyes and stood up, Penelope cheering as she watched Y/n grab her bag and turn off her computer.

“In that case how could i say no?” 

Y/n and Penelope laughed loudly as they drank their fourth cocktail, a pornstar martini, the both merry as they spoke about their plans for the weekend.

“Honestly i think i’m going to be so hungover tomorrow the way we’re going that i’ll be laid on the sofa all day.” Y/n laughed as Penelope spoke about her plans, Y/n agreeing as the pair ordered two more cocktails. 

“So…how was your date?” Y/n groaned at Penelope’s comment, sinking into her seat as she sipped from her straw.

“I thought it went really well, we shared a kiss and he promised to call me the next day. Three days later i tried to call him, which sounds so desperate now i say it but he was really nice y’know? And it says the number doesn’t exist.” Penelope reached over and took her hand, sympathising with her friend as Y/n finished her cocktail and smiled at the waiter as he brought the next round. The cute black haired man winking at her as he placed the cocktail in front of her, a napkin placed next to it as he walks away. Penelope grabbed the napkin and squealed, Y/n sitting up straight as she looked between her friend and the cute waiter.

“Well then tonight just might be your lucky night! He left his number and wrote he finishes at 11.” Y/n blushed and grinned as she took the paper, looking towards the waiter where he stood, leaning against the bar with his finger in a call signal grinning at her. Y/n turned back to Penelope and the pair giggled and began drinking their cocktails, the waiter coming over and flirting with Y/n periodically. 

Penelope looked at her watch with a drunken grin, standing up on wobbly legs as she pulled out her phone and dialled Derek knowing he would come get her in a heartbeat.

“Well my beautiful squirrel friend, it is 10 to 11 and the hot waiter is basically undressing you with his eyes so i am going to take my leave. Don’t do anything i wouldn’t.” Y/n laughed, standing and hugging Penelope before she watched the bubbly blonde leave, hearing her speak to Derek as the waiter walked over.

“Can i get you another drink? On me.” His hand extended as Y/n placed hers in his, allowing him to pull her from the booth and towards the bar as she grinned at him.

“I fancy a nightcap.” The waiter grinned widely as he threw his apron behind the bar and they walked to the exit.

“Whatever the lady wants. James.” Y/n shook his hand as she introduced himself, glad she was more than tipsy for some friday night fun. She needed a pick me up and here was a handsome tall black haired waiter to provide just that. 

Y/n stumbled as she walked, James laughing as he held her up, the pair talking about anything that came to their heads before Y/n’s phone buzzed. Pouting, she stopped walking, James holding her elbow as she answered it.

“Hellloooooo.” Y/n’s voice was full of cheer as she grinned at James, wiggling her eyebrows as he dropped his head to her neck and peppered kisses along the exposed skin.

“Hey Y/n, it’s Spence, are you at home?” Y/n covered the speaker and whispered to James.

“Stop distracting me.” Her smile giving away that she wanted him to do it more as he pulled her into his chest and kissed her. Parting quickly as she placed the phone back against her ear.

“Hey Spencey, no i’m out right now, is everything okay?” Her voice sweet as she swayed in James’ arms, his hands roaming her body and pinching her eliciting drunken giggles as she looked at him.

“Mrs Fredicks just knocked saying Dorito has somehow climbed onto her fire escape and she’s got him with her.” Y/n face palmed as she moved off of James and mouthed an apology to him as she sobered up slightly.

“Oh god, okay i’ll be back asap, i swear i locked all the windows but he is an escape artist.”

“Sorry.” Y/n hushed Spencer, thanking him for calling her and hung up. Turning to James she gave him an apologetic smile and leaned into his arms.

“I am sorry James but i have to go, my cat has decided to cockblock me.” James laughed and placed a kiss on her lips, his hands squeezing her hips as she let out a small moan.

“It’s okay Y/n, next time you come to the bar, drinks will be on me.” Y/n grinned as she waved goodbye and hailed a taxi. 

Y/n sighed as she knocked on the apartment below hers, smiling apologetically to Mrs Fredicks as she older lady opened the door with her ginger cat in tow.

“Here you go.” Y/n apologised profusely as she took Dorito from her neighbour, the older lady waving her off with a smile.

“It’s okay, he’s a sweet boy.” Y/n thanked her again as the door closed, turning and holding her cat up to face her as she scowled at him.

“You Mr Dorito are in big trouble.” Y/n placed kisses over his face as she cuddled him close, unlocking her apartment and letting Dorito in before she went around and found the bathroom window open. Shaking her head she closed it, she swore she had closed that before she left this morning but she must have forgotten. Sighing she kicked off her shoes and grabbed her slippers, exiting her apartment and walking over to the door on the right knocking as she waited for an answer. Spencer answered moments later with a sleepy smile, matching check pyjama’s on brand for him as Y/n smiled up at him.

“Hey Pretty boy, thank you for calling me. Dorito’s all safe and sound.” Spencer nodded and leant against his doorway as he took her in, the smell of cocktails and her smeared lipstick giving her away before she yawned and rubbed her eyes.

“Thank you again Spence, have a good night.” Y/n waved to him as he wished her good night back and closed his door. Y/n entering her apartment and stripping down before flopping on her bed and passing out. 

Y/n was awoken suddenly as she heard her phone blaring, her head pounding as she got out of bed and wandered around her apartment searching for the obnoxious noise. Finding her phone buzzing on the sofa she grabbed it and answered it quickly.

“Hello?” Y/n didn’t have a chance to fully wake up before she heard Penelope’s loud voice.

“Oh my god you’re okay! Thank god! Have you seen the news?” Y/n held the phone away from her ear before yawning and shaking her head.

“No, why?” Y/n heard Penelope gasp before she said she’d be over soon, before Y/n could say anything the phone was cut off. Sighing she wiped her eyes and turned on the tv, her jaw dropping as she saw James’ picture all over the news.

“A man was detained last night after police found human remains in his house and garden. The suspect was apprehended and arrested by local law enforcement for three hours before a handwritten confession was handed to the chief. The man’s name is James Stevens and he is being held in police custody until a court date can be arranged. So far none of the remains have been identified but we have been told there was atleast three women’s bones found with potentially more to be discovered. This was the morning news at 8am, stay tuned for the weather.” Y/n turned the tv off as she stared at the screen wide eyed, she had almost gone home with him, she could have been his next murder. She could feel her body shiver in disgust as she ran the shower, turning it up as she climbed in and tried to clean the man off her, scrubbing at her lips and cleansing herself. Climbing out she wrapped a towel around herself, hearing her apartment door open and the sound of Penelope clattering about.

“In the bedroom.” Y/n shouted as she grabbed a t-shirt, throwing it on and pulling on some underwear as Penelope ran in and pulled her into a tight hug.

“When i saw the news i almost had a heart attack!” Y/n let out a small laugh and hugged her back. 

“I’m okay, luckily Spence called me as Dorito had gotten out.” Penelope let go of Y/n and picked Dorito up from the bed, the ginger cat letting out a grumble as she kissed him dramatically.

“You angel Dorito!” Y/n laughed and shook her head as she walked through her apartment and flopped onto the sofa, Penelope carrying Dorito as she came in and sat beside her.

“Seriously though, that’s so creepy.” Y/n nodded as she ran her hands down her face, fingers pulling on her under eye as she groaned. 

“Why is my life like this?” Penelope pat her friend's arm as she grabbed the remote and turned on Netflix.

“Let's have a chill day.” Y/n nodded as she grabbed her phone and sent Spence a quick text thanking him for calling her last night. 

Spencer grinned as he read the message, his apartment dark as he laid on his sofa, his eyes moving to the tv where he watched the video of James being arrested again. He felt pride surge through him as he stood, his hand running along the fabric of the sofa as he entered his kitchen, sighing to himself as he began cleaning the blood soaked knife. 

Y/n smiled at Spencer as she opened her apartment door, Spence smiling back as he took in her attire, a fitted white blouse and black jeans which complimented her figure.

“Thank you for walking me in, sorry it was such short notice i’m still a bit freaked out from the news.” Spencer nodded and moved so Y/n could lock her door, placing the key in her bag before turning to Spencer.

“It’s no problem Y/n, i love walking in with you.” Y/n smiled widely at Spencer as the pair began walking down the stairs, Y/n listening intently to Spencer’s ramble about the new chest move he had learnt over the weekend. His voice full of joy as he moved his hands around explaining how it would corner most opponents, his laugh contagious as she laughed too and explained how she had only won one chess game in her whole life.

“You’ll have to come round and have a game with me, i’ll teach you everything.” Y/n blushed slightly as she agreed, pushing her hair behind her ear and grinning.

“That would be amazing, thank you Spence.” 

Spencer walked around his apartment, his mind whirling as he tried to make everything look purposefully out of place and disorganised as he wanted everyone to believe he was. He’d cleaned the apartment from head to toe before casually splitting coffee and placing a mug over it to make mug stains over the various surfaces. The kitchen had coffee granules and sugar sporadically spread across it to emanate use, the fridge had a mixture of fresh and out of date food, not by a lot but enough that he could be seen as forgetful of it. He’d laid certain books out, coffee stains on specific pages and a pen that he’d broken leaked onto another one. His bed was lazily made, spraying his everyday scent onto the pillows and the sofa to make it seem like he was there often. He’d left a few articles of clothing in a pile on the floor, all clean but purposefully mixed about to create a laundry pile. His bathroom had a toothbrush on the sink, toothpaste put in a cup and a couple of body washes sat at the bottom of the shower. A fresh towel he’d sprayed down with water hung up on the radiator, and the window cracked slightly. It looked like someone truly lived in it, as opposed to his normal almost borderline military lifestyle within the four walls. He placed a case file on the coffee table, opening it and placing pictures around to look like he’d recently looked through it, a half finished coffee sat next to it along with a breakfast bar wrapper. Nodding he concluded it was perfect before he texted Y/n to say she could come over whenever she was ready. It took her 30 minutes before she knocked, 30 minutes of pouring over each detail of his outfit and hair, making it look messy yet attractive. Opening the door he gave her a pathetic smile allowing her in, Y/n gushing over his apartment, looking at all his books and giggling at all the coffee stains.

“You really need to cut down.” She teased Spencer pretending to be embarrassed as he cleared the half filled cup and shoved the case file into a drawer, a bashful smile on his face as he told her to make herself at home. Entering the kitchen he pretended to clean, washing the cup up and placing it down. He watched  her as she sat down, her hands running over the fabric and smiling to herself at the book placed next to the seat, her head turning to read the page. Grabbing two drinks from the fridge he walked in, smiling as he handed her one and sat next to her.

“If you ever want to borrow any of my books you're more than welcome but i can’t promise they won’t be stained or full of pen marks.” Y/n giggled as she opened the drink, looking around before placing it carefully on the coffee table and clasping her hands together.

“Alright Genius, show me how to play chess.” Spencer grinned as he grabbed his board, spreading it out and spending hours pouring every bit of knowledge he could into Y/n. His mind took in each part of her as she nodded along and tried each move, her eyes lighting up when she captured a piece or pouting when Spencer won. It was so domestic, so perfect and exactly what he desired, for her to be in his space and to enjoy him as he enjoyed her. 

Y/n yawned as she looked outside, the sky was now dark as she smiled at Spencer, his eyes half open as she watched him take her King.

“You are way too good at this. Thank you for an amazing day.” Spencer smiled as she stood, standing with her as she gave him a hug and pulled back, running a hand through her hair.

“I’d better check on Dorito incase he’s somehow broken out again.” Y/n laughed and waved at Spencer as she opened his apartment door, his hand coming to hold it as he watched her enter her apartment. Her voice sweet as she called out to Dorito, a small giggle coming from behind the door before it closed. Spencer closed the door and sighed, itching his head from the headache he’d had all day. Trying to hold in his own thoughts and control his impulses was tiring, especially when she was sitting so close he could smell her conditioner. 

Entering his bedroom he unlocked his bedroom door, smirking as he pulled out her underwear and laid on the bed, smelling them with his eyes closed as he pictured her laid out in front of him. Her eyes half closed and chest rising and falling as he thrust into her, his hand dropping to his cock as he released it and thrust into his palm. He imagined how she’d look at him as he made her play her next move, her breasts bouncing as he thrust harshly into her making her moan, hand shakily grabbing a pawn and pushing it two places forward. He’d easily take the piece and in return he’d bite her nipple, hand on her hip as she whined and clenched around his cock, his eyes meeting hers and indicating to the board. Her eyes brimming with tears as he dropped a hand to her clit and forced her closer to the edge, a choked moan coming out as she knocked over the chess pieces. His own moan cut into his fantasy as he spilled over his hand, panting as he opened his eyes and moved the underwear off his face. Huffing as he got up and entering the bathroom, showering quickly before staring at himself in the mirror. 

He needed a plan. 

Spencer poured over the ideas in his head as he held onto the blade in his pocket, he’d already enacted his first part of the plan and now it was time to put it all into place. Breaking down the door he attacked the lady, his knife slicing through her carotid artery and stabbed her multiple times, the glove on his hand feeling wet from the blood before he threw the knife to the side. The shoes too big for his feet stomped in the blood as he trailed around the apartment, throwing things onto the ground and finding her address book. Opening it to the correct page and smearing a bloodied glove print over the name before he left, leaving the door slightly ajar as he did. 

Y/n cried as she sat in Hotch’s office, Penelope and JJ sat with her as they explained James Stevens had escaped prison and her neighbour Mrs Fredricks had been found murdered. She didn’t know how to process the information as Hotch turned a photo over to her, an address book had been found in Mrs Fredricks apartment, Y/n’s name and number scribbled down by the lady with Doritos name next to it and a little heart. Blood covering the page as she shakily took the photo and sobbed. Penelope consoling her as JJ looked over the photo and frowned at Hotch. 

“I think it would be best if we put you in secure housing and have someone with you until we can find him.” Penelope agreed with Hotch as she hugged her friend, Y/n nodding as she wiped her tears and stood, thanking Hotch as she left his office. Her head down as she bumped into Spencer, his eyes full of hurt as he hugged her, her tears soaking his jumper as he comforted her.

“I’m so sorry Y/n, I know how much you liked Mrs Fredricks.” Y/n nodded against his chest and sniffled as she raised her head and wiped her eyes.

“I just don’t understand why someone would do that to her. She was so sweet and all because of me, she’s dead because of me Spence.” Spencer went to comfort her but she brushed past him and rushed to the ladies toilets, his name being called by Hotch as he pretended to look concerned and entered his office. 

Spencer grinned as he watched James struggle in his chair, tears streaming down his face as he begged for his life.

“Please, i don’t understand. I did what you wanted, i, i confessed and i didn’t say anything. Please. Please just let me go. Please.” His voice cracked from his begging as he sobbed, Spencer laughing as he slowly pressed the needle into his arm, watching James eyes squeeze close before opening, pupils blown and brain slowly rotting from the drugs. 

“I need you for just a bit longer James, just enough to get her into my arms. Then and only then, do you get to die.” 

Y/n hugged herself as she sat on the sofa, the safe house felt so empty apart from her and Dorito, no neighbours moving around, no opening or closing of doors. Just her and her cat, she knew an agent was outside watching but she didn’t feel safe in the slightest, it had been a week and two more bodies had turned up. It had terrified Y/n to the core how similar they looked to her, and each one more brutalised than the other. Jumping she heard a knock, her hands shaking as the door opened revealing Spencer, a takeaway pizza in his hands and an apologetic smile on his face.

“I’m sorry for scaring you.” Y/n calmed her heart and smiled sadly back at him, watching him closely as he placed the pizza down and locked the door, checking outside before closing the curtains and sitting beside her.

“How are you?” Y/n just nodded in response, opening the pizza and taking a bite as she leant against Spencer and took solace in his company. 

“I don’t know.” Spencer nodded, taking a slice and eating it as he felt her relax against him, her warmth invading him as her scent captured his senses and his whole body reacted to her closeness. 

Spencer spent the next week going between the safe house and Y/n’s apartment, his FBI badge allowing him private entrance over and over as he did as he pleased. Sifting through her lingerie, showering with her products, taking her clothes and personal items. Anything and everything he desired to do was easy to accomplish, all he had to do was kill someone every now and again. It brought him such a thrill to watch the life leave their eyes, to know how pitifully they died at his hands and that each kill brought Y/n further into his arms. 

Now he was going to make sure she didn’t leave them.

Y/n curled up next to Spencer on the sofa, the lightning crackling outside making her jump as he soothed her, the tv playing some movie she couldn’t concentrate on as she heard a gunshot. Her body jumped up as Spencer’s eyes widened, his hand grabbing hers as he pushed her into the bathroom, handing her a gun with shaky hands and demanding she stay there. Y/n could feel tears falling down her face as she stared at the gun in horror, another gun shot rang out and she began sobbing, every noise making her body want to collapse onto the floor. 

Spencer held a gun close to his side as he ran around the building, hiding his smirk at the FBI agent on the ground, blood dripping from the gunshot wound to the head and stab wounds to his chest, turning her saw James stumbling towards the entrance of the safe house. His gun raised as he let out a shot, pretending to curse himself as it missed, he knew the BAU would be here soon after someone saw the video feed. Now he ran inside, calling out to Y/n as he found her, her gun on the floor as James held a knife to her throat protecting his body from Spencer. His eyes dilated and breathing resembling that of a rabid animal. Spencer held the gun up, showing James he was of no threat as he watched his commands take over.

“Back away or i slit her throat Pig.” His voice was almost robotic as he read off the mental script he’d been hypnotised to recall. 

“James, you don’t want to do this. Please give her to me.” James pressed the blade closer to her throat as Spencer pretended to step forward out of concern and winced at her face, eyes darting to her as she cried.

“Y/n. Y/n listen to me. It’s going to be okay.” Y/n tried to nod, her eyes staring into Spencer’s as he gave her a reassuring smile and looked back at James with an angry look.

“Put the knife down and we can talk this through James. No one has to get hurt.” The last three words triggered James’ next actions as he moved the knife away from Y/n’s throat, his arm still around it as he pointed it to Spencer and shook with anger.

“Oh yes they do! You all just had to get involved when i was finally getting what i wanted! All she had to do was come back to mine and die.” He seethed, Y/n shaking in fear before he threw her down and ran at Spencer, Y/n watching in horror as the knife slid along Spencer’s arm before he managed to shove James off. His gun shot twice before James’ body hit the ground, Y/n letting out a scream as his head rolled to the side and his eyes bore into her head. Spencer ran to her, holding her tightly as his blood dripped down his arm, her body collapsing into his as she clung to him for dear life. His words echoing in her head as he coaxed her to stand, turning her head away from James as he guided her out the house, a sob escaping her as she saw the agent on the ground but Spencer turned her away. The team arrived moments later as Penelope engulfed her in a hug and Derek tried to get Spencer to seek medical attention but he played his part perfectly. Refusing treatment, saying he was okay, wincing when Derek touched his arm. Everything was falling perfectly into place, the ambulance cleaned him up and just like that he was holding Y/n in the back of the SUV whilst Derek drove them to the apartment block. 

Spencer held open her apartment door as Y/n stood in the doorway, her arms hugging her before she looked back at Spencer

“Umm…could i stay with you tonight Spence?” Spencer pretended to be shocked and nodded, giving her a concerned look as she shuffled out the doorway allowing him to lock her apartment and watched her follow him to his. He unlocked the door and opened it, letting her in as he mumbled an apology for the mess. Y/n not even responding as she awkwardly stood in his living room, he’d made sure it looked more chaotic, a case file on James on the coffee table, aswell as pictures of each of his victims and a map of where he’d been. Pretending to panic he rushed around hiding them all as Y/n walked towards the pictures, picking up one of the victims photos and staring at it blankly as he slowly approached her.

“I’m sorry i didn’t think.” Y/n shook her head and looked up at him, handing him the picture as he shoved it inside the case file and carded his hand through his hair in fake stress.

“You don’t need to be sorry Spence. You saved my life.” Y/n reached up giving him a kiss on the cheek as he blushed, a real one that made his whole body tingle in excitement as she hugged herself closed.

“Do you…do you want to shower and i’ll set the bed up? I’ll sleep on the sofa.” Y/n nodded emptily as she wandered into the bathroom, a grin coming over Spencer’s face as he threw a blanket and pillow on the sofa, entering his bedroom as he made sure it was perfect. The bed was fresh but he’d made sure to lay in it multiple times and spray it aggressively so the second she touched it she’d be reminded of him. Grabbing a t shirt and boxers he folded up a towel and placed them outside the bathroom door, listening intently as he heard her showering, his mind demanding he enter and fuck her under the hot water. To fill her fully with him whilst she cried but he knew it would be much sweeter to wait. 

He waited by the kitchen as he heard the shower turn off, her feet padding against the floor for a while before he could hear her gasp and realise she had no clothes, the door opening a crack as she went to call his name. Her eyes dropping to the clothes as she smiled with teary eyes and collected them, his smile turning dark as he chuckled to himself, pouring tea for both himself and Y/n as she exited the shower.

“Thank you for the clothes.” Spencer nodded as he handed her the tea, apologising for it being a little cold as he hadn’t got the timing quite right but she brushed him off, drinking it with a little moan as she felt her body relax, a smile on her face as she looked at him. Y/n shuffled her feet for a minute as she looked between the cup and the sad excuse for a bed Spencer had made, guilt filling her before she put the cup down and looked at him fully.

“I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me Spence, I can't have you sleep on the sofa, if you’re okay with it maybe we could share the bed?” She knew he would never let her sleep on the sofa, he was too sweet for that and she watched as he blushed and stumbled over his words coming up with excuses before he looked at her desperate face and agreed. Y/n smiling as she took his hand and guided him into the bedroom, both shy as they crawled into the bed, Spencer pretending to be rigid as she curled up to him.

“Is this okay?” Spencer nodded as Y/n gulped and hugged him, basking in his warmth as she felt him slowly relax, aware of how he was trying to be as respectful as he could. Y/n felt his arms slowly close around her as she closed her eyes and felt safe with him, his lips meeting her head in a quick kiss before he apologised.

“I’m sorry.” He stuttered out, red in the face as Y/n looked up at him, her eyes dropping to his lips before she slowly moved forward, eyes finding his to give him time to move away before she met his lips. The two closing their eyes as they kissed, hands slowly becoming harsher until Y/n was panting under him as he claimed her mouth. Both panting and frantic as Spencer stripped Y/n, her hands scrambling to push his shirt over his head, barely moving away to do so until their lips met again. Hot and heavy as her legs fell open allowing him between them, her hands clutching onto his upper arms as she moaned against his lips. Their bodies grinding against one another as he desperately tried to push down his bottoms, her hands coming to untie the knot holding them up as they giggled, eyes finding each other before they slowed down. Their kisses were more gentle and full of meaning as Spencer fully stripped, his body pulling away from hers to crawl down her body when she stopped him.

“You don’t…you don’t need to go down. I’m ready.” She felt ashamed at how aroused she was, Spencer’s eyes dropping to her pussy as he held in a moan at how soaked she was. For him. Nodding he pretended to be bashful as he kissed her, her arms around his back as he kissed down her neck, sucking and biting her collarbones. He could tell she was getting restless, her legs wiggling and hips lifting slightly to meet his cock before he lined up and raised his head.

“Are you sure?” Y/n nodded quickly, pulling his head back down to kiss him as he pushed halfway in, reminding himself he had to be timid, inexperienced and unsure, not overly confident and ready to fuck her so hard she screamed. Instead he looked at her as she nodded and bit her lip, a moan dropping from her lips as he slowly pushed further, his eyes full of care as he watched her face contort in pleasure. Her nails digging into his skin until he was fully in, her breath shaky as she ran her hands along his shoulders, one twisting in his hair whilst the other held his neck. Her head raising to meet his lips as he began thrusting, slowly and controlled, stuttering his hips to emanate that of someone unsure, each thrust gradually getting deeper as she moaned. Spencer moaned her name as he pushed his head between her shoulder and neck, kissing along her neck as she whimpered in pleasure. His thrusts now quick and long, his body fully controlled and each thrust powerful as he felt her jolt in pleasure and squeeze his cock each time. He could tell she was getting close, her pussy a vice-like grip on his cock as she moaned his name and clung to him. Raising his head he kissed her deeply, a hand reaching down to rub her clit as her head fell back and body spasmed, just like that she was cumming around his cock. He knew her body so well he could tell how deep he needed to thrust to optimise her pleasure, to push her over the edge and force her to whimper at overstimulation. Panting he pressed his forehead against hers as he slowed, pretending to not know what to do as she mumbled.

“No…no i’m okay. Keep going, please, i want you to cum.” The words alone made his dick pulse, making her squirm as he nodded and kissed her gently, his eyes now watching his cock slide in and out of her pussy as he quickened, her moans filling his ears as she cried out, pussy tightening around him as he moaned and came suddenly. His own mind was blown by how quickly he had lost control, eyes shooting open to stare at Y/n, her eyes still closed whilst her pussy milked him. His thrusts slowed until he stilled and let some of his weight go, her hands running up and down soothingly on his back. He went to move off but instead she locked her legs and shook her head, both of them sweaty and boiling as they cuddled, his soft cock nestled in her pussy as their breathing slowed until he could hear Y/n had fallen asleep. Raising his head he slipped from her pussy, watching her carefully to ensure she was asleep before spreading her lips and watching his cum seep out. Using his finger he pushed it back in, loving how she whined at the intrusion but her pussy took him so well. Chuckling to himself he laid beside her, pulling her into his side as he fell asleep beside her. 

Y/n didn’t move back into her own apartment, instead she moved Dorito in and Spencer had to remove any trace of his previous stalking from existence. Now he had her in blissful domestic life, she worked from home, case files brought home by Spencer so she could relax all day after he fucked her thoroughly each night. A wide smile on her face each time he came home, rushing into his arms and kissing him whilst she asked about his day. He’d finally gotten everything he wanted, sure he still would go out and kill every so often, just to quench the need but when he returned and felt her hug him it all slipped away. It was just bliss. His plan had worked, she was his. 

[kawaiijohn]

Good morning. Where do I even start today- trying to keep up with disaster relief is tough since a lot of my normal sources are without power or incredibly focused on doing the actual recovery.

I guess I'll start with one of the sources I get a lot of breaking news from and what he said yesterday:

Ryan Hall is a YouTube weatherman with an incredible team that delivers free weather broadcasting through his YouTube lives during major events. He's from east Kentucky and is very invested in Appalachia weather recovery and awareness. The man's a local and he's part of the reason I'm even aware of the risks heavy rains can bring in this region of the states.

And this post from the national weather service office in Greenville - Spartanburg SC, that serves a wide area around it;

"this is one (forecast) we wanted to get wrong. this is the worst event in our office's history."

This thread concludes: media was sent to Florida and so a lot of people don't quite know what's going on in appalachia- if you can I suggest reading this person's entire thread, which is too long for me to type or try to post on here and keep it readable, so try the second link under here for an unrolled thread that'll be easier for screen readers;

Minor update from yesterday's post: the governor of Tennessee finally fucking declared a state of emergency after his shitty day of prayer and fasting announcement. It took him like six hours to get off his ass and do it.

The power is still majorly out as of this morning in a vast area of the states. As you can see, a majority is in Appalachia, central Georgia, and the Florida big bend. Florida, I know for a fact, has tons of electrical technicians working to restore power and cell service.

This map really highlights the state divide from eastern Tennessee/Kentucky and the Carolinas too.

Despite the doom and gloom, a few things are starting to get better.

Quite a few dams managed to hold, and some roads in west NC are more passable, but there are so many people reporting that it was taking them upwards of seven hours to get out of Asheville, which is a major city.

Below has a few pics and statements about the state of roads late last night/early today.

The end of this tweet says "this is an absolute mega disaster for Western NC on the order of hurricane Katrina."

With how long the recovery might actually take, I'm certainly hoping it's handled better. One of the responses on this thread mentions no military presence/help as of 20 hours ago, but this has since changed with the national guard finally deploying in some areas.

Overall, fooding hit historical levels in a lot of states, with Atlanta GA even declaring a flash flood emergency at one point, which is the highest risk level of a flash flood warning - it means "get out and get up high NOW"

Rescue and recovery operations are on the way.

Local groups, storm chasers, and organizations are on the way. The national guard is deploying and helicopters are coming from volunteers and the military alike in the most affected areas.

Chris Hall, a storm chaser who works with a lot of organizations, has been driving around doing things like setting up starlink access in Asheville and helping serve hot food with a Florida based disaster recovery group since Friday.

Hell he even posted this, which if you know the waffle house index, is a little neat to see- for context, fema will look at waffle house closures in areas hit by natural disasters to gage preliminarily relief need.

Waffle houses are infamous for never closing. So for a limited menu to be served, it means this spot in GA was still hit pretty hard.

If you want to and can, here is one place with local donation resources for west NC

And different organizations and weather community types to help that are boots on the ground type volunteers with a bit more of a national focus;

If you are good at adding alt text or doing text description for screen readers, please help me with these posts. It is incredibly hard to do those sorts of things on mobile due to my own limitations.

Please be safe.

[malum-forev]

Congrats on 1k followers 💓 I am so happy for you!

And can I please request the “stranded” prompt from your bingo game?

Just imagine Bucky and reader not really liking each other and being stranded somewhere after a mission. The tension, the intrigue, the fluff! Ugh I’m excited ❤️‍🔥

Much love, Meg (espinosaurusrexex) ✨

Hiii thank you thank youuu!! ❤️‍🔥 Here's the "stranded" prompt! I hope you like it <33

*

Your legs felt heavy as you walked deeper into the forest. The “simple” mission Sam sent you on had taken you from morning to afternoon and now, into the night. You found yourself trying to ignore the ache enveloping your body as you dragged your exhausted body through the damp ground. Whoever said nature gives you peace and makes you feel grounded is an idiot. 

Stupid Sam, with his stupid mission, and his “You’ll be in and out in an hour, two tops.” You thought. 

On paper, it looked easy. You were supposed to go to a warehouse that was used as a training camp during the war somewhere in Vermont. There had been a couple of reports stating weird things were happening, there was talk of more super serum and information taken by Hydra being hidden there. But someone must have been tipped off because when you got there, everything was gone. Well, almost everything. Before you got to the warehouse, whoever was getting rid of the evidence clearly wanted to get rid of you too. Blinding gas tanks were detonated and they’d wired bombs to the landing strip, the quinjet completely destroyed. 

You always had a Plan B, of course. A safehouse some miles into the forest that bordered the area near Montreal. 

Your shoulders dropped as you saw caught sight of the small cabin. The sigh you let out was the first thing you’d heard in an hour, apart from the sound of two pairs of boots crunching down on the dropping leaves.

Bucky turned to look at you but you kept your gaze forward. You were in absolutely no mood to talk. It was his fault you were here but you knew he would never admit it. 

You walked up the old wooden stairs and stopped at the door.

“Are you waiting for the door to magically open?” Bucky crossed his arms over his chest.

Your hand covered your eyes. “You cannot be serious. Sam gave you the key for the safehouse in case we needed it.”

“Yeah, I know.” Bucky shrugged. “And I put it in my backpack.”

“And where’s your backpack?” You asked, annoyed. 

Bucky looked over both his shoulders and spun around once. “Does it fucking look like I have my backpack?”

“You lost the only thing you were supposed to keep track of?” You groaned. 

“Well I’m sorry, I was trying to not get killed by the fucking bombs!” Bucky rolled his eyes. 

You put your hand up, conveying a clear stop talking or I’ll kill you message, and knelt down. You took a couple of paper clips from the inside of your vest and straightened them to try and pick the lock. 

“Wouldn’t it be easier and more effective to carry a lockpick set?” Bucky asked. 

You stopped working on the lock to take a deep breath. We do not kill innocent people. You repeated in your head. Even if they’re not so innocent and they’re assholes.

You were able to get the door open after a few minutes. You took in your surroundings as you came in and turned on the lights. There was a landline phone at one end of the small cabin and a couple of medical aid kits, a couch on the other side of the four walls and a small table with two chairs next to it, but that was about it. You looked out the window and into the night, there wasn’t anything to be seen. Miles upon miles of trees, a good hour and a half away from any sort of civilization. You were truly stranded. 

“This place looks like shit.” Bucky said. 

Five words, that’s all it took to ignite the fire that had been lightly burning in your being. 

“Really? Because I think this place is incredibly charming.” You said, your words dripped sarcasm. “This was actually my idea of a perfect Friday night! Go on a mission, have you mess everything up by not checking if the place was decked out in bombs and having to walk almost two hours to a safehouse.”

“How is this my fault! You were the one who wanted to land the jet closer to the warehouse.” Bucky’s tone rose, his chest heaved. 

“Oh don’t you try and flip this situation around.” You warned. “Because the problem starts and ends with you being selfish! And because of your idiotic need for individualistic recognition and praise, we're stranded!”

Bucky was fully ready to let his wrath out on you but just as he was about to tell you why you were the problem, he saw a stain on your light grey vest. He furrowed his eyebrows at the large dark stain. 

“What happened to you?” He asked, getting closer and lightly tracing over the spot.

A painful shriek slipped out of you as you felt the pressure, Bucky stepped back. 

You grabbed one of the kits and dropped your body on one of the chairs. With a groan and a wince, you took your vest off and pulled your shirt up, tucking it under the wire of your bra. 

You teared the packaging for the antiseptic wipe and tried to clean the area. The large gash on the skin covering your ribs was still leaking blood. 

Bucky sat down on the chair next to you and pulled your chair closer to him, taking the wipe from your hands. “C’mon let me do it, I’ve got a better angle.”

You threw your head back and hissed as he pressed the wipe to your wound. 

“How’d you even get a cut like this?” Bucky asked, his usual frown softened a worried look taking its place.

You shrugged your shoulders. “What did you say earlier? I was trying to not get killed by the fucking bombs. Couldn’t really concentrate on anything else.”

The corner of Bucky’s mouth turned upwards slightly. 

You took sight of the man in front of you. The warm light cast intricate shadows on Bucky’s face. You could see his frown lines but you also took note of the small wrinkle on each side of his lips. Smile lines. You thought of the few times you’d seen him smile. You’d seen him give out his fake smile many times at press conferences or Stark events, but Buck’s true smile- the one you knew was hard to get out of him- you had only seen once or twice in passing. There was that one time when Sam finally broke him down with a cheesy joke, Bucky’s whole face would light up and an ear-to-ear smile would reveal his pearly whites. You had noticed your breath hitching when you saw him, not that you would ever admit it. 

A smile of your own threatened to appear as you saw how his tongue poked out of the side of his mouth, concentrated on treating your wound.

“Will you stop looking at me like that?” Bucky said in a soft voice. He took the needle out of the packaging, you needed at least three stitches. “It’s making me lose my focus.”

“Sorry.” You whispered.

“S’okay.” Bucky mumbled. 

You felt your mouth open without consulting with your brain. The question on the tip of your tongue. “Tell me a joke.” 

You don’t know what came over you but you asked it. Maybe it was the exhaustion or the lack of blood. You saw Bucky’s eyebrows furrow and his jaw tense. His expressive face went through all the emotions.

“A joke?” Maybe he hadn’t heard correctly, you definitely didn’t say that. How could the woman with whom he’d spent more time arguing than actually talking ask him to tell her a joke. 

“Tell me a joke.” You repeated, it was too late to back out now. 

“What’s a prize old people can win for aging?” Bucky asked, his eyes focused on finishing up your stitches but his brain was elsewhere. 

“What?” 

“Atrophy.” His celeste eyes looked up at yours and there it was, a smile. You knew you probably looked dumbfounded but there wasn’t any other expression you could make. Now you knew why Bucky didn’t smile as much, that man could start a war if he wanted to just by flashing a quick smile. 

You let out a light laugh. “That was a really bad joke.”

“I’m out of practice, I can’t remember the last time someone asked me for a joke.” Bucky bit his bottom lip. 

“You should smile more often.” Bucky’s eyes widened at your words. 

“I-I should?” He stuttered, quickly finishing the last stitch. Taking a bandage strip and placing it over his work. 

“You have a really nice smile.” You said and watched as his cheeks turned red. 

With a cough, he stood up from the chair. Rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “Thanks, it’s- been a long time since someone’s said that.”

“Am I the first person to tell you you have a nice smile in 70 years?” You asked. 

“Well- I – when you think about it-“ Bucky’s brain was frying, he had no idea what to do in this situation. He’d begged Sam not to put you two together in a mission for this exact reason. You were extremely irritating to him but at the same time he couldn’t help but want you. Want to be near you. You had the ability to make him angry in a matter of seconds but make his pants feel tight with just a couple of words. The devious smile playing on your lips only made him harder. 

“I’m gonna call Sam to see when he can pick us up.” Bucky gulped. 

Hi hiiii This is part of my 1k Celebration, if you like this please be sure to look at the Bingo Card and ask for a prompt! Love y'all <33

*Any gifs posted are not my own and I give the artist full credit.

[changes]

Friday, February 24th, 2023

🌟 New

On web, we’re continuing to tidy up the navigation drawer in the mobile layout of the site. The most recent addition is the Account submenu, which is where you’ll now find the items for Likes, Following, and Help, as well as a “What’s new” button which opens this very blog.

Blogs will now receive celebratory birthday items in their activity feed! Previously these were only sent via email.

We were experimenting with serving GIFs as video files in some cases, to save bandwidth and to optimize the experience, but we’ve been unable to find a way to make it look and feel good enough. We’ve rolled back all of these experiments.

We’ve added support for starting timestamps when inserting a YouTube URL into your post.

In the post editor on the web, using Tab to navigate the text color options will now properly display a focus outline. Similarly, Tab support for audio and video block’s play/pause button has been added. These changes also come with better screenreader support.

🛠 Fixed

On blog themes, images in posts created using the Neue Post Format will now display at a higher quality, and the cap on their “natural” width (their width before any CSS is applied to them) has been raised from 540 pixels wide to 1280 pixels wide.

Fixed a bug that could cause people to be sent to the wrong language version of our Help docs when tapping on links to them on Tumblr.

Fixed a bug in the post editor on the web that was preventing the text block’s “chat” subtype placeholder from being translated properly to non-English languages.

Fixed a bug that was breaking the undo/redo history in the post editor on web when inserting an audio or video block.

Fixed a number of small bugs with the password strength indicator on the web, which is shown when starting a new account or changing your existing password.

On web, the inline Follow buttons in reblog trails were a bit too far off to the right for a brief time today, but that’s been fixed.

🚧 Ongoing

Nothing to report here today.

🌱 Upcoming

Nothing to report here today.

Experiencing an issue? File a Support Request and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!

Want to share your feedback about something? Check out our Work in Progress blog and start a discussion with the community.

[livvyisb0red]

“Let me cheer you up ;)”

Wealthy!Best Friend!Hawks x Stressed!Reader

Summary: Keigo’s beloved best friend has been overly stressed with work at their agency; his only way he thought to calm them down is to have a night-in at his penthouse with some drinks and music.

- Best Friends to Lovers (?) -

**CW: overworked, kissing, alcohol, cuddling

*Reader is a prohero with their own agency

NOT PROOFREAD

Another sigh fell from his mouth as Keigo set his phone on the small table in front of him, careful not to knock over his glass of water.

“My one weekend off and everyone is busy!” He grumbled before falling back onto his sofa, the multicolored screen catching his attention as he sits upright, allowing him to fixate on the sitcom that illuminates from the screen.

A few episodes pass before his phone buzzes on the table.

*1 message from: Loser ^///^*

- dude i’ve had so much to do at my agency since my assistant got a new job - 9:30 pm

~ I bet :( Do you want me to send my assistant over to your agency? - 9:30 pm

- omg please i’d literally cry. - 9:31 pm

~ Of course! What all would he be doing? - 9:31 pm

He leaned forward to get a sip of his water before checking his phone again.

- honestly he could probably come in tomorrow. if there’s two of us looking through these reports we can get it done in about two hours. I’ll be paying him a little extra too since he isn’t part of my agency. - 9:32 pm

~ Alright! I wish you luck. You leaving now then? - 9:32 pm

- yeah probably. why? - 9:32 pm

~ I’m booooooooorrrreeeedd - 9:33 pm

Keigo had sent the message with hopes that his best friend would want to come over. He knew they’d want to!

- kei I’m so stressed idk. i just wanna chill tonight - 9:34 pm

Well this didn’t go as planned. He had another trick up his sleeve. Hoping it would work, he took a deep breath and pressed his thumb against the screen of his phone.

~ Let me cheer you up ;) - 9:35 pm

“Fuck why did I do that?!” Keigo immediately got anxious after sending that. What if they get mad? Will they hate him? Oh god. Intrusive thoughts starting swirling through his head, playing out the worst possible out come over and over again until…

- yeahh it’s friday why not lmao - 9:36 pm

Jumping off the couch, he cheered loudly before rushing back to his phone.

~ Dress up for me, and bring a bathing suit ;) - 9:36 pm

- okay feathers lol - 9:36 pm

Keigo rushed around his house speed cleaning everything to make sure it was nice for when (y/n) came over. He took the cover off of his hot tub, making sure it was the perfect temperature for the two of them. Throwing some snacks together on a plate for them, he thought it would be nice to pour some Rosé for them. Rushing to his room, he looks for something to where quickly finding some nice dress pants and a white button up for him to wear.

Taking off his t-shirt, he looks at himself in the mirror before taking a deep breath and throwing his dress shirt on, barely buttoning it up since they would be getting in the hot tub.

The knock on the door pulled him out of his trance, and brought him into a new one. He practically appeared at the door, opening it for his dazzling bestie.

“Hey feathers.”

Oh boy. They did NOT have to get that pretty for HIM. If it weren’t for his ego, Keigo would be on his knees IMMEDIATELY for them.

“Hi chickie” Keigo choked out with a wink. He took their hand leading them into his penthouse, while grabbing the glass of rosé to hand to (y/n).

“Oh my god, you didn’t have to do all this for me Kei! I’m serious!”

“Why wouldn’t I? After a stressful day I would wanna be pampered too.”

Walking over to his coffee table, he grabbed the remote putting on music that just begged to be danced to. Keigo strutted back to (y/n), hand out, inviting them to dance with him.

“Really, Kei?” (Y/n) shook their head, giggling before taking his hand and accepting the invitation.

The lights in the room changed to a hot pink before Keigo put his phone back on the table, looking back at his best friend, admiring their eyes. They danced for what felt like hours, the upbeat, glittery music mixed with the pink lights and alcohol had them ignoring anything that happened around them. Keigo grabbed (y/n)’s face, looking deeply into their eyes before asking a question which would change the night for the better.

“Wanna take a shot or two?”

Laughter erupted between the two of them before they made their way to his liquor cabinet, pulling out a bottle of Ciroc and two shot glasses. They each took a shot before chasing it down with more rosé. Slowly but surely they made their way back into the living room before Keigo looked at (y/n), gesturing to his balcony.

“Let’s take this outside, babe.” Keigo practically drooled from his mouth.

They both got changed in his room before making their way to his balcony, with Keigo leading the way and opening the sliding door. He climbed over the side before grabbing (y/n)’s hand, guiding them into the hot tub with him. Thoughts started swirling through Keigo’s mind. He wanted to put his arm over (y/n) more than anything, but the fear of ruining the relationship they had took over. So he just leaned back and looked over to the city around them. They both let out a sigh, soaking in the relaxing feeling of the warm water washing around them. Keigo jumped at the feeling of someone’s head on his shoulder, looking down at (y/n), who was looking back at him before shooting a wink. They both laughed, realizing the others feelings.

“You cool with this?” (Y/n) asked in an almost whisper-like tone.

“Uh YEAH!” He cheered, causing them both to burst into laughter for what seemed like the hundredth time that night.

They cuddled up to each other in the hot tub, his arm over their shoulder, their leg over top of his. Keigo looked at (y/n) with longing eyes before pulling them onto his lap. He looked up at them, running his hand up their body before resting it on the back of their head and pulling them into a kiss.

The kiss lasted hours in their head, when in reality it was only a few seconds. They looked at each other before Keigo let out a drunken giggle and kissing (y/n) once more, this one with more passion than the last. Alcohol running through their mouths, causing kiss to be sickeningly sweet to both of them. Keigo pulled away, leaving his hand on their waist.

“I think we are both too drunk for this, but just know that I’ve liked you for a long time. I don’t want anything happening between us while we’re drunk. I’d rather not have any regrets in the morning.”

(y/n) looked at him with the most mesmerizing smile Keigo had ever seen before kissing him once more and nodding in agreement.

“I was thinking the same thing, Kei”

They both got out of the hot tub, drying off before heading back inside.

“Do you want a sweatshirt and sweats to change into?” Keigo asked from his bedroom.

“Yes please! Thanks!”

Keigo came down the stairs with the promised clothes in his hands.

“You can get changed in my bathroom over there, you know where it is.”

Watching as his friend left the room before checking the time on his phone, 1:37 am.

“Wow” he laughed to himself before looking back up and seeing (y/n) in his hoodie and pants which were way too big for them, but he loved it.

He put his arm up, inviting them over to the couch with him so he could put his arm over them.

“You know it’s almost 2:00, right?”

“No?! That much time passed?”

“Yeah, we should get to bed, I got a TV in my room so we’ll have something to watch while we fall asleep.”

“But I just sat down!”

Keigo giggled before picking them up and carrying them up the stairs into his room and laying them on his bed. They both got under the covers before tangling themselves together. He didn’t even get to turn on the tv before they fell asleep together with a new future ahead of them.

[builtbybrokenbells]

Fade Into You

A particularly bad day leaves y/n yearning for nothing other than the comfort of her boyfriend, Danny. Without question, he comes to the rescue where need be and makes sure she knows just how loved she is. With his help, she begins to see that bad days don’t last forever, especially with a boyfriend like him by her side.

listen while reading: fade into you - mazzy star

Pairing: Danny Wagner x f!reader

Word Count: 6k

Warnings: not too much for this one! bad day angst, mentions of depression/anxiety, swearing, smidgen of drinking, mostly just fluff!! sorry if i miss any!

hey, so this is a short little draft i kind of rewrote today. no smut in this one, just fluff. I’ve been having a particularly rough time the last few days, so it’s kind of a pick-me-up, i guess. boyfriend danny fucks me up fr. drew some inspo from one of my fav sad songs, cause it’s got such a variety of interpretations. also this is very poorly edited and probably not the best, so please forgive me. as always, hope you enjoy, please be kind, and don’t mind any grammar mistakes 🫶🏻

~

The morning came like a river of discomfort. When your eyes focused for the first time after a long nights rest, you were met with an empty space next to you in bed. The sight sent a wave of disappointment washing over you. Many mornings ago, you’d become certain that there was no better sight than waking to your boyfriend sleeping soundly. Days where he was gone before you were always miserable, and this one was shaping up to be as such. You didn’t have time to dwell on his absence; the next thing to catch your attention was the sun shining just a little too brightly in the sky. Once you clued in to the unusual scene, a jolt of panic ran through you. You you reached for your phone to check the time, but you were quite aware of what you were going to discover. While your thumb prodded the screen, trying to awaken it, you were already swinging your legs over the side of the mattress to get up.

Your screen displayed the time as 8:30; an hour later than you were supposed to be waking up. Your alarm hadn’t gone off, and you only had a half an hour to get ready and drive to work. There was enough time to brush your teeth and wash your face, and in your rush, you managed to make a big enough cup of coffee to get you started in lieu of breakfast. As hungry as you were, you knew you’d need the caffeine more than anything. By the time you were out the door, you had maybe ten minutes to get to your job, and even that was a generous time frame. It was a miserable way to start a Friday, you concluded. No joy for the weekend was present, just annoyance at how the morning had begun.

The drive was a blur; you pushed the boundaries of the speed limit the entire time, laser focused on the clock as if your staring would change the time. Between slow drivers and stop lights, there was no way you could avoid being late. When you pulled into your parking spot, the vehicle was barely in park before you were gathering your things and jumping out. In reality, you weren’t dramatically late, but you knew your boss all too well to think you could get away with missing even a few minutes of work. As you placed your items on your desk, your worry was solidified when your name was called from the door of your office.

“Y/n, you know we don’t tolerate this kind of behaviour.” He said, a disapproving tone very apparent.

“I know, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” You said, logging into your computer as you sat down.

“Next time I’ll have to write it up. I’ll let you go with a warning.”

“Thank you.” You looked up over your laptop, managing a small smile.

“I don’t want to have to dock your pay, but I will if this becomes a regular issue.” He explained, leaving you to sit with the information. He closed the door behind him as he walked out.

“Dick,” you mumbled, taking a sip out of your mug.

They morning dragged on without much interruption, filled mostly with mind-numbing reports and the occasional email filtering through your inbox. You couldn’t seem to shake yourself from the poor mood, finding it growing worse with each second that passed. By the time noon rolled around, you were all but focused on work, and your stomach was begging you for a bite to eat. You grabbed your phone and keys, making your way outside for a minute of freedom. You hoped the hour would allow you to rid yourself of the cloud of darkness that was looming over your head.

You climbed into your car and checked your phone, but you were met with another staggering disappointment. No text messages were received from the one person you’d hoped to hear from, so you clicked on his contact. Instead of waiting on a word from him, you called him, first. The phone rang for a moment, leaving you wondering if he was going to answer. As you listened to the dial tone, anxiety bubbled in your chest, fearing that you were interrupting something important. Just as you were getting ready to hang up, his cheery voice filled the stale air.

“Hi, beautiful.” Danny greeted. You could hear the smile in his words. His cheery tone eased your worry of him not wanting to talk to you. As ridiculous as the fear was, your brain wouldn’t give it up. You were constantly nervous that you were interrupting, or being a burden, and days like this one only made your brain scream it even louder.

“Hi,” You sighed, feeling your lips upturn into a little grin. It was the first time you’d done anything but frown all day. You slipped your car keys into the ignition, allowing your call to connect to the Bluetooth feature. “I miss you.” You said, unable to hold the confession back.

“I miss you,” He replied, sincerity dripping from his tone. “You okay?” He knew you well enough to tell your mood just from the tone of voice. He was nothing if not attentive, and always willing to listen if you wanted to air out your thoughts.

“No.” You were honest. “I was late to work. Slept in.” You explained as you pulled out of the parking lot. He knew all too well how you felt about your boss, not needing to ask about his reaction. “I think it’s just another one of those days,” you mumbled. He gave a hum of understanding, also aware of how much your bad days could affect you. “Any chance you can meet me for lunch? I know it’s a long shot, but I could really use a hug.” You felt guilty for even asking, but you couldn’t help it. He was your comfort person, and he always seemed to make the bad feelings go away.

“I’m sorry, baby. I would if I could, but we’re at the studio right now. We have a meeting right after we finish up, too.” He sounded sad for having to turn you down, almost making you feel even worse for asking. You hated when was upset, and knowing that he was upset on behalf of how you were feeling didn’t make it any better.

“That’s okay,” you knew it was a big ask, and you also knew he would absolutely be on his way if the situation allowed it. “I’m okay with just hearing your voice.”

“Promise I’ll make it up to you tonight?” He asked, hopeful.

“Don’t have to make it up to me.” You laughed. “It’s not your fault.”

“I’ll bring home dinner, and we can do whatever you want.” He told you, not willing to bargain.

“Okay.” You conceded, pulling into a cafe you frequented.

“I’m sorry I was gone before you woke up. We wanted to get here early so we could get as much done as possible.”

“I know, you don’t have to apologize, baby.” You repeated your earlier reassurance, hating the fact that he always felt like he had to apologize, even when there was nothing to apologize for. You never wanted him to feel remorseful over things he couldn’t control. He put so much effort into you and your happiness, but for some reason it seemed like he felt the need to give even more. “As long as I get you all to myself tonight, I don’t care.” You parked, unbuckling your seatbelt.

“You can always have that, bug. I’m all yours, remember?” He assured you. You smiled at the words, eternally grateful to have someone as kind as him.

“I’m gonna go eat, I won’t keep you any longer. I love you.”

“I love you, baby. I can’t wait to see you later.” The sincerity was thick in his tone, wanting you to know he meant it. “I hope your afternoon goes better than the morning.”

“I can’t wait either, and I hope you have a good day, too.” You smiled. You two uttered a small goodbye, ending the call without another word.

You went into the small shop, thankful for the short line. You gazed up at the menu, pondering what to get. As you stared, your mind drifted off to the boy you’d just been on the phone with. He was your rock, your best friend, and the love of your life; the only thing that gave you true motivation to get through the shitty days. The bad days didn’t come often, but when they did, they were horrid. It was never a just minor incident that caused a disturbance, it always seemed to be written in the stars that everything that could go bad, went badly. When the cashier called you over to order, you settled on another coffee and a sandwich.

After you paid, you made sure to leave a nice tip, hoping that the universe would send some good karma back your way. You moved over to the waiting area, pulling your phone from your pocket to pass the time. When you clicked it on, you immediately relaxed at the sight of your screensaver. It was a picture Sam had sneakily taken of you and Danny; you were looking off in the distance, completely taken off guard when your boyfriend had snuck up behind you and pulled you into a hug. His lips were pressed to your cheek and you were caught in a shriek of laughter. It was your favourite photo to ever exist, and it always made your day better when you saw it.

You’d been dating Danny for a few years now, having moved in together just about a year prior. It had been nothing short of fantastic, aside from the times he was travelling for his career in music. The big home was a bit lonely without him, but you were more than happy to watch him live his dream. There was rarely an argument, and your life was completely filled with love. Still, that didn’t rid your life of days like today, where you couldn’t find it in yourself to see the brighter side of things. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the world that could. Bad days were normal, and everyone had them, but it always felt like yours were catastrophic. They were the type of bad days that made you want to crawl into bed and never leave, plagued with the kind of misery that ached all over and settled deep in your bones.

Danny was like a ray of light, the only aura that could penetrate the cloud of emotion you found yourself caught in. He was well aware he couldn’t solve the issues, but was completely content with just guiding you through it. He did a fantastic job, showering you with love and support. He always quick with positive affirmations in argument to your insecurities, and if words couldn’t help, he was happy to hold you all night if it meant you would feel better. He was beyond anything you ever could have hoped for in a partner, and you were incredibly lucky to have him. At the same time, it sucked that he was the only thing that could truly help you in your bad times, because that meant you had to suffer through until you could see his smiling face. You were sure now that he was aware of the mood you were in, he’d use every spare second of time to send you messages reminding you of how much he adored you.

The barista called your name for the order, catching your attention. You have a half-assed smile and a thank you, reaching out to grab your drink. When you wrapped your hands around it and pulled it towards you, the force from your fingers knocked the poorly secured lid off. The flimsy cardboard cup collapsed inwards, spilling the contents down the front of you. You hissed at the heat from the liquid, closing your eyes at the burning sensation. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” The barista blurted out, scrambling for napkins. She handed them across the counter and you grabbed them, dabbing at your clothes. Thankfully, they were black, so the liquid wouldn’t stain them.

“No, it’s okay. It’s not your fault.” You assured her.

“I should have checked the lid.” She sighed. “I’ll get you another one.” She told you before bustling away. You cleaned yourself up as best you could, knowing the thin paper napkins weren’t much of a help. You prayed you had a change of clothes in your car, but didn’t hold onto too much hope. You never seemed to have that type of luck in your life. When your replacement drink was safely in your hand, you mumbled another thank you and quickly bustled out the door to avoid any further embarrassment.

You scavenged your backseat for any other clothes, but you were quickly met with disappointment. You got in the drivers seat, fighting back tears, realizing that the day was not going to get any better. As you drove back to work, your skin was tingling with residual pain, and you wished for nothing more than to just go home. You walked back inside with your head down and your lunch in your hands, praying nobody would stop you and try to spark a conversation. When you got to your office, you closed the door behind you and collapsed into your chair, defeated from the days events. You noticed that your phone was vibrating in your pocket again, and your stomach was still growling with violent hunger.

As you began to eat, you read over the texts you’d received. The first was from Danny, telling you how much he loved you in addition to a plethora of hearts. The rest were from his bandmates, all along the same lines of them wishing you a good day and telling you they missed you. Danny had likely told them you were having a bad day, urging them to show you some love, too. They were nothing short of your best friends, and they always wanted to play a helping hand in making you feel better, so they obliged without issue. You replied to all of them as you ate, finding yourself giving a few genuine smiles at their uplifting words.

When your break finished, you returned to work with a steady eye on the time, praying for 5 o’clock to come faster. The afternoon dragged on much like the morning, still feeling like every minute was passing slower and slower. Eventually, when four thirty hit, you started to pack up your bag in anticipation to leave. Five minutes before your shift was through, you logged out of your accounts and gathered your things. Just as you were starting to shut your computer down, a knock sounded on your door. “Come in.” You called. Soon after, the door swung open and your boss appeared with a stack of files. You tried your best to push a smile out to cover up your grimace.

“It’s your turn to do the month-end report.” He said, placing the papers on your desk. You were certain you had done it not too long ago, leading you to believe this was his punishment for you coming in late. You sucked in a breath through your gritted teeth, nodding in response.

“Okay, I’ll get it done Monday.” You said, grabbing the files and placing them in your desk.

“Perfect. See you Monday at nine!” He made sure to emphasize the time before leaving you to yourself. You grumbled a slur of curses before locking your desk drawers and throwing your office keys in your purse. You stood, double checking that you had everything before heading out of the building.

It was raining, now. The grey clouds in the sky had a striking resemblance to your mood. You unlocked your car and threw your stuff on the passenger seat as you climbed in. When you turned the key in the ignition, the engine turned over, but didn’t start. You felt your stomach sink, immediately trying it once more, but you were met with the same result. You let your hand fall with force against the steering wheel, letting out a short-lived scream. The tears you managed to hold back earlier made their way out with a new found force. You fell back into the seat, closing your eyes while you tried to regain yourself.

After a moment, you pulled out your phone and called Danny again. This time, he answered much faster. “Hey, baby, you on your way home?”

“No,” you tried to keep your voice steady, but he could tell you were crying just from the single word.

“What’s wrong?”

“Car won’t start.” You mumbled. “Think the battery’s dead.”

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m on my way home, not far from you, actually. I think I have some cables in the back.” He explained. You let out a sigh of relief, wiping away tears. Although it was a pointless effort, because they were falling faster than you could keep up with. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Thank you.” You sniffled. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you saying sorry for, bug?” You felt overwhelmed at his never-ending kindness, feeling deep down that you weren’t deserving of it.

“Making you stop, bothering you all day, being sad.” You gave a small, humourless chuckle as you listed the inconveniences.

“Don’t think any of that is deserving of an apology. Having to stop only means I get to see you, sooner. And, you haven’t been bothering me at all.” You could almost hear the frown in his voice, although his tone was comforting. “You never bother me. You’re my favourite thing in the whole world.”

“I just want to go home and go to bed.” You said, feeling another wave of sobs wash over you. You were distraught enough that you couldn’t even respond to his sweet words. “I don’t want to feel like this anymore.”

“I know, bug. I’m pulling in, now. Can you see me?” You looked to the entry of the parking lot, and sure enough, he was there. He pulled up beside you, giving you a goofy smile and a wave. You couldn’t help but laugh through the tears. The sight of him alone was enough to ease the hurt. He rolled his passenger window down, prompting you to roll yours down, too. He ended the call before he spoke. “Hello, beautiful. Fancy meeting you here.”

“Hi,” you greeted, sending him a smile. He climbed out of his vehicle, walking over to your window. He reached in, immediately wiping the tears away from your face.

“No need to cry over a dead battery. Easy fix.” He assured you. He leaned in, giving you a quick kiss. You felt the dread fizzle away, immediately feeling better at the small gesture. “You smell like coffee.” He noted.

“Long story.” You sighed, taking in the sight of him. He was in a cut off t-shirt and jeans, and his hair was pulled back into a bun. He looked tired, but had a permanent smile stuck on his lips. He was gorgeous, even in the simplicity. You thought it would be impossible for someone to be more beautiful than him.

“Care to share?” He asked as he opened the back door of his car. He pulled out a set of jumper cables in triumph, turning to show you. His proud expression was adorable, sending a flood of warmth straight to your heart. His willingness to help was overwhelming in the best possible way. You’d never met someone who cared for you so much, let alone someone who seemed so happy to do so.

“Spilled my drink all over me at the cafe earlier.” You told him, watching him move to the hood of his car. He lifted it, propping it up. He walked over and did the same to yours.

“You’re supposed to drink it, not wear it, silly.” He made a lighthearted pass. “Did it burn you?”

“It hurt, but I don’t think it left any marks or anything. Don’t really feel it, now.” He connected the cables carefully, making sure they were on in the right spots.

“Well that’s good at least, bug. Try starting it now.” He took a step back. You turned the keys over, and the engine sputtered for a moment, but eventually started. You let out a sigh of relief. He removed the cables and threw them back in his car. You left yours running, but got out to join him. “See? Easy fix. Should charge itself on the drive home.” He hummed, holding his arms out to you. You practically fell into them, holding on to him as if your life depended on it. You didn’t care about the rain, just about finally being able to hug him. Everything felt okay when he was holding you. He placed a kiss on the top of your head, gently rubbing his palm over your back.

“You’re the best, Danny. Thank you so much.” You said, fully meaning it. He was the best, you were certain of it. “I love you.” You mumbled, words muffled due to your face being pressed into his chest.

“You’re welcome, baby. I love you, too.” He didn’t let you go until you were ready. Eventually you pulled back, looking up at him with nothing but adoration in your eyes. “I picked up dinner. Your favourite.” He gave a smile, reaching up and brushing your hair from your face. He cupped your cheek in his large hand, causing you to instinctively lean into the touch.

“You’re too good to me.” You closed your eyes, savouring the feeling of his skin on yours.

“As if,” he let out a playful scoff. “Get in, you’re gonna get sick if you stand out in the rain for too long.” He said. You gave a nod, reluctantly pulling back from him. He leaned down, giving you one last kiss before opening your car door for you. “I’ll see you at home.” He said as he closed the door behind you. “Drive safe.”

“You, too. Thank you again.” He waved you off, not willing to accept a thank you for such a small service. He waited for you to pull out and leave before getting back into his vehicle.

The drive home was much better than the rest of your day. Knowing you would get to spend the rest of the night alone with Danny was enough of a consolation for the days suffering. The idea alone was even able to put you in good spirits, finding yourself able to sing along with a few songs on the radio. When you reached your shared home, you parked and hopped out, eager to get inside and get your coffee-stained clothes off. You weren’t even in the house before Danny was driving in, too. You waited for him to join you, watching him as he collected his things. “You threw a hitch in my plan.” He laughed, peeking at you over the roof of his car. You raised an eyebrow as an inquiry. “My big romantic gesture relied on me being home before you.” He explained. You noticed a tinge of red plaster across his cheeks. He pulled out a bouquet of flowers and a little stuffed animal. A box of chocolates was hidden behind the bear, too.

“Danny,” You scolded, feeling your eyes brim with tears again. Although, they were happy ones, this time. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to, baby. It’s not much, but I hope it helps a little bit.” You walked over to him, straining a bit to place a kiss to his cheek. Even with your heels on, he was still a little too tall to reach. “You deserve it. I, uh, got your favourite wine, too. I figured it’s Friday, so…” the dreaded tears ran down your face again, making him nervous that he may have done the wrong thing. “I’m sorry, was it stupid? I just wanted to cheer you up.”

“No! No, I just… I appreciate you. You’re too good to me.” You wiped your cheeks with the back of your hand, trying to compose yourself again.

“I don’t think I could ever be too good to you. You deserve the world.” He leaned down, pressing his lips to yours.

“Thank you so much.” You said as he pulled away.

“You’re welcome, bug. Here,” he handed you the flowers and the bear. You took them, looking over them in gratitude. He grabbed the bag of takeout and the bottle of wine, closing the door with his foot. You both made your way inside, kicking your shoes off and going straight to the kitchen. He placed everything he was carrying on the table and grabbed the stuff from your hands. “Go take a shower, I’ll take care of everything else.” You gave him a soft smile, taking the opportunity to pull him into another hug.

“You’re the best.” You told him, making sure your poor mood didn’t cloud your appreciation.

“Only for you.” He whispered. You almost laughed at the statement.

“Whatever,” you pulled back, looking up at his smiling face. “You’re a ray of sunshine no matter where you go. You know that.”

“Yeah, but I shine the brightest for you.” He reminded. He lifted your chin with his index finger, leaning down for one more kiss before you left.

After you showered, you changed into one of Danny’s t-shirts and a pair of your most comfortable old pyjama pants that you’d word almost to destruction. When you joined him back downstairs, he’d put the flowers in a vase turned all of the lights off. In the living room, you could hear the soft hum of the record player. You followed the sound, seeing him sitting on the couch with the coffee table pulled close. The takeout containers were resting atop of it, with two glasses of wine accompanying them. He had changed, too, now only in a pair of sweatpants. His hair was still tied back, giving you a full view of his face. He’d even lit a few candles around the room, giving some low light after he’d closed the curtains. His lips upturned into a smile at the sight of you

“Come here,” he held his hand out to you. You obliged to his request with no hesitation, joining him on the couch. “Feel better?”

“Much,” You assured him.

“We’ve got the whole night to do whatever you want. We got what we needed done at the studio, today, so we have all day tomorrow, too.” Your heart warmed at his statement, realizing you could spend all day wrapped up in each other. You were eager to get as much time with him as possible, already preparing for the next time he’d have to go on tour.

You two ate in almost silence, enjoying the food and each others company. When you were both full, you took the takeout containers and stored the leftovers in the fridge. You returned and saw that Danny had readjusted himself on the couch, leaning into the arm with his legs strewn across it lengthwise. You changed the record before sitting down, finding home between his legs and resting your back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you closer to him. You relaxed into his hold, closing your eyes and leaning your head against his shoulder. He snaked his hands under your shirt, letting them rest on your stomach. There was no hidden implication, just the desire to feel closer to you.

You slipped your hands on top of his, intertwining your fingers. After a moment, he leaned down, placing a kiss to your cheek. He kept his head down, resting his face on yours. You laughed at the action, leaning into him a bit more. The warmth of his skin felt nice on yours, inviting you into him even further. “I love you more than words, bug.” He hummed. The small things he did were worth more than the entire world, to you. His small gestures and loving words never left any room for doubt, and he loved you better than anyone that came before him. You were sure that nobody would come after him, either. You felt quite confident in saying he was the love of your life, and you’d be damned if you let him get away.

“You have no idea how much I love you.” You replied, feeling his arms squeeze you a little bit tighter.

“Bet you it’s not even close to how much I love you.” He smiled.

“I’m sorry my bad days get so bad.” You whispered. “I know it’s hard to deal with, and I know you’re too nice to tell me.”

“I don’t think you’re hard to deal with at all. I don’t know who made you believe that, because it’s always been a pleasure to love you, even on your bad days. Means you’re comfortable enough to show me all of you, and that’s what I want.” He explained. If it was possible to love him any more, at the sound of his words, you did. He always seemed to know exactly what to say. “You’re human. You’re allowed to be sad, or angry, or whatever you want to feel whenever you want to feel it. When I asked you to be my girlfriend, I didn’t just want to date you for the good times. That would be selfish. I signed up for all of it, the bad days, the sick days, the boring ones, and the really good ones. You take care of me when I’m grumpy, too.” You chuckled.

“As if you’re ever grumpy.”

“You take care of me in all sorts of ways. Don’t discredit yourself.” He said, loosening his grip and reaching over for his wine glass. “I don’t ever want you to feel guilty for being upset. Taking care of you is my favourite thing to do.” The conversation died down, and the wine was coming to an end, too. You were both slightly tipsy; your cheeks rosy and you were both growing more handsy by the second. With enough time, the fog of misery seemed to dissipate as well. It was part of his charm; just knowing he existed was enough to put a smile on your face. Danny was the exception to every bad mood and miserable day. His love was stronger than any horrible thought or emotion your brain could conspire, and it always seemed to chase them away.

You stood, making a move to change the record which had slowed to a stop. You flashed him a cover, silently asking for approval. He gave a hum of affirmation, appreciating your choice. You replaced the record that was already on with the new one, carefully slipping it back in its sleeve. You touched the needle to the vinyl, waiting a second for the music to start. When it did, Danny stood and walked over to you. He held out a hand, resulting in a quizzical look from you.

“Dance with me.” He said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. You rolled your eyes, but a smile was growing on your lips. You took his hand, allowing him to carefully twirl you around. He pulled you into him, his hand finding your hip. You brought your arms up to his neck, both of you swaying in time to the music.

“I can’t dance.” You giggled, but he already knew that.

“Me, either.” He laughed, but you knew that, too.

“Four left feet and a bottle of wine don’t mix, Danny.” You explained.

“What’s life without a little risk?” He asked, bracing his arm on your lower back as he pulled you into him and dipped you down towards the floor. You let out a chorus of giggles as he did so, having no fear that he would drop you. If there was one thing you knew about Danny, it was that he’d protect you with his life. If you were falling, he’d always catch you. If he couldn’t, he’d fall, too, just so you wouldn’t have to do it alone. He leaned down and kissed you, holding the position for a moment. He parted from you only slightly, just to give you a grin.

“How romantic.” You poked fun. “You trying to seduce me?”

“Depends,” he said “is it working?”

“Mmm, you’re almost there.” He leaned down, placing a kiss on your exposed neck. Your eyes fluttered closed at the feeling, realizing that there was nothing that could compare. “Better.” He pulled you back upright, making sure you were steady on your feet. He guided your chin upwards with his finger and brought you into another kiss, one where the only thing he had to focus on was you. You let one of your hands fall on his bicep and the other on the back of his neck, bringing him impossibly closer. The wine was clouding your head, enhancing every touch. His hands fell to your hips, pulling you towards him once more. When you parted, you were both breathless and had stars dancing in your eyes.

You watched him for a moment, immersed in his aura. Even the air around him radiated with comfort. He was perfect. He was everything. Unfathomably caring, attentive, and more loving than you ever believed a person could be. You felt extremely blessed to be able to share your life with him, and you were eternally grateful to have someone who was so willing to love you, even when it didn’t serve him any benefit. “What are you thinking about?” He asked, hands still holding you close to him.

“You,” you admitted, giving him a small smile. “I’m always thinking about you.”

“That’s strange,” he hummed, looking quite pensive. “‘Cause I’m always thinking about you, too.”

“That is weird.” You agreed. “You think we should start dating, or something?” You asked, pretending to be bashful about the question.

“Yeah, I think that would be pretty cool.” He nodded. “Should we, like, hold hands or something?” He asked, as if the idea was blasphemous. You shrugged, eventually nodding back at him.

“That would be pretty cool,” you mimicked his statement. In response, he let one hand fall from your hip, extending it out to you. You slipped yours into his, intertwining your fingers. “I love you.” You whispered, a grin eating away at your face. The childish nature of the situation reflected on the purity of the adoration he had for you.

“I love you, bug.” He leaned down, placing a kiss to your forehead. “I’m sorry you had a rough day.”

“It’s okay. You always make it better.” He wrapped his arm around you, holding you with all of the love he could muster within him.

“That’s all I want to do. I’d be more than alright if I spent the rest of my life making you happy.”

“You wouldn’t have to try very hard. Happy is the only thing I know how to feel, when I’m with you.” You laid your head on his shoulder, closing your eyes, completely overtaken with comfort. You were certain that if you got to spend the rest of your life loving him, it would be the happiest lifetime you could live.

[featheredenby]

Recovery

“In any case she can’t wait to see Grian’s article, nothing like some good old dislike for the GFHA to get the blood pumping.”

Written by: FeatheredEnby

Word Count: 1,430

Part Eight Of: Show Your Fangs

A Superhero AU of Empires SMP/Hermitcraft/The Life Series/Artimator SMP

Grian sits on his couch looking for reference articles for the newest article about the masquerade that he has to write. It’s not like he needs the references as he was there and can definitely write a better article with his eyes closed but there’s no way that he’s gonna track down any of the GFHA heroes. Not after he told the most famous one (Hotguy) the information that Poultry Man is a reporter who likes to fish and then as Grian brought him into his house. It would just be too risky, too easy to piece it together that Grian (the reporter with multiple fishing related keychains) is the same person as Poultry Man (the vigilante who admitted to being a reporter who enjoys fishing). However, that's when (because nothing can go his way) he sees an email from his coworker (and close friend) Joel, Grian the GFHA is looking for a reporter to do an interview with one of the heroes, they didn’t say which, we told them that you would do it. Go to The Mythical Tavern at 3:30 pm to do the interview. Of course. Now Grian has to once again hide his fractured wing and he has to do an interview because the government wants good press.

-

Lizzie sits on the sofa wrapped in a blanket next to Scott and Jimmy, seventy-two hours later and she’s still dealing with the unpleasant effects of a near hypothermic death. It’s nice at least that she doesn’t have any cases coming up and she gets to spend time with her family. Well that is her sibling and Scott, Jimmy’s boyfriend, they look pretty cute too, curled up and sleeping on one of the other sofas. Another brightside to her being home is that she doesn’t have to spend hours at a time hiding her mutant fetechers, it’s the same for Jimmy and Scott too. Jimmy doesn’t have to hide his wings and pointed ears and Scott doesn’t have to hide his antlers. Vrrt- Lizzie’s phone buzzes and she reaches to grab it, looking at the screen she sees a new text from Gem, Hey Lizzie! I know that you like gossip so, Sausage told me that Hotguy is at his restaurant doing an interview for The Hermit Times. Thought that you would find that interesting. Now that is interesting and if Lizzie wasn’t still suffering from hypothermia she would throw on her Mayor costume and head out. Maybe she can get Scott to go out as Cromia once he and Jimmy wake up. In any case she can’t wait to see Grian’s article, nothing like some good old dislike for the GFHA to get the blood pumping.

-

Scar stands at the bar of The Mythical Tavern and gets many strange looks which is honestly to be expected. To start off he’s technically Hermitopia’s hero and second he’s in his full Hotguy get up. Scar honestly wishes that the GFHA could have sent one of Empires City’s heroes; they have plenty to be honest. Then again when Scar was told that he would have to do this he was told that they had gotten some reporter from The Hermit Times, specifically Grian Helios. Of course said Grian Helios is Scar’s roommate who also patched up his burn and of course Grian has been less than about Hotguy in his articles. According to the last article (about when the Faker escaped from prison) “Hotguy is apparently a hero but according to statistics of his recent battle with the Faker, the vigilante C-fire saved thirteen more people that him.” Of course Grian had helped him on friday but then again Poultry Man had asked Grian to and it’s different when there were no civilians and this time it’s an interview. 

“Ahem. Hotguy?”

“Hm?” Scar looks over and sees that Grian has arrived.

“So you’re the hero that I have to interview?” Grian asks.

“Yep.” Scar tells him.

“Right let's get to the point,” Grian says,”My job wants me to interview you for a newspaper article on the fight that happened at Cleo Zie’s cafe The Cozy Cave.”

At this point Scar sees the owner of the Mythical Tavern who he heard referred to as Sausage comes up to them, “Welcome to The Mythical Tavern. What can I get for you?”

“I’ll just get a coffee.” Grian orders.

“Can I have hot chocolate?” Scar asks.

“Sure. I’ll get those to you in just a minute.”

Scar looks over and sees Grian pulling out a notepad, pen, and audio recorder. “Do you mind if I record this? I want to review it later when I get home.”

“Nope.”

Grian clicks on the recorder, “So,” he says flipping open the notepad,”Why exactly were so many heroes and vigilantes at the cafe on friday evening?”

“Well, as many people know the owner of the cafe Cleo Zie allows for the cafe to be used as an event venue and the vigilante Time Witch or as known by some people The Unkillable One was hosting a masquerade party.”

“Hm. Okay, and what heroes and vigilantes were there?”

“Well we were all in costume so I couldn’t tell you all of them but I know that the heroes there included The Wolf Spirit, The Huntress, and Canary Call.”

“So you’re telling me that all but two of the GFHA’s heroes were there that night?”

“Yes. As for the vigilantes there was Poultry Man, The Mayor, Cromia, and of course Time Witch.”

“And were there any villains other than The Red Ones?”

“Oh yeah, The Faker was there too.” Scar tells him.

Somehow Grian doesn’t look surprised in the slightest, “Okay then, can you recount the events of the night for me?”

“Sure,” Scar says,”When I got there a lot of people had already arrived but since I normally use crutches to get around I couldn’t dance so I wandered around for a bit before I saw someone standing in a corner. I introduced myself and we chatted for a bit before they left to use the bathroom, soon after they left the Red Ones arrived. When they got there I hid in a bathroom and learned that the person who I had been talking to was Poultry Man. The rest is a bit blurry but we fought The Red Ones, The Red Witch was taken into custody, and I got a nasty burn.”

“Mhm…” Grian replies as their drinks arrive.

“Well,” Scar asks, “Do you have any other questions?”

“Not really,” Grian sips his coffee, “actually I do have one. What is The GFHA planning to do about the fact that there are three villains currently on the loose?”

“To my knowledge there is not currently a plan.” Scar informs him.

“Interesting.” Grian responds while writing something down.

“Can I ask you a question?” Scar inquires.

“Sure.”

“You know what you wrote in your last article? About the vigilante C-Fire saving more lives than me?”

“Yes? What about it?”

“I’m just wondering why you wrote it.”

“I work for a newspaper and my job is to cover the political analysis section,” Grian reminds him, “It’s my job.”

“Okay.”

“Well,” he says while getting up, ”Thank you for the interview, I’ll make sure that you get one of the first copies.”

-

Knock. Knock. Knock. Someone is pounding at the door to Grian’s apartment. He stands up from his desk where his laptop is out with the first draft of his article “Cozy Cave Catastrophe” on it. It better not be Timmy the last time that he’d come knocking on Grian’s door he and Scar had had to disinfect, stitch, and wrap a stab wound. Grian enters the kitchen and realises the time, ten thirty-seven pm. Normally no one comes to the door that late. Looking around Grian finds a baseball bat that Cleo must have left the last time that she was there. He picks it up and walks over to open the door while clutching it in a visible manner. “Hello,” he says while opening the door, “Can I help you?”

It’s safe to say that the people who he sees outside of the door shock him. Crown, ears, cape and all in front of him is The Red King and standing next to him is the vigilante C-fire with a triumphant look on her face and a brand new outfit. “What do you want?” Grian asks them.

“Oh that’s pretty simple,” The Red King tells him, “We want bait.”

As soon as he says this something falls on Grian knocking him out.

[xxsksxxx]

Almost Heaven

Summary:

Mulder’s attempt to find more exciting cases to investigate while stuck in the bullpen turns into another weekend trip to the forest.

Meanwhile, Scully is faced with a tempting offer that could change both her future and their lives.

This story is complete, and I’m going to post one chapter a day.

AO3 | Back to the Beginning | @today-in-fic

Chapter 2: I Should’ve Been Home Yesterday

Washington D.C. Scully’s apartment Friday, November 27th, 1998, 5:30 pm

Scully unlocked her door and stepped into her silent apartment. She carefully placed her coat into the armory by the door and pulled off her shoes, slowly moving into the kitchen and filling a glass with water.

She took a sip and closed her eyes, tired after an exhausting day full of report writing and mundane phone calls. The quiet of her apartment offered a sense of comfort that made her relax and started her thoughts to drift.

Her mind replayed the day’s events, and her thoughts returned to Mulder’s question about her weekend plans. Did he mean to invite her over? Maybe another movie night? Laughing, drinking beer, joking, and sitting a bit too close. She smiled and felt the happiness of their changing relationship envelop her.

Scully moved to the living room, sinking into the soft cushions of her armchair and letting her thoughts drift to the subtle shifts in their relationship lately. Or maybe not so subtle, she thought.

She couldn’t pinpoint exactly when she’d started to touch him more intimately—she hadn’t really given it much thought back then. They’d been working tirelessly long into the night on a case, and at the end of four seemingly endless weeks, the perpetrator had finally been put into custody.

Mulder and she had given each other tired smiles while trying not to fall asleep at their desks. It had been all too natural. She had wearily packed her things and walked over to him. He had still been sitting at his desk, unmoving. His red-rimmed eyes had lifted to hers, and she had just put her arm around his shoulder and drawn him in. She had quickly brushed her hands through his hair while he pressed his cheek against her stomach, humming softly.

“You should go home and get some sleep,” she had said softly to his bent head, letting the soft strands of his hair glide through her fingers. He had chuckled softly and nodded against her stomach before lifting tired eyes back up to her.

She’d smiled warmly back and made her way home, tired to the bone, but somehow feeling more at peace than the harrowing last days should’ve allowed her to be.

So when they were sent to Virginia on another case only a few days later, she hadn’t even thought about it when she did it again.

Mulder had been pacing her motel room like a caged tiger, his hands firmly planted on his hips. She had been watching him, sitting on her bed, trying to understand what he wanted her to see, when suddenly he turned to the door, ready to run after whatever he thought was out there. She had jumped up and put her hand on his forearm, where his dress shirt had been rolled up to his elbow. She had given his arm a soft squeeze, and he had immediately stopped and looked down at her.

“Don’t. It’s not going to make a difference if you run after him now. It’s just going to give him an advantage. We can look for him first thing tomorrow after we’ve got the lab results back, and we’ll find him. I’m sure.”

He had given her a long look before closing his eyes and nodding, giving in.

“Let’s get some sleep, Mulder.”

He had given her hand on his arm a quick squeeze, laughed, and left for his room.

She had slept peacefully all through the night for the first time in weeks, and the next day they had indeed arrested the man, giving Mulder the satisfaction he had been looking for.

Now, sitting alone in her apartment, going over those moments, Scully couldn’t help but wonder. They’d always touched a lot. Right from the beginning. She laughed wryly, thinking back to that very first case. She’d been lying in his bed, dressed only in her robe, listening to him tell her one of his most intimate childhood horrors while she had caressed his forearm for comfort.

No, the touches, the trust, the closeness—that had always been there. What was new, though, was that they’d started to feel a lot less friendly and a lot more romantic as of late. It didn’t help that they had nearly kissed in his hallway only a couple of months ago, she mused. And that moment was what had lingered in her mind since then—the ‘what if’ like a tantalizing promise just out of reach.

Nearly dying of cancer, after having nearly died being abducted, brought things into perspective. Life was short, and she was done waiting. She wanted what she had always wanted and what had slowly drifted out of her focus in the last few years: She wanted to make a difference in her work, and she wanted to have a personal life while doing so.

Scully took another sip from her glass and stretched out her calves, wiggling her toes. At least it’s the weekend, and I have plenty of time to set things in motion, she thought. Whatever Mulder’s intentions were earlier, she was going to find out.

If things were going as they usually did these days, Mulder would be calling her later tonight—another habit that they had intensified recently. And just like the touches and the physical contact, this one had also been there nearly from the start. Mulder’s first late-night call had also been after their first case. She’d been already in bed, Ethan snoring next to her. But she hadn’t been able to sleep. What she’d seen, what she’d heard—it all had just been too exciting. Mulder must’ve felt the same because he’d called her like it was perfectly normal to call your new coworker in the middle of the night to share your thoughts. And she hadn’t thought anything about it, either. It was just them, right from the start.

But lately, those calls have also changed. Instead of just calling after intense cases or when he was bored, Mulder had started to call her every night, like clockwork. And she’d begun to look forward to it as a nightly ritual. They’d laugh and joke and banter, and she’d fall asleep with a smile at his antics soon after.

Just like I am smiling now, sitting in my armchair home alone, she realized and snorted softly. Daydreaming wasn’t something she did, but apparently, that was also something that had changed. She wanted to believe that these changes meant something to Mulder as well, that he felt like her, that they were worth exploring.

With a shake of her head, she got up and moved towards the kitchen to put some water in the kettle. Maybe it is time to take a chance, Dana, she pep-talked herself. But first, what she needed was some tea and later a nice relaxing bath with a glass of wine, she decided.

9:30 pm

Sully thoughtfully put some cream on her face and throat and worked it into her skin. She checked herself in the mirror one final time before leaving the bathroom and walking back into her living room. She felt much more relaxed now and ready for the weekend—and Mulder’s call with whatever he had in mind.

Scully glanced at her phone, just as it began to ring, startling her, and reached for it, her heart pounding slightly.

“Hello?”

“Agent Scully, this is AD Skinner,” the familiar voice of her former boss caught her by surprise. “I hope I’m not calling too late.”

“No. No, sir. It’s fine,” she replied, straightening up unconsciously. “What can I do for you?”

“This may come as a bit of a surprise, but I’ve been approached by Section Chief Hastings. He’s got an interesting assignment, and we happened to talk about you.”

Scully blinked, not sure what to say. “An assignment, sir? Mulder and I are assigned to Director Kersh right now. Does that involve any of his cases?”

“Actually, no,” Skinner continued. “I’m calling you unofficially in this matter. He paused, and Scully waited for what else he’d have to say. Her heart was pounding. Was this finally their way back into the X-Files? By way of an opportunity, Skinner had come up with?

“Section Chief Hastings is creating a new division in the FBI’s Forensic Science Research Unit. With your background as a medical doctor, a forensic pathologist, and your investigative experience, he thought you’d be perfect for this role.” Skinner paused. “I agree.”

Scully’s thoughts were spinning. How did this new department connect to the X-Files? Were they going to be taken over? What about Spender and Fowley, who were working on the X-Files right now? Would they also be transferred? If this offer included working with Agent Fowley and Mulder as a team, she’d hand in her resignation within a month, she thought grimly.

Scully took a deep breath to settle her nerves and felt her heart slowing down. “And what would be my responsibilities, sir?”

“You would be part of a team dedicated to solving unusual cases. These cases will mostly require advanced forensic methods to uncover the truth behind some of our more exceptional cases. Some of these have been considered unsolved for years. You would be part of getting justice for the victims and closure for their families,” Skinner continued.

“What about Agent Mulder, sir? What would his role be in this department?”

There was a brief pause before the tinny sound of Skinner’s voice came back through the line. “This offer is extended specifically to you, Agent Scully. Agent Mulder will remain under Director Kersh’s supervision.”

Scully’s heart sank. This assignment was exactly what they had been looking for. A way to get back to uncovering the truth. And now Mulder wasn’t even considered. She wanted to tell Skinner how she felt about this offer at the expense of Mulder, but she couldn’t ignore the tiny voice inside her head that reminded her of what she’d been thinking of earlier. It would be a chance to finally get them back to looking for the truth, a chance to make her work matter again. And now, at this very moment, she was presented with exactly what she’d been hoping for—except for Mulder.

“Scully? Are you still there?” Skinner’s voice brought her back to the present.

“Yes, sir. Thank you for the proposal. I’m sure you’ll understand that I’ll need some time to think about it.”

There was another pause, and she heard Skinner exhale. “I know what you’re thinking. I had the same concerns when Hastings approached me. But this offer seems genuine. This isn’t an attempt to split you up to cover the truth.”

“And yet that’s what this would mean.”

Skinner was silent. “I know. If there was any way I could get Mulder in on this offer, I’d be doing it already. Trust me, Agent Scully. But as it stands, that’s not possible. And this might be your best chance to get back on cases close to the X-Files.”

Scully didn’t reply. She felt like everything was moving in slow motion and sped up at the same time. They are trying to split us up again.

When the silence dragged on, Skinner cleared his throat. “I know you’re conflicted, Scully. But don’t hesitate to think about this. I doubt it will be long before other ‘individuals’ in the FBI will also show interest in this new role.”

“Thank you, sir,” Scully replied. “I will get back to you as soon as possible. Have a good night, sir.” She hung up without waiting for a reply and stared motionless at the phone in her hand. Her mind was spinning with conflicting thoughts, while her stomach felt like it was filled with lead. She needed to think this through. But what about Mulder? her mind reminded her. If she told Mulder about this now, he’d immediately suspect some sinister plot to keep them from the X-Files, she knew. No, she needed to get her own perspective on this first before she told Mulder, she decided. This could be their best chance to get back to working on uncovering the truth, even if it meant that they’d have to approach this unconventionally.

11:13 pm

Scully finished brushing her teeth and took a quick look around before turning off the light in the bathroom and walking into her bedroom.

She settled into bed and reached for the medical journal she’d been looking forward to reading all day when the phone rang. Mulder, she thought and was embarrassed that her heart skipped a beat in happy expectation.

“Hello?” she answered, trying to make her voice sound neutral—like she hadn’t been waiting for his call.

“Hey, Scully,” Mulder’s familiar voice came through the line. She heard a noise in the background, and something fell to the floor, accompanied by Mulder’s muffled curse.

“Mulder? Are you ok?” she asked, perplexed, trying to figure out what he was doing.

“Yeah, I’m ok,” he replied distractedly. “I pushed a few books over by accident. Sorry about that. Are you already in bed? Did I catch you at a bad time? Or a good one?” he joked.

“No, not at all,” she replied, a smile tugging at her lips. She loved those nightly calls more than she was ready to admit. Especially to Mulder. And she could hear his return smile through the phone.

“So, any exciting plans for the weekend?” he asked, his voice playful. “Or are you going to spend it working on another essay for one of your medical journals again?”

Scully guiltily looked at her nighttime reading material and chuckled. “I might. Or I might not. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I was thinking about going on an adventure,” Mulder replied mysteriously, adding a pause, no doubt so she could ask what he was talking about. Scully grinned.

“An adventure. And what kind of adventure are you talking about, Mulder?”

“An adventure you might find interesting yourself,” he joked. “And it would require you and me to spend the weekend investigating a fascinating phenomenon.”

Scully felt her heart speed up. So she’d been right. He did mean to ask her to spend time together. I didn’t expect the whole weekend, though! she thought and tried to ruthlessly push her excitement down. He’d mentioned a fascinating phenomenon, and that meant only one thing in Mulder’s world. An X-File.

“A fascinating phenomenon, Mulder? Fascinating for you, or me?” she asked flatly.

“Let’s just say it’s something where your scientific perspective would come in handy,” he teased, his voice warm. “But most of all, your company.” Mulder waited for a beat, and when she didn’t reply, he continued, hopefully. “So, should I pick you up tomorrow morning?”

Scully gave up on seeming disinterested and grinned. “Alright, Mulder. You got me. Pick me up tomorrow morning.”

She could hear Mulder’s happy smile through the line before she hung up the phone. Scully felt a mix of excitement and happiness, and her thoughts turned quickly to the job offer she’d received earlier. She felt guilty for not having mentioned it to Mulder yet but then dismissed the thought. She’d have plenty of time to discuss it with him when they were seeing each other tomorrow—and she’d had some time to think this through. Speaking of, tomorrow wasn’t that far away, she thought, watching the LED display of her alarm clock jump to 11:23, its red light flickering every few seconds.

Suddenly, she didn’t feel all that tired anymore and contemplated her medical journal once again. Mulder would probably be at her door before the sun was up. She smiled softly into the semi-darkness of her room, shaking her head slightly. His habits were anything but predictable. As much as he joked about being mysterious and spooky—to her, he felt more like an open book.

Well, most of the time. Sometimes she wasn’t sure what he was thinking at all. She frowned slightly and shook herself out of her reverie. Why was she once again thinking about Mulder? It was late, and he needed to get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be busy. She determinedly closed her eyes, turned on her side, and consciously slowed her breathing, turning her face deeper into the pillow.

[lemoncrushh]

Cubicle // 4) Anticipation

STORY PAGE

Word Count: 925

Friday // Roni

It's Friday morning and I'm feeling refreshed because for once I slept like a baby. This time I was smart. As soon as I crawled under the covers last night I masturbated thinking about Harry. Then I fell right to sleep.

Harry and I had a nice lunch yesterday. It was lovely weather so we walked to the end of the block to Cafe Meringue and sat outside. He made jokes as we people watched, and once he made me laugh so hard I had to excuse myself to the ladies' room. I really enjoyed his company, and I was thrilled that this was just a prelude to tonight's date.

The idea that there was a possibility of Harry kissing me goodnight was titillating and overwhelming. When we got back to the office and separated to our respective cubicles, I let my mind wander to the thought until I was jerked back into reality by Gerard who asked me to type something for him.

The rest of the day's tasks kept me busy and before I knew it, it was time to leave. I didn't see Harry again, but when I was sitting on the couch eating leftovers and watching Friends reruns, I got a text from him.

Lunch again tomorrow?

My inner teenager squealed as I replied.

Mr. Styles, you're going to get sick of me before we even have our first date.

His next text had me biting my lip.

I doubt that.

I pondered what to say when he texted again.

If if makes you feel better, we can consider today our first date. So by the time we go out tomorrow night, it will already be our third.

I giggled as I wrapped a strand of hair around my finger.

I'd like that.

So yes to lunch?

Yes.

Harry

Yes. I must have stared at the word for an hour. Three little letters, but they aroused me so much. I wanted to kick myself for not calling her instead. I might have been lucky enough to hear her say it over the phone in her sexy voice. Yes.

I played it cool yesterday at lunch. I was a gentleman, but didn't overdo it. I offered to buy her meal, but she insisted she pay for her own. I cracked some jokes which she laughed at. Like a genuine laugh, not the fake laugh that some girls do because they think the chap will like them better. On the walk back to the office, I kept my hands in my pockets merely to keep myself from touching her. I wanted to wrap my arm around her waist or even hold her hand as juvenile as that sounds. But I knew neither would be appropriate. Damn, this woman is actually making me hold off on the things I really want to do. Hopefully, all that will change tonight.

Okay, I'm not a total wanker. I think I know how to treat a lady. I'm not going to make her do anything she doesn't want to do. But let me say this. Anything she is willing to do, I'm all for it. I know I haven't even known her a week yet, but I've spent almost every waking moment fantasizing about her in some sort of sexual position. I can't get her out of my mind.

Like right now, I'm supposed to be working on a report for a client, but instead I'm anticipating lunch with Roni. There's not really that many places to eat within walking distance, so I'll probably have to take her somewhere in my car. The thought of her sat next to me, her long legs and tight skirt against the leather seat is enough to give me a boner.

I haven't seen her yet this morning. I must have missed her in the parking lot because I spotted her car when I pulled in. I hoped maybe I'd catch her in the break room, but the only people I saw when I walked in were Gerard and his salesman buddy whose name escapes me, so I quickly got my tea and returned to my desk.

Roni

Shit. Shit, shit shit! I can't fucking believe this.

When Greta returned to her office and I finally had a moment alone in my cubicle, I texted Harry. I could already feel his disappointment before I even sent it.

Harry, I'm so very sorry. I have to cancel lunch today. There's a sales luncheon that I had to organize, but I had no idea I have to be present.

I gnawed at my fingernails as I waited for his text. Instead, my phone rang.

"Harry, I'm —" I began when I answered it.

"It's okay," Harry interrupted. "Can't say I'm not disappointed. I was looking forward to it. At least we still have tonight."

"Yes, definitely," I assured him.

"Hopefully you won't cancel on me."

Ugh, my heart ached. "No, never, I promise!"

"Alright then," Harry voiced in his low sexy tone. "I'll give you a call later to get your address."

"Sounds lovely," I replied.

"Have fun at your luncheon," he teased.

"Fuck, Harry," I groaned under my breath. "This is going to be torture. I might as well bring a pillow and take a nap."

Harry chuckled as we said our goodbyes. Then I looked at the time on my phone. 11:52AM. Eight hours until our date. I took a deep breath and made my way towards the conference room, hoping the rest of the day would fly by.

MASTERLIST | KO-FI | FEEDBACK

[loveroftoomanyfandoms]

Cooking Up Love, Chapter 8

Pairing: Chef!Matt Murdock x F!Journalist!Reader

Rating: T

Story Summary: Here 

Warnings/Tags: Hallmark levels of fluffy, cheesy goodness (and speed that their relationship develops, lol), no use of Y/N, Matt is not a vigilante, idiots in love, love confessions (but not to each other 🫠)

Word Count: ~2650

A/N: Short little filler chapter here to move the plot along, but next up is the big "recipe testing" dinner!

Thanks as always to @theradioactivespidergwen for the divider!

Tag List: @yarrystyleeza @hailey-murdock @mattkinsella @bellaxgiornata @danzer8705 @chezagnes @shouldbestudying41 @thepunisherfrankcastle @mattmurdocks6thscaleapartment

"So? How was it?" Skyler said as soon as she saw you in the staff break room the next morning.

You laughed and shook your head. "Can I at least make some coffee before you start interrogating me about my brunch?"

"Oh, I already took care of that." Skyler turned and handed you a to-go cup from your favorite coffee shop near the office. "I know how much you hate Monday morning staff meetings and figured I'd get something for you while I was getting my own coffee."

You took a sip and sighed blissfully. "You are an angel, you know that? I owe you one."

Skyler took a sip of her own beverage. "So spill, girl, spill! How was Chef Hottie's cake?"

You shook your head with a grin. "Ok well first off, it's Chef Matt , and secondly, his crepes were excellent once again, as was the omelet I ordered. You really should check the restaurant out for Sunday brunch at the very least, although I'm sure their dinner menu is amazing too."

Skyler took another sip of her coffee as you walked into the conference room together and sat. "How was the rest of your day? Hopefully you did something more exciting than watching a bunch of senior citizens play bingo."

You nodded, smiling to yourself as you thought about your afternoon and evening with Matt. "Actually, yeah. Matt invited me along on his after-work errands yesterday afternoon so I could observe him outside of the kitchen."

"Ooh, so you got to spend the whole afternoon with him? Lucky. So what did you two do together?"

"He volunteers to cook for the soup kitchen at Clinton Church on Sundays after the restaurant closes, so I helped him out with that, then I watched him work out at the gym for a bit, then he asked me if I wanted to have dinner with him."

Skyler's eyes grew wide. "He asked you out on a date ? Way to bury the lede!"

You shook your head. "No, not a date , he just invited me to have dinner with him at his apartment as a thank-you for helping him out at the church, that's all."

"You went to his apartment? " 

You opened your mouth to tell her that it wasn't a big deal but was interrupted by Ellison walking into the conference room. "Okay, let's get this show on the road," he said. "First order of business: Kelsie, welcome back. Glad to see you're feeling better."

You glanced over at Kelsie, who was sulking at the other end of the table.

Ellison looked at his notes. "Okay, so assignment updates! Skyler, how was the fundraiser for the senior center?"

"Great," Skyler replied. "I sent you my article last night."

"Okay, good. Mark, what's going on in sports this week?"

Mark, who wrote the sports column, sat up in his chair. "I've got an interview with Coach Calhoun on Wednesday and Coach Dempsey on Thursday, so the article about the big rivalry between PS 114 and PS 118 will be ready to go for Friday's edition."

"Excellent." Ellison said your name. "How's the Restaurant Week feature coming?"

"It's coming along great," you replied. "Chef Murdock has been really open and cooperative, so it'll be no problem getting that article to you by EoD Wednesday."

Ellison nodded. "Fantastic. Okay, new assignments. Skyler, you're covering the music festival this weekend. They'll have a press pass for you at the gate. Kelsie, since we switched up the Restaurant Week feature you're now going to be handling the daily report on what each participating restaurant is featuring. Everyone else, you know your assignments. Let's get to it."

You stood and picked up your cup of coffee.

"Not enough to steal the Features position out from under me, was it?" you heard Kelsie say from behind you. "Now you're going after the lead story for Restaurant Week too."

You turned and raised an eyebrow. There had been a (one-sided, in your opinion) rivalry between you and Kelsie ever since you and she had both been up for the Features position six months earlier. "Oh damn, you caught me. I made sure that you would get food poisoning just so I could swoop in and steal the Restaurant Week feature when I know nothing about the culinary industry and had never met Chef Murdock until a few days ago after the article was assigned to me. And as for the Features position, I won that promotion fair and square. It's not my fault that my article was better and that you bombed the mock interview, just like you would've tanked this one."

Kelsie scoffed. "Yeah, right. I'm sure he would've been extremely 'cooperative' with anyone interviewing him -- as long as they were female and had a pulse."

You shook your head. "What are you talking about? Chef Murdock has been nothing but professional towards me the entire week."

Kelsie smirked. "Oh didn't you know? Matthew Murdock will do anything -- and any one -- to try to salvage his reputation, so there must be a reason if he's not hitting on you."

Before you could respond she turned and flounced out of the conference room.

"What a bitch," Skyler muttered under her breath.

You shook your head. "I'm not worried about her. Ellison knows what I'm capable of."

Skyler sighed. "Anyway, I want to hear all about your not-date with Chef Hottie. Lunch later?"

You nodded. "Sure."

"Great. I'll swing by your desk around 11:30."

"Okay."

You went back to your desk, dutifully ignoring the daggers Kelsie was continuing to shoot your way, and worked on your other tasks until it was time for lunch.

You looked up as Skyler stopped by, purse in hand. "Ready?"

You nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

The two of you walked down the street to your favorite food truck. 

"Okay, so tell me everything ," Skyler said once the two of you sat down at a nearby table with your food. "Like how you went from going to Daredevil for brunch to a private dinner with the chef."

"There's not much to tell," you replied with a light laugh. "But okay."

You took a breath. "I had told Matt on Saturday that I was planning on coming back to Daredevil for Sunday brunch because the crepes he had made during the cooking demo he did for me were really good, so he told me to get his staff to let him know that I was there and he'd come say hi."

A small smirk graced Skyler's face. "So he was willing to drop everything in order to come talk to you, got it."

You shook your head. "He wound up bringing my order out to me, so while we were talking he asked me if I would be interested in seeing how he develops his recipes so I agreed to stop by Daredevil tonight after work for another cooking demo. Then he asked me if I wouldn't mind accompanying him on his after-work errands since he thought that it would be beneficial to my article for me to spend some time with him outside of the kitchen."

Skyler huffed out a laugh. "Right, beneficial to your article, sure."

You smiled and shook your head. "We went by Clinton Church first to cook for the soup kitchen--"

Skyler held up a finger. "Wait a second. So he asked you to spend the afternoon with him out of the kitchen, then brought you to a different kitchen to watch him cook?"

You shrugged. "I didn't mind. He usually cooks at Daredevil and just brings everything over to the church, but he asked me if I wouldn't mind coming over early and he'd just do his cooking for the church over there instead."

Skyler raised an eyebrow. "Mmhmm, so he could spend even more time with you."

" Anyway, after we finished up at the church we headed to his gym since he frequently goes after service to unwind."

Skyler grinned. "Ooh, so you got to see him all sweaty?"

You nodded. "The arms on that man, let me tell you…"

"And the ass." Skyler did a chef's kiss. "You can't tell me you didn't check out his ass."

Your face heated. "Well… maybe a bit."

Skyler gasped. "You did! I knew you were interested in him!"

You groaned. "He's so handsome and sweet and funny and genuine, not to mention an incredible chef… but I'm writing a story about him for the paper, it's completely unethical for me to be thirsting after him -- even though it's absolutely unfair how good he looks in a tank top and a pair of sweatpants."

Skyler shook her head. "Your story's due, when, Wednesday? After that you won't have to worry about journalistic integrity or whatever's stopping you from jumping his bones. So how'd you wind up going home with him?"

You wrinkled your nose. "Don't say it like that, you make it sound so… clandestine ."

Skyler rolled her eyes playfully. "Okay, fine. Having dinner, happy?"

You chuckled. "Yes. After he was done at the gym I asked him where to next and he said that was all he had left to do so I said okay and that I'd see him later, but then he asked if I'd like to have dinner with him as a thank-you for helping him out at the soup kitchen. I agreed, so we stopped by his plot at the Clinton Community Garden to pick some fresh basil then headed to his apartment."

Skyler waved a hand at you to go on. "Where you…"

You shrugged. "Where I drank some wine and ate some delicious carbonara, then sat and talked with Matt for a bit on his sofa before I went home."

Skyler's eyebrows raised. "Wait, you were serious? Nothing happened between you two?"

You shook your head. "I mean we hugged before I left, but that was it."

Skyler shook her head with a sigh. "Girl, if you can't see what's going on…"

Your brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"He's clearly interested."

"What? No he's not."

"Oh come on. He invited you to his apartment for dinner."

"As a thank-you, I told you that."

Skyler took a sip of her drink. "I'm telling you, girl, the man is into you! He's probably holding back because he thinks you're not interested."

You shook your head and stood. "Come on, we need to get back. I'm sure Kelsie is looking for any excuse to report us to Ellison."

Skyler groaned then stood as well. "Yeah, you're right. But I am too, and you know it!"

You threw your trash away and started back towards the office, your mind racing.

Skyler had to be mistaken. Matt couldn't actually be interested in you… could he?

Matt grinned to himself as he headed towards Clinton Church. He had spent the morning finalizing his plans for your "recipe tasting" dinner and was eager to get started on prep, but he needed to pick up his supplies from the church's activity center first. 

Father Lantom had left him a voicemail that morning saying how appreciative everyone had been of the hot meal and how nice it had been to meet you. 

Matt's mind drifted back to the previous day. While you obviously wasn't as quick and skilled in the kitchen as he was, Matt had still been touched by your willingness to help out however you could, even if it meant doing menial tasks such as slicing up tomatoes and cucumbers and dividing salad dressing into servings. 

God , he had wanted to kiss you when your fingers had brushed against his while you were handing him his measuring cups, then again when you had hugged him at Fogwell's after he had told you about his dad, then again in his apartment when you two stood listening to the rain by his window, then again when you were getting ready to leave…

He sighed. Hopefully everything went according to plan tonight.

He stepped into the office at Clinton Church. 

"Matthew, hello," Sister Maggie, one of the nuns from the adjoining convent, said.

"Hi," Matt replied. "I'm here to pick up my culinary supplies from the activity center." 

"Oh, yes. Father Lantom did say that you'd be dropping by to pick up your things." Sister Maggie took a set of keys out of a drawer. "He's out on an errand at the moment, but I can let you in."

"Great, thanks."

He followed her out to the activity center.

Sister Maggie unlocked the door. "How is the restaurant doing?"

Matt shrugged. "It's… surviving so far. We're not doing nearly as well as I'd hoped we'd be by now but I'm hoping that the article that's going to be in the Bulletin next week will help drum up some business."

"Oh, the restaurant is being featured in the Bulletin? That's wonderful."

Matt shook his head. "Moreso me than the restaurant, but yeah. We're going to be on the front page of the Restaurant Week kickoff edition."

He paused, smiling softly as he thought about you. "Actually the reporter from the Bulletin who's doing the story on me was here with me yesterday."

Sister Maggie hummed. "Oh, yes, Father Lantom did say a young woman was assisting you, but he was under the impression that you two were seeing each other."

Matt shook his head. "What? No, we've only known each other for a few days, although…"

He sighed. "There's something about her that… I don't know, she makes me feel comfortable around her. She's kind, and gentle, and caring…" And beautiful. I have no idea what she looks like, but I know she's beautiful. 

Sister Maggie hummed. "She sounds lovely."

"She really is."

"What's her name?"

Matt smiled as he said your name.

Sister Maggie gave a hum of recognition. "Oh, yes, she's the one who does all of those lovely human interest stories, right? I do enjoy reading those each week."

Matt nodded. "Right."

He bit his lip. "I wanted her to get to know me outside of the kitchen -- for her story, of course -- so I, uh, I took her to Fogwell's after we left here yesterday and wound up telling her about Dad. She already knew about his murder -- she had done some research before our interview -- but I told her about growing up with him and how he always encouraged me to get an education."

Sister Maggie reached out and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before letting go. "Your father was a good man, you know."

Matt nodded. "I know."

She sighed. "I know I haven't always been there for you in the ways you've needed me, Matthew, but for what it's worth, I'm really proud of you."

Matt nodded. "Thanks… Mom."

"So what are you going to do?"

Matt furrowed his brow. "About?"

Sister Maggie said your name. "She's not seeing anyone, is she?"

Matt shook his head. "I don't think so. At least, she hasn't mentioned anything in that regard."

He gestured towards the kitchen. "She's actually coming by the restaurant tonight to taste-test some new recipes for me, so I better get going so I can get started on everything."

He headed into the kitchen to get his cart.

Sister Maggie gave him a hug as he came back out. "Goodbye, Matthew."

Matt hugged her back. "Bye."

He headed towards Daredevil, his mind swirling. He knew you were attracted to him -- at least physically -- but there had been something holding you back. Could you be seeing someone?

Matt had assumed you were single based on your availability over the weekend, but just because you were available didn't mean you were available. 

He shook his head. He remembered overheating your conversation with that other reporter who had greeted him the day he had brought tiramisu to the Bulletin, during which you had said that you didn't have a boyfriend.

…So then what was it?

[foster-the-world]

Better?

In the ongoing saga of figuring out my child's healthcare needs we stopped his daily asthma medication. After an August 3-4 weeks of a terrible asthma flare up which ended up with a does of steroids' we decided to try a maintenance med. I had been very reluctant because the side effects can be hyperactivity/aggression. More hyperactivity is the last thing my child needs. His behavior had been pretty out of control during his August asthma flare up. We notified the school nurse about the med update - who had encouraged me to try out the med. I thought I told the teacher but maybe did not.

Anyone it seemed to be working really well. He was not coughing in October for the first time in years. We hadn't noticed any behavior changes. However, he was not sleeping well. Which is very abnormal for him. This had started during the summer asthma flare up - so assumed it was that. It makes sense you won't sleep well if you are coughing constantly and generally feel shitty.

The school had not reported any behavior changes to us. I ask regularly - while trying not to be too annoying. She noted he has good days and bad days hyperactivity wise. Which is the norm.

Then the neuro psych office sent someone by to do an in class assessment. Apparently his behavior was really terrible. He had a really terrible in office assessment the day before. I'm assuming it was a hold over from that. Also the teacher told us "someone" told him the neuro was there to assess him. The whole point of sending a different nuero was so he would not know they were monitoring him. He does not like being assessed. The teacher also tells the neuro pscyh his behavior has gotten worse and worse over the last month. She thought it was because the class had added two other high energy boys. Which is entirely possible. He def matches other kids energy. Or it could be because of the meds!! If the teacher had discussed with us I would have 100% considered that. I was on the look out for bad behavior. I am so annoyed the teacher did not tell us. The Director of the school apologized. The teacher said she is always "transparent" with the Neuropsychs. As if, we didn't want her to be transparent. We expected her to be transparent with us first! I had seen her the day before the in class assessment. She mentioned how he is really nice to the younger kids. Then said he has good and bad days. She mentioned he had been putting things in his mouth. I said I'd send in chewy necklace. None of this screams "behavior has gotten worse and worse."

Anyway we can't risk more hyperactivity. Talked with his doctor and took him off the same day. He fell asleep immediately that night. He's been back to sleeping really well every night since. Seems calmer to me. His teacher says he has been better over the past week. But the biggest difference is he has almost 100% stopped stuttering. Since August his occasional stutter that only came out when he was tired was happening all of the time. Since Friday I've heard it twice.

Now the question is was the medicine really changing his behavior? Or was the medicine causing sleep interruptions and that was causing the behavior changes? I suspect the stutter is because his brains moves faster than his mouth. The internet tells me its a common ADHD (and autism) thing. The problem is exacerbated when his body is especially out of wack/tired.

Of course, within 24 hours of stopping I can tell the cough was coming. It's not bad, yet. Just a few coughs here and there. It actually has not been cold outside here so will see what comes. Luckily, his asthma is entirely of the cough variant. His oxygen levels are always fine. Sometimes a little wheezing but nothing serious. No asthma "attacks."

There are various other asthma meds we could try but now I'm even more terrified to try anything. The poor kid's body is constantly fighting against him. It also does not bode well for trying ADHD meds. I feel like his body is always going to pick up the worse outcomes. Considering taking FMLA over the summer to try out some meds. If they make him more hyperactive/aggressive with us it's fine. It ill If he does it at school it can get him labeled.

I'm def not going to give him a full steriods dose again unless its a real medical emergency. His behavior was out of control for a week after that.

The two other high energy boys were moved to a different class. Not sure why, obviously not my business. Someone mentioned they are going to add another teacher to his class. I'm going to follow-up to see if that is true. I'm reminding myself that teachers are very busy. My kid is one of 12 kids. Its probably not fun to report bad behavior to parents and some people are better at it than others.

Going to his school tmrw for the Halloween parade. Looking forward to it.

[heylavellan]

Happy Friday! In order of your recent Rylen-pilling, how about "can i kiss you?" "you have no idea how long i've waited to hear you ask that." for him and Krem? If you're interested in them as a ship.

im afraid i was temporarily possessed by this ship and physically left my body. longest thing i've written for @dadrunkwriting !

between letters and the lines

rating: t

words: 2273

notes: somewhat epistolary, krem gets hurt and rylen realises he loves him because of anxiety!

Dear Captain Rylen,

Just arrived in the Emerald Graves. The Chargers and I have finished explored the exterior of the manor and scared half of them shitless. Can't convince a good portion of them to enter, so pass the attached brief on to the Commander for the Inquisitor's consideration.

Few of your men holding the camps aren't holding up well, so I've sent them to deliver this missive. Could use some R&R for a few weeks, think the ogres scared 'em shitless. Camps will need to be reinforced and resupplied.

An additional report is attached for the Iron Bull. I'd appreciate it if you passed it along.

Kind regards,

Lieutenant Aclassi

---

Lieutenant Aclassi,

The Commander appreciated the concise report. Problem resolved. Recommendations enacted. A few of the men you sent back have been removed from the line of duty and wished to offer their thanks.

Attached is a copy of intel from your chief and Lady Nightingale. The Lady Inquisitor has been expressing interest in quelling the fighting at the Exalted Plains. I imagine Lady Nightingale's scouts could use reinforcements before following up on the rising usurper in Perendale.

Captain Rylen

---

To Captain Rylen,

The Exalted Plains forward camp has been established and has suitable defenses courtesy of our sapper. Suffice to say the local Dalish and the Orlesians are reluctant to approach our camp now. Suggested supply routes and potential campsites are attached. I'm sure Lady Nightingale's scouts will provide more information. Hopefully the Orlesian recruits can make up for my lack of information. Additional copies enclosed for the Commander and the Chief.

Skinner appreciated the whetstone you sent by the way. And Grim liked the book. I think he wants the next installment. If I knew we were sending gifts, I would have sent something earlier. Found some communications from Starkhaven intended for you in Perendale, your siblings are probably expecting a response. Best not to piss them off.

Advice from some scouts we encountered suggests we advance out toward the Western Approach. Waiting for orders before we depart.

The boys are convinced I'm hiding some of our correspondence. Apparently I've been too serious lately and I consult our latest information too frequently. Put their minds to rest, yeah?

Warm regards,

Lt. Krem Aclassi

---

Dear Lieutenant Aclassi,

I apologise if the Chargers find my letters unsatisfactory. When they have to write as many as I do, I will accept their criticisms.

Advance to the Western Approach. Scouts and troops won't arrive for a month or so yet, the Inquisitor has been wrapping up business in the Graves and Plains. Consult the attached map with rough terrain and notable locations. The Iron Bull has provided an old Ben Hassrath report for what you might expect out there. I've taken the liberty to mark a few locations which I suspect will harbour some of the more dangerous wildlife.

Current orders are to establish a camp site suitable for the Inquisitor and his aides. I suspect we will also require locations to keep a couple hundred men, so any up to date information would be valuable.

My family berated me for taking so long to respond. They wished to extend their thanks to you for ensuring their communications reached me.

Please take care out there.

Rylen

---

Captain Rylen,

Attached are maps of the area. Cannot advance without reinforcements. Urgent request for medical supplies, especially treatment for burns. Retreated for the time being. Water supply is extremely poor.

Written by Rocky on behalf of Krem

---

Krem,

As Captain, I should instruct you to push forward now that you are resupplied.

As Rylen, I don't want to ask that of the Chargers. You've been taking jobs for months and haven't taken proper R&R. I don't know the entirety of your situation.

Attached are instructions from your Chief. Indulge my concerns for you and ignore any orders which put you in excessive danger.

I am to lead a contingent to the Western Approach. I hope to see you.

Yours,

Rylen

---

Krem carefully examined the orders from the Iron Bull. Or rather, it was a letter. One he wasn't going to let the boys see.

Apparently, Rylen had become fixated on the Chargers and was greatly impressed by Krem. The successes of their troop seemed to astound Rylen, especially when compared to the ragtag men recruited to the Inquisition.

Bull had his own opinion on the matter, one he described as infatuation.

It wasn't that Krem was disturbed by this. A fair share of men had been infatuated with him through the wild tales told about their company. The problem was that Krem had begun to feel the same.

Back when they were last in Skyhold, Rylen took efforts to join the Chargers, getting to know the best mercenaries under the banner of the Inquisition. Even if he was quiet and concise, the men got along with him. They liked having him around. And most nights Krem ended up helping him back to his bunk before disappearing back to his own.

Bull had instructed them to wait for reinforcements and to take it easy. He said a few scouts should be there to assist them in a few days, with the rest of the troops joining them in a week or so.

Krem withdrew the communications from Rylen and reread them, looking for any sign of the infatuation Bull described. It was a welcome distraction from the shattered leg Stitches treated to the best of his ability.

With a sigh, he passed on the orders to the men and made Dalish their temporary quartermaster. He sent out a few patrols and had Grim start a stew. Another week. He could last that long.

---

Dear Krem,

I can't explain why I'm so worried about you and your Chargers. I didn't feel like this for the templars under my command back in Starkhaven. I don't feel like this for most of my men.

I'm confused and I know the lyrium leaves my memory addled. So please let me see you when I arrive to make sure you're okay with my own eyes. And let me treat you to a drink?

Rylen

---

The Chargers camp was dismal. It looked so incorrect, deprived of the life it should contain. It sat uncomfortably in the pit of Rylen's stomach, how truly empty it felt. This wasn't who the Chargers were.

The qunari beside him was also unusually quiet. Especially around his men, the Iron Bull shouldn't be this quiet. "I'll check in with the boys. You mind checking on Krem?" he asked, his hulking form already making his way to various tents.

Grim gestured him to Krem's tent and handed him a bowlful of stew and a spoon. "For me?" he asked. The man grunted in disapproval. It must be for Krem then.

He pulled aside the canvas doors and entered into the dimly lit tent. A figure slept quietly on a thick bedroll. Since the man's face had been haunting his dreams, he recognised him as Krem. Unfortunately, he looked incredibly wrong. His dark skin was too pale, colour drained from his face. A crooked leg poked out from beneath the blankets.

Rylen's body moved before he comprehended the scene before him. On his knees, beside Krem, he cupped his cheek and gently shook him awake. His skin was too warm, probably running a fever.

"Go away, Grim" Krem grumbled, squeezing his eyes shut. "You don't need to mother me." Even if the sick man was saying that, he leaned into Rylen's touch.

In any other situation, he might have snorted at him and derided him a bit. But this wasn't any other soldier under his command. "Lieutenant, I'm afraid Grim was quite insistent I fed you," he rumbled.

Krem's eyes shot open, quickly making eye contact with Rylen. At least he was still in there. "Come on big guy. My turn to mother you," Rylen joked, sliding an arm underneath Krem to help him sit up.

"Want me to start calling you mother?" he teased in response, however feeble his voice was.

It brought a smile to his usually stoic face. "Whatever it takes to get our best guys back into action. You look like shit," Rylen retorted.

"Some varghests fucked up our guys. We're luck we all got out," Krem explained, letting Rylen start feeding him.

It was strange to be in the position of nursing someone back to health. As knight-captain of the Templars, he usually passed it off to the medics they had on hand. Then again, he hadn't cared this deeply about an individual since he had been at home and helping his own family.

To prevent himself from overanalyzing his feelings he forced himself to continue speaking. "Bet you're never gonna do that again," he commented, probably too hopefully.

"Not without the Chief at least. He'd have been enough I think. Fights like at least ten guys," Krem supplied, rather unhelpfully for his running mind. He needed to be a put together captain. Not whatever worrywart he'd become.

Rylen squeezed Krem's shoulder and hoped that his worries weren't written all over his face. "It's incredibly hard to be cross with you," he groaned. The cheeky smirk he received in return was a signal that he was well and truly fucked, because he wanted nothing more than to kiss Krem in that moment.

Kiss the man who had most of the life drained out of him, who was holding back incredible amounts of pain to joke with him, who was his subordinate and certainly someone he shouldn't have feelings for.

Rylen pressed those feelings down and instead focused on helping Krem get some food down. The Chargers quickly found out, however, that Rylen was sharing a tent with Krem instead of Bull. But they wouldn't know if Rylen held Krem's hand as he drifted off, or if he brushed hair stuck to Krem's forehead from the sweat. That was between the two of them.

---

Krem's head hadn't felt so clear in days. He was grateful the Inquisitor had finally arrived, alongside one of his acquaintances who was an expert spirit healer. They had to rebreak his leg to ensure it would set properly. But the bone knitted itself back together under the guidance of the healer, and he was able to start hobbling around now that the worst of the injuries were dealt with.

Still hurt like shit, though. His recovery meant that the Inquisition finally departed on its conquest of the Western Approach. Once they received word, he would figure out where the Inquisition wanted him. Since Bull was around, he was leading the healthier guys on excursions, building back up their confidence to return to the Approach.

Rylen hadn't left his side, though. It was something that truly puzzled him. Surely seeing him at his worst would drive anyone away. And yet...

They were sitting together in the centre of their camp, chatting with the remaining scouts and tending to their fire. Or rather, Krem was talking and Rylen was firetending.

During the lulls in the conversation, Krem took time to admire Rylen. His facial tattoos were beautiful, and he carried himself with strength and honour. Every time Rylen caught him staring, he quickly picked the conversation back up where it was left.

Every half hour or so, Rylen reminded Krem that he needed to get up and go on a short walk to prevent his leg from atrophying. Each time, he took Krem by the arm and escorted him a short ways out of the camp, before helping him back.

After the scout told them they made a cute couple, Rylen hastily informed them that the two were not together. That was the final straw for Krem. On their next small walk, Krem stopped him in the forest, just out of sight of the camp.

"Someone got quite defensive when asked if we were together," he joked. Joking was always easier than just stating the truth out loud.

Apparently Rylen never got that message. "It's because you confuse me. I've never wanted a man like I want you before," he confessed. Krem's mouth flew agape, his mind churning to process what he just said. Rylen gave him no reprieve. "I can't stop worrying about you, even though you're one of our most capable men. I've never felt as distressed as when I found you hurt. And I don't know if you want me back."

Even at the best of times, Krem rarely assumed anyone wanted him. He was a stranger to the south, seen as an enemy. He was from Tevinter, and few people looked past that outside of the Chargers. Few people defended him like Bull. So he hadn't hoped that the increasing attention from Rylen was anything more. It usually was too much to hope for.

But his hands pulled Rylen closer by the waist, the one clinging to his arm choosing to hang onto his shoulder. "Can I kiss you?" tumbled out of Krem's mouth. He felt light-headed, just barely in control.

A soft smile crossed Rylen's face, something Krem immediately regretted not being able to bring to his face before. Like this Rylen looked calm. "You have no idea how long I've waited to hear you ask that," he murmured.

Their faces moved closer together, foreheads touching. "And?" Krem breathed. He needed an answer.

"If you don't I might demote you," Rylen hummed in response.

Krem surged forward into his lips, releasing the tension between the two of them. They clung close together, knowing that there was a moment of solace, at least for the two of them.

[natlacentral]

‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Stars on Bringing Animated Characters to Live Action: “We’re Weren’t Doing a Caricature”

After more than half a decade of development, Netflixunveiled its highly anticipated live- action Avatar: The Last Airbender on Friday. 

The show, adapted from Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko’s animated series that premiered in 2005, follows the beloved story of Aang, an Avatar who can bend all four elements — water, earth, fire and air — and is responsible for maintaining harmony in his universe’s four nations. Along the way, Aang befriends waterbender Katara and her brother Sokka as they work together to end the fire nation’s war against the other nations. Frequently, the group faces off against Zuko, a fire nation prince locked in an ongoing pursuit of Aang’s demise.

Though Netflix’s live-action approach to the story heads for darker themes than Nickelodeon’s animated original, the cast of kids at the show’s center maintains the story’s sense of childlike wonder that is so beloved by fans. 

The actors — Gordon Cormier (Aang), Kiawentiio (Katara), Ian Ousley (Sokka) and Dallas Liu (Zuko) — began their journeys toward the show around four years ago, navigating a blind casting process that tried to keep the subject of their audition a secret and involved a lengthy, international search for the right artists to bring DiMartino and Konietzko’s characters to life with the Albert Kim adaptation. Each an avid fans of the original (Cormier says he’s watched the show 26 times), the group spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how their love for the franchise gave way to their need to get the live-action story right — and where they’re hoping the show will go next.

Let’s go back to the beginning. What do you remember about the casting process? 

DALLAS LIU They sent all of us these dummy sides and fake character names. I know some of these guys didn’t know [it was for Avatar], but for me it felt obvious from the character’s description, and my fake name was “Juno.” I think, knowing the series, already being such a huge fan and Zuko being my favorite character … I definitely used that to my advantage throughout the audition process. 

GORDON CORMIER I actually turned down the audition, because I had no clue what it was. I got the audition, and it was for a 12-year-old. I was a small 11-year-old at that point. I had told my agent, “I don’t want any more auditions like this because I’m too small to play 12.” So I turned it down. And then they sent it back and they said, “No, we really want to see this.” 

Were you all fans of the animated series?  

KIAWENTIIO Me, Dallas and Ian grew up [watching] the show, but Gordon was actually born after it aired. 

CORMIER After I booked the role, I looked up the animated series. I watched it 26 times, because I became a giant fan. I didn’t even really watch it to study my character — the first time was for that. Then I watched it again for the fun of it, and again, again, again, again. I feel like I really got to know Aang, to see what he’s going through and hopefully bring that into the live action, with a little bit deeper and darker tones. 

LIU I think because of the significance of Dante Basco’s voice acting [Basco is beloved as the original voice of Zuko], I felt a little extra pressure knowing that there were such huge shoes to fill. But the way I navigated that was: We aren’t trying to make a remake scene for scene, line for line. We’re trying to get a new set of people involved. Hopefully, they love the show just as much as we do, and we give the old fans something new. 

Were there any specific parts of your character you drew from the animated series, or anything you added that felt new? 

IAN OUSLEY It’s such an amazing opportunity for the character of Sokka to go from an animated series to live action. When I watch the original series, I feel like Sokka is always the voice of the audience, so that’s something that I tried to carry over into our show. How can I be the voice of the audience and set the tone for everybody at home? 

LIU We wanted to make sure we weren’t doing a caricature of these animated characters. For Zuko, in season one of the animated series, definitely for the first half of it, he’s quite melodramatic and extremely emotional to the point where his eyes are jumping out of his face. I think his relationship with Uncle Iroh in the live-action series was really cool for me. He’s not so much a brat to his own uncle, who looked out for him and cared for him. 

OUSLEY In the animated show, Sokka is [also] doing so many things that are animated. It was a big challenge to bring it into reality and not lose any parts of him. But in addition to that, what comes naturally with live action is the humanness. A lot of the things happening in the show are very real and very intense, and he gets to have real human reactions while also getting to find out what that comedy looks like. 

Bringing this world into live action also meant some impressive martial arts from all four of you! What was your preparation for that? 

KIAWENTIIO It was helpful, we did a six-week boot camp before filming. That’s where I got familiar with the fight scenes I had to train for. 

CORMIER I was super energetic. Running, around, doing all these exercises … that was heaven for 12-year-old me. 

LIU For Gordon, he’s supposed to be a master at such a young age. He needed to be extremely well-versed in the style of air from the beginning. 

OUSLEY It was really awesome watching the commitment to Gordon’s character, because he would go home and practice for hours and hours on his own. He was having so much fun. They had to keep him on the kids’ schedule still, but even as an 11- and 12-year-old, he was still putting in hours of work, because they were giving him videos to practice. It was awesome. 

KIAWENTIIO I feel like with my character, I got really lucky with the fact that I grew alongside her throughout the series. She doesn’t start out as a master, but she ends up that way. 

LIU And Ian is actually a world champion martial artist in weapons, but his character isn’t an expert. So he had to unlearn those punches. 

OUSLEY I love weapons in general, and Sokka has a really special attachment to his weapons, and his war club. So it was really cool to bring that over. But yeah, I had to unlearn a lot of that technique.  

It’s been about a year and a half since you finished filming season one. What’s it been like reuniting for this press tour? 

KIAWENTIIO It’s so interesting, because I feel like we got so much closer after filming. We definitely got to know each other while filming. But it’s on a different level now, getting to spend that time apart and realize how much we actually care for each other. 

OUSLEY The first time I saw Gordon [after filming], his voice had changed. I freaked out. I was like, “What is happening?” And then I kept telling him, “Talk again!” It’s been awesome to get to know each other again. We’ve grown up, and we’re growing together. 

LIU We’ve grown, not just as actors and actresses, but each of us grew up as human beings, in front of the hundreds of people on set. Each of them had a huge influence on the people we are right now. 

So, what are your hopes and dreams for a live-action season two? 

KIAWENTIIO With the animated series, it just gets better every season. I think adding a new addition to our group, getting to see Toph, is super exciting. It would also be really cool if I got to portray the Painted Lady. 

LIU Season two is epic for Zuko. I want to do the one where I’m yelling at the lighting. 

IAN I’m waiting for season three, though, because I want my sword. I am the world champion in weapons, specifically, so his sword would be a dream come true. 

CORMIER Also season three, I really want to do that episode right before I go fight the fire lord and Aang won’t sleep. I start to see all these visions, and Momo and Appa start talking. It’d be so awesome. 

[vtforpedro]

life update - long

It took me a hot minute to find the last update. December, I guess? I'm so tired I never stop being tired and time is not real anymore. Anyway. Disability Stuff: I won my case in federal court in February. They said it'd take a year so I was a little hm. Found out the SSA voluntarily asked the judge for the remand because the written decision was indefensible and they were gonna take another look. Pros: Hey, I won! I get a second hearing! Cons: I didn't get a brief written by the federal law firm because there was no time. This is actually a tactic used by the SSA. I have no doubt they're fine tuning another denial. I also have to wait for the lower level court to figure out what was so bad about it (that they'd already ruled was perfect) to give to the judge I will have another hearing with. The same judge. Who said I was a liar multiple times and omitted eight months of medical evidence and said mental health issues are subjective hahaha. I hate this country. Health: Boy howdy it's been better and worse. I had the tilt table test in late December, went... ok enough, but my neuro didn't like how ambiguous the report was and sent me back to them to speak to an autonomic disorder specialist. Scheduled in Jan, just had my appt with her this month lol she is busy. She ordered: genetics test, labs, and skin biopsy. I've done the first two, third is scheduled in July and I'm gonna be a mess because needles u_u Brain stuff is much of the same. Episodic. Manageable times are a godsend, bad times are really bad. My heart started to do some funky ass shit a few months ago. My mom kept writing it off as anxiety no matter how much I explained that it felt like my heart was pounding after exercise. My BP and pulse shot up high for a while and b/c my pulse never came back down and it was interfering with, you know, living, my PCP sent me to cardiology. :') Cause I wanted my heart involved in this mess One 24hr holter monitor, echo, and heart ultrasound later, and I have a new heart condition. He said 'your heart is beating so fast you would normally see it with exercise' bada boom baby and has nothing to do with fucking ANXIETY >:[ I'm on heart medication. 10 meds. I need to start another med for my psych but that's 11 and I'm honestly getting upset because it's so fucking much medication in one day but every single one of them is necessary so what can really I do? Personal: Relationship with my mom is at an all time low. This is extremely unfortunate because a few weeks ago, my mom told me she is basically being 'laid off' (she's not losing her job for a while, just retiring earlier than expected) and I have to leave my home of 10 years by mid-August. Got no sympathy from her about it *finger guns* I've gone through the devastation of that and am kind of just stuck in how is any of that gonna work. My brother and I can't live together, so he's gonna move into a family friend's rental. Except he has no job and hasn't been able to get one in months. He started one on Monday, is gonna leave by Friday because it's horrific ig. Anyway my mom promises he won't be there. We have to move based on my disabilities and my mom's house is gonna have to reflect what we have here. I'll see it when I believe it. I don't trust her anymore. Extra unfortunate that I'm gonna be living 24/7 with my mother who has been an abusive person in my life the past two years. The short break thru the day that my apartment is just mine, quiet and gentle, is gonna be gone. I'll be introducing my solitary 11 year old cat Lilly into a house with 3 other cats. She only knew Isis her entire life. She was just diagnosed with neuro issues this year after going through an MRI. We don't know if she has seizure activity or if it's movement disorder, but the med she's on treats both and she has gotten better. Same process Isis went through. Cannot believe I have two cats with neuro issues and likely the same one. May 18th was one year since Isis passed. Rough, tiring day.

I don't know how it has been that long. Feels like it just happened. I can still see her and feel her through my apartment and losing it in August will probably shatter me most because of losing the last place she existed in. I miss her more than I can say.

She was my little soulmate and her absence is felt in every corner here. Writing/Fandom:

I went through a whole fucking situation over in the Stranger Things fandom that has left me not wanting to post anymore. Idk if neuro shit has destroyed my ability to write but it's humiliating and painful every time I post a fic.

I posted stucky (1 out of 2 fics this year) on my main acct and lost 8 fuckin user subs? Like goddamn. What'd stucky do 😭 anyway it was even more devastating and kinda like 'here's your big ass sign to keep your writing to yourself.'

Between the god awful shit that happened in the ST fandom and my inability to put together even a good one shot, I'm feeling really down about one of two creative things I can do in my life. I used to love sharing my stuff. I want to write and share but it feels like it's harming my MH. I can't draw or paint right now, either. And I can barely move around my apartment without pain. I can't even leave it except for doctor appointments.

Idk. Very walls are closing in type of feeling and I hate it. In short: I'm tired, struggling, and too many things are happening at once. I love you all 😩💜 thank you for your patience and love and kind words. Your support is felt through one update to the next. I hope you're all well and I'm sending all my love and hugs to you.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for telling my friend i felt upset when it seemed like she was blowing me off?

i (18nb) have this friend M (16 week away from 17nb) friend. we became quick friends because we both moved from a journalism class to yearbook and recognized each other. we’ve been friends for over a year at this point. 

i’m in college now and they’re still in high school, and i still hang out with them. they’re one of two people who i keep in contact with from high school. We sometimes go thrifting and such together, and I do my best to not be a like. “super senior” or be creepy, but they also have some friends in freshman and sophmore year of college so it’s chill?

What happened was I wanted to go to a record shop M was very versed in going to. I asked if they could hang out on veterans day friday, because i didn’t have class or work, and school wasn’t in session that day. M said yes, but they had a “ton of homework” from classes they’d been skipping. I was okay with that, and figured since we were planning a week ahead of time they’d be okay.

Thursday rolls around, and we both stayed up till 4 am trying to get them through their homework. I was giving them college essay advice, and they got through a good chunk of the homework, but something bothered me about the fact they skipped more school that week and hadn’t done… anything. M told me that we probably couldn’t go to the record store friday, but we could meet up at a tea shop to study together because they had a birthday dinner to attend later that day.  (not Ms birthday someone else’s)

On Friday I waited for a while on them to answer me on the study session. I texted them through the day asking about it, and M kept telling me that they were eating food or doing chores. at one point i said “hey M, it’s four, don’t you have that dinner at six?” and they told me at 5:30 “oopsies i took a nap lol” we agreed to not meet up friday now, and it kind of pissed me off because it seemed like they didn’t do ANY of the homework they said they would. M went out with their friend for the friend bday dinner, and they reported to me later they couldn’t spend any money on our trip because M spent “so much money on the dinner and toys from CVS”. 

saturday we both worked, and they told me that we could absolutely meet up sunday. I finished a huge essay and several projects that day, and assumed M was also working on said homework. 

I woke up at 10 witch was the planned time to chat about going to the record store and the thrift, and got no response from M. this kinda pissed me off more because it felt now they were completely blowing me off. They then woke up at 2:45, texting me that we coundt go to the record shop because they still had homework to do because they didn’t do anything yesterday, but we could still go to a different event that was happening that day if they got all their homework done. 

Here’s where i may be the asshole. I told them that at that point i don’t think it would even be fun to go with them to the event anymore because it felt like they had been blowing me off the entire weekend. I said how they had plenty of chances over the week and weekend to finish up what they had to do, and told them it made me upset that they didn’t do anything that saturday, and that they were just messing around with my time and energy. They told me that i was a freak for “stalking their weekend” (they had Told Me all the info i had) and controlling when they were suppose to do homework. i told M i had a life too, and really wanted to go to these events with them. we got into a big argument over this where i tried to diffuse it and say i didn’t want us to break apart because of this. i told them i was sorry for micromanaging them, but that it really hurt that they completely blew me off. 

Ever since this, M hasn’t responded. I sent them a tik tok thinking once we’d cooled down a couple days later it maybe would be okay but they left me on seen. I have no clue what went wrong or if it’s just a teenage thing and just wanted to express that i was upset. AITA??? and should i reach out and apologize again??? or just leave it???? -💜

What are these acronyms?