#it's even funnier because he's still passed out in the close up beforehand

[lilirot]

The rest of the brothers: Trying to be sexy Belpegor: Passed the fuck out.

[morganas-destiny]

One thing I love most about the "You're not Merlin" scene from 'A servant of two masters' is the fact that it's basically a callback to Merlin and Morgana in 1x01. A royal getting completely naked behind the changing screen, talking to who they think is their servant but is actually their sibling's servant (or soon-to-be servant in Merlin's case and past servant in Gwen's case). And it just makes me think, you know, like what if Morgana had like Arthur walked out, naked, to look at Gwen, only to find Merlin standing there? The logical answer would likely be a lot of screaming, quick hiding and yelling for guards, especially since she didn't know him yet. But the much funnier option would be if she reacted the same way as Arthur. Just having her brain short circuit for a moment and then going "You're not Gwen". And Merlin being like "No. No, I'm not" (I was just gonna leave it at that but I had some time to spare and wrote a little OneShot to go with it lol. Enjoy.)

Why me, was all Merlin could think. Well, that and I should have knocked. He had almost been able to sneak out of the chambers of the Lady Morgana unnoticed, after trying to imitate her maid's voice and hiding behind a dress and whatnot to avoid being caught. But of course, of course, she had decided that she wanted to speak to her maid, and friend, face to face. She had walked out from behind the changing screen and locked eyes with Merlin. And as if that hadn't been bad enough, she had still not been dressed. The king's ward just walked out on him, completely nude. Merlin silently said goodbye to his life because surely, she would scream for the guards to take him to the dungeons and soon after to the chopping block because being caught in the same room as the naked ward of the king would surely cost him head. However, that wasn't what happened. She gave a surprised yelp and grabbed behind the screen, pulling out the gown she had taken off beforehand and pressing it against her body to cover the most important parts. She stared at him wide-eyed and in his quiet panic, all Merlin could do was stare back. A few second ticked by, in which neither said anything. Then Morgana narrowed her eyes. "You're not Gwen.", she stated the obvious. Merlin blinked a few times. "Errr... no. No, I- I just-" His thoughts raced, trying to figure out how to properly explain what exactly was going on. That he never meant to spy on her or get into this situation. His eyes fell on the sleeping draught he had brought and hastily went to pick it up, almost dropping it in the process. "I just came to deliver this. I- I'm new, I came to live with Gaius and- well." He interrupted himself, because he started to trip over his own words and also because he knew; every new word only made it seem more and more like a weak excuse. He could only hope and pray now that the Lady Morgana believed him and would let him go with a warning. "Oh.", she just said though. Oh? Merlin didn't know what to do with that. He gulped, placing the little bottle back on the wooden surface and averted his eyes. His cheeks were flushing more intensely with each passing second. He could feel Morgana's gaze on him. "Do you know where she is? Gwen, I mean.", she asked. Merlin dared to look up again, then slowly shook his head. "Hm.", Morgana only hummed in response. Merlin felt close to a mental breakdown. He wished the girl would just do something. Anything. Shout at him, tell him to get out, for god's sake, at this point, he'd even willingly let the guards take him to the dungeons. Even if he would hate to do that to Gaius. Though losing his head was almost a welcome idea, compared to the terrible uncertainty of this moment. Finally, after what felt like ages, the Lady Morgana opened her mouth again. "I would like to get dressed now." Merlin wanted to cry in relief. He could go. He could go and hopefully forget this incredibly awkward, embarrassing interaction. But no, he'd rejoiced to soon. "Are you familiar with fastenings?" He blinked in surprise and confusion, not realising what she wanted from him. He thought about it. Well, growing up with only a mother meant he had helped with a dress here and there at times. Though he doubted that the simple dresses of his mother were anything in comparison to the expensive, extravagant gowns of a princess. In his helplessness and under the scrutinizing eyes of the Lady Morgana, he only shrugged. "A little." Morgana nodded, as if to say good enough. "Wait there." Merlin's eyes widened and with rising panic, he watched as Morgana disappeared behind the changing screen again. The rustling of fabric indicated that she was putting on her other dress. Nervous sweat dampened the little hairs of Merlin's hairline. This couldn't possinly be really happening. "Alright, you can come.", her voice exclaimed from behind the screen. Merlin's heart near dropped into his pants but he didn't really know what else to do than listen. So, he walked over on wobbly knees and peeked behind the screen.

Upon seeing his cautious gaze, Morgana tilted her head. "Come on. My maid's obviously not here but you are. And considering you're fully dressed, you have an unfair advantage which I can't really allow." Feisty. Unusual for a girl of her standing but Merlin wasn't going to object. He just nodded and lifted his trembling hands to brush away some of her hair, which was even softer to the touch than it looked, and began to fiddle with the fastening. It took him twice as long as necessary and something definitely looked a bit off but he figured it would have to do and stepped back. Morgana shook her hair so that the long locks could freely flow down her body again. "Thank you.", she simply said, but a small smile danced around her lips. "Hm-mhm.", was all Merlin was able to get out. "My lady?" Both of them turned their heads to the door, through which Gwen had just entered, appearing to be rather confused at Merlin's presence. "Gwen!", Morgana greeted cheerily. Then she noticed the way her maid eyed Merlin. "Gwen, this is..." She trailed off, realising that she had never actually learned the name of the stranger who had shown up in her chambers. "Merlin.", he helped out. "But, uh, we know each other." He motioned between himself and Gwen. "Really?" Gwen nodded, hardly able to surpress a giggle. "We met while he was in the stocks." Morgana seemed bewildered for a moment, thinking that she had apparently allowed a criminal to help her with her dress. Gwen, who sensed her mistress's change of mood, quickly went to add: "He's the one who stood up to Arthur." Instantly, the other girl's face lit up again. "Oh, you are?" Merlin rubbed his neck, flustered. "Well..." "He's too humble. I saw it myself. It was very brave.", Gwen grinned, coming closer to the other two. Morgana looked at him with a smirk and a twinkle in her eye. "My, my, so Camelot's very own newest hero helped me with my fastening. I'm honored." The pink in Merlin's cheeks turned bright red. "I-", he croaked out. "I should probably go. Gaius- Gaius is probably waiting for me." Morgana laughed quietly. "You may go." He resisted the urge to exhale in relief and promptly marched towards the door with large steps. "Bye, Merlin.", Morgana's voice sounded one more time behind him. Despite his better instincts, he turned around once more and of course, ran into the doorframe. The two girls stiffled their laughter. Merlin let out a short, nervous chuckle and slipped out into the hallway. As soon as he was out, he allowed himself to breathe again. He wasn't sure how he'd managed to get out of that situation alive but he was glad he did. He just hoped he wouldn't have to step under the Lady Morgana's eyes again soon. Of course he didn't know yet that with his luck, he would earn an official job in the castle as Prince Arthur's manservant just a few hours later.

[espritmuse]

Zeke and Reiner birthday collab!! It was supposed to be longer but my sens of organisations is close to zero so I was late as usual @saccharine-darling collab!!!

4K words, smut ahead (but not that much lol)

Warning: reader is low-key cheating, semi public sex maybe angst too idk….

Perhaps the sun, always glorious and a harbinger of delight and bliss, reminded you of how dull and dreary your life was, while the moon and its obscurity brought you back to your slumbers and reveries.

On a bright day when everything seemed dark, questioning your relationship with Reiner, you met him, Zeke Yeager, like a light among the stars, like the moon eclipsing the sun for a mere moment, but maybe long enough to forget about how bright the sun used to shine.

—LUNAR ECLIPSE—

A single tiny piece of sunshine that seemed to escape from the firmament to find refuge, a curtain slightly ajar so that the darkness did not take over the whole room and one side of the bed unmade, the grey cotton sheets crumpled as usual, as they have been every morning for several months now. It was all these little details, in addition to your noisy alarm clock, the passers-by and the cars in the city streets, that brought you out of your long and sweet reverie, the one that allowed you to escape from your daily life, which was morose, to say the least.

You gathered up what courage you had left and got up after stretching your numb limbs from the awkward position you had been in while sleeping. Walking a few steps to reach the window, you opened the shutters and curtains to finally let the sweet sunshine into the sad room, which needed it. Although you had no desire to see him again, your stomach was just rumbling with anticipation of anything that might fill it. So you opened the white wooden door, turned the gold handle, and headed for the main room of your little flat.

"Morning." You greeted with a sigh before opening one of the small doors in the wall shelves to pick up a black patterned mug into which you poured coffee straight from the coffee pot.

"Hm." The short-haired man simply replied without even bothering to look in your direction, as if he didn't care about your presence anymore.

You didn't even care, you'd taught your heart not to feel bruised by every loveless move he made. He just couldn't stand you anymore, he didn't love you like he used to. You don't know what changed, what you could have done to make your sweet and loving boyfriend suddenly change his behaviour.. The idea that he had met someone else had crossed your mind more than once, but you didn't even dare ask him; you were frightened of the answer he might address you. Despite his silence, you never stopped loving him and it hurt you deeply that he could have gone to someone else, another girl, maybe more beautiful, funnier... It's all these questions that have little by little pushed you away from him in your turn.

"Did you sleep well? It was hot last night and I had a little trouble falling asleep.” But you tried to talk to him, no matter what, you always found something to say to try to reconnect with the man you loved.

With the summer, the heat and the sun, he had even more excuses to go out at all hours of the day so you had even less opportunity to see him. At times you can't help but think back to the days when you would jump into his arms as soon as you heard his keys turn in the front door lock, when you would spend the evening in each other's arms whispering sweet nothings. You think back on those moments with great melancholy, you don't even feel like the same man anymore.

“Yeah.” Once again, he didn't look at you; his head was turned towards the television, which was showing a programme even more boring than the questions you were asking him to break the ice. Slumped on the sofa, his left leg stretched out and the other bent; you sat down next to him and put your cup on the living room’s small coffee table.

"We could go out today, don't you think? I miss when we used to go for walks in the city Reiner." You asked, your eyes on him, and thankfully you noticed a small movement in his regard as if in a second he had recalled happy memories, memories where everything still seemed perfect.

"I...I already have stuff planned." He replied after a short moment, his gaze still evasive.

"Oh...Okay." You simply answered, not wanting to annoy him longer, maybe that was the reason; you were too much on his back, you were asking for too much attention...

Silently sipping your coffee, you pondered for a moment, your mind elsewhere. After a few minutes of communicating to yourself, you made your settlement. You were going to go out without him, you didn’t need him for everything. It had been weeks since you had been out with just yourself and you were beginning to miss it; when you officially moved in with him, away from your family, you lost touch with many of your friends so it was high time to meet new people and have some fun for once.

So the day passed, the noon and then the afternoon; you had decided to go out at night to appreciate everything even better, the big lights on the main boulevard, itself filled with people dancing -contrasting with their morose faces of the day-, the bars full of life, the stars overhanging the sky and giving it a bit of light in its solitary gloom...Everything seemed more beautiful once the sun was down. Perhaps the sun, always bright and a harbinger of delight and hapiness, reminded you of how dull and dreary your life was, while the moon and its night brought you back to your slumbers and reveries.

Using your phone, you took down the address of a bar in your town that you had spotted earlier on one of your walks. It was quite big but seemed to be a bit of an upmarket bar, given the prices of the drinks. But you didn't give up, it was your night out, all to yourself and it didn't matter if you ended up broke, you wanted to have fun for once.

So when night fell, you put on your best evening dress, a short black dress, hugging your body to perfection without being too tight, and your pumps of the same colour - a little high and uncomfortable, but that would be a problem for later -. And of course, you took forever to make yourself beautiful in the bathroom, make-up, eyebrows, nails... Who knows, maybe you were going to meet someone, or maybe somewhere in the back of your mind, you wished Reiner would see you like this, that he would fall in love with you again like he did a few years before when he saw you at that campus party. You would have liked him to compliment you, to ask you to stay home, or even to ask you out instead; but none of that; he was already off somewhere while you were primping in the next room.

Turning the key in the lock of the front door, you then went down the stairs quickly - trying not to fall with your impractical high heels - and went to the taxi you had ordered beforehand because, although the bar was not far away, you were still a woman in a short dress at night and you didn't want to put your life in danger. Once in the car, the driver began to drive carefully, exchanging a word or two with you so that the journey would not be too boring.

"So, a girls' night out? It's a beautiful day right now, even at night, you're lucky to see the stars in the city, with the pollution, not everyone gets to see them so often." The man says to you, hands on the wheel, looking straight ahead, preparing to brake at the red light.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm going out to have some fun." You simply replied to the white-haired, long-bearded widow with the same unkempt light colour.

"In my day, me and my friends used to run out of bars, unpaid!" He recalled with a smile as he looked at you through the car window to look at your smiling face, too. "So if you need me to wait for you outside the bar so you can escape, don't hesitate, the police have never caught me...yet."

"It's going to be hard for me to run around with these things on my feet...but I'll make a note, the prices are outrageous." You replied to his somewhat amusing remark.

The car had been driving for several minutes now and you saw the front of the bar, so the driver pulled over and waited for you to give him the money for the fare, which you said after digging into your wallet for a few seconds.

“Take care of yourself miss” He finally said before rolling up the driver's side window and leaving.

You breathed out a deep breath before crossing the street that separated you from the place. It was, like all the other signs of this kind, much more animated at this hour and more beautiful too. Its many lights of all colours and the people who surrounded it, some outside to smoke or drink and others, inside laughing with friends, that you could see between the half-open doors... All this gave an astonishing charm to this place.

Your legs a little shaky with hesitation, you finally entered, putting your hands on one of the glass doors to push it open slightly to give yourself more room to pass. You quickly made your way to the bar at the far right of the large room. To avoid people who had already had too much to drink, you stayed close to the walls, walking quickly along them to wait for the right place. Although your steps went in one direction, your eyes, curious as they are, turned towards the dance floor and the other people present. They seemed so happy, full of life, smiling, dancing... You wondered immediately if, like you, their lives were not a reflection of their current emotions, if, like you, they woke up in the morning, sad with the feeling that their lives are meaningless. They seem so happy at the time, but are they really happy once the sun rises, once the bar lights go out?

You took a seat on one of the leather stools placed at the counter, waiting for a waiter to ask you what you wanted to order. A simple whisky, that's what you took when the waiter came towards you.

Sipping your drink -or rather the second one, as you had swallowed the first one in record time-, you continued to look at the others, indefinitely, when you heard a voice break your precious silence; it was the bar's waiter once again but this, this time he was holding a small plate with two drinks on it.

"Excuse me, here," he placed two more glasses of whiskey in front of you, "The man over there paid for you." He nodded towards another part of the room to your puzzled look. In the distance, there was a group of men who looked like businessmen, from the black suits they were still wearing. You didn't know which man he was talking about, there were several of them; two with blond hair, one who looked very effeminate and the other with glasses and a beard; a dark-skinned man with closely shaved hair and finally a dark-haired man who seemed to be smaller in stature, especially compared to one of the blond men beside him.

You turned back your head to its original position, a little smile on your face, proud that your charm was still working, and what's more, on a man who seemed rather attractive - because, even if you didn't know which man the drink came from, the four of them were rather to your liking -

"Is this seat taken?" A deep yet soft voice suddenly asked, taking you out of your reverie.

You turned towards the noise you had just heard and noticed that a young man, about your age or maybe older, was pointing with his index finger at the chair next to yours. He was one of the guys you just saw some minutes prior, one of the blonde, the one with the beard and the round silver glasses.

“Oh...No. No, it’s not, you can take it,” you answered as naturally as possible, with a smile that had not yet left your lips. The unamed man said before sitting on the chair at your right, he had a cup in his hand, half empty.

“So...What a girl like you is doing here..” he leaned over a little to look at the other vacant seat on your left. “...all by herself?”

"Oh well, I was supposed to come with someone but they dropped me... so I preferred to come alone." you replied honestly, your eyes looking into his.

"He doesn't know what he's missing then." He added with a small smile and a discreet wink.

Although the man was attractive, you weren't used to that anymore; going out to bars, being accosted…Since you were with Reiner, you had developed the habit of always replying negatively to the advances of men. But at the moment everything was racing through your brain, you didn't even know what he was doing tonight and he didn't even bother to ask you where you were going, as if he didn't care anymore.

To have fun. That was the promise you made to yourself, and you decided to keep it.

"Zeke, nice to meet you. "You finally told him after he asked your name and, of course, you asked his in return.

Maybe it was the liquor, or maybe it was the sense of freedom you hadn't had the pleasure of feeling in months, but for some reason you'd ended up chatting with him for hours. You knew that time was passing, thanks to the waiter's digital watch that lit up every time he lifted his arm to look for a bottle up high, your eyes were directed straight to the sudden glimpse of light in the darkness.

He offered to dance, which you refused, for fear that your heels would give out under your inexperienced movements - or maybe those embarrassing movements were the real reason - and then he offered you something else, something a little daring, maybe even too daring for the short time you'd both been sitting at the bar.

You accepted, without even considering too much, maybe you should have? or maybe the adrenaline and the alcohol in your veins spoke for you. This man had appeared like lightning in the middle of a storm, the moon in the middle of a sky devoid of light. In other words, he was there at the right time.

So there you were, without really knowing how or why, sitting on the edge of one of the sinks in the bar's toilets, your dress somewhat raised so that your skin could come into contact with the cold surface of the piece of furniture, your legs spread -it was almost pathetic- and his hands placed on your half-opened thighs, rough hands, large and painted with several blue veins, contrasting with his rather light skin and which gave in spite of themselves a little colour to his light skin.

"Are you sure no one will come and disturb us here?" You asked, putting your hands on his chest, still dressed, although he had removed his black blazer. Only a white shirt prevented you from coming into direct contact with his skin, the one you wanted so much, now.

"Don't worry...just relax, okay?" He moved closer to you and placed a soft kiss on your neck that made your eyelids close almost instantly.

His lips began to move freely over your face and chest, as if they couldn't decide where to land. His arms were still wrapped around you, moving around your back, catching the fabric of your dress at times, as if to bring you closer to him.

While your eyelids were still closed, your ears were attentive to every little sound in the room, as if they were ready to inform your body of someone's arrival or, as was the case now, to hear the zip of his trousers being quickly undone.

"Are you sure?" You felt his warm breath next to your ears, as if he were telling you a well-kept secret.

"I'm sure." You retorted, ready to submit to one of the cardinal sins. Although, you would have much preferred that he took you home, for comfort, at least.

You felt his long, hot member between your thighs, with a long sigh of your own. He was already hard as a rock, and you wet as the ocean, for a flash of a second you wondered if this was his intention all along and if he had noticed you as soon as you stepped into that bar and then, a little heat growing in your crotch made you forget about this useless questioning.

You tried not to be too blatant, but as his pelvic thrusts got more profound and faster, you couldn't stop a few moans from escaping your lips.

"Fuck...a body like that.." He commented, using two of his fingers to push the fabric of the neckline of your dress and expose one of your breasts to the air.

"Zeke..." You moaned languidly as he continued his back and forth.

"What? You don't agree maybe? Look at you." He questioned, though his question was mostly rhetorical at this point because yes, indeed, you had noticed what a disadvantageous position you were in. "Poor girl... so desperate, I almost feel sorry for you, you know"

Then he stopped for a moment and grabbed you by the waist, pulling you down from the sink where your feet did not touch the floor. He turned you, a little violently, and pressed your belly against the surface of the sink, allowing him to have a full view of everything below, which, as you could imagine, he was most interested in.

He kept his burning hands on your hips - you could feel it even through the lmere piece of tissue that separated your skin from his - to help his pelvis move even harder, which released even more little moans from you, trying as hard as you could to muffle them with the palm of your hand, though it was more than futile.

"I'm almost there...Fuck you feel amazing..." he groaned in a hoarse voice, his movements becoming more and more tired but still rough, as if he wanted to get it over with quickly.

With all the alcohol you'd ingested -which you weren't really used to doing anymore- your envy was even bigger than usual but, strangely, your pleasure wasmore distant, as if each movement was taking you further away from the orgasm. But you didn't give up, your lower body was still on fire, as if insatiable, never satiated - although the fingers he placed on your clitoris helped a little with that -

With a final grunt from him and a long moan from you, your mutual pleasure finally came to an end. And suddenly all your senses came back to you; you felt his hips pressed against you, his hands roaming over your half-dressed body, the surface of the washbasin which was no longer really cold thanks to your own warmth, the air conditioning of the toilet which didn't even have a window and finally, the dimmed lights of the room.

He withdrew from you after a few seconds -or maybe a few minutes, you didn't even know anymore-, removed the soiled condom he had put on beforehand and wrapped it in paper before throwing it precautiously in the trash. Returning to you a moment later, he pulled up the black lace lingerie that had been left on one of your calves and pulled your dress back on, placing a gentle kiss on your shoulder, in stark contrast to his rough actions earlier.

Once out of the toilet, under the innocent gaze of the other customers, he proposed to you, leaning against the wall near the exit, to meet him the next day, at an address he had given you, that of his flat. Should you? You had felt so good a few minutes before, but now that you had regained your senses, everything was confused. Sure he was charismatic, quite funny and cultured but Reiner couldn't leave your consciousness so easily, you had been through so much with him, you couldn't leave him after just one night with another man.

But you accepted. You were not committed to anything, you had only given him your name; you would have the whole day to think quietly, away from the hustle and bustle of the bar and with less alcohol flowing through your veins.

So after a simple kiss on your cheek, he called you a taxi and even opened the door for you, wishing you a good night. The ride was short, you didn't even think about him for a second but only about Morpheus, who seemed to be screaming your name, your comfortable bed was the only thing you craved now.

***

Just a tiny bit of sunlight sticking out of the door, one hand on the handle and the other on your purse, a great gulp of air escaping from your lungs and finally, the guilt that took over your mind suddenly, once the door was open.

What the fuck had you done.

The blond boy with the marked facial features was there, lying on the couch, his body covered by one of your blankets and, in his sleeping hand, his phone still open on the messaging application where you could read your name. You turned on your phone, something you hadn't done all evening.

"Where are you? You're not home." Please come back home I have a surprise for you. "Hey?" "Please tell me that you're okay at least. "I love you." "Sorry"

You were confused, it had been a long time since he had stopped sending you such messages, words that seemed to indicate his attachment to you. So you turned on one of the lamps in the living room to get a better look, because the light from the television wasn't bright enough to illuminate the whole room.

A table covered with a red tablecloth with small decorative patterns, a large candle in the centre, which had once been lit by the dripping wax but was now out and cold, two plates and cutlery, one full and one half eaten, and to top it all off, your old friend the Guilt, who was just whispering maliciously in your ears.

"You're back..."

At the sound of the still sleeping little voice, your eyes suddenly widened and your body felt heavy now, as if your legs were going to give out under your weight. But you turned back to him, not looking at all. He looked tired and was dressed in his pyjamas, a simple white tank top with grey shorts.

"Oh hi." You replied simply, a little confused by the situation.

He walked towards you, with a shy smile on his face, like a child trying to get close to a wild animal that might run away at any moment.

"I wanted to... "He looked down at your outfit and his gaze shifted for a moment, as if he'd just realised you'd spent the night away from home and, as he knew you didn't really have any friends here, that you'd spent it out there alone. But he didn't say a word and continued, "I wanted to apologise. I've been a shit to you and I know that. I'm so sorry, I know you deserve better, but I promise I'll make it up to you."

You frowned and opened your mouth, letting fresh air enter between your lips. Reiner probably read the confused and shocked expression on your face, so he continued.

"I had so much on my mind right now, you know, I feel so bad. I would do anything for you..I..I don't know...I should have told you about it my love I'm sorry." You saw a tear escape from his right eye, almost reaching his rosy cheek before he wiped it away with his hand, "Maybe we could try again?" with his fragile fingers, he took you by the hand and looked you straight in the eyes. "Please, I love you so much."

You should have been happy. You should have jumped into his arms, told him that all was forgiven, promised him a bright future, put your lips against his. But you were as if frozen, like a criminal before the police, like a slow prey before its fast predator.

So you stood there, forcing a small smile that on the surface said 'all is well' but in reality depicted your unhappiness even more than the tears. He responded to your smile, wrapping his warm arms around you, as you had so dreamed of, as you would have loved this very morning.

You couldn't even think straight. Had he planned all this for you? That's why he didn't want to go out. And you had gone elsewhere, while all he could think about was you, all he could think about was making things right.

Lying. It was the only solution. You wouldn't see Zeke again tomorrow, you would forget him, this evening would be a distant memory, like a dream so realistic that you would almost forget that it had never happened.

Like the moon on an eclipse day, it had hidden the sun, almost making you forget its beauty and warmth, temporarily providing some comfort in the dark night that the luminous orb had caused when it suddenly left.

It was tears that lulled you that night, under the mocking eye of the moon.

[mystery-star]

Wherever you go – Spock

Pairing: Spock x reader (gender neutral)

Warnings: mentions of blood and injury

Words: 3943

A/N: I had to write this after discussing the quick idea of it with @elysiansith

Please do not repost my work on other sites or platforms.

-

“No, I’ll do anything but that” you insisted, shaking your head

“Come on, you lost the bet, you agreed to this beforehand”

“It was agreed that I would do something that involved Spock”

“And I didn’t tell you what exactly so you’ve gotta do it”

“Come on, search something else. Make me spill a drink on him, sing a song in front of his quarter but not this”

“Nah, that won’t be as funny”

“No please” you begged

“Oh come on, he’ll ask you right away. I don’t think he likes it if people are following him around” you sighed

“But what do you mean with everywhere? I can’t go to his quarters if he doesn’t invite me in. What if he’s on the toilet?”

“Okay well that are exceptions”

“What is while I’m on my shift? I can’t just get up and leave the bridge whenever the Commander does”

“Fine, then you’ll need to say that you need to do something and then go to the toilet or something. Or just ask if you can go with him” you shook your head

“No please choose something else, this is ridiculous. Besides, when he does ask me why I’m following him, what am I supposed to say? He won’t understand the bet thing”

“Then tell him the truth”

“No”

“I bet he’ll find your declaration of love logical”

“Yeah sure. But what if someone else asks why I’m following Spock everywhere?”

“That doesn’t count. You’re not relieved then”

“Oh come on! You know exactly that Spock won’t address the matter until some days later”

“I know. Which’ll make it funnier for me”

“You’re the worst”

“I know”

-

As you had agreed with your friend, you would start with following Spock as soon as your shift started on the next day. But before you could start, the Captain came to you and said there was something he had to discuss with you.

“Am I in trouble?” you asked after the doors of the turbolift closed

“No, not at all. Just wanted to say that your friend informed be about the betting debt you have to honor”

“Oh God please no. I’d rather be in trouble”

“Well anyway, I just wanted to say that you’re free to leave whenever Spock goes. I might even send you with him from the start”

“What crime did I commit?”

“Now come on, Lieutenant. Almost everyone on this ship knows about your crush on Mr Pointy. Except for him but he doesn’t notice anything that has to do with others and their feelings. But something tells me, he cares for you too in a way that is more than just a professional relationship”

“Great and I just thought this couldn’t get any worse” the lift stopped and the Captain ordered to bring you to the bridge again.

“Oi, others would be happy to hear such news. Considering it’s Spock it’s almost as good as a ‘he loves you too’” you let out a groan.

“Just great” you repeated and the Captain only chuckled “I hope I die from embarrassment”

“Now come on, maybe it will quite alright”

“Yeah and you surely believe in the Easter bunny and Santa Clause?”

“Most did as a kid” you shook your head. When you finally were back on the bridge you were more or less pulled to the First Officer’s station “Mr Spock”

“Captain, Lieutenant (Y/L/N)” he greeted back.

“You know, I’ve been thinking about how you could use help sometimes”

“I doubt I have ever addressed such a matter and I do not know what could have given you the impression I would…”

“That is why I decided to name (Y/N) as your assistant”

“No” you moaned

“So I think it would be great if the two of you could get to know each other a bit and spend time together”

“No” you groaned, knowing that it meant it would only prolong your betting debt because it would deter the Vulcan from asking you why you followed him

“Very well” Spock answered after having eyed you “Please have a seat, Lieutenant” he slightly nodded his head to the vacant chair that was at an empty console.

“You know I wouldn’t mind if we collided with an asteroid today” you muttered to yourself as you sank down in the chair. It kinda looked like maybe you had to follow him to the toilet anyway to have him ask what you were doing.

-

As he had announced, the Captain kept sending you after Spock whenever he left the bridge and although Spock kept insisting that it was not necessary you followed him, Kirk too insisted on you accompanying him since he could also make it an order. So in a way, you were glad when your shift was over. Since Spock stayed a little longer, you too wanted to do this so that you could go with him but then you remembered that you only had to follow him, it had never been said that you had to wait for him to move. So you said goodbye and wished him a nice evening after five minutes and returned to your quarters. Of course your friend called you to hear how it was going and was delighted when you mentioned what the Captain was doing.

Also the following day was quite the same but fortunately this time Spock only had to leave once. But this evening he left with all of you and since you found it would be creepy to just follow him you took a deep breath you asked him if he would like to have dinner with you. To your surprise he agreed. But it also relieved you because otherwise you’d still have to follow him, which would have made it even more awkward. On the other hand, then he probably would have asked you about the meaning of it.

“I’m sorry by the way. For being around you all the time. But we don’t have a choice during work and I think it would make sense if we got used to it. Maybe it would help to get to know each other better” you gave a shrug

“You do not need to apologize”

“But… don’t you wonder why?”

“You mean if I wish to learn the reason that you decided to spend time with me?”

“Yes”

“No. After all you have just explained your reasoning” shit. That meant he probably wouldn’t ask you for the reason that. Of course unless you passed boundaries in a way. Which was something you were not willing to do. Not only because he was a superior officer and a colleague but also because you didn’t want him to think negatively of you “If you want, you can search a suitable table while I get food from the replicator”

“Hm” he had allowed you to leave but the rules of the lost bet said that you had to ignore that and still stay with him “Or what if we both got food and then search a place together? I don’t know maybe you have something like a favorite table or you find that there are seats that are better than others” he raised an eyebrow

“Having a preference towards a seat seems illogical but I agree to your suggestion”

“Great” you smiled.

-

For some reason, a part of you was surprised that you had a very nice evening with Spock and that you enjoyed it more than you thought. Of course you had to accompany him to his quarters afterwards and he had only said that you did not need to do this and but you had just insisted that you hadn’t noticed and thought it wouldn’t make sense to turn around now. But what surprised you most was that he thanked you for spending the evening with him, even though you had asked him to do so. Maybe your friend and the Captain were right. Maybe all of this wasn’t so bad. Which didn’t mean you were happy about it.

On the following day, however, you were quite glad about the fact that you were following Spock around. He was scheduled to go on a planet mission and or course Captain Kirk insisted that you went with him, as his assistant. A part of you wondered what would happen once the whole betting debt was resolved. If you would still be his assistant then. Maybe you should talk to Kirk about this. Because somehow you didn’t know if that was what you wanted. What if it meant you would be promoted? It didn’t feel right if that would just happen because of a bet. But it would be cool and a great way to pay your friend back in a way. Once you arrived on the planet, Spock started to put you into small groups in which you should explore the planet. And in the end, you were left but all teams of two were already formed so he just told you to join one of the groups

“Actually…” you said “Since I was made your assistant, I thought I could go with you?” right now you didn’t even know if you just wanted to be around him or if you just did it because of your bet. Your stupid friend had been right that you would enjoy following him at times

“Very well, Lieutenant, you may come with me” you gave a nod and took out your tricorder to get started with work. On your little tour, you finally came to a cave. While Spock stayed away from it you went closer and closer, curious to see what was inside. “Are you certain you wish to go inside?” he asked

“I just want to have a look inside. I won’t even go in far. Maybe there is something really interesting inside” he gave a nod and came closer, walking past you and entered the cave

“It actually was my cave” you muttered but followed him. He kept walking and walking until you reached a huge kind of hall “Okay wow that is awesome” you breathed as you started to make even more recordings while Spock must have seen something else. It turned out to be a nest with five big, turquoise eggs. Your superior had to squat down and started to examine them while you were not so happy anymore. What if suddenly the parents came and got mad? You doubted it ever was a good idea to get to close to animal’s babies. But the Vulcan didn’t seem to worry at all and he even touched one of the eggs with his palm. Shaking your head you walked away and started slapping the cold stone, trying to get a tricorder reading on them to determine the material. Suddenly you felt Spock look at you “Something wrong?”

“Can you try not to make any sounds?”

“Why that? Is something…”

“Shh” you were surprised that he actually shushed you. But it made you react and you were quiet, trying to listen to what he could have been hearing. Then you finally did hear something and you did not like it. It sounded like something screeching and rather loud thumps

“Maybe we should leave?” you asked Spock who gave a nod and you were trying to get back to the tunnel you had been coming from but it was blocked by a huge grey-brown animal that looked a lot like a pterosaur. “Okay I suppose Mommy is back home. And she’s blocking our only way out”

“We cannot be certain if it is a female” the animal screeched at you and started coming at you

“But we can be certain that it is mad” you growled as you jumped aside and regretted that you had no phaser with you.

“As soon as it unblocks the entrance you need to run”

“And leave you behind with this Pteranodon? It looks like it could swallow you whole”

“Judging by its size I suppose that the term Quetzalcaotlus would be more fitting”

“This or that, it’s mad and you don’t stand a chance” luckily, he took out his phaser and tried to shoot the alien but it didn’t seem to deter it a lot “Just great” you muttered as it came closer to Spock and when he tried to dive away under it, the being still managed to dig his claws into his back. When the animal moved away you saw that it had torn quite a piece of Spock’s uniform and his back was quickly covered in green blood. Unfortunately, the animal didn’t seem done and tried to pick at the Vulcan with it’s long beak, only narrowly missing him because he had rolled onto his back and then back to his stomach and was trying to get up. Not knowing what to do, you ran towards the nest and heaved one of the eggs out of it, kicking it away from it. Of course that caught the alien animal’s attention and it was slowly coming closer to you after it used it’s beak to stop the rolling egg. Quickly, you took another egg and rolled it into the other direction and then a third one in yet another direction. As it seemed the being decided that the eggs were more important than you and went after them so that you hurried over to Spock, pulling him back to his feet. He didn’t seem to be in best form, so you draped his arm over your shoulders, trying to support him

“Leaving me behind would increase your changes of escape and survival by 76.2…”

“Shh” you said “It was my idea to go in there and we both will get out. Now come on” you started pulling him back to the tunnel and he complied. Much to your luck, the alien was not following you anymore and you hoped it would stay like this and that not a second one of them would come. Shortly before you reached the exit of the cave, your superior took out his communicator, drumming up the rest of the landing party but you just snatched it out of his hand and then contacted the ship, telling them to beam Spock up right now because he was injured. “And don’t you dare saying something like ‘it’s just a scratch. I can do this’”

“Seeing that the being has hit me with three of his claws it would be incorrect to claim that I only obtained one scratch” you rolled your eyes when you felt the transporter beam and then were back on the Enterprise with him.

“Dear God, what happened?” the man behind the console asked

“We got attacked by an angry Mommy pterosaur”

“Well shit but the fact that it was a dinosaur is cool”

“I doubt it was a real dinosaur”

“Yeah whatever. All I hope is that this being wasn’t poisonous somehow because that looks quite bad like this already” you didn’t even dare to throw a glance to his back, knowing you’d regret it. You shifted your hold on him a little and wanted to bring him to sick bay when you met some doctors and nurses that probably had been on their way to you. Of course they were taking over for you and started asking questions about what had happened while they ran scanners over the two of you. Finally, you reached Medbay and one of the nurses told you that you couldn’t come in but much to your surprise Spock said that it was okay if you stayed with him. Needless to say that it flattered you and made you happy. Of course you couldn’t be in their way as they treated his injuries but afterwards you were allowed to move closer and looked down at him, not sure what to say.  “Does it hurt?”

“No, the medication I received is still effective” you gave a nod

“Do you think they’ll give you more?”

“Should I request for some, yes” you gave a nod and were not so sure what else to say but luckily he continued “(Y/N)”

“Yes?”

“While your choice to help me escape as well was not entirely logical since it endangered your own life, I still appreciate your actions” you chuckled

“I suppose this is your way of saying thank you?”

“No. I merely wanted to tell you that I appreciated what you did. However, I do thank you for helping me”

“You’re welcome. And I’m sorry I even wanted to go inside this cave. If I hadn’t, this wouldn’t have happened”

“As you surely know, I have taken the lead upon entering the cave therefore you do not need to feel responsible for what has occurred for it is not your fallacy in any way” you gave a nod “I would have explored the cavern even if you had not been with me”

“So a good thing I started following you around, huh?” you chuckled. Maybe you should thank your friend anyway.

“I suppose so”

“And you still don’t wonder why?”

“I do. However, the Captain has asked me not to inquire the reason”

“He did what?”

“He requested I did not ask you for the reason that you are following me around”

“That idiot” you muttered

“Why does this bother you?”

“Uhm… just because”

“Perhaps it has to do with the fact that you wish to be around me as much as you can due to your affection for me”

“My what?!”

“Is it not true that you hold romantic affection for me?”

“I-I…. How the hell did you know that?”

“Dr McCoy has informed me about it three months, two weeks and five days ago when he has been intoxicated”

“Wait you knew for almost four months and never said a word?”

“I was thinking you would wish to tell me about it yourself”

“Fuck that’s embarrassing”

“Why do you think so?”

“Well uh, here you are, telling me you knew and you don’t even seem to care. Because you surely don’t like me the same way”

“Your statement is correct” you stood there like struck by a lightning. Of course you had suggested it but hearing it like this, in such words, made it even worse. You really had to ask your friend to stop the stupid betting debt because it did not have the effect as you both wished. “Yet I have considered the information in an attempt to determine what you mean to me. I have come to the conclusion that I care about you in a way I have never cared about another but I cannot say if this is what humans would consider as loving someone, which is why I have found it better to not tell you since it could disappoint you”

“So you say you care about me? But why would this disappoint me?”

“While I am not certain which answer humans expect after the confess their feelings, I do believe that what I have just said is not it”

“Well it wouldn’t be nice to hear this from a human but from a Vulcan it is different. I-I mean I probably have already known you would not ‘love’ me. Or well maybe you do but you would suppress it. I mean… I didn’t even know what I was expecting when I was thinking about telling you how I feel. I never really thought as far as your answer, you know. My mind just always kinda skipped that part”

“If you say that you have skipped my answer, might I inquire the outcome you have imagined?”

“Well there were different scenarios of course. In most of them we just decided to be friends, sometimes we came together as a couple and sometimes it just ended in the most logical way”

“If you would clarify, which is the most logical way?”

“Okay good back then I thought that you’d just tell me you feel nothing for me…. but now you told me that you care for me, whatever exactly that means. So maybe I was right about the friends vision one” you gave a shrug and let out a sigh

“(Y/N)?” he said after some seconds

“Yes”

“I personally would prefer one of the scenarios where we start courting” you stare at him in disbelief.

“But… what if it turns out that you don’t love me or something?”

“(Y/N), as I have already assured you I care about you. And it is a different way of affection than the one I hold for my mother or Jim. Which is why I am certain that it must be a romantic affection”

“Oh” you looked down, then started smiling “Well that sounds awesome” you said “But you don’t even know what I have planned in all my scenarios” he raised an eyebrow

“I am certain you will let me know and I am willing to try out different things since I do not know much of human courtship. Maybe I can use the time I spend on sick leave to carry out some research on the topic” you chuckled

“Only if you want. After all, you live the Vulcan way and I could do some research on that as well. And maybe it’s best if we just do whatever we both are fine with”

“That sounds agreeable” you gave a nod and considered if it was appropriate if you took his hand but then you just decided to do it and see how he reacted. It seemed, like he was a little surprised but then squeezed your hand back, making you smile.

“I suppose that dissolves my betting debt as well”

“Which betting debt?”

“Oh… well” you chuckled, not sure if you should tell him but then grinned “I’m gonna tell you the real reason I followed you around. I lost a bet and because of it, I had to follow you around until you asked me why. But since the Captain heard of it, he made sure to give me a logical reason to follow you around by making me your assistant and asking you not to ask me why I’m following you” he raised his eyebrow again

“Please remind me to offer my thanks to him and your friend”

“No that would be so embarrassing!” you protested “But that doesn’t mean I’m fired?”

“Fire?”

“Well, I only was made your assistant because of the bet”

“I would not have agreed to the proposition if I did not believe you were suitable for the position. If you prefer your previous occupation, however, I will…””

“No! I mean I like it but working with you is fun too. I just thought you would be fed up with me or what do I know. Or that you would not want me as your assistant after I told you the reason why I became it in the first place”

“I have believed humans would enjoy to work with their partner if possible?”

“Well yes, but you’re Vulcan”

“I am also half-human” you chuckled

“So you’ll half enjoy working with me?”

“No, I suppose I will fully enjoy it” you smiled at him

“I’m just asking for my own safety” you heard McCoy call suddenly “Are you two decent so I can let Jim in? Or he’ll rip off my head”

“No you may allow him to come” Spock said “There is something that I and (Y/N) must inform him about” he added with a look to you that could be described as soft. At least for his standards. Well Spock probably was right about one point: you owed your friend a big thank you.

-

Taglist: @softsapphicideals

[rocohen20]

He Knew He Fucked Up- Part 7

I hope you enjoy reading this!

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Series Update, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

~~~~~

Since the talk with Tyler the seed had been planted and he became more and more open to the idea of using Joanne's services only for the purchase of the new house, and be guilt free when asking her out later. However every time he winded up thinking about it, it made him feel like a shallow person who use loopholes in order to harass someone who somewhat works for him. In result of that guilty feeling at the pit of his stomach, he decided to talk about the situation with Darth sometime during the Christmas break. His older brother knew him well enough to give good advice, yet live far enough on a regular basis, so he was able to give an objective opinion.

Once he knew that he wanted to talk it through with Jordie he was impatient and eager to go on with it. However he still had a bit of a common sense left, and realized by himself that he can't steal Jordie right away from their family while they wanted to catch up with the both of them. What he ended up settle on was that their first day would be with the family, and on their second day back home he would get the chance to have a little one on one chat with Jordie. When he sensed an opportunity for their talk (when their mom went for a nap and their dad was at work) he just led Jordie to his childhood bedroom. He was hesitant for like two seconds about how to start off the conversation. Yet apparently it was one second too late, because Darth already started talking.

"Chubbs, before you die out of self-doubt I would like to say that I agree with Tyler. If you like her and no longer hires her, then you do nothing wrong with just asking her out. She could always say no, and you are gentleman enough to know that no means no. So I don't see any harm in it".

When Darth stopped talking he looked expectedly at his younger brother, waiting for an answer or some sort of typical lecture of Jamie's set of codes. Yet, Jamie was too busy processing the fact that Tyler kept his older brother posted. At last he came up with the articulated response of "You knew about my situation in Dallas?"

To that he heard a familiar voice, that he may or may not was too fond of, saying "What, about your crash on Joanne the realtor? Yeah, Segs gave me a heads up for an incoming heart-to-heart talk over the Christmas break".

After hearing that, his insides filled with happiness from how his bros were looking out for him. However he tried to push it away, just for a few seconds, in order to press Jordie for his real advice on the situation. His brother saw how much he counted on this answer so Jordie gave him a much more serious answer.

"Honestly, I haven't met her yet, but from what I heard about her from you and Seggy I approve. Furthermore, I know that after what happened with Julie you were a mess. And the incident over the summer hadn't helped.

But, you are better now, and things between Tyler and you are better now. There's no reason for you to keep punishing yourself. You are allowed to be happy".

Jamie felt so much better after hearing his brother's advice. Now he knew for sure that he would ask her out after the house buying process would be behind them. Once he told Jordie his final verdict he was sure that they could stray to another subject, like their seasons thus far, however he stopped when he spotted Jordie's worried face. He asked tentatively what matter was, once it was clear that Jordie wasn't going to explain himself.

Even after the question it took eternity for his brother to answer. However at last he answered with a simple "What did you say her last name was?"

Jamie was expecting some major bad news, so the question kind of landed out of left field. It took him a few speculative seconds of trying to figure out the question's motive before answering "River, Joanne River. Why?"

Jordie didn't acknowledge the question. He just started firing off a set of confusing and ridiculous questions such as "Is she sarcastic and judgmental?" Throughout the interrogation Darth remained with the same seriousness, even becoming bleaker looking as the time passed. As it exceeded from one or two question to an impressive amount of questions Jamie became more and more worried, trying to think of some reasonable explanations as to why this barrage of questions were even subjected to him. Finally he came up with the theory that Jordie met Joanne before, prior to the trade, and tried to confirm that indeed it was the same woman before warning him about her. This theory made the most sense, so he went along with it, trusting Jordie to finally tell him what was wrong. Only with the question of "Is she a bit of a fashionista?" he started to suspect what the gig was about.

"Did you just imply that my realtor is the same person as the comedian from 'The Fashion Police'?"  

With that Jordie got his que and started laughing so loud that Jamie was worried he'd wake their mom from her nap. He didn't want Jordie to feel validated about his unfunny prank, so he just started to wait him out. Only he really under estimated his brother because not only was he still laughing a full minute after, but now he was also crying out of laughter. And that was his limit and what pushed him to fire up an angry "Could you stop being a dick?!" at his brother.

For a moment it felt like it made his situation worse, but then Jordie wiped his eyes away the tears and actually looked at Jamie and actually redeemed himself by stopping with the laugh. Once he stopped with the laughing he still had a big smile on his face, almost like he was egging him to start laughing as well. Jamie then on principle decided not to laugh (it would only encourage Jordie to continue with pranks like that in the future). From then on they started a staring contest, with neither of them willing to admit defeat. Eventually, after what felt like century, Jordie started talking (which meant that Jamie totally won the battle).

"I'm sorry, okay? It just accord to me that her name is awfully close to the name of Joan Rivers, the comedian, so I decided to have some fun. And if you weren't lame unlike me, you would have appreciated my joke".

Jamie was still a bit frustrated, yet he wasn't that angry anymore so he decided to throw his brother a bone.

"It would have been funnier if it weren't right after me asking you on whether I should ask her out or not. I for sure thought that you remembered like an encounter you had with her when you lived in Dallas. I was ready to hear how she was a horrible person and I should run for my life or something along those lines".

With that Jordie showed more sympathy and had a rueful smile. Then he just gave him an apologetically bro hug. Of course Jamie took it as the appropriate apology and from there they just took the conversation to another path. From than Jamie got his decisive answer and knew what was the game plan for his return to Dallas. Since the conversation he just laid back and exploited the quick vacation as much as he could.

+++

When he got back to Dallas he felt refreshed and relaxed, ready to the second half of the season. He was also ready for another round of house hunting with Joanne. He told her beforehand the dates in which he would be at Canada, for the Christmas break, fully expecting her to take a break as well. However she obviously hadn't taken the break because as he was back in Dallas, getting ready for their short trip to Minnesota, she sent him a full list of no less than ten new places to check. He was shocked and felt guilty about the off chance that maybe she thought that he expected her to work while he was gone. After a full minute of him considering with himself what to do, he finally decided to review the houses.

He was aware that they had been for quite some time at that process, so he was not that surprised to see that on paper every single one of the houses was perfected to his set of expectations. After reviewing one last time every house she sent him info about he shot her an email where first of all he thanked her dedication and her time to still work on the house search during the holiday break and second of all his affirmation that every single house she sent him he would like to check first hand. After that Joanne just sent him a schedule for the next few days, with an expectation of his approval.

+++

As they first stepped into this particular house he knew that it was different from all the other options and previous houses he stepped in. it was a two stories, six bedroom house, and a basement, which was really nice with hardwood floors. But what really sold him about this house as opposed to all the previous options was the back yard. It was a big yard that as oppose to the pool that so many different places offer, this place had this big field full of flowers, vegetables and spices. Something about this field just fascinated him and when he asked Joanne about it she explained to him that the previous owner was a botanic who enjoyed growing his own food. He was still mesmerized and speechless with the field that Joanne started to reassure him that they could get rid of it if he indeed purchases this house. That remark took him out of his thoughts quickly and he assured her that the field is not a problem. After that he asked for another tour inside the house. At the end of the tour he was sure of himself- he wanted to live here.

The tour of the house was just before the bi-week, so it worked out lovely that they had a full week where he was fully available for any back and forth with the previous owner. And by the end of the bi-week he was the proud owner of a new home. During that said week he also did a thorough research on what it entailed to grow your vegetables and spices. Because he never thought of himself as an organic fanatic, unlike different captain of NHL teams, but as part of his plan to change a bit and become a better person he could see himself devote to that. Plus, it is a nice challenge that he could see himself winning at the end.

Once he got from Joanne the keys to his new house and the phone number of a realtor that Joanne recommended him with regard of selling the previous house he owned, he felt like it was truly possible to check where Joanne stood. He took a deep breath and stammered a long speech (much longer than he planned originally) about how he started to like her and how he would like to take her out on a date considering that they longer under professional relations. At the end of the speech he was mortified about the amount of silliness that came out of his mouth, as well as the number of details that he was pretty sure made him look and sound like a total creep.

He was too caught up in his self-hatred that he almost missed completely Joanne's positive answer. It took him a few seconds to realized what her answer was, and then he just shot her an incredulous "Are you sure?" that she just laughed to and once again told him how she was sure and was interested in giving him a chance. Jamie was pretty much on cloud nine so he was all smiles as Joanne gave him her personal cellphone number while telling him to give her a call. After that she left him alone to enjoy his new house, and he was grateful for the fact that that was the only one to see his embarrassing celebration at the entry of his new house.

+++

With the season starting back again, his process of moving out to his new house, and Joanne's packed schedules, the date of their first date was scheduled towards the end of the month. So in the meantime he just basked in the moment. They had more wins than loses thus far this month so he felt good. Plus, he once again cashed his invitation to one of Tyler and Emma meals. It was the second time that he went to Tyler's house for a meal, however this time he was finally the only guest and he didn't get to share the meal with another teammate. He was especially grateful for that because he had a lot of recent events that he wanted to share with Tyler and also he didn't want an audience for him thanking Tyler for sticking up for him.

During said dinner, which was surprisingly tasty considered the fact that most of the food was done by Segs, they first chatted on the season and what they needed to do to improve their performance. But from there on it pretty much evolved to a chat about Jamie's escapades from the last few weeks (they both wished him luck on the fast approaching date). After they stopped talking about Jamie, Tyler and Emma's (though it was really Emma's) turn was on. Emma told him about her new job and how she was still adjusting to Dallas (yet she did admit her growing fondness for Dallas). After that she told him how they celebrated Christmas and what she did during the All-Star Week.

At the beginning Jamie wasn't sure what exactly the deal between the two of them was or what to think of Emma. However as the season progressed, he the rest of the team saw more of Emma and got to know her better (greatly because of those said meals). And that was how they found out about her being a total sweetheart and ridiculously way too good for Tyler. Yet, they were good together, and it was kind of obvious why they were together. Of course Tyler was still a jerk and never told them that he and Emma were dating and together. Yet, considering what he put them through over the summer, they didn’t really push him to talk about it and gave him a bit of a slack.  

The rest of dinner was nice and they followed it up with a movie. By the time he went home, it was much later then he expected and he was pretty much out the second he laid his head on his pillow.

+++

On the day of their first day he woke up with a nervous energy. It was a day of morning skate followed by conditioning at the gym, so he tried to exhaust himself onto relaxation. It didn't really work, yet he did get compliments from Coach and various teammates on being a beast today. So once he got back home he spent the next few hours just relaxing while trying to boost his self-esteem. By the time he drove over to her place to pick her up to the restaurant he made a reservation at, he was pretty confident that tonight would turn out okay.

Pretty much from the get go it did. Joanne was stunning in a beautiful black dress so he was quick to compliment her. She blushed in response and told him he looked nice also. The car ride wasn't long and before they knew it they approached the restaurant. But more importantly there wasn't a second of silence. A few seconds after him picking her up she asked him about whether he phoned the realtor that she recommended him and that opened their conversation. As they were led to their table they still talked about that subject.

It was a nice place that from various teammates' recommendations he knew it was supposed to be real romantic. Once he was there himself he was really impressed by how nice the place was. They spent a few quiet minutes while scanning the menu and ordering their food. The restaurant itself mostly served Italian food, so he took ravioli while Joanne took lasagna. Once the waiter took their order they pretty quickly resumed talking.

They started with basic first date talk- where are they from originally and talks about their family. Jamie was surprised to find out that Joanne was born and raised in Dallas and her family was still living in Dallas as well. When he talked to her about his upbringing in Victoria she confessed to him about how she never left the country, and that just led to more talk about family vacations and dream destinations places.

When the conversation of their professions came up Jamie talked first about how it was being a professional hockey player. Plus, Joanne told him that she didn't really know how the game worked ("I grew up in Texas, so shut up") so he then just had to teach her the basics of the game. Throughout the conversation it was obvious that Joanne was willing to learn, so he was optimistic.

Once they started to focus on her job the conversation didn't die to one bit. At first Jamie asked her how she got to that business, and then from that point on she just gave him an in-depth insider on what entailed in being a realtor. Jamie liked how charismatic Joanne got once she was on a roll. With a loll in the conversation he asked curiously "What is your favorite part on the job?"

To that Joanne just watched him for a minute before she answered with a teasing comment of "You sure you want to know?"

Jamie honestly didn't care if she would start talking about the most disgusting thing in the whole world. So with what he hope would be an earnest face just nodded encouragingly. To that Joanne just nodded in an affirmative matter, took a long sip of her wine and started to answer.

"Okay, since you insisted I'm going to tell you. However, first you need a little background. I assume that you know in what realtor company I work for, considering the fact that you just used my services".

Joanne looked at him with expectant look, obviously waiting for an answer. That was why he hurried to reassure her that he was aware of the company she worked for. Once she saw his affirmative face she started to talk again.

"Well, so originally Laviston Realtor Company started with two brothers. They started the company together in the 70's. Since then the company grew and grew to the point that the company is currently one of the main realtor companies in all of the U.S. So the company has a large number of branches if it wasn't clear, and every year the company throws a seminar to a large number of their employees. The seminar is four days long, and every year a different branch is the host. They have technically two seminars- one for the north states and one for the south states. And like every branch sent four employees, mostly from different positions, to attend the seminar. The hosting branch gets to present their accomplishments from the past year.

Anyway, so like two years ago was the first time that I was one of the four employees out of the Dallas branch. I was so excited to go to the seminar. And let me tell you, it was really fun. It pretty much consists on lectures all day long. But only the bare minimum is work related and the rest are lectures for fun about verity of different subjects. Plus you get to travel said city after the seminar ends for the day. We were staying at a local hotel at the city and there were so many people at the seminar. I got to befriend some of them and I still talk to the majority of them till this day."

Throughout her speech she wore such a wide smile he was sure it would split her face to two. So he followed it up with "You got to go to another seminar?"

To that Joanne was quick to say "Actually this year the hosting branch is our branch, so my second would be in little less than a month. The hosting branch gets to send six employees, so I am one of them. But what would be different this year is that I was chosen out of the branch to present ourselves on the stage. I seriously can't wait for it, yet I have to be honest and admit that I am a bit nervous".

To that Jamie was quick to respond with a reassuring "I'm sure you would be great. There was a reason why they chose you to represent the branch's accomplishment out of all the other employees".

Before they could get to a different subject the waiter came to clear their dishes that were long gone and he gave them the dessert menu. With Jamie being a professional athlete and all, they settled on a shared relatively healthy desert.

Once they finished the desert they asked for the check and left the restaurant. The following day was a game day for Jamie, meaning a morning skate, so they kind of hopped in the car relatively quickly. During the drive to Joanne's place there wasn't much talking, but it wasn't an awkward silence kind of thing. It was rather a content silence kind of thing. Once they got to Joanne's home he parked his car and chaperoned her to the door. At the front steps of her house he told her honestly "I had a good time tonight. Would you be interested in going on a second date with me?"

Joanne was quick to respond with a shy "I had a great time too. And yes, I would like to go on a second date".

Jamie smiled a little and then he just gave Joanne a chaste kiss on her cheek. When he stepped back he watched how Joanne said a final goodbye and went inside her house. He stalled for a second, before he turned around and began striding back to his car. He had the broadest smile he ever had, and went inside his car filled with great hopes for the future.  

[crashpaddiaries]

Dear Crashpad Diary #17

Yoooooooo my favourite beasts in this entire universe!! How are you doing??

Sweeeeeeeeeeeet, I hope! =)

Here, as usual, all great!! well… the climb has been great but the results are not that cool… can´t barely remember which one was my last nice send hahahaha

but these things are like this… we get a fantastic period and then… shit as a monkey without arms!! haha

BTW… I´ll understand if you don´t believe me… but we saw an armless monkey at the monkey temple…. crazy… isn´t it¿?¿?

and the animals are so cool that he was leaving normally… didn´t care about the things missing… he was jumping around and having a happy monkey life… whereas… human beings…. are so used to keep focusing on the faulty and finding excuses to not do it or that… that monkey should be used on these inspirational videos that pops pretty often in our Facebook timelines hehe

Lately, we have met loads of dogs… one of them is Scarface… haha the guys gave him this cute nickname cuz a bus ran over him when he was a kid and his snout broke… but as all the animals… if no one takes care of them… they simply learn how to live with that… exactly what happened… poor dog has his jaw and snout dislocated and looks weirdly cute!! =)

That same day we were going to grab some food (Dosas and Idlis are the best haha I have to write a post about the food soon!! haha)… well…. and we found two puppies on the street… actually… Nikhill… a friend of ours found the dogs and could not left them on the road… at the exact spot that Scarface had the accident… so… we brought the dogs to Hampi… put them on the dirty road and they ran into a hole just beside it… disappearing for few secs… but only one came back… the brown one… the one with black spots just found her path hehe independent and strong woman han!! =)

As the brown one stayed… we started going everywhere with here… she even joined us at the crags… we named her Katie Brown as we all had just watched the Pilgrimage (climbing movie recorded in Hampi, starring Chris Sharma, Nate Golg and Katie Brown haha)… The movie session was cool… I talked to the owner of the guesthouse we are staying and got the movie night with pizza and friends!! What a great night!! =)

Oh… not even the dog helped us finding some of the boulders that we would like to have a go and couldn’t even spot them haha the maps aren’t that good just for a change haha

In Rocklands we couldn’t find a boulder that should be pretty easy to be found… we found the place but no boulder… it seems the aliens took that one…

but over here is even funnier… cuz the Hampi guidebook mentions: “Magnolia - 7c… extremely hard to find!“ Wait… that´s one of the reasons I consulting a guidebook… to help me find it… that it is hard to find the problems among the trillion thousands of boulders here, I already knew!! hahaha

So far we are looking for this problem… haha we thought of putting its pic on milk carts!! haha

Also… there is a legend of the sleeping buddha… the problem should be somewhere close the relax area, which we have already been to, but there´s no way to go further and we think this has been taken by the aliens too!! haha

The movie night at the guesthouse get us all psyched to watch a new movie that come just out… it is a hindi movie called Dangal… it´s based on a true story and it is about wrestling… such a great one… really well made and funny… the subject could not be more appropriate… haha to get to the movie I have to basically fight the indians haha It´s cool cuz they get so excited for it that the chaos escalates pretty fast haha we got there and the gates at the cinema were closed… cool… lets wait…. after few mins there was a huge amount of people waiting outside… once the gates opened you can imagine how crazy the things got… people running… to the queue…. another queue being formed just beside… people running to the women´s queue… motorcycles just beeping… more motos honking… people from the other session leaving… people drinking chai and running… people drinking chai and forming a third queue… a guy taking picture with Alfonso… Stephen avoiding getting hit by a kid driving a motorcycle twice of his size… loud and noise tuktuks outside… in the meantime I was running and trying to make my choice for which one of the three queues hahaha decided for the one that was kinda organised…. haha I know… what a newbie!!

When I was going to the end of that queue I had to go around a metal thing… haha simultaneously at least 3 indian guys jumped it and got in front of me haha what a newbie right hahah… after mins waiting and fighting against the “not official queues” we got the tickets!! sweeeeet!!

the side note here goes to the excitement and interaction during the movie… anything… I mean ANYTHING that happens deserves loads of whistles, claps and hysterical screams hahahaha at the end of the movie I found myself whistling and shouting…. cheering the last fight!! hahahahahaha

Talking bout cheering and feeling the happiness fulfilling our soul, 2016 ended in the best way possible… with friends… lying down on the rocks… surrounded by nature… the darkness was only broken by the stars… few headtorchs and many many sparse bonfires that were enlightening the whole Hampi Island… such a fantastic and magical night… =)

As usual… something has to happen to give us some fun… this time was the crazy people trying to deal with the fireworks maybe 500 metres from where we were… we could see the headlamps… something being lighten up… the headlamps running and the fireworks going through the rocks on the ground instead of going towards the sky… over and over…. the fireworks that night haven’t served their purpose… no firework made the sky beautiful at midnight… instead, they made people run… jump… burn and for us… they meant some cramps by laughing uninterruptedly watching the lights running from the “bombs”!! hahahahaha

The new year started greatly… we almost got arrested because Alfonso wanted to take some pics climbing the temples… but the problem is that it is prohibited the climbing on those rocks hahahaha but it was all good… he got his pics… I took them before the security started shouting… whistling and shooting!! haha Just kidding… they didn’t shoot!! haha

To go to the temples is already an adventure on its own… they are situated on the other side of the river… to cross is we normally get a boat that costs 10 to 50 rupees… depends on the mood of the guy charging you… also… if you look like a rich person… if you just got there…. if the moon is in Aries or if it is full moon… as every price in india… you must be careful and get the info beforehand to avoid paying twice the price hahaha

Well… the boat business is going down at the same pace the water lever of the river gets to its lowest point… we can actually cross walking… actually its not walking… it is jumping through the rocks… cuz some days the level is a bit higher than the others and some rocks go under water and cannot be used… which brings a whole new grade to the sport haha which sport?? Jump-crossing rivers!! haha Right now the grades are between 3 and 4… where 1 is the easiest… the ones you just walk through it and get to the other border… and 7 is the ones you gonna start crossing the river in New Delhi and is gonna get out of the rapids in Bombay!! hahahahaha

The one we are doing now requires some jumps and its not bad… we have great fun… but we´ve seen some people not having fun at all…. fist because they got wet… second of all… their stuff go soaked…. third of all… they get pretty smelly…. fourth reason is that they couldn’t get out of the river without falling at least 3 more times because it is extremely slippery… another good reason for not have fun is the fact that they may have to go back and grab new clothes… and last but not least… everything just to save 10 rupees hahahahahahahha

It is a great craic only sitting and watching people crossing that point… while loads of people watch, others try to help, many cheer for them to succeed, there will be always those cheering for the fall too hahahahahaha Entertainment that only India provides!! hahahaha

Anywhere you go in this world, the people will bring you the best experiences and the best stories… like the rainbow people that has been around since I don’t know when getting together to go to the Rainbow Gathering… the thing is that no one actually knows where the fuck is the place hahaha thats so funny… they were gathering for forever and were camping in private land… so the police came and busted everyone… hahaha I met a guy that went down there and told me that people were sitting still and doing pretty much nothing for the whole day… so he came back hahahaha

The best was a girl that I bumped into when I was climbing… I was heading home when she passed by barefoot… kinda walking weirdly… I said hello as she kept going the opposite way… she stopped and asked how she could get to the road hahaha I let her know that she should go the other direction and that I was going that way… she could join me… during the short walk…. I mean… short for me coz for her it must have been painful and crazily long haha:… she told me that she had just got back her stuff cuz the police had confiscated everything from them…. but she didn’t get her shoes back and had to walk all the way barefoot… hahaha poor girl…. she wanted to get in touch with the nature and got it…. all the spikes from the bushes got in touch with her feet´s flesh!! hahahahah (sorry… I could never miss the joke heheheh)

haha sweet… I kinda wrote loads and have many many new things that happened lately… will stop here because it is huge already hehe

talk to yous soon and enjoy your life beasts!! =)

Have a greeeeat day and smile wherever you are!!

kmoooon fiesta!!

Evan