#like ???? who is this kid sitting next to me in the advanced mathematics course… | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

spacegoatart · 3 years

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i haven’t officially posted my own treasure planet headcanons, so that's what this is! some of this might be ooc but i don't really care because they are fun to think about, so yeah, enjoy!

this is gonna be long so i’m gonna put it under a keep reading

it makes me so sad that they supposedly don’t keep in touch at the end of the movie, so that's where headcanons come in. Jim and Silver went thru WAY too much to not keep in touch, Silver couldn’t leave Morph without being able to see him again either (Silver literally refers to himself as Morphs ‘dad’ in one scene!!) they at least send letters or have some sort of burner phone, with Silver being a wanted criminal and all. for a while they probably just sent letters, Jim talking about the academy and Silver sending little gifts from his escapades such as a lava rock or an especially interesting coin. Jim keeps all the gifts in a box, along with the letters but if he feels especially attached to a gift, he’ll set it on his window sill of on the rim of his mirror. as much as I like the idea of Jim getting Silver a jitterbug/ladybug, realistically Silver would be the one to set the idea into motion. Jim gets a larger gift and its a little phone, made of parts that Silver could scrap together (or on he found in a shop on a traders planet), he immediately sets it up and texts Silver. it was really nice for them to talk in real time and were probably already discussing the idea, even though Silver could get caught, so Jim was really excited about it. Jim now keeps Silver updated on life events and Silver calls every now and then to tell Jim about his travels. Silver hasn’t quite figured out how to send photos but once he does, he starts sending some everyday (including some hilarious selfies, akin to what a dad would post on Facebook).

Silver absolutely visits, for a while it was very, very scarce because he was still wanted but was sneaky enough to come and see Jim every few months. he comes and hangs out at the inn for a few days while his crew is out at bars or stocking up on items for their next adventure, as well as they know better than to fight their captain on his decisions. during these visits, Silver tells Jim (and anyone brave enough to sit near them) stories about what he had seen, creatures he had encountered and wonders they had discovered. Jim tells Silver about his time at the academy, new friends he’s made and what he’s learning, including some complicated stuff. sometimes Jim even get so into it, he brings out a textbook to express his point. while Silver is pretty smart, he has no idea what Jim is talking about (because its usually math and obscure facts) and usually just smiles and nods as Jim rambles. (lol this may be me projecting my ADHD onto Jim but i have the feeling he info dumps to people hes comfortable with)

speaking of the academy, i think despite all the combat training and captaining that Jim is learning, i think Jim would be really interested in math. like a surprising amount. it would probably be difficult to start off but once he did, hoo boy he could not stop. there were some hurdles he had to face but eventually he landed in a pretty advanced math course (not the highest but still pretty up there, maybe like calculus or applied mathematics). knowing some math was important as a captain, having to deal with probability on a ship in the Etherium, but Jim was fascinated by numbers and the way they made up the world. i think he would be really interested in physics or theoretical stuff, which is difficult but i think he could do it. he probably uses his previous experiences in space to help him visualize the math, which helps a lot.

the first time Silver came to the inn, Jim practically tackled him. which was no big deal since he’s almost double Jim’s size, Silver was more worried about Sarah and what she thought of him being a pirate and all. Jim assured him that everything was ok and he asked her but Silver still felt a bit nervous. he felt like he was intruding on her territory. but while Jim had run upstairs for something and Silver stood sheepishly in the doorway, Sarah came over with a smile on her face and shook his hand. he wasn’t expecting that at all, he was more ready for a glare from the kitchen or even a talk about ground rules. Sarah talked to him about how excited Jim was (she was also kind of excited, she had met plenty of pirates and was almost as fascinated as Jim was) and how she was grateful for Silver staying in her sons life. Silver felt much more comfortable after that and they started talking too, (not sure if it would be romantic or not, it would be cute but i love them just being friends as well) they became pretty good friends. Jim loved it, even if they weren’t married or Silver wasn’t biologically related to him, he felt like he had a full family again. when Jim was busy or sleeping, Sarah and Silver would chat over coffee or in the kitchen while Sarah cooked, Silver helping. Sarah would probably rope Silver into helping her at the inn once she learns he can cook and he kind of falls into a routine. come see Jim, hang out, when Jim is busy/out, go put on an apron.

(this one is 100% projecting lol) this is a pretty loose hc, especially since it started as a joke but now i really like it. i think Jim, as well as Silver, is transgender. Jim wasn’t really expecting Silver to be trans, as are most (he passes super well lmao). i mean, many pirates were gay, why can’t space faring ones be trans? hell, Silvers crew probably has a slew of queer folk among them, if not all of them being some sort of LGBT. body modification looks like a regular thing in their world, so i think Silver has already had top surgery, whether he was planning to or not. by that i mean that i think Silver could have been injured, woke up and found that something was missing. worried he may have become more cyborg, he checked, winced and found that bandages had been bound around his chest. ‘well that's out of the way’. despite not wanting to be vulnerable around his crew, most of them if not all of them know he’s trans since most of them didn’t see it as some sort of weakness, it was just who you were. (if ya’ll are interested, i have some crew hcs like gender and sexuality but this post is mainly about Jim, Silver and Sarah)

(continuation of the trans hc) when Jim came out to Silver, there’s a moment of silence between them. in Jim’s head it was awkward, but in Silver’s, things started clicking. Jim was worried Silver didn’t understand and quickly explain but Silver comforted him, and explained that he understood. Jim was the confused one now and Silver quickly cleared that up, explaining that he too was trans. Jim was relieved, confused and surprised. he hadn’t expected that outcome but that wasn’t bad, if anything he thought it was cool. he had more in common with his adoptee-dad than he had thought. Silver now makes sure to emphasis his compliments when Jim is working, hoping to boost Jim’s ego and make him feel better. it works and Jim feels even more comfortable in his own skin. (i have another part about Silver taking Jim to get top surgery but they would need Sarah’s permission first, not that she’d say no but Silver doesn’t want to encounter her wrath xD)

i’d like to think that Silver takes Jim up on his ship, not for plundering but just to sail around. the new crew had already seen Silver in action and decided nobody wanted to question him about Jim, especially since he was causing any trouble. eventually Jim couldn’t really visit Silvers ship anymore, being a Navy officer and all but that was ok, Silver still came to the inn and Jim had his own ship/s.

Silver knows all the drama around town, mostly because Sarah hears it fro customers and then gossips to Silver about it. Silver will come in, say hello and she’ll start, he’ll probably respond with something like ‘no way, they did that?’ and then he’d listen as she worked.

when talking to Jim, Silver refers to Sarah as ‘ma’ and Sarah starts referring to Silver as ‘dad’ since they have become Jim’s collective parents, and it doesn’t bother either of them.

after Jim lets Silver get away at the end of the movie, Silver stays on his own for a while, though no one knew that. he got a larger boat, just big enough for him and he wandered planets, drifted through space, just thinking. he wasn’t sure what to do next, he was a wanted man but he also had no crew. the thought of settling down passed in his mind but he couldn’t bring himself to do it, he was comfortable in the Etherium, he would get cabin fever after a week. so he continued being a pirate, it was rough work but he loved being among the stars, exploring the galaxy. Jim knew this and didn’t want to push Silver to stay at the inn for a long amount of time but they still made it work.

Silver has little experience with children, having none of his own until Jim (i’ve seen people give Silver children as his backstory but he doesn’t strike me as that kind of guy, not that he wouldn’t want kids but he’d have to choose between family life or pirates life. that's too much for him.) the most experience Silver had was with helping people at port and with his crew, anyone young enough to need guidance and smart enough to listen.

Silver loves music but really only know sea shanties, drinking songs and some old folk music, but he can still be found singing with his crew and humming while he’s working. Jim on the other hand listens to a lot of music, especially after treasure planet. (this is assuming they have all the music we have xD) he listened to brooding teenage music before, like Teenage Dirtbag or bands likes Greenday, but now he has a few shanties on his list as well, plus some classical music for when he’s studying or relaxing. he also listens to ABBA, either because he just likes them or because his mom plays them in the inn.

Jim, Sarah and Silver have way more pictures of each other now. the inn now has multiple family photos with Silver included, Jim has a framed image of the three of them and Silver has a little scrapbook. it’s the only thing he’s ok with having on his ship, still worried about being seen as ‘soft’ (even if he is a big softie and everyone knows it).

Silver usually wears a pretty simple working outfit with his nice coat and hat but when he does want to look nice, holy shit does he do it well. sometimes when he’s dressed up he wonders why he doesn’t do it more often just for fun but then he thinks of the countless times he’s had to throw out shirts stained with blood. he would never let that happen to his nice clothes.

i really like the idea that if things had been different, Sarah Hawkins would have been a pirate, and a damn good one at that. maybe she wasn’t in this life but that doesn’t stop the occasional daydream and questions to Silver about his lifestyle. he offers to take her on his boat when he takes Jim and she hesitates but says yes in the end. Jim definitely didn’t get his wanderlust spirit from Leland. (this is a little ooc for Silver but not for Sarah, i 100% believe she would be a pirate) maybe after Jim joins the Navy, he buys a small boat, big enough for him and his mom and they go on trips where they just enjoy the Etherium.

you cannot tell me that the second Silver was out of earshot on the long boat that he didn’t cry his eyes out. motherfucker may know how to hide his feelings but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have them, he’s a sucker and he knows it. when he gets more comfortable around Jim and Sarah, he finds himself getting way more tearful from touchy feely stuff. Morph being cute? sobbing. Jim called him dad? waterworks. literally anything that tugs on his heartstrings? has to go to his cabin to cry his eyes out. the first time Jim and Silver met up again, they both just started sobbing.

Silver, Jim too probably, has PTSD (sorry if i get anything wrong, i’m not sure what else to call it) to an extent. it isn’t intense to the point that he gets overwhelmed with emotions and has flashbacks (unless it has to do with his missing limbs) but he does have some nightmares and prepares for the worst in most scenarios. Jim has to remind him that the bang at the door wasn’t pirates, it was just a unruly customer and that the silhouette he saw outside was just a passing ship, not canon fire. Silver apologizes every time, despite not doing anything but switch to his sword and brace but he can’t help but feel bad for worrying them. i can’t imagine the kind of terrors he has about loosing his limbs.

Silver, when he detaches his arm, will forget he only has one hand. sort of like that video with the astronaut back on Earth, but instead of gravity, he keeps handing stuff to his cyborg hand, dropping the item and they being confused when he can’t find whatever he had. he’s just so used to it by now, he’ll even gesture with his missing hand and not realize he can’t convey what he’s doing. Jim has been asked to hand his stuff, Silver will try to grab it without look and ask Jim why he didn’t hand it to him. Jim has to remind him that he doesn’t have his cyborg arm, leaving Silver apologizing. its always lighthearted between them and they joke about it but Jim knows Silver is still bothered by it a little.

#treasure planet #treasure planet silver #treasure planet jim #treasure planet jim hawkins #treasure planet morph #treasure planet sarah #treasure planet sarah hawkins #treasure planet hc #treasure planet headcanons #i didnt realize i had so many

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sweet-baby-abdl · 4 years

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Who's the Baby?

Author: Horatio Husky

Contains: Sissification, ABDL, Fantasy, Mind-altering

Chapter 1.

Babysitting

Scrolling through his Instagram feed was the only thing that kept Phillip's mind from brooding over the fact that today was probably not going to be as entertaining as his friends who were showing off on social media.

He looked up glumly to see the houses passing by as the car he sat in rumbled along the suburban streets, heading straight towards his aunt's house for a day of babysitting.

His mother had lightly scolded him before they had sat down in the car, chastising him for protesting in helping her sister out even after she said she would pay him well.

Fifty bucks for a whole afternoon of fun with my baby cousin... Hurray... the teenager thought to himself sarcastically, as the car made a left turn onto the street where his aunt lived.

"Oh don't look so grumpy Phil, this is the kind of stuff you can put down as work experience. Taking care of little kids is a more important job than you might think, plus it'll teach you some patience! You're getting paid too so remember to thank Aunt Becky, okay?"

"Yes Mom..." came the tired response as he rolled his eyes, adding a tally to the count of how many times his mother reminded him to thank his aunt. Counting this one, the amount was now at five.

"And don't forget, Penny is still really little so no rough-housing or horseplay, do you understand the young man?"

Yes, Mom!" came a more exasperated reply from Phillip. Of course, he knew not to play roughly with a little girl, he might have been a grumpy teenager from time to time but he was never mean or unfair.

No, Phillip wasn't worried that he wouldn't know how to properly play with a little girl, in fact, he could imagine pretty clearly what games she would probably be interested in playing. He was more concerned over the fact that he would probably be bored out of his mind the entire time.

Thankfully he had slipped some of his advanced math assignments into his backpack, he was sure he'd be able to find a spare hour or two while his cousin preoccupied herself to at least get ahead on a little homework.

As the minivan pulled into his aunt's driveway he groaned internally, seeing the mess of children's toys spread across the front lawn which he knew extended into the house.

His aunt always believed that a child's environment shouldn't be too constricted or organized to allow them to use their creativity to their fullest. Philip just interpreted this as a lame excuse to not have to clean up after Penny's famous 'playtime adventures' she always subjected her babysitters to.

Opening the door and shouldering his backpack, he hopped out of his car and waved at his mom as she pulled out of the driveway, making it pretty obvious that she was not in the mood to interact with her sister either.

Real encouraging Mom... he thought to himself, as he watched his mom wave cheerily back as she slowly accelerated down the street, taking a right and vanishing from his sight.

Mentally preparing himself, he turned around on his heels and walked up to the front door, ringing the doorbell twice.

"PHILLY!" came a muffled scream from behind the door, which he knew belonged to his baby cousin. She was six years old now, but everyone still referred to her as the baby cousin of the family, as she was the youngest.

He heard the doorknob jiggle as the door sprung open and Penny looked up at him with a wide smile across her face, leaning back she yelled into the house.

"Mommy Philly is here! Philly is here!"

"Come on in Phillip! I'm baking cookies!

Penny grabbed his hand, practically pulling him inside of the house as she leaned over and pulled the door shut with more a little more force than was probably necessary. Feeling grateful that at least her hand wasn't sticky, Phil allowed himself to be pulled along down the hallway and into the kitchen.

His aunt Becky greeted him with a smile that went up to her eyes, looked up from the tray of cookies she was just pulling out of the oven.

"Hi there sweetie, come here and try one while they're still hot and gooey!"

Phillip couldn't help but smile, sure his aunt was a little be eccentric compared to his own family but she did now how to make somebody's day. He and Penny walked over, Phil grabbing a cookie gingerly and blowing on it before taking a small bite.

Delicious, as always. Aunt Becky beamed as she saw her nephew enjoying her baking, clucking her tongue with amusement as she walked over to the dough she was kneading.

"As your grandma always said, the best way to get to a man's heart is through his stomach. Why don't you two grab an extra cookie and mosey on over to the living room, hmm?"

Philip did not need to be prodded twice, eagerly he snatched up another cookie before finishing his first one and walked over to the living room, unshouldering his backpack and letting it drop softly onto the ground.

Becky followed suit, plopping herself down right next to him on the couch as he rummaged through his backpack, having placed the cookies in his mouth to free both of his hands.

Having yet to master the concept of personal space, at least according to Philip, his cousin scooched over on the couch until she was practically pressing up against him, looking curious as to what he was going to bring out of his backpack.

"Oh oh! Did you bring any toys? Or coloring books? Or movies? What's in the bag, Philly?"

Feeling slightly annoyed at his cousin's incessant questions, he responded with a dry, "Nope, homework!"

A thick, red colored textbook labeled, "Calculus Based Physics for the Advanced" along with a calculator, a few pencils, and an eraser tumbled out of his backpack.

Penny wore an almost sour expression, and her nose turned up slightly as she exclaimed, "Ewwww, you brought homework? That's like, the opposite of fun."

Phillip rolled his eyes, he obviously could not expect his baby cousin to understand his love with problem-solving and his enjoyment of mathematics. Still, he rolled his eyes at her disgust.

"Math can be fun Penny, it is fun for me because I've become pretty good at it."

A half grin formed on his face as suddenly he opened the book to a random page, swiftly shoving it towards Penny's face and exclaiming, "Ooohhhh scary math book!"

She screamed in response, tumbling off of the couch with a giddy smile on her face as she ran away from him and out of the living room, presumably to take refuge in her room.

Phillip rolled his eyes once more and took a sizable bite out of one of the cookies as he opened his notebook up, his mind already returning to the problem that he had last been trying to work through.

Just as he felt he had just figured out an effective strategy, he felt something impact the back of the couch and his vision was filled with pink fur.

"Bunny says hello Philly!"

Annoyed, Phillip pulled the large, pink bunny stuffie that his cousin had draped over his head off of him, looking over at her sideways to indicate that he was not amused with her distractions.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to express his perturbance, Aunt Becky bustled into the room with her coat on and a handbag slung over her shoulder.

"Alright darlings! I'm going to be heading out to run a few errands and to see some friends, I'll see you all later this evening! Behave now!"

With that, she walked out of the house and closed the door behind her with a soft click.

Penny turned her eyes over to Phillip, the sparkle in them practically shining out of them as she exclaimed.

"Let's play pretend!"

Phillip shook his head, nodding towards the unsolved math problems he still had to complete.

"I need to get these done, I want to get ahead on my homework this week."

"Pleeeeeeaaaaase? Pretty pretty pleeeaaaase?"

Her bottom lip quivered, and for a second Phillip was concerned that she would actually start crying. That is until he remembered that she seemed to have developed a special talent for crocodile tears.

"No, Penny. I need to work, go find something to play with by yourself."

"Aww come on! You're no fun! I'll tell your Mom that you didn't give me any attention at all if you don't play with me!"

Phillip realized that maybe his little cousin was a little bit more advanced than he imagined, for he did not want Penny to complain to his Mom about how bad a job he did. After all, he did promise that he would look after Penny.

Moving slowly and lethargically, as to indicate that he was not doing this willingly and only because she would not stop nagging, he put away his maths homework while Penny jumped up and down excitedly.

"Fine, we can play a little bit but only for a little bit, I do need to finish this homework today. Does that sound fair?"

"Okay! Okay! That sounds good to me! Let's play house! Let's play house!"

At this she jumped off the back of the couch and started running around it in circles, skipping from foot to foot as she began to sing excitedly.

"I'm gonna be the babysitter! And you're gonna be the babysat!"

Phil rolled his eyes, of course his baby cousin would choose the least fun option for him. He had a feeling that most people his age, even those who despised math, would choose it over a game like this. Then again, he did have a pretty big bias.

"Fine, I'll be the baby. But only for a little bit, understand?"

Penny seemed to not register his indignation as she dashed out of the living room, yelling behind her.

"I'll grab all the props! You sit tight baby!"

I can't believe I actually agreed to do this... I have to pretend to be a baby to a six-year-old? This sure isn't something I'm going to be sharing at lunch tomorrow...

He sat on the couch glibly, resting his chin on his hand as he waited for her to come back. Within a minute he heard her footsteps coming back down the hallway, and saw that she held in her arms an overwhelming amount of pink, frilly clothes and other accessories.

Phil watched as she practically collapsed onto the soft carpeting in front of the couch, dropping all of the things she had gathered onto the floor.

With his eyebrow raised, he saw Penny resurface from the pile of play clothes and baby props she had gotten, and pull out a pink dress with white ruffles on the shoulders and around the waist that looked to be just around her size.

Phil noted the skirt was covered with frills and pink ruffles, almost to a ridiculous extent. He wondered where his aunt had even found such a thing, perhaps at a costume store or purchased online for a Halloween costume.

Before he had an opportunity to further ruminate as to where his cousin had gotten so many things, Penny exclaimed.

"You're the baby girl, put this dress on!"

Phil's eyes widened as he realized what his cousin was expecting, he had thought at least he was going to be a baby boy. He had expected to be wearing baby blues and greens, not pinks and purples.

"No."

"Pleeeeeease!"

"I said no."

"Aw come on, let's play pretend! I'll let you do all the homework you want after we're done!"

Stealing himself and glancing at the window as if somebody might be there, peering in on them, he rolled his eyes and nodded as Penny squealed with glee.

She scampered over to him, dress still in hand and pulled him up to his feet.

"We're going to pretend this dress fits perfectly on you, so come here so I can put it on you!"

Reluctantly, Phil kneeled down and bent his head forward so that she might pull the dress over his head. As she did so he pulled his arms upwards, pushing them through the holes in the sleeves and his head through the collar.

Penny tugged, and pulled the dress all the way down until he had put the whole thing on completely. Phil looked down on himself, noting that the frilly skirt went down just above his knees. The short, puffy sleeves stopped just past his shoulders.

He grimaced, wondering what he would look like in front of a mirror.

As if she had read his mind, Penny ran over to the corner of the living room where he saw a bunch of big colorful boxes containing her toys were placed. Opening the lid of one of the boxes, Penny lifted out a large, stand-alone mirror just around her height.

She placed it gently on the ground and wheeled it over to Phil, who when he saw himself standing there, dressed in a well-fitting dress. He could not help himself, he blushed bright red causing Penny to squeal with delight.

"Philly baby looks super cute! She must love her dress to have such wosey cheeks, huh wittle baby?"

His blush only furthered at her baby talk, realizing that he was growing quite embarrassed from the spectacle.

"Yeah yeah yeah I look adorable, okay what's next let's keep this moving."

Without warning, Penny walked up to him from behind the mirror and jumped up, popping something into his mouth.

The small pacifier he had seen tumble out of his bundle of props had now been lodged in his mouth, the bulb practically filling it entirely and making it very difficult for him to speak.

He tried to pull it out, noting the pink guard and the sparkles that it had been covered with as Penny exclaimed.

"Ah ah ah! Fussy babies get pacis! And you were being a very fussy baby girl!"

Phil suckled on the bulb a few times, feeling rather sheepish at having been told off by a six-year-old like he was the baby cousin in the family.

He shook his head, whatever, he thought to himself, as long as this speeds up play time...

Chapter 2. Tea Party

Phillip looked down at the frills and ruffles that now surrounded his waist and legs, it almost seemed as if the color pink seemed even more intense and girlish now that he was wearing it.

Whatever... let's just get this all over with... suckling on the pacifier, he stood in front of the couch and watched Penny continue digging through the pile of props she had brought.

"Found it!"

Resurfacing from the pile, Penny proudly held up a pink, loudly crinkling baby diaper decorated with patterns of rainbow ponies, princesses dressed in similar clothes to Philip waving magical wands, and castles waving cheerfully colored flags.

"I used to wear these when I was a baby! But now you're a baby and babies need to wear diapers because they're not potty trained! Now we're going to pretend, come over and lay down so that I can change you into your big diapers now baby girl!"

Where did she even find that thing? Hmmm, knowing Aunt Becky she probably saved a few for sentimental purposes.

He looked around, noting the vast amount of knick knacks and various other useless items that seemed to decorate the entire house. It made sense to him that her aunt would have kept a few spare diapers for sentimental purposes.

He sighed, laying himself down and allowing her cousin to place him into the diaper, unfolding it and taping it onto him. It took a few attempts to do so, as her fingers kept getting stuck on the tapes.

Every time she got stuck she giggled loudly, which only made the diapering process even longer as Philip found himself covering his face in shame, the pacifier still firmly lodged in his mouth and getting suckled on as he tried to not think about what was happening.

After a minute, she patted his diapered behind affectionately.

"All diapered up baby girl! Now you can make all the tinkles and stinkies you want and it'll stay in your diapers for your babysitter to change!"

Philip gathered himself to his feet again, feeling the thick padding between his thighs driving his legs apart several inches. The diaper hugged his waist firmly, its thickness and apparently absorbency not lost on Philip as he couldn't help but marvel just how well the diaper fit him.

"It's a good thing that I have diapers in your size too! You seem like a baby that probably makes extra big messes too!"

She stifled a giggle behind her palm as Philip's face reddened once again. He clasped his hands nervously in front of him, feeling grateful that the dress at least seemed to cover the diaper well, although his extra padded behind was a little bit more distinct outlined than it had been previously.

Penny began to skip and dance around him, singing in her sing-song tone of hers.

"Philly is a baaaby! Philly is a baaaby! Philly is a baaaby and we all faaall down!"

With that, she flounced down onto the pile of clothes backwards, falling into a fit of giggles. Philip found himself sitting on his butt, the pink, girlish diapers helping to cushion his fall as he realized he must have fallen down at the same time as her.

I didn't... why did I... but I didn't...

He felt utterly confused, it was almost as if he had instinctively obeyed Penny when she had exclaimed that they would all fall down, but he did not even consider falling down. He had simply done as she had commanded.

Before he had further time to ruminate, Penny jumped up once more and exclaimed happily.

"Okay baby girl, it's play time!"

Grabbing him by the hand, she led him over into her room. Phillipy found that his ability to walk was now significantly hindered, and he was forced to waddle awkwardly the entire way over to her doorway.

"Awww, wittle baby's learning how to toddle! What a good little baby girl!"

Penny cooed loudly, gently squeezing his hand as she grinned up at him, the gaps in her teeth where she had lost her baby teeth proudly displayed.

where he found that several stuffed animals, chairs, and a toy tea set had been set up and was waiting for them when they walked in.

"I already set everything up, you can take a seat next to Mr. Monkey!"

A large stuffed monkey sat closest to the door, leaning slightly to his side with a large, happy expression sewed across his face.

An elephant, giraffe, alien, and a pink bunny were also seated around the table, each propped up in plastic chairs and leaning slightly to one side or another.

Crinkling loudly, Philip maneuvered himself over to the table and sat down, looking around at the other guests at the table and then examining the tea cups and set in front of him.

"It's tea time everyone! And we have a very special guest today, a little baby girl that I'm babysitting named Philly!"

Phillip looked around, and saw that all of the stuffed animals had straightened themselves up now. While their facial expressions had not changed from the blank or happy faces they had displayed previously, they seemed to actually look at him alertly.

As Penny sat herself down, they accompanied and copied her movement as she reached for a cup of tea and brought it to her lips, slurping loudly.

The stuffed animals grasped their cups in turn, bringing them to their nonexistent lips and tipping the cups backwards as if pouring the tea into their mouths.

Philip reached over to do the same, but he must have moved to hastily or misjudged the distance. He grasped over the cup, but his fingers clumsily moved over it, tipping it over to its side and spilling the tea all over the table cloth.

"Oh no! Baby made a biiiiig mess! Silly me for thinking that a little baby girl like you can sip tea from a cup like a big girl like me! Let me get the big baby a baba to dwink fwom!"

Delving into her baby talk towards the end of her sentence, the little girl jumped up from her seat and dashed out of the room, quickly returning with a plastic baby bottle toy that was colored white, indicating that it was full of milk.

"Open wide baby! We gotta get all the num-nums into your tum-tums!"

Before he had a chance to protest, Penny pulled the large pacifier from his mouth and forcefully inserted the nipple of the bottle into his mouth.

Without even thinking, he began to suckle earnestly from the bottle, letting the sweet, warm milk trickle into his mouth for him to swallow.

His cheeks burned with blush, and he found it difficult to put together the thoughts or words to protest. He knew something about this did not feel right, but he just could not finger out why. It was as if every time he tried to think about it some pleasant, stifling cloud floated over his mind.

He felt as if his thoughts were dampened, and it was just so much easier to listen to his babysitter and drink from the bottle, just like the good little baby girl that he knew she wanted him to be.

He continued to drink for several minutes, feeling the contents of the bottle filling the inside of his tummy causing him to feel warm and soft.

Penny stood patiently holding the bottle to his lips, and she continued to coo and gush over him praising him for being such a helpless little thing and a very good girl for being so hungry for her baba.

His cheeks began to feel sore from his blushing, and he was just beginning to think that his insides might burst from the effort when at last the bottle was finished.

"Good girl! Now it's time to burp the baby!"

Grabbing his arm gently she pulled him forward, resting his chest against her shoulder as she began to pat his back firmly.

When after a few pats he let out a loud belch, his eyes widened in surprise. He had not expected for the pats to actually work, and the redness returned to his cheeks as a single coherent thought managed to bubble itself to the surface of his consciousness.

My baby cousin just burped me like a newborn infant...

"There, aaall better! Doesn't that feel better, baby girl?"

Gently pushing him back into his previous sitting position, she grabbed his arm once again and pulled him to his feet.

"Now it's time to play with toys! Oh oh, let's play with some dollies and blocks! I'll try and teach the baby how to spell her pretty name!"

With no choice other than to follow, and his head still feeling foggy, he was dragged by her over to the corner of her room next to her bed, where a toy chest sat practically overflowing with toys.

Kneeling next to the large chest, she began to rummage through the large container.

"Sit, baby!"

She commanded, and immediately Phillip flopped down onto his seat, waiting patiently for her as she began to take out toys. Dolls, styrofoam blocks, several large building blocks, a stacking ring set, and a few jingly toys that were obviously intended for a child much younger than her.

"Oh these are just perfect for you! We've got plenty of baby toys for little girls like you to play with!"

The burning in his cheeks did not subside as he suckled on his pacifier nervously, eyeing the various playtime toys she had brought out and already finding himself tempted to pick some of them up.

He was not sure why he felt as if something was wrong, should he not be excited to be getting to play with his babysitter?

He shook his head once more, a frown forming on his face as he knitted his brows. Was he not supposed to be the one that was babysitting? Did he not have homework to do?

Just as he was trying to remember what kind of homework he was supposed to be doing, Penny reached over and handed him one of the stacking ring sets.

"Here you go baby girl, try and put it back together again!"

She proceeded to unstack the rings, placing them gently on the carpeting around the spire as she chittered to him cheerfully, encouraging him to put them back together again.

He looked down, picking up some of the rings and appreciating their bright colors, marveling at how incredibly appetizing they looked.

He wondered why he had such a temptation to put them in his mouth, and before he realized it he heard a soft click as it bumped against his pacifier ring.

"Silly! Those aren't for eating! Aww, is the baby teething?"

Penny teased, reaching over to grab some blocks and arranging them in front of him, as if to spell something out.

He gazed at the letters, wondering what they were spelling out as the lines and shapes meant nothing to him.

Did he not know how to read? No, he thought dumbly as he picked up some of the blocks, stacking them on top of each other. Little baby girls do not know how to read yet, do they?

The sudden barrage of thoughts seemed to be too much for his head, for he opened his mouth and his pacifier almost fell out of his mouth.

Penny piped up, cooing over him as she spoke to him in an almost sing-song voice.

"Awww, is the wittle baby tiwed? Does somebawdy need a naaap?"

A feeling of indignation feeled the teenager's mind, and he instinctively crossed his arms, puffing his cheeks out and shaking his head, a frown forming on his face.

"Wooks wike the wittle baby is fussy! Probably in big need of a nap, let's give the baby girl her bottle first though!"

Jumping up, Penny ran out of the room leaving Phil's cheeks to blush as he realized that he was going to be bottlefed by a six year old.

Still, he had a hard time figuring out why such a thing would be so embarassing, after all he was just a baby girl and Penny was his babysitter.

Or... is it the other way around?

Running back into the room, a toy baby bottle firmly grasped in her land, she grabbed the oversized-looking baby and lead him over to a part of her room occupied by several large, friendly looking stuffed animals.

"Sit down here sweetie while Penny-wenny gives you your baba before you go ni-ni!"

With that childish sentence complete, she pointed down onto the ground, where Phillip found himself immediately and obediently sitting down upon, moving in unison Penny gently guided his head into her waiting lap.

Once comfortable lounging in the 6 year old's lap, Penny promptly popped out his pacifier and unceremoniously shoved the nipple of the practically dripping bottle into his mouth.

The formula tasted slightly bitter, and he had concentrated to keep himself from choking as he gulped down swallow after swallow.

While he drank, Penny petted his hair affectionately, commenting on what a good little baby girl she had and how well she was eating up her din-din.

As per usual, his cheeks were a fiery red as his mind searched further for a reason why he should not be in this situation.

At last the bottle was emptied, and before he could realize what was happening he let out a large belch, just as the nipple of the bottle was released from his lips.

"Good girls! Making burpies for her sitter!"

Penny praised with delight, as she set the bottle aside and stood up, beckoning for Philip to do the same.

Moving as if his body were no longer under control, he watched as she lead him over to a makeshift crib she had fashioned out of her bed, lining the edge of her bed with various toys and stuffed animals to attempt to simulate a crib.

"Now it's time to put the little baby to bed, ni-ni sweetie!"

She lowered the bars of the crib, pointing inside to instruct him to crawl inside. Whining, his cheeks still burning he did so, laying his head down onto a pillow.

"Don't forget your binky little one, sweet dreams!"

Almost reflexively, Philip began to suckle on the pacifier as the bars of the crib were raised. He felt a sudden fatigue washing over him, as if the playtime and everything they had done together leading up to this point had actually tired him out.

He brought the blanket closer to his chin, snuggling down onto the mattress as he faded into sleep. He mumbled something into the pacifier, something along the lines of not feeling tired at all.

Penny giggled, skipping out of the room before turning around, and quietly closing the door behind her.

Right before she shut it, she whispered, "Goodnight sweetie, thanks for playing!" before shutting the door with a click.

Epilogue

Philip blearily opened his eyes. What met his gaze was the sight of the girlish bedroom that he had been playing in just a few hours before.

He blinked a few times, readjusting his vision as the room came into focus once again. He looked around the room in slight confusion.

Wasn't he supposed to be doing something with Penny?

He frowned, suckling on the pacifier bulb still lodged in his mouth as his diaper crinkled loudly as he sat up in bed.

Baby... babysitting?

He looked down, seeing the frilly pink dress and feeling the thick, cushioning feeling of the diaper resting beneath his bottom.

A yawn escaped him, causing his pacifier to drop onto his lap as he rubbed his eyes, feeling as though he were still somehow asleep.

The door opened, and suddenly the sound of his mother talking to his aunt could be heard coming from the doorway.

"Oh yes, I know Philip can be quite the handful sometimes. But you know, what can you do about kids these days."

Before he was able to react properly, the door opened and Penny burst through the door.

"Oh! You're awake baby, your Mommy is here to pick you up from babysitting! You're going home now!"

Before he had finished processing the information, the door opened wider and his mother stood in the doorway, shaking her head side to side with a broad smile on her face.

"Well, well, well it looks like a certain little princess just woke up from her nap! I wonder what kind of mischief Penny is going to tell me that you got up to today, huh missy?"

She strode forward and popped the pacifier that had fallen into his frilly lap back into his mouth, gently stroking his hair as she tut-tutted over him.

"My goodness you really must have been a tired little girl, huh? Are you ready to go home now after Penny did such a good job babysitting for me?"

Philip was unable to respond, something told him that his mother usually did not talk to him in such a manner.

As pleasant as it felt to be doted over as much as she was doing, it almost felt like he might be a little too old for this kind of treatment.

Feeling confused, tired, and the slight urge to pee. He was about to open his mouth to respond when a sudden warmth began to grow on the front of his diaper.

He looked down, his cheeks reddening suddenly as he realized that he was now wetting uncontrollably into the front of his diaper.

Penny giggled, pointing with her finger as her other hand covered her mouth as she exclaimed.

"Look! Philly's had a wittle accident in her diaper!"

Upon the conclusion of this statement, Philip felt almost as if he were about to cry. It truly had been an accident, he had noticed a slight twinge in his bladder upon waking up but nothing prepared him for the fact that he apparently had lost complete control.

As the front of his diaper swelled to a larger, more pronounced size and the color of the rainbow ponies turned into a more yellowish tinge.

Reaching over his mother gently felt the front of his now exposed padding, gently squishing it with her fingers before placing a finger inside the lining of the front of his diaper and checking the inside for wetness.

"I think my little princess really soaked this one! Here sweetie, let's take you home and get you changed into a fresh diaper. I've already got all your stuff in the car. Hop up sweetie!"

With surprising strength his mother scooped him up into her arms, placing a protective yet firm hand underneath his bottom as she lifted him up.

Helpless to stop her, the poor sissified baby could only look behind his mother's shoulder back at Penny, who wore a particularly proud expression.

She beamed at him, waving with both hands and yelling.

"Bye bye baby girl! See you later!"

His mother stepped out of the door of his aunt's house and headed towards the car, humming under her breath as she opened the sliding door to his van.

"There we are, now let's buckle you up into your kiddy seat."

Looking behind him Phil saw to his confusion that a large baby seat with a particularly robust looking harness was now installed, the straps open and waiting for somebody to be placed inside.

With a crinkle and a slight squelching noise, his bottom was deposited into the waiting seat. Pulling the straps over his limbs, the buckles clicking into place giving him a strong sense of security.

Still feeling confused, embarrassed, and slightly sleepy the poor oversized baby could only suckle on his pacifier helplessly as he watched his mom walk up to the driver's seat.

He blinked his eyes slowly, everything was beginning to feel too complicated and confusing to him. He yawned once again, without even realizing it wetting a little bit more into the front of his diapers as his eyelids grew heavy.

He had a feeling that something still wasn't all that right, but with the comfort of the harness keeping him in place as his Mommy peeled out of the driveway, he had a feeling that everything would be alright.

Just before he fell asleep once again, his mother spoke softly to him, as if attempting to further lull him into a sense of security.

"Now I know you get all fussy when your diaper gets soggy and you don't get changes for a bit princess, but I promise that once we get home I'll run you a nice, warm bath and make you a baba, okay sweetie?"

Philip wanted to respond, but that would have required taking the pacifier out of his mouth. That was something that he really did not want to do.

The sissy baby simply let out a sigh of acknowledgement, and snuggled down deeper into his harnessed seat. A nap sounded just about perfect right now.

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storytellingfandom · 4 years

Text

Calculators and Key Changes

Summary: Kazami blew into Republic City High like a hurricane. The students loved her, she changed how the arts program was run and rose it out of the ashes. She got along with most all of the staff, that is, except for one.

Lin would give her props for saving the arts program, but that’s as far as it went. The failed opera singer was obviously looking for what she’d see as an “easy” gig to get her back in the papers and then abandon her students. And she wasn’t going to offer praise for a one trick pony.

But when things shift, when there’s an understanding, can their students push the two titans of the school together to find their own happiness?

A/N: This is a completely self indulgent high school AU. I tried to write it in second person POV, but it didn’t flow well so it is third person with it being Lin x OC. Many props go to @kuvirasbrat for helping me get this shaped though <3

Word count: 1976

Pulling into the school’s parking lot, the sun had just started to rise and the soft glow was caught in the windows in the early autumn light. Bright blue eyes took in the colors as she pulled into the school parking lot and settled her car into her normal parking spot near her choir room. Turning the car off, Kazumi Ikeda sat in her car for a moment and sipped her vanilla chai latte a little bit longer.

She loved her early morning ensemble kids. The ones who were willing to get up early, go through music reading bootcamp, and audition for this class. The ones who not only enjoyed the music, but felt it through their being.

With a sigh, she opened her car door and grabbed her bag. Setting her latte on top of the car for a second, she reached in and grabbed a second bag with her materials for her music theory and history classes later on that day. Shouldering it, she grabbed her latte again before making her way into the school.

The start of a new year was always fun, at least it was after the first week. Waving to some of the other teachers that had sold their souls for early morning advanced groups, she slipped into her classroom and into her office. Switching the light on, she dropped her bag full of her materials on her desk and her purse into a drawer. Bringing her keys with her, she tossed them on the piano as she went over the music they’d be starting today.

At least these copies didn’t have fucking equations hiding what key it was in.

When Kazumi had started at Republic City High after a successful career in opera, the one person in the school that seemed to want to see her fall on her face was Lin Beifong. When she’d started, the woman made damn sure she knew what she thought of her. Barbs were sniped on both sides from that day forward. Barbs turned into more though when Lin made it almost impossible for some of her students to leave for competitions that they were needed on.

And she wasn’t about to let that go by unnoticed.

Finding out Lin liked to be in school just as early as she did, she kept her doors opened for practice, pressing keys harder than they needed to be so that the piano music would disturb the woman in whatever she was doing.

Lin retaliated in stealing things she needed for her other class. The projector was never there when she needed, she never got to show movies unless it was on the older tvs.

Kazumi didn’t take equipment, she understood what Lin’s job was and what was needed, instead she gathered the help of her students. Band kids offering their drum lines for a song that just had to have them. Sopranos doing what they did best and rang out louder than they needed to.

The next time she’d changed her music for her students, she found her music coded in math equations which meant she had to solve them in order to figure out the key signature. Which meant going in search of a different math teacher to help her solve it properly since of course Beifong was a genius in overly complicated mathematics.

Two years had passed and by now it was school tradition. You either sided with Beifong or Ikeda. Students offered ways for the women to get back at each other. Competitive sides fought over top marks in it. Anything from fundraisers, pep rallies, games, it all became a competition for which teacher would have the top group or would bring out the most from them.

This year though, Kazumi found herself over the idea of this silly thing. Over the summer, she’d lost a dear friend in a terrible accident and the competition suddenly seemed so trivial.

She doubted Lin would cooperate but maybe she could at least pull some of the stick that seemed to be shoved up the other’s arse out.

Shaking her head, Kazumi made sure the side braid she’d fashioned that morning was still in place before going to open the door to her classroom. Smiling when she saw Asami standing outside the door, she motioned in the young woman before setting the door hold in place.

“Good morning, Miss Sato. Did you have a good weekend?” Kazumi asked, following her back into the room.

“Yeah, I mostly got to work with the new engineering teacher on an after school group that will start up hopefully this week.” Asami answered, setting her bag near the risers before moving to grab her music folder.

“That’s great, Asami! You’ve been working on that for about six months haven’t you?” Kazumi asked, moving to sit at the piano to plunk out a tune.

“Yeah, I’m really hoping that others will be interested so that the school let’s it stay.” Asami answered walking over to the piano.

“Well if I can do anything let me know.” Kazumi answered, reaching for her coffee with one hand to sip on.

As the other kids started to file in, she greeted each one in kind. For the ones that were returning, she knew details of their lives. Their siblings, relationship with parents, their hopes and aspirations, little things as well like their favorite shows or what they were up to outside of school.

It was why the kids always seemed to connect to her.

“Ms. Ikeda?” One of the kids called out, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Huh? Oh! Sorry guys, let’s get started.” Kazumi announced starting into the familiar tunes of their warm ups. One blue eye caught the open door though and she paused. An olive branch. “Bolin, will you shut the door for me, please?”

Eyes went wide at the request but the boy stumbled over himself to pull the door closed. Poking his head out as he did so, he offered Beifong a wave before pulling the doors closed and shutting in the music.

An eyebrow went up seeing Bolin pulling the door shut. That was new. Normally Kazumi made it a point to leave the door open. Leave it so that the voices of their shared students filled the hallways. Way too damn early if you asked her. Especially the sopranos.

She was sure her forehead had become permanently imprinted with things such as her stapler or paper clips from the times she’d beat her head into her desk at the incessant noise.

But now the hallways were quiet. The voices were muffled, not flowing through, leaving the halls quiet and stagnant. The rest of the student population wouldn’t be here for another hour or so yet, and now all of a sudden, Lin found herself almost missing the sound of music in the hallways.

Not that she’d ever tell her that.

Draping her jacket over the back of her chair, Lin shook out the silk black blouse, making sure the cuffs were setting properly on her wrists. The charcoal grey slacks coming to a tapered cuff just above her ankles to reveal the small heel she wore. Steel grey hair pulled back into a bun, and makeup light and never more than needed.

Precise, angled, and too put together.

Reaching her her coffee, Lin sipped it quietly. Bitter in her mouth, the dark liquid was the opposite of what the choir director drank. Black, with only minimal sugar allowed in. Maybe she’d been a little harsh on the other woman. She’d been an accomplished opera singer from what she’d heard, something happened though and now here she was teaching. It felt like the story where she’d gotten a bad review and tucked tail to run.

Whatever the case, maybe the closed choir room door was a peace offering of some kind, and while Lin highly doubted they’d be friends, being civil did have certain appeals.

*********

Lunch time in high school was always a fascinating set of traditions. Friend circles grew, they shrunk, they included people Kazumi would never expect. They were fascinating. However, they were only as fascinating as that when she didn’t forget her granola bar sitting on her dining room table. Like she had that morning. Her lunch wasn’t for another couple of hours. This was fine.

Wandering between the tables, she waved at those that called out their greeting and paused when she heard others call her over for questions.

“Hey, Ms. Ikeda?” A student called out to her.

“Hey Ayama, what’s up?” Kazumi asked, walking over to her table.

“You studied literature for a while, right? I’m taking Mr. Kogarashi’s history of religion class and this text is so....empty of anything that I can’t figure it out.” Ayama answered, looking up hopefully.

“Ahh, I’ve heard rumors of his class. He does seem like one to assign those. Here, let me see the passage.” Kazumi answered and reached for the text. Tenzin really did pick the worst things for kids to read for class, no wonder the kids skipped.

It was perched on one of the tables going over a reading section with one of their students that Lin found her. Part of her dark brown hair in a side braid leaving the rest to fall around her shoulders. Elbows resting on her knees, the sun catching her toffee colored skin and showed off the warm undertones, catching the blue of her eyes that were lost in the book. While she wore tailored jeans and the sleeveless linen blouse that was tucked under a deep red cardigan jacket.

Wait, since when did she notice these things?

Shaking her head, she walked over to her normal spot, listening to Kazumi point out different imagery points and where she could connect them to the historic points that Tenzin deemed more important than others. A gentle hand on the students shoulders, and she was easing herself off the table.

Heeled boots guided Kazumi over to Lin, offering her a tentative smile as she came to stand with her. “Lin.”

“Kazumi.”

“You hear about the updates for the library?”

“Yeah, they have a new section for practical mathematics. Maybe the kids will see it’s used everyday.” Lin shrugged, her arms folded across her chest. Looking over, she noticed that the other woman didn’t have the normal granola bar that she’d eat during this time. “Don’t you usually have a bar or something?”

“Huh? Oh. Normally yes, but it’s currently making use of itself on my dining room table.” Kazumi shrugged, eyes straying over to the normal trouble makers. “I’ll be fine though.”

“You have the later lunch.” Lin pointed out, raising her brow. “You’ll be miserable by then.”

“I’ll be fine. Really.” Kazumi answered, confused as to why Lin seemed to make such a big deal out of it when they were barely speaking.

Sighing, Lin broke her granola bar in half and handed one side of it to Kazumi. “Here. I’ll never hear the end of it if I saw you before you pass out from low blood sugar.”

Eyeing the other woman, seafoam blue eyes looked on the other for a long moment before she took it from her. “Thanks.”

*******

The moment hadn’t gone unnoticed by the students who watched with large eyes as Lin passed the choir director part of her granola bar. Nor had the fact they’d been standing and having a civil conversation for more than ten seconds.

“Do you think…”

“I don’t know. She never shares food like that!”

“Are they still talking?”

“It looks like it.”

“Did Ikeda just smile at Beifong?!”

“She definitely did.”

“You know what this means?

“Beikeda finally sails?”

“Definitely. Asami, you get the coffees tomorrow?”

“On it.”

“Gotta start small. But we can do this guys. Let’s pay them back for everything they do.”

#lin beifong #lin beifong x oc #lin beifong/oc #lok fanfiction #fanfiction #legend of korra

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hu4ngs · 5 years

Note

found you through wattpad! since you've never written a jeno book, can i get a enemies to lovers au for jeno?

helloooo hahahahah! thank you for requesting

• so first things first, we should get to the bottom of the reason why jeno even hates you and vice versa

• it would be a lot of factors but the main factor would probably be because you’re as annoying as a middle schooler

• you were in phase, where you’d try so hard to be the teacher’s pet, so it just makes you annoying

• jeno doesn’t do a lot of his homeworks, so he’d always get detention for it

• you hate him simply because he hates you lol you don’t really know why he hates you but the feeling’s mutual baby

• so now you’re in your senior year of high school, you’ve toned down the annoyance

• you’re not really a teacher’s pet anymore but your name still leaves a good taste in their mouths when they talk about you

• jeno was still as lazy as ever, though he’s actually trying this year since he wants to graduate

• but he’s failing LMAO thats what happens when you don’t pay attention in class until the last minute kids

• so anyways, you’re not the only person jeno has beef with. in fact, his advanced algebra teacher hates him too

• “how many times are you gonna fail my class, mr lee?”

• jeno at this point was already mocking his teacher as he started blabbing about how he’s gonna fail and he’ll have to stay for another year

• “put your head in the game or i’ll call your parents.” he warned

• jeno almost shit his pants when he heard that

• anything but his parents

• so that day he goes to the smartest person he knows, renjun

• “dude i need you to teach me algebra please i’ll pay you”

• renjun was shocked

• jeno???? genuinely wants to learn???? it’s the end of the world

• renjun, being the smart guy he is, he agrees. he is desperate for $$$ anyway so

• but 3 weeks into the constant classes renjun realises he couldn’t take it anymore

• he doesn’t have the ideal patience of a teacher, because he was slowly losing his mind trying to teach jeno simple mathematics

• “hey jeno, it’s nothing personal or something, but like, i really can’t do this anymore”

• jeno felt like his heart SANK

• “why”

• “it’s been three weeks and we’re still learning the same topic. i can’t take it anymore”

• “i’ll pay you more”

• “no that’s fine”

• so that’s how jeno became tutor-less again

• jeno looked so defeated and heartbroken, and it made renjun feel bad, jeno is his good friend after all

• “i mean, i have a friend, they can tutor you, if you want?” he offered

• jeno went ecstatic again

• so renjun gave him his friend’s number

• so jeno immediately texted the friend renjun mentioned

• “hey i heard you’re tutoring for advanced algebra”

• “yeah who’s this tho”

• “lee jeno from class 5-B”

• then there was a long pause

• jeno was like ???? hello ????

• and then after a really long time they replies

• “you sure you want a tutor from me? i’m y/n from your class”

• jeno was fuming

• it’s literally the loud, annoying ‘middle schooler’ in his class

• so now jeno’s torn between passing his class or feeding his ego

• he chose the first one surprisingly

• so you two start meeting up

• he gets agitated by everything you do and you’re just like ????? hello??? you’re stupid without me ????

• so this routine goes on everyday, and everyday jeno just realise you’re not as bad he thought you’d be

• it’s because you’re really patient with him, and most importantly you’re not giving up on him,,,

• now he’s touched and feels bad for being mean to you

• today isn’t any different

• you arrived, and you hand him the iced tea

• he’s shocked

• “what’s this?”

• “you’ve been studying hard lately. you deserve a treat”

• jeno could’ve sworn his heart skipped a beat

• but he didn’t think much of it

• at least until nighttime came

• and he couldn’t sleep

• he’s thinking about your ice tea, your act of kindness around him, your constant assurance that he’s doing fine, he’s thinking about you

• then he felt his heart skipping a beat again

• i didn’t take him long to realise he’s attracted to you

• now he’s back to think about you. your smile, the way you’d hit his head when he says “i don’t know”, the way you’d apologise for that, the way you laugh

• oh no

• but he’s sure you’re just doing this bc you’re nice

• you probably don’t like him back

• but it’s worth a try right?

• no!!!!!

• basically you’ve kept this poor boy up the whole day

• now he’s cranky at school

• “so who are you gonna ask out for prom?”

• jaemin was nudging him that morning

• jeno’s annoyed that he’s being bothered and that he had forgotten all about prom

• but it’s alright prom is like a month away

• “leave me alone”

• “i’m thinking of asking y/n out”

• “no!!!!”

• oops he yelled

• jaemin is stunned

• “whats wrong with you?”

• jeno doesn’t wanna answer that

• so he looks away, totally ignoring the confused jaemin

• then during lunch, the prom topic arose again

• chenle and jisung weren’t going they’re planning on playing video games on that day

• renjun was gonna ask his classmate out

• haechan was gonna go solo

• now its just jaemin and jeno

• jaemin was still thinking of asking you out

• it’s not that he likes you or whatever, but you two are chemistry partners and he thinks you’re a fun person

• and he’d love to have fun on prom night too

• jeno wants to take you out too

• b u t

• he just has a strong feeling that you’ll reject him

• plus jaemin is also gonna ask you out!!!!!

• jaemin, aka the biggest flirt ever!!! is going ask you out!!! how is he suppose to impress you over jaemin!!!!

• after much thinking jeno decides to just man up and ask you out the simple way during his lesson later

• he came to the conclusion you’re a simple person, and you’d probably hate something too big as a promposal

• so you two are in an empty classroom again that day

• no ice tea today, though bc you were running late

• but its ok. today jeno bought you peach tea

• there was also a sticky note on the can asking you out for prom

• it wasn’t much, but oh well

• he was fiddling with his fingers while he waits for you

• then you finally arrived

• “sorry i’m a little late”

• “you’re always late”

• you shoot him a look

• jeno’s always like this though

• “shut up” you told him

• he laughs nervously

• you notice the drink

• “you bought your own drink today i see?” you said

• your hand stretched over to the can to see what he drinks

• you thought maybe next time you’d know what to buy him

• as you turn the drink around you saw the sticky note

• “go to prom with me, y/n?”

• with a cute little flustered face he drew at the bottom of the sticky note

• you’re shocked

• you’re sure this dude HATES you

• whats going on

• you’re flustered AS HELL

• jeno’s also flustered now

• “is this from you?”

• you finally ask

• he slowly nods

• “but… why me?”

• jeno was surprised you’d ask that

• “what do you mean ‘why me’? i can’t think of anyone better to ask out to. you’ve been the kindest person to me this whole time even though i was acting like a semi-asshole to you most of the time. and i don’t know, y/n, i guess after all that kindest and patience you’ve shown me i kinda fellinlovewithyou”

• he’s nervously laughing,,, he can’t believe he just gave that long speech

• “you’re IN WHAT with me?” you yelled

• “i SAID i might have fellinlovewithyou OKAY”

• your face is red as hell now

• so is jeno’s

• so you two are just sitting across of each other, faces red

• “well… honestly, at first i was only nice because you’re paying me to teach you… but after a while it became a habit? you’re not a hard person to tolerate with.” you admitted

• please stop showering him with compliments this boy is a blushing mess ok

• “so… is that a yes to prom?”

• “are you crazy? of course its a yes!”

• jeno is an awkward boy his love was return so now what

• so he’s just awkwardly fiddling with his fingers now

• and you’re like ?? wtf

• and then hes like “wait… do you um… lovemeback though?”

• and you’re like wat

• “well it’s too early to use love, i do like you though”

• and then jeno pause for a minute, before deciding you liking him is fine too

• “so by saying yes to prom will you also say yes to being the love of my life?”

• “yes… but you need to stop being so cheesy though”

357 notes · View notes

iliketoreadstuf · 4 years

Text

newbie (spencer reidxOC!) Part 1

a/n: if you’ve looked at my blog recently, you would know that i’m obsessed with spencer reid and criminal minds rn so it was only a matter of time before i wrote for it.

warnings: depictions of sexual assault to main character, some violence, criminal minds case stuff

blurb: delaney wilmer is the newest and youngest agent at the bau. she takes a quick liking to the second youngest agent, spencer reid. teasing and fluff ensues.

chapter 1:

Rain pattered on Delaney’s window as her alarm clock woke her up. With a groan, she reached her arm out to turn it off as she checked the time. 6:30. Much too early for her first day at the FBI. Delaney had recently graduated from the Academy and had been through countless weeks of interviews for the BAU. When she finally got the job, she couldn’t believe it. She was 23, and more than ready to start her dream job. She felt like she’d been training for it her whole life. With a small grin, she pushed her blankets off of her and walked to her bathroom.

After making sure she looked ready, she grabbed her bag and walked out of her apartment. Her hands were steady as she drove to Quantico, her body buzzing with anticipation but also anxiety. She was young and although she was qualified and intelligent, she felt underprepared. But that was why she wanted this job, she wanted to get into the field firsthand and help people. She parked her car and walked into the building.

She went up the elevator and walked out with a bounce in her step. With a light smile, she walked into the bullpen. A few curious faces looked at her, wondering who she was. Spencer Reid was the first one to look up. His jaw dropped as he put his file down. Derek Morgan immediately noticed Reid and looked over to who he was staring at. A smirk quickly found his face as he rolled his chair over to Reid’s desk.

“Think she’s pretty?” He asked slyly, watching as Reid’s pupils dilated just watching Delaney walk.

“W-what? No. No, I don’t.” Spencer scoffed, a blush rising on his cheeks as he looked away.

“Okay, sure, pretty boy.” Derek laughed, patting his friend on the shoulder.

After Derek went back to his desk, Spencer looked back over to Delaney. The room seemed to light up where she was. She wore a light yellow pencil skirt with a knitted cream top tucked into it. Her long, golden hair fell down her back, the ends in loose ringlets. She was the most stunning thing he’d ever seen. He was only pulled out of his reverie when she walked into Hotch’s office. He tried to focus on his file as his heart was beating erratically in his chest.

Delaney softly knocked on Hotchner’s door and he let her in with a small smile. He gestured for her to sit and she did so.

“I’m hoping you got here alright? I know you live close, so I hope you didn’t get lost or anything.” Aaron said.

“No, I got here perfectly.” Delaney smiled.

“Good. Well, in a few minutes I’ll gather the team to go over our newest case and we’ll be leaving to go to Atlanta in about an hour. I’m estimating that we’ll be gone for about a week, so if you need someone to take you to your house to pack a bag, you can do it after the meeting.”

“Um, yes that would be great. I’m sorry I didn’t already have one packed, I wasn’t expecting to leave so soon.” Delaney said, feeling like she’d already failed.

“No, it’s not your fault. Next time you’ll be notified in advance so you’re prepared. I apologize.” Aaron said.

Delaney merely nodded, feeling the tension in her body relax. Aaron also noticed this and smiled lightly at her, standing from his desk. He opened the door and Delaney quickly followed him.

“I’ll introduce you to the team and assign you someone to work with on the case. Of course, you’ll be working with all of us but I’m going to have someone for you to specifically work one-on-one with.” Hotch said.

Delaney nodded, keeping up with him as he walked over to an office near Hotch’s. The sign read “David Rossi” outside the door. Hotch knocked and stopped in the doorway, Delaney beside him.

“Dave, this is Delaney Wilmer, the newest agent we recruited. Delaney, this is David Rossi, an agent in the BAU.”

Rossi stood and walked over to shake Delaney’s hand.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Delaney said politely.

“You too. Do you mind my asking how old you are?” David asked curiously.

“I’m 23, sir.”

“You’re just a baby!” David said, his eyes wide.

Delaney just laughed, knowing this would come up. It didn’t help that she looked young for her age, but she was barely allowed in the BAU because of her age. She’d proven her intelligence and that had gotten her in, but she knew people would be questioning her for a while.

“I look young for my age.” Was all Delaney said.

“Dave, we’re meeting in five,” Hotch said and turned away, walking to another office.

Rossi nodded and gave Delaney a wink as they walked away. They got to a smaller office with the name “Jennifer Jareau” on the door. A blonde woman walked out right as Delaney and Hotch got to the door. She smiled at Hotch and switched her gaze to Delaney.

“Delaney Wilmer, right? I’m Jennifer or JJ as most people call me. Nice to meet you.” JJ said kindly.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you, too.”

“I look forward to working with you,” JJ said, walking past them to what Delaney assumed was the conference room.

Delaney nodded and Hotch took them down to the bullpen. Hotch stopped near some desks with a few people sitting across from each other. Delaney gave them a small smile as Hotch introduced them.

“This is Emily Prentiss. Prentiss, this is Delaney Wilmer, our newest agent.” Hotch said.

“Hi, welcome to the BAU, Delaney,” Emily said.

“Thank you.”

“This is Derek Morgan,” Hotch said as Delaney and Derek waved at each other.

“And this is Dr. Spencer Reid.” Hotch pointed out the last person.

“Doctor?” Delaney blurted out, cocking her head to the side and furrowing her eyebrows.

“Uh, not that kind of doctor. I have a doctorate in Mathematics, Engineering, and Chemistry. And a Bachelor’s in Psychology and Sociology.” Spencer said quickly, his cheeks turning pink as he rambled.

“Wow. Are you a genius or something? You don’t seem old enough to get all of those and work here.” Delaney asked.

“Uh, well. It-it depends on how you categorize a genius. IQ or how many degrees you have. Um, analytically speaking—” Spencer was cut off by Derek.

“Yes, the kid’s a genius.” He said with a sly smile.

Delaney merely grinned back at Derek and looked back down at Spencer. He was still blushing, he obviously didn’t like meeting new people. Maybe she made him uncomfortable?

“Cool. Nice to meet you, genius.” She said with a slightly teasing tone.

“Yeah, um, you too.” Spencer looked down, obviously flustered by the conversation.

“Okay, I’m going to assign Delaney someone to stick with for this case. I can choose someone or one of you can volunteer to show her the ropes.” Hotch informed the small group.

“Reid can do it,” Morgan said immediately, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Reid sputtered and looked at Morgan with wide eyes but Hotch dismissed this.

“Alright, Reid. Delaney will be with you at all times from now until we get back from Atlanta. Delaney, this is your desk and you’ll obviously have more time to settle in after this case. Everyone, let’s go to the conference room for the briefing.” Hotch said, his face serious as ever.

Delaney set her bag on the desk that Hotch indicated was hers. It was in front of Spencer’s, the seat facing his. Delaney wasn’t sure what to make of their pairing for the case. Spencer seemed sweet, obviously brainy, but it didn’t seem that he liked her all that much. Maybe she could get him to like her while they were working together.

The team made their way to the conference room, Emily standing back to wait for Delaney. She gave her a kind smile.

“Don’t worry about Spencer. He’s just anxious around new people and he’s not super social with… girls.” Emily laughed lightheartedly. “But he’s sweet. He’ll come around to you.”

Delaney smiled at Emily. She felt better knowing that Spencer didn’t hate her. She walked in and found him sitting at the edge of the round table, an empty seat between him and Derek.

“Should I sit with him?” Delaney whispered over to Emily.

“Probably. Hotch will question you sitting with anyone else. Reid is harmless, I promise. Just talk to him.” Emily encouraged.

“Okay.” Delaney smiled, walking over to the empty seat.

Derek immediately scooted his chair closer to Delaney, obviously on a mission. Delaney rose her eyebrows, leaning back in her chair.

“How old are you, newbie?” He asked with furrowed eyebrows.

“I’m 23. How old are you, Agent Morgan?” Delaney asked, crossing her legs and turning towards him.

“A man never tells his age. You’re close to our pretty boy in age, though. How old are you now, Reid? 26?” Morgan asked.

“Yes, I’m 26. I’m curious though, Delaney, what’s your educational background?” Reid asked her.

Delaney moved to face Spencer, turned away from Morgan with her lips pursed. She didn’t enjoy being profiled. Especially by the sly Derek Morgan who seemed to be having way too much interest in this conversation. She did like looking at Spencer, though. She hadn’t had a lot of time to examine him earlier, but now she got a good look at him. His hazel eyes were wide and made him look young, his brown hair was wavy and cut short. He had a couple of layers on with a shirt and tie, a sweater, and a blazer. He was endearingly scratching his head with a thoughtful expression.

“I graduated Valedictorian from my high school in Michigan and have a Masters in Criminal Justice and Criminology as well as a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Penn State. I would ask you the same, but you’ve already informed me.” Delaney smirked at him.

Derek whistled from behind her and Delaney just turned her head to look at him. He was still smirking at her, though she didn’t think he was really being sly towards her specifically.

“We’ve got a girl genius, too. You hear that, Reid? She’s perfect for—” Derek was cut off by an unfamiliar girl walking in.

Spencer was thoroughly flustered when Delaney turned back around. His cheeks were pink and his eyes were darting everywhere. Delaney dismissed it and looked at the girl at the front.

“Martha Alcott, 25, found dead in an alley three nights ago in Atlanta, Georgia. Her throat was slashed and she has multiple lacerations on her body, as well as stab wounds. There are two other victims that were found with similar wounds to their bodies. All victims were between the ages of 23 and 27 with blonde hair. Lindsay Garner and Heather Umbridge were outside of bars in the areas as well.”

“So, he’s got a type. When were the other two killed?” Derek asked.

“Lindsay was the first victim and she was found three weeks ago. Heather was found one week ago and then like I said Martha was found three nights ago.”

“He’s devolving. The unsub could strike at any time, we should move now. Everyone, wheels up in 30.” Hotch said, waving for Spencer and Delaney to stay behind.

“Hi, I’m Penelope Garcia. You’re Delaney, right?” The woman who had just presented the case asked as she came to stand beside Delaney.

“Yeah, that’s me. It’s nice to meet you, Penelope.” Delaney smiled brightly.

Penelope matched Delaney’s enthusiasm and nodded with a huge grin. She patted Delaney’s back gently as she turned to walk away and leave her with Hotch and Reid.

“Reid, I need you to take Delaney to her house so she can grab a bag of things before we leave for Atlanta,” Hotch said quickly, giving Reid a quick pat on the shoulder as he left.

Spencer faced Delaney with wide eyes and Delaney smiled nervously. She felt bad for making him have to stick with her for the entirety of the case. He started to walk and gestured for her to follow. He went to his desk to grab his things and informed Prentiss and Morgan that they would be back soon. Delaney stuck next to him and waved as they went to the elevator. They stood in slightly awkward silence as they waited to get to the first floor. Delaney took a deep breath and turned to look up at Spencer.

“Look, I’m sorry you got roped with me for this case. I know it’s probably annoying to have to basically be my babysitter.” Delaney said guiltily, picking at her fingernails.

Spencer noticed the action as his eyebrows narrowed. He shook his head quickly, his gaze clear as he looked down at her.

“I don’t mind. And I’m not your babysitter. I’ll teach you as much as I can while we’re on this case.” Spencer spoke simply, shrugging his shoulders lightly.

“Okay. Well, I’m grateful for you.” Delaney smiled right as the elevator doors opened.

Spencer watched her go with pink cheeks, his eyes wide. He quickly shook his head to snap out of it. This girl was seriously distracting him.

“Hey, I can drive us if you want. I can get us there and back in 20 minutes.” Delaney said as they walked out into the parking lot.

“Sounds good,” Spencer said, following her to her car.

They got in and rode in comfortable silence, Delaney turning on a slow song she liked at a low volume. She lightly hummed and tapped her fingers on her steering wheel as they drove. Spencer watched her with a small smile on his face. Delaney was already so different from anyone he’d ever met. She was confident in a new environment and seemed to spread her happiness everywhere she went. Spencer couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her and he’d only known her for a couple of hours. He noticed that her car smelled like flowers, and she had little decorations settled around the car.

He tried to stop staring and look out at the road, but his gaze always went back to her. Her eyes seemed to glow in the morning light, their chocolate brown color making her look even sweeter. She had freckles on her nose and cheeks and dimples that appeared when she smiled. A song that he recognized came on and she immediately turned the volume up. She started singing quietly, which made Spencer quietly sing along. Her face turned to him with surprise as a big smile spread on her face. Her eyes found the road and she sang a little louder, coaxing Spencer to do the same.

Soon both of them were loudly singing and Spencer was dancing a little in the passenger seat. Delaney giggled at his silly moves right as she pulled into her parking lot for her apartment building. They sat there for a second, looking at each other with wide grins on their faces. Delaney turned the car off and opened the door, leaving Spencer in the passenger seat. She stopped walking and looked back curiously. He was sat there, unmoving. Delaney chuckled and walked back over, opening his door.

“Hey, you wanna come in? I’ll only be like five minutes.” Delaney said.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Yep, I’m coming.” Spencer unbuckled his seatbelt and quickly followed Delaney to her apartment.

They walked in and Delaney immediately walked towards a hallway. She seemed to forget that Spencer was there and turned around abruptly.

“You can get some coffee or something. Help yourself,” She said, walking towards what Spencer would assume was her bedroom.

He nodded and tried not to pry. He looked around slowly. Her kitchen was fairly small with a countertop and two stools, everything fairly tidy and very colorful. He chuckled as he spotted a light pink kettle on her stovetop. Her living room was similar with a cream couch and pink blankets and pillows draped over it. It was bright with big windows and white lace curtains pulled halfway closed. The whole place smelled like roses, hints of jasmine here and there.

As he walked around he found her bookshelf in the hallway that led to her bedroom. Spencer could learn a lot about someone just based off of their belongings. Her book collection was no exception. She obviously loved classic literature, having all of Jane Austen’s work, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte. She also had some fantasy and romance novels. He couldn’t help but pick up one of her Harry Potter books. He chuckled as he realized that they were thoroughly well-read. There were annotations in the margins and the pages were worn. She emerged from the room at the end of the hall, a pink duffel bag on her arm. She saw him with her book and blushed slightly.

“I like Harry Potter.” Was all she said as she went to the door.

Spencer smiled and put the book back where it was. She walked to her kitchen and reached into a jar. It was painted all over with colorful flowers. When her hand emerged she was holding two cookies. She bit into one and held the other to Spencer.

“Want one? I made them last night. I tend to bake when I’m anxious.” She said as she got out her keys and opened her front door.

He took it with a big grin and followed her out. She shut and locked her door and Spencer bit into the cookie. He looked over at her in shock. Delaney laughed at his face.

“What? Is it bad?” She asked, starting to walk back over to her car.

“No, it’s probably one of the best cookies I’ve ever had.” He spoke truthfully. “Hey, did you know that the chocolate chip cookie was created by accident? In the 1930s, Ruth Wakefield, owner of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, added broken chocolate bar pieces into her cookie batter thinking that they would melt. Instead, the classic dessert was born.”

Delaney didn’t know that. She liked hearing him talk about random facts. He was like a talking encyclopedia.

“I didn’t know that. It’s interesting, though. What else do you know, genius?” She teased, opening her car door and setting her bag in the backseat.

“Um, it's America's favorite cookie. Fifty-three percent of American adults prefer chocolate chip cookies over peanut butter cookies, oatmeal cookies, and any other variety.” Spencer rambled out quickly and eating the cookie when he finished.

Delaney just smiled and pulled out of the parking lot. They got back quickly and made their way back up to the BAU. As they made it back through the bullpen, the rest of the team was gathered in the conference room. The two walked in and Hotch immediately had everyone moving to get to the jet.

Delaney followed the crowd of her new team, nerves buzzing through her veins. This was it. She was actually going to work on her first case with the BAU. She held back a grin as she boarded the jet, stashing her belongings in the compartment above her.

She chose to sit next to Spencer with Emily and JJ across from them. They discussed the case and came to the conclusion that the unsub was probably experiencing a psychotic break and that’s why the murders were becoming more rapid and aggressive. They got assignments from Hotch of where they were going, JJ, Hotch, and Prentiss to the police station, Rossi and Morgan to the most recent crime scene, and Delaney and Reid to the morgue to look at Martha’s body.

“Everyone ready?” Hotch asked as they landed.

They all nodded and headed into their separate cars. Spencer got in the driver’s seat as Delaney settled in the passenger seat. With a nod from him, they pulled out and drove to the morgue. Delaney pulled her notebook out when they arrived, a doctor waiting for them.

“Hi, I’m Doctor Bloomberg, nice to meet you.” A middle-aged man said as Delaney and Spencer walked over to where the man was standing.

“I’m Dr. Spencer Reid and this is Agent Wilmer. Would you mind showing us the body?” Spencer asked politely.

“Of course, follow me.” The doctor said and beckoned for them to follow.

The room had one body lined up, a blue sheet covering its body. Delaney walked over to her and looked her over. Her throat was completely cut open and Delaney could see the long cuts starting at her collarbones. There were some on her shoulders and they went all the way down to her stomach. There were stab wounds on her stomach as well.

“Any sign of sexual assault?” Delaney asked, looking up at the ME.

“Yes on all three girls. It was all post-mortem, the throat being what killed her.” The man explained, looking between Delaney and Spencer.

Both of them nodded, getting a clearer picture of the unsub. He raped and tortured the girls before finally slitting their throats to kill them. Delaney pushed down the shudder that she felt rising in her. Her mind was slipping to past memories of hands on her body and lips forcing hers apart. She looked at the bruising on the girl’s throat and remembered covering her own with makeup.

“Hey. Wilmer, you okay?” Spencer leaned close to her and set a hand on her shoulder.

Pulled out of her memories, Delaney looked up at him and forced a smile on her face. She shook her head with a forced laugh and looked away from his intense stare.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She dismissed his worried look and put a couple of feet between them.

Spencer watched her with a scrutinizing look as the ME continued describing the bodies of the women that were killed. When they were finished, Spencer’s phone rang and he picked it up. Hotch informed him that they found another body. Hanging up, he bid goodbye to the ME and informed Delaney of what was going on.

“Another body was found. We need to go.” He said, beckoning her to follow.

Spencer got in the driver’s seat and handed her his phone. Delaney furrowed her eyebrows and hesitantly took it.

“Hotch realized none of us had time to get your number. Put yours in my phone and I’ll send it to the rest of them when we get there.” Spencer explained.

Delaney nodded and put her number in Spencer’s phone. They rode in relative silence as they made their way to the newest crime scene. Every once in a while he would glance over at her but she didn’t look back at him. They parked right outside the newest bar and walked over to the crime scene where Hotch, Prentiss, and JJ were standing. They turned as Delaney and Spencer came to them.

“Grace Hanley, 22, she was murdered just a few hours ago. Her body is in the same condition as the others but this time the unsub stabbed her around 30 times. The last 3 only had around 5 stab wounds.” Hotch said as they walked closer to the body.

Delaney let out a sharp breath as she looked at the girl. She looked… eerily similar to Delaney. So much that she took a double-take when she saw her. The girl’s hair was the exact same shade of golden blonde and her body was just as small and delicate. Delaney covered her mouth and closed her eyes for a second. She felt a hand on her shoulder as she opened her eyes.

“You okay?” Spencer asked gently, his eyes sympathetic.

“Yeah… yeah, sorry. I normally wouldn’t react like this but she just looks… so much like me.” Delaney said with her eyes wide and unblinking.

“Yes, she does,” Hotch said from behind them. “The unsub obviously has a specific type.”

“And he’s clearly spiraling. The first murders were a couple of weeks apart and now they’re only days apart. From the footage we got from the first bar, the unsub looks to be in his mid to late 20’s. Maybe these women are surrogates for a past lover?” Emily suggested.

“We should get back to the police station to give the profile,” Hotch said.

They all nodded and got into their separate cars. Delaney sighed deeply and tried to get the image of the victim out of her head. Spencer looked over at her and gently tapped her shoulder.

“The first few are difficult to look at. Especially when they look like you.” Spencer said.

“I’ve seen a dead body before. Trust me, I have had my share of horrifying scenes in front of me. That girl just… she just confused me.” Delaney said, looking out the window.

Spencer was tempted to ask her about the horrifying things she’d seen but held off. She would tell him when they were more acquainted with each other.

They made it to the station and set up in a small conference room. Delaney looked through her files and started making notes. She added the newest victim’s picture to their evidence board. Soon, the whole team was at the station and they were giving the profile.

“This unsub is a charismatic, handsome guy in his mid to late 20’s. He uses this charm to lure young women out of bars and eventually brutally murder them.” Rossi introduced.

“We believe the unsub has a specific type, young women in their early 20’s with long blonde hair and smaller body types,” Hotch said.

“So like her?” A police officer asked while pointing at Delaney.

“Yes, exactly like me. The unsub is using girls like me as surrogates for a woman he believes wronged him. It may have been a past lover or spouse.” Delaney said.

“And he’s devolving. While his first murders were weeks apart, the last two were just days apart. His anger is becoming worse and his murders more violent.” Prentiss said.

“We believe the unsub is experiencing a sort of psychotic break. Something triggered this urge to kill and he’s not going to stop until we find him.” Spencer said.

“So all of us need to be on high alert with the bars around this area. He will be on the prowl for new victims. The press will be notified of his appearance and his type so women are aware.” JJ said.

“That’s all for now. If you have any questions feel free to ask any of us.” Morgan said and the crowd dispersed.

The team went to the conference room and sat around the table. Delaney looked at her watch for the first time that day and realized that it was past 10 at night. Her exhaustion hit her like a truck as she sat back in her chair, closing her eyes for a second.

“I think that’s enough for today. Let’s head to the hotel and get some rest for the night.” Hotch announced as the team sat together.

Delaney sighed with relief. She didn’t want to admit it, but the day had been so long. Spencer had told her the first case would be difficult, but this one just seemed to be hitting all her personal triggers. Everyone grabbed their things and piled into the SUV’s. Delaney slid into the backseat after Emily and Spencer, resting her head against the window.

Soon enough, they were at the hotel and Hotch was passing out keys to rooms. Delaney got hers and quickly made her way to her room, closing herself in immediately and sitting on her bed. The room felt impossibly silent as she stared ahead at the wall.

“What a fucking day.” She said to no one in particular.

After sitting for a few minutes she found the strength to get up and get out of her now uncomfortable clothes. She slipped into her pajamas and washed her face. Finally feeling relaxed, she curled up in her bed in the fetal position. Her mind kept wandering back to that night.

She was still in high school, about to graduate from her senior year, and get the hell out of her town. She’d been a poster child her entire life and decided to let herself be a kid once before leaving for college. She and her friends went to a party on the weekend of their graduation. Delaney had drunk way too much for someone who’d never drunk before and someone was holding her hips as she danced. She didn’t think much until he was grabbing her wrist and pulling her into a dark room.

His hands were everywhere on her, one gripping her throat way too tight while the other roamed her entire body. She tried to talk and struggled against his grip but he held her forcefully in place. Delaney felt her vision darkening as he was unzipping her dress and unbuckling his belt. She tried to say no but it was too late. With mangled cries, he didn’t let her go until he was satisfied. Delaney was sobbing in pain and shame. These things didn’t happen in her town. They didn’t happen to girls like her. She was so careful.

Delaney hadn’t spoken to anyone about it after. She left for Penn State with a broken image of herself and never opened up about what had happened at that party.

Delaney felt the tears falling down her face in her hotel bed. She was hyperventilating, unable to control her emotions. That memory had been repressed for so long that she wasn’t sure how to cope. How had she pushed it aside all these years?

She was so caught up in her emotions that she violently flinched at the knock on her door. Sitting up in her bed she wiped her tears quickly and ruffled her hair, trying to hide her teary eyes. Delaney slowly made her way to her door and opened it. Spencer stood on the other side.

“Uh, hey.” He said quietly, still in his work clothes.

“Hi.” Delaney croaked out, her cheeks turning pink with shame and embarrassment.

“I know we just met today and we’re barely friends but I wanted to check and see that you were okay. I noticed your shift in mood through the day and I’m worried about you.” He said, looking deep in her eyes.

Delaney’s mouth opened and closed in disbelief. If she’d been expecting anything, it definitely wasn’t this. He’d come to check on her? She wouldn’t admit it, but she’d never been very good with friends ever since her incident. She didn’t like trusting people so she wasn’t used to anyone coming to check on her.

“Um, well. It was… it was a tough day. And I was, well. I-I…” Delaney trailed off, her throat closing up and tears welling in her eyes.

“Hey, hey.” Spencer’s eyes widened as he took in Delaney’s state.

Her eyes were red with tears threatening to spill out. Her body was trembling as she tried to cover herself with her arms as an almost shield. He could tell she was trying so hard not to cry. Spencer hesitantly set a hand on her shoulder and she stepped back, shutting herself off.

“I’m fine. Than-thank you for checking up on me, Reid. Uh, sweet dreams.” She said with a pained smile, stepping back into her room and closing the door.

“Uh—” Spencer protested, but the door was already closed.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. That didn’t go as he’d wanted. If anything he just wanted to hug her and tell her it would be okay. Maybe he’d come back in the morning.

“Sweet dreams.” He whispered to the door and made his way to his room.

Delaney listened as he walked away, tears slipping down her face. He didn’t need to see her like that. She’d explain in the morning.

With a heavy heart, she turned all the lights off and fell into a deep sleep in seconds.

Spencer lay in his bed for an hour after that, trying to erase Delaney’s face from his mind. What was it about her that he couldn’t get out of his head? Shaking his head, he rolled over and finally fell into a troubled sleep.

#spencer reid #spencer reid fluff #criminal minds #spencer reid x oc #spencer reid fanfiction #derek morgan

23 notes · View notes

hawkbucks · 4 years

Note

Okay, so I usually don't send this kind of asks or prompts, because I don't have any wishes - I'm happy with whatever I get. But if you're up for it, I'd really love some HEAVY Tony-centric angst. Ship or no ship, whatever you prefer more, and sad end - or if you're not comfortable with that not more than a hopeful end. I just want you to crush my heart and make me cry. A lot. If that's nothing you want to write, that's okay, I love your writing anyway! Thank you for all your hc's and fics! :)

HELLO, FIRST OF ALL, I AM SORRY FOR TAKING THIS LONG AND SECOND OF ALL, THANK YOU FOR BEING WILLING TO WAIT.

I hope this quenches your thirst for angst! I’ll admit to not really? Writing angst that much? So I’m not sure how this holds up, but I hope it’s okay!

Loosely inspired by canon.

As a child, Tony comes to the realization that he is not meant to be loved.

His mother tries. Oh, God, she tries. She brushes his hair in the mornings, places bandages over his bloodied knees whenever he went to play out in the garden and inevitably fell due to an untied shoelace, but nothing--nothing--she does makes up for the way his father treats him, the way those barbed words wrapped themselves around his heart and lungs and squeeze until he could barely breathe.

See, dear old dad makes sure that his dissatisfaction with Tony makes itself apparent at every turn. Tony isn’t smart enough, he isn’t quick enough, he isn’t careful enough, he isn’t tough enough. He cries too much, clings too tightly to his mother, spends more days reading about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table than brushing up on his advanced mathematics courses.

“You're useless,” he remembers his father sneering, smelling faintly of alcohol and cigar smoke, while he desperately bites his lower lip to stifle his sobs as he picked up the remains of his toy car on the floor, “spending your time on those things instead of studying. I don’t see why Maria bothers. I certainly wouldn’t.”

Clutching the scraps of metal to his chest, Tony runs out of the room as fast as his legs can carry him. He throws them in the trash, nearly retching up his entire lunch as he does so before going into his bedroom and curling up in his bed, buried under a ridiculous amount of blankets. He doesn’t know what to do to make his father happy short of running away and risking his life on the streets.

He doesn’t know what to do to make his father love him.

He keeps to himself at school. People don’t seek him out, and he doesn’t seek people out. He gets labelled as the “eccentric rich boy,” which is fine by him.

Except there’s this other kid, James Rhodes, around 3 years older, that won’t stop trying to get him to come out of his shell. It probably helps that they’re roommates, otherwise Tony would be giving him a wide, wide berth. As in, making detours to the other side of the campus kind of wide.

“C’mon.” Rhodes slides him a plate laden with a microwaved chocolate croissant. “Talk to me a little.”

Tony eyes the plate. He hesitantly reaches forward, like he’s afraid that Rhodes is going to snatch it away from him at the last second, before bringing it towards himself. He nibbles at the edges of the pleasantly warm croissant. “Why do you care so much?”

“Because you seem scared every time that I see you?” Rhodes answers. “Listen, Tony, you’re young. Younger than anyone else on this campus. I’m... worried, you know? You need someone looking out for you.”

“I don’t need a babysitter.”

“And I’m not trying to be one. I’m just saying that you’d be better off having someone who cares for you. I’m not going to swaddle you and put you in diapers.”

Tony wrinkles his nose. “You better not.”

Rhodes smiles at him. Tony finds himself smiling back.

It’s nice, having someone with him at school. He and Rhodes--or Rhodey, as he now calls him--are basically attached at the hip. They do anything and everything they can together. Tony has almost forgotten how it’s like to be this happy.

He tells Rhodey one day, tentatively excited, that he’s found this girl: Sunset Bain. She’s a brunette with hair all the way down to the middle of her back, she’s wicked smart with a rapier wit, and, most importantly, she doesn’t care that Tony’s a Stark.

“Stop growing up so fast,” Rhodey complains. “It’s making me feel old.”

“You’re 19.”

“I feel old.”

They go on dates--nice ones, but not expensive.

He has his first kiss with her. It’s quick and chaste, but he liked it. She doesn’t push him to go further, and for that he’s glad.

He holds her hand as they walk under the trees.

As it turns out, Sunset did a little snooping in his stuff when he’s distracted and made off with Stark company secrets right after they celebrated their 6th month together.

“Stupid boy,” his father snarls, slamming a hand down on his desk. Tony’s heard it all before, but that doesn’t mean it hurts any less. He doesn’t look up from the floor, hands clasped behind his back.

Tony croaks, “I didn’t--”

“Didn’t what? Didn’t think she’d take advantage of you? Did you actually think she loved you?”

Tony doesn’t respond. He doesn’t want to appear to be even more of an idiot, because, yes, he actually thought she loved him. She would whisper as much when they cuddled on the couch, anyway.

“Unbelievable,” Howard mutters, taking Tony’s silence as confirmation of that fact. “Get out. I have to deal with this mess that you made.”

Tony nods. “Yes, sir.”

He leaves, each step heavy. Everything after that is a blur. All he knows is that he left that room and he ended up back in his dorm, face down on the floor, sobbing his eyes out with a half-empty bottle of Vodka lying next to him.

His parents die at some point. Car accident.

He sobs into his pillow. He wishes--

He wishes he was in the car, too. At least he’d be with his mother.

Rhodey has been his anchor through all of this. He lets Tony ruin his shirts with his tears and his snot. He brings Tony coffee and cupcakes whenever he thought he could use some cheering up. Hell, he even offers to TP Sunset’s house--a tempting offer if he didn’t know that Rhodey would end up arrested for doing so.

Like most good things in his life, Rhodey ends up leaving to join the Air Force. Tony wishes he could be selfish enough to ask Rhodey to stay a little longer, but he doesn’t.

He gives him a hug and a pat on the back, and Rhodey is gone.

Rhodey tries to contact him. He calls, sends letters, e-mails, but Tony doesn’t reply.

He knows it’s self-sabotaging. He knows that it’ll end up ruining one of the rare positive relationships he’s ever had in his far too long-feeling life, but he doesn’t care.

He’s never deserved Rhodey’s love.

Tony is unsure if he should feel the glad the morning he wakes up and doesn’t see a missed call from Rhodes sitting in his inbox.

He drifts along in life. Stark Industries was handed over to Obadiah Stane, and Tony has no plans on taking it from him.

He drinks, orders takeout, spends his days on his phone or laptop. He’s rich enough that he doesn’t ever have to lift a finger to work in his life. It’s a boring--if safe--life.

Crossing the street one day, he literally runs into a guy: tall, broad shoulders, with pretty blond hair. He apologizes profusely, but the guy brushes it off, tugging him over to the other side when a car honks. “I’m Tiberius,” the guy says, holding a hand out.

Tony takes it. “I’m Tony.”

He falls in love with Tiberius fast and hard. It’s like Sunset, but a million times more intense. There’s just... something about the man that makes adrenaline pump in Tony’s veins and gives him a high that he has to spend hours shaking off afterwards.

Of course, he’s terrified. Rhodes isn’t going to be there if something goes wrong (and something usually does go wrong when he’s concerned).

Then Tiberius kisses him right before he leaves Tony’s apartment, and he melts.

“No one else could love you like I can, Tony,” Tiberius murmurs against his lips, the movie they were watching all but forgotten in the background.

Tony hums. He wraps his arms around Tiberius’ neck and draws him closer. Tiberius loves him. Maybe all of his insecurities were wrong.

“Ty,” Tony says in his best soothing voice. “Leave him alone. He didn’t know.” Tiberius is weirdly territorial. He won’t let anyone near Tony, man or woman, young or old.

“Like hell he didn’t.” Tiberius continues to glare at the trembling man in front of him. “I should knock his lights out.”

“Don’t.” Tony grabs onto Tiberius’ bicep and starts to pull him away. “C’mon, let’s just leave. We’re going to miss our reservation.”

Tiberius rips his arm from Tony’s hold. “Oh, so you’re siding with him? Maybe you should go on a date with him if you care about him that much!” He stomps away, leaving behind a scared, slightly frazzled Tony.

“I’m sorry about him,” Tony says to the man next to him, trying his best to put on an assuring smile. “He can get riled up.”

“It’s--it’s fine,” the man replies. “I should be the one apologizing to you. He’s... you’re going to be alright, right?”

“Of course I am,” Tony replies, confused. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

The man looks at him with pity.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Tiberius says, arms around Tony’s waist, kissing his neck. “I just love you so much.”

“Yeah.” Tony’s tone is empty. Tiberius has... well, he’s changed a lot. Tony thought that he was possessive before, but now he’s like a monster. All the woman did was wink at him and Tiberius yelled at her to the point where she was on the verge of tears.

He still loves Tiberius, though. He thinks he does. He’s not too sure. Tiberius loves him, though. He knows that.

Tiberius pauses. “Do you not love me anymore?”

“What?” Tony places his hands on Tiberius’ shoulders. “I do!”

“Why didn’t you say it back?”

Tony swallows. “I was... distracted.”

Tiberius narrows his eyes, gaze going steely. “Are you thinking about her?”

“Ty--”

“You are, aren’t you?”

“You’re being ridiculous--”

Tiberius’ hand moves up to the back of Tony’s neck, and Tony feels the ice cold grip of fear in his stomach. “Who else is going to love you if not for me, Tony? I’m the only one who can put up with you.”

Tony feels bile rise up the back of his throat. This isn’t healthy. This is far from it.

But if this is the kind of love that he deserves, then he’ll take it.

#Oh lordy what do I tag this with?#abuse tw #depression tw #alcohol tw #Hope those are fine. If anyone needs anything else tagged just say so!#justsomeoneunordinary

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singledarkshade · 4 years

Text

New Old Friend

Summary: Rip finds himself in a town full of geniuses. To his surprise he’s already got an ally, which will be helpful, as his shard is in a top-secret research facility’s highest security section. Part Eight of Rip Hunter – Unstuck in Time and Space. Sequel to Unstuck In Time And Place, Under The Sea, A Mother’s Advice, Abydos Vacation, Connections, Perfect Day and Detective Hunter. Author’s Note: I probably shouldn't be posting this yet as I have only a vague idea of the story. I've never written for any of the Eureka characters before so I hope they come across okay. Anyway, hopefully the next chapter will be up soon. Enjoy Part One The smell of wet earth surrounded him as the light faded. Pulling himself up off the ground, Rip looked around. There were trees everywhere and the road he was standing on went on as far as the eye could see in both ways.

“Where the hell am I now?” Rip sighed.

With a grimace he decided to start walking. The one thing he’d learned since he’d began bouncing through dimensions was that he was usually either near the shard or to someone who was.

“Gideon?” he called, waited for a few moments before sighing again and turned to his left.

It was as good a direction as any.

Rip had been walking for about an hour when it began to rain, a few drops hit his hand before a torrent of water suddenly fell from the sky.

“Bollocks,” Rip snapped, moving to shelter under one of the millions of trees and watching the rain fall.

A horn honking made him turn to see a jeep with the words ‘Sheriff’ emblazoned on it drawing up beside him.

“Hi there,” the man leaned out the window, short blond hair, blue eyes, he had what could only be described as an ‘everyman’ quality to him, “Are you lost?”

Rip took a breath, “Possibly.”

“Car trouble?” the man Rip deduced from the uniform to be the Sheriff asked with an amused grin on his face.

Shrugging, Rip replied, “Something like that,” an idea struck him, “I was hoping to get into town and get a tow.”

“Well, I’m heading back now,” the man told him, “I can give you a lift.”

“I would appreciate that,” Rip smiled, and climbed into the passenger seat.

“Jack Carter,” the man introduced himself, “Town Sheriff.”

“Rip Hunter,” he reciprocated, unable to stop himself adding, “Current vagabond and drowned rat.”

Jack laughed and started to drive.

Jack looked at the man sitting beside him, the accent had instantly given away that he wasn’t from these parts. His hair was soaked and plastered to his head, although the long coat he was wearing appeared to have saved the rest of his clothes from the worst of the rain.

“There’s a clean towel in the gym bag on the back seat,” Jack told him, “If you want to dry off.”

“Thank you,” Rip replied sincerely turning and stretching for the bag.

Jack studied him for a moment before asking, “So what is your specialist subject?”

“Sorry?” Rip asked as he dried his hair.

Jack chuckled, “What do you have your Doctorate or PhD in? Mathematics of the Mind? Gene Manipulator? I’ll even pretend to understand.”

The man looked at him a little confused before replying hesitantly, “I work with Artificial Intelligence.”

“Sounds fun,” Jack said, “My house has an AI.”

“Really?”

Jack nodded, “Are they all bossy?”

Rip smiled softly, “The ones I know definitely are.”

Reaching the edge of town Jack watched Rip look of interest. He remembered the first time he walked into the insane asylum he now called home, how it had seemed so normal at first but then he saw the weirdness.

“You get used to it,” Jack told his passenger who was staring in bemusement at the people they passed.

Rip stared out the window at the perfect small town he was being driven through, something was niggling at his brain about it and finally he saw what it was. A kid on the pavement was writing a complex mathematical equation in chalk, while another sat on the ground surrounded by books of advanced biochemistry. Jack’s question about what degree he held made some actual sense now and Rip began to wonder even more where he was.

Jack turned onto what looked like a main street and parked in front of the Sheriff’s station.

“Thank you for your help, Sheriff,” Rip said as he climbed out the car, “I appreciate it.”

“It’s Jack and you can pay me back,” Jack told him, “I have some boxes I need to unload from the trunk. I could use some help. I can offer some coffee and donuts. You look like you need to heat up a bit.”

Rip hesitated, trying to work out if he should just run but Jack seemed genuine and he did owe the man.

“Of course,” Rip smiled.

“Thanks,” Jack opened the trunk, “They dumped the swap meet collection on me, well I sort of volunteered,” he pulled out a box and passed it to Rip before grabbing one for himself, “No one mentioned it would mean doing so much heavy lifting.”

Following the other man inside, Rip tensed slightly as he was now in a police station. Looking around he saw the cell and worked out three ways to release himself from it there and then.

“Henry,” Jack said making Rip turn to see a man standing waiting, “What are you doing here?”

The man, Henry, grinned, “I’m here for Rip.”

Ice filled Rip’s spine and he forced himself not to demand how the man knew who he was.

“You know Henry?” Jack asked before rolling his eyes, “Of course, getting a tow.”

“Dr Hunter is joining us for a few days to help me with a project,” Henry continued, as Rip became more confused, “All his credentials should be in the system.”

Jack sat at his computer, typing with the one finger technique which drove Rip crazy instantly, “You should have told me you were here to work for GD.”

“He’s not really,” Henry said before Rip could reply.

Jack shrugged, “As long as you don’t blow anything up or accidentally nearly end the world, I’m happy to have you in town.”

Rip chuckled, still confused but replied, “Thanks, Jack. And thanks for the ride into town.”

Henry tapped his arm, “Let’s go get some lunch and then I’ll take you to where you’ll be staying for the next few days.”

Rip walked out the Sheriff’s station with the man introduced as Henry, waiting till they were on the street before demanding, “What the hell is going on? How do you know who I am?”

“Let’s get to Café Diem first,” Henry murmured as he nodded to people greeting him, “I’ll explain once we’re there.”

Unable to argue as Henry started across the road, Rip followed. He wished Gideon were here for her opinion. Wondering if she just hadn’t found him yet or if she was busy with the Legends and hoped whatever she was doing, she appeared soon.

The café was cheerful, it only had about half a dozen people dotted around the dining area but from the smell of the food it would fill soon.

“Henry,” a man who Rip assumed was the manager walked over to them, “What can I get you?”

“Need to use one of the booths, Vincent,” Henry said, “And lunch.”

Vincent’s eyes lit up, “Something important happening?”

Henry laughed, “Just catching up with an old friend. Rip,” he introduced, “This is Vincent, he runs Café Diem.”

“Nice to meet you,” Rip nodded politely before asking.

“And you. Whatever you want to eat just tell me,” Vincent told him with a smile, “Our motto is, ‘You want it, we’ve got it’.”

Rip smiled amused, “Give me a few minutes and I’ll let you know.”

“Booths are just back there,” Vincent smiled before leaving them to talk to someone else.

Following Henry, Rip slid into the booth across from him in the very back corner.

“Who are you?” Rip demanded softly, “And how do you know who I am?”

Henry reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, “My name is Henry Deacon and I know who you are because you told me, the last time we met.”

“The last time we met?”

Sliding the piece of paper across to him Henry smiled, “This might help.”

Picking up the paper, Rip unfolded it and read the note.

You can trust Henry, Spaniel, Broad, Tricycle. Rip.

“I wrote the note,” Rip breathed.

Henry nodded, “About six years ago. For me anyway,” he shrugged, “I don’t know how long it will be for you.”

Rip let out a sigh of relief, “Then you know who I am?”

“And what can I get you gentlemen?” Vincent appeared at their table before Henry could explain any further.

“I’ll have the linguini,” Henry ordered, “And my usual coffee.”

“And you?” Vincent turned to Rip adding when Rip hesitated, “Whatever you want I can make. What’s your favourite meal?”

Rip shook his head with a chuckle, “One of my favourite meals is Fish and Chips.”

Vincent laughed, “And I thought you were going to make things difficult. What about a drink.”

“Tea please,” Rip replied, “With lemon. And yes, I know I’m reinforcing a stereotype with both orders.”

With a smile Vincent left them alone again. Henry waited until he was sure the other man was far enough away.

“Is Gideon with you?” Henry asked, seeing the same shocked expression Rip had worn several times since they’d met up.

“Ah, not at the moment.”

He grimaced, “Well, let me know when she does appear. I have something I want her to advise on.”

“Wait,” Rip rubbed his temple, “You need to tell me what’s going on because I am very confused.”

Henry chuckled, “About six years ago for me, and some indeterminate time in your future, I was working at Nasa and a bright light filled the lab I was working in. When it faded, you were there. It was three in the morning, so I did think I was hallucinating, but you knew who I was and told me we would meet again in Eureka.”

Rip frowned but remained silent.

“The thing was I had literally just received the offer to come here that morning,” Henry explained.

“And that is why you trusted me?” Rip asked.

Henry shook his head, “I trusted you because you told me something specific that I told you to tell me.”

Before Rip could ask Vincent reappeared with their meals.

“For Henry, the chicken and mushroom linguini,” Vincent slid the plate in front of him before turning to Rip, “And for you, beer battered cod with twice cooked chips, freshly shelled garden peas, blanched with a small knob of butter.”

“Wow,” Rip said surprised, “That sounds…fantastic.”

“And since I had some batter left,” Vincent placed a small bowl on the table, “I made you onion rings as well.”

Rip nodded at the chef, “Thank you.”

“Enjoy,” Vincent bustled away.

Henry smiled, “We can talk more once we’ve eaten. I’m guessing it’s been a while since you’ve had something.”

Gratefully Rip turned to the plate in front of him and began to eat.

*********************************************

Alison Blake knew today had been too quiet as she marched through the corridors of GD Section 5 to Lab 53 where Nathan was standing waiting for her.

“What’s wrong?” she demanded.

Nathan grimaced, “Not sure if wrong is the word for it.”

“Nathan, you called me down here urgently,” Alison reminded him testily, “Why, Dr Stark?”

He grimaced at the use of his title instead of his name before opening the door to the lab. He stepped out the way so she could see in, “To show you this.”

Alison looked in and gaped seeing a strangely shaped object stuck in the centre of the floor, a soft golden glow emanating from it.

“What is that?” she breathed.

Nathan sighed, “I’ve no idea but the energy it’s giving off is immense.”

“And considering the last time we encountered an unknown object giving off a massive amount of energy,” Alison grimaced.

“Then this could be trouble.”

#fic #crossover #legends of tomorrow #rip hunter #gideon #eureka #henry deacon #jack carter

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skleton · 5 years

Text

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙆𝙀𝙇𝙀𝙏𝙊𝙉 𝙄𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘾𝙇𝙊𝙎𝙀𝙏 — y’all… this shit is a mess, but we’re doin it. i’m emily, i’m 21, from the est timezone, and i use she / her pronouns. this dumpster fire is darcy, aka the skelly in the closet, and i would like to formally apologize for her in advance. enjoy !

her bio is on the last tab of her theme if anyone would like to read... yes the subtitles ARE in code, and there’s a few easter eggs regarding the subtitles too. if anyone figures them out u will have my eternal admiration and love.

name: darcy kovac.

age: twenty-one.

gender: cisfemale.

pronouns: she/her/hers.

major & year: mathematics, fourth year.

faceclaim: sophie turner.

occupation: barista at bean me up.

BACKGROUND ! tw for death, stalking, and mentions of violence & drug addiction.

darcy is That Girl. she’s a meanie ( sorry 😩 ), very unconcerned by the feelings of others, and like ms joan jett, she does Not care about her bad reputation

SO to start us off

born n bred in new york new york baby, and you better believe she’s kept that new york attitude ever since

all was hunky dory for the first parts of her childhood, filled with dollar slices and nosebleed seats in yankee stadium

but one day, baby darcy stumbled upon the fact that her dad was addicted to opioids, confessed her concerns a week later to her guidance counselor, and promptly found herself yeeted to hemlock when she told her mom what she’d done

she was big upset about this change ofc, and received approx 0 explanation beyond a big ol lie about the suburbs being ‘safer’. darcy vc ok mom we could’ve just gone to jersey but go off abt fucking illinois ig

cue darcy being a BRAT

angry about the secrets and the move, feeling unduly punished only for her concern for her father, she started lashing out, doing a complete 180 from a relatively good, quiet kid to an angry, rebellious one

her relationship w her parents deteriorates p awfully over the next few years, and it’s just... sad. she was always particularly close w her mom as a kid, and her mom tells her you’re breaking my heart and it’s SAD

at 16, she starts receiving anonymous letters, and it becomes clear pretty quickly that she’s got a stalker, and we hate to see it

this continues on for months with little assistance from the police, and when she starts receiving photos of herself in her own room, she takes matters into her own hands

yes, this means darcy waits outside her house with a baseball bat every night for weeks on end. yes, this also means she beats the shit out of her stalker, so... props to u darcy

needless 2 say, mr stalker does not come around anymore

at some point in high school, darcy had a big argument with her mom, saying some awful things to her. these, of course, were the last things she said to her before her mom was killed in a car accident, and the guilt has practically eaten her alive ever since

from then on, it’s been much of the same. she was a Bad Girl in high school, and she’s still a Bad Girl today

as for melanie, darcy was NOT a fan. big time not a fan. she met her once her dad started dating melanie’s mom, and it was all downhill from there. in darcy’s eyes, she feels like her dad has moved on and replaced her and her mom with melanie and her family, so it’s just... not a fun time all around.

one of the few good things in her life is a local girls’ baseball team, the bears ! darcy fondly calls em the bad news bears, and she’d fully die for them. ppl hate playing her team bc she’s easily the meanest coach in the league, but the girls adore her and she always takes them out for pizza after. that’s all thank u for coming to my ted talk

PERSONALITY / HEADCANONS !

SO. after all of the above, we have a bitter and angry girl, full of simmering resentment that’s turned into the worst kind of toxic cocktail

like i said, darcy is Mean. she’s sarcastic, foul-mouthed, does not care about consequences in the slightest. she’ll burn bridges at the drop of a hat

the only time she’s ever even REMOTELY soft is with her bears so. gluck w that

something she does a lot is calculating the odds of things like... just for the hell of it. girl is constantly doing equations in her head, half bc she’s a freak who thinks it’s fun and half out of pure habit at this point

the BIGGEST hoe for the yankees. the only reasons she goes home are for weekly dinners / opportunities to raid her dad’s drawers, and yankees games. it’s p much the only way she and her dad can sit down for a couple hours without darcy blowing up

she’s the worst barista at bean me up. she’ll make your drink wrong on purpose and then glare at u until you take it anyway. i’m so sorry

WANTED CONNECTIONS !

friends !! i mean... darcy is Awful but if anyone wants to put up w her we will accept SDGJLSDG

someone she’s actually genuinely soft for bc goddamn bitch calm down

on the opposite end of the spectrum, BAD friends. darcy is mean and petty and i’d love someone for her to pal around with who’s just as mean as she can be

hookups !!! anyone and everyone. she ain’t picky and she’s always horny.

she’s a Lot so someone who isn’t a fan is absolutely likely. gimme someone she rubs the wrong way, and it’s bad

make this bitch fall in love i swear to god. do it.

#* // ♦︎ — › about.#covintro #we love a Mess #am i talking abt me or darcy? yes

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bandaidsforaids · 5 years

Text

Two Ghosts

Note to the reader: This is a travel essay I had passed already. Originally, this was a test blog, but it fit the theme of my blog so much that I decided to keep it. This is not part of the five essays to be graded for this blog. It’s like a free taste of my writing - devour it, enjoy it.

It had been one week since.

I was in a 13C jeepney, somewhere in between a classmate and someone else. That someone else could have been anyone - a boy wearing a face mask or a girl clutching her Jansport backpack or a child and his mother or his father or hers. Whoever it was, I wouldn’t have known. All I knew was, in that moment, I was staring at the distance as the scenery shifted passed me rapidly. The gasoline station with a couple taxi drivers smoking. The carinderia that housed an annoyed woman swatting flies with her hand. The group of boys coming from their own school, enjoying the walk to wherever. My eyes observed these things, but, if you had snapped your fingers in front of my face, I doubt I would have blinked.

Because my mind was elsewhere.

My mind was sat in an audio visual room, somewhere in between an uninterested college kid and a chatty high school student. Then you over there. You with your ribbed t-shirt and denim skirt. You, getting awarded for having joined a Mathematics quiz bowl. You, smiling for the camera, as I hollered your name from where I was, phone out to film you. You, walking back to me with a playful smile, waving your hand at my camera, telling me to stop.

And we did. We did stop.

“We’re here,” my classmate Anika poked me. As I exited that jeepney with ten of my classmates following suit, and the cloud of black smoke pumping from it vanished, I saw the logo of your school and thought: I’m back. I’m here. In this now-haunted place.

In big, bold letters: University of San Carlos.

Now, mind you, I was there for research. My group wanted to find non-online sources to back our study. It’s just a twist of fate that your school happened to have the biggest library in Cebu (or at least that’s what you told me). Four levels high and digitally advanced - computers flocked the place for identity scanning and resource finding. Nothing like in my school. Your library was so big, they allowed food inside. Your library had dining areas and couches and chat rooms and books of all age and race - first floor: References; second floor: Fiction; third floor: Sciences; fourth floor: Humanities. And that was just one side. The other side was for the Filipiniana section where all the theses and research papers laid to rest, to be brought back to life by the likes of me. Your library was a labyrinth. Did you know that?

Of course you do. Because you were the one who brought me here in the first place.

“After we go to my block, I’ll show you that - our library,” you said as you pointed towards an anomaly of a structure. USC seemed to have no architectural coherence. Every building felt out of place. I didn’t like the look of it at first glance, but you looked so proud pointing it out to me that all prejudgment fell to the hands of pure, undeniable affection.

“Is that it?” Edric asked, pointing to a brown building that sat beside a large patch of grass. It was an understandable mistake. Nothing here made sense. “No,” I told him. “That’s the humanities department. They have book sales there every now and then.” They all stared at it, amazed. I was shocked too - who knew borrowing your words would come so easy to me?

Everyone wowed at the sight of the glassy library as the jeep stopped and ushered us out. I was at the forefront when we approached it. Men ready to embark on a journey - making jokes, pointing at things, laughing. I was laughing too. Nervous laughter. Because when we entered the library it almost felt like a hurricane had befallen.

God, if only it was that easy.

God, if only I had not been thrown into a sea of green uniforms, into a sea of people who chattered and murmured like you. If only I had not been so delusional to assume you would be there, sitting with your friends, with your green polo and skirt, facing me when I arrived, like you had been waiting for me to appear.

Anika had to break me from my trance. “Let’s do this quick. I have to go in a while.”

Oh yes, she was meeting up with her friend Mayol to attend the novena mass in Sto. Nino.

Actually, she was meeting up with your classmate Mayol. Your friend Mayol. I recalled the time you got mad at me for not remembering the names of your friends. Lucky for you, however, I did my homework - I remember Mayol. You’ve done it. Assigned me an insignia. The ability to know names I could never place to faces. Names I can only place to the memory of you.

I thought of all this in the ten minutes it took to scan through three computers for possible resources. In the end, we only came out with two. A thesis and a book - both on the fourth floor. I guided Anika to the stairs, discussing our game plan to find books, when someone broke us off.

“Mayol!” Anika shouted, running towards the girl in question. I was too scared to look back, thinking maybe you were there beside her. Thinking maybe Mayol had told you and you decided you would come along. To talk to me. In the flesh.

But I looked back and it was just her. In a hug with Anika. Her face dug into her shoulders until her eyes met mine. And she knew. She knew who I was.

But did she know what had become of us?

In the jeep, I had given Anika the permission to discuss the sensitive topic. It was their first line of conversation as the three of us made our way up to the fourth floor. I made sure to keep a distance from them, but still I remained attentive to what they were saying. I wanted to know what Mayol would say. I wanted to know if they will be your words coming out of her mouth.

Yet, all I heard was Anika’s confused voice saying, “You didn’t know?”

Then Mayol, glancing carefully at me, whispered, “She never mentioned it.”

It came off her tongue so easily. I journeyed up the stairs faster, passing each level, barely reading the signs. I reached the fourth level, a dead end. As I entered the room to the humanities section, a distinctive jingle from chimes rang in my ear. For a second, I stopped thinking and just let it ring.

You know me, I’m not the type to lose my focus when I need it. But this time it took every single piece of me not to detract from my research. I was reading out every letter, every number on those book shelves precisely, trying not to hear the words from Mayol’s mouth replay.

You. Never. Mentioned. It.

How could you, after two years of being together, not ever have mentioned it? To your “friend”? I sat down, flipping through the book I needed while Anika and Mayol fled to find the thesis paper. They had to go in a while. Good, I thought, I’ll be all alone as usual.

I did my best to focus on the book at hand, but my eyes were getting glassy. I turned on the fan to escape the heat, but the whole room seemed to burn around me. Then, in a hurry, Anika slammed the thesis on my table. I looked up at her and she said anxiously: “We have to leave. I hope you’re okay.”

“Can we hug?” I asked you. It was 4:00. Our day in the sun was coming to a close. We had just finished taking photographs next to the cornelia flowers besde the humanities building. We had finished scouring your arena (which you claim is “huge”). We had finished buying Real Leaf and Coca Cola from your canteen, finished sitting on the first floor of the building nearest the gate. Your car was here. My Angkas was on its way. I don’t even recall when we last hugged.

“We’re in school, Aidan,” you said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate.”

I looked sadly at the floor. I wore my favorite shirt to meet you.

“Plus, I have to leave.” You read my gloomy appearance. “Are you okay with that?”

“I’ll be fine,” I told Anika. I smiled to cement it. I don’t think she trusted my word, but she left anyways. And, yes, I sat there, only then realizing I was indeed alone in the fourth floor, and I began to pace the room. I felt like a ghost. I was walking through the halls of the library, passing the chipped shelves and dusty books, passing the diorama of the history of the Philippines and the Supreme Court, passing the dirt-filled windows that separated me from the gorgeous landscape of Cebu City, and I could not contain myself. I was breathing heavily, trying to match my breath with my heartbeat. I could not keep myself at one place. My feet were moving on their own. My ears ringing. My mind chasing my feet. You didn’t care. By the end of it all, you just stopped caring. Two years and every evening you told me you loved me, but, somewhere along the way, that must have faded. I don’t know when it did. I doubt I’ll ever know. I doubt that if I had not come here to this cursed school I would have ever known you had stopped caring. Because you didn’t bother. And I wish you had told me you didn’t sooner so I didn’t have to bother either.

I looked at the floor beneath me. I thought of the height I was on, like I was on an airplane with the ground so far beneath me. I thought that if I grabbed a hammer and smashed the tiles to pieces, dug a hole that reached the bottom of this school, if I unwired every plug here, uprooted every plant, bulldozed every building, scraped this entire place off - would it stop being so haunted? Would the ghosts of you and I vanish? If I broke every glass window in this very building, ripped the spines off the pages of each book here - would it take away the moments we spent? Would it make you vanish, finally…

Or would it make you stay?

The jingle of the door rang. I crouched behind one of the shelves. For a second there I swore I saw your figure. I swore I saw your signature walk, your casual hair flip, your minute stature. For a second there I swore I saw the girl who I spent two years of my life madly in love with. For a second there I swore I was going to leap from where I was and embrace you and for a second there I swore you would have embraced me too.

But, no. In between the shelves, the figure came to focus and it wasn’t you. Up to this day, I still don’t know who it was. I just remember standing up from where I was, walking quickly towards the door, and letting the jingle of its chimes ring in my ear one last time.

I sat on the second floor, the portion of the library where we were allowed to dine and I watched Nightcrawler. My friends would try to open conversation with me in between their book-finding, but it would be short and pointless. They came and went, each hugging me before they left, until, eventually three of us were left in a dim-lit, closed library.

There were no more jeeps to accommodate Edric, Chantal, and I for our ride going back to the gate. So we walked. The three of us walked the stone-paved roads you and I walked when we were here. We passed by all the landmarks - the humanities building, the canteens (your school had a lot), the arena. Snapshots of the both of us would appear from time to time. Your voice. Your hands. Your laugh. A supercut of the two of us here. When I passed by the same bunch of cornelia flowers we had taken pictures with last time, I dared to pick one out, plant it on the ground, and drag my shoes on it. To destroy the flower from petal to pistil to stem. To let its pollen drown on the floor, break out into the air.

But beautiful things like those didn’t deserve to be disrespected.

As the three of us stood outside the gate waiting for our cars, I told Chantal all about what had happened on the fourth floor. She sympathized with me and her sympathy reminded me of something she used to say before: “In ten years, you’ll forget this. None of this will matter.”

But maybe I won’t. Maybe I won’t not because I can’t, but because I don’t want to. Because what we had was first love. What we had was magic and pain and overflowing emotion.

What we had was beautiful.

And I wasn’t going to disrespect that by forgetting it.

So, here, I write this to immortalize you. To immortalize us. To immortalize my journey back to the place that once contained our love. I write this to immortalize us, so we can no longer be ghosts roaming around the same empty, haunted halls of University of San Carlos.

We would just be humans. Two separate humans. You. And I.

And, for a second there, I decided I could live with that.

I hopped inside my car when it arrived, brought my head to the window, and watched as your school got smaller and smaller, until, finally, finally, I couldn’t see it anymore.

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faces-in-unexpected-places · 5 years

Text

Do You Have the Time? Episode 010: Nice to Meet You!

[October 13th, 2007, 9:03]

Leslie stood in the common student centre of Curiesville University. It had been spruced up and converted into a presentation hall. Many of the high school students from various areas in the state along side her were positioned in front of the large windows that took up most of the wall. She was assigned a place in the student centre across from all of the chain restaurant stands and cafes. The CVU maintenance staff was gracious enough to clear out the tables and chairs on the side that the high school kids were holding their presentations. But the other half of the food court was still populated with enrolled college students. She wished that she was assigned a spot in the other room with the sculpture of the university’s mascot. It was quieter in there. Thankfully it was Saturday, so there was little clamour for her to talk over.

A boy her age with flat, black hair and nearly white skin waved to her and began walking over. He wore black slacks and a grey shawl cardigan over a dress shirt. She nervously flattened her skirt down her waist and fidgeted with the collar of her own dress shirt. Her own white cardigan lied over the chair provided for her.

“I asked where your poster was set up but you never responded to me,” he said as he stopped in front of her.

“Huh?” she asked distractedly.

“I sent you a text message earlier. I wanted to know where to find you!”

“Oh,” she laughed stiffly, “Well, you found me!”

“I did. I wanted to wish you luck before the judges came out!”

“Oh, well, thanks!” she said with a bit more relief, “Where’s your spot?”

“The other room with the capybara statue. Kind of a weird choice, don’t you think?”

“It’s their mascot,” she clarified, “I think it makes sense!”

“I know, Leslie,” he groaned, “I mean that it’s a weird choice for a mascot.”

“I guess so. I don’t know, I think it’s interesting. Better than a bear or something. It’s more memorable!”

He sighed and rolled his eyes.

“It’s not threatening, though! If you put a capybara up against a bear, the bear would obviously win. When they have sports events, a capybara is not going to be the image of a winning team. It makes no sense at all,” he argued, “It doesn’t exactly give you the impression of ambition or resilience.”

“Okay, well, I’m not saying you’re wrong, Max. I’m just telling you what I think of it.”

He scoffed.

“This place would be a good fit for you, then.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m trying to get a scholarship by giving a good presentation. Isn’t that what everyone is here for? Even you?”

Max shrugged. He leaned over to examine her poster board while she spoke.

“Hah, not everyone. I don’t really need the scholarship. My parents just want me to try to lessen the cost of tuition. Are you applying to any other colleges?”

“Um, well, maybe,” she crossed her arms, “I like this place, though. They’re really nice, and seem like they want to get people to come here.”

“That’s like, every university, Leslie,” he snorted, “Of course they want you to go here. That’s how they make a profit.”

“I know… But it feels like they want me to come here for more than just the money. It really feels like they care about my education, you know?”

“You’ll probably change your mind once they give the welcome wagon shtick a rest.”

Leslie scrunched her face with distaste.

“Anyway, what are you doing when the presentation is done?” he asked, “Want to get some lunch or something?”

Her shoulders tensed and she stepped closer to her poster.

“Umm… maybe, we’ll see,” she laughed nervously, “I might get some with my parents. They’re going to come by to see me do my presentation later.”

“Cool. Come by my poster later, too. I want you to critique me before the judges come by.”

“Okay, maybe. I don’t know how much I can offer, since I didn’t research your topic, though.”

“Oh, I know,” he scoffed, “But if you could at least try, I would really appreciate it. I just want to be my best when it’s time to present!”

Leslie had given up on thinking of responses to Max. She couldn’t figure out what he was looking for whenever he talked to her. If she voiced her mind, he had to challenge her. If she tried to remain neutral, he encouraged her to be more outspoken.

He took a step back before making his exit.

“I’m going to get back,” he said.

“Okay, I’ll see you around,” she replied a little too eagerly.

“Oh, but before I go…”

Leslie let out a tense breath and faked a smiled.

“I like purple shirt you chose. It goes well with your hair.”

“Uhh, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Anyway, don’t forget to come by my poster! I want to see you before this is all over!”

“I’ll try to make it!” she waved him away as he turned and headed back to the other room.

Leslie let out a deep sigh through her pursed lips. She could feel her body relax after he turned the corner. Not all students were at their assigned spots yet. She was early. Other faculty, current students, and parents walked around to see the posters. It gave the students time to practice their presentations before the judges came. Leslie reached for her pointer stick near her backpack and held it loosely with both hands. She awaited the arrival of willing listeners.

[October 13th, 2007, 13:43]

“In conclusion, the great scientific advancements and discoveries of our history have made great strides from the support of research and its funding. From the moon landing to the Human Genome Project, we’ve been achieving amazing things because of the investments of the people who believed in the projects and wanted to see them to completion. It is understandable that some projects may seem out of reach or too risky, but without the proper support, they will never come to fruition. If a cure for cancer, or tracking of our planet through space is worth something in the end, then the research and the scientists conducting it are worth something right now. Research and its funding, in all its trials and time, is how we build a better future for humankind. For ourselves, and for the next generations to come. Thank you.”

Leslie smiled confidently with her shoulders and head held up high. The four judges stood around her and her poster, forming a semicircle. They were taking down notes on their clipboards and chattering between each other. She set her pointer stick down on the small rack that her poster rested on. The judges smiled and cleared their throats.

“Yes, thank you so much for your time and dedication to your presentation Miss… err… Goodchild?” the judge questioned.

“Yes, Leslie Goodchild! That’s me, heh!” she blurted out anxiously. She turned a rosy red.

“Well, Leslie Goodchild, we hope to see you attending the award ceremony tonight,” another judge said and winked.

Her eyes widened and she beamed from ear to ear.

“Th—THANK you all!” she squealed, “I—I—I will most definitely be there. Thank you again for listening!”

They finished their formal goodbyes and moved on to the next poster a few feet away from her. Leslie glanced around for her parents. They were nowhere to be found. Her mother said that they would be coming at 12:30, but maybe they were stuck in traffic. No calls or texts either. She felt winded and woozy, so she lowered herself into the old chair provided to her. It was metal and cold, but it was a place to sit. She hoped that her parents were okay. Maybe they needed help with something. Her stomach rumbled. She clutched it and leaned over, trying to rest her body. She glanced up again to see a tall man approaching. His face showed many creases as he grinned at her. His hair was thin and black, with grey streaks in it. If it was styled at all, it was poorly done; his hair ran about in every which way. Leslie jumped back to her feet in anticipation and put on a welcoming smile.

“Hello! How are you today?” she asked.

“I’m doing great,” he responded cheerfully, “How are you, miss?”

“Uh—oh!” she stuttered, surprised that he returned the question, “I’m good, sir. Would you like to hear my presentation?”

“I’ve actually already heard your presentation,” he said. Leslie seemed confused. “I was behind the judges while you presented,” he clarified.

“Oh! Are you also a judge?”

“Ah, no, no,” he chuckled, “No, just a professor here, at the university.” Leslie jolted.

“Oh! I didn’t know that professors came to these events. I—I mean, I knew that some faculty did, but I thought that was mostly… I don’t know, advisors or… something, heh,” she struggled to fill the gaps of silence.

“Eh, some do attend, some don’t. There’s no real way to know. It depends on the preference of the professor.”

“Okay! Well, what can I do for you, professor?”

“Well, I wanted to compliment you on your presentation, for one! My name is Dr. Leopold Looney; I’m a physics professor and researcher here at CVU. And I may be partial to your presentation because of those things, but I thought that you were very articulate and represented the scientific community well.”

“Wow, that is very sweet of you to say, Dr. Looney! I’m Leslie. If… you didn’t already know that. I’m not sure what you heard, heh!”

Leo smiled patiently as she spoke.

“I noticed that you would say ‘we’, when talking about scientists during your talk.”

“Oh, did I? I didn’t notice!”

“Have you decided on a major in the sciences yet? Or, er, I assume you are going into the sciences,” he laughed.

“I am interested in science! But, well, no, not yet. I’m not sure. Any of the three main disciplines sound like great options to me. Biology, chemistry or physics. But I guess there are a lot of subsets and concentrations to those too.”

“Yes, but you should worry about those after you decide on a field, probably,” he suggested with a grin, “So, you’ve ruled out things like geology or mathematics?”

“Oh, goodness,” she mumbled and pushed her finger to her lips in thought, “I guess maybe I overlooked a few options,” she looked back up at Leopold, “There’s a lot more thinking about this to do than I thought… it’s kind of a nightmare, actually,” she said with wide eyes and a forced smile.

“Okay,” Leopold snickered, “Don’t get too carried away. You still have plenty of time to figure it all out.

Leslie’s stomach growled like an angry bear. Leo raised his eyebrows and frowned.

“Haven’t eaten lunch yet?” he asked.

“Oh, no, not yet. I was waiting for my parents but…” her phone buzzed with a message for her mother, “Oh… I guess they’re not going to make it,” she mumbled.

Leopold frowned and awkwardly repositioned himself in front of her.

“Err, sorry to hear about that, kiddo,”

“I—It’s okay. I’ll just… eat somewhere in here. They’ve got enough places to choose from,” she gestured to the noisy and distracting half of the food court that was not converted to a presentation area.

“But not so many that it’s kind of a nightmare, right?” Leo remarked. Leslie giggled with a bit of shock.

“Pfffft, no, not that many!”

“Tell you what,” he said, “let’s get something to eat together.”

“Are—are you sure? Aren’t you busy with research and stuff?”

“Ehh, maybe there’s some things I could do in the lab, but it is Saturday, after all. I’ve spent half a day there already. Sounds like we could both use something to eat right about now. How about it, Leslie?”

She nodded her head, considering the offer. She glanced to her phone and sent a message to her mother, saying that she hoped everything was okay. As she thought, Leopold offered more options.

“We don’t have to eat together if you don’t want to, also,” he chuckled, “I get it. Big, tall, serious professor at a college you don’t go to yet. Although, if it helps you feel more relaxed, I’ll let you know that sometimes I write my notes in crayons.”

Leslie snorted.

“I don’t have to buy food for you at all, either. I can just walk away and we can pretend we’ve never even met each other. But I’d at least like to help you save your money, even if we don’t eat together. You’ll need to save it when you’re in college!” he continued.

Leslie glanced around the room, trying to make up her mind. Her gaze landed on the threshold that Max had come from earlier that day. Her eye twitched in irritation and anxiety. At least it wouldn’t be with Max. And she would have more of a say in what they did. At least he was giving her a choice. Going with Dr. Looney was better than most of the alternatives she could think of. Her parents were late, Max would find a way to make it weird, and eating alone would just make her open to him finding her. Leopold rocked back and forth on his heals, awaiting an answer.

“Decisions, decisions…” he joked. Leslie glared at the threshold. Leo began to feel a bit intrusive. “Uhh, here, why don’t you just take a twenty, and enjoy yourself. I’m sure it will cover more than you can stomach,” he jested. He left the bill on the poster stand and turned away.

It was now or never. It was the best choice she had. So she chose yes.

“No, wait!” she yelped and grabbed his arm, “Sorry, I… just couldn’t decide.”

“I know!” he laughed.

“No, no, I mean I couldn’t decide… uhh, on what to eat!”

Leopold chortled, snatched his bill back and motioned her to follow him to the active side of the food court.

“And here I thought I would have to find another brilliant, future scientist to eat with.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’d find one!” Leslie encouraged as she skipped along with him.

“Perhaps… but I have a feeling it would be a while before that happened!”

They weaved their way around the tables towards the restaurant ordering counters. Leopold paid for everything that Leslie wanted as promised, and they sat down to enjoy themselves. Leo ordered himself a ham and cheese sandwich, and Leslie made her own tuna salad. They talked about Leslie’s aspirations as a scientist, and the places Leopold has been. They laughed and thought together about the ways of the world. But mostly, in between conversations, they gazed outside, past the posters and their stands. Orange, red, and yellow leaves fluttered in the breeze, and the trees whispered through shaking branches.

It was almost as if they weren’t even at the university anymore. Leslie had never felt that way before. Calm and… removed from the stresses of her life. Whether she thought of them or not, there they were at the back of her mind. But today was different. Leopold cleared his throat and snapped out of the daze.

“Whoops,” he laughed, “I think I may have zoned out just a bit there.”

“Oh, goodness, look at the time, you’re right!” she exclaimed, “It’s 15:25. We almost took a two hour lunch!”

“It looks like we needed it, huh?” he said, gesturing to the little remains of their food.

“Thank you for lunch, Dr. Looney. I guess I really was starting to go hungry a little bit.”

“Not a problem, Leslie. I’m glad you liked it! Are you going to go back to presenting?”

“I guess so! I’ve already been judged, so now it’s more for personal satisfaction or the curiosity of the parents and students.”

“And professors!”

“Oh, heh, right!”

“If you don’t have any high-stakes presenting to do, I’d like to know your thoughts on CVU, as well,” he added.

“Oh, okay, of course! What would you like to know?” she asked. She signalled for Leopold to follow her lead while she threw away their trash and returned to her poster presentation. He dragged a chair with him across the room. They sat on opposite sides of each other in front of her poster board.

“Why don’t you tell me why you’re interested in CVU?”

“Hmm, okay. Well, I really like the environment here! It feels really welcoming, and I feel like the university really wants to have the most quality education that it can give me,” she explained.

“I agree,” Leo nodded.

“There is a large science faculty, which is nice because there are a lot of labs to choose from, when I decide on a major.”

“So you’re feeling out your opportunities for research, then,” he paraphrased. Leslie smirked and rested the tip of her pointer stick on her poster.

“Research is important!” they said at the same time and laughed.

“Yes, I am looking into it!” she continued, “I really want to be a part of the future of science.”

“Any sciences that catch your attention over others?”

“I’m going back and forth between chemistry and physics,” she replied, “As general fields, I mean. Maybe something abstract like theoretical physics? But maybe that would be too broad. I don’t know.”

Leopold nodded and rubbed his chin.

“Astronomy, perhaps,” he suggested.

“Hmm… yeah, maybe! But is that too closed off? Will I have to be an astronomer if I major in that?”

“The world is flexible, Leslie. Possibly even more than you know! I wouldn’t worry too much about that for now.”

“Hmm, okay. I will try!”

“If it makes you feel better, I don’t think you’ll have any problems getting accepted to CVU, so you can familiarise yourself with the majors and professors, if you like!”

Leslie nodded with a joyful expression that slowly began to fade. Her gaze drifted down, away from Leopold, until her hair fell limply over her face. Foot traffic for the posters was slowing down, because they had been seen by those who wanted to see them. Leopold frowned and scooted his chair closer to her, leaning in front of the poster.

“Are… are you afraid of not getting accepted? Because if your grades or extracurriculars aren’t in the place that you want them to be, you still have your letters of recommendation and application letter to lean on. You seem like an intelligent and dedicated student. I really would be surprised if you didn’t get in! You could probably get into much more competitive colleges if you really wanted to, I’m sure.”

“No, it’s—it’s not that…” she sighed, “Not to sound cocky or anything, but… I’m not really worried about being accepted. I think I’ll get in just fine.”

“A little cockiness isn’t such a bad thing,” Leopold snickered, “Do you want to talk about what worries you?” he asked.

Leslie lifted her head up, and wiped her eyes.

“Really?”

“Well, sure! I’ve been where you are. Every single professor on this and any other campus started out in the same place as you, once upon a time.”

“I guess that’s true,” Leslie sniffed, “Okay, well… I don’t know if my parents can afford it.”

“Ohh…” Leo replied, “Oh, I understand…”

“Yeah,” Leslie said, “We have a lot of debt, and are constantly working to try to pay it off, but we keep accruing interest, and they have to take care of me, even though I work, too. And now I want to go to college, and that’s just another thing that we have to worry about, especially if I have to take out loans which will only make it harder to pay things off—” she stammered with tears beginning to stream down her face.

“Hey, hey whoa, okay. That’s alright,” he shielded her face from the rest of student commons, so nobody saw her crying, “why don’t we take a walk somewhere and talk about this? Okay?” he said.

Leslie glimpsed at her poster and the food court with apprehension. She didn’t want to leave just in case her parents managed to arrive before the award ceremony at 19:00. She opened her flip-phone to let them know that she would be away from her poster for a while. Instead, she found a message delivered to her about an hour ago from her mother. It said that they would be at her ceremony late, around 19:30. Leslie covered her eyes from embarrassment. She scrambled for her backpack and reached into a side pocket on it. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose with a travel-sized pack of tissues that she kept. Leopold looked puzzled, but happy that she seemed to be pulling herself together. She glimpsed at him with small, anxious eyes.

“You never know what you’re going to need,” she said with a chuckle.

“What else do you have in there?” he asked. She giggled at his confusion.

“Some granola bars, ibuprofen, pads, a spoon and fork in a plastic bag… they’re washed,” she clarified.

Leopold chortled.

“I wouldn’t think you would carry dirty silverware with you,” he paused, “Of course until just now, I wouldn’t think you would be carrying any silverware with you,” he laughed.

“Yeah, I guess it’s kind of weird, huh?”

“Perhaps. But you already know plenty of weird things about me.”

She smiled.

“Yeah, I guess I do. Maybe I should carry crayons for you, too,” she tried to lighten the mood, “Umm… do you still want to take that walk? We have two hours until the award ceremony,” she said.

“Of course. What should we do with the poster?”

“I’ll just… take it with me, I guess,” she sniffed, “I don’t want to lose it.”

“Sounds great. Follow me,” he said without judgement.

Leslie snatched her poster, rolled it up to put in her backpack, and slipped her white cardigan on. She followed Leopold out of the food court and into the other room full of posters. There was a grand set of stairs leading up to a second floor auditorium. The auditorium would house the award ceremony. The bronze statue of the CVU capybara stood next to the stairwell. Its pose was actually quite natural. It was on all fours and looking over its shoulder. Leslie found this intriguing and appreciated that it wasn’t forced into a caricature. Underneath the grand stairway was a modest fountain with a border to it that was thick enough to sit on. Students had their posters set up along the edges of the fountain, and against the walls across from it. Leopold guided Leslie out the doors across from the stairwell and exited the building. Max must have had his poster facing away from the door, because Leslie didn’t see him as she left.

As they walked out into the courtyard, the gentle autumn breeze blew through their hair. The humidity was gone, but the sun kept the snow at bay for the subsequent months. Students wandered about in arbitrary directions, but Leopold led them both through the crowds down a red-bricked walkway. Leslie had the feeling that Leopold was taking her somewhere in particular, so she asked. However, the only thing that she could get out of him was that he wanted to show her something. He took her to the edge of the campus, then down two blocks to a building with large windows surrounded by red bricks. They entered and were immediately faced with a lobby and a portly receptionist with dark brown hair tied into a neat bun behind her desk. Leopold grinned and waved to her.

“Hello Leopold! How’s the day?”

“Good day, Martha. It’s going pretty well so far. We’ll see how it all shapes out. Hoping for good things!”

“That’s the spirit, honey!” she supported, “And now, who is this that you’ve brought along today?”

“This is Leslie,” he gestured, “She’s applying to CVU, and I wanted to show her something because she is a very promising future-student!”

“Uh, hello,” Leslie chuckled and extended her hand to Martha, “Dr. Looney… may have oversold me a little bit, heh.”

“Oh, hush, nonsense!” Martha waved her comment away, “If Leo here thinks there’s something to ya, then I’d trust him.”

“Well, thank you, Miss Martha. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Leslie said.

“You too, dear!”

“We’ll be back soon, Martha,” Leo disclosed.

She wished them good luck and to have fun. Leslie really wasn’t sure what that meant, but she was beginning to feel restless, not knowing what she was doing here. Before she could ask Leopold to explain himself again, he had already guided her down a hallway to the right of the lobby and planted her in front of a set of metal double doors with one narrow window on each door. Leopold stood next to the doors and motioned to the entrance with a cartoonish smile.

“What— is— is this yours?” Leslie asked abruptly, “Is this yours, sir?” she corrected.

Leopold chortled at her formality.

“Please, please call me Leopold. I’m not one for the titles, really. Unless you really want to, then you can just call me Dr. Leopold,” he advised, “Or Leo. Or Dr. Leo. Those all work, too,” he laughed.

“Okay… Dr. Leopold,” she settled for the most formal of all the choices.

He opened the doors and the two of them entered the laboratory. There was a lot of open space, and not many machines. None, actually. There was only a set of power tools in a jumble on the floor and a long work bench towards the back of the room. Leo walked into the centre of the room with his arms outstretched. Leslie glanced around and buttoned her cardigan; there was a chilly draft in the lab.

“To answer your question,” he continued, “Yes, this is mine. It’s brand new, too. I’m starting a new research project, so I needed a space to do it in. I haven’t done research in quite some time, actually.”

“Oh, really?”

“You seem surprised,” he replied.

“It’s just that we talked so much about research today. I would have thought that you would be in the middle of it.”

“I have done a decent share of it, but I took a break for a few years. Needed to clear my head of some things. I started teaching in the meantime, and now, I think I’m ready to pick it back up again with something new.”

“Well, that’s great, Dr. Leopold. I’m happy to hear that.”

“And… I want to know if you’d be interested in helping me get it off the ground,” he declared with his arms outstretched and a grin on his face.

Leslie was almost knocked off balance by the weight of the statement.

“You do?”

“Yes,” he said emphatically, “Leslie, I can see that you are driven and have obviously thought a lot about your future.”

“Well, yes, I have…” she trailed off.

“And you have worked hard to get where you are.”

“I—I guess so…”

“And you are motivated to attend CVU,” Leo continued.

“Yes, I am.”

“So I will pay your tuition.”

Leslie nearly toppled over. She couldn’t believe her ears. Surely he must have been joking. A complete stranger offering a deal as good as that. There must have been a catch. Something to make it much less convenient. Although, this was Leopold. At every turn that Leslie thought he would fail her today, she was shocked to find that he did just the opposite. He held his hands and shoulders up in a goofy shrug.

“Wait, what? That was a big leap! Can—can you even do that?” she questioned.

“Of course. Anyone can pay your tuition,” he said.

“I mean, yes, I know that. But do you have the money to do that?”

“I do, actually, yes. I have a lot of savings built up from my last research project. We didn’t complete it, so I was given some of the money to support myself when I resigned.”

“Because you were the principal investigator?” she asked.

“Yeah, I was something of a PI,” he answered with a hint of discomfort.

“So… you’ll just pay for my tuition, no questions asked?” she baited him.

“Close, but not entirely,” he qualified and laughed, “I will pay for your tuition on the condition… that you come work for me.”

Leslie’s eyes lit up with wonder, then immediately glazed over.

“Do you really want me, though? I don’t even have any experience yet. I’m sure there are plenty more qualified students.”

“I’ll teach you,” he assured, “That’s how everyone starts out. You learn the ways of the lab before you master it. I’ll start you off on simple things, and we’ll work your way up to the more involved tasks. What do you say?” he eagerly inquired.

“Well, pffff,” Leslie sputtered, “what is your research project? Do I have to major in something specific to be a part of the lab? What if I want to major in something else, instead? Will I not be allowed to work with you anymore?”

“Ahh, always with the questions,” he sighed, “I supposed I should have prepared for this, asking someone who has thought out her life so much so far,” Leslie waited for his answer, “No, you can work with me for as long as you want. I’ll pay for your tuition for every semester you work for me. And you don’t have to major in anything specific. If you’re looking at hard science, that’s close enough to start out with. The more semesters you work for me, the things I teach you may get harder or easier to grasp, depending on which major you choose. And as for the project…”

Leslie leaned toward him, listening intently.

“Exactly how supportive are you of the importance of research and its funding?” he cross-examined, pressing his hands together.

“Well… I think everything should be given a chance to be heard, at least. If the research is ethical, I don’t see a reason that it can’t be supported.”

“Okay. Good. Well, Leslie, my new project… is elucidating the space-time pathway for… temporal relocation. Or, others know it as time travel.”

Leslie held her head by her temples. She was doing her best to convince herself that the whole day had actually been some kind of stress-dream. But no matter how many deep breaths she took or pinches she gave herself, she was awake. Alive. This was really happening. This tall, animated man was trying to hire her as a time travel technician right out of high school and offered to pay for her education in exchange for, no, in addition to giving her automatic experience. She had a million thoughts racing through her head. Would she like it? What would her parents think? Where were her parents? What about the scholarship money? Was this a real possibility? Was it sustainable? What would everyone think of her? What would Max say? Was she crazy for even letting herself go this far? Even with all of these uncertainties, and for a reason unknown to Leslie herself, in that moment, the only thing she could say was—

“Yes.”

#do you have the time?#episode 010 #leslie #leopold #max #martha #science fiction #ohhhh YEAHH MOTHER FUCKERS IM BACK #THEY'RE BACK #you can expect two more episodes coming up soon!#I'm going to finish editing them and put them in the queueueueueue #this arc was supposed to be one episode and then it just kinda spiralled hahaha #so I'm splitting the next episode into two smaller ones #slowly chipping away at each character to give them some more background #leslie so far is the first to get some flashback episodes #but don't worry #time machine construction starts episode 13 #BE READY FOR IT BIIIITCH #lmao #anyway i hope you enjoy it!#there should be more flashback stuff to come in future episodes for other characters #but i want to space them out so we can actually get INTO the time machine stuff andtime travel #i know it's been building up a little bit!

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the-barrens-are-ours · 7 years

Text

Dog Diggity Darn

To say Richie was merely infatuated with Eddie when the Kaspbraks moved in next door would be an understatement.

Richie was head-over-heels in love with him.

Word Count: 2,300

Ao3

Chapters: 1, 2, 3

To say Richie was merely infatuated with Eddie when the Kaspbraks moved in next door would be an understatement.

Richie was head-over-heels in love with him.

At the time, Richie was almost done with eighth grade and was starting to question whether or not he was into dudes. One look at his neatly combed, nicely dressed, fanny-pack wearing, tiny-shorts clad neighbor erased all doubt or question Richie had. He was as gay as the fucking rainbow. But not just any old gay, no. Gay for one, Eddie Kaspbrak- his adorable and tiny neighbor.

When Richie got to school the next day, his friends noticed the difference immediately.

“What’s up with you today, Richie? You look like a Disney princess.” Stan was giving him a look that seemed like it was uncaring, but after years of being around him, Richie knew it was full of hidden, genuine curiosity.

“If I’m a princess then I’ve just met my prince, Stanley. I’m like Cinderella at the ball, having just caught a small glance at Prince Charming.” Richie sighed, dreamily.

“Sounds like Richie’s in love,” Beverly cooed as Ben let out a heartfelt “aww” next to her. Ben was always a sucker for romance.

“You got that right, Bevvie. In fact, it was love at first sight.”

Ben perked up, leaning in closer to Richie. “What happened? Tell me!”

“Well, there I was, Benny Boy, just dicking around outside of my house, as usual, when this car pulls up at the empty house next door. Turns out, it’s the new neighbors.”

Ben squealed with excitement. “You’re in love with the girl next door!”

“Not quite, Benny. You see, at first, I didn’t give two shits about whoever the fuck moved in next door. It seemed like just a simple family of two: mother and child. I was right about to go back to doing whatever the fuck I was doing when I saw it: short brown hair, warm dark eyes, a freckled face full of constellations, a salmon polo shirt paired with the most ridiculous pair of rainbow shorts and the cleanest white Keds you’ve ever seen! This boy was hands down-”

“Boy?” Stan, who was pretending not to listen to Richie’s story of love, raised an eyebrow in sudden interest.

“Yes, ‘boy,’ Stanley. I’m gay, now stop interrupting me.”

Stan thought about that information for a second, then simply shrugged and went back to looking at his bird book.

“Now, where was I?”

“You were talking about when you first saw him.” Ben reminded him, eyes wide and eager to hear the rest of the story.

“Right! This kid, Ben, is shorter than you. I’m talking he’s like a teacup sized person that you could fit in your pocket and just carry him around.”

Beverly snorted. “Oh my god, Richie, why don’t you just marry the kid.”

“If I could, Beverly, I would without a second thought. This kid is practically an angel sent from heaven.”

Ben smiled so hard his dimples were nearly the size of craters. “What’s he like?”

Richie faltered and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. “I- I don’t know. I didn’t get a chance to talk to him.”

Ben’s smiled dimmed a bit. “Do you at least know his name?”

“Uhhhhhh.”

Stan sighed next to him. “Oh my god, Richie.”

Richie was saved from further embarrassment or questions by the bell ringing, signaling the start of First Period.

Slouching down low in his seat, Richie was ready to spend the next fifty minutes ignoring whatever his incompetent science teacher was going to say. He had already tuned him out almost completely when the words “new student” caught his attention.

Richie sat up straight so quickly his knee banged the desk, startling the girl sitting next to him. He heard Stan snicker, but he didn’t care. He hardly thought about it, but his new neighbor would be in the same school district as him, meaning he would be attending the same school as Richie since he was about the same age. But what were the odds they were sharing the same science class? Richie was ecstatic.

His science teacher just finished his standard introductory speech of “let’s be nice to the new kid” when the door creaked open. Richie felt his heart beat faster as he saw him.

He looked the same as he did yesterday, with the exception of his polo shirt being a light baby blue and his shorts were swapped for a clean pair of khaki slacks. He glanced around the class nervously as the school counselor ushered him into the room and gave him a piece of paper that presumably had his schedule printed on it. The kid stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do and face starting to flush pink as every set of eyes in the class turned to stare at him. He offered everyone a small wave and uncomfortable smile. Richie’s heart felt like it was doing backflips.

“Why don’t you introduce yourself to the class?” The science teacher prompted the new kid, clearly not giving a single damn about anything going on.

“Umm,” the kid swallowed hard, “my name’s Eddie Kaspbrak, and my mom and I just moved here from Oregon yesterday.” He gave another small wave to the class.

Richie slumped forward in his seat, resting his head in his hands as he looked at Eddie in a daze. “Eddie. What a cute name.” He sighed happily as Stan and Beverly burst out into muffled giggles behind him.

Their science teacher sighed in exhaustion. “Why don’t you just take a seat wherever. I really don’t care.”

Richie and Eddie both scanned the room, trying to locate all the empty seats. There was one in the front of the room near the door, two in the back corner on the opposite side of the room as Richie, and one located two seats ahead of Richie and one row to the left- the perfect place for Richie to stare at him dreamily during class instead of paying attention. Richie willed Eddie to pick that seat. He clearly didn’t have mind control powers though because Eddie quickly shuffled to one of the seats in the back, face still pink.

Richie slouched back down in his seat again with a groan. Behind him in the back was the one place where Richie couldn’t look at him throughout class without looking like a total creep.

“Tough luck, Tozier,” Stan smirked. Richie flipped him the bird under his seat so their teacher wouldn’t see it as he started class.

Dammit.

At least he now knew his name. And who knows? Maybe someday soon their teacher will let the class switch seats.

In the meantime, Richie would just have to settle for doodling Eddie’s name in the margins of his notebook with hearts around them.

—-

By the time lunch rolled around, Richie began to felt cheated.

The boy of his dreams was so close to him, yet at the same time, so far away. With half of the day gone, Richie still only had one class with Eddie. Not to mention the fact that Richie was ready to ditch his friends after science and go introduce himself to Eddie. It would be under the guise of helping him get around school better since he probably had no idea where he was going so it would be seen as a kind and genuine action, and not weird. Before he could make his move though, he saw Bill Denbrough had already beaten him to it. He even overheard that the two of them had the same Second and Fourth Period together as well.

Of course, Bill wasn’t trying to steal Richie’s man. He knew that. Bill was just a genuinely kind and caring individual who wanted to help his new classmate know where to go and know that he would be welcomed at his new school. Richie still felt jealous as he watched Eddie and Bill stroll into the cafeteria together, talking cheerfully as they got into the lunch line.

Richie sighed. He knew he and Bill didn’t have the same Fourth Period together, so his only hope for having another class with Eddie would be during their Fifth and Sixth Period. For his Fifth Period, Richie had advanced mathematics, so he didn’t feel like it was likely they would be sharing that class. But Sixth was standard history, so maybe he had a chance there.

Stan sat down next to Richie, following his longing gaze to where Eddie and Bill were heading to a lunch table on the opposite side of the cafeteria. Stan pinched the bridge of his nose in mock annoyance as he tried to hide his smile. “You are absolutely ridiculous, Richie. Why don’t you just go over there and talk to him?”

“Because,” Richie mumbled miserably, not actually having a good excuse.

“You should leave him a flower taped to his locker with a love letter signed by a secret admirer,” Ben said, believing with every ounce of his being that there was hope for Richie and his crush.

Richie perked up a bit at Ben’s idea, before slumping back down in defeat. “I don’t know where his locker is.”

“Whose locker?” Beverly asked, sitting down at the table next to Ben.

“The love of Richie’s life,” Stan said, once again trying to pretend he didn’t think lovesick Richie was the funniest thing he’s ever seen.

“Oh,” Beverly said, with a small smirk.

Richie knew that look. “You know something. Tell me now.” He demanded, intently staring at Bev.

“Well, I don’t know where his locker is, but let’s just say a little birdy told me he has history Sixth Period.” Beverly smiled at him as Richie silently thanked every god out there.

“Beverly, you are the best. I love you so much, I could kiss you.”

“I thought you were gay now?”

“Doesn’t matter. Thank you, Bev.”

For the rest of lunch, Richie smiled happily to himself as he occasionally threw glances over his shoulder to look at Eddie Kaspbrak from across the cafeteria.

—-

By the time Fifth Period ended, Richie already had a plan formed.

He knew that his history teacher didn’t care where kids sat and that most kids continued to sit in the same seat every day anyway. This left the class with the same three empty seat in the same place every day, all located in the middle back. Richie’s foolproof plan involved him moving to sit in the middle empty seat, leaving Eddie’s only seating options on either side of him. Sure, Eddie could take Richie’s old seat, but that was located in the front of the room and was surrounded by people on every side. Eddie, being the awkward new kid he was, was sure to take one of the two empty seats in the back instead of taking the one in a sea of people he didn’t know.

Richie smiled to himself as he rushed from his math class to the history classroom down the hall. His middle school didn’t have any passing time between classes, so most kids were already in the room and in their seats by the time Richie got there. His eyes landed on the three empty seats in the back and he confidently made his way to the back. He plopped his bag down on the ground in triumph and awaited the arrival of his sweet Prince Eddie.

Eddie was the last to arrive and based on his red face and slightly disheveled hair, Richie guessed he probably had Physical Education Fifth Period.

Richie secretly glanced at Eddie through the corner of his eye, watching him locate every empty seat and decide which one would be his best option. Richie tried especially hard not to look at him, because if Eddie saw someone creepily watching him from across the room, he would have taken Richie’s old seat, as far away from said person as possible, without a second thought.

Without looking up from the notebook Richie was pretending to write notes in, he heard Eddie approach and sit down at the desk on his right. Richie cheered internally in success.

After glancing over to make sure that his history teacher was still taking attendance and not caring about what her students were doing, Richie turned to Eddie with a smile.

“Hi!” Richie said and his mind instantly started screaming at him. He sounded too happy, too excited, too cheerful. He needed to stay casual or else he’d scare Eddie off forever and it’d be game over. “My name’s Richie.” His voice sounded more neutral. Better. “You’re Eddie, right? The new kid?” A perfect blend of beforehand knowledge mixed with simple curiosity to assure Eddie he knew who he was, but wasn’t stalking him. It was a friendly gesture, showing him that he wanted to be his friend. This was going amazingly.

Eddie stared at him for a second, face unreadable and eyes narrowed. At last, he said, “Aren’t you the kid who keeps staring at me all the time?”

Red Alert: abort the mission, I repeat, abort the mission.

“Uh,” Richie was speechless. He was sure if his friends were here, Stan and Beverly would be on the floor, howling with laughter. Even Ben would have known it was all over.

Come in mission control - Operation Whoo Kaspbrak is a fail. I repeat, Operation Whoo Kaspbrak is a fail. Over.

Eddie sat up a little bit, looking at Richie’s notebook. “Why are you just randomly scribbling lines in your notebook?”

Richie slammed the cover of his notebook closed, face burning red.

Fuck.

He wasn’t supposed to see that when pretending to write notes and look casual, all Richie had done in reality was just scribble a bunch all over the page. He needed to save this.

“Lemme explain,” Richie started, “I-”

“Tozier!” Their history teacher cut Richie off. “Shut it and pay attention. Class is starting.”

Sighing in defeat, Richie slumped down in his seat, red with embarrassment. He didn’t even glance Eddie’s direction the entire period.

#reddie #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #stan uris #beverly marsh #ben hanscom #bill denbrough #the losers club #it movie 2017 #it stephen king

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witchymarvelspacecase · 7 years

Text

The Best of Friends: Epilogue

Jim Kirk x Reader

Y/N: your name | Y/L/N: your last name | Y/N/N: your nickname

Word Count: 1412

This is TOOTH ROTTING fluff and feels... sorry

A/N: I was only gonna do two parts, but as soon as I finished the last one, I thought of more to do, so y’all get an epilogue. Many thanks to @writingwithadinosaur (as always) for being her fabulous self, and assisting me!

“So… I have a surprise for you,” Jim smiled as the two of you disembarked from the ship. It was nice to have semi-solid ground under your feet again, even if Yorktown was a man-made planet.

“You know how I feel about surprises, Jim,” you groaned, closing your eyes and rolling your head back on your shoulders in a dramatic fashion. He grabbed your hand and continued to pull you through the berthing area towards the exit, making your way onto the street outside.

“I know, but I really think you’ll make an exception for this one.”

Not that he’d put you out of your misery though. Nope, he told you that you wouldn’t get your surprise until after you’d showered and slept for a while. Of course both of those activities were extended since Jim insisted on participating in them with you.

He still hadn’t told you anything as you dressed for dinner. He was taking you off the main base, so you were both wearing civilian clothes (Jim / Y/N); they felt strange and almost uncomfortable after wearing only your uniform for so long.

“Jim, seriously. This is gonna give me an ulcer.”

“If you haven’t developed one after 4 years on the Enterprise with me, 5 more minutes won’t give you one. But I can call Bones when we’re done if that’ll make you feel better.” He shot you a cocky grin over his shoulder and laughed when you pouted.

He took you into a restaurant that was designed to look like an old earth diner; vinyl booths, white tables with metal trim, and a sound system made to look like an ancient jukebox. Jim sat on the side of the booth facing the door, gaining another glare from you, but he swore there was a good reason. You both ordered your drinks and you were about to nag him again when you were stopped by a voice behind you.

“Y/N/N?”

“I-Isaac?” you stuttered. Eyes widening, you looked to Jim. Jim was watching you with a growing smile on his face as you turned and saw your baby brother, tears falling from your eyes as you stood quickly, and wrapped your arms around Isaac tightly.

He looked so different, and yet, the same. He had lost his baby fat and grown at least two feet since you’d last seen him, but his eyes were the same, his smile was the same, and although his voice was deeper, your name sounded the same leaving his mouth.

“How… what… why are you here? How’d you get here?” You couldn’t form sentences as you pulled back from the hug enough that you could see his face; keeping a hold of his arms. You still weren’t sure he was real. Could you dream while you were still conscious?

“The captain over there,” Isaac tilted his head, indicating Jim who was still sitting in the booth, “he called and arranged a, what did you call it?” he looked over at Jim then.

“An educational opportunity,” Jim answered, a small smirk on his face.

“An educational opportunity, for my class. He really only offered it to me, but he made it look like it was for the whole class so mom would let me go.”

You kept yourself from jumping into Jim’s arms, but only barely.

And the surprise didn’t stop there; Bones, Chekov, Sulu, Spock, Uhura, and Scotty appeared about an hour later. Jim smiled as he told you that he wanted you to be able to introduce your families to one another. More tears ensued. Isaac and Pavel got along like a house afire; they were similar in age, and although Isaac wasn’t quite as advanced as Pavel in mathematics, he shocked everyone with his knowledge in medicine. Leonard McCoy was smiling and talking to Isaac frequently through the night.

“I can’t believe I didn’t know you had a brother?” Uhura smiled and nudged you with her elbow as she sat next to you. You were sitting in the booth, watching as your brother talked to Spock, you couldn’t hear their conversation, but Isaac seemed very invested.

“I didn’t mean to hide him, I just…”

“Don’t worry, Y/N, I understand. I’m just glad I got to meet him.” You smiled and hugged her awkwardly as Spock came back to the booth; Isaac now talking to Jim and Scotty.

“Your brother is quite knowledgeable, Y/N.”

“Thanks, Spock. I had no idea he was into medicine. I haven’t seen him in years actually.”

“That is understandable, I have heard a bit about your childhood from Isaac. He says you were the reason he was able to grow as much as he did.”

Uhura shared a soft look with you as Spock pulled her away. You stayed sitting where you were, closing your eyes and fighting tears for what felt like the millionth time that night.

“You know Captain Kirk said that he would help me apply for advance admission to the academy?” Isaac’s voice came from in front of you; when you opened your eyes, he was sitting across from you. You looked at him, a smile on your face, before looking to Jim who was now talking with Sulu and Chekov.

“You interested?” you asked. The two of you had caught up a bit, and it sounded like, although your parents hadn’t improved much, Isaac was managing pretty well. As much as you would love for your brother to escape, and as much as you loved Starfleet, you didn’t want him to feel like he had to take Jim’s offer.

“Are you kidding?” Isaac laughed, “I’ve got a well known, hero of a captain willing to recommend me and I get to be closer to my badass hero of a sister?! Hell yeah I’m interested!”

You could feel a blush rising on your face and your cheeks were sore from smiling, “Jim is that. I dunno that I’m as good as you say, but I would be ecstatic if you went to the academy. I’m already proud of you though, Isaac. You don’t have to do this just for me.”

Isaac looked at you for a moment, brow furrowed, before reaching across the table to grab your hands with his.

“Y/N, you are that good. You were a hero to me even before you joined Starfleet. You protected me, kept me safe, and let me become what I am. It’s only because of you that I could do anything that I have done. And I worked harder knowing that it would get me closer to you. I’ve missed you so much, Y/N, and if this will get me closer to you, I’m gonna do it. If I get awesome school and career opportunities too, that’s just a bonus.”

…

Hours later, after finally falling into bed, you curled into Jim; resting your head on his chest and wrapping your arms around his waist.

“So did you like your surprise?”

“I don’t know if I will ever be able to tell you how much,” you said raising your head so you could look into his eyes, “James Kirk, you are quite possibly the most wonderful, caring, thoughtful person I have ever met, and I love you, so much.” Tears slipped down your cheeks, but as Jim reached a hand up to brush them away, you caught his hand and pressed a kiss to his palm.

“Thank you, Jim, for everything.”

“Anything, Y/N. I will do anything for you. Always” he said softly, moving his other hand to wipe away your tears and pull you in for a deep kiss.

“Now, about how you’ll repay me…” he said, smiling against your lips.

“Aaaand, moment over,” you thought as you snorted and laughed, trying to pull away from him, but he wrapped his arms around you, and held you firmly to his chest.

“Nope, you’re not getting away from me, Y/N/N. You’re stuck here, with me, forever.”

You sighed dramatically, falling limply on his chest, “I can’t imagine a worse scenario. How will I ever survive?” You pressed a kiss to his pectoral just before reaching around and tickling him relentlessly.

“AH! God I take it back! NO! Leave me alone demon woman!”

“Nope! You’re stuck with me, Jimmy,” you crowed, wrapping your arms around his waist again and resting your chin on his chest so you could look into his smiling face.

“And I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

Perma Tags: @buckyappreciationsociety @17marvelousfreak @melconnor2007 @feelmyroarrrr @addictionmarvel @writingwithadinosaur

BoF Tags: @yourtropegirl @eufeme @enterprisewriting @nickyquinnwrites @magellan-88

#jim kirk x reader #jim kirk aos #kirk fic #fluffy kirk fic #the best of friends

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meirilorii · 7 years

Text

Wintery Kiss

A Detective Conan and Magic Kaito (DCxMK) fanfic

Summary:

“How did you even find me here Shin-chan?”

A fond chuckle. “Of course I’d find you. I’ve been chasing you for years now that you won’t be able to hide from me anymore, KID-san.”

Kaito pouted, curious, but smiling all the same. “That doesn’t answer my question the slightest bit oh great detective.”

Kaishin/shinkai

Cross posted from Ao3 under MeiriLorii

It was a dark, cold night.

The wind blew past in low freezing degrees as everything around him constantly turned colder, moving his clothes and mussing up his already tousled hair as a few more unruly cowlicks were swept up in several different directions. Exhaling a puff of warm condensing air, the young man sitting desolately by the only occupied bench tugged his light thin clothes —certainly not ones for this kind of weather— firmly around his body in a weak attempt to conserve body heat, contemplating.

It was pretty useless, he knew, as he could barely feel the frigid air. Although.. should he be worried..? Some panicky part of his brain had been whispering that the numbness should be an alarming forewarning that his body was not getting the right temperature it needed. Warmth. But he could barely remember the feeling as he stared at the hand he had been unconsciously rubbing the entire time he had been sitting there. Waiting.

Oh. Right. He had been waiting for someone to make an appearance, right? But for the life of him he couldn’t remember who he’s been waiting for this entire time. Who’d be so important to warrant his patience to wait out in the open with the weather this unstable? Was he even waiting for somehow who will make it or would this be in vain?

Actually, he couldn’t really remember much from the time he had woken up from that brightly lit room. Just that he had to come to this place, something familiar, whatever it might cost him because apparently some part of him feels that this place was important; that it held a remarkably meaningful memory that refused to be recovered from deep within the pit of scrambled mess that was his brain.

This had to some kind of weird dream. He knew from some part deep inside him that people don’t just forget everything in one day. They don’t just wake up from an unknown place he subconsciously knew as a hospital room only to go someplace they thought they should be but apparently couldn’t seem to figure out the reason behind as to why.

He couldn’t even remember his name.. Why his left hand had been covered in bandages —something that had become a makeshift glove— and the faint desperate feeling still thrumming through his adrenaline pumped veins when he had run away from that room.

The young man had to be missing something important, and the thought itself made his head hurt that he had stopped trying to think of it too much in hopes that the pounding headache would just stop.

Somewhere far across the male, the large clocktower chimed its musical bell, the large hand moving to point directly upward towards the sky as it rang its call before midnight.

One more hour..

Just then, sometime after, something soft dropped down bellow his left eye to turn into freezing liquid, moving down his cheek before the wind started to pick up again from its earlier lazy breeze.

Snow. His mind supplied once more as he held his bare and almost frozen hand outward to catch more of the falling white flakes as they started to descent down from the puffy greyish-white clouds overhead.

He could barely recall —a memory?— being drenched as the cold ball of ice soaked through his coat and clothes, someone throwing him a handful in retaliation to start a playful snowball fight. Either that or they’d form something out of the pile that had accumulated that day. (Who’s idea it was or if those were even real or a figment of his imagination, he’s not sure anymore.) Of warm fireplaces, shared blankets and cups of hot beverages. Lazy and comfortable silences that droned on as the nearby grandfather clock slowly ticked away the seconds to lull him into a light sleep..

It was somehow disconcerting how he was starting to long for something he couldn’t even fully remember, but nonethess, he surmised that the winter chill couldn’t be much good for his sore and bandaged up self. (He’s only clad in a pair of what should be his jeans and a light long sleeved shirt. Not exactly heavy and heat conserving.)

But.. He was starting to feel sleepy. He’s tired and he just wanted to take small nap..

Unable to stop his lids from dropping, he fell into a light daze like slumber..

“Hey, Kaito, what do you want to do for Christmas?”

The innocent question snapped said magician out of the mathematical equation he had, for once, been studying about for exams. Normally, Kaito would just wave his hand and skim through his text books with an uncaring air. He usually passed with flying colors anyway even with his obvious inattentiveness during lessons but for now, he deemed a few brush ups and advance topics would do him fairly well especially with his course of action for next week.

Which he hadn’t informed Shinichi as of yet.

And the detective had been the one to bring up about the incoming holidays.. Which was a bit unusual ever since he had known Kudou Shinichi and had started to drop by frequently by the mansion after they had sorted out their own individual mess. Out of the five years that he had known him, this was a first for Christmas, —this year being the one he had managed to finally have the courage to ask Shinichi if he could room with him because despite one of the guest rooms practically being his by now, he still wants to make sure he’s welcomed to stay for far longer than a few days. It was just too spacious and quiet by himself and he just figured that with both of them living by themselves, it wouldn’t be so bad.

Well, it had always been Kaito forcing him out of work for a much deserved break so..

Ah. Shit.

“Eh.. Christmas?” Chuckling sheepishly, Kaito scratched the back of his head lightly, tapping one end of his mechanical pencil by the corner of his lips as he sent his roommate a crooked grin.

Shinichi in return just blinked at him, one raised eyebrow urging him to go on and elaborate as he went back to typing away in his own laptop. Kaito willed himself not to read in too much on the small shift of his body language, telling himself that it was most definitely not disappointment that had shined through the other’s azure eyes for the briefest of seconds before it went back to the usual indifferent stare.

Thief or no thief, he still thinks that the detective was very much annoying whenever he does that. Closing him off as if he couldn’t read him. And well, maybe the smallest bit challenging and attractive. But that’s from a tiny part of his brain that he had tucked way back since it always sprouted nonsense about adorable snappy detectives..

Shaking his head to rid himself of such distracting thoughts, the magician opened his mouth for a response, feeling much like a bastard who’s just making excuses and he cringed inwardly even as his face outwardly showed his deepest sincerity.

“It was just yesterday and I would have told you about it right away but then you’ve got a case until late in the evening.. ” Shrugging lightly, he leaned his head over the heel of his right hand, left hand absently flipping his pen between his fingers and nervousness showing through as the pace picked up with the detective’s show of near callousness.

“Anyways, Kaa-san called and informed me about having scheduled a magic show over New York. Something about a Christmas reunion between her and Oyaji’s common friends that I just have to make a small show for.” Trailing off, he counted off a few seconds before adding. “I was scheduled to go next week and will probably be gone for the duration of about two weeks until after Christmas and well.. I was wondering if somehow you’d be able to come too since we’re given an early break..”

Kaito already knew the answer, but he mentally crossed his fingers anyway.

The continuous clicking and clacking of keys stopped momentarily as Shinichi leaned back on his armchair after a beat of tense silence from Kaito. He looked worn out around the edges and the magician made a mental note to himself that he’d have to pester the detective this weekend just to have the other stop wasting away his day offs solving through a bunch of case files and either going or stumbling over crime scenes.

Apparently, Kaito was Shinichi’s living, walking, and working omamori that cancels out the detective’s corpse magnet abilities. Kaito would always remind him so whenever he’d drag him out for an impromptu vacation and Shinichi would just sigh every time and submit to his whims with little to no struggle. Though the magician secretly likes to think that that’s because his companion might enjoy those out of the blue outings with him.

And it wasn’t like he has anything to lose when they both have everything to gain out of it anyways.

Shinichi’s a detective, but as much as he loves his work and would do anything for justice, Kaito knew that sometimes things just felt too dark that sleep couldn’t even save him from nightmares, the magician dragging him out whenever he felt like the detective needs an out for a while. He empathized with that fairly well. “That sounds great Kaito.” Shinichi’s grin looked genuine although it doesn’t seem to reach his eyes. Kaito knew that look far too much —he’s pretty used to that by now, so why did he feel as if he had just been punched in the gut?— that he had anticipated the next words even before the other opened his mouth to continue, “Your mother must be really proud of you and I’m happy that you can finally start your career from here but.. ”

Kaito cut him off when Shinichi’s words skirted around the conversation, his mind, for once, was unable to come up with the correct set of sentences.

Lips twitching upward into a slight smile —the magician couldn’t do more than that else it would be too fake. “ Yeah. Kaa-san won’t stop telling me that over the phone, so kind of guessed she was.” His normally cheery tone was a tad more neutral than usual, but Shinichi, who he was sure to have caught the slight change, didn’t say anything. Kaito sensed the guilt however, the tenseness over the other’s shoulders, and he suddenly felt undeniably warm as his smile softened into a decidedly indulgent grin.

“But hey, after you’re done with that case with Takagi-keiji, we could always celebrate the new years together, right?” If his words had come out more hopeful, neither decided to comment about it.

The detective should have expected that part really, what with the moonlighting thief’s habit of sending his doves after him after a certain accident —not so much of an accident as it was a cleverly planned one. Though.. That meant Kaito knew and had still tried to ask him if he would be able to make it. Isn’t it just sad that this almost felt like he’s abandoning the other?

He should be feeling annoyed with all the stalking, but he only felt fond exasperation, the latter one winning out over his features as he crossed his arms with a soft sigh.

“Why do I even bother?” Shaking his head, Shinichi could feel a tug on his lips and he didn’t even bother to hide his amusement as he faced the magician fully from his position. “Just try not to blow the house up with all the fireworks.”

And Kaito’s laugh, relieved and content, rang over the halls of the Kudou residence, filling the previously empty house with its warmth.

“-to! ”

He could faintly hear someone shouting something, the words and meaning lost to him as he was still feeling groggy from the impromptu nap.

“Oi! Kai-”

Someone was shaking him now, and even though he felt quite annoyed with the treatment to his limp body, he couldn’t bother to bring himself to move just yet. His eyes felt as if it was bolted close and his arms and legs heavy with lead.

“—you said…”

What were they saying? He couldn’t really think much of anything else at the moment, head feeling as if stuffed with cotton. That was before his head throbbed with a vengeance, more vicious and twice the earlier pain, forcing him to move much closer to that comforting wamth. A soft near inaudible whimper left his dry throat when the movement aggravated what should be numb skin and flesh, bandages slowly being stained red.

“You idiot!”

As the fog over his senses slowly lifted, Kaito could feel his source of warmth shake but he was still unable to discern the reason as to why with his brain still trying to reboot.

“Why’d you..” A choked whisper as the speaker tried to regain composure. “Gods Kaito.. We’ve been searching for you for hours and you’re nowhere to be found. I thought.. I thought he got you this time for good and..”

..What?

Oh. Was that Shinichi? It sure sounds like it. He must be suffering from a pretty bad concussion if he’s ever forgotten his favourite critic for even just a second. But that also doesn’t sound quite about right. Why would Shinichi be acting like this and be reduce to such a mess?

“-nichi?” His voice was horribly hoarse that Kaito gave a brief thought about drinking something to patch the soreness of his throat.

The detective immediately froze before he slowly leaned his head back from the embrace he’s wrapped the magician with, turning wide blue eyes at the groaning bundle in his arms and clashing with hazy and clearly pained and disoriented indigo.

Unable to word anything out the first few seconds with waves of relief spreading through Shinichi’s stiff form, he sagged back down around the other, arms holding him in a carefully tight hold to avoid aggravating his wounds any more that they already are.

A comforting silence settled between them, Kaito returning the hug as much as he could without hurting himself by moving too much. Both of them just basking in each other’s presence, not wanting to break the moment just yet.

It was Shinichi who did.

“I’m sorry.” His memories are still a jumbled mess but Kaito supposed that he should have seen this one coming from Shinichi. The amount guilt from the words alone does not sit well with him. “If only I had picked you up at the airport in time then..”

No. It wasn’t his fault, really. “I don’t blame you Shinichi. The case was important and—”

“You don’t understand Kaito!” Cutting him off, the other male raked a frustrated hand through his otherwise neatly combed hair, which Kaito only now realized looked much like his own nest of messy strands from the abuse it must have gone through this whole time. “The guy we’ve been after, the serial killings all pointed towards the same thing and.. and after we finally traced the next victim..” Another choked sound escaped him and the magician suddenly had a horrible feeling where this was leading to.

He decided to shut the detective up before he could start getting all logical on him. He likes that part of Shinichi, —he’d even admit to having admired him because of it, that strong sense of justice— he really does. But sometimes, when it comes to times like this, letting him go on gives him more reason to blame himself for something and thus pulling him deeper into self-reproach.

“Shinichi.” He started, breathing through his mouth and noticing his companion shiver lightly in his arms. “It’s not your fault. I can’t remember much but I think I saw you before I black out. You were able to stop him before he was able to really get me right?”

“Yes, but—”

“The plane landed earlier than planned considering the anticipated heavy snow. Not your fault I was planning on surprising you at the precinct.” Kaito waited for more rebuttals from the detective and continued on when nothing came. “You came to stop him. That’s all that matters to me.”

Shinichi shook his head, a shaky breath slipping past chapped lips. “I could have lost you. I.. He was able to escape as I was checking you for serious injuries. I thought he got you for real when you disappeared from your room.” It ended with a soft whisper, traces of fear still evident.

He snuggled closer towards his roommate, content, more than willing to provide physical reassurance. “I’m fine. I’m here. I could only imagine that you caught him this time with a painful hit by that soccer ball of death of yours.” A simple statement that spoke volumes of how much faith he had on the other.

“Yes.” It seems that Shinichi understood perfectly well, the implications not lost to him with how he tightened his hold around the weakened magician. “Yes I did..”

The silence stretched on as the tension slowly left the detective.

“How did you even find me here Shin-chan?”

A fond chuckle as Shinichi propped his head over Kaito’s, rubbing his back soothingly, willingly sharing body heat. “Of course I’d find you. I’ve been chasing you for years now that you won’t be able to hide from me anymore, KID-san.”

Kaito pouted, curious, but smiling all the same. “That doesn’t answer my question the slightest bit oh great detective.”

Faint snicker. “To be honest? I’ve sort of had a feeling that I’d find you here. You’ve always been the sentimental type and this was the place we’ve first met so I just went with my instinct.”

“Really?” The magician let out an amused snort, knowing there was more to it that the detective isn’t telling but willing to let it go with how tired he was.

Shinichi lightly laughed, shaking his head. “Kaito?”

“Mmh?”

“Please just.. don’t do that again.”

Smiling from his position on the detective’s lap, Kaito hummed, not wanting to risk nodding his head as he shifted just the tiniest bit closer, enjoying the scent of pine and mint that was solely Shinichi. “Okay.”

“..and Kaito?”

He was starting to get sleepy again, only this time he felt safe and warm, being wrapped securely with Shinichi watching over him. He certainly could get used to this. “Yes?”

“Let’s get you back home.”

“Yeah.” Grin stretching wider, and with all the warmth he could muster, Kaito glanced up towards Shinichi as he was carefully lifted up into his arms. The first time the other had admitted it to be just that after the past year of Kaito moving in with him. “Home.”

And as the clocktower strike midnight, Shinichi gave the now slumbering magician a feather light kiss on his forehead, silently promising to himself to always treasure something so precious.

#<< written fics >>#<< written oneshots >>>#<< otp >>#dcmk #dcmknet #kaishin #kuroba kaito #kudou shinichi #<333 #(( i've been gone for so loong and yeah #(( so here's a one shot i've already posted at ffnet and ao3

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dorcasrempel · 5 years

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Sending clearer signals

In the secluded Russian city where Yury Polyanskiy grew up, all information about computer science came from the outside world. Visitors from distant Moscow would occasionally bring back the latest computer science magazines and software CDs to Polyanskiy’s high school for everyone to share.

One day while reading a borrowed PC World magazine in the mid-1990s, Polyanskiy learned about a futuristic concept: the World Wide Web.

Believing his city would never see such wonders of the internet, he and his friends built their own. Connecting an ethernet cable between two computers in separate high-rises, they could communicate back and forth. Soon, a handful of other kids asked to be connected to the makeshift network.

“It was a pretty challenging engineering problem,” recalls Polyanskiy, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, who recently earned tenure. “I don’t remember exactly how we did it, but it took us a whole day. You got a sense of just how contagious the internet could be.”

Thanks to the then-recent fall of the Iron Curtain, Polyanskiy’s family did eventually connect to the internet. Soon after, he became interested in computer science and then information theory, the mathematical study of storing and transmitting data. Now at MIT, his most exciting work centers on preventing major data-transmission issues with the rise of the “internet of things” (IoT). Polyanskiy is a member of the of the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems, the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, and the Statistics and Data Science Center.

Today, people carry around a smartphone and maybe a couple smart devices. Whenever you watch a video on your smartphone, for example, a nearby cell tower assigns you an exclusive chunk of the wireless spectrum for a certain time. It does so for everyone, making sure the data never collide.

The number IoT devices is expected to explode, however. People may carry dozens of smart devices; all delivered packages may have tracking sensors; and smart cities may implement thousands of connected sensors in their infrastructure. Current systems can’t divvy up the spectrum effectively to stop data from colliding. That will slow down transmission speeds and make our devices consume much more energy in sending and resending data.

“There may soon be a hundredfold explosion of devices connected to the internet, which is going to clog the spectrum, and there will be no way to ensure interference-free transmission. Entirely new access approaches will be needed,” Polyanskiy says. “It’s the most exciting thing I’m working on, and it’s surprising that no one is talking much about it.”

From Russia, with love of computer science

Polyanskiy grew up in a place that translates in English to “Rainbow City,” so named because it was founded as a site to develop military lasers. Surrounded by woods, the city had a population of about 15,000 people, many of them engineers.

In part, that environment got Polyanskiy into computer science. At the age of 12, he started coding — “and for profit,” he says. His father was working for an engineering firm, on a team that was programming controllers for oil pumps. When the lead programmer took another position, they were left understaffed. “My father was discussing who can help. I was sitting next to him, and I said, ‘I can help,’” Polyanskiy says. “He first said no, but I tried it and it worked out.”

Soon after, his father opened his own company for designing oil pump controllers and brought Polyanskiy on board while he was still in high school. The business gained customers worldwide. He says some of the controllers he helped program are still being used today.

Polyanskiy earned his bachelor’s in physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, a top university worldwide for physics research. But then, interested in pursuing electrical engineering for graduate school, he applied to programs in the U.S. and was accepted to Princeton University.

In 2005, he moved to the U.S. to attend Princeton, which came with cultural shocks “that I still haven’t recovered from,” Polyanskiy jokes. For starters, he says, the U.S. education system encourages interaction with professors. Also, the televisions, gaming consoles, and furniture in residential buildings and around campus were not placed under lock and key.

“In Russia, everything is chained down,” Polyanskiy says. “I still can’t believe U.S. universities just keep those things out in the open.”

At Princeton, Polyanskiy wasn’t sure which field to enter. But when it came time to select, he asked one rather discourteous student about studying under a giant in information theory, Sergio Verdú. The student told Polyanskiy he wasn’t smart enough for Verdú — so Polyanskiy got defiant. “At that moment, I knew for certain that Sergio would be my number one pick,” Polyanskiy says, laughing. “When people say I can’t do something, that’s usually the best way to motivate me.”

At Princeton, working under Verdú, Polyanskiy focused on a component of information theory that deals with how much redundancy to send with data. Each time data transmit, they are perturbed by some noise. Adding duplicate data means less data get lost in that noise. Researchers thus study the optimal amounts of redundancy to reduce signal loss but keep transmissions fast.

In his graduate work, Polyanskiy pinpointed sweet spots for redundancy when transmitting hundreds or thousands of data bits in packets, which is mostly how data are transmitted online today.

Getting hooked

After earning his PhD in electrical engineering from Princeton, Polyanskiy finally did come to MIT, his “dream school,” in 2011, but as a professor. MIT had helped pioneer some information theory research and introduced the first college courses in the field.

Some call information theory “a green island,” he says, “because it’s hard to get into but once you’re there, you’re very happy. And information theorists can be seen as snobby.” When he came to MIT, Polyanskiy says, he was narrowly focused on his work. But he experienced yet another cultural shock — this time in a collaborative and bountiful research culture.

MIT researchers are constantly presenting at conferences, holding seminars, collaborating, and “working on about 20 projects in parallel,” Polyanskiy says. “I was hesitant that I could do quality research like that, but then I got hooked. I became more broad-minded, thanks to MIT’s culture of drinking from a fire hose. There’s so much going on that eventually you get addicted to learning fields that are far away from you own interests.”

In collaboration with other MIT researchers, Polyanskiy’s group now focuses on finding ways to split up the spectrum in the coming IoT age. So far, his group has mathematically proven that the systems in use today do not have the capabilities and energy to do so. They’ve also shown what types of alternative transmission systems will and won’t work.

Inspired by his own experiences, Polyanskiy likes to give his students “little hooks,” tidbits of information about the history of scientific thought surrounding their work and about possible future applications. One example is explaining philosophies behind randomness to mathematics students who may be strictly deterministic thinkers. “I want to give them a little taste of something more advanced and outside scope of what they’re studying,” he says.

After spending 14 years in the U.S., the culture has shaped the Russian native in certain ways. For instance, he’s accepted a more relaxed and interactive Western teaching style, he says. But it extends beyond the classroom, as well. Just last year, while visiting Moscow, Polyanskiy found himself holding a subway rail with both hands. Why is this strange? Because he was raised to keep one hand on the subway rail, and one hand over his wallet to prevent thievery. “With horror, I realized what I was doing,” Polyanskiy says, laughing. “I said, ‘Yury, you’re becoming a real Westerner.’”

Sending clearer signals syndicated from https://osmowaterfilters.blogspot.com/

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