#looks like none of the grocery stores are hiring

[writersdrug]

Training for Two

Chapter 1. Interview

Masterlist

SUMMARY: After Riley's injury on a mission, she can no longer be a part of the task force. Simon reluctantly starts looking for a dog-sitter to watch her while he's away for work, and that's when you show up on his doorstep.

Warnings: none

Simon Riley would have laughed if anyone had suggested that he needed a dog-sitter.

Riley, his eighty-pound German Shepherd and only family (outside of the 141, of course), went with him everywhere. Grocery store? There she was, K-9 vest on to avoid getting the stink eye from trouble-stirring strangers. Missions? She was there, working alongside Simon, and when she couldn't join, she was safe and tucked away on the animal unit back on base. At the small, one-story unit he called home? You'd better believe she's sitting on the couch next to him as he watches the telly, trying not to succumb to his daily nap. He never considered having a dog-walker care for her, since there was hardly a second where she wasn't walking right there with him.

But of course, as expected - life threw him a curveball.

The mission had gone well so far; everyone was booking it to exfil, hardly worrying about the few enemies left who could barely manage to fire their guns. Simon and Riley were sprinting to the heli, Simon already imagining how he was going to take a fat nap when he got back to base, when he heard it - amidst the sparce gunshots, Riley's pained yelp.

Simon had never shot someone so fast, but before he knew it, there was a bullet planted between the enemy soldier's eyes. Simon rushed to scoop Riley into his arms as she whined and howled - he loaded her onto the helicopter with Soap's help, hands shaking as he looked for the damage. Her right hind leg was bleeding, and every time he tried to look at it, she snapped her teeth in his direction with a shrill yap.

Simon couldn't hear Price as he promised to get her into surgery ASAP. He didn't register Gaz wrapping gauze around her leg as he carried her off the heli and into the medbay. He couldn't hear Johnny trying to comfort him as they stood in the hall, waiting for her to come out of the operating room so Simon could finally see her again. The only thing he could comprehend was her cries, her blood, and the fact that he was responsible for all this.

It wasn't a lethal injury, he knew that. But he assumed, and the vet later confirmed that she wouldn't be fit to continue working. And that terrified him. He had to continue working - what would happen to her? He wouldn't put her up for adoption, in fact, he'd nearly bit the head off the poor soldier who had suggested the idea. She'd be coming home with him, once she had fully healed, but then what? How would he take care of her when he had to go on missions?

He couldn't. Much to his chagrin, and as much as he hated the thought of her being under anyone else's responsibility, he was forced to hire a pet-sitter. He begrudgingly posted ads online, and even put his request up at the local doggie-daycare, despite having never sent Riley there. It didn't take long after bringing Riley home before people began to answer his ad, and he plucked a good handful of them to interview over the weekend.

So, there he was - sitting in the breakfast nook with Riley at his feet, silently judging each interviewee that had walked into his home. He was quite disappointed in the selection.

Simon had already decided 'no' to nearly every dog sitter that had answered his ad. He sat across from them as they described their skills and achievements, bored out of his mind as they treated the interview like it was a college application. He didn't want an egotistical, decorated twat caring for his dog... if Riley didn't care about this bloke being voted 'dog-walker of the month' by the doggie daycare, why should he?

He knew it came down to much more than that - but he was going by Riley's reaction, too. And so far, she was uninterested in all seven that he had interviewed thay day. She sat by Simon's feet, bum leg out and eyes zoning out on the stranger's shoes as they droned on. No one had actually paid much attention to her, instead focusing on impressing Simon.

He hated to admit it, but a boarding house for dogs might be the best option.

He had just scratched the second to last name off of his list of interviewees, pouring himself a cup of coffee at 4 pm, when a knock rapped at his door. He sighed, looking down at Riley; she was laying on her side, huffing at the fact that the random visits from random people was still going on.

"One more, eh?" Simon said, reaching down to ruffle her ears. She groaned through her nostrils in annoyance as he straightened out and walked towards the door.

He reluctantly opened it to find you standing there.

You, with nothing but your phone and keys, wearing a t shirt, oversized plaid, leggings, and sneakers. No folder full of resumes and reviews, no bone-shaped doggie bag holders... the only other thing you had was an apologetic look on your face.

"Hi." You said warily.

"Evenin'." Simon responded, leaning against the door.

You sighed. "I should let you know- well, aren't I being rude..." You rolled your eyes at yourself and stuck your hand out at him. You stated your name with a sheepish smile.

He stared at your hand for a second, before shaking it with his own. "Simon."

The way your eyes lingered on his hand after he had gripped it so firmly didn't go unnoticed by him - but you quickly regained focus. "Well - before you waste your time on me, I should explain: I didn't read the posting correctly, and I thought this was a house-sitting gig. Only just noticed when I checked the address before I left... figured I'd still stop by since I told you I would."

You were looking at the ground out of embarrassment at this point. Simon's brow furrowed as he observed you. House-sitting isn't horrendously different from pet-sitting... he thought. "Well-"

"But I love dogs!" You quickly interjected. "Had three of them growing up, two bullies and a golden! Loves of my life, they are- never a day I didn't walk them. Well, besides that one week for Becca's wedding- and when my Nan had that nasty virus and I had to check up... on her..."

Simon's raised brow must have made you realize the tangent you had embarked on, because you snapped your mouth shut. You cleared your throat nervously and shifted on your feet.

Simon was the tiniest bit entertained. "And how's your Nan now?" He asked.

"Oh, much better." You said with a smile. "'Course, that was four years ago... she- she's alive, I mean! God, that sounded morbid, didn't it?"

Simon huffed out a laugh, before he stepped to the side and nodded his head towards the inside. "C'mon in - you came out this way, might as well chat. Could maybe use a house-sitter, too."

You muttered a quick 'thanks' and stepped inside, immediately taking note of how pristine and bare the home was. No decorations, only dark grey furniture with darker accents... the closest thing to decor was probably the mauve throw blanket over the back of the sofa.

"You like cleaning?" You speculated, following Simon into the kitchen.

"Not home enough to get it dirty." He replied nonchalantly, seating himself at the breakfast nook. He took a sip from his mug as he shoved a hand in his sweatshirt pocket. "Coffee?"

"Oh, no thanks." You shook your head politely. "Not now, anyways. I'll be up all-"

You cut your reasoning short when you spotted Riley, sitting still by Simon's feet. "Oh, hello!" You chirped, lowering yourself down to your knees and reaching your knuckles towards her, palm-up. "You must be Riley!"

She hesitated, then sniffed your knuckles, huffed, sniffed again, and thumped her tail slowly. She tilted her head back and looked at Simon with a questioning glance.

He chuckled, rubbing between her ears. He watched as you fished a small baggie from your pocket, taking out one of the lumpy, golden balls from the contents. You held it up for Simon to see.

"Peanut butter bacon cookie." You said, and Riley sniffed the air between her and the treat. "No sugars, no preservatives. Picked some up from the daycare on the way here."

Simon nodded once. "You can give-"

Before he could finish, Riley flawlessly snatched the cookie from between your fingers, downing it in a few bites. She licked her lips and stared at you as you laughed.

"Where are your manners?!" You said, poking her side. She followed your finger with her nose, searching for another treat.

You looked back at Simon. "I hope that was alright."

Simon shrugged, though he silently scolded Riley for accepting something from a stranger so quickly. "She'll survive."

Over the next hour - which was twice as long as he had entertained anyone that day - Simon listened to you ramble about your qualifications. Except, you didn't mention reviews, awards, or self achievements. You talked about your family dogs (the two pitbulls, Rowena and Charlemagne, and the golden retriever, Donald). You described the time you took care of your neighbor's schnauzer and home when she had to make a last minute trip to Berlin for two weeks. You talked about the best trails for dogs based on the texture of the ground and the environment (the younger dogs liked Swan's trail more, due to the thicker, woody area; older ones seemed to like Ellington park, where it was more of a suburban area with smoother paths). You rattled on about how that damn husky in the apartment across from you is always yelling, and how you really should invest in some noise-cancelling headphones.

Simon listened to every word you said. You seemed to know more than just how to walk a dog - it was almost as if you knew their language. You didn't just live with them, you cared about their personalities and preferences. He had a subconscious appreciation for how you regarded them - despite trying to keep up the act thay he was unhappy about needing a dog-sitter, he liked you.

And clearly, so did Riley. She was laying at Simon's feet, completely relaxed, eyes flitting between you and your hand movements as you spoke. You would occasionally look down to her, as if you were letting her know that she was also a part of the conversation, and she would lift her head ever so slightly and stare back - like she was listening.

"- and she decided that the day before my biochemistry exam, she was going to take her frustration out on my notes! Papers everywhere, even my sticky notes were torn up! You'd think she had a personal vendetta against me, wouldn't you?" You looked down at Riley for affirmation, and she looked back at you and slapped her tail against the floor a few times.

Simon chuckled, then sighed. "Well- I think you're more than qualified for this, and I think she likes you." He nudged Riley with his foot, who looked at him and huffed.

Your eyes widened. "Does that mean I got the job?"

He nodded. "Don't know when I'll be deployed next, but it should be soon. I'll send you an email with Riley's routine, and if you want to make some extra cash, I'll include some things you can do around the house."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" You exclaimed. You leaned down to Riley, who reached her head out and sniffed the air between your faces. "Ya hear that girl? You're stuck with me!"

Simon chuckled and stood up, followed by you and Riley. "You can expect to hear from me by Tuesday. I'll give you the spare key the morning I head out."

You followed him out of the kitchen and towards the front door. Riley pushed past you to stay close to Simon's side.

"That's fine. My schedule's flexible, I don't do much besides babysit. Also, let me know her preferences, like where she likes to walk, treats, toys, things like that."

Simon opened the door for you and you stepped outside, turning to face him on the landing. "Also - glad you didn't go with Mitchell. Bloke's a fraud."

Simon's brow raised as he leaned against the door. "S'cuse me?"

"Daniel Mitchell. Saw him on your piece of paper there." You replied, making Simon look down at the crumpled list of interviewees in his hand. "He was NOT dog-walker of the month - in fact, he was turned away when he applied to work at the daycare. He treated the dogs like they were cats, for gods sake! Said they don't actually need to be walked n' you can just let them in the backyard for a few minutes. He's out of his head!"

You sighed, tugging your keys out of your flannel pocket. "Anyways, I should get going. I'll look out for your email!" You turned and departed down the walkway, not sparing Simon a second glance as you left him in the doorway. "See you soon!"

He watched you climb into your small car, returning the wave you gave him before you pulled out of his driveway and disappeared down the street. Simon felt an odd stillness in his home - you had came and went like a storm, and the only evidence that you were ever here was the small baggie of peanut butter and bacon cookies on the kitchen table. He sighed, closing his front door and looking down at Riley.

"She's either gonna be the best, or the worst." He said, running a hand down his face.

Riley let out a groan, which turned into a high-pitched growl. She shifted her weight back and forth on each foot anxiously.

He raised an eyebrow. "Want t' go see Johnny?" He asked. She barked at the familiar name, running to where her leash hung in the closet.

He supposed it was about time. He hadn't seen his team since she was sent home. He knew she was probably aching to see someone other than him right now, and he was honestly going a little stir crazy himself, after spending so much time in the normal, civilian world.

He moved next to her, grabbing the leash and snapping it to her collar. She immediately ran back to the door and waited for him to open it, and he laughed.

"A'right, a'right... but no tackling Price this time. Nearly took out a few of his teeth last time, ya ninny."

Next ->

[helaintoloki]

the other Hargreeves siblings being absolutely teary-eyed on the day of y/n and Five’s wedding. they like to think of her as an adopted member of the family, because she’s gone through so much with them, gotten so close to death in multiple occasions while trying to save them. after everything, they never thought to see her live out the happy life she deserve, much less getting married to Five.

a/n: i am a sucker for found family tropes and wedding pieces so this was fun for me to write

warnings: none i think ? mostly fluff

Your stomach feels as if it’s tied into a million knots, and you can’t bring yourself to even touch the plate of fruit Klaus had fetched for you to nibble on as you got ready for the big day. Allison works diligently to perfect your look despite her insistence that you should have just let her hire a professional to get the job done, but you were adamant about keeping everything as simple as possible. Neither you nor Five wanted some big extravagant mess when it came to your ceremony, and if it had been up to you both you would have just settled for a courthouse marriage, but his family wouldn’t have it. You were finally becoming an official Hargreeves, and they deemed it necessary to celebrate with a proper wedding and reception despite the fact that there really would only be about ten guests at most.

You met Five in the apocalyptic ruins of the world while scavenging for food. Despite everyone you knew and cared about perishing in the gale of fire that blanketed the earth, you had miraculously survived. Call it pure luck for being at the right place at the right time, but you had been searching for a flashlight in your underground basement when the moon had been struck, and the reinforced steel structure of the room had kept you from suffering the same fate as everyone around you.

Neither of you trusted each other in the beginning, but you both were smart enough to realize that sticking together was necessary for your survival, and so you put aside your differences to travel the apocalyptic wasteland together. That’s not to say there weren’t times when you got on each others nerves or wanted to strangle him with your bare hands, but with time your partnership evolved into an actual friendship, and perhaps it could have evolved into more if not for the constant distractions that arose during your fight for survival.

Allison accidentally poking your eye with a mascara wand interrupts your moment of reminiscing, and she merely gives you an apologetic smile when you shoot her a look of annoyance in return.

“I told you we should have hired a professional,” she reminds you matter of factly only for you to lightly swat her hand away.

“And I told you I wanted to go down to the courthouse and pick up a sheet cake at the grocery store,” you counter with a raised brow. Sensing defeat, Allison relents with a small sigh and takes a step back to look at her masterpiece.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. It’s just our family doesn’t get to do these sorts of things very often, and it’s not every day I get a new sister.”

Your shoulders slump guilty at her admission, and you find yourself now feeling less combative against her than you initially were. Though you mentally are in your 50’s and no longer see a need to have a big wedding to marry a man you’ve known for basically your whole life, you still physically look like a young bride, so it’s only natural for Allison and the rest of Five’s siblings to want to treat you as such. From what Five has told you along with the stories that have been recounted in your presence, their lives have always been less than normal. You of all people can relate to that- growing up in an apocalypse, becoming a glorified secretary for a time-ordinance bureau while your only friend is out on assignments, risking your life to save the world, ending multiple apocalypses. The list could go on forever. They’re only trying to experience normal family milestones, so who are you to get in the way of that.

“No, I’m sorry,” you relent with a remorseful sigh. “I know you’re just trying to be nice, and I’m grateful for how quickly you and your siblings have welcomed me into the family despite how unconventional this all is. I really appreciate it.”

“Good, I’m glad you see it my way,” Allison teases playfully before finishing up the final touches on her masterpiece.

“Knock, knock,” Klaus singsongs from outside your dressing room before letting himself in. Proudly holding up the plastic wrap bag from its hanger, he announces, “Here I am with the dress, and as promised, nothing happened to it under my watch.”

“Thank you, Klaus,” you smile gratefully only for him to return the gesture with an affectionate pinch of your cheek.

“No need to thank me, sweetheart. I’m just so excited to finally have a little sister!”

“You know I’m technically older than you right?” You retort with a raised brow only for him to press a finger to your lips.

“Shh, don’t ruin this for me,” he gently corrects you before pressing a kiss to the crown of your head. You don’t miss the way his eyes begin to water at the sight of you with your hair and makeup done, but you’re kind enough not to point it out. Klaus had been the easiest of Five’s siblings to warm up to, always treating you like one of his own and roping you into his mischief despite your fiancé’s protests. The Seance couldn’t even count on one hand how many times you had been there to lend a shoulder for him to cry on when his addiction became too much or offer a supportive hand when his siblings had been less than eager to do so. He adored you, and he could nearly burst with pride at finally being able to call himself your brother.

“Alright, we have thirty minutes left to get you into that dress and down that isle,” Allison announces with a determined clap of her hands before snatching the dress from Klaus. “Are you ready to officially become Mrs. Hargreeves?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” you announce with a resigned sigh before immediately being pulled every which way by the two siblings to finish your ensamble.

You can’t wait to get this over with.

~~~

“You nervous?” Viktor whispers with a gentle nudge to Five’s side. Quiet chatter drifts through the air as the handful of guests that are present make conversation to pass the time before the ceremony begins. Neither of you exactly have big families; Five has only ever had his siblings, and your family isn’t exactly supportive of your choice of groom. It’s an intimate affair, but you both prefer it that way.

“Hardly,” he scoffs indignantly, though his need to readjust his tie for the millionth time says otherwise. Five knows that this probably should have happened sooner and promoting you from his partner to his wife has been long overdue. He was honestly surprised you had said yes when he’d finally bit the bullet and asked the question. He loved you, cared for you in a way he never thought possible and in a way that honestly wasn’t quite like him. But you were different, and he hadn’t risked it all trying to end multiple apocalypses just to not marry you once the world was finally safe.

“I’m glad you’re happy, we all are,” his brother notes with a kind smile. “She’s good for you, and she’ll be a good addition to the family.”

Five can’t argue with that. It honestly pains him to think about just how many times you’ve thrown your own life on the line for not just him but his siblings as well. You’ve been there for them even when it wasn’t your responsibility, when they technically weren’t your family yet, even when Five himself wasn’t the best brother to them all. While Five could at times be brash or crude, you were patient and understanding, and this balance helped make their team stronger. You’d make a fine Hargreeves; he wouldn’t be standing here today if that weren’t the case.

Behind the wooden double doors you nervously readjust your veil as you wait for your cue to enter the room. Diego holds your bouquet patiently on your left while Luther fluffs out the skirt of your dress for you on your right. Having no real family present for your big day, you were left without anyone to give you away to your new husband. Diego and Luther had both been eager to throw themselves at the chance to be at your side down the aisle, constantly at each other’s necks arguing over who deserved the right more. Of course, as the bride it was you who got the final say, and the choice couldn’t have been more obvious. You picked them both.

Both men had been put through a lot by your fiancé, from having to carry his drunken form out of a library to dealing with his fits of rage at their inability to meet his deadlines for important tasks, but they had always been kind to you despite the unorthodox nature of your relationship with their brother. Luther had taken several bullets for you before, and Diego hadn’t shied away from being a supportive shoulder to cry on whenever you and Five couldn’t see eye-to-eye. It would feel wrong not to have them both by your side, and they were honored.

“You scared?” Diego questions after noticing your tight grip on his bicep when the music begins. He has to hold back a wince from the way your manicured nails dig into his arm and distracts himself by handing you your bouquet.

“A little,” you answer honestly, harshly swallowing down your nerves when Luther opens the doors for you to walk through.

“You’ve got this,” Diego encourages after pressing a chaste kiss to your temple. “If anyone is brave enough to marry my brother, it’s you.”

“Brave or maybe a little insane,” Luther adds under his breath.

You can’t help the small huff of air that pushes past your lips in response to his quip, but you’re given no time to respond as your soon-to-be brother-in-laws escort you to your awaiting husband.

No one can deny how absolutely breath taking you look in your elegantly simple wedding gown, your smile nervous as you make your way towards Five who looks so handsome in his perfectly tailored suit. All day you’ve wanted nothing more than to see him, but now that you’re here you find yourself full of nerves and anxiety.

Luther and Diego give you away at the end of the isle (not without sternly warning Five to take good care of their new sister), and you finally find yourself face-to-face with the man you’ve loved for years.

“You ready for this?” He whispers under his breath as Viktor begins his officiant speech, subtly reaching for your hand to give it a reassuring squeeze.

“This won’t be the worst thing we’ve done together,” you note cheekily with a shrug as you hide your smile behind your bouquet, and Five can’t argue with that.

Though his siblings have been better at showing their excitement for this day than you or Five combined, you’d be lying if you said you weren’t happy to finally be marrying the boy who had been by your side through thick and thin, good and bad, and life and death. Perhaps your love story was a bit unconventional, but unconventionality is a Hargreeves speciality.

You’re going to fit right in.

[knoepfl]

~A Night of Firsts~

Characters:

Arthur Fleck: A socially awkward, shy man who has been quietly crushing on you for a while. He’s nervous but hopeful about making a good impression on this first date.

Reader (You): The woman Arthur has admired from afar. You’ve noticed his kindness and vulnerability, and now, you’re curious to get to know him better.

Trigger Warnings:

None

Masterlist

Words: 1016

---

Arthur’s hands trembled slightly as he straightened his tie in the dingy bathroom mirror. His reflection stared back at him—nervous eyes, pale skin, and that ever-present tension in his jaw. It wasn’t like this was his first time asking someone out, but it was the first time in a long while that someone had said yes. And not just anyone—you had said yes.

He had admired you from a distance for weeks, watching you on the bus or in the grocery store, always too shy to do more than offer a small, nervous smile. But you were different. You always smiled back, sometimes even said hello, and that simple gesture made his heart flutter.

Tonight, though, was the real test.

“Come on, Arthur,” he muttered to himself, trying to calm his racing heart. “You can do this. You just have to be yourself. Don’t mess this up.”

After a final glance in the mirror, he grabbed his worn jacket and headed out the door, rehearsing in his mind everything he wanted to say, trying to ignore the creeping doubt that whispered he wasn’t good enough.

You were sitting in the small, cozy diner where Arthur had suggested meeting. It wasn���t fancy or extravagant, but it had a warmth to it that felt comforting, much like Arthur himself. You had always noticed something special about him—a quiet kindness that drew you in, even though he kept to himself most of the time.

The bell above the door jingled, and you looked up to see him enter. He was a little disheveled, but he had made an effort—you could tell by the way he had combed his hair and carefully chosen his clothes. When he spotted you, his eyes lit up, though his posture was still tense, like he wasn’t sure what to do with his hands.

You gave him a warm smile, and his nervousness seemed to melt, if only slightly. “Hi, Arthur,” you greeted softly as he made his way over.

“H-hi,” he stammered, his voice barely above a whisper as he sat across from you. He fidgeted with his hands, glancing down for a moment before finally meeting your eyes. “You… you look really nice.”

“Thank you,” you replied, your smile widening. “You look good too.”

His face flushed, and he let out a small, awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “I wasn’t sure what to wear… I didn’t want to overdress.”

“You’re perfect,” you reassured him, and you could see a hint of relief in his eyes.

The two of you settled into a somewhat awkward but endearing conversation. Arthur’s words were soft and hesitant at first, but the more you talked, the more he began to relax. You asked him about his day, about his work, and he opened up about his job as a clown for hire, explaining how he tried to bring joy to people, even if he often felt misunderstood.

“I guess I just… I want to make people smile,” he said, his voice tinged with both hope and sadness. “But sometimes it feels like… like no one notices.”

You listened intently, your heart aching for him. There was something so raw and vulnerable about Arthur, something that made you want to protect him from the harshness of the world.

“I notice, Arthur,” you said gently. “And I think you’re doing something really special. It takes a lot of courage to try to make people happy.”

He looked at you, his eyes wide with surprise, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You really think so?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

You nodded. “Absolutely.”

A soft, genuine smile spread across his face, and for the first time that night, he looked truly at ease.

As the evening went on, you could feel a shift between the two of you. The awkwardness faded, replaced by a comfortable warmth. Arthur’s shyness was still there, but now it was tinged with something else—something lighter, more hopeful.

After dinner, the two of you decided to take a walk through the city. The streets were quiet, the cool night air brushing against your skin as you strolled side by side. Arthur walked a little closer to you than he had earlier, though he still seemed unsure of himself, as if he didn’t want to make any sudden moves.

But when your hand brushed against his, he didn’t pull away.

Instead, he hesitated for a moment, glancing at you with wide eyes before carefully taking your hand in his. His fingers were warm and slightly rough, and when you smiled at him, he returned it with a shy, almost disbelieving grin.

For the first time, he didn’t feel like he had to hide behind a mask. You saw him—the real him—and you didn’t turn away.

As you reached the end of the street, you paused in front of a small park, the dim streetlights casting a soft glow on the trees. You both stopped, standing in the quiet, taking in the peaceful moment.

Arthur turned to face you, his eyes searching yours with a kind of cautious hope. “This… this was really nice,” he said, his voice low and a little shaky. “I… I didn’t think anyone would ever want to go out with me.”

You squeezed his hand gently, stepping a little closer. “I wanted to,” you said softly. “I’ve wanted to for a while.”

He blinked, clearly stunned by your words, and for a moment, he didn’t know what to say. But then, something shifted in his expression—a flicker of confidence, however small.

“I… I really like you,” he admitted, his voice barely a whisper.

Your heart swelled at the vulnerability in his words, and without thinking, you leaned in, pressing a soft, tender kiss to his cheek.

Arthur’s breath hitched, and for a moment, he stood completely still, as if he couldn’t quite believe what had just happened. But then, slowly, a soft, genuine smile spread across his face—a smile that was just for you.

“I really like you too,” you whispered back.

---

Author’s Note: Thank you for reading this sweet and heartfelt first date between Arthur and his crush. I hope you enjoyed seeing a softer side of Arthur and watching him open up. If you have any feedback or suggestions, feel free to share!

[mochamvgz]

home dates💽hyung line

; hyung line x reader

; genre: headcanon, plain silly fluff, can be read as idol or non idol au

; warnings: none really, unless you count mexican food, legos and hoon having second lead syndrome as warnings 乁⁠[⁠ ⁠◕⁠ ⁠ᴥ⁠ ⁠◕⁠ ⁠]⁠ㄏ

; 0.85k words

; perm taglist: @inkelea @bunreis

heeseung || decorating your appartment

you and heeseung had just moved into your new appartment and you wanted to decorate it yourself instead of hiring someone. heeseung was totally on board with the idea and you guys started browsing for home decor on amazon and looking for inspo on pinterest. you also took a trip to your local craft store for paint and other supplies.

when you had all the stuff, heeseung played some music on his phone and you guys got started! you had never imagined having a date of this kind but you weren't complaining!

first thing you did was change into some old clothes and start painting the walls. it got pretty messy, especially after that mini paint fight you had. some of the rogue paint ended up of the wall where the paint was still drying but you didn't mind, it was a nice touch.

next up on your agenda was setting up furniture and placing the decor items like picture frames, a clock, lamps, etc.

you observed the finished result and were left in awe. you swear you've never had more fun.

jay || cooking

c'mon you can't tell me you weren't expecting that from enhypen's personal chef.

the plan was to make enchiladas since you mentioned how you were craving mexican food that morning (he isn't gonna tell you that tho ofc).

you guys had gone grocery shopping for the ingredients beforehand. you weren't the most experienced cook, more into baking, but you had jay by your side so there was nothing to worry about. you were more than glad to play sous chef.

he had assigned you the task of preparing the stuffing, giving some basic instructions he headed over to the stove to prepare the sauce.

ding! that meant the enchiladas were ready! putting on some mitts, jay took your dinner out if the oven and the smell almost had you drooling. when it was time to eat, however, your impatient ass dug in too quickly and burned your tongue. jay immediately got up to get you a glass of water but you knew he was gonna laugh at you for it later.

the enchiladas tasted heavenly after they had cooled down enough to eat.

jake || lego building

"darling i don't think that piece is supposed to go there" you looked back and forth between the manual in your hands and the unfinished model on the floor.

you had ordered a new lego set for jake for your 6 month anniversary. his eyes had lit up instantly, letting out a gasp with his mouth wide open making the ':0' face which quickly gave way to the puppy smile you adored, as you looked at him affectionately.

"do you like it?" "ARE YOU KIDDING??? I LOVE IT!! AND I LOVE YOU EVEN MORE!!! i've had my eye on this particular set for a while now!" your own smile widening at this reaction "i'm glad".

"let's do build it together!" "r-right now?" "why not?" you were caught slightly off-guard by his eagerness but went along with it regardless, finding him too adorable to resist.

and that was how you had ended up here. you weren't objecting tho. "are you sure?" you detached the piece and repositioned it at a different angle like how you had seen it in the manual, and gestured towards it after you were done to answer his question, "oh".

you stood up, dusting your hands as you surveyed the finished result, jake mirroring your actions. "i think we did a pretty good job" turning to look at him expectantly. "we did more than a good job sweetie". with that he picked up the model and placed it beside your tv and you knew it was staying there for a while, not that you mind of course.

sunghoon || movie marathon/tv shows

your favourite thing to do after a long day was curl up and binge netflix. after meeting sunghoon however, the activity was no longer something you did alone. being in his comforting embrace while watching some random kdrama or movie was the coziest and nothing short of therapeutic.

"what're we watching next?" you flipped through the various shows, you and sunghoon were clad in your comfiest pair of pjs with your blanket such that it covered both of you perfectly, you head nestled on his warm chest "i saw a clip from that one on youtube yesterday!" "okay! let's watch it!" you pressed play.

one thing you found out about sunghoon from these dates was that he had MAJOR second lead syndrome. you would often bicker over which male lead was better or in the rare case that you agreed over it, the two of you were just yelling at the screen.

"NONONONO!!!! GET AWAY FROM HIM! JUNGWOO IS SO MUCH BETTER!!!" "YES!! KISS KISS KISS KISS"

remarks like these were always flying about.

turning into an ugly sobbing mess while watching 20th century and twenty five-twenty one, laughing at shin hari's antics till your stomachs ached while re-watching business proposal for the millionth time, whatever it be, you could always rely on these evenings to take away the stress of even the worst day at work.

; a/n: hello there! hope you enjoyed the hc!💌 i'm still overwhelmed by the insane amount of love my previous hc received 😭 i literally can't thank y'all enough!! even tho ik I can definitely do better so here's me having another go! lmk if you would like a maknae line ver!

© mochamvgz on tumblr | all rights reserved | do not plagiarise, repost or translate

[simpforpeterp]

Stanford Pines x Reader

Movin’ Out

summary: ford gets a job at the very grocery store you work at to pay for college. lucky for you, you get to train him! enjoy

warnings: none

word count: 1.23k

“Hey, kid, feel comfortable training someone?” Miranda, the store manager, asks as your last customer walks away.

“Not at a-“

“Great! This is Ford.” She pushes a young man toward you as you slowly turn that way, not realizing he was right there.

“Hi. I would ask your name but it’s right there.” He points to your name badge.

“Hi,” You nod politely before realizing your manager is quickly walking away. “What am I training you in?”

“I don’t know, everything?” He says and you let out a sigh.

“I’m definitely not the right person for this, I just got hired two weeks ago so let’s see how this goes.” You smile as you go to shut off your register.

Ford waits until you’re walking in front of him to sigh. He doesn’t even want this job. He quite frankly doesn’t have the time but he has to pay his way through school somehow. Going to Backupsmore, there was a bunch of other rejected, tortured, smart kids just like him that got scholarships more than his. He needs money. He needs money so he can start eating real food again.

And just his luck, on his first day of work, he’s stuck getting trained by someone who barely knows what they’re doing.

“I’m barely starting to know what I’m doing.” You tell him as you reach a back room with a bunch of returns and left behinds.

You go on your tiptoes to reach a rope looking thing with a hook on the end and pull another one down for him. He accepts it when you put it in his hand and begin leading him out the front doors.

“We’re starting easy with carts. Here is our map of the different parking lot sections,” You point to a color coordinated map of the sections. “On each cart corral, there’s tape that matches to each section. If a manager asks you to go outside to, let’s say, yellow, you’d exit through produce and stick to the corrals with yellow tape. Simple enough, yeah?”

“More than simple enough,” He clears his throat. “I’m a physics major, I’m capable of reading a map.”

“You should be glad I’m taking my time with this, take a look around,” You gesture to the crowded store. “It’s a Sunday. Sunday’s are the worst because everyone is trying to shop for the week. We’re getting paid to do nothing right now. Now, come on, let’s go to purple.”

He reluctantly follows you as you lead him through the parking lot to the very back. You begin to explain the way you push carts here, how you put the hook through the metal and how many carts to push at a time and where to take them. He continues to check his watch and pray this training will be over soon.

As Ford checks his watch for the third time, you notice his impatient expression, and it’s hard not to smirk.

“You’re really in a hurry, huh?” You tease, keeping your tone light. “Don’t worry, Einstein, you’ll get to the actual brain work soon enough.”

Ford’s eyebrows raise slightly, and he gives a reluctant chuckle, glancing up at you. He notices the playful look on your face and that’s when he realizes how nice your smile is. There’s that smile crinkle by your eyes that make them shine even brighter.

“Yeah, well… let’s just say this isn’t exactly where I imagined myself on a Sunday. But, hey, everyone’s gotta start somewhere.” He sighs.

“Everyone’s gotta start somewhere,” You repeat, nodding. “And unfortunately, that somewhere is here in the back of the purple section, dragging carts in the heat.”

He lets out a sigh, his shoulders visibly slumping, and it hits you how worn-out he looks. He’s obviously intelligent, probably a lot smarter than the usual hires around here, but something about him seems weighed down, almost as if he’s been carrying too much for too long.

“Why are you here, anyway? You don’t exactly seem… thrilled about the job either.” As the two of you finish up with the carts, he speaks up again, almost out of nowhere.

“Why am I here? That’s a good question. I guess ‘barely making rent’ is a pretty good reason.” You laugh a little at his bluntness, pushing a stray hair behind your ear.

“Yeah… I get that. Tuition’s no joke, and the scholarships don’t cover everything.” He tells you.

“Oh, so you’re here to pay your way through school?” You ask as you both start pushing the last row of carts back toward the store.

“Pretty much. Not exactly by choice, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.” He shrugs, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly in a resigned smile.

For a moment, he seems almost vulnerable, like he’s showing you a piece of himself he doesn’t usually share.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” You reply, feeling a small connection form between you two.

“You go to school out here too?” He asks as you reach the store entrance,

“UCLA,” You nod with a smile. “I’m studying anthropology. I took too long to pick a major so my dad picked for me.”

“UCLA, nice. Are you an antiquarian type?” He asks.

“Not really,” You laugh, shaking your head. “I mean, ancient artifacts are cool and all, but I’m more interested in people—why they do what they do, how cultures shape them. Plus, anthropology was the closest major to 'figuring out life' that my dad could find. I’ve never really been a school person but I like people. Most of the time.”

“I can see that. You seem pretty curious about the world. But I guess you’d have to be, working here and not losing your mind.” Ford smiles at that, and for the first time, it feels like he’s genuinely enjoying the conversation.

“Come on, let’s go do a basket pick up.” You nudge him.

After showing him how to do sweeps of the main floor, the baskets, bagging, returns, left-behinds, damages, propane exchanges, and ice purchases, you’re pretty much done.

You get him to talk more throughout and he becomes actually enjoyable to talk to. Spreading him open is the only one to know him, he doesn’t slowly open up. You have to push a little. But he eventually talks more and more. And talking turns to laughing which is even more fun.

As you head back to the registers after completing the rounds, Ford’s laughter lingers in the air—a sound that’s both rare and surprisingly warm. You can tell he doesn’t laugh like this often, maybe because he doesn’t have the time or maybe because he doesn’t think there’s much to laugh about. But today, you’ve somehow cracked through that careful, studious exterior, just a little.

“You know,” he says as you both lean against a counter, taking a breather, “I didn’t expect to actually enjoy this. I thought it’d just be another job. But… you make it interesting.”

“Well, I’m glad I could make ‘dragging carts in the heat’ slightly more bearable for you.” You smile, noticing a slight blush on his cheeks.

“So…when do you work next?” He asks almost nervously.

“Tuesday. You?”

“Tuesday.” He says with a small smile.

“Okay, Ford,” You smile back at him. “See you Tuesday. Maybe you’ll be able to help me finally memorize those produce codes.”

[i-am-a-bad-influence-writes]

Wherever I rest my head is home if it's with you

Part 1, Luck be with you

Masterlist Word count: 2 k Charles Smith x Fem!Reader Arthur Morgan x Mary Linton John Marston x Abigail Roberts Dutch Van der Linde x Molly O'Shea Mary-Beth Gaskill x Kieran Duffy

Summary: Looking for gold is a men's world in a town run by women. The amounts of violence and suffering these men go through with the hope of getting rich is insanity. Gold fever broke marriages and relationships alike until the settlement was nearly all women.  It's a small settlement, nearly a small town, next to the Elysian Pool. Most men red hot with gold fever pass through to stock up on supplies before heading down to the mines near Beaver's Hallow or Annesburg.  The settlement has only one law set in stone, as lawmen do not want to come there, and it is praised like it was one of the ten commandments. You do not harm the women.

Preview

Going up towards the Grizzlies always brings a bone chilling wind along. It's that kind of cold that flows right through your lungs, into your bloodstream, and infects your every inch of being. But the four men on the road to prosperity aren't in that part of the woods yet. These men being Arthur, Charles, John, and Hosea. None of them are particularly fond of finding the gold around these parts but they are concerned about their friends who rode up weeks ago.  Before their journey, the men had been told and warned about a settlement. According to the men that came back, you're lucky if you leave with a broken heart and a nugget of gold in your saddlebag. If you're not so lucky, well, you don't make it out alive.  So many stories about this little settlement. They could just push through to Van Horn or go straight to Annesburg, but they have to admit they're curious. All the stories about beautiful, cruel women only fanned that curiosity. Hosea, with all his experience traveling through America, had never heard of the settlement which strengthened their desire to go see for themselves even more. After all, they've all had their hearts broken before, so what’s another chip?  What Hosea did seem to know is the major of the town. He had met the woman down by Emeral Ranch while she was picking up a delivery for the town. Hosea had, so kindly, offered to be a hired gun for her in hopes of taking over the stocked wagon but was met with the barrel of a shotgun against his back when he tried to get up onto the driver's seat. She had smiled at him and kindly told him to fuck off.  How he had managed to get onto her good side after an encounter like that was a mystery to the other men, but she had offered a place to rest their heads if they were ever close and in need.  As they reach the edge of town, they can already tell this is a settlement like no other. Though most settlements are one street, a good place to ride through, this settlement is spread out like a village. Down by the lake is a huge ranch and down by the train tracks seems to be a hotel and post office, but no train station which strikes both John and Arthur as curious. There's a grocery store, a tailor, a saloon, a barber, a gun store, a doctor's office, everything one might need.  And, as the stories predicted, a lot of women wearing pants and barely any men.  Hosea points at a large house a little bit higher up on a small mountain: 'From what I've been told, that's where the major lives. Let's go introduce ourselves gentlemen.' 

[mxtantrights]

the ballerina, the freak, and the king (modern!au)

this is a re-work of the original tbtftk series which you can read here. you don't have to read that to read this since what's below is more a standalone, but there will be things that nod back to the original work, so if you do that's up to you! thanks for reading, hope you enjoy <33

Steve hates his job. He hates the smile he puts on to sell cars to rich men and families of four and college students. He hates how he knows exactly how 77 degrees feels like on his skin. He hates how good he is at selling cars because it reminds him that he wanted to be more than this. He was never sure what that entailed but he knew it wasn't selling cars.

Steve hates his job except when you walk pass the windows. Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday you breeze by with your chin up and a duffle bag strapped to your shoulder. Your hair is always done perfectly, a tight bun and two coils to frame your face.

He's thought about going into the studio once or twice. He could come up with an excuse. He was recommended lessons for his back. His mom suggested he try something new. He's helping Lucas with basketball and wants to teach him some fundamentals from ballet.

But none of those excuses were wise enough for him to even think of stepping foot in the studio. No he would keep his distance. Out of sheer embarrassment and something else.

He had talked to you once before. Really it was more of a small greeting. It was in passing and because of Robin. She had directed you to the store because you were looking to buy a car. Something small and bit on the cheap side, but enough to get you to and from places. She showed you around the used car lot.

It hadn't worked out though. Steve never found out the reason why but he also holds onto hope because of it. Maybe when you did need a car again he would be on the clock. A perfectly reasonable excuse to talk to you.

The front door opens and in comes the new hire. He refers to himself as "001" for some odd reason.

Steve hates his job.

-

Eddie loves his job. Yes it did come with the occasional weird looks. He was the only rock fan working in a record store in Indiana. He was bound to get looks. But he doesn't really care about the eyes that linger on his tattoos and his rings.

How could he when one pair of those eyes belongs to you? You with your upright posture and your tutu. He barely sees you since the studio is in the middle of the main block and the record store is on the corner.

He was enthralled by you once you walked into Vecna Vinyl, dressed in head to toe ballerina equipment, and demanded an Eagles record for the class you teach. It was like some sort of cosmic event- Dustin would use that other word, Kismet.

Eddie isn't sure you remember him from high school. Not that the two of you hung out at all. Neither were you in the same circles. You weren't rubbing elbows with the cheerleaders and jocks but they respected you and your craft. Him? Not so much.

But there was this one time. When Eddie was done picking up groceries for him and Wayne. He walked out the store and saw you eyeing his van. Part of him was in panic mode- did you want to slash his tires or something? Prank the freak?

When you caught him looking at you you bolted out of sight. He never got to ask you why you were interested in his van in the first place. And too much time has passed now for him to ask you.

But you could just as easily walk into his store and ask him for another Eagles record.

Eddie loves his job.

-

You think if you you have to spin around one more time today something will come out of you. Whether it be bodily fluids or a high pitched scream.

You like your job, in theory. You get paid to be the assistant to the instructor of the baby ballerinas. Which means you basically take care of the said baby ballerinas while the instructor teaches to children who would rather be digging up worms or throwing slime onto the ceiling.

But it could be worse, you think to yourself. You could be working at the mall and wearing one of those godawful outfits with the hat to match. So this is fine. This is doable.

All of a sudden your ears pick up on the sound of someone about to upchuck. It's a gross and dry sound that you hate to hear. Because it usually means that you'll have to get the mop, you know, as the assistant to the instructor that keeps class flowing.

One of the children is standing with her hands on her head. Breathing a bit shallow.

"Annabelle?" you ask her

She looks over your way. And the face she makes doesn't mean anything good coming either of yours way. Her chubby little hand slaps over her mouth.

"Bathroom! Bathroom right now! Bathroom!" you shout.

She starts running. You start running after her. The class stops at the volume of your voice. But you don't care. You can't handle mopping up vomit today. It would break you.

Annabelle, bless her heart, runs as fast as she can. Her tiny feet travel quickly and to the bathroom. You rush in after her as she dives for a toilet and sticks her head in.

You hear the vile sounds and reach to keep her head from going too far into the toilet. Pinching your nose you keep your position until she finally backs away from the bowl.

She looks at you.

Before you can even think about talking to her you reach for the toilet handle and push down. Then you bring her over to the sink where the paper towels are. And water. Water would help her right now. You'll have to call her guardian after this.

She grabs the paper towels first. Then she hands one to you. You turn the sink on, cold water, and run the towel under the water for a few seconds. Then you pass the towel back to her.

"I hate ballet." she says sadly.

You watch as she lays the towel over her forehead.

"sometimes I hate ballet too. But I think what you mean is different." you speak.

She nods her head. You nod along with her. Not every child wants to do ballet. But the parents and the adults hear how it can help with posture and other things and they sign their kids up faster than lightening. Not even giving time to think what their kids might actually want to try and enjoy.

Annabelle is one of those kids.

"Do I have to go back out there?" she asks.

Then an idea comes to your mind. Like a serious light bulb moment from a cartoon you used to watch as a kid.

You turn the sink off.

"I think not. Stick with me and follow my lead." you answer.

She follows you as you walk back out of the bathroom and into class, which has started up again. When your instructor sees you and Annabelle returning she stops the class again.

"Everything okay?" she asks.

"Yeah we're just going to take a walk. Fresh air might help." you say.

She nods her head at your request. You walk past her with Annabelle and head over to the coat rack. You pass Annabelle her's first. It goes right over her ballet gear, tutu included, and then you put yours on. Thankfully you don't have to wear a tutu to assist.

The two of you are out the door without a second thought. Annabelle grabs your hand as you walk down Main Street. You're headed to the only place where you get some semblance of relief these days.

it's short walk but the walk wasn't the idea. Getting Annabelle out a place that stresses her out to the point where she feels like she has to over perform and ignore her body is the idea.

Reefer's Records. The place wasn't the best to bring a child to after dark but theres plenty of sunlight out which means no weed is being sold in the store.

You push open the door and lead her inside. That's when you see Annabelle's eyes widen in wonder. Of course the place was highly decorated by someone who partakes in recreational use of a hallucinogen.

"Woah!" she shouts.

And then she's running off. Touching things and looking up at the wall which is painted all different colors.

The sound of beads clinging together is what you hear first, then you see him. Eddie Munson. I mean you would be remise to not think he was cute. The big brown eyes? The hair? You've only spoken to him once and you were sure it wasn't memorable to him.

Maybe you could change that?

You smile his way as he approaches.

"Hi I was wondering if you have rubberband man by the spinners?" you ask.

At first he doesn't say anything. The silence throws you off kilter for a second. But then he smiles and you can't help to smile and feel like things are not off kilter.

"Yeah yeah yeah, I got a couple of copies in the back-" he answers.

"I mean I want to listen to it." you cut him off.

He spares you a look.

"I'll buy the record but I, well I want you to play it in here." you explain.

Eddie looks past you and a curt laugh comes out of him. You turn to get a look at what he's laughing at. It's Annabelle. She's standing right in the middle of the store with her head craned up to the ceiling.

"Is she with you?" Eddie asks.

You nod your head. Then you turn back to him.

"She's having a hard time in class and I just want to show her that dancing can be fun." you answer.

"I can play it for you. Free of charge." he says.

"I don't want you to get in trouble or anything." you offer up.

"It's okay ballerina, I kinda run this place on weekdays." he gloats.

You laugh, "So you're the big boss around here on school days?"

"Yeah well when you put it like that it sounds egregious. Should I rescind my offer?" he jokes.

You know he's joking. But part of you feels bad and part of you is a bit hazy from being this close and talking to him for this long. You play it up and your hands land on his shoulders.

"I'll be forever in your debt if you do." you plead playfully.

His eyes are wider than before. You think you might have misstepped and crossed a line or a boundary. You don't know him well enough to be touching on him! You retract your hands like they were never there.

Eddie schools his face into a more normal expression. He points behind him with his thumb. You feel like an idiot.

"I'm gonna-spin the record for you. So your student can dance. I'm gonna do that now. Right now." he speaks.

"Thank you." you smile.

He then walks backwards the way he came. And in doing so almost knocks over a pile of records and a stack of papers on the counter. You don't think of him as ungraceful though, you think of him as cute.

When he's out of sight you walk over to Annabelle. She finally fixes her head down from the ceiling.

"I like it here." she comments.

"I knew you would. There's a song I think you'll like too." you say.

The speakers currently playing a rock song that you recognize as Metallica stops playing. There's a scratch and then the beat to rubberband man starts up.

You watch as Annabelle moves her shoulders to the bass line. The smile on her face starts slow but it's there. And it means that you made the right decision to bring her here and take her mind off class for a while.

"Can we dance?" she asks.

"Of course, but theres on rule:" you start and reach your hand out to her, "no ballet!"

"Yes!" she exclaims.

She takes your hand. The two of you being dancing wildly to the song. There is no right to dance to the spinners. As long as you move your feet and your heart is pounding to the tune of the beat. Nothing compares to being in sync with a great song.

That's how the two of you dance to the whole song. Back and forth, shuffling your feet, moving your arms and not caring that you didn't extend your leg or your fingers. No toes pointed. No plies. No turns.

Somehow at the end of the song you two end up doing the chicken dance. Her tutu making her play the role effortlessly. You stop yourself to watch her enjoy.

You don't hear the front door open. How could you? The song was still playing loudly in the store. Until it wasn't. Both of you and Annabelle out of breath and trying to catch oxygen in between fits of laughter.

"Hey ballerinas, how was-" Eddie shouts from the front of the store then stops.

You two look at him first. Then you two look to where he is looking, which was not at you, and at the front door. A group of people are standing there. Mostly teens but there are two older ones, around your age. You knew them instantly.

In an instant you recognize two of the younger girls in the group. how could you not? Max Mayfield is the only girl in town with hair as red as fire and Jane has an unforgettable face.

"Max? Jane?" you say out loud.

Like no time has passed at all, they come barreling over to you. They engulf both sides of you with a hug. You reciprocate and wrap your arms around both of them.

Max and Jane were two of about five girls you first taught as the unofficial assistant to the instructor. It was an unpaid role seeing as you were still in school and only clocking in two hours every other day. But it was fun, partly because of these two girls hugging you right now.

"I missed you guys! How have you been?" you ask them.

Jane looks up at you, "Good. We're doing skateboarding now."

"Ballet helped my form a lot. I can land a 180 now." Max says.

You smile at the admission. While you wished to still see the girls more you knew they were happy not doing ballet anymore. You're glad they found each other in class and never let go of that friendship.

"You know red?" a voice asks.

You look over at Eddie. He has a smile on his face. Max unwraps herself from you and casually walks over to him. You didn't know they knew each other. But then again Max has great music taste so it makes sense that they would get along.

"Yeah I used to teach her and Jane when I was a senior." you answer.

Jane unwraps her arms from around you. Then he walks over to one of the boys she came in with. The one with jet black hair. He looks over at you for a second, then turns his full attention to her.

"That's cool." another voice sounds.

You look back at the door. The other younger kids have dispersed around the music store. You finally can place the two older kids who are now walking over to you. Steve and Robin.

Robin was in the band during high school. You remember her specifically because you went to one basketball game and noticed how much her face screamed 'I don't want to be here' amongst the green and white uniforms. She was also the one to direct you when you wanted to buy a car, though it didn't end up working out.

Then there was Steve. Of course everyone knows Steve. But you remember Steve as being the first boy you kissed. It had been after someone's birthday party, Tina maybe, and you two had walked the same way home. Not that you two were located near each other but you had no one to walk with and he offered. All you can remember from that night is Steve, and how blue your tongues were from the slushy-drinks at the party.

You saw him at the dealership too since he and Robin work together. But you didn't talk to him that much when you went in there.

You realize it was Robin that made the comment.

"I use the term teaching loosely. But I do teach this one, sometimes." you say and reach your hand out for Annabelle.

She comes running to you, tiny hand grabbing yours. She smiles at you and then pushes her tutu down with both of her hands.

"Are there any classes for adults? I know I could use it for my back." Steve says.

You begin to wonder what happened to his back. But that was surely personal and not meant to be talked about in a music store. You hope he's okay.

"There are but I work with kiddies. I can ask if there are any slots open if you'd like." you offer.

Steve shakes his head, "Nah I'll probably ask one of the kids to walk over my back."

"I mean Argyle probably has something for that." Eddie sounds.

He joins the four of you. There's a look about him now. He's smirking at Steve and Steve is smirking back at him. Robin is also smiling but you and Annabelle are in the dark as to why.

"Car man!" Annabelle says randomly.

You look at her confused.

Steve laughs, "Yeah I work at the car place. Would you be interested in a Volvo?"

Annabelle giggles.

"I can't drive yet silly." she says.

"You sure? I think you're smart enough." Steve jokes.

Annabelle begins to laugh uncontrollably at this. Steve smiles and his teeth are all out on display and his eyes are hidden behind lines and lines of skin. You like the sight of it, of him.

"What're two ballerina's doing rocking out in the music store?" Robin asks.

You look down at Annabelle who's already looking at you. You shrug your shoulders and she does the same. Both of you look at the group.

"We wanted to do something fun." you answer.

Annabelle gasps and runs over to Eddie. As if the two had been friends before. The action surprises him and he almost buckles at the momentum of the tiny girl. But he laughs anyways.

He bends down and Annabelle is whispering something in his ear. He smiles and nods.

"I've got a request from the tiny dancer." he says.

Then he is walking with Annabelle, hand in hand, to the front of the store. You watch as the two of them sift through some records.

"Are you two-um..." you ask but you know it what it comes off as. You feel a little bit embarrassed at your forwardness.

All of a sudden both their faces morph into disgust. Robin starts talking at a hundred miles per hour. Something about 'not going to happen' and 'bathroom confession' and 'he's a good one but not her type'. Steve is more like a gaping fish.

Robin pats him on the shoulder and walks off. Which leaves just you and Steve. You decide to be brave and take a step forward. You're surprised when he does the same.

"I think we kissed once at a party." he says.

You can't help the chuckle that rolls out from your belly. You're glad he remembered because it would honestly hurt your ego a bit if he didn't.

"Yeah I remember that. I think I had red slushy tongue." you answer.

He nods, "I had blue. Good times."

You hum approvingly. Now you're hitting yourself over the head for not going back into the car place. While you didn't have enough money to buy anything with an engine you could've pretended to look, and possibly talked with Steve.

You want to say more. But out of no where music starts playing. You recognize the song instantly. That one song by the talking heads-the name is on the tip of your tongue!

"Naive Melody!" Steve says.

Annabelle comes running over to you two. And she comes and steals Steve away. You can't even be mad about it because it's so cute. She holds her out for him and he takes it. Annabelle was a very enchanting child, it's why she's your current favorite.

Steve and Annabelle start dancing together. You can't help how your heart warms. Maybe it's the light that reflects off the chipped disco ball and onto Steve's arm. Or how his hair bounces with every movement he makes.

You don't notice how Eddie strolls up and holds out his hand. When you do you have to pull your mind to focus. He's taken off his jacket and now his arms with tattoos are on display.

"Care to dance ballerina?" he asks.

You take his hand as an answer. The two of you start off slow, somehow Eddie starts doing the robot. You don't think he's danced in front of people before. He doesn't have that blanket of shame or guilt most people do when they have.

He's just free.

You join him. There is laughter all around the store. Sure enough you feel it. Like this must be the place where you can be happy. Not the physical space of Vecna Vinyl, but around people like Steve and Eddie.

Steve and Eddie.

Oh.

[giftedpoison]

So I don't know what to do with this information so buckle up I guess.

Hi, my name is Eve and in my real life I used to work at a grocery store (it's a chain but not necessarily a national one so i won't be saying their name for purposes of anonymity).

I worked there from the age of 16 (was hired December 18th 2016). Eventually started working in their shopping department for curbside pickup in 2019, when the department opened. Became a supervisor in the department in November of 2021 (after doing the job for a few years being paid as a part time shopper rather than supervisor) then i was promoted to Lead of the department in Feb. of 2022 (which essentially meant I ordered supplies, dealt with managing a group of 13 individuals and sat in on corporate meetings and the like).

That's my history. I quit in September of 2023. Because the job was trying to kill us all and I hit my breaking point. (My breaking point was when 5 of my employees including myself nearly passed out from over exertion. I say nearly because I forced them to stop and eat and hydrate when it got too bad, i was fighting for management to give me help so we could get breaks out but they wouldn't listen and I ended up absolutely word vomiting my building frustrations with their management style that I had been actively fighting against for well over a year at that point.)

I know I'm a good leader, but management increasingly thought of me as naive and too soft as a leader because I refused to step back and allow abuse of my workers for corporate profit. Despite the fact I would show them statistics and give them nuanced balanced perspectives they let their own biases get in the way.

Three of my shoppers were their main targets. Two of which were neurodivergent and came from a not so great background. The third one wasn't neurodivergent but she came from a broken background that involved drugs and alcohol as a minor she was 19.

I think about the third girl so often. Because I remember she wasn't shopping at the speed they wanted her too (aka the goal for the whole department) which was a valid critique and the manager basically played bad cop which was fine. And I remember after this I was working with this girl and we were running behind that day, to no fault of hers, and i had to come help her finish her shop so we could prepare for the customers to arrive.

And she was panicked. Saying she's really trying and she's afraid she's going to get fired and a bunch of other things as i'm helping her. And I looked at her and tell her. "Listen I've seen you're numbers recently, they aren't where they need to be but i can see you steadily increasing if you keep increasing no matter what the number is by the time management says something again. I will back you. It is okay and me helping you right now is not your fault." I found out recently she no longer shows up to work. And she basically quit. Which was probably in part due to personal issues like the fact her best friend was in coma at one point. And such. And she also got jumped in the parking lot by some girls and the police had to be called. But I can't help but to wonder if I had still been there, if she would have felt safe to keep coming back knowing that there was at least one person in charge in her corner. (now, I know for a fact there is none because I was a one man defense line)

I can't help but to think about my one coworker, one of the neurodivergent ones, who is still routinely get shit about his out of stock list despite back when I was still working there I literally showed them that his numbers averaged out to be about the same as everyone else.

I'm not going to say any of the three were perfect, they didn't always do their best and were sometimes unreliable. But did they deserve to get emotionally abused by one of the supervisors (who i reported over five times, and who also once threatened me but management refused to deal with)? No. Did they deserve to be treated like less than assets when two of them used to come in all the time on their day off to help until they got fed up with being treated like they were lesser?

I think about the time I fought against a capacity increase (literally one of the hours we could have 13 orders drop for one hour with only 2 hours to do it, and maybe 2-3 shoppers to execute it, and that's assuming we had the previous hour completed and actually had a full 2 hours). And then when it went into effect anyway despite me shoving numbers at every higher up I could about how it didn't work for what we had to work with. My one manager told me that's just how you build a business, increasing volume. So I told him it's also how you burn one down. He didn't have a reply.

I asked politely from the store manager that if we called for help, if there was no other employee who could, a manager should help us. And he returned with hedging and saying that "well if there's only one manager on duty that's not really feasible". Even when there were three managers on duty and two of them were standing around talking they did nothing. But don't worry if it was register front end drowning two managers plus a stocker would come to the rescue.

And prior to all this, prior to my Lead position, I didn't know I could be an effective and intelligent leader. Now I know I can, but absolutely no one will listen to me and will routinely talk down on me when they were so interested in me, that they fought corporate when corporate didn't want to give me the promotion and gave me a bigger raise than was protocol because they believed in me. And that belief went down the drain immediately when they realized I would not blindly fall in line.

I feel so bad that I'm no longer on the front lines defending them, and that I failed to give management one last piece of my mind like I was going to, but I know if I stayed there it would have eaten me alive and that it was slowly killing me.

I don't know where to go from here. How to live knowing I have enough intelligence to lead and be fair and nuanced, but having no where to put that to use. I don't know what to do anymore but this one haunts me.

And like I'm not gonna say I was perfect and I definitely didn't know the answers to everything. And I did have my issues. (I was angry but refused to take it out on anyone, I sometimes got so overwhelmed I had to ask someone to take over while I laid on the floor for a second to regain perspective, and I would often have to sit down because I would become light headed and dizzy from the heat outside). But at the very least I fought for them ya know?

[imthefailedartist]

I need to rant.

Sistas is so stagnant. Five seasons deep and we are still on the same plots since season one. He'll in time I'm sure the show is only 5 months away from the first episode and that's being generous.

Tyler Perry puts absolutely no artistry or care into his work, and that's the main problem. If he cared one iota the show would at least be nice to look at. This man has the same lighting for every scene and it's bright white. BRIGHT WHITE LIGHT ON BLACK SKIN. Nigga! Be fucking for real. All these beautiful skin tones washed out, blown out by this fucking light. He complained about David Fincher [unnamed] showing up 7 hours late to set and leaving minutes later because he didn't like the lighting and made them change it before coming back to direct. Perry was upset because everyone on set was being paid hourly for doing nothing because the director was gone. It was worth it. Gone Girl looks great. That's the lesson. Shadows and blemishes everywhere.

We have been with these characters for 5 seasons and I can't tell you shit about their lives or their friendships. FIVE SEASONS 100+ episodes 100 hours of television and the story has not progressed. The characters have not evolved, grown, or matured. Nothing!!! This is bullshit. Tyler wouldn't know character development or story telling if it bit him in the ass and said "I'm character and story development"

The men. I don't even know what to say other than every single one of them is a predator stalker, abuser. Except Zac, and even then, I'm sure his character's development is determined by the actor who plays him ability to improvise his character out of Tyler Perry's shitty character holes. And the worst part is that Tyler Perry thinks all these men with all these giant red flags are good men. Don't believe it? Watch the season three or four Tyler Perry Show after dark Sistas finale episode. The actress' clearly hate their storylines, and the men their characters are stuck with and criticize them only for Perry to combat and refute everything with a very final "but they're good men".

The main issue is that Tyler Perry is an old man who has never listened to anyone, especially if they're a woman. He's writing a show about 30 something Black career women a thing he has never been and knows nothing about.

He loves to brag that his shows are things he's heard real women discuss and to be fair, you can tell that in his shows, but what you can really see is that he hears these conversations but never listens because if he listened these characters wouldn't feel like composites of different stories and they would feel real and we'd see why these women are suffering through these things. They would have nuance, layers, and history. Instead, they have nothing but what this very judgemental man thinks they deserve punishment for.

What he's done to these actors is unforgivable. He gives them very little in the script (per his own admission) and expects them to improvise to fill in the gaps. They try, but it's not enough. It's not their job to keep track of the story or advance their characters it's the writers, the showrunners. They have no time to sit with their characters and costars or director to establish what the direction of a scene or story is supposed to be. All the performances are so stilted. It's like watching those human AI robots talk. It's so awful. I've seen them in other things they are talented but Perry gives them nothing to work with.

I hate it.

All that money and he puts none of it into his work and hiring writers.

I have more to rant about, but I need to go to the grocery store, and honestly, I'm tired of giving him my time, so I'm probably gonna quit all his stuff but the movies because the old ones actually had effort.

[prettysurethisworks]

I got a message on my LinkedIn profile today. I spent hours trying to decide how to answer — whether to answer. The Notepad window next to the web browser filled, emptied, filled again. This is some of it, a bit of fiction, because sometimes that helps.

--

A young couple in a suburban high school: a boy who plays football, passes most of his classes, and expects to work at his father's company immediately after graduating and until he retires; a girl who loves to read and has hopes for a brighter world but no real plans, and doesn't know any better. They date.

On graduating, she finds that her college options have evaporated, but her boyfriend promises to support her if they get married. She says yes. From the outside, it looks a little lame. His father has her sign something. She doesn't argue. It's still the best option she has.

At home, he reminds her that she needs him. He has the job, the house, the food in the fridge; everything she needs, and all she has to do in exchange is everything he asks, and be a good little subservient housewife, forever. After all, what else would she do? Nobody else would provide for her like this, but he will. She'd be homeless and hopeless without him.

He doesn't actually hit her; the threat is there, maybe, in a vague sense, with the patches in the drywall and the slammed doors. But he never actually hits her. It could be a lot worse, she tells herself, and she reads every paperback romance that she spots in the grocery store checkout line.

He serves her divorce papers on a Monday morning. It's cheaper, he says, to hire a whore once a week, and she's never had anything else to offer him.

She winds up at the library, a few days later, and she has a chance encounter with a flashy city boy while reading about community events at the corkboard. He asks her out that night, and the second time she sees his apartment he's set out a toothbrush for her. It's a convenient rebound, that's all. But he tells her she's smart, and he listens to what she has to say as if he believes it.

The flashy city boy takes her to meet his friends, who are all flashy city people, too: smart, and kind, and making their own way in spite of mistakes and setbacks, which they talk about as though everybody has them. They all treat her like a peer until she thinks it might even be true.

None of the flashy city people talk about forever; they don't make that kind of promise. And that relationship ends, too, and it hurts when it ends — but she's a different person now, for having seen that different way of living.

She moves back into her old bedroom in her parents' house, and sees the remnants she'd left behind there, and cries because she wishes she could have told her high school self how much brighter things could be.

And then the ex-husband leaves her a voicemail: he's looking for a housekeeper. Part-time. Contract.

She's healthier, stronger, happier, better now — and maybe he is too. They've both had the same years to grow. But if she calls him back to find out what he's offering, she wonders, will he tell her to wear something cute when she shows up? And worse — will she do it?

[crayondinos]

okay so i just kinda want to word vomit/rant a little and the only person who would be okay with that is like SUPER busy rn now so i don't want to bother them

i've been volunteering for the parks system the next county over and it has been awesome! i haven't told any of the people about the jw stuff and my mom hasn't joined me so they all just know me as an awkward homeschooled kid! i'm terrified of mom or dad telling them about being jehovah's witnesses and ruining what i have going. this is my only connection to the outside world since none of my job applications have gone anywhere and if i lose it...

speaking of the job stuff, i got told that the parks director might want to hire me!!!! most of the jobs available want you to have a drivers license and i'm waiting to get mine till i turn 18 (only 4 months till then btw) so we don't have to pay for classes cause its like 500 dollars.

i have a part tonight. i'm sick of this. i wasted several hours of my life working on it. the worst thing is, well the two worst things ig are 1: i am really proud of how good it is and 2: i'm looking forward to maybe being told that i did good. the last talk i did the chairman said i did 'incredible'. he said it from the stage and i really liked it. i hate that i liked it.

i hate all i have to do to keep up the appearance of being a good jehovah's witness. i hate doing service three to four times a week and doing my bible reading -actually i kind of enjoy the studying but i hate that i have to do it to avoid suspicion- and i hate having to be "neutral" and i hate having to pretend to agree with everyone's political views despite the fact that we are supposed to stay neutral! LIKE NO MR. BROTHER MAN I DONT GIVE A SINGULAR SHIT ABOUT WHOS IN OFFICE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE IM NOT FREAKING SUPPOSED TO!!!!!!! i hate that i seem to be the only one acting the way jehovah's witnesses are supposed to when i don't even believe this stuff.

there was a bible study, we'll call them R, who started coming to the congregation my family goes to and mom got really attached to them. then R blocked the person studying with them, my mom and numerous other people. I never got their phone number. R stopped their study. my mom cried alot about it. i had to pretend to be sad but in reality i was so freaking happy. they had just graduated high school and they had short cut purple hair and lots of ear piercings and they did marching band. they gave such gay vibes but i have no idea if they are. we ran into R at the grocery store after the meeting a few weeks ago and they were polite as was mom. mom avoided saying anything about the meeting to make us seem more approachable i guess? thats how she explained it later to me in the car. mom waited until we had walked far enough away and then hugged me, hard, when she pulled away her eyes were wet and i felt like a piece of shit for not caring about what had upset her.

i have a car, my aunt moved across the world to be a need-greater and she gave it to me. i'm paying her back by selling some stuff for her.

i don't like myself. i inherited both my parents anger. i feels like the anger twisted together to create a person whose muscle fibers and bones are made solely from hatred, hatred for others, hatred for myself, hatred for life and for death. hatred for almost everything. i don't want to be shunned by my family. i love my family just as much as i hate them. they are everything to me but i can't live in this awful religion forever. i can't serve a god i despise for my whole life. i can't tell people they will see the people they love alive again when i don't believe it. i can't pretend to agree with the hatred this organization is practically weaved with. im so fucking scared. i'm scared of my family hating me, of my mom, dad, little sisters and little brother not talking to me again. i know my dads not going to live for more then a decade. he has so many health problems. i hate that at his funeral i most likely will not be able to talk to anyone, i know that i will be disfellowshipped once i leave. i'm queer and planning on committing so much "serious sin" and i'm not going to be sorry, not one fucking bit.

i would kms if i wasn't such a coward

[skruffie]

my 2023 recap cannot be done without 2019-2022

under the cut because it's long

I had a briefer and more closed off summary about this on FB because I didn't want to raise alarm over things that I don't experience any more, but truly by the end of 2021 when I say my confidence was shattered I mean it. I didn't describe how when I started at the grocery store I was not just hypervigilant but absolutely paranoid about any hint of worker and labor violations. I went through the boilerplate agreement with a fine-toothed comb and spent 11 months doing the most physically taxing job I've had just to bring in some sort of income. I left that job at $15.75/hr.

The grocery store was where I had to rehabilitate my ability to say no, to call out of work when I felt sick, and just have some sort of money flow so we could still eat. Everyone always raved about how because it was employee-owned they'd be able to cash in their stocks after 6 years or after retirement and be set for life, and then those same coworkers would come though my line to pay for their groceries using EBT because none of us were paid enough.

I am still never going to forget my first month in optical, almost to the date when I was hired, when we were all at one of the new stores working at the soft-opening (called the family and friends event). Essentially before the grand opening they will invite employees to bring in their friends and family for free eye exams and then they'd get a 75% coupon for eyeglasses that was valid for that event only. It was a little chaotic, kind of corny at times with the typical corporate "team building" icebreakers, but then at the end of the day the manager for that store called me out specifically for the job well done. He said that I was a natural at running the floor and I even looked up at him and everyone and went "Me?" because I was in disbelief. I tried to give him a thank you and express my gratitude but the moment I said that I came into this industry with my self confidence at it's lowest I burst into tears. Oops.

At the state government, I was always craving more one on one interaction. I wanted my work to feel like it actually meant something instead of just typing numbers into an archaic case management system that was never designed to accommodate our payments. I think it's natural for people to want to help others but that job was such an extreme mismatch of my personality and personal values that I felt like a ghost. The grocery store experience doesn't mean anything to me, good or bad, because it was merely the rehab. The company I'm with right now is retail optical and I know that as I continue to grow I am going to move on from this place, but I'm trying to stretch my legs and breathe. I'm devouring information and trying to learn as much as I can, and I have an account set up with the Department of Health when I finally start my apprenticeship.

2019-2021 broke me into a thousand pieces. 2022 was the beginning of my recovery, and 2023 was the year where I began to finally match my old pace. I feel intense sorrow thinking about the countless panic attacks and crying breakdowns I had alone at my desk. On FB I didn't tell everyone how at one point it got so bad that I called a crisis line--not because I was suicidal but because I couldn't calm down--and then I accidentally HUNG UP on the poor guy trying to help me. I cried harder and called back and by some miracle got matched with the same person. I didn't describe how my boss' boss had only verbally reassured me it was Just A Coincidence they extended my probation period for productivity issues after I went through the reasonable accommodation process. At my job, I don't need reasonable accommodations for my ADHD because this job is where I am able to utilize my strengths and actually thrive. My ADHD hasn't gone away, but it is instead now fuel for the work that I do rather than something I am fighting with every step of the way.

I'm going to be a little superstitious with this next thing I'm going to write because I worry that giving too much detail would then spoil what I uh... manifested? But I will say this: where I am at currently is exactly every single thing that I asked the universe for, down to my work hours and salary. There is something bittersweet knowing that my plans for 2024 will eventually lead me to move on from where I'm at, but I wouldn't have even gotten there in the first place if my boss hadn't offered me a better job than the one I applied for. I know I'm not as open about my witchiness on my main blog but I will say that I never quite grasped the point of "manifesting" because it feels like it's just a few steps away from the prosperity gospel, but like... I had the epiphany on a slow day at work after we all finished what we needed to do. Our assistant manager was reading a book and I was sitting up at the desk with my sketchbook drawing. I took a moment to look at where I was and what I was doing and realized this was everything I asked for.

I am going into 2024 full of immense gratitude and some cautious excitement for what comes next.

Back in 2008, my grandpa gave me a copy of the book The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow. If you haven't read it, it was something like a memoir of Randy's life and how he interprets the way he achieved his childhood dreams, especially as he was grappling with terminal cancer. He gave a lecture at a university, framed as his last lecture while he was alive, on the very topic of childhood dreams and revealed on the last slide that the lecture was not for those students but for his own children he was leaving behind. At 18 I didn't have the capacity to understand that sometimes childhood dreams do shift and change over time--that the images of ourselves we see as adults may not come to fruition or if they do they may not be what we expect--but here now at almost 34 years old I think I get it. A long time ago I let go of trying to turn my passion for art into a career because I was starting to see the writing on the wall. If I turned art into a career, I would lose my passion for it. I opted instead to try to find a career that would leave me feeling fulfilled and also have enough emotional capacity at the end of the day to come home to my artwork.

And here I am, bringing my sketchbook to work for slow days.

[sugaroto]

Now that the poll is done-

Can we talk about how iconic some of these are????

"Dead woman comes back from the dead and fakes funny accent for 2 seasons" fun fact. That's the whole show. The show only has two seasons

She came back as an angel and faked an accent for the whole show cause "you only live once you may as well have fun with it you know"

Idol.

"Protag comes out as ace while tied up and about to die" this happens in like... episode 11 if I'm not mistaken?

All five protagonists. Tied up. In a warehouse, middle of nowhere. Next to them, a bomb.

They're gonna die right? They might as well start singing and talk about deep stuff etc.

"I think I'm ace, I've had sex 2... one and a half times, didn't really like it" (among these lines)

"Wish I was there to see that 'half' time" that's kinda gay Foti

Oh and do you wanna know how they're saved from their certain death?

Remember the angel lady we mentioned above? Yeah she drove Spyros' grandma (spyros is the ace guy) there cause grandma- Sofie, and her bestie Theopoula were stalking him

And Amalia- Angel lady, had a knife on her cause she was dressed up as a woman from Crete (for her modeling career) and they untied them with that

"Old woman proudly proclaims that everyone in her neighborhood is a lesbian"

LOOK

Abraam: The play only includes women

Sofie: Why? Are they lesbians?

Spyros: Grandma!

Sofie: Why son? It's normal

Theopoula: What's a lesbian?

Sofie: When a woman goes with another woman (goes=sleeps, makes more sense in greek)

Theopoula: goes where?

Aggela(annoyed at this point): To the grocery store!

Theopoula: Oh thank God. Everyone in our neighborhood is a lesbian

4 of the protagonists pretending to be gay to save the other one?

Well I do have that whole scene translated on YouTube if anyone is interested

The main 5 dressing up as Abba hangover in a wedding? Well that's the lie and now I'm mad it didn't happen cause they totally would

Technically they couldn't do it cause Kapoutzidis wanted to make a point and none of the main characters drunk alcohol or smoked or used guns

But they do show up dressed up as a rabbit a pirate and a bear one time, and another time one was covered in yogurt and someone had aluminium foil in her hair- and was fotis dressed as rouvas then? I don't remember-

Billionaire buys soap opera to kill of a character she hates

Isn't she an Absolute Icon? Such fan behavior

And the best part? She bought a Mexican soap opera. She then wrote the script in greek and sent it back to be translated in Mexican to then see the show dubbed in greek again

Alexis was worried on how they would translate all the villagish not real words she had added

Pm hiring assassin to kill other assassin

Fun fact, original assassin kills the second assassin when he finds out about the deal

Surviving getting tied in railroad tracks

That scene is actually one of the first ones they show, but like as "1 year later" and then we see everything that happened 1 year ago to get to that point

Remember the angel lady? She accidentally stopped the train and thought the 5 were tanning

0h. Also just realized the option that won as lie was the coming out as ace huh. Yall really didn't believe Kapoutzidis would be able to add the first greek canon ace character in a 2005 show did ya

[iomontecillo]

Female cashregistrar starts fight: So an elderly woman decided to engage in some behavior she would be expected to know beforehand is inappropriate. I’m minding my business, picking up groceries, the elderly woman engages in the same behaviour female baboons do to draw attention to herself. The female registrar does the same. I verbally say “that’s not welcome, or at least I dpn’t enjoy that”. She responds by asking if I’m talking to her, and I respond by saying “as a younger person I would expect you to understand English, and also what you’re communicating with your face, since you’ve been hired to work here”. She tells me to explain, and I tell her the face she made, where she licks her mouth when she looks in someone’s direction wasn’t one I received as welcome to me. She reacts as if unaware of her own actions. I point out she’s being paid to be responsible for what happens in the store, and that I’ve experienced inappropriate behaviour there more than one time. She displays aggression by slamming the equipment and then States “I made her “sad””, though slamming is an act of violence, not sadness, and the elderly woman, who was being inappropriate earlier then becomes aggressive, slurring like an elderly male drunk and suggest “why don’t you just get out”. All in all the entire course of events is un-natural, and none of the action taken by the women is even close to the logical response. I’ve worked in retail before and have never responded in that way. The Young female behind the counter isn’t behaving as a professional would be expected, and the ederly woman behaving like a drunken male is simply demonstrating these women are engaged in a practice intended to be ub-natural, irrational and outright abusive. Analyzing that situation from any angle would simply render the employee as unqualified for that position, as it’s not her function to initiate fights with customers, and certainly also not her function to encourage other customers to initiate harassment. I’ve been there fewer than 10 tiles, making it clear that’s a deliberate course of behaviour, as no one initiates conflict that quickly unless it’s intentional. https://www.instagram.com/p/CnMFUz5N0Jn/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[mnoonthego]

Christmas Eve (Day 14)

It sure doesn’t feel like Christmas. Seeing all of the winter, snowy fun back home couldn’t be different than our sunny 25 degree days. Where we wake up to monkeys running across our roof, the dogs barking when the wart hogs are in the yard, the extremely loud call of the Hadeda (a type of ibis, bird) and of course the screech of the tree hyrax. Everything is so different! That said, we have all of the fixings for tomorrow’s turkey dinner.

We went to drinks at friend’s of Aileen and JD’s last night and had a lovely time discussing life in Kenya. You have to be tough to live here! They have a cobra living in their wood pile however, they find it doesn’t really bother them or their dogs so its not an issue!?!? They also let us know that there is a leopard in the area that took someone’s small dog yesterday!! So of course I was freaking out when we came home and none of the dogs were around! Thankfully they were next door watching a movie with the neighbours.

Aileen was off today so we went on a girls shopping trip and to meet one of the kids that she supports. We combed through the market looking for souvenirs and then attempting to barter on prices. I think we all found some lovely things to bring home.

A highlight for me was meeting Jackson and Lydia as I find their story so daunting and yet inspiring. Lydia is Jackson’s grandmother; Jackson is 12 and has Cerebral Palsy. As they are from Kibera, the slums of Nairobi, they have really fallen through the not so well supported cracks of the medical system and the lacking social support net. Jackson’s mom left and therefore he is in Grandma’s care along with six other children she is supporting as they don’t have parents on the scene. Aileen was supporting Jackson with his physiotherapy needs (as well as medications and trips to the doctor) but realized that he needed more than a visit every two weeks and through a grant was able to have his needs and others recognized by the school hiring a full time physio that Aileen and another physio are mentoring as she is new to the profession. Jackson is now able to sit up on his own and has some head control which he didn’t have until relatively recently which means he is starting to feed himself! Without his Grandma’s dedication and commitment to him, it is likely he would have been just left on the floor during the day while his parent went to work so the fact that he is actually able to see a doctor, receive regular treatment and schooling is amazing. We take so much for granted and this really shows how lucky and privileged we are to have been born in Canada and for me to have the family I do.

On to the lighter side, while we were waiting, I noticed a sign that with our grocery store points we could have a goat! Save on Foods doesn’t offer that!!

We spent the later part of the afternoon enjoying a friend’s pool which was a great way to cool off in a hot Nairobi afternoon!

Aileen and JD joined us for dinner at Talana’s (the house we are staying at) where we used the norad tracker to see where Santa was and to put out some treats for Santa and the reindeer. As Amira, the Elf on the Shelf hasn’t been flying back and forth to the North Pole and the kids didn’t write a letter to Santa, Tamsyn is pretty concerned that he might not know where to find her.

[extasiswings]

seen your face before (someone find a mirror)

Because I’m predictable, have some Chim POV S6 Spec...

For all that Chim knows he missed a lot of time with the 118, it still takes him by surprise whenever he’s hit with a reminder that, oh, he really missed a lot of time. Like when he finally came back, but Eddie was gone and there were new hires in his place. Like how Buck was suddenly the seasoned firefighter giving advice instead of the one who needed it.

(Although, his love life was still a mess. Chim was glad to know that things hadn’t changed that much.)

And then Eddie came back and—

The problem with missing so much time is that Chim isn’t always sure what pieces are new and which ones are things he simply wasn’t able to see before. Because they’re all guilty of making assumptions, he isn’t above that, but the question lingers in his mind all the time now—is he different? Or is everyone else? Or is it some combination of both?

The other problem is that uncertainty means he isn’t sure whether he can ask.

He tries once—

“Have you noticed anything different about Buck and Eddie?” It slips out over drinks with Hen, and Chim nearly bites his tongue after because he’s been trying to avoid exactly the look that she levels him with.

“No?” Hen replies. “They’re the same as they’ve always been. Why?”

And he doesn’t know how to explain without sounding a little crazy. He doesn’t know how to explain, because she’s right, but somehow the same as they’ve always been seems very much like…well…

Like they’re together.

Chim shrugs instead of saying that. “I thought they might have been closer since I got back. But maybe I just got desensitized to the BuckandEddie of it all.”

Hen’s brows knit together. “You don’t think they’re—no. Not possible. We would know.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, as much for his own benefit as hers. “Yeah, of course we would. I’m seeing things.”

And the subject drops.

But he keeps noticing things.

Things like the way that Buck has Eddie’s therapy appointments on his calendar. Things like how Buck and Eddie talk about Christopher the way that he and Maddie talk about Jee-Yun. Things like the way Eddie looks at Buck when Buck’s back is turned or how whenever Eddie touches Buck, Buck will lean into it like a flower seeking sunlight.

And it’s not new, is the thing. When Chim really thinks about it, he doesn’t think it is. Because he can recall Buck talking his ear off in a Christmas tree lot about how Eddie hadn’t told them he was having a secret affair with his wife. He can recall Buck losing his mind as much as any worried spouse Chim’s ever come across when Eddie was trapped in a well. He can recall a fight in the middle of a grocery store, and playful teasing about summer camp, and Buck basically taking over the Diaz household after Eddie was shot, and another argument over patients in an ER—

When did they all collectively decide none of those things meant anything? When did they decide that Buck and Eddie were…what? Just a couple of heterosexual besties?

Because, god, if it was him and Maddie—

Hell, it was him and Maddie. Him and Maddie sitting on the couch in her apartment while Buck looked at them and listed all the reasons that they were clearly dating without admitting it.

And it’s still him and Maddie, frankly. Because she is the mother of his child and the love of his life and he can’t be with her, but he can’t imagine being with anyone else either. He can’t imagine even trying.

She’s the love of his life. So no one else would ever be able to come close.

And when he looks at Buck and Eddie lately…it seems an awful lot like they’re the same.

But Chim can’t talk about it. He can’t talk about it, because nobody else seems to see it.

So he watches. He pays attention. And he thinks.

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