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muddyorbsblr · 11 months ago

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a startling realization pt1

See my full list of works here!

Summary: Oakley returns to campus after a trip with his mates and steadily comes to realize he's developed feelings for you

Pairing: Oakley x Reader

Word Count: 3.9k

Warning/s: frat boy friends vibes; bit of angst; probably not a completely accurate referencing to the events of 'Unrelated' [let me know if I missed anything!]

Things to be aware of: prequel piece to 'just another memory' but can be read alone; Oakley is a SIMP in the making for Reader

There'd been a strange sinking feeling in Oakley's stomach since he and his mates hit the road back to Cambridge. It was the kind that he'd only ever felt when he knew he'd done something that could get his mother cross at him and she and his father would impose some form of punishment on him. Perhaps revoke his cell phone for a week so he couldn't join his friends on their regular scheduled shenanigans. Or chat up some stunner that he'd met the week prior.

But things were different now. He was no longer bound by their rules for the most part. He was free to do whatever he wished and this trip to Italy was the perfect showcase of that new dynamic. All he had to do was get his degree and get a job, and he would still have their support and financial aid so that he wouldn't have to stay at the dorms or even have to tough it out with a roommate that might not approve of the way he lived day in day out.

The only person keeping him in check now was himself, and as far as he was concerned, there was nothing he'd done in Italy that he wouldn't have done in Cambridge. He had a bloody good time there, even, getting to engage in not just one but two flings, and one of them with an older woman.

And yet, when he thought back on every touch, every kiss, that he'd shared with either of the women, that pit in his stomach would form again. As if the activities he'd engaged in during his vacation were somehow the "wrong thing" that could make someone responsible for him cross.

But why?

"You're awfully quiet back there, mate. Which one of your lucky ladies is taking up space in that randy little brain o' yours, I reckon?" Eric teased, lightly tapping the curly blond's head as he plopped down on the seat next to him, jostling him out of his dwelling over why there was a pit in his stomach to begin with.

"I've no idea what you're on about, mate, I'm not thinking of anyone," he tried to brush it off, brows furrowing together when he tried to remember that night in the pool and the knots in his stomach worsened. Like the memories he made in Italy were not something he could look back at with fondness.

If he dwelled on it for even a second longer than necessary, it almost felt as if he was looking back on those memories with a touch of shame.

"Ah come on, Oaks, you tellin' everyone 'ere that you're not thinking about that stunner of a blonde Elizabetta? Even I'm thinking 'bout her and it wasn't my tongue down 'er throat." Eric crowded his space, squishing him to the side of the van. "Or even that cougar Anna, my lord, man that one was fawning and doting after you!"

As if right on cue, his mobile rang and vibrated violently in his pocket. Another call. He didn't need to even glance at the tiny device to know who it was. She'd been calling since just a few minutes after they'd all said their goodbyes.

That was over 24 hours ago. And he was well on his way back to campus, the scenery already began to elicit that feeling of 'home'. Or at least of familiarity.

"Speak o' the devil! Why don't you pick it up, Oaks? Be a grand old time hearing her pining after you again." His friend flailed into his side, dramatically placing the back of his hand on his brow. "'Oh Oakley how I miss you terribly, why don't I come visit you on Cambridge and we can live out any professor fantasies you might have in that virile young college brain? I'll even get the glasses and the pencil skirt just for you."

"Sod off," he grunted, trying to chuckle away the mental image. Another thing that was bothering him: Those fantasies that he'd had before they left for Italy a little over a month ago…none of them appealed to him now. "If you want, you take her number and live out those filthy little daydreams of yours, mate."

All that he could manage to think of at the moment was the melancholic knowledge that when he got back to his apartment, there would be no one there. He wasn't coming home to anyone. That didn't used to bother him before, but for some reason sitting in this van with all his mates and having to hear them be completely taken up with his own conquests in this trip made him feel as if he should be guilty and shameful somehow of the way he acted. The way he treated both the women that he encountered and found himself entangled with.

This is ridiculous, you're not looking for a wife, you batty little git, he hissed at himself, trying to supress the urge to let out a deep exhale. That would set off everyone in the van. Besides, you don't even know anyone that's even remotely wife material.

"Hey hey hey look alive, lads," Marcus, the one at the wheel, started to call out. His tone was brimming with wanton intent. "We are steadily approaching the dorms, and you know what comes after."

"Sorority row!" the rest of the van cheered, proceeding to make botched barking sounds, effectively drowning out the relentless ringing of Oakley's phone.

But the mention of the dorms finally had him sitting up straighter, realization dawning on him that he was wrong. He actually already knew someone who was so much more than "wife material". Someone brilliant and diligent that had a part of him driven to make the steps to be someone better.

Someone that he called his best friend. Better than anyone in the van with him tonight.

You.

"Marcus, could you drop me off here?" he called out, his stomach flipping at the sight of your familiar silhouette jogging to the front door of your dormitory.

His friends' remarks faded into a dull buzzing in the background as he got off the van, making his way over to you and staying still by your side while you did your step-ups at the bottom step of the stairs. It only took a few moments before you shifted your gaze at him, removing your earphones and hooking the cord behind your head before giving him a beaming grin.

"Goldie Long Legs!" you squealed, the exhilaration from your workout giving you an adorably flushed look, the slightest tinge of pink on your cheeks. "I didn't know you were coming back tonight."

"I was gonna give you a call when I woke up tomorrow, but then I saw you." He did his best not to pay too much attention to the strange somersaults his stomach was making the longer he stared at you. "Coffee?" He tried to keep his tone casual, despite the way his voice cracked on the last syllable, as if he was a nervous lad asking a girl out for the first time.

You answered a giggle that had his heart doing the most bizarre acrobatics in his chest. Why was he reacting to you like this? Was it simply the lack of a woman's presence the last two days as they made their way back, making this reaction more primal than anything else? Was it your exercise outfit and the way the fabric clung to the curves that were rarely ever out for him to take notice of before?

Was it something else? Something that was simply…uniquely…you?

"Coffee? At this hour?" you laughed off his offer. "All the coffee shops are closed by now, and you know how you get with caffeine, Goldie. If you have a sip, you won't know a peaceful night's sleep tonight."

"Oi! Lookin' good there, Y/L/N!" Eric hollered from the van. Oakley's skin bristled seeing how his friend leered over your figure. "Shame you didn't join us, Italy woulda been an even prettier sight with you around."

"Rather not add to the trail of broken hearts you lot left behind," you shot back flawlessly, sticking your tongue out at the boys in the van. "I know you lads well enough to know you didn't behave yourselves."

"Oaks over there's the worst offender of us all!" Eric pouted, pointing at the curly haired blond. "Two flings. At the same time. Shoulda seen him, Y/L/N, he was at the top of his game."

The playful smile on your face faltered for a fraction of a second before you recomposed yourself. That infinitesimal moment was more than enough for the pit in his stomach to make its presence felt once again. Now Oakley knew what it was, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Shame. And the worry that knowing what he'd done back there would somehow taint your perception of him. When your gaze darted to him once again, he had to fight back the words that wanted to stumble clumsily out of his mouth. They meant nothing to me.

In the moment they were fascinating, and truthfully while he was in said moment, he thought about how things would go moving forward. If he would try to pursue anything with either of them, but ultimately the immediate answer was 'No'. Back then he didn't know quite yet the reason behind his mind's outright refusal, but now he did.

This dalliance was a mistake. I have someone so much better back at home and I've been a fool not to see it.

"Quite the juggling act, Goldie," you remarked, your tone more hushed than before. It felt as if you were putting distance between the two of you despite not having moved an inch. Like there was a wall he couldn't quite scale now just to get to you.

"One o' them even gave him a nice lil picture o' her. A breathtaking blonde called Elizabetta. Ohh man not even the finest girls in sorority row can compare."

Shut up, you little twat, he internally seethed, wanting nothing more than to throw whatever he could get his hands on at Eric's head so that he could just. Stop. Talking.

And then his mobile started ringing again. And your smile disappeared, your face looking as if it was struggling to decide how to reconfigure itself, your neck twitching with every shrill note of his ringtone. "That's probably that breathtaking blonde now," you said in an eerily chipper tone. "I won't keep you any longer, I'm sure you're tired from the trip. And you'd like to spend the night speaking with your new lady friend."

"Oh that's not even the blonde! That's the other one!" Dammit Eric, stop talking. "Older lady. Head over heels for him, she couldn't keep her hands off him every time they were in the room together. Told you, Y/L/N. Top of his game."

"Ohh so a lady lady friend. All worldly and whatnot…" Even your body language was throwing him off now, way too casual to fit how he himself felt in this moment. The feeling of wanting more than anything to explain. "Well then, I really don't want to keep you. I know better than to keep my elders waiting, you should, too."

The boys in the van started cheering and clapping over your remark, jokingly chanting "One of us! One of us!" as you gave them a curtsy, making a motion as if you were wearing a skirt rather than your black and hot pink leggings.

It was only when you were halfway up the steps to your dorm building that he managed to find his voice again. "Breakfast tomorrow? My treat?"

You only answered with another giggle. "Did you hit your head or something back in Italy? You don't do breakfast, Oakley. At most you do half a protein bar at first period. From my purse. I'll see you at lunch. I mean…if you're not too busy with your new lady friends or whatever."

He couldn't come up with an intelligible enough response, instead watching you walk into your building and shutting the door, wiping away at your face with your towel. All that he could do was walk back into the van, telling Marcus in a daze, "Drop me off at my place. I'm not in the mood for stop overs at sorority row."

Oakley wasn't in the mood for any more games. Any more women. Not tonight.

The next morning the first thing he did was call up his service provider to see about getting a number blocked, and then he grabbed his wallet, rummaging around in his desk drawer for a handful of photos to place in front of Elizabetta's. A group photo with his mates from their first class project in freshman year, a photo with his family. A photo of a stolen moment with you where you two were wielding chopsticks at each other in a playful "stand off" for a potsticker, and your graduation photo.

On a whim, he placed the potsticker one in the front, a fond smile stretching across his face as he traced his finger over your face in the picture. And then his alarm clock began to ring and the sound quickly filled his apartment, springing him into action to find the nearest clean outfit he had lying around.

He nearly broke a sweat with how fast he ran to your dorm building, hoping he'd catch you before you started walking toward wherever you'd decided to grab breakfast for this morning. Right as he was across the street from the front doors, you walked out, one earphone plugged in and the other dangling from the cord, undoubtedly mouthing along to whichever song was topping the chart this week.

"Y/N!" He internally winced at the hoarseness in his voice. He wasn't even running for that long; how was it that he was already heaving for air?

Your head snapped up to his direction at the sound of your name, shock registering on your face when your eyes met his. Followed by confusion, your brows adorably knitting together as you watched him jogging towards you as he crossed the street.

"What brings you to my neck of the woods at this hour, Goldie?" you greeted him with a smile, hooking the cord of your earphones behind your neck. "Have a breakfast date with one of the girls from my building? You must have it bad for this one if you're willing to wake up so early for--"

"Y/N, I'm…I'm not here for someone from your building," he cut you off, wiping his hands on his shorts before standing up straight, trying to get his heart to stop beating so bloody fast. "I asked you to breakfast last night, remember? My treat?"

His response had you visibly taken aback. "Oh…" The word came out more like a squeak, making you clear your throat. "I uhh…I thought you just offered that as a nicety. For catching up. We could've done lunch…or you know, coffee now that it's a reasonable hour."

"We could do that, too," he said in a rush, fighting against the strange instinctual urge to reach for your hand as the worry that you might wave him off and start walking away crossed his mind. "After breakfast?"

You shuffled your feet in place, slightly swaying back and forth. It was a motion he knew all too well from you, the one that told him you were trying to think something through, trying to find the reason and the rationality in something before deciding what to say or do next. Had it been any other day, any other circumstance, and had he not been grappling with finding his own sense of rationality in why there was suddenly this shift on how he was acting and reacting around you, he would have swayed with you.

After a few moments your mouth stretched into a half-smile, shrugging before tilting your head in the direction of a nearby cafe and bakery. "Alright then. Let's go."

Oakley couldn't help how his face broke out into a grin, a touch too eagerly falling into step with you, still fighting the urge to reach for your hand. To lace his fingers with yours.

"So tell me all about Italy," you started, looking up at him and squinting your eyes as the morning sun hit your features. "Start with the food because I want to know if handmade pasta--"

"We can talk about Italy later," he breathed out, finally losing the struggle to not reach for you and settling on lightly resting his hand just above the small of your back. "Tell me about what you've been up to the last six weeks."

He'd try and process what it meant later. That all he wanted to do was know how you'd spent your time apart. That he wanted to hear your stories rather than speak about his own. That much as it was an extraordinary experience to roam Italy with his mates, the only thing he could think of now was how it could have been even more beautiful if he perhaps…experienced it with you.

"Oh…" Your voice got smaller again, as if you were struggling yourself to find words. "Well truthfully they were quite boring. My sister visited campus to drag me to the shopping plaza to overhaul my wardrobe. She's quite literally holding my jumpers hostage and replaced them all with…well, things like these." You awkwardly motioned at the dress you were wearing, a frilly sage number with a bow. "I look ridiculous."

"You look beautiful," he blurted out, immediately biting the inside of his cheek when you snapped your head up to give him a questioning look. A new feeling flooded him. Something almost akin to…fear? His heart was still pounding and thrashing in his chest, his breathing thready like the air was too thin.

Like he was afraid that you'd look at him and see right through him. Right into his soul. His deepest, most secret thoughts. Thoughts he hadn't even dared to properly articulate with himself.

And if you saw them, if you saw him, you would walk away without a second thought. Those words that he was so used to wielding without completely meaning it when he was around other girls, he'd uttered to you with the weight of every unspoken thought he'd had of you since last night.

With every ounce of sincerity and honesty that felt so foreign for him to possess.

"Oh please, Goldie, you don't have to butter me up," you laughed off his compliment, waving it away with your hand like it was a little housefly flitting away by your face. "You don't have to lay it on--"

"I'm not." The words were flying out of him faster than his brain could filter them. "You're beautiful, Y/N. And it's not because your sister overhauled your wardrobe or you changed your hair. It's you." His heart caught in his throat seeing your eyes widen, the questions and the confusion in them mirroring his own. What was wrong with him today? "All of you."

You pursed your lips, already looking back in the opposite direction like you were second guessing agreeing to sharing a meal with him. Or maybe even sharing any form of time with him. He already wanted to hit himself for not keeping his mouth shut, he probably just flushed your entire friendship down the toilet all because he started acting the same way he did when he was in the first grade talking to the prettiest girl in class.

"Hmmm," you sounded through pursed lips, taking a deep breath before your features morphed into that all too composed smile that you gave him and his mates last night. "And here I thought all I had going for me was my winning personailty."

"That's just a part of it," he shot back, failing to fight the urge to touch his hand to your arm as you reached the cafe, helping you keep steady as you walked up the elevated platform leading to the door. Right as you walked past him when he opened the door for you, he caught a wisp of your perfume. The same one you'd worn every day since the day he met you, the scent of apples and mandarin blanketing him with a warmth that took him aback.

Memories of his weeks in Italy now bombarded him. How he would relish the apples that he had, breathing in the scent before taking a bite. How he brought an apple when he and the rest of the group visited a citrus grove, and how the combined smells reminded him of home.

Only his family home didn't smell like that at all. It smelled of tea plants and bergamot.

"Oakley?" Your voice broke through his memories. "You alright over there?"

He took in the sight of you, a single eyebrow raised looking like you were amused by his stupefied state, the corner of your mouth upturned in a little smirk. "Right as rain," he choked out, finding it hard to breathe properly with his heart beating so fast it might as well be The Flash on a treadmill. "Just not used to being up this early, is all."

You only wagged your finger at him, tsk'ing in response when he stepped up next to you at the counter. "Shouldn't have shocked your system with changing your routine like that, Goldie. You have to ease yourself into it, take baby steps. Otherwise you'll crash midday and end up taking a twenty-minute nap that quickly turns into four hours, miss a lecture, and then you'll have to rely on my notes. Again."

"Ah, you should know me better by now, Y/N. I'll need to rely on your notes even if I'm wide awake, I can never pay attention to those old windbags."

His words had you rolling your eyes to the ceiling, a devious smile playing at your lips. He couldn't take his eyes off you, every waking brain cell screaming at him to take your face in his hands and kiss you.

"And here I thought your time with your new worldly lady friend would have you respecting our elders a bit more," you quipped, laughing at him when all he could do in response was audibly choke on the air. "Maybe we can hack that debauched brain of yours. Pretend those old windbags are your older lady friend instead, or pretend one of the pretty girls in our lecture room is your breathtaking blonde Italian beauty. Maybe then you'll pay a bit more attention in class."

I won't, his mind protested. Why would I look anywhere else when you're right next to me?

"I really don't think so," he said softly, letting out a chuckle when all you did was shake your head at him, proceeding to order a bacon cheese waffle sandwich and the first of a handful of coffees you'd be drinking throughout the day. All the while Oakley watched you, a fond smile stretching across his face as he lost himself in the memory of the citrus grove again. The scent he was chasing the entire way to Italy and back.

Your scent.

Home

A/N: Sometime last year I made a lil note in my idea notebook to make a prequel piece to 'just another memory' and now here we are…and it's gonna be a 2-parter with a potential alternate ending because the lil gremlin horn dogs in my writer brain want a scenario where she chooses…well, y'know what, you'll know who it is soon enough 😈😈

'everything' taglist: @simplyholl @loopsisloops @imalovernotahater @coldnique @loz-3 @huntress-artemiss @salempoe @vickie5446 @athalialaufeyson @lokiprompts @kats72 @kikster606 @asgards-princess-of-mischief @lokixryss @thomase1 @mischief2sarawr @lovingchoices14 @lunarnights95 @goblingirlsarah @iamlokisgloriouspurpose @creationsbyme @maple-seed @mjsthrillernp @ladyofthestayingpower @mygfloki @sititran @glitterylokislut @ozymdias @fictive-sl0th @lokidbadguy @mochie85 @silverfire475 @joyful-enchantress @elizabethmidnight2017 @holdmytesseract @smolvenger @gigglingtiggerv2 @lokidokieokie @lunarnights95 @superficialdomina @kmc1989 @november-rayne @goddessofwonderland @buttercupcookies-blog @peaky-marvel @lokiified @tom-hlover @dryyoursaltyoceantears @herdetectivetheorist

#oakley #oakley x reader #unrelated #tom hiddleston x reader #muddyorbs writes

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aclowntiny · 2 years ago

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Business Booster- Wooyoung x Shy!Female!Barista Reader

Word Count: 2,379 | Coffee Shop, Fluff | Warnings: none~

This is my second café-centered story! It makes a slight reference to the one I did for Yeosang, but they aren't really connected/in order, I just thought it would be fun hehe just like making a small reference to one of my favorite webtoons!

“Hey, Jongho,” Wooyoung addressed his roommate, attempting to convince the maknae of his eight-man group to get out of the house with him, “have you tried Shot in the Dark yet?”

“That’s the new place, right? Not yet. Why?”

Shot in the Dark was a new café only a block off KQ. A convenient enough place to supply someone as enthusiastic about caffeine as Wooyoung, sure, but he could take or leave the coffee over the, shall he say, ambience.

The longer-haired man sat up on his bed, a hint of a smirk rising to his lips out of his casual smile. “Well, they’ve got a business booster,” he replied, using a piece of lingo he’d coined a year or so back.

Jongho knew the game. In his mind, he wasn’t quite as superficial as his next-to-youngest friend- at least not in the sense of wanting to drop everything because supposedly a cute girl worked at the shop.

Wooyoung, however, was not deterred by this, leaning forward & crossing his legs with a faint creak of bed springs. “And the best part? She’s shy.”

The young performer was feeling some espresso when he pushed open the heavy-looking dark metal accented door.

The bell rang right as he looked up, his eyes landing on you. One of the cutest girls he’d ever seen just casually standing there behind a coffee counter when Wooyoung thought her face should be all over the place.

But then again, if your face was all over, he’d likely not have a shot with you. Gift horses and all.

“H- hello,” you stuttered, glancing down even as you waved with a wide but sheepish smile.

Cute. “Well hello there! I’m surprised you guys aren’t busier,” Wooyoung commented with a wink.

“What do you mean?” Oh my gosh, you didn’t even get it! Could you be more adorable? More fun?

Either way, he’d put on some charm without flustering you too much more- didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, after all. He almost frowned at the mere thought.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve just been wanting to try this place ever since it opened up, and I’m glad I’m here!”

“Oh, well good!” You brightened, parted lips of confusion turning back into that shy smile. “Was there something in particular you wanted to try?"

"An Americano, please. I heard you guys do really well with strong drinks. Hence the name, right?"

"Right," you agreed quietly, gaze drifting down to the cup you held in your hand, pen at the ready, "and what was your name?"

"Wooyoung." He leaned a bit closer to you on the counter, smiling to himself at the way you looked a bit flustered. "You'll remember that, right?"

"Oh, er, yes. Of course!"

He smiled brightly, glancing quickly at your name tag. "I'll remember yours, too, (y/n)!"

He paid, sat down at one of the industrial-style tables to scroll through bubble for a bit, and before he knew it you were standing before him, glancing at the floor and politely announcing that his coffee was ready.

"This isn't what I ordered."

Your face fell as you bowed in apology. "It's not? I'm so sorry, let me get you another right awa-"

"I'm kidding. It looks perfect."

"I hope you love it."

"I know I will."

Wooyoung learned then and there your giggle was as adorable as your other mannerisms.

And with that, you parted ways, your latest customer vowing to become a regular and wondering how many people had done the same when a beauty like you greeted them. He shook his head, taking a sip of the- wow, truly perfect- espresso drink you'd given him. Either way, management knew what they were doing putting you out there.

"She's shy?" Jongho asked, amusement crossing his face. "And you took that personally, huh?"

"It's so cute watching her get flustered. But she's really so kind and polite, too, and-"

Ateez's maknae arched a brow. "You do everything you do on stage and yet you want me for moral support?"

"No," Wooyoung shrugged, "just an excuse."

"If you don't want the guys to be suspicious, they won't be. We know you'll never give up on coffee. I'll go with you, though. This'll be funny to watch. Or if not I can save her."

"Hey!"

"We meet again," Wooyoung commented the moment he and Jongho enter Shot in the Dark, eyes falling upon you. He glanced at his dongsaeng, not-so-subtly asking Jongho if he was right about you or if he was right. Jongho just chuckled, Wooyoung and him never having the same type, which was part of why the next-youngest member wanted him to be the one to accompany him. If he brought, say, San, he might have trouble, and quite simply put he wanted you all to himself.

"Hi," you replied shyly, nodding the guys' way as you carried a pair of steaming mugs over to the young couple seated in the corner.

"You remembered my name, right?" Running a hand through his wavy black hair, Wooyoung leaned on the counter again.

He caught the way you froze, eyes briefly, worriedly glazing over. Your eyebrows furrowed a bit, lips parting before you spoke. Finally, very quietly, you inquired "Yu- Yuyeon?"

"You don't remember? How could you, (y/n)? I came back here just to see you!" Placing a hand over his heart, Wooyoung gave you a hard time, though it did actually make his chest drop a little. Maybe he didn't have as much of a shot as he thought. Maybe you liked quiet guys. If Yeosang hadn't found his barista already, maybe you'd have preferred him.

"I'm sorry!" You hid your face in your hands, head dropping a bit in apology. "I think I just got it mixed up with a character from the webtoon I've been enjoying!"

"Oh, do I look like a webtoon character?"

You started to peek out from your hands. "Well, not him, but you two do look like you could be in one," you answered with a smile.

"And, hey, don't feel bad, (y/n)," Wooyoung comforted you, teasing tone fading into a softer one, "you were close. It sort of rhymes. That just means I need to come in more, huh?"

"Yes, of course!" You brightened. "Um...oh! Wooyoung!"

"You got it!"

"Yay!" You clapped your hands, smiling fully now, completely uncovered. The way your hair moved with your little bounce, the way your lips parted widely, all of it made Wooyoung want to grab you, dip you down, and kiss you. But hey, he could start with ordering a coffee.

"Can I try a café latte today?"

"Of course. Can- can I ask you a question?"

"Absolutely," Wooyoung encouraged.

"Do any of the pastries we have look good to you?" You asked, motioning to the simple glass case containing coffee shop classics like croissants, buns, and danishes, but a few unique-looking desserts neither Wooyoung nor Jongho recognized by sight.

"Sure they do! Those things with the pink and yellow frosting are really pretty!" He had flashbacks to Yeosang's café adventures. "Do you make them?"

"No," you shook your head, a proud smile falling across your face, "my coworker Jiwoo makes a lot of the traditional pastries, and some of the other international treats like the pan dulce you mentioned are made by Veronica, our baker who is originally from Mexico."

"I like the yellow ones," Jongho said.

"I like the pink," Wooyoung said.

Jongho ordered, deciding to see what the new trend of protein coffee was, and you took his order, repeating his name as if not to make the same mistake that you had with Wooyoung. They paid, and as you took their cups back you glanced away from them, pulling out a bag and grabbing a pink concha and two napkins to slide into it. You handed it out to the guys, and of course Wooyoung accepted it.

"Here," you told him, unable to meet his eyes, "for- for forgetting your name. It's on the house. Please enjoy it."

They both thanked you, making their way to a center table. Wooyoung swatted Jongho out of the seat that faced you, taking it so he could watch you work, chin resting in his hand as he unabashedly stared. You looked over at one point and he winked, sending you practically flying across the kitchen to the other side out of his view. He chuckled deeply.

"We're never going to see you at the dorms anymore, are we?" Jongho asked, shaking his head with an exasperated smile.

"Definitely not now," Wooyoung joked back, opening the white paper bag you'd given them to reveal the concha, which he pointed down at, grinning and loudly whispering "pink" with a proud smirk.

"I'm back!" spreading his arms wide, Wooyoung walked into Shot in the Dark with a grin, not caring at the weird look your coworker- Veronica, it looked like, judging by the tray of conchas she was holding- gave him.

"Wooyoung!" You blurted out the moment you saw him, causing him to giggle. "Oh, I'm sorry, I just remembered this time and-"

"It's alright. I like hearing you say my name," the performer told you, voice lowering a bit and cheshire cat grin widening at the way you very suddenly had to turn around to borrow something from your coworker, who gave you a head pat through her gloves.

"The pastry thingie was really good, by the way," he told Veronica, who smiled and asked if he was back for more.

"I mean, I wouldn't say no, but I'm not exactly here for the food, you know?" A wink.

Giggling, you just asked if he wanted more espresso as Veronica started prepping her icing, shaking her head as she was clearly far more onto it than you were. That or you just wanted him to make all the moves himself. Well, fine by Wooyoung.

"You know me so well, (y/n)."

This particular Shot in the Dark visit, he'd elected to run to the restroom in the back quickly while you made his drink. He missed being able to shamelessly stare at you while you brewed his coffee, but, well, nature calls. He finished up, sparing a bit of extra time to pat down his hair and pop another button of his shirt in the mirror, then strode back out.

As soon as he rounded the corner, he collided into something, or rather someone. Eyes widening, he saw you stumble, mug sloshing onto your shirt. Your light grey shirt. Which now bore a large, unfortunate brown stain. But who cared about a random grey shirt?

"Oh my gosh, are you ok? Was that really hot?" Wooyoung saw a towel hanging from your apron, carefully extricating it without messing up your outfit or seeming untoward, and handed it to you, extending a hand to the one that wasn't dabbing yourself off.

"Warm, but luckily we don't make our drinks scalding."

"I am so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going and now I've ruined your shirt!"

"It's alright, this is just a plain one I bought at a cheap store for work. N-nothing sentimental, you know?"

"But still I feel bad," he said, looking into your eyes, which darted into his and back down to your messy clothing, his gaze never wavering, "all this mess just because I was too excited to see you again."

"Y-you're sweet," you commented as he pulled you up, gaze averted from your joined hands.

"Well, if you think so, I'd better keep it up then, huh?" Wooyoung replied, untucking his shirt and beginning to unbutton it all the way.

You immediately started, eyes widening as you swiveled around, turning your back to him and missing the fond smile that fell across his face. He took his shirt all the way off, buttoning the leather jacket he was wearing all the way up to the chest.

"Here, look, you can turn around again."

He knew you didn't think he saw, but your glance as you turned around was not directed at his eyes, despite the swivel. He grinned, extending the hand that now held his button-up out to you.

"I can't take your shirt," you all but whispered, flushing as he draped it around your shoulders.

"Sure you can. You can't walk around with a big wet stain showing all day, not that you don't still look beautiful."

Your eyes widened again, but you smiled as you slipped off your apron, tucking in and buttoning his shirt over your ruined one. "Thank you," you said simply, softly, sincerely, "I'll get this back to you, when...well, when..."

"When we have dinner tomorrow night?" Wooyoung asked hopefully, shooting you a playful side eye.

Those lovely lips of yours fell into an 'o'. "R-really?"

Wooyoung's eyes slid across your face, flicked down to his shirt on your body, one of the best things his eyes had ever seen, frankly. "You really still think people come here for the coffee, don't you?" He teased.

"It's a café," you shot back with a sheepish smile, daring to meet his eyes fully.

What can he say? He loved it. "A café with the most jaw-droppingly gorgeous barista who makes you forget all about how expensive their coffee is, because wow, she could sell me a cup of hot water for twice that price-"

"Stop!" You playfully swatted him, the sleeve of his shirt falling just a tad bit long on you, its soft fabric lightly caressing his jacket as your soft blow fell.

Wooyoung, of course, pretended to fall like you'd decked him. "I never lie, (y/n)."

"Well," you weren't sure what to say, "I will see you tomorrow."

"Great," he lit up, starting to make his way back out into Shot in the Dark before pausing, "well, actually, I did lie about one thing."

You frowned. "What?"

"I'd actually love it if you kept the shirt," he replied with a devilish wink before spinning on his heels, heading back out into the café with one final glance back to your blushing form fiddling with the hem of your newly-gifted button-up.

Jongho was right- who needed to spend all that time cooped up in the Ateez dorms?

#ateez #ateez imagines #ateez reactions #ateez x reader #ateez scenarios #wooyoung #wooyoung x reader #wooyoung x female reader #female reader #coffee shop au

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nyanbinarymess · 3 months ago

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It's been a while, I thought I got into a safe place, and realized I ended up back into abuse.

I have a roommate who is emotionally and psychologically abusive, forces me to spend whatever money I come across for food and his stuff, and has even tried to keep me locked inside our place before.

It's gotten to the point I almost died and he refused to take me to an ER (he was too busy watching his girlfriend's stream), refused to get me any help after I had a pregnancy scare after getting raped, and has been extremely neglectful to me.

I am a disabled queer person who is completely unable to work, I am so broken down, I have been crying on various friend's discord servers as I am scared.

Now, there is hope, I am having family move up north in 6-8 months, so I am trying to survive until then. I am still trying to create a plan to safely get out, but for now, I am struggling with medication, food, and transportation to my doctors!

I would really appreciate any donations to my p@yp@l, c@sh@pp ($sakurasprinkles), or v3nmo (@rosebushseer), just so I can afford a bit here and there while I try to get a way out, I would be much appreciative. Even if you can't donate, reblogs would mean a lot to me too

#proship safe #proshippers please interact #proship #proficwarriorcats #warrior cats #furry #fursona #warriors #dnd

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delulustateofmind · 27 days ago

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AHAHAHAHAH OMG I GOTTA BE CAREFUL WITH WHAT I WISH FOR but in all seriousness we’re making out so hard right now. You already know I HAVE to write you an essay on why this is simply exquisite and how I’ll never recover from the way my neurons got rearranged, and no baby, it wasn’t the electroshock therapy. The fact that you dropped this by accident. It must be fate because this was perfect. Pretty devious that this posted on Suguru’s birthday even if this wasn’t planned. Also I’m BEGGING you never apologize for the length the way I couldn’t even tell this was a 9.7k the way I GULPED this down. I promise none of us here will complain about the longer fics (If anyone does I’m fighting them it’s on sight). WAHH WAHH I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY!! This will probably be super long I’ll try to keep this in one ask so please enjoy me going through all of the lines that I have commentary on. I deeply apologize in advance if this sounds like unintelligent rambling but I gotta brainrot over this and who better than with the author.

"I have patients who need that,"

Not the subtle foreshadowing here. It saddens be the reader’s mom wasn’t on her side at all because I completely understand the pain and anxiety on not liking someone with no concrete evidence. Like they irk you in some kind of subconscious way and you look like the crazy person for disliking somebody everyone else loves.

BABE ARE YOU IN MY BRAIN!?!?!? ARE YOU SPYING ON ME!?!! I really felt for reader in this one��. She’s just like me fr even the way she opens the Tylenol container and they all spill out at first. It’s an honest mistake reallyyyy!! The that fact that you could get committed over that is crazy new fear unlocked. The way you had me gasping and clutching my pearls all at the same time my roommate walked in on me and asked if I was ok because of this😂 short answer no(in the best possible way)

"Yeah, it’s Gojo Satoru," he said smoothly, effortlessly - like he was ordering fucking takeout. "I need an emergency psych evaluation."

UGJHH the way I pictured this like it was straight out of a horror movie. Just his low serious steady voice as he leans in radioing us in like that. I swear I could hear my own heartbeat because I knew where this was going. Got me wondering if satosugu committing reader was one of Suguru’s plans or if this was one of Satoru’s spontaneous decisions? Because I could see it both ways.

“the pitifully well-connected.”

Ok not too much to say but yikes. Makes be wonder how high up they are in the Hospital. Geto even calls it his hospital, do they own it to have so much power and influence in there?😬

"Because I know you," he said simply, like that was supposed to mean something, like that was supposed to be enough. "I know how you get when something is wrong. And I know you wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t something wrong."

NO !YOU DONT KNOW ME YOU ASSHOLE!!!!! It’s incredible how you write him because he makes me so uncomfortable on such a visceral level. He makes assumptions and decisions and treats them as fact all to put himself above you and the more you try to correct or convince him you confirm the accusations that only frustration you more. His mouth is a snare trap that tightens around you the more you try to resist.

“And now, look! Here I am. All wrapped up and delivered straight to you."

HELP she’s so funny I love her.🥰

“Suguru simply shook his head, looking almost gladden at your attempt to argue. "This isn’t your ER," he reminded you smoothly, tilting his head. "This is my hospital. And here, we take precautions. We have to ensure you don’t harm yourself… or tamper with the sample."

RAHHHH I HATE HIM!! You’re gonna hear me say that a lot 😂 tHiS iSn’T yOUr eR oh the rage, oh the anger, reader was fighting every demon to keep her cool and I sympathize greatly. How dare he speak to us like that. They repulse me and I can’t stop reading. Also be so honest with me Snail, do you have a piss kink don’t be shy I don’t judge 😉 Reader was so real how could she have possibly messed with the sample not that they didn’t know that. Alas just for their sick gratification.

“Mhmm." His hum vibrated with something smug. "The nurses - " he dragged the word out playfully like he was gossiping at brunch, " - think you planned this. That you missed Suguru so much, you just had to get yourself locked up in his hospital…"

GODDD THEY ARE SO PERSISTENT lord forbid from you feeling justified human anger at this impossible situation that only gives them more justification to hold power over your life, health and autonomy. Having to walk the constant line of advocating for yourself and also practicing self preservation by not lashing out/ confirming their allegations must be so exhausting. At that point I would have quietly told him I give him the divorce papers and whatever the other nurses think is there problem. This is if that’s what they actually said and it wasn’t Satoru making stuff up just to get a rise out of reader.

“Suguru exhaled slowly, tapping the clipboard with the end of his pen before leveling you with the most patronizing look you had ever seen. There was no cruelty in his expression, no outright malice. As if he had already decided what you were before, you even opened your mouth.”

THE INFANTILIZATION WITH HIM ARGHH I mean he’s like this in every Yan fic but Dr. Geto is on a whole different level. Ew his superiority complex was so loud with this one. Geto Suguru the micro manager that you are. Poor girl never had a chance to prove her mental state, never needed to. He was always going to have her like this if she ever tried to leave.

“They were rewriting you right in front of your eyes, shaping you into something else—someone else. Piece by piece, erasing what didn’t fit, twisting reality into something they could control.

A violent patient.

An unstable patient.

A liability.”

OFFICER, OFFICER ITS THIS ONE, THIS ONE RIGHT HERE UNDID ME😭 They were rewriting you… and you say that you don’t think you’d be published. Girl please you should see what they have out in the center of Barns and Noble. But in all honesty this was one of my favorite lines because it’s literally the beginning of how the psych labeling theory works. The more you treat someone some type of way the more they’ll act like it. My heart aches and breaks for her💔Was that on purpose??? Snail you icon, you genius. I will be thinking about this while crumpled over on my bed, right before class and right before I sleep. We can’t can’t keep doing this you and I😩(just playing never stop)

"This is a safe space."

It was in fact n o t a safe space. Great suffering ensued.

"Ready?" Suguru smiled, that soft, practiced kind, like this was just another routine check-in, like he wasn’t about to upend your entire world again. Wasn't going to drug you back into compliance, wasn't going to hush and calm you when he drew blood for testing.

Goodness as weird as this sounds I would have loved to read a detailed scene in which he’s drawing her blood. Reader facing the moral dilemma of do I stay put or fight. And Suguru would be oh so up close and intimate. If you comply he would over do it with the cooing and he slowly talks through it thinking he’s taking such great care of you. Firm but gentle thumb on the cotton ball pressed into the crook of your elbow. Slowly placing the bandaid with a deliberate touch across your smooth skin. And if you writhe and resist, even better he’s now trying to ease your “phobia” with his syrupy words saying it’s perfectly normal to feel afraid right now. Though ah ah ah can’t have you moving around like that don’t wanna bruise your delicate skin. Best to call Satoru in to hold you in his lap don’t worry they’re happy to do this for you. It’s for your health after all.

"Where the hell is Shoko?" The words tore from your throat, sharp and raw. "I want her as my doctor - that is my right."

"Or the nurses?" you continued, voice rising, trembling with fury. "I want Nanami to be my watch instead of this blue-eyed freak."

Honestly I’m surprised she didn’t bring up the conflict of interest and how it’s bad practice to practice medicine on your family or loved ones. Because I would be doing the most to sue them after this whole thing. Gotta love how she still finds a way to get a jab in at Gojo I can picture his tiny frown at that😂

“But he could not—would not—control your fire.”

RAHHHH THATS RIGHT THATS MY GIRL THATS MY FIGHTER!!!!!

“Instead, dread curled in your stomach like sickness, spreading through your limbs in slow, creeping waves. Your pulse stuttered as Satoru took your hand, his fingers lacing through yours. The warmth of his palm was comfortable in a sense.

Satoru squeezed your hand. Tighter. Like he was preparing you.”

OK THIS AND THE LINE THAT THE ABSENCE OF HIS HAND FELT COLDER THAN ANYTHING IN THE ROOM. I’m so obsessed with the double meaning of Satoru’s body language here. Physical actions that are meant to both comfort and physically restrain>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> it does something to my brain the act of love and betrayal got me staring off to question everything.

“Because this wasn’t a goodnight kiss. This was Electroshock therapy.”

Snail just say you don’t want anyone to move on from this it’s ok to admit that. Just say it. Just stab me in the heart and let me slowly bleed out in the snow while you’re at it.

“Like he was trying not to cry.”

A part of me wants to know what Suguru would do if Satoru defected from him? Because of the two he’s most likely to crack and I’m curious to see the repercussions, since they are in the same position of power. Would Suguru give it up or double down and find a way to get Gojo for this?

“Your knees buckled, their hands dragging you across the floor, inching you closer-closer-

To the altar.

To your undoing.

Your screams felt smaller in the sterile, hollow air.

"NO-PLEASE!"

TO THE ALTAR??? TO OUR UNDOING??? OFFICER ITS ALSO THIS ONE!!!! YOUR WRITING IS EXQUISITE AND DIVINE!!! You see I feel like what made the electric therapy so jarring was sure the therapy if you could even call it that it’s but more so the tension leading up to it. Not to out myself here but when I read I often find myself enjoying the fear and build up all the more than the final action because of the dread all coming to gather all at once. And obviously you did a phenomenal job at the final part but it’s works so well because of this section right here building it up to be that truly horrific experience. Ahhh I LOVEEE IT. Despite the lack of long needles and ice picks you really but the lobotomy in lobotomy kaisen

"This is mercy, angel."

"This is love."

Sator pressed a lingering kiss to your forehead.

And Suguru flipped the switch.

Pain detonated behind your eyes, blinding, white-hot, like lightning through your skull, like static in your veins

- erasing, ripping, rewiring.

Your body jerked, your spine arching off the table, muscles seizing, breath vanishing.

WHAT MADE HIM LIKE THIS GOOD LORD I’m banging my fists in the table rn. Him and his warped perception of love. Crazy what no pussy will do to a man. Ok aside from that can we talk about wonderfully descriptive this is. Wowie your diction is so enthralling I’m so zoned into this. It feels like I’m going through phantom pains because of how clear you made this image in my brain.

Gotta wrap this up bc I for real need to go to bed. I don’t think I could thank you enough for not only making my request into such a long immaculately written story but for all of the joy your blog brings me. I really mean it I’ve spent hours reading your stuff and it’s like we are going through the same hyper fixation at the same time. I was such a lurker for the longest time. Checking for your posts makes my day, you’re always so sweet to the commenters and I got the biggest friend crush eek I’m so embarrassed! I swear after I read this I was practically skipping on my way to class bc this was so unimaginably peak. From the entirety of my heart thank you. I truly value and appreciate your hard work. I’m incredibly grateful that you share these with us. I love you.

-love your dearly devoted 💖

When I say that I got fucking zoomies from reading this I literally mean that I got zoomies. I normally run three miles every morning 💖 anon...you made me run FIVE. fucking. MWAH.

I cannot say this enough, but thank you for the sweet and kind words, I always come back to these kinds of posts whenever I need a little motivation to write or whenever I'm feeling a little discouraged from posting a silly thing here and there.

NO FR I UNDERSTAND THE FRIEND CRUSH. I literally yapped about it to my friend the other day like I have these anons and they're so sweet and -

UGH I love you 😭🩷 don't give me all the credit WE DID THIS TOGETHER. You suggested the fic (though I derailed so now I feel like I gotta write my babygirl another one because that blood drawing scene you just mentioned ughhhh GOT ME) thank you for the lovely idea, I couldn't have written this without the idea so you definitely contributed to this creation 💖 anon.

Idk if you wanted me to answer your questions but I will anyways!

Was this planned between satosugu? - yes and no...Suguru was probably devastated when he got the divorce papers. Not going to lie he deeply loves reader, put them on a pedestal as his angel. So, Satoru being the friend...and well lover to them both...wanted to bring them back together. Kind of like a child with divorced parents. Was he thinking about dragging reader into the mental hospital? No! He was mainly just constantly suggesting she work there a few times, he can be kind of pushy saying things like "it's not as busy as the ER" or "You don't have to worry about getting micromanaged by doctors" definitely in the epilogue, I really want to showcase satoru and readers friendship because he's also madly in love with her but also loves his bestfriend...it's complicated. So he would never steal her away.

Hospital lore, It's really common for hospitals to be privately owned, so the gojo clan does own the hospital (amongst other things) Satoru met Suguru in med school and offered him a job. So they're like at the tippy top of their doctor team. Which is why they were able to clear out the common room and blank out the cameras for medical malpractice.

Piss kink....possibly?? More so in the fantasy/writing aspect irl..mehh seems messy.

Satoru defect from Suguru - it'd be messy, I think it'd be one of the sheer moments that the reader actually sees suguru as aggressive. Like Suguru has never once shown anger to the reader, but the reader witnesses him slap Satoru across the face. Satoru would probably just get a small beating, and Suguru would use Satoru's love against him to continue. That this is for the best. Though suguru is struggling the whole time. Internally battling because he doesn't want to hurt his baby, his love, so he just pictures this as "it's okay, we can go home and you'll be safe" kind of scenario.

Its why I didn't go the lobotomy route because Satoru would've tapped out and I think it would actually destroy suguru in a sense and he'd blame himself if reader died from that. ECT has a low death rate and while can cause amnesia and lower cognitive function he would just SAVOR that. You mean you have to rely on him?? For the rest of your life?? Beautiful.

I think i answered them all? Anyways again I love you 💖 anon! Have a wonderful day at class and get lots of sleepies and take care of yourself!! Drink water!!

#snail and 💖 anon makeout session #hysteria asks #snail yaps #sorry this is so unedited hopefully you can understand it #literally getting ready forbwork #💖 anon feel free to ever dm me #we can be friends 🥺🩷#i will give you my discord and whichever kidney you want

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shion-yu · 5 months ago

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Day 24: Tales from the Waiting Room

1,855 words for @sicktember - this prompt was announced months ago and man, I had so much muse I wrote it immediately. Ft. college Cliff and Elliot being good boyfriends. CW: blood mention thanks to unintentional stabbing.

Cliff’s fear of hospitals and their associated needles is strong enough that Elliot’s seen him refuse to go with a 104 fever. But the day he drops a knife into his foot while slicing corn off the cob for their salad is the first and only time Elliot ever hears him say, “Can you take me to the hospital?”

The way Cliff says this is so eerily calm that Elliot’s not sure if he would have been more scared if Cliff had just screamed bloody murder like a normal person. Which would have been totally valid, based on the knife that’s currently, literally sticking out of his foot.

“Holy shit,” Elliot gasps, ten times less calm than his stabbed boyfriend. “Oh my god!”

“It’s fine, just, call a cab,” Cliff says. He isn’t moving at all, frozen in place and his face suddenly several shades paler than it was seconds prior. “And toss me that towel…”

Elliot thinks tossing the towel seems a bit too casual. Instead he attempts to wrap Cliff’s foot with several towels while keeping the knife in place as he’d learned in first aid class. Unfortunately, “keep the knife in place” proves to be a far more difficult task than they made it sound and he unintentionally dislodges it. A cartoonish spurt of blood sprays upward from Cliff’s food and the knife clatters next to him.

The way Elliot screams while slapping the towel on top of Cliff’s foot is almost comical, and they’ll laugh about it later. But at the moment it’s really not funny and it also attracts the attention of another student passing by the shared dorm kitchen, who also yells and immediately calls 911. So now it’s a whole big thing and Cliff is looking annoyed and questionably conscious as he sits on the porcelain kitchen floor and presses a towel to the top of his foot.

“Um, you’re gonna be okay,” Elliot tries to reassure him.

“I know, are you gonna be okay?” Cliff asks dryly. Elliot has tears streaming down his cheeks and lets out a hysterical sob. Cliff thinks at least one of them is calm, although it has a lot to do with the fact that he’s feeling really numb right now.

An ambulance comes quickly, two EMTs quickly led in by the RA. They ask Cliff a few brief questions, staunch the bleeding and load him into the ambulance. “This is super unnecessary,” Cliff says. “My roommate called a cab.”

“No I didn’t, don’t listen to him,” Elliot says quickly. Cliff shoots him a look of annoyance and Elliot doesn’t even blink. He frankly does not care about Cliff’s attitude right now. He dashes to their dorm room to grab their wallets with Cliff’s ID and insurance card inside, and then they’re off. No lights or sirens, but Cliff knows the entire dorm is probably watching him through their windows right now. He’s never gonna live this down.

For once, Cliff doesn’t faint when he gets an IV on the way there, although that probably has to do with being thoroughly impaled already. He’s feeling dizzier as the rush of adrenaline wears off, and apparently his vitals show that because they seem to move a little faster after he throws up into a bin that’s very hastily shoved underneath his chin by the experienced EMT.

“Thanks,” he coughs.

The EMT laughs. “You don’t need to thank me, but my pleasure,” she says.

Elliot’s sitting a few inches away, no longer screaming but clearly still horrified. “E, I’m okay,” Cliff reassures him. He was sort of annoyed before but now he just feels bad for Elliot. Elliot takes several seconds to process that he’s being addressed, but finally nods with a grimace.

By the time they’re at the emergency room, Cliff’s triaged as medium priority since the bleeding’s already been stopped. Therefore, he is deemed in great shape to wait on a stretcher in the hall. The lobby room is packed with people - the ER is the place to be a Friday night, apparently.

“Uh, how long do I have to wait out here?” Cliff asks awkwardly, eyeing the chaotic scene in front of him nervously. There’s like a million sick people waiting to be seen, flu season’s in full swing, and the simple face masks the EMT hands he and Elliot in pity seems insufficient.

“Probably a while,” the EMT says. “Good luck buddy.” Then he disappears out the sliding glass doors and Cliff very badly wishes he could follow. If he didn’t have a hole in his foot, he absolutely would.

Elliot sits in a chair close to Cliff and reaches up - it’s an awkwardly high height difference but oh well. He has most of his own color back now that Cliff’s surrounded by medical personnel. Not that any of them are ready to pay attention to Cliff, but it’s a start. A safety net, if you will. Cliff takes his hand and closes his eyes, not because he isn’t feeling well but because then he doesn’t have to view the very contagious looking room he’s in. That doesn’t block out the sound though. There’s people coughing and sneezing every ten seconds and Cliff just knows with his bad luck he’s going to come out of here with something worse than what he’s come in with.

“Sorry I freaked out,” Elliot says, interrupting Cliff’s anxious contemplations.

Cliff squeezes his hand. “It’s okay. I know you don’t like blood,” he says. “Next time just call a cab though.”

Elliot snorts. “I am not calling a cab next time you freaking stab yourself,” he says indignantly. “Better yet, don’t stab yourself ever again.”

“It’ll be at the top of my list,” Cliff says, grimacing as one particularly noisy patient who is sitting all too close for comfort sneezes wetly, directly into their hands. “Elliot… there’s too many sick people here.”

“I know,” Elliot says. “But you need to get your foot fixed. It’s not exactly just a little cut,” he says. Cliff knows, based on how much it hurts now. In fact his foot is throbbing incessantly, which makes his patience for this animal house even worse. Still, he knows Elliot’s right. He can’t just ignore a knife wound.

However, five hours later, Cliff is one hundred percent ready to ignore a knife wound - or worse - if it means getting out of this hell hole. He’s seen more people come in looking like an ad for contagion than he ever wants to see again. From his bird’s eye view atop the stretcher, he sees every streaming red nose, every poorly covered cough and sneeze, and every feverish sod that joins the swarm of disease. He wants out. NOW.

“Fuck this,” Cliff uncharacteristically swears. He’s angry, he’s in pain, and he’s starving. They never finished dinner after all. “Elliot, we need to go. I need to get out of here. I’ll glue it back together. Don’t you have cement glue from your art class? I’ll do it.”

“Cliff…” Elliot groans. They’ve already had this conversation at least twice per hour with varying levels of desperation. The difference is, Elliot’s also getting fed up and starving. “Just shut up and wait. Take a nap or something.”

“How am I supposed to nap here?! I can literally feel myself catching the plague. I’ll take a hole in my foot, seriously,” Cliff says. He sounds way too serious. “I’m-“

“Clifford Barrows?”

Elliot sighs a massive sigh of relief. Finally, not a second too soon (arguably, many hours too late), they bring Cliff back to a small curtained off bay and start working on his foot. He needs stitches - quite a few, they say - and Elliot knows any relief Cliff felt at moving one step closer to getting out of here is gone once they bring back a tray full of needles and surgical thread.

“Hold my hand,” Elliot says. “Don’t look.”

“Do you think you can stay still?” The doctor asks. “It’s crucial you don’t move.”

“No,” Cliff says, his face entirely colorless and sweating buckets. “I don’t think I can.”

The doctor nods and straps both of Cliff’s legs down with Velcro, which doesn’t seem like it should be strong enough but it actually is. Then he tells Cliff to take a deep breath and begins. Cliff makes it through about half of the stitches before he passes out.

The doctor seems used to this, even though Elliot is alarmed. He finishes working even with Cliff unconscious and then rolls over to Cliff’s head on his little wheeled stool and wakes Cliff up. Cliff looks confused, then embarrassed, then nauseous. He manages not to puke again though and the doctor tells Elliot a nurse will be in with a tetanus shot and discharge instructions. This takes another two hours and by this time Cliff is practically crawling off of the gurney. Elliot promises him his favorite Thai food as a reward.

“I’d eat anything,” Cliff says. “Even trash sounds good right now.” Elliot’s so hungry he actually agrees. The vending machine only takes cash and he only had two dollars on him. The protein bar they split a few hours ago was definitely not effective enough to hold them over.

Finally they get the discharge instructions. Cliff has an updated tetanus shot and a prescription for antibiotics for the next week. They say Tylenol and Advil for the pain, plus ice and elevation. Cliff thinks he could have done that part himself without the two hour waiting to be told. He leaves the hospital on crutches to use until his return appointment in two weeks - thankfully, this appointment is outpatient, not in the ER. Cliff thinks he’d probably take the stitches out himself before returning here willingly again.

They take a cab home, dropping by the Thai place to pick up their food that Elliot ordered two hours ago. It’s cold by now, but neither of them can care less as they dig into their takeout with more fervor than seems human. Someone cleaned up their stuff from the dorm kitchen and returned the utensils and plates to their dorm - minus the knife. Cliff likes to think they threw it away and is very glad he never has to see it again.

“So, how fast do you think we’re going to get sick now?” Cliff asks when they’re finally no longer loopy from hunger.

Elliot huffs. “Cliff, c’mon. We did wear masks… maybe it’ll be fine.” His face looks totally unconvinced though. “Okay, I bet five days.”

“I bet three,” Cliff says.

Elliot rolls his eyes. “Such a fun thing to bet on,” he says sarcastically. “What, loser has to go to the pharmacy when we run out of supplies or something?”

He’s being facetious, but Cliff says, “Deal.” And when they’re both absolutely drowning in head colds three days later, Elliot’s the one who has to drag himself to the pharmacy to stock up on tissues and NyQuil. Next time, he thinks to himself bitterly as he shivers all the way back to their dorm, maybe they should just glue Cliff back together after all.

#shionwrites #sicktember 2024 #oc: cliff #oc: elliot #tw: blood #hospital whump #sickfic #sicknario

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coconox · 1 year ago

Text

certified delulu post about nocti

a.n. this'll be a compilation of thoughts from my initial reactions to sands of wrath to his voicelines to literally everything about him. THIS WILL HEAVILY BE A NOCTI X SKK!READER KIND OF THING because i'm all in for a lil self insert to feed my delulu visions. also as a heads up i did read the story using google translate so if i quote anything it's basically what google translate told me but i edited it to make some grammatical sense. and yes there will be spoilers

a lot of context will be left out so if you don't wanna be confused by names check out this lore doc that gives a summary of er-5 or pgr lore in general, this post just talks about er-5 lol

EXHIBIT A: TRIGUN AU

have you seen trigun (ESPECIALLY trimax) cause if you have this makes so much more sense

noctis is vash and nigel is knives

both are brothers and have almost opposite ideologies

i did think of wolfwood and livio as another option but nigel does fit a bit closer to resembling knives

VASHWOOD (where nocti is vash and skk is ww (or the other way round, honestly either still works)

nocti: but you must promise me that you won’t die before i come back! no…. you’re not allowed to die even after i come back! i will definitely find a way to save you!

skk: of course, partner…..

this had me in TEARS I WAS NOT READY

nocti fist bumping you just made me think of this scene with vash and meryl

HE ALSO CALLS YOU PARTNER AS HE FIST BUMPS YOU the way i had this realization so late into writing all this

sands of wrath setting literally looks like a place you’d find in no man’s land

nocti’s voiceline telling you to smile more, similar to ww telling vash to smile more (and i mean their genuine smile, not the fake one they use in front of people)

EXHIBIT B: NOCTI AND SKK ARE MARRIED

they are married and own a bar together hear me out—

you two enter a town in which neither of you are welcome because you’re both from babylonia, the mayor decides to put you two in a hotel room till the harvest festival is over

you two are in separate beds, but neither of you can sleep, so you two do what any pair of roommates would do—

—have a 6 hr "light conversation" :D

first actual convo with nocti, you both take turns to ask questions about why they’re here, what’s going on, etc

nocti asks why you trust him so easily, you respond with “it’s intuition” which is a response nocti seemed to like

you also state how you hope he returns to cerberus and fall asleep. nocti in a way states he also wishes to go back to cerberus and sleeps as well

at some point nocti leaves the hotel room to find demont, who is the reason you two ended up working together in the first place, but there was an attack by hetero creatures and nocti swiftly got rid of them

after talking to the mayor, max, about wanting to be just a resident in town, he takes you to a bar, in which that’s where you find nocti

ya know he could’ve talked about ANYTHING and his drunk ass decided to talk about HOW HE PROTECTED YOU??? COINCIDENCE??? I THINK NOT

you find nocti and he offers his hand out to you to dance with him, you reluctantly agreed and you two end up break dancing together

this was him proposing to you i’m just sayin—

the night passes and you two begin living your lives as residents of new oakley

when he first calls you partner, it was originally solely because temporarily they’re no longer considered members of babylonia, and so to fit in with the whole wild west type style, nocti refers to you as “partner” and you agree to do the same to him

first time it’s used outside your interaction with him was when nocti has small talk with vann

vann: you’ll only obey orders from that commandant, right? these are the rules of the sky garden

nocti: i don’t listen to anyone’s orders, but if it’s a request from my partner, that’s a different matter

NOCTI WHY ARE YOU SAYING THAT LIKE WE’RE ROMANTICALLY PARTNERS?????

this isn’t the first time he does something like that he’s very consistent about it

truly a devoted man

also “MY partner” ????? he also pretty much refers to you as his partner throughout the whole story i got whiplashed when we were back to being called skk in his affection story

after you and nocti find demont there’s a small good cop bad cop scene (which i found hilarious), but at the end demont couldn’t reveal much vital information due to dying from poison

nocti realizes this poison is something only nigel can control, and stormed out into the center of town in a fit of rage trying to find nigel

calming him down and telling him to retreat to not make a big scene was practically impossible, that is till you shout “trust me— partner!!” and nocti finally calms down and retreats

HELLO??? CALLING HIS NAME HE DIDN'T BAT AN EYE BUT BEING CALLED PARTNER MADE HIM ACTUALLY LISTEN??

i'm absolutely speechless

you two cook up a plan to find out what’s really going on +bonus hand holding at the end

your part was to just do your job as a bartender while nocti handles the investigating, and eventually nigel shows up

nigel asks what’s the difference between a human and a construct, you respond in a way a bartender would explain it, but nigel wants an answer from you as a commandant rather than a bartender

he ends up poisoning you and leaves, nocti arrives a little while later after discovering what the plan is for this town in the next few days

i remembered that before we split up i told him not to be reckless, but in the end i was the one that was careless and ended up in this miserable condition. i no longer had the strength to stand, so i could only slide down to the edge of the bar. at the beginning, i said big words that would make nocti return to cerberus in an honored manner… i didn’t expect to be the one to make him sad for his companions

skk: i'm sorry…. nocti….

nocti: HEY! don’t say such depressing things to me so quickly

nocti then enters a panicked state of not knowing what to do cause skk is poisoned and there's no known cure for it

nocti gritted his teeth. he didn't even know how to give first aid. he regretted not learning more about first aid from vera before

GOT ME SOBBING, EMOTIONALLY DAMAGED, SHATTERED INTO PIECES

you tell nocti to go help the mayor cause if the mayor dies the town will fall

nocti is in pure disbelief that at a time like this you're more worried about someone else and he refused to leave you here

after some reassuring nocti goes ahead and takes care of what's going on in town and immediately after checks if you’re still ok

he hears a painful scream in his communication device and he SPRINTS back to where you are and finds both vera and 21 there attempting to take care of you

21 comments on how nocti is a lot more powerful ITS BECAUSE HIS LOVER IS DYING RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM AND HE WANTS TO SAVE THEM BUT DOESN'T KNOW HOW

there’s an encounter with the purifying force, wanting nocti dead since they believe he’s the cause of their aircraft crashing

you tell them that it isn’t his fault and after essentially a stare down between the purifying force and cerberus, the purifying force leaves you all alone since they trust you (thank the overlords for you working with them before and gaining a good work relationship)

you, cerberus, max, and vann think of a plan on what to do next now that you all know where nigel might be located

nocti will go and fight nigel alone since it’s the reason he even came here in the first place while the rest defend the town

you establish a m.i.n.d. connection with nocti, which in turn gives him the poison as well since you’re basically almost a walking corpse at this point

the fact that nocti, with NO hesitation, established a connection with you makes it LOUD AND CLEAR that he will stick with you no matter what even if it leads to his death

cue another hand holding scene, and nocti leaves

vera and 21 get very VERY concerned over your health, yet you’re still adamant about keeping the connection with nocti

21: they want to keep a deep m.i.n.d connection w nocti

vera: DO YOU WANT TO DIE?! if you're deeply connected, your consciousness will be completely bound to him…. if he dies, you also die

skk: he… needs….. me…..

this is LITERALLY a moment where one cares more about their partner THAN THEIR OWN WELL-BEING ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

transitioning over to nocti’s side, he finally confronts nigel

nigel mentions that in order to cure the commandant he needs to be killed, but just HEARING that name come out of his mouth made nocti more full of rage than he’s ever had

this part alone SCREAMED nocti being like "you do NOT have the right to say my partner's name after what you did to them, i am no longer doing this for myself, i'm doing this FOR THEM"

so anyways nocti gets his ass beat 💀💀, nigel lecturing him that he’s still confused and is only driven by anger

the cutscene if you wanna watch it

"commandant… you must be disappointed with me…. damn it… are you mad at me? haha.. me too…. leave everything to me from now on. let’s make that bastard taste our true wrath, partner..."

“i can’t die here yet…. my partner is still waiting for me to come back.”

similar to 21's comment earlier, nigel notices how nocti's steps aren't noisy and chaotic anymore, but steady, firm, and powerful now BECAUSE HIS PARTNER IS ROOTING FOR HIM TO WIN AND HE NEEDED THAT BOOST OF ENCOURAGEMENT... THAT'S WHY YOU WERE SO ADAMANT WITH KEEPING A M.I.N.D. CONNECTION WITH NOCTI

this whole fight scene had me SCREAMING

“my partner and i will use all our strength… to beat you to pieces”

if you still haven’t gotten it DO YOU SEE IT NOW??? HIS MAN IS FULLY DRIVEN TO HIS FULL POTENTIAL BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU AND WANTS TO.. NO... NEEDS TO COME BACK TO YOU

nocti wins and nigel essentially retreats but with a new found respect for his brother

but before he retreats he asks nocti the same question he asked you: what’s the difference between humans and constructs

he gives his own answer and guesses yours (since he was rather confident enough with knowing a lot on how you think) and it boils down to them having the same answer but different font

the place nocti and nigel were fighting in collapses, forcing nocti to leave and never see nigel again

you and nocti are back in the hotel room recovering, and a few locals come in to beg nocti to stay and not go back to babylonia

“but i made a promise with my partner, i want to return to cerberus in a dignified manner…”

after more silly banter everyone leaves you and nocti alone to rest, but neither of you can sleep

nocti brings up the question nigel asked him, and you gave him your actual answer, which is pretty close to what he guessed

nocti: haha… just as i thought, i know you better

skk: but maybe i know you better. for example, what you look like when you’re drunk

nocti: WHAT?! DID I DO ANYTHING WEIRD WHEN I WAS DRUNK???

skk: forget it, stop talking, i’m sleepy

nocti: HEY!! TELL ME NOW!!!!

he’s a literal blushing mess after you told him you saw him drunk

your honor this is literally a newly wed couple

gotta of course mention his affection story so read here for a summary of that as well

the way he ONLY uses the best quality and probably most expensive ingredients to make your food

nocti giving a damn about this whole pancake thing only because YOU care

LIKE HE'S PUTTING HIS PREFERENCES ASIDE TO MAKE YOU HAPPY

MORE HAND HOLDINGGG this time in the form of you helping him mold the pancake shape +bonus nocti blushing

both literally wanting to do the whole working at a bar thing together again in the future that is like PEAK ENDGAME for their marriage

+bonus boss being supportive and naming the new drink and dish that was made after you and nocti

the whole affection story just very clearly and vividly plays out nocti and skk working together flawlessly at the bar like their chemistry was SO GOOD !!!!

very sorry for any grammar errors i'm very hyperfixated on him rn and i needed to scream about it somewhere

anyways thank you for coming to my ted talk i will now think of nocti in a wedding dress /hj

#fbj rambles #punishing gray raven #pgr noctis #pgr commandant #pgr noctis x reader #i was NOT expecting to write this much omg #im very sane abt him can you tell #this was like 2k words wtf #most sane nocti simp LOL

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meowsforyujin · 1 year ago

Text

Untitled-(pls help me name this!!) Kim Seungmin ff

Summary- you move in with your best friend Seungmin after being bullied by your roommates

Warnings-(fluff, slight angst, slight suggestive content, mentions of homophobia, mentions of anxiety, lmk if I missed anything!! )

——————————————————————

“Someones at the door!” Seungmin yelled, too busy chopping vegetables to care.

He heard Jeongin emerging from his room with a frustrated sigh, going to answer the door.

It wasn’t until Seungmin heard your voice, that he cared who was at the door.

“Is Seungmin home?” you croaked, trying your best not to sound like you had been crying. Either way, you sure looked like you’d been crying.

“Er, yeah he’s home let me go get him.” Jeongin was unsure what to say to you, but he could tell something was wrong.

The sight in front of him crushed him. Your hair in a messy low bun, a big T-shit that hung off one of your shoulders, Pj pants caught in your barley tied red chucks, and of course his favorite, your big black blue light glasses. Your eyes looked up at him big and scared, obviously puffy from crying, your bottom lip quivering slightly.

“What happened?” He breathed, looking at you with worried eyes, “Was it your roommates again?”

You slowly nodded looking down.

It was no secret your roommates didn’t like you. You were never one to hide who you were, so the bisexual flag on your wall had said. Your roommates didn’t feel comfortable with you, a bisexual person, living with them. They often bullied you, broke your stuff, and physically abused you, wanting you to leave. But you didn’t have anywhere else to go, you chose to dorm at college because your parents ,ade your life a living hell. The only person you could go to was your best friend Seungmin.

“Come inside,” he said, leading you to his room.

“I don’t want you staying there anymore,” He said, shutting door behind him.

“I don’t have a choice, I can't go back to my parents.”

“I know.” Seungmin knew ever since you were kids you dreamed of getting out, away from your family.

“Stay here.”

“What?”

“Stay here, you can stay in my room, there’s plenty of space in my closet for your stuff, and I don’t even use my desk, you can use it for work.”

“Seungmin, I don't want to take your space.”

“It’s not up for discussion, I don’t want you ever going back there. I’ll go over to your dorm and get your stuff. You’re not staying there anymore.”

Around three hours later Seungmin returned with your things in suitcases.

“What are those?” Jeongin asked almost critizingly

“Y/n was bullied again, she's staying with us now.”

“Where's she staying?”

“With me, in my room.”

“That’s a bad idea.”

“Shut up.”

It wasn’t a secret to Jeongin that Seungmin had been hopelessly in love with you since forever.

But Seungmin needed to grow up and ignore those feelings for now, he needed you to be safe.

-time skip, 3 days late-

Seungmin stood above you in dismay, not liking that you’ve been sleeping on the floor. He sighed and picked you up, placing you on his bed. He tucked you in quietly, putting some onf your stuffed animals from his closet next to you.

You didn’t expect to wake up on Seungmin’s bed, and for Seungmin to be on the floor in a sleeping bag. You were about to scold him until you looked up to see some of your posters and personal pictures on the wall, along with your flag. You kept them packed for a reason, not wanting to invade Seungmins space.

You felt like crying right then and there, he was too sweet for you. You couldn’t lie, part of the nervousness of moving in here was caused by your feelings for Seungmin, and this wasn’t helping at all. You moved to wake up Seungmin.

“Seungmin.” you mumbled, shaking him slightly to wake him up.

“Mmm what.” He groaned, not fully awake.

“Seungmin, what are you doing on the floor?” you asked with a scolding tone.

“I just didn’t want you on the floor.”

“Then get in bed with me.”

He blinked at you, taken aback.

“What? It’s a big bed, there’s no use fighting over who sleeps on the floor or not.”

“I- You’re right, Okay.”

Seungmin felt his face heat up, and he hoped to god you didn’t notice.

As he was getting up, he was shocked when you suddenly wrapped your arms tightly around him.

“Thank you for putting my stuff up, it makes me feel at home.”

He chuckled, “You ARE at home silly, this is your place now too.”

-time skip, 4 weeks later-

Living with Seungmin hadn’t gotten any easier. It was wonderful, yes. But it was so so so hard to keep your feelings to yourself. Especially when he does little things that he thinks you don’t notice.

Like when he puts his arm around you when he thinks you're sleeping, or when he’d kiss you goodnight on the forehead. You noticed all of this.

Today Seungmin invited you to go to a party with him, since you hadn’t left the house ever since you moved in with him.

“I don’t wanna go, what if my old roommates are there.”

“They won’t be, and if they are I'll be with you the whole time. No one will ever lay a finger on you again as long as I’m here.”

You immediately felt uncomfortable at the party, anxiety quickly taking you over. You didn’t want to worry Seungmin though, and you knew he’d pick up on it. So of course you decided to hide in the bathroom, a mistake.

I immediately freeze when you hear a familiar voice, “well look who it is.”

“Please, I don’t want any trouble” you felt tears well up, threatening to spill.

-time skip, like 30 min later-

You stumbled out of the bathroom in a frenzy, oblivious to the obvious stares you were getting as you mindlessly searched for the only person you could think of. Seungmin.

And it didn’t take long for him to find you, as he had been looking for you.

“Y/n! Holy fuck what happens?” He held your face between his hands looking at your bruised face.

“Seungmin, let’s just go home please.”

“I’m gonna fucking kill whoever did this to you, where are they?” He was also oblivious to the stares glued to you both.

“Please, I want to go home.” Your breathing became uneven and fast paced, tears uncontrollably falling.

In that moment he understood. You needed him right now, and he couldn’t stand to see you like this.

When you got home, your panic didn’t die down. No, it worsened. At this point you were having a full panic attack. Seungmin didn’t know what to do, all he wanted was to hold you.

So he did. He abandoned all logic and pulled you into his arms sitting on the bed. “Shhh, I’m here.” he rubbed your back with one hand, trying to calm you down. It worked like a charm, you eventually calming down and dozing off to sleep.

-morning-

You woke up on Seungmin arms, quickly recalling last nights events. Your heart melted thinking about it. You look up at Seungmin and quickly realized he wasn’t actually sleeping.

“Seungmin.” No response.

“Kim Seungmin I know you’re not sleeping.” You knew obviously when he slept he had this cute habit of his lip twitching.

“Mmm” he opened his eyes looking at you.

“Were you pretending to sleep to hold me longer?” You teased.

“Maybe.” He said bluntly, smiling.

You giggled at his words, softly hitting his chest.

“I’m sorry about last night.”

“Why what happened?” He asked. You smiled quietly to yourself. Seungmin knows in situations like this you’d rather pretend it didn’t happen.

“Thank you.” You said softly, and he just hummed, planting a kiss on your forehead.

you playfully hit him in embarrassment, which ended in a tickle fight. The room filled with both your giggles as you guys fight for dominance. (tickling)

But everything stopped when seungmin ended up hovering above you. You both froze staring at eachother. You gulped as you felt your face heat up, and slight tension in between your legs. It was embarrassing how fast something so silly aroused you, but who could blame you? He’d been hovering over you for the past 5 minutes just STARING at you with his beautiful brown eyes.

At some point he just sighed and rolled over next to you. He brushed his fingers through your hair, looking at you contently. You couldn’t read his expression. “You’re so beautiful.” you nearly choked at his words, but somehow kept your composure.

“I love you.” He said with such certainty, you didn’t expect his new confession at all.

“Wha-”

“I love you. I’ve loved you since as young as I could feel love. And I don’t expect you to feel the sa-”

You cut him off with a gentle kiss, before pulling away, “I love you too, so much. I love you so much Kim Seungmin.”

He chuckled before pulling you into his arms for a tight hug. “You're mine now, no one can even look at you.”

You laughed “I don’t think anyone can stop from looking at me.”

“Nope, no one can. You're just mine.” He said with a small grin on his face.

You giggled, burying your face into his chest, now finally being able to be open about how much you loved the smell of his cologne.

Seungmin hummed at the feeling, having you so close. He’d dreamed of this since he was way too young.

You were both brutally interrupted when Jeongin opened the door, like he had some life changing news to tell you.

“What the fuck are you guys finally dating now or what.”

“Damn right skippy now get out.” You giggled at Seungmin’s tone, slapping his chest playfully, “Skippy?” You laughed again at his choice of words.

“Whatever, congrats, just don’t fuck when I’m here okay?”

“I’ll fuck my girlfriend whenever I want.”

You felt your cheeks heat up, “Yah! Kim Seungmin!” You barely yelped, hiding your face in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry baby, I’d only fuck you when you ask me to.”

#stray kids #kpop fanfic #kim seungmin #seungmin #seungmin fluff #seungmin fanfic

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flamingspud · 11 months ago

Text

"Ughhh!" Jimmy groaned. It was the thirteenth job application that had been rejected, and it had only been a month. The seventeen year old put his head on the desk. Becoming financially independent was proving a lot harder than he had initially figured it would be.

Job hunting is a pain, but that’s when your uncle comes in handy.

Fic under the cut

"You good there?" Cleo asked, walking into the room.

"Yeah," Jimmy responded, sitting up properly. "Just got rejected. Again."

Cleo gave him an assuring rub on the shoulder. "You just gotta have patience."

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Cleo went to get it, and Jimmy heard her call up the stairs, "Bdubs! Your dad's here!"

In response came a muffled "give me a minute!"

A few seconds later Cleo walked back into the kitchen, and Etho walked in behind them. They went and turned the kettle on, asking Jimmy and Etho if they wanted some.

Jimmy happily accepted.

The three were then silent, the only sound the bubbling of the kettle.

"So," Etho began in an attempt to break said silence, "what have you been up to lately?"

"Job hunting." He wasn't enthusiastic about it.

"Oh? How's that going for you?"

Cleo tried shooting Etho a look to say “tread carefully,” but he wasn't looking in her direction.

"Not good. Nobody wants to hire me."

"Oh-" an idea came to Etho- "hey, I think Tango- my roommate, might be looking for some help, I could give you his number?"

"At this point, I'll take anything," Jimmy said, though he perked up at the offer. He had to admit he didn't know Tango that well, but he did bail him out of jail that one time so he figured he was sound.

Etho took out his phone and read off the number to him as Jimmy quickly scribbled it down on his hand.

Once he was finished, Bdubs ran into the room. "I'm ready now dad!" He announced, and without waiting for a response he grabbed Etho's hand, and began dragging him out of the room.

"I'll bring him back for dinner-" Etho hastily assured Cleo, who simply gave him a pointed look that said he better.

Jimmy turned to the scribbled digits on his hand, and he wondered if he should call him straight away or wait a bit. He wasn't entirely sure on the etiquette of your divorced-from-the-family uncle getting you in touch with his roommate for a job.

Cleo sat down next to him with two cups of tea in her hands, and handed one to Jimmy.

"Thanks," the teenager thanked, and took a sip from his cup.

He decided, screw it, he was going to call Tango now.

He picked up his phone, and carefully typed the numbers in, before pressing call. He brought the phone up to his ear, and looked at Cleo.

They gave him an encouraging smile and a thumbs up.

"Hey, this is Tango at the Ranch, what can I help you with today?"

Jimmy almost dropped his phone. "Oh hi- er, It's Jimmy, Etho said you were hiring?"

Jimmy clutched his phone nervously as he heard papers rustling on the other side of the line.

"You want a job? I mean, yeah, of course! When can you come in for an interview?"

Jimmy quickly stood up and ran over to the calendar, checking for when he was free. "How about Saturday?"

Again, rustling from Tango. "Yes, Saturday works! Can you make it for two?"

Jimmy nodded, before remembering that Tango couldn't see him. "Yeah, two works great!"

"Perfect, I'll see you then!"

Jimmy said goodbye and hung up the phone. "I got an interview," he practically breathed, still not fully believing it.

"I got an interview!" He repeated, louder this time, excitement filling his voice.

Cleo got up from where they were seated and gave him a hug, the two of them buzzing with excitement.

"You did it!"

"I did it!"

The two celebrated, and Jimmy made sure to write the time on the calendar. Finally, his hunt didn't seem so hopeless.

~~~

When Cleo had initially drove Jimmy to Tango's mechanic shop for an interview, he had been filled with nerves. There were so many ways he could screw up.

But thankfully Tango was very friendly, and he didn't mind Jimmy's anxious fidgeting.

The interview itself wasn't that bad, and Jimmy had even found himself starting to relax by the end of it.

Once Tango was done asking questions, he wrote something down, before holding his hand out for Jimmy to shake. "Congratulations, you're hired!"

Jimmy blinked. "What?"

"You're hired," Tango repeated, beaming.

"Don't you, like, need to think it over, or-"

"Nope!" Tango cut him off. "You'll start Wednesday evening."

Jimmy took Tango's hand and shook it, still shocked by the spontaneity of it all. "Ok!"

"Great!" Tango responded excitedly. "I'll see you then!"

~~~

After school on Wednesday, Jimmy took the bus straight to the Ranch (that was the name of Tango's shop). He had to admit, he was excited for his first day of work.

Once he arrived, he walked inside and straight to the counter where Tango was sat, looking through some pages, Jimmy assumed they were invoices or something.

As Jimmy reached him, Tango looked up and practically jumped, his arm into knocking a mug that was filled with pens in the process. Jimmy stood there awkwardly as his boss clumsily scooped them up, before popping his head back up. "Jimmy, hey!"

"Hi," Jimmy responded, putting on a smile.

"Ok, so," Tango said, standing up and getting straight to business, "to start with, we'll keep you on desk duty, answering calls and taking down information, that sorta thing, and then when business is slow Ren or I can teach you how to fix the cars. Sound good?"

Jimmy nodded along, listening intently. "Yes! Yes, that sounds good."

Tango then proceeded to explain to Jimmy about the prices of things, what different things mean and what to do with customers when they called and walked in.

Once he was done, he showed him around the place. Jimmy noticed a young man, maybe a few years older than him, working on one of the cars.

"That's Ren," Tango informed him, waving at Ren.

Ren waved back. "Sup."

Jimmy gave him a wave, before Tango continued the tour. Once they were done, Jimmy was brought back to the front desk. "Yeah, so that's about it," Tango said, "I'll leave you to it, and if you have any questions feel free to come and find me or Ren!"

Jimmy nodded. "Thanks!"

And with that, he was set off on his first day of work.

A couple of hours later, his shift was over, and after saying goodbye to the others, he got on the bus and headed home.

When he made it back, he headed straight for his room, planning to get some of his homework done and crash for the night.

He only noticed something was strange when he went to push his bedroom door open, only to find that it was already ajar.

He furrowed his eyebrows as he pushed it open. He could’ve sworn he remembered closing it-

“Welcome back!”

Jimmy jumped, as both Grian and Joel were sat on his bed. Joel had a bun in his hand, and there was a single candle stuck into it. “Guys?! What are you doing?” The eldest questioned.

“We wanted to congratulate you on getting a job!” Grian explained.

Joel nodded, holding the bun up for Jimmy to blow out the candle. Now that it was closer, Jimmy could see the word job messily iced onto it.

“We wanted to make it from scratch, but that uh, didn’t work out,” Joel told him.

“Candles are for birthdays,” Jimmy pointed out.

“We had limited time and resources!” Grian insisted with a pout.

Jimmy smiled, and blew out the candle. “Thanks guys.”

Joel gave him a pat on the back. “No problem! Besides, now that you have a job, we can come and ask you for change.”

“Ha! In your dreams,” Jimmy responded, but the other two had mischievous expressions on their faces.

“We’ll see about that,” Grian told him, and the two of them walked out of the room. “Enjoy the bun!”

“Guys!” Jimmy called after them, but they were gone. Whatever they were planning, Jimmy could already tell he wasn’t going to like it. Oh well, he had a bun now, and he took a bite from it as he turned to do his homework.

#clockers family modern au #fanfic #trafficblr #life series #fanfiction #traffic series #jimmy solidarity #tangotek #the clockers #limited life #the bad boys #fire’s stuff

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psychabolition · 3 months ago

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I just wanted to share some of my experiences with the psychiatric system, if that’s ok.

When I was a teen I was in and out of a stabilization unit for a couple months for repeat suicide attempts. During my time there I met a trans guy who I later discovered had been admitted for homicidal thoughts (fairly common, not really something I was alarmed about). What was alarming however was that he had been kept under near constant sedation for over a week. They’d kept him so heavily sedated that his heart had stopped twice and they’d had to bring in poison control, who finally told them after the third time they showed up that they had to stop or they were gonna kill him. They’d justified doing this by saying he was violent, but upon being brought out of sedation, he just wasn’t. Not once did he attack anyone or even threaten to do so. He was literally one of the nicest people there. He was also 14 fucking years old.

At the same hospital, a four year old was admitted for unknown reasons. I’d spotted him earlier in the day when he first arrived asking where his nana was. For whatever reason, he was put on the same hallway as me for the day, probably while they waited for a slot to open up in the children’s unit. That night, he started crying, asking where his nana was and screaming for help. Obviously just scared because he didn’t know where he was or why he was there. In response, the nurses started loudly complaining that they weren’t allowed to sedate him.

At one point during my stay, I had a bad anemic episode and stood up too fast on my way to talk to a doctor. By the time I was standing in front of him, my vision was blurring. I told him this, and he stood there and watched as I completely blacked out, lost my balance, and tripped into a nearby countertop. When I got my vision back, he was still standing there, and he asked if I was “done yet.” He thought I was faking something for attention despite literally having a document in his hand that said I was severely anemic.

Another girl was prone to passing out due to POTS, and when she had an episode that caused her to fall and only narrowly avoid hitting her head on the concrete floor, she got a similar “faking it for attention” treatment despite her condition being well documented.

A different trans guy had a rare condition that caused his ligaments to be extremely brittle, and his shoulder would frequently get dislocated and would sometimes require surgery to fix. He had this happen while he was my roommate, and instead of sending him to the main hospital’s ER to get him treated, they tried telling him to “just suck it up”. And when that obviously didn’t help, they had a random nurse come and try to pop it back into place, only to make it much worse. It was only after his shoulder had been out of place for almost 36 hours that they finally sent him to the ER.

When I got out of that horrible hospital, I was referred to a psychiatrist who kept prescribing me antidepressants, mood stabilizers, insomnia medications, etc etc. Whenever I’d say “hey, these medications aren’t working,” rather than taking me off the meds or switching me from one to another, they’d just add a new one. By the time they randomly stopped returning my calls so I could refill my prescriptions, I was on 12 different medications, most of them at their maximum allowed dosages, and none of which actually helped me.

As I mentioned, my psychiatrist randomly stopped returning my calls. Around that time, I moved out of the abusive household I’d been living in and started therapy. When I finally ran out of my medications, nothing happened. They’d told me quitting them cold turkey could put me into horrible depressive episodes and make me suicidal yadda yadda yadda, but if anything I got better after stopping them. The meds hadn’t been helping at all, because the problem wasn’t any kind of chemical imbalance, it was the fact that I was in an abusive household. Something I had repeatedly told them was probably the case.

Feel free to ignore this if you don’t wanna post it, I just kinda feel like shouting into the void about this and your blog seems like the kinda place that might find these horror stories actually useful.

Fuck psychiatry . Its so obvious that this whole institution isnt there to help us . Thank you for sharing your experiences .

#tw #tw psychiatric violence #tw abuse #anti psych #ask

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rosewolfs-world · 4 months ago

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Colourful (Pt 5)

Young Toshinori Yagi x Female OC

Warnings: swearing, hospitalization due to hero work

Part 5: Build up & Break

Year 4

💡 Time was a funny thing. Hinata was now in the last year of her nursing degree, getting ready for her medical doctorate. Over the past four years, she liked to think she’d gotten a good handle on life. Classes, friends, working with Toshinori-san and the local hospital. It was busy, but at long last, she’d found some stable ground. That is until—

☀️ Times were a’changing. He was beginning to wonder if he should reach out to Gran Torino. Surely enough time had passed by now. Surely he could go home…right? Hell, his friends even encouraged it.

David: “Hell yea, man! Once you make it to number one you can go anywhere you like!”

Hinata-chan: “Back to Japan? Well…if that’s your dream then I’m sure you can make it happen!”

💡 After that, the world spun on. One by one, Hinata’s roommates and friends were moving on with their lives. Toshinori was leaving. Old friends were going off, getting married, and some were even having kids! In their twenties! The thought alone was baffling to Hinata. She still had so much schooling left for her doctorate—and the idea of diving into that alone—What the hell am I doing?

☀️It was hard to believe that four years had already passed since he left home. He wondered how Gran Torino was doing, on his own back in Mustafar—wondered if his Master could see him, somehow. Suppose she would have known anything about Hinata or--if she was proud of him, wherever she was. Get it together, All Might. Toshinori shook himself. You’re almost number one. Focus on that.

💡 “I’ll be fine, Zoe. You and David go have fun at your parents' house--beach house, whatever. Just enjoy spring break with your family, alright? --Alright, I got my hands full and I still gotta get the door, so--yea, yea, Happy Easter Zoe, take care.” As soon as she hung up the phone, Hinata nearly squawked in surprise when the weight of her groceries was suddenly whisked away from her. One glimpse of familiar blue eyes and she knew exactly what had happened. “Fucking hell, Toshinori-san, you scared me! You don’t have to carry those, what are you--?”

☀️ “Hehe, sorry Hinata-chan. It wasn’t my intention to frighten you, I just, er--” Okay, he was willing to admit it. He royally sucked at focusing on the things he should be focusing on. Instead of staying alert on patrol, he’d found himself ruminating about...a lot of things. Passing by the university apartments he’d recognized the head of curly hair on the phone, her arms laden with bags. He found himself leaping forward to help without thinking. Acting is more valuable than thinking anyhow, he supposed. “Just wanted to lend a helping hand, if I could.” he smiled.

💡 Something was up, she could just tell. Toshinori was wearing his hero smile more than usual lately; which was saying something. He’d been wearing it an awful lot before he revealed his plans to return to Japan. He never said how soon he would leave...maybe that’s what’s bothering him. Should I really dare to ask? “Well,” Hinata hummed, “Since you’re here, you wanna stay for dinner? I made way too many ramen noodles earlier today, so I needed more ingredients and--”

☀️ Toshinori paused. Here in America, he was constantly bombarded with images of happy families gathering around a given holiday, smiles all around. Sometimes he wondered what Shimura Nana’s family would be doing right now if she were alive. Suppose she hadn’t sacrificed their relationship for the sake of heroism. He shook himself internally. If he followed those thoughts much further he would lose his smile. That’s the last thing Nana would want for him...and Hinata too, comes to think of it. “Sure!” He beamed. “I’d be delighted.”

💡 Together they sorted the groceries and finished up dinner. In those moments Hinata felt the distinctly warm tingle of deja-vu trickling down her spine. Toshinori-san was as frantic an eater as he always was. Broth splattered his wrists and collar as he scarfed everything down. The memory squeezed at her sternum, crumpling her nerves into a tight, yearning knot. Hinata bit her lip. “Toshinori-san--” he immediately glanced over at her address. “I know you want to go home sometime soon, but--I’ve honestly been wondering why. Am I allowed to ask that?” Toshinori looked back at his empty bowl, carefully considering before--

☀️ He finally told her. He finally talked to her about...everything. She already knew about Gran Torino (Because he was basically her favourite hero and Toshinori couldn’t resist showing off a *little*). But then he told her why he knew Gran Torino. About Shimura Nana, his master, and how she’d died. Why he wanted to go back... Even years after the fact, the memories still hurt. And Hinata, bless her—

💡Revenge, for Shimura Nana...There was no denying it. She let her emotions get the best of her. Shimura...so that’s why he wanted to know me. If she had been smart, when Toshinori bore his whole story to her, she would have screamed or cried or pushed him away. Instead, she held him close and said: “I’m sorry, Toshinori-san--'' I'm sorry I can’t be who you want me to be. “--Us Shimuras are a dime a dozen back home. But it’s alright--if your master was as amazing as you say she was, I’m sure she’s already proud of you.” Just as proud as I was. “ Whatever you choose going forward, I’m sure that’ll never change.”

☀️ Her soft words prompted him to look at her. His heart stumbled in his chest at the sight of her --I didn’t realize she was so close! “Th-thank you, Hinata-chan,” he stammered. This was one of the rare occasions where she had her hair down. The inky black waves framed her round face beautifully; the smattering of freckles over her cheeks like paint-splattered stars. He’d never noticed before how the freckles lined her upper lip as well...Toshinori immediately forced his gaze upward again. Her eyes were locked on him. But they shouldn’t have been glimmering so much, he could hardly see their golden colour anymore. Wait, is she--?

💡 Hinata quickly turned away. Nope, not here. Nope. Not crying. Not in front of Toshinori. Hell no. Collecting both their bowls, she set about doing the dishes--leaving Toshinori stunned and confused on her living room sofa. Dammit. The ceramic clattered abruptly in the steel sink. She didn’t flinch. Dammit, dammit, dammit--Wooden utensils, cast iron pots and pans all clacking together. Hinata’s eyes fluttered persistently. God damn it, why?! Why me, why now...Why him? The sound of running water was just enough to smother her sniffles and silent tears.

☀️ Something was wrong. He could just tell. In the weeks after his...admission (he honestly couldn’t think of what else to call it) it was as if Hinata had vanished. Not in the way one would expect, she still answered his texts and patched up his wounds. But in the midst of their everyday routine--something was lost. Her friendly voice was brittle. Her smiles felt hollow. The sight tugged at something in his chest, though it felt more like tearing fabric. She was there, but she wasn’t really...There. He didn’t know what to do about it. Or why it hurt so much.

💡 God damn it, why can’t I focus?! Hinata’s head fell to her desk with a dull thud. It was a stupid question. She already knew the answer. It was always there; in her life, in her mind, it’d become commonplace by now. If anything, she actually needed to stop thinking about that shit. But somehow it seemed lately like her sensitivity to it—to him—had been turned up a thousand notches. Her eyes stung all over again just thinking about his smile. --Fucking hell, why do I do this to myself?

☀️ Okay, that was a lie. He knew. Perhaps he always knew, somewhere inside. But subconsciously knowing and consciously acknowledging something were two very different things. Actually, there was an internal sense of relief, in finding the words for what he felt. The problem was trying to express himself to her. Every time she greeted him, he lost his words. By the time he opened his mouth, her smile was turned to someone else. He didn’t know what to do. How to convince her to stop--to look at him and really listen--as she had before. If I could just tell her, maybe...

💡 “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

“No, Zoe, I’m not.”

“Yea, you are!”

“No, I’m not.”

“Hina, come on--”

“No, I didn’t let you drag me to some bar just for an interrogation. Are we gonna drink, or not?”

☀️ The more he kept his words to himself, the more they filled his mind--swirling around with all the unanswered questions and half-baked reasons he couldn’t understand. She’d told him stories about her family; how so many of them had become heroes, travelled the world...lost their lives. Toshinori paused. He knew what the life of a hero was like, so many hours away from home, throwing himself into danger for the safety of others. Hinata knew it, too, she understood his lifestyle better than almost anyone else he’d ever met. But despite the risk, she’d never shied away before. What changed? What can I do--A thunderous rumble rolled through the air.

💡It’s hopeless. She knows she’s a lost cause; at this point, she’s just being stubborn. More like quaking in her boots, or shoving shaky hands in her pockets. She knows what’s going on inside her head. There’s only one reason why her stomach would be twisted in this many knots. Or why her pulse constantly flutters at the sight of that smile. She knows. But all the same, seeing the news in a window display, her nerves are validated in the worst way possible. Just when she starts to think she’s falling in love with him--villains decide to set the world on fire.

☀️Toshinori ended up in a critical condition in the hospital--fading in and out of being like a ghost. Sometimes he heard the muttering of voices. The beeping of machines. He couldn’t open his eyes. Couldn’t see a thing. Everything smelled sterile, along with the pungent citrus sting of window cleaner. But there were quiet moments, too. Tendrils of gold would bloom into his empty world, rousing him from slumber. Warmth like an unfurling sunbeam would spread from wherever she touched. He knew the feeling of her quirk just as well as his own. He would feel a cool hand pressed to his, or hear a soft voice murmuring to him from his bedside. Hinata...you’re here.

💡 It felt so strange, whispering stories to his lifeless body. “A few years ago, there was an incident, an oil rig, off the coast. My aunt was among the heroes trying to rescue the stranded workers. They got the civilians out, but she--she didn’t make it. The day you and I met, I’d just returned from her wake--can’t call it a funeral if they never found her body.” Her grip tightened as she rested her head on their joined hands. “I never wanted to do that again, wakes, funerals, always being left behind. I'm sick of it. I can’t do it, Toshinori. I can’t lose someone again.”Please don’t leave me...

☀️Little did she know, he could hear her. Every word. He tried to move, tried to speak. Tried to channel all his strength into just that one hand. I won’t go. Don’t give up. But he couldn’t move. He could barely draw his breath. Dammit. Pathetic.

💡 One day, Hinata took a deep breath. No more. She stood from her seat in the hospital room. After already losing so many loved ones to heroics, she knew. --If she let herself fall for Toshinori and he disappeared, she would break completely. Not a chance. It was impossible to ignore. Shit like this happens to heroes all the time, death, disappearances and worse. If she couldn’t handle the risk, then she shouldn’t try. It was like that American saying, ‘if you can’t take the heat, get the hell out of the kitchen’. Hinata cast one last glance over her shoulder. There lay Toshinori, lifeless, mummified beyond recognition. No more. She swallowed the lump in her throat—time to move on.

☀️He hated hospitals. This incident did nothing to change that. Through his weeks of gruelling recovery, the brightest part of his day was always her. She visited him every day--sometimes in scrubs, sometimes in civvies, but always with bouncing curls and sparkling eyes. When he was finally allowed to check out of the hospital, she was beside him. She held up most of the conversation while he concentrated on walking--that is until a particular phrase caught his ear--

“What was that?”

Hinata paused. “I met someone,” she tells him.

“You-you did?”

“Yea, uhm, Zoe dragged me out to some bar a couple of months ago before you got hurt, and I, uh, that’s where I met Jason. He’s picking us up today and--and he’s been a big help. God knows I’ve been a frustrated mess through this whole thing and--”

“Are you happy with him?”

“Huh?”

“Are you happy?”

After a moment’s consideration, she smiles. “Hai! All the more now that you’re back, Toshinori-san.”

Toshinori smiled but said nothing.

#toshinori x reader #toshinori x oc #young toshinori #toshinori x you #toshinori yagi x you #toshinori yagi x reader #yagi toshinori #mha toshinori #my hero academia toshinori #bnha toshinori #nana shimura #rosewolf writes

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gryphonlover · 5 months ago

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Unscheduled Brainrot

So I drove to another state to visit my fiancee at their college today, which was super fun and awesome. I got to pick them up from class AND I SAW A DUDE IN A JACKET THAT WAS JUST NICHOLAS CAGE’S FACE. LIKE THE BACK OF THE ENTIRE JACKET WAS JUST HIS FACE. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. WHEN MY WRIST STARTS FUNCTIONING AGAIN IM GONNA NEED TO DRAW WIND IN IT. DUDE IT WAS JUST INCREDIBLE TO WITNESS

but on the way home I was trapped in the far lane on a huge interstate highway because this asshat pickup truck was intentionally not letting me get around him by either speeding up or slowing down. like he was doin’ it on fucking purpose. and i almost missed my chance to merge onto the highway that leads to MY state. had a bigger pickup truck not ridden that guy’s ass and pushed him faster, i would’ve been pushed onto a different highway going to a secret third state, and a part of this god forsaken country I’ve never been before. but no, the bigger truck came to my rescue so slay to irritating assholes who HAVE to go like 90 miles an hour or they’ll explode, this time it came to my advantage because he stopped the asshole guy from slowing down when i tried to slow to get behind him. i think i should be allowed to eat his tires…

i also didn’t have to go to the ER or urgent care today so MASSIVE fucking slay, because I was hell bent on visiting my fiancee and quite frankly nothin was gonna stop my ass- I had to cancel my plans yesterday because of this weird ass reaction i keep having, but i refused to do so today and thank god it didn’t bite me in the ass because having to cancel this would’ve ruined my whole month more so than this obnoxious reaction has so far (its starting to cause problems again and I’m considering biting my arm off /hj)

i need to get back on top of things for whumptober, but i keep getting ideas for cute little fics of Twi just chilling and having a nice time. and like, that’s great and all, but its WHUMPtober, not “Twilight makes flower crowns for his goats” tober

anyways, I really hope you’re doing alright, take care of yourself and get plenty of water food and rest :) *throws good vibes your way*

and also i hope this shit is coherent 😭

- crazylittlejester

@crazylittlejester

That sounds like an awesome outfit, actually. :0 Maybe not my style, but I would definitely wear that at least once to terrorize my college friends.

Glad you didn't get lost, that could've been bad. :[ I only drove for a road trip twice, and the second time I almost fell asleep at the wheel.

Honestly, you deserve a break. Good for you. Fingers crossed that whatever it is goes away and minds its own business.

Hear me out: Twilight gets a nice vacation while everyone else is whumped in the background. They don't say anything because they don't want to stress him out since he's finally relaxed.

Things have been going okay. I'm starting to feel negative consequences creep up on me again, but I've been getting lots of love and hugs from my roommates. :)

#askbox chats #unscheduled brainrot #askbox crazylittlejester

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noneedtoamputate · 1 year ago

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Pumpkin Patch

Day Five of War is Helloween prompts by @almost-a-class-act !

Prompt: Character A meets Character B in a pumpkin patch and they both want the same one.

Characters: Eugene Roe/Renee LaMaire

Renee woke up, looked up at her alarm clock, and panicked before remembering that it was her day off. She smiled, and pulled her comforter tight around herself, enjoying the luxury of not having to wake up at 4:30 am to make it to the ER by six.

Eventually, she went downstairs to her kitchen, where a pot of coffee was already ready for her. She’d bought the house two months ago, after years of working overtime shifts to afford it. No more nasty apartments, no more roommates. Yes, the bungalow needed some work, but she’d already painted some of the rooms and found odds and ends at flea markets and estate sales. Slowly but steadily, she planned on making it her own.

Halloween was a few weeks away, and it was the first holiday she would celebrate in the house. She spent her lunch hours looking at Pinterest on how to decorate her porch. She couldn’t wait to hand out candy to the neighborhood kids and pretend to be scared by their costumes.

She showered, put on jeans and a flannel shirt, and tied a bandana around her head. She grabbed her purse and got into her car. She entered Boostogne Pumpkin Patch into Google Maps and was on her way.

The place was as cute as it looked on their website. She started filling a wagon with mums, cornstalks, and hay bales before heading over to the pumpkins. Pumpkins of every type were available. Some were good for jack o’lanterns or pies. They had ugly pumpkins with bumps. There were even white and yellow and red pumpkins. She started loading some into the wagon.

She reached for the pumpkin she wanted next and let out a small gasp when she felt a hand instead of the stem. She looked up and saw a familiar face. Gene Roe, a paramedic she knew from work.

No one called him Gene, though. Everyone called him Doc, ever since he had prevented a new resident from giving a patient an incorrect dosage.

“Sorry,” the doctor said. “I forgot.”

“Well, you’re not supposed to forget. You’re the only one in this room who went to school for seven years.”

From then on, all the nurses called him Doc, and the nickname stuck.

She enjoyed working with him. He gave excellent information to the ER staff, clear and concise. He kept the patients calm with his soothing manner. Not long after she started working at the hospital, they lost a patient, a young man in a car accident.

After he coded, she took a break outside, trying to find a private space where no one would see her cry.

He must have been trying to do the same thing when he found he found her sitting against the wall. He sat down next to her.

“Hey,” he said gently. “We did the best we could.”

She nodded.

“Can I ...?” He extended his arm. She nodded as she leaned into his shoulder.

After a few minutes, she remembered the mini Hershey bars in her scrub pockets.

“Chocolate?” she offered him, and he took one. From then on, she always shared a piece with him when he dropped off a patient.

“Nurse LaMaire.”

She smiled. “We’re not at work. You can call me Renee.”

He smiled back. “Renee,” he said, in his soft drawl.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

He looked at her, shyly. “My grandma always took me here when I was a kid. I thought I’d pick her up a few pumpkins.”

“Well, I’m not going to take your grandma’s pumpkin,” she said as she let go of it.

“No, it’s okay,” he said.

She shook her head and grabbed the pumpkin next to the one he still held in his hand. “This one is just as good.”

“Only if you’re sure,” he said.

“I am.”

“My grandma was a nurse, at the VA hospital in Baton Rouge. I think what you all do is amazing.” He looked her in the eye. “I think what you do is amazing. You have a gift.”

They were both quiet for a moment.

“Well, if you’re going to give up your pumpkin, the least I can do is I buy you something at the cafe.”

He jerked his head over to a building. “They make the best pumpkin donuts here. You have to try one.” She didn’t want to tell him that she didn’t really like pumpkin, that she was more of a chocolate girl. Because at that moment, she wanted to share a pumpkin donut with Gene Roe more than anything.

“I’d like that,” she said.

He put his pumpkin in her wagon and took the handle in one hand.

He reached out his other hand toward hers.

“Is this okay?” he asked.

She nodded, and they walked hand in hand to get some donuts.

#band of brothers #band of brothers fic #war is helloween #eugene roe #doc roe #renee lamaire

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gravelgirty · 1 year ago

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How I lost a month of work and health

This is not easy for me, but this is the situation. Buckle up, this is wild.

Our ex-roommate is a hoarder and has all of the mental health issues you may imagine. Among them is executive function disorder, the inability to make important decisions and procrastinate until it is almost/too late to do anything.

After 4+ years of threatening to move when we tried to get them to agree to a cleaning program so we could, you know, live in a healthy house, they found a new place to live. Cue worst moving company ever, that are so terrible they would make you feel sorry for the FAWLTY TOWERS cast if they contracted out to these misogynistic, lazy and ham-fisted movers and I won't name them because their employees have a disturbing history of holding your goods for ransom (extra fees out of nowhere) and actually threatening you if you hold your ground. Let's say the company name starts with S and rhymes with 'makeway' and leave it at that, ok?

Well, roommate had 2 cats rescued from the great outdoors and when they were kittens they were shy and skittish but they were somewhat socialized and gentle. But after about 4 years of living in a hoarder's classic labyrinth and losing every imaginable social interaction with humans, they went feral.

I tried to stop them from escaping the bedroom because the movers were leaving the doors open (another thing they ignored while they were busy breaking stuff).

Three of us wound up in Urgent Care that night; me, my kid and the roommate because these poor creatures thought they were fighting for their lives. I hold them no grudge.

Doc says if things don't improve in 2-3 days go straight to ER.

Well. My hand balloons up in short order and I can't bend my thumb at all. I dutifully pay for a Lyft (roommate is gone even if their things are still here) and this happens:

Diagnosis? Septic Arthritis.

This is a rare and scary condition. Cat bit through muscle, tendon sheath, tendon, and even impacted the BONE right at the thumb joint which is a spot almost impossible to reach with oral antibiotics. There's just not enough circulation for the drugs to do their work. So. To save my hand the plastic surgeon on call opens me up AND STRIPS THE SHEATH. I don't know how many stitches I even have.

They have me on a lot of antibiotics plus opiods for the pain and a shunt and tubes and all the good stuff.

Then they put me on vincomiacin, which is a common allergen. I woke up trying to take off my hair in the middle of the night. Like a hive of stinging wasps were under my skin. Cue IV benadryl for 2 nights.

I wound up paying $60 to get my hair cut short as a breath in vacuum when I was back on my feet because my scalp still hurts and is sore from the reaction.

I wasn't even the only person hospitalized in the largest hospital in South Puget Sound over a cat-inflicted wound. I was the 3rd. If you count the first night, I was the 5th. The winner was a woman who kept 4 unspayed cats in her house and thought she could wade in and break up a cat fight.

Priceless was the moment when the salty old nurse in ER muttered that at least I hadn't been bitten by humans, and it turned out she has Seen Things from the ambulance behind the mall on certain nights.

Ultimately, because I can't use the thumb without incredible pain and the mobility is toast, I'm off work until the 10th of November. I used up all of my employee sick leave and will have to muddle back to work and talk to HR about other options on getting some sort of emergency compensation to survive. Friends and family have been wonderful. They've helped with rent and offered rides, helped us get groceries, and all the things you need to make it through.

But I've lost my independence and it hurts, bone-deep. It's deeper than the injury.

We are facing a deep clean of the apartment because we love living here and we love the landlady and maybe if we'd been a harder a** about the hoarding this wouldn't have happened. Who knows. But lyft rides have cost us $200 and there will probably be more to come as I muddle through rehab and appointments and exams. I'm annoyed about the hair cut. I'm not feeling great about the ballooning weight and I am baffled that there is still a ton of stuff that isn't ours, waiting to be hauled out and the rental agency wants me to pay an extra $500 to re-word the lease (re: start over) because rental controls are on the ballot and they would make it hard for these jokers to sock me with admin fees if the new controls are met and I'm betting this is why they are trying to get the money NOW. In the meantime, the carpet needs to go because my kid has asthma and cat pee carpets aren't healthy for anyone. Not a word about the cleanup has been made from the person who caused this mess. I don't expect it, either. They are mentally ill and not capable of drawing the dots when it comes to things like this. Nor do they have the money. Hard lessons learned.

I'm not posting any of this to beg for money. Frankly, nobody I know has it to spare. As I sit at home I'll slowly work my way through my ko-fi page and try to sell more fiction, and art if my confidence levels go up.

But this is health care in America and I am considered one of the lucky ones because my co-pay stopped at $75 for the emergency X-rays and my pharmacy (Rite-Aid) is finding new and improved ways to keep us from getting our RX in a timely fashion, ran out of bandages, and my GP is tearing her hair out because she faxes meds to me and they simply don't read the faxes that come in.

There is no transportation assistance on my insurance--and I repeat, I am considered one of the lucky ones with a state job + benefits.

I'm applying for emergency assistance to see if there is anything out there because pride goes first.

My sister likes to say, "Life's a lesson, sometimes you're it." This is my lesson. Don't vote down health care. Vote up.

#Health care in America

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cardcaptorsakura96 · 2 years ago

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Difference of Taste

Scene: From the tv show Wednesday

Characters: Kara Danvers, Lena Luthor, and Teschmacher from Supergirl

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 750

A/N: This is for the Rewrite Challenge hosted by @choicesprompts This is a rewrite of a scene in the Wednesday tv series using Supergirl characters.

Summary: Lena and Kara have a difference of opinion of their room and what it means to be roommates.

Lena stared at the multicolored window in the room that she shared with Kara. She winced at the display. It looked like candy exploded everywhere. She sighed and took out a black tap and divided the room in half even the window. On her side, she started peeling the multicolored plastic off of the window. By the time she was almost finished, Kara had arrived back to the room.

“Hey, what are you doing to my room?” asked Kara looking miffed.

“I thought this was our room. Your side of the room looks like it is covered in unicorn vomit.”

“You can’t just make changes to the room without saying….”

“Shush. I need silence.” said Lena walking to her desk with the typewriter.

“Silence for what?”

“I take an hour out of my day to write my novel. If you put in half as much time on your blog, it could be at least half coherent. I read mental patients journals more coherent than your work.”

“At least I am doing something that I love in my own voice” said Kara pouting.

“You say that like it gives you any prestige” mused Lena.

“I have tons of followers that love my content and eagerly await for me to produced more.”

“Yes, you have moronic readers that are only able to understand the small icons you post.”

“You mean emoji’s? People use them to express their feelings.” said Kara baffled.

“And?”

Kara chuckled, “I forgot having feelings is a foreign concept to you”

“The following emojis come to mind when I think of you: bottle, barf face, skull and crossbones.”

Kara looked shocked as Lena headed back to her desk.

“By the way, if you are going to continue to gossip about me on your blog, you should know that Luthor is spelled with or instead of er. It would give your writing more integrity if you got the subjects name spelled right.”

As Lena started to type, she heard the beginning of Respect by Aretha Franklin playing in the background. Lena turned around and saw Kara dancing like a moron to the song.

Lena got out of her chair and slowly started walking to Kara and said, “Turn that off.”

“I can’t hear you” smirked Kara while continuing to dance.

Lena narrowed her eyes and raised her hands. Around her hands started forming a magical orb.

“If you don’t turn that off…”

Kara turned to stare directly at her, but now her eyes were glowing red.

“I would be careful of what you say next. I don’t want to accidentally cause you to pop, now do we” said Kara smiling wickedly.

The two girls glared at each other before they heard a knock at the door. They quickly stopped their powers and turned off the music just as an older woman entered the room.

The woman stood in front of the door and said, “I am so sorry for introducing myself to you so late this evening. The plants were being in particularly finicky about their food source today. Did I interrupt anything?”

Both girls shook their heads.

“Ah perfect!”

The older woman walked to Lena and said, “It is a pleasure to meet you Lena. My name is Eve Teschmacher. I am the room mom for this dorm. I always present the new girls with a flower that I think that best represent their personality.”

Ms. Teschmacher produce a black flower from behind her back.

“A black dahlia” mused Lena.

“Ah, you have heard of it.”

“Of course. It reminds me of my favorite unsolved mystery. I love it!”

“Perfect! I see that you have already met Kara. I hope she has been showing you the ropes.”

“Kara has been very hospitable during my time here. I hope to return the favor by making her my favorite sleeping potion. Hopefully, it can give her a long, long, night sleep.”

Kara looked at Lena warily.

“Ok…. Well, there is a couple of rules that I want to go over before I take my leave. Lights out at 10pm, no boys under any circumstances in the dorms, and keep your magic and laser beams to yourselves.”

Both girls stared at her startled.

Ms. Teschmacher chuckled and said, “Don’t think i didn’t see how you two were behaving before I got here. I expect both of you to at least respect one another during your time here.”

Ms. Teschmacher then smile and left while Kara and Lena stared at each other baffled.

@choicesjuly2023challenge

#choicespromts #rewritechallenge #kara danvers #lena luthor #supercorp #supergirl #wednesday #supergirl fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #dc comics #supercorp fanfiction #choices fandom #choices fanfiction

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