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pjmmania · 2 months ago

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To Be a Viper - Prologue

Content Warnings: mentions of death, illegal/forced drug use

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The twenty-seven-year-old brunette adorned his torso with a grey jacket to match his classic-cut pants. Beneath the jacket was a simple white button-up, with a few buttons left undone near the collar. Everything was freshly pressed and smoothed to perfection, courtesy of the maid.

Standing in front of a full-body mirror, he leaned down and toyed with his hair a bit. He wanted it parted in the middle and mostly out of his face. Past experiences informed him that this was the best way to arrange it when he wanted to attract the opposite sex, and tonight was an important catch.

Suddenly, the young man heard the doorknob twist. It made him stand up straighter, as he knew it was probably his boss. He was one of the few who had a copy of the key to this hotel suite.

Correct in his assumption, his eyes fell upon the man's reflection in the mirror as he entered.

The boss, who also served as an older brother figure to him, was clad in much more casual clothing. He wasn't the one going out on this little mission. It was a solo job.

Crossing his arms over his simple black t-shirt, the boss smirked and cocked a brow, "Ah, you went with the Celine."

The younger went back to fixing his hair in the mirror, "So I did."

"I would have gone with the Louis Vuitton," The boss shrugged, "With the pinstripes. I love a good pinstripe."

Eyes were rolled, but he knew it was a jest, "You asked that I pull out all the stops. Trust me, I've never missed with this one. Women love it.”

The boss hummed and took a seat in the plush brown armchair in the corner of the room. Not quite as comfortable as the ones he owned back home, but this grand hotel had managed to find furniture that compared somewhat. Somewhat.

"You are due to leave soon so I won’t take up much of your time. I came to remind you to be quick," The boss said, "And careful."

He chuckled lowly, "Quick and careful are not words I’d use to describe the average rendezvous between a woman and myself.”

The boss became irate. The situation was extremely delicate, "I'm fucking serious, Taehyung."

"And I'm fucking joking, Jimin," The younger turned around once more to look at his eyes and reassure him, "I'm not an idiot. I know the objective."

"Not the time for joking," Jimin scowled with a tight jaw and intense eyes, "You need to bring her back unharmed, understand me?”

"I won’t harm a hair on her head, hyung," Taehyung put his hands up in defense, "Jesus Christ."

The boss sighed and leaned forward in the chair, resting his arms on his quadriceps, "Well excuse me for feeling slightly uncomfortable with sending one of my assassins to go kidnap this one. I swear to God, the only reason I'm sending you is-"

"Because I'm the only face here that our enemies wouldn't recognize, I know. You've made that abundantly clear every time we've talked about this job," Taehyung muttered, "You need to just fucking relax, huh? I got this.”

Jimin didn’t appreciate the cockiness and nonchalance in his subordinate. He knew how Taehyung could be with women. And while he needed him to go out and do the job, the thought of him seducing this particular target left a sour taste. He got up out of the chair and walked up to the suited, arrogant man.

Taehyung took in the leader’s face. His eyes could tear through metal, callous and deadly. Jimin got close to his face, staring him down and speaking lowly, “I have no doubt that you ‘got this’ Taehyung. But let me make another thing abundantly clear to you. This job isn’t a chance for you to get your dick wet. So go, flirt all you want and make her want to leave with you. But if you make your flirtations physical, there will be hell to pay."

Taehyung was silent. This exercise of power wasn’t necessarily new, but the motivation behind it was. He and the others had never seen their leader become so fiercely protective over someone who wasn’t his own. Someone who was, at this point in time, a stranger to them.

The younger knew better than to push back any further. Finally, he dropped the tone, “I understand.”

Jimin nodded once, his searing eye contact unyielding, “Good. Now put on some cologne and head out. Jungkook is waiting for you with the car.”

Taehyung sighed and proceeded to follow instructions.

The boss remained glued to the same spot, hands in his pockets. Watching his junior finish up, he subconsciously bit the inside of his cheek, unsettled in his gut.

Over the many years he’d spent in the business, he’d grown numb to it all. The blood, the theft, the torture, the kidnapping. It was all just part of this enormous task that had fallen into his lap years ago. Tonight, however, caused a stir within him. The nonchalance had been drained from his demeanor, replaced by a deep concern.

Before he noticed, Taehyung was at the door of the hotel suite, ready to leave, “Alright, I’m set. Anything else?”

Jimin’s gaze turned the opposite direction, towards the window at the other end of the room. Seoul was on the other side of that glass, aglow in the night. Busy, bustling, alive. The streets filling with people who had clocked out of work a few hours ago, now ready to let everything fall away at some bar or nightclub.

“Jimin?”

The older of the two didn’t move. His mind pondered various responses to Taehyung’s question. As much as he wanted to reiterate his order to be careful, there was no need to go down that road again. He knew all he needed to know.

“No,” Jimin said, “That is all. I’ll meet you back here in the morning.”

The door shut, and the job commenced.

The boss let out a breath he didn’t realize he was withholding, posture falling slightly.

This is really happening, he thought.

What he wanted least in the world was coming to pass - seeing you again.

He tried so hard for so long to avoid this. Bringing you into this mess was to inflict a permanent wound on you that would never heal. Old memories of you flashed in his mind. Some almost brought a smile to his face, only to be tainted by the fact that he was about to erase that version of you forever.

He remembered the day he said goodbye to you unknowingly for the last time. Had he known, he would have held you tighter, longer. He would have told you how much your friendship meant to him. How bright you made his days.

- Eleven years ago -

The cold steel of the locker created goosebumps on his arm as he leaned against it. The final bell of the day had rung and the hallway was flooded with students, some brushing against his other arm by accident in the swarm to exit the building.

Seventeen-year-old Jimin let out a sigh, pushing a few pieces of hair out of his face when he saw this one clique of girls pass by. He knew a few of them crushed on him and, though he'd never admit it, he enjoyed doing small things like that to work them up. One of them was named Hana. She was the one he had his sights on. An adolescent male like him couldn't help it.

Then you appeared and Jimin picked his backpack up from the floor, slinging it over his right shoulder. He also moved himself away from your locker so that you could access it.

"Hey you." You sighed as you used your typical greeting.

"Hey you. What took you so long?" He chided you, "Usually you're the one waiting for me."

You put your bag down with a huff, "Sorry. I had a question for Mrs. Choi after class and apparently so did many others."

Jimin, as per routine, took the opportunity to make fun of you, "Fucking dork, having questions about art history of all things."

You took it on the chin and returned the fire with a smirk, "You're one to talk. You stay after calculus all the time."

You dialed the correct series of numbers to unlock your locker and opened it.

"Advanced calculus." The ham corrected you.

Your eyes rolled as you retrieved your things from your locker and stuffed them into your backpack, "Whatever. The point is, we're both dorks. Just for different things."

Oh how he relished getting under your skin like that. He loved how your face looked when you became flustered. You might have been able to put on a grin, but your eyebrows would remain the tiniest bit serious. Having been your close companion since he was seven and you six, Jimin was an expert on your every expression.

"Hurry up, will you?" He continued pushing your buttons, "I'd like to get home."

You let out an audible sigh this time - another point for Jimin in the game of vexing you, "Then why don't you just leave without me and I'll walk?"

He laughed, "Because your parents would revoke my invitation to dinner with you guys on Sunday night."

You chuckled as you zipped up your backpack, "You know they would never. You're like a son to them. You and your brother. They wouldn't have you guys alone in that giant house while your parents are away for the weekend."

The two of you finally began your walk out of the building and into the parking lot. His car was always tucked away at the back of the lot.

Though your friendship was strong enough for both of you to feel relaxed with silent air between you, there was something you had been meaning to bring up. It was your turn to tease him.

"So," You said with a hint of mischief, "I heard Hana is having a party tomorrow night."

You watched his face change. His lips pursed as he tried not to smile. However, this attempt to appear unbothered was futile.

Your arms brushed together as you nudged him, "You going?"

Jimin shrugged and kept his focus on the way ahead, "I may drop by if I hear it's a good time."

You laughed, "Just go. You know she's only having it because she wants you to fuck her again."

His face went slightly red, causing him to dip his head down and chuckle. Then he lifted his gaze to meet your teasing eyes, "I am not used to you talking like this, Y/N. So vulgar these days. The fuck happened to you?"

"Sorry," You giggled, "No need to be too concerned, though. Despite the words I say, you know I have no actual experience in that department."

You came upon his car at last. Jimin unlocked it, causing the lights to flash twice. As he threw his backpack into the back seat, he said, "Well when you do, feel free to not tell me every detail."

"You're avoiding the topic at hand," You said as you got situated in the passenger seat, "You're going to the party, right?"

"Yes," Jimin let out an exasperated laugh, "Jesus Christ, Y/N. I'm going. Happy?"

You made a face and played with the strap adjusters on your bag, which was resting on your lap, "I mean I'm grossed out at the thought of you and her...doing stuff."

Jimin closed his door and turned on the engine, "You mean me fucking her?"

"Ew, Jiminie!"

"Hey, I'm just using the same term you did."

"Lesson learned.” You huffed.

Jimin smiled. There was that flustered face of yours again. He found it cute and naive as you tried to speak the language of your peers. It just didn't come naturally to you.

He pulled out of the parking lot and began the drive to your house, which was conveniently on the same street as his. You both lived in a beautiful, gated community, home to the most illustrious families in Seoul. You moved in when you were just a small child. Jimin and his brother were the only other kids around, so naturally your families became close. You'd grown up together, gone to the same private schools, and hung out in the same social circles. To an outside eye, you appeared inseparable.

Did it deter some prospects away from both of you when it came to matters of the heart? Undeniably, yes. But it wasn't enough to force you to give up on your friendship. After all, girls seemed to be all over Jimin despite his closeness to you.

The car ride was filled with more banter, some gossip, and discussion of weekend plans. He was hanging out with his guy friends that night and going to Hana's party the next.

As always, the time passed quickly and he was pulling up your driveway before you realized.

You got out of the car, throwing your backpack over one shoulder, "Alright, I'll see you Sunday, I assume."

"Wait, you're not going to Hana's tomorrow?"

You smirked, "I'd rather not witness your flirtations."

"Oh come on," He tilted his head and grinned cheekily, "Her house is enormous. You wouldn't have to see me at all. It will be fun."

You considered it and decided maybe it could be fun. If it was bound to turn into a big party, then all of your other friends would be there too.

“Yeah,” you shrugged, “I guess I’ll go. We are Ubering, though. I’m not being your designated driver this time.”

You had turned sixteen a few months back and your parents were beginning to trust you with drinking with friends. They weren’t thrilled, as you were technically still underage, but they knew the culture and accepted it in certain circumstances. As long as you abided by your curfew and didn’t get into trouble, it was fine.

Jimin smiled at you with both eyes and lips, "I knew you'd come around. See you tomorrow."

"Bye Jiminie." You closed the passenger door and waved.

Then he reversed the vehicle out of your long black driveway. By the time he drove away in the direction of his own home, you had already turned your back to him.

__________

That was it, the last time he saw you. It was an unceremonious end to a treasured, deep friendship. The following day, the Park Family moved away. Over the following weeks, both of your lives turned upside down, but in very different ways.

That kind of light had evaded his life since you parted over a decade prior. Sure, he had made deep bonds with the men who worked for him. They were his brothers - he would and had killed for them. Still, nothing compared to the companionship he had with you. It was so innocent and sweet, a reminder that he used to exist in the world unplagued by this madness.

Jimin turned around to face the mirror. The man who reflected back was radically different from the boy who grew up with that sweet, vivacious girl. His face was sharper and his eyes darker, carrying a sinister look about them that struck fear into those who dared to cross him. His hair was an ashy blonde color, a consequence of having to change his appearance from time to time. In this business, that was par for the course.

Taehyung's suite included a kitchenette. Jimin went over to the little bar area and swooped up a fifth of whiskey. He gulped twice before twisting the cap back on and setting it down. He would return to his own suite and wait for the notification of your arrival.

"Why are we doing shots of whiskey?" you whined, "I hate whiskey."

Your elder cousin, Aera, snickered as she practically forced the full shot glass into your hand, "Because we're fucking celebrating!"

Your other cousin and Aera's twin brother, Eoduun, joined in the silliness by raising his glass in the middle for a toast, "To our Y/N, who is finally back in Seoul after three long years abroad. Studying paintings and shit in Europe."

"Being an art curator." You corrected with a shake of your head, though you couldn't help but laugh.

Eoduun paid no mind and went on, "May this night remind her of all the good things about Seoul and convince her to move back."

You put your hand over your eyes and kept shaking your head as the three of you clinked your small glasses together. When it came time to down the dark liquor, you braced yourself and made it quick.

You winced when it passed your tongue, "Damn that's awful. If anything, don't you think soju would be more appropriate after not being in Seoul for so long?"

Aera played with your hair a bit, "Look around you, Y/N. This is the nicest, most exclusive nightclub in the city. No one wants soju here. They come here for something different than the everyday."

Observing your surroundings, you saw that she was right. No one had bottles of soju at their tables. It was all expensive champagne and top-shelf liquors. People were loud and dressed to the nines, some sitting at quilted red velvet booths and others standing at the various bars and pool tables. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone clad in non-designer clothing.

As for you, a black sleeveless mock-neck top underneath a beige Ralph Lauren blazer did the trick. You paired it with a black mini-skirt and the signature red-bottom pumps. A habit you picked up in Europe was dressing in the classics. Stick to that, and one can never appear out of style.

“Anyway,” Eoduun leaned forward across the table, his glossy black hair reflecting the blue and purple lighting above, “Are you here to stay?”

You pursed your lips together. It was endearing that they clearly wanted you to move back home - only it didn’t feel like home for you anymore. Not since you lost your parents. Their deaths left you feeling untethered to this city, regardless of the fact that your Uncle Yohan and cousins still resided within its bounds,

“I don’t know,” you fibbed, “Maybe. I do really enjoy Europe.”

Aera hummed, “The museums, the statues, the elegance, the old money.”

“Which is funny, because you come from some of the oldest money in this country.” Eoduun added.

Thankfully, the twins dropped the subject after that. It was obviously making you squirm, and tonight was about having fun.

The drinks began flowing steadier. You danced, laughed your heart out, and reminisced on old times. The latter occurred when you were sitting in your booth, significantly less sober than when you arrived.

The stillness of sitting down gave your mind the bandwidth to wander to all sorts of things about your past. A dangerous game for you, as it always led you to what you hated remembering the most - or rather, who.

The Park boy who disappeared abruptly all those years ago. The friend who was ripped out of your life without so much as a proper goodbye or warning. It left a scar deep inside you that you never wanted to graze. Yet every now and then, in drunken moments like these, his beaming face would flash across your mind. Maybe he and his family moved away, or maybe he was dead. You had no idea.

You learned over the years not to verbalize his memory. If you didn’t bring it up, it would fade away faster and the feeling inside you would pass.

It helped that Aera was a chatty individual, always having something else to talk about. With a slurred vocabulary, she began asking you about the lack of sunshine in London or something like that. It was unclear to you, because right at that moment, you caught the eye of some stranger standing at the bar.

Perfect timing, you thought. An even better distraction had come along to save you.

He was in a beautiful grey suit, peering at you with eyes unlike any you’d ever seen. His face was otherworldly, and when he smiled? Oh, that smug little grin was more attractive than you would have preferred to admit.

Your cousins noticed you staring.

“Y/N’s got a little heartthrob over there.” Eoduun remarked.

“Go talk to him!” Aera encouraged with an obnoxious giggle, “He’s hot!”

“No,” her brother protested, “This is a family outing.”

“Oh let her live!” She returned.

“Yeah, Eoduun,” you smirked back at him, “Let me live. Then maybe you can go strike up a conversation with that girl in the sequin dress you’ve been gawking at all night.”

“Not interested, actually,” he said in between sips of his scotch, “Something about the way she carries herself that I don’t like.”

“What high standards,” the other twin rolled her eyes and then turned her focus to you, “Go talk to him. Just text us if you plan on leaving with him.”

You smiled and gave her a familial kiss on her cheek as a means of thanking her.

That gorgeous man watched you rise from your seat and maintained his grin. You subtly adjusted your skirt as you approached him, hoping your gait didn’t appear too intoxicated and trying not to stumble in your heels.

“Can I help you with something?” He asked you. His elbow rested in the bar top, while his other hand was occupied with something on the rocks.

You played with your handbag a bit, “That’s funny. I saw you staring at me and came over to ask you the same thing.”

He chuckled, “Taehyung.”

“Y/N.”

Taehyung narrowed his eyes at you in jest,“You haven’t answered my question, Y/N.”

You laughed and further closed the gap between the two of you, “You can get me a drink, as a matter of fact.”

“I’d be much obliged.” He nodded, setting his own drink down on the counter. He then shifted his body to make room for you to come stand next to him, “What will you have?”

You had been consuming mostly gin-based cocktails the whole night. You thought it better to stick with that and requested a dirty martini. Taehyung ordered it for you.

As the bartender began the creation of your next beverage, you continued to chat, “A nice suit, Taehyung. What is it, Celine?”

The handsome man raised his brows and chuckled, tilting his glass toward you, “Very good. You have an eye for fashion, clearly.”

You noticed his gaze scanning your own attire and detected a hint of lust behind it.

Taehyung remarked, “I’m afraid I can’t name the designer, but I do find it ravishing.”

You giggled as the bartender handed you the martini, “Ravishing? What an old-fashioned word.”

“You strike me as someone who likes the classics,” he shrugged, “Besides, I’m a gentleman, Y/N. I would never dream of offending a woman with lower terms…Unless she wanted me to.”

That did it. Your cheeks felt warm with infatuation. You tried to mask the smile that was begging to appear from your glossed lips. Still, you had to play the game if you wanted this to keep going.

Successfully you reeled in the giddiness and replaced it with a relaxed, confident smile. You simply clinked your glass with his as a reply. This caused your newfound companion to bite his bottom lip ever so slightly in a smirk.

The two of you continued to talk over the next hour. You learned he was raised in Geochang and had a job in some marketing firm in the city. When asked the same question, you told him that you were born and raised in Seoul, having recently returned from a stint abroad curating art. He seemed to find that fascinating and asked for more information about your favorite pieces and whatnot.

He would touch your hips occasionally, increasing your want. You wondered when he would lean in for the kiss or take you out onto the floor to dance. However, it was unbeknownst to you that he had been given strict orders not to cross that line.

His boss failed to mention that adhering to this guideline might be challenging. He said nothing about you having a wit or your seduction tactics. This job was proving to be a test of Taehyung's restraint.

Eventually, you saw Aera and Eoduun leave their booth and hit the dance floor, no longer paying mind to this interaction.

It was while you were looking away to locate them that Taehyung made the killing blow.

He propped his elbow up on the bar to appear casual to any wandering eyes. When the coast seemed to be clear, he lowered his hand as if to lay it on the surface of the counter. During this millisecond, he dropped the small substance into your drink.

You turned back to face him a few seconds later, none the wiser.

As you took another sip of your drink, the man texted on his phone briefly and discreetly. You enjoyed how suave he looked doing even the most basic things.

As the flirtations went on, Taehyung observed you doom yourself sip after sip. He knew that time was running out, so he leaned into you and said directly in your ear, "It's getting a little rowdy in here, huh?"

You put on a charming smile and leaned right back into him, touching his upper arm with your free hand, "I couldn't agree more."

You were so close that you could feel his exhale on your nose. He said lowly, "Would you like to go back to my place? I have some art you can critique."

You laughed, and then nodded, "I'd love to."

As he led you toward the exit of the club, you remembered to shoot Aera and Eoduun a text. Doing so proved a bit difficult - your vision was getting a little fuzzy. You chalked it up to having one too many drinks and nothing more.

Your escort noticed that you had looped your arm in his. You played it off as a cute little gesture, but the reality was that you needed the support to walk in a straight line. Taehyung knew the signs of the drug taking effect, and this was certainly one of them.

He sped things along, hoping to find his colleague waiting for them on the curb as planned.

By the time the two of you reached the doors, the black Range Rover with tinted windows was parked and ready to go.

"Here we are." The man in the grey suit grinned.

You were now in considerably worse shape and asked, "Did you...did you call us an Uber?"

"Of course I did," Taehyung played it cool and put his arm around you to offer more support without drawing too much attention, "Luckily he was in the area and could get here in a minute."

"Oh. That's convenient."

When he opened the door to the backseat, he made immediate eye contact with the driver, Jungkook. You were too busy stepping up into the vehicle to notice the two of them nodding at one another.

Your new acquaintance climbed in after you and shut the door.

The driver played the part well and asked, "How are you both doing tonight?"

You could see his round, curious eyes in the rearview mirror. While Taehyung shot him a glare, you replied, "Great, though a little drunk."

Jungkook chuckled as he put the car into gear. He got a kick out of playing with people like this, especially when his boss wasn’t around to chide him for it.

The Range Rover rolled back into the correct lane and began the short drive to Josun Palace, the most opulent hotel in the city.

In the backseat, you started to lean your head on Taehyung’s shoulder. You had slipped into the blackout territory.

The man sitting next to you told the driver, “Hurry up, will you? I think she needs to get to bed.”

Jungkook glanced back at you in the rearview mirror. He had to reach their destination with haste, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to walk yourself up to the suite and draw attention.

A couple minutes later, they arrived. Jungkook parked the car and together they whisked you out and hurried you inside. You were too far gone to even notice that you weren’t at Taehyung’s apartment, but at a hotel.

You were muttering things they couldn’t understand, vision extremely distorted. Your legs felt like they were barely attached to you. The only thing that really registered with your system was the change in lighting, from a night sky to artificial brightness.

The two men moved with urgency, yet hid it by acting all happy. They made it look as if the three of you were hammered, laughing and talking. This diminished any concerns others might have had for you. You were simply a group of intoxicated young people, not a kidnapping in-action.

The journey up to the top floors felt like ten hours to you. When the elevator let out onto the correct floor, you were in the final stages, ready to pass out at any moment.

The two abductors moved swiftly, Taehyung pulling out his room key.

Their boss was waiting for them inside, sitting in a lounge. The room was dimly lit, curtains shut.

Park Jimin had seen many disturbing things in this life. He’d seen bloodshed, gore, unimaginable horrors. Things that seemed impossible to make amends with and yet he had. The sight before him now, of you, eyes halfway closed being held up by his men, was another matter. It twisted his guts.

You looked so pathetic, so weak. Your body was almost entirely limp, head hanging low.

The boss’s jaw clenched as he swallowed, "Well done, both of you."

Taehyung scoffed, "I did most of the work."

Jimin glared at him, "Shut the fuck up and get her on the bed."

They followed his order, one scooping you up by the knees and the other by your shoulders. You were hoisted onto the bed, now fully unconscious.

The leader approached you with a caution that left his subordinates confused. He was slow and silent, observing your faltered body. His face showed resolve, but his body language showed regret. He wished for years that this would never have to happen, and it had come to pass.

Jungkook asked with hesitation, "Are we...Are we good?"

Jimin looked at them and nodded once, "Yes. However, I've decided to stay here with her. Tae, get your stuff. You may sleep in my suite instead."

Within a few minutes, the pair left. The boss pulled a chair up next to the bed and began his watch over you. The drug would likely induce some unfavorable side effects and he was best positioned to care for you if and when they appeared.

He turned off all other lights in the suite, save one lamp on the nightstand between you and him. It provided enough lighting for him to study your face. Your features were completely relaxed, some of your eye makeup smudged, lips slightly parted.

It was still close to unfathomable that he was really looking at you, after all the years. Jimin had taken you back into his life by force, and a few hours prior, it felt terrible. But now that you were here in his sights, there was a twinge of happiness in his hardened heart.

For the rest of the night, Jimin sat in that chair, occasionally dozing off and waking himself back to a state of alert. Waiting for you to wake up, and wondering what would happen when you did.

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billthedrake · 9 months ago

Text

THE BOARDROOM (PART FOUR)

This chapter probably works better having read the previous ones.

ENGLISH AND ITALIAN TAILORING

I had been spending the winter taking some time away from The Boardroom gatherings. Some of it was giving Ethan his space and not trying to claim The Boardroom as my space, even if it kind of was. I knew my ex would flourish there, and at that point he needed it more than I did.

Besides, I was doing a lot of travel and work had been crazy busy. I had made sure to prioritize my gym and exercise time, as well as my diet. After that I didn't have a lot of energy for anything else.

I enjoyed a lot of masturbation time, for sure. I experimented with watching non-suit porn. I got off to a lot of it, but generally enjoyed going back to the tried and true suit scenes.

The Boardroom had a series of gatherings that didn't do it for me. Power Suit Night. Vests Night. Sheer Socks Night. Fashion Week. I declined at each RSVP and gave other guys a spot.

I even missed the semi-annual Executive Board Meeting, since I was out of town for work. But I was pleased to hear from Ethan that he'd been promoted to Junior Executive. His new suits and regular attendance in my absence had paid off.

Now I realized I was due to host. And maybe it was the increasingly spring weather, but my libido was bouncing back like crazy. A Boardroom party sounded like just the thing. And I had my English-tailored pinstripe suit waiting to make its debut.

I sent out the email:

"Hello Gentlemen of the Boardroom - Next meeting is devoted to English and Italian tailoring. Priority to the men with the real deal. Soft shoulder or English draping. Slim silhouette or waist suppression. RSVP English or Italian wear. Waitlist of others who appreciate European tailoring. Men not in English or Italian clothing can wear only accessories at the Boardroom this time."

"That's genius, Bill," Ken wrote, with his RSVP for Italian.

Marty had an Italian sport coat and trousers, which was good for me.

Kevin was the only other exec to RSVP, but didn't have an outfit.

But the Junior Execs and New Hires came through. Darren said he'd wear an English suit. I wasn't surprised to hear he was the only other regular with one but as it happened, an Interviewee was visiting from England and expressed interest.

John was a Junior Exec I'd not seen too much lately. After his promotion, he'd started dating someone exclusively. I guessed that was now a thing of the past, since he responded that he had an Italian suit he'd love to wear. One the Newer Hires, another Mike - Mike 2 - chimed in that he had just come back from a destination wedding in Italy and had something appropriate.

I didn't want Kevin to be the only one in just accessories, so I admitted another non-suit wearing guy, a New Hire, Rick.

Since it had been a while since I hosted, I splurged on a nice suite at the Four Seasons Downtown. I normally channeled my spare money into attire, not hotel rooms, but I figured I had saved money by not going on dates the last half a year.

I showed up early and got everything ready. Setting out lube, towels and spare tissues, along with some glasses of water to help with clean up.

Mike - Mike 2 as we called him since he's joined since Doctor Mike - was the first to show up. I didn't really know him, but he was good looking, kind of a regular 30yo gay guy, fit in that New York way. But his suit made him look killer. Nice rounded shoulders, tan color that showed off his brown hair and blue eyes.

"God, fuck, that's a nice suit, Bill," he said as he walked into the suite. I stepped back and let him get a look. Yeah, I was proud of this one. It was British tailoring, definitely, but I'd chosen a fabric and silhouette that wouldn't look too out of place in New York. I'd paired it with a pink shirt with a spread collar, a windsor knot on my repp tie, and for shoes I went with my Edward Greens.

"Thanks," I said. "You're looking amazing... nice introduction, I'd say."

"Agreed," he smiled. I could tell he was throwing hard in his suit, which I loved. I mean, all of us guys in the Boardroom had the kink, but some men just really embraced the horniness of a good suit. Mike cocked a grin. "We should probably wait for the others to fool around?"

"We don't gotta," I said. And like that, I stepped up and ran my hand along his shoulder, the light-weight wool perfectly molded to his strong delts. His hand went right for my crotch, working up my boner in my trousers.

We kissed. It was a hungry, horny kiss as our hands took in each other's suit.

Just then a knock came. I laughed as I broke up the impetuous make out session with Mike. Marty was there, with beefy Mark. Marty's sport coat was great, but maybe paled in comparison to Mike's full-on suit. Mark was in casual clothes, but as he came in, he began removing everything but a pair of socks and sock suspenders. On his meaty build, the look was pretty damn hot, especially because his cock filled out to full staff showing off for us.

Darren arrived next. He had more that English country gentleman look, the brown-green plaid looking incredible with his tall lean frame and chocolate-brown skin. Marty was already pawing at the coat and trousers. He and Darren always had some chemistry, and the English attire was drawing the man like a moth to a flame.

Over in one corner of the suite, nearly-naked, beefy Mark was on his knees, sucking Mike in full suited attire.

I enjoyed watching, squeezing my crotch, then I decided to join the action, stepping up to Mike and smiling at the cute guy. "He's good, huh?" I asked.

Mike nodded. "Why don't you pull your dick out and see for yourself." OK, Mike 2 had a domish edge that surprised me.

I grinned, reaching down to do just that. "Oh I've had his mouth," I said. I wagged my hard cock in Mark's direction and nudged it against his cheek. The guy got the picture.

"It's been a while, Bill," he said, looking up from my dick and up to my face.

"Yep," I replied. "Why don't you show me what I've been missing."

"Fuck yeah," he hissed. Mark loved sucking dick. The more the better, in his book. I grunted as I felt that talented mouth descend on my pole. It had been way too long since I'd come to Boardroom night.

Mike laughed as he watched my reaction. I looked at him and I felt that magnetic charge again. We kissed and I felt his hand run along my lapel. I was getting way too into this, but thankfully Mark pulled off and started blowing Mike. I pulled back from the kiss and looked over at the other guys.

Kevin was here now, and was on all fours on one of the beds next to Marty. Both men had their trousers pulled down and were making out while Darren went back and forth, slowly fucking in full country-estate wear.

And I noticed that Rick had arrived. I gathered he was a finance guy, from his demeanor and previous attire. But he didn't have on any clothing now, not really, given my accessories-only stipulation. And damn, the dude had a body that wouldn't quit. Ripped and toned, not huge but densely muscular build for his 5'10" body. It was an Ethan-caliber body, and the realization made me shiver a bit. Before Ethan, my taste had run fit-normal. My ex Kevin.... my Boardroom crush Pete. Regular NYC guys, my age.

Maybe it was silly to go for perfect, but it was fun to watch as Rick strutted over in just his over-the-calf socks, English-made tan oxfords, a tie tied around his neck and an expensive Swiss watch on his wrist. The only thing keeping him from being porn-star material was a smaller than average dick, which was still pretty damn appealing in its rock-hard spike as he walked over.

"Hey," he greeted, giving me a nod, but his attention more on Mike 2.

"Hey Rick," Mike grinned. They'd clearly met before. And maybe more.

They kissed.

"Nice suit, bro," Rick hissed, now running his hand along Mike's front. It was fun to watch the spark of sexual chemistry between these two late-20s guys, but yeah, I was gonna get left out.

Mark had even started sucking Rick's bone, taking advantage of the smaller size to really go to town on it. Meanwhile, Mike and Rick made out taking some breaks so Mike could watch his Boardroom buddy admire his new suit.

I should have just left them but it was hot to watch. So I stroked and stood near. Mark had gone back to Mike's bigger cock. It was hot to see him kneeling in his socks and sock suspenders, the hairness of his legs a contrast to the sheer sock fabric. Rick arched his back and I could then see that Mike had his hand wedged back into his ass, fingering and playing around with Rick's hole.

"I wanna use that ass, man," Mike grunted.

Rick nodded and like that, Mike was pushing Mark off his dick. The two didn't even acknowledge me and Mark as they made their way over to the spare bed.

"Sorry, Bill, looks like you're stuck with me," Mark said as he stood up. His dick was hard and leaking. Even if I wasn't a huge socks fetishist, I had to admit the sock garters looked great on his beefier build. Kind of that feminine/masculine contrast.

I flashed him a smile. "A-OK with me," I replied politely. "It's been a while since we connected here."

He nodded, stepping up. We didn't kiss. Partly because that wasn't Mark's MO - he was all about cock - but partly because we didn't have that natural chemistry. Still, his hands were on my suit coat.

"You have a really incredible suit," he said. "It really should be getting more attention."

He was right. About the suit, maybe, but in particular about what I was feeling wistful about. Maybe I was becoming one of the respected founding executives. A man with a great suit but not so imminently fuckable, you know?

"Wanna give it some attention?" I smirked.

I let Mark feel me up, and I got off on his near naked body in contrast to my suited one. It was fun, seeing him sensually touch the fabric and massage my body beneath it. But eventually his goal was clearly.

"OK if I suck you?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, that'd be hot."

This was more transactional. I had a big dick and Mark loved to suck. This is what a sex party often was, if you stripped away the suit fetish. Two men just getting their rocks off.

And Mark was a good cocksucker. Not too fast but he knew how to work me up to a good cum before long. I held onto his head, not roughly but as a sign I was about to blast. The man moaned around my cock, telling me to let it rip. I did, blasting several hot rounds down his throat.

He milked me and worked the dribbles slowly before giving my dick a parting kiss. "I love sucking off a man in a suit," he said, taking one last look before getting up. "OK if I go find another?" he asked.

"Have at it," I grinned, taking a seat to have a break. I knew I wouldn't have another in me, but I'd enjoy seeing the guys pair up in suits. Besides, since I was hosting, I couldn't really leave.

It didn't take Mark long to find another dick to suck. Darren had gone, and Marty was getting slowly fucked by newcomer John, in a navy Italian suit. But Kevin was alone, like me watching the action while he stood in an Italian sport coat and tie, naked from the waist down. Mark got right into to place and started sucking while Kevin watched the other guys.

I looked over at the other bed. Mike 2 had clearly gotten off inside Rick and the two were on the bed, making out as a third guy in a full navy suit was now on top of Rick, working his way inside the hunk. I take it was the English guy, the Interviewee.

I watched them fuck. It was an amazing sight. The English lad had his trousers pulled down mid-thigh so I could see some of his dimpled ass flex as he thrust into the hot finance bro beneath him.

Mike 2 lay beside them, his dick now retreated back into his crotch but his eyes still showing excitement as he ran his hands up and down the English guy's coat. I don't know that his suit was overly high-quality but the English tailoring was novel, and the wool fit his form like a glove.

I turned over to see Kevin's eyes on the live sex show. These Boardroom meeting were 50 percent clothing fetish and 50 percent old fashioned sex party. Well, maybe it started out as 80/20, but increasingly it felt there was a moment like this, where some pairing would become the center of attention.

Kevin's brown eyes met mine in recognition. He was my ex from my early 30s, and to this day we had a kind of telepathy. He was thinking the same thing as me, and he was getting turned on. I watched the guy as he humped into Beefy Mark's mouth and started cumming.

It was a great spectacle to watch. I didn't really have the hots for Kevin these days, but his love of suited sex still could get me going.

The only bad thing was I missed the English guy's orgasm. He was sliding off the bed and hiking up his trousers while he fetched a spare cloth to clean off his hard uncut prick still jutting up from a creamy white midsection.

"Heya," he greeted as he walked over to me, tucking in and buckling back up.

"Hi," I said. "You must be Gavin."

"Indeed I am," he said. He reminded me of English Ben who I met at a Boardroom party and whom I reconnected with on my last trip to London. "Great party."

"Thanks," I said. "Great to have newcomers. You visiting New York?"

Maybe because we'd both gotten off, it felt fine to be chatty. The guy picked up a water bottle for a swig. "Yah, here on work, but added a couple days for holiday."

"Glad you could come," I said. "You were fun to watch." OK, maybe I was being flirty, and maybe I had a weakness for the accent.

"Thanks." He grinned and took another sip. I could tell he was flattered but that I wasn't his type. "I'm going to get going. But OK if I reach out again, next time I'm in town?"

"Absolutely," I said. And I watched Gavin leave the suite.

In fact, the guys pretty much were filing out pretty quickly. I didn't expect anyone to stay over, but as Rick and Mike 2 left together, with a clear chemistry between them, I kind of wished I wasn't going to spend the night in this hotel suite alone.

SUSPENDERS NIGHT

"Sorry I didn't make the party, Bill," Ethan said in our Monday workout. I was up to two sessions with him a week. No more comped ones - I paid him the full fee, though I gathered he socked some of that away in a special savings account dedicated to his clothing habit. It was wild to see a guy like him, young and athletic, embrace the suit fetish lifestyle. I sometimes wonder if that was New York, the way it nurtured a subculture like ours. Elsewhere Ethan certainly would have gotten off on suited men but maybe it wouldn't have developed for him like it did.

I set down the dumbbells he had me lifting. I gave him a friendly but direct look. "It's working out best that we keep to separate parties I suppose."

He nodded in agreement, then added. "I know. It's just, I guess that's the first Boardroom meeting you've hosted since I've joined. I feel bad for not going."

I felt a twinge of something. Regret, guilt, sadness, all rolled into one. But I tried to keep a poker face. "Like I say, Ethan, it's OK. For real."

He seemed to be trying on his poker face too. "I didn't have any English or Italian suit to wear anyway."

I grinned and Ethan knew why. That meant he'd have been mostly naked. That was kind of our thing when we were an item, and fortunately he laughed.

"Yeah you wouldn't have minded that," he said. I don't know, somehow the flirting helped break the tensions some. He set me up on the cable machine for the next set and said quietly, "I have been saving up for some proper English shoes."

"Yeah?" I asked. Ethan was a big foot/shoe guy, so it wasn't a surprise.

He nodded. "I know you'd advise against it, Bill, you know focus my money elsewhere, but it's what's gonna make me happy."

"You should go for it, Ethan. Splurge on those bad boys." I did my set, which was harder than I expected. In his own laid back way, Ethan was really pushing me today. I stepped back after and continued my thought. "You know I don't have to approve of your purchases... I mean, I hope you don't think I'm controlling."

He shrugged. "Not controlling. More, I just... well, you were kind of a mentor to me, and you still are... I don't want to think I don't respect your advice."

"My advice is to enjoy the hell out of your new shoes."

Ethan laughed. "I don't have 'em yet, Bill."

"Is this a way of saying your going to raise your rate on me?" I teased.

His eyes twinkled. God he was a cute fucker. "Nah.... but if you ever feel like squeezing an extra session in...."

"Let's do it," I said.

That surprised Ethan. "I was just kidding, Bill. I didn't mean..."

"I know. But it'll be good. Ethan's shoe fund. And an extra installment on my beach bod plan."

"If you're sure," he said.

"As long as you can work around my schedule," I said. Work had been pretty hectic lately.

"I will," he said. His whole posture was more confident now. I think it was the excitement of getting his shoes, but something else.

He put me through the paces for a few more sets and as we were wrapping up, he pulled out his phone to schedule my third session for the week.

"You sure, Bill?" he asked.

"Sure I'm sure."

He smiled and we figured out a good time. Then, as I was about to head to the locker room to change, Ethan asked in a low voice. "You going to suspenders night?"

This was George's turn at hosting and he'd put out a call for suspenders/braces. The great thing about the idea was how open it was to different clothing styles.

"I was thinking about it," I said. "But if you're going..." I hadn't explicitly made an agreement with Ethan to avoid the meetups he went to, but it was clear that I did.

"I want to," he said. "But you don't have to say no on my account. I think we've been pretty mature about stuff."

We had. Ethan especially. I was the one who'd called things off, and he seemed to get back on his game just fine. I gathered that he might not be dating anyone serious but he was getting back into the dating scene. Good for him.

"I guess, so," I said.

***

It had been too long since I fucked Pete. But when he showed up at the Boardroom Meeting and we made eye contact, we just knew the chemistry was still there. We played with some of the other guys - Mike 1, the young doctor, who was in his trad element, and Rob, who was in a really fucking nice suit - subtle pinstripe, bengal stripe shirt, and solid gaberdine tie. Unlike me the guys had showier suspenders - Rob's beneath his suit coat, Mike and Pete showing off their suspenders in shirt sleeves. Pete had white cuffs on an oxford stripe shirt, which was a nice vintage touch. His body was pretty fantastic in it too.

He had some group kissing and stroking and BJ swapping before Pete and I took the arrival of George to pull away from the guys to take to the bed.

Ethan was on the other bed, in just his dress shirt and tie, as Tom Stephenson lie on top of him, fully clothed and kissing and thrusting into my ex. That somehow ignited my jealousy, but I pushed that thought right back down. I was going to be the grown up.

Besides Pete was way hot. He was pulling off his suspenders and undoing his trousers. Turning around he shucked his pants and got into doggy position. I was very grateful at that moment that Pete's husband let him come into the city to play on occasion. And a little mad at myself for the idea I'd love to steal the guy away.

I got in place and started munching Pete's hole. Nice and clean, it seemed to suck my tongue in. It had been too long for him, too, I knew. I took my time, taking a pause now and then to admire his ass and to lube my dick up. But pretty soon, my cock ached to fuck. I crawled up onto Pete's body, feeling the heat between his shirt and mine as I pushed my dick into place.

"Please Bill," he hissed, at a volume only I could hear.

His hole was perfectly tight as I entered him. But the excitement was all of Pete. His perfectly meaty bod, his handsomeness, his clothes. How much he wanted me. Maybe I was going too hard and too fast but Pete bucked against me a couple of times to give me the green light. I took it. My humping got harder and faster as I kissed along his neck, smelling his cologne and feeling his shirt color against my cheek.

I was getting hot, too hot in my suit, but that also fed my lust. I shot, hard.

"Yes," Pete sighed, now pulling at his dick while I did my best to keep pushing in and other. Not as fast or urgent, but the slow stroke was probably better for his pleasure.

I felt the man get his orgasm beneath me, and I gave him another, final kiss of appreciation to the neck.

We uncoupled and enjoyed embracing and making out in our clothing. I was aware other guys were having fun around us, and a part of me wanted to show Ethan I could have some fun too.

Finally, Pete pulled back and gave a wistful smile. "I gotta get going." By now, some were leaving the party, and I'd lost track of time.

"Yeah," I said. I was hard again now, and my cock was sticking out. I wasn't usually good for getting off twice at one of these gatherings, but it had been a few days since I'd cum, and being with Pete had me amped up.

Pete reached down and grabbed my hardon, stroking it and admiring how it jutted out of my suit trousers. "Want me to take care of this before I go?"

I did, but I also wanted some more time to recharge. "Nah," I said. I leaned in and placed my mouth at his ear. "But fucking you was perfect," I whispered. "I missed being in you."

I felt his body shiver, and I felt bad. I was pushing the envelope and maybe enjoying doing that too much.

He pulled away. His own dick was firm and he did the work of tucking it in as he sat up in bed. He gave me a once over as he shook his head. "Great seeing you, Bill," he said.

I tried to apologize non verbally, patting his shirt-clad back. "I'll let you go," I said softly.

"Another kiss?" he asked.

I met him for just that.

When he finally left I was rock hard. George and one of the New Hires, Matt, were making out on the bed, caught up in their own connection. I thought of joining them, but didn't want to impose or be the third wheel.

Just then, I saw Ethan walk out of the bathroom, face flushed. He'd put his suit back on, suspenders and all, and retied his tie. He had a sheepish, shy look on his face, until he saw my boner jutting out and then he broke into a grin.

I couldn't help but laugh in response. We'd been trying to compartmentalize things, but here we were now, face to face, the sexual activity of the evening apparent.

Ethan's brown eyes met mine, searching for permission. I'm not sure if I gave it to him, or he was going to wait for it. He took a couple of steps forward and then crouched in front of me. My dick twitched as he did and Ethan took in the sight with a smile. I thought he was going to suck me right then and there but instead he scooted back and leaned down further. Kissing one shoe, then the other. I'd warn some brogued cordovan Aldens and Ethen sucked in the smell of the leather before licking.

"Fuck," he hissed, as he used his tie to wipe off the spit. I could sense how turned on he was to be able to indulge his shoe fetish. To my knowledge none of the Board members, at least the regulars, were into that. Ethan knew I wouldn't mind him having some shoe play, and would even get off on his horniness.

"Jesus, guys, you're getting kinky," I heard George say.

He and Matt were now lying back in bed, their clothes dishelved and their bodies clearly ih post-coital relaxation.

I saw Ethan flinch and blush. I gave him a soft pat on the shoulder and looked back up at the other guys. "It's something I've wanted to try," I lied.

George nodded. "Well, Matt here's big into wristwatches. Can't keep his eyes off this baby," he said, holding up his arm, sporting an expensive watch.

Matt blushed some, and I felt bad, like this should be the place where guys could just enjoy their kinks. I gave a reassuring smile. "I bet you'd like a wristwatch theme night, huh?" I asked Matt.

"Fuck yeah," he grinned. The guy was younger, maybe a few years older than Ethan, and cute. Professional gay guy who get to let loose some at these events.

My hardon had flagged by that point and Ethan had stood up. The spell was broken. "I'll probably get going," I announced as I tucked in and zipped up. I did my best to make myself presentable. I turned to Ethan. "You staying?"

It was a question laden with a lot of possibilities and I could Ethan trying to read me with his eyes. I reached behind him and tapped his suited ass. A quick gesture, but he knew I was up for fooling around.

Without missing a beat he turned to the other guys. "I think I'll head out too. It was a great Meeting, George," he said. "One of the best."

George grinned. He placed his arm around Matt. George was always after new meat and had a preference for younger guys. I had the feeling the two were going to enjoy the night together.

"Seriously, Matt," I said as I picked up my phone and slid it into my suit pocket. "We'll think about the watch idea. We haven't done that before." The guy gave a smile.

We bid good night, and Ethan and I walked silently to the elevators, smiles on our faces as we fed off our lust.

"What are we doing, Boss?" he asked. I could tell he was afraid to pose the question, but someone had to think with his head and not his dick.

The door opened and we got in. There were other people in, so Ethan and I rode down in baited breath, silent.

We were out on the street before I spoke. "If it's just fun, I'll deal with that," I said. "But I want to be your boyfriend, Ethan. For real."

That caught him off guard. "What about just now? With Pete?" he asked softly. I could tell he was as jealous to see me with Pete as I was with Tom. Maybe more.

"I don't know what to say," I said. "I mean, it was the Boardroom."

He shrugged. "You guys have a thing. Everyone knows it, Bill."

I thought about it. Thought about why I felt a connection to Ethan so soon after having sex with Pete. "It's only because Pete and I never actually dated. But say the word I won't so much as lay a hand on him."

I saw a smile form on Ethan's lips as he looked over at me. "You're serious, aren't you?"

I nodded, feeling vulnerable because I was overcome by how suddenly my revelation had hit me. I knew I'd suppressed a lot of my feelings for Ethan. "I was an asshole before. But I miss you Ethan."

His face got a real emotional seriousness. "Can I kiss you, Boss?"

I nodded. And right there in the middle of the sidewalk we kiss. Softly, just a little tongue.

"Damn," I said.

"Yeah," Ethan sighed. He ran his fingers along my lapel. I knew we'd go home and have some amazing suit sex, and that made the emotional part of this even more powerful. "You know, when you stood up for me earlier... for the shoe thing... that was kind of great."

I winked. "I like how you show me new things, stud." I patted his shoulder. "You wanna head to my place and have some shoe play?"

He shook his head. "How bout my place, Bill? You never come over there."

There was a reason for that. Ethan lived in a tiny walk up apartment. But it was time for me to give as well as take. "All right," I said.

***

Ethan's place was tidy but pretty fucking small. But there was no place I'd rather be at that moment. He lay on the floor on a yoga-workout mat, in his Brooks Brothers charcoal suit and striped shirt, paisley pocket square and wool tie, his hard dick sticking out of his crotch. I slowly, teasingly ran my shoe along his boner as he looked up at me hungrily.

"God, Bill," he hissed.

My own dick was out of my suit pants again, sticking out straight, but I wasn't doing anything with it. I was enjoying giving Ethan his jollies.

"You like that leather," I said. Half question, half comment.

"God yes," he said. "You think I'm messed up?" he half asked in return.

I shook my head. "Stud, if my shoes are what keeps you interested in me, that works for me."

He grunted as he watched me bend down to unlace my Aldens. "It's not like that," he objected.

I grinned and winked as I slid my shoe off. "If it is, that's OK, Ethan," I said. Then I knelt down, still fully in my suit and slid that cordovan Alden oxford over Ethan's erection.

"Shit," he gasped as his dick made contact with the interior leather.

I leaned in and kissed him, briefly. "This comfortable?" I asked as I slid it up and down.

He nodded. This was turning him on, a lot. "I'm gonna cum if you keep doing this," he said in a clipped voice.

"Do it," I instructed him.

Ethan's eyes grew wider as he met mine in silent sexual communication and his face grew redder. He was a cute and very hunky young man, and I was lucky I even had a chance with him. I was lucky that he was crushed out on me. And he only grew more handsome when he had his orgasm.

"UUUNNNMMMHFF!" he growled in release. Then falling back into a relaxed position, he broke into a smile. "Damn, that was incredible," he finally said.

I pulled off my shoe, trying not to overstimulate his prick. Normally, the first thing I'd be doing is cleaning it, but I not held it up and looked inside. Ethan had cum a lot and I could see his pearly seed drip down from the toe to the padded heel area. I shocked Ethan and shocked myself by bringing it closer, up to my face, and sticking my tongue in to taste his fresh seed.

"Fuck, Boss," he gasped. "No way am I going soft now," he said with a laugh.

I handed him my shoe. "Think this puppy will keep you turned on enough to let me fuck you?"

Ethan was younger than me and had more of a sexual stamina. But this was purely Ethan in overheated mode. He'd never had a man indulge his foot fetish like I was doing now. I watched as he excitedly reached down to undo his suspenders. I helped him take off his Allen Edmonds, plainer brown cap toes, then pull off his dark gray trousers. His dick was angry red and overstimulated but still hard.

"On the bed?" I asked. There was something fun and naughty about having sex on his bedroom floor, but I knew a mattress would be more comfortable than that thin mat.

We got up on the bed, and I met him for a kiss, deeper this time. I wasn't going to rush this, but I knew I had to be back inside Ethan, that evening. I'd be fucking on Tom Stephenson's sperm and god knows if anyone else's, but we could deal with that.

As Ethan wrapped his legs around my waist and I ran my cock around his hole, feeling the still slick traces of lube in his crack, I looked into his eyes.

"We'll figure out the Boardroom stuff, if you still wanna go," I said, a quiver in my voice. "But let me know what you need from me, Ethan."

He nodded, excited. "You, too, Bill." I could see in his face and hear in his voice the man's desire to be wanted. I hadn't given Ethan that before.

I pushed into him. His hole was relaxed and wet. And even if I was jealous of Tom Stephenson, I was glad for the extra lubrication. Ethan's hole felt nice and wet and snug against my thrusting prick, and the man was primed to take the urgency of my fuck.

I humped away, and Ethan looked up into my eyes and felt up my suit coat and tie. From the evening, I was sweating into my clothes and it would all need a good dry clean. It would be worth it.

"Faster, Boss," he urged. This wasn't about him, but rather his desire to see me get off.

I nodded to him, wordlessly communicating that I was close.

I had both hands on the bed, but I pulled one up to start feeling up Ethan's tie. He looked really fucking perfect in a repp tie. Clean-cut, masculine, like an athlete at an awards banquet or a small-town businessman.

I choked back my grunts but Ethan knew I was cumming hard. I powered my hips in and locked in place as I seeded him up. His words of encouragement as strong as the hands feeling up my suit.

I finally pulled out and let his legs to the side as I eased down on his suited body. We were maybe messed up that we needed to play dress up to have sex, but we were messed up together. This felt right.

I could even feel the guy's heart beat between our layers of clothing as his strong grip held me close.

"You're staying over the night, Bill," he said.

It was a bossy tone I'd only heard from him in the gym before.

"Yeah," I said. I pulled up and looked at him. His face was flush and his hair was a little mussed. "You ever slept in your suit?"

He seemed amused by the idea. "No. Have you?"

I shook my head no. "Might be fun, though... But maybe we can start with just shirt and tie."

Ethan was still hard, but after getting off a couple of times that evening he didn't seem eager to get off again. I watched him take off his coat and drop the undone suspenders. I slowly removed my suit, suspenders and trousers.

"Is this gonna mess up our ties?" he asked.

"Maybe," I said. "But at the worst we'll each have a play tie to add to the collection."

I let Ethan wash up first. "There's a spare toothbrush in the medicine cabinet," he offered when I stepped in. And once I was done in the bathroom, he had a glass of water to offer me.

"You sleepy?" he asked as we slid under the covers together, in our dress shirts and ties. I could feel his naked legs slip against mine and his genitals press against my crotch. This felt nice.

"Not really," I said. "Wanna stay up and talk?"

So that's what we did. We talked about dating and how it could work this time. What would need to be different, but what we missed about before.

"I don't want that easygoing part to go away, Bill," Ethan said. "Maybe things were too easygoing, but I like how you were my friend first."

"I still am," I assured him. "And you client," I winked. "You do good work."

He laughed. "Thanks. You needed to be whipped into shape," he quipped. It was bossy Ethan, and I knew it was a joke, but I still had to speak to the elephant in the room.

"Listen, I know you could find a guy with a much better body than mine."

He didn't miss a beat. "I want a body that looks great in a suit, Boss."

He didn't give me a chance to reply, he just leaned in for a kiss. I returned it and like that we were making out. It was about 1AM and I knew I didn't want this night to end. I felt Ethan's cock grow firm again against me and I loved the contrast between his hard nakeness and his clothed torso. Our shirts were now damp and our bodies warm.

Unbelievably, my own cock responded by firming up again.

"You wanting to get off?" I asked, running my hands over the bulging biceps in his shirt sleeves.

He thought for a second and shook his head. "Let's save it till morning, Bill."

"Sounds good," I said.

We kissed a little more and then got truly sleepy. As Ethan turned out the light, I realized I hadn't felt this giddy and excited in a long while.

#drakestories

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starrysharks · 13 days ago

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from looking at that sketch of romeo you posted i just found out that because hes wearing the ccc uniform in that pic and lunette wears a suit a lot like that, that means shes wearing the ccc uniform whenever ive seen her. wondering if i should have noticed that during the almost two years ive been following your work.

now i have ccc suit uniform questions:

who gets (forced) to wear it? at what level in the organization do they wear it? how comfortable is it? are the suits tailored? what are the individual pieces of the suit? there are probably restrictions on socks and shoes, but what are they? depending on the apparent lighting there are alternating stripes of the character color and black around the pant thighs. what are those stylizing/supposed to represent?

oh my god i'd love to talk about the uniforms!!! they're just simple suits on the surface but i've hidden a lot of stuff in em ^_^

the uniform as i said is really simple - a shirt, suit blazer, trousers/a long skirt, an optional waistcoat (that nearly nobody wears because it just makes a tight suit even tighter) a cross-shaped tie and a CCO armband. every assassin has to wear the uniform, but only the seven highest ranking assassins wear a colored armband - everyone else's is simply black with a white logo. the higher ranking assassins are given a choice on the color of their armband. also, the girls are usually forced to wear a long skirt (similar to vivica's school skirt) with their uniform, even if it restricts their movement, to "retain femininity and uphold tradition even in combat". the only exceptions are the seven highest ranking assassins who get more choice, so needles wears shorts with her uniform and lunette wears trousers.

as mentioned, the suits are pretty tight to ensure good aerodynamics and are slightly uncomfortable for most people especially those with larger chests like romèo. the suits come in standard sizing, and assassins are expected to tailor away any grievances they have with the uniform (so long as this doesn't involve changing the uniform too much - so for example, lunette's uniform is actually tailored to be more breathable.) newbie assassins are almost always told to size up, unless someone decides to pick on them and convince them the suits are super oversized and they should size down - which actually happened to lunette with her first suit when she first started out because of a specific part of her character. the suits only get replaced if they are destroyed beyond repair, which is often, so they aren't custom made for even the top ranking assassins.

socks have to be white or black for every assassin, and shoes cannot be flashy or inappropriate for work (typically dark colored boots with short heels are worn by all.). the lines on the pants represent pinstripes - each suit has very subtle pinstripe patterns. in a realistic setting they'd just be grey against black, and they will be for background assassins, but it's fun to pigment them based off of the character's color pallete!

also, regular assassins wear the uniform on all of their missions. for the top seven, it's only mandatory for the most important missions. also, some missions might call for disguises, so they might not even have to wear it even then. the uniforms are also mandatory for meetings and such. i think that's mostly everything! thank you so so so much for the ask, i absolutely love talking about the outfits within reassassination!!!

#ask zeno #ocs #reassassination #oc rambling #long post

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aachria · 4 months ago

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I am so unbelievably nervous for this chapter pooks you dont even know it andthe title sure doesn't sound very promising at all

Writing as im reading once again but I noticed how long my chapter commentary has been gwtting so I'll tryyyy to Tone It Down but i make no promises. The length of my commentary is only dictated by how absolutely crazy you decide to make this chapter.

Ace and Sabo giving ed a shovel talk is everything ive wanted since the marriage i beg you to let ace live long enough to get mad at ed for not telling him pretty please 😭🙏

Oooh the gift for Sabo i was gonna send an ask abt it since ive been rereading the fic this weekend but i figured you wouldn't forget it

LUFFY AND SABO INTERACT8ONS 😤🦅😭😤🦅😭😤😭🦅😤😭🦅😭😤😭🦅😭🦅😭🦅🙏🙏🗣🗣🗣‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

Im very much unready to read the strawhats be separated i have cried too many times reading this fic and im certain this will be the worst to date

STOP 😭 ed's jst going on abt keeping the crew safe and i can feel the tears coming

HOLD ON if ed is in fact staying with luffy, thing i should've guessed from last chapter, does that m3an they're meeting boa? Omg. I am suddenly so much more excited for the next set of chapters, thing that i did not think was possible.

Once again i ask myself when the fuck ed learned gymnastics 😭

Not the "i definitely did that on purpose" after they slam into a fucking building like sure you did 🤨 and i definitely believe you 🤨

"Its as straight as you can get" made me crack up

I will be so completely honest with you i have no idea what the fuck is going on like a good 40% of fights but thats jst because i have trouble translating the moves into a movie in my head

"Adam Sandler? What are you doing here? And in a bright yellow pinstripe suit sounding stoned out of his damn mind, too." I had not expected to laugh this much in this chapter i was fr bracing myself to cry. 🧍‍♀️. Now that i think abt it you might just be lowering our guard so that it hits harder 🤨

AND ED'S SAVIOR COMPLEX HITS AGAIN WITH BLAMING THEMSELVES ONCE MORE !!!

so. Luffy and Ed separation. I cant bring myself to be sad this shit was written so well 😭 just "wait for me" and "ill always find you" ugh just throw an "unquestionably" in there and id cry there could be one every chapter and id still cry every single time

Im so fucking excited for ed to meet coin hopefully next chapter 🤭

Amazing chapter as always!! Surprisingly didnt cry!! Thank you!! I cannot fucking wait for the Wednesday chapter

I pulled out the Rio Romeo you KNOW it was gonna be a rough one.

Tfw you're tying to give your baby brother's S/O the shovel talk but you're also stuck in the scaffolding at your own execution and your baby brother's S/O is also your friend who you have cried about your self worth and daddy issues to.

That fucking black book plot bunny has been hopping around FAR TOO LONG, so I had to take it out back and shoot it and by that I mean finally deliver it to it's intended recipient.

Mmmmmmm Boa

Look Ed had gymnastics beamed directly into their head by GOD does that make sense?

When I write combat I do it 70% for the vibes 20% for the quips and humor and 10% for the actual fighting. If you have no idea what is happening you and I are on the same page.

Ed got them self worth issues in them where the dog should be 💪💪💪

God I cannot wait for Coin & Ed content. Love those two.

I am so proud of you for not crying. I cried writing it. That baby was cooked with TEARS.

#sssbmty #one piece #one piece ocs

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mulders-too-large-shirt · 14 days ago

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s5 episode 5 thoughts

it’s been a few days. and you KNOW what i’m craving!!!

ohhhh this episode… so i’ve heard about this one before. specifically it was brought up a lot when i voiced my complaints with small potatoes, with a lot of commenters comparing it to this episode. so that doesn’t fill me with a sense of joy and anticipation.

well, i had a nice day. the only way out is through. let’s see if this makes me as mad as small potatoes, shall we?

(author's note: i have many, many questions. i mean i can tell that this was an homage to old spooky movies but beyond that: huh?)

why now in the series? who came up with this? why do multiple episodes explore the concept of forced impregnation as something silly and harmless? why did the agents look so good in black and white? have they danced together before? do you believe in life after love?

let us take it from the top.

we begin with a comic book, it seems? inside is a black and white scene. is this whole episode in black and white? i looked at the image for the episode and it was black and white, too

this guy izzy is trying to go to a comic book convention, but his mom said she’ll kick him out. damn. being a nerd is hard. is this taking place in the distant past or something? well, the cars look older too.

(it was not taking place in the distant past... also, i thought izzy's mom, mrs. berkowitz, was mean at first because she joked about kicking him out, but she was actually the best character in this episode)

later that night we see their home, including a photo of izzy with a pig, but she’s watching jerry springer. which seems anachronistic to the black and white setting. it’s an episode about a hairy baby. while the windows are being covered up with a sort of striped tent??? and something is smoking.

enter cher???? no, enter someone else as cher plays. i do like when they put music in the episodes.

mom is coughing while a man with two faces comes to get her???

i mean, okay, the song slaps. i am unfamiliar with the work of cher and i was jamming out to it, even if i had no idea what was really going on except that maybe izzy made a frankenstein dupe in a comic, and it somehow came to life and hurt his mom. sure. why not?

the intro was shortened... you still can’t fool me.

the whole episode is in black and white????

OH GOD. this lady felt a presence in the room, woke up three days later and was pregnant??? with izzy???

so frankenstein is the father????? and it happened again??? and she heard cher when it went down??? man. man what.

scully is reading this letter… LMAO mulder was mentioned on the jerry springer show episode about the wolf baby, which is how she found him <- BAHAHA this cannot be good for his covert work!!!!

her name is mrs. berkowitz and she is pouring our agents a soda as they enter her home. it is very kind to offer them caffeine as they rely so heavily upon it. and she wants to know about the wolf baby. it feels very weird to hear mulder do the medical talking.

WHAT THE HELL??? she is somehow pregnant again despite having a tubal ligation…. hey what. how is she not losing her mind? scully looks utterly gagged.

the camera work here is so different, there are these intense closeups on the character with a sort of fisheye effect, it's both off-putting and cool

mrs. berkowitz says mulder knows what is happening, but he says he’s not even sure if he believes in aliens anymore??? he has to be lying. or does he actually believe that everything was faked as put forth by the redux trilogy? i thought he saw through that when he told CSM to go fuck off. also, i KNOW he is not dead.

sorry, but scully looks so good in black and white and a pinstriped suit. ohhhh my god.

anyway, scully says hmm, your description of the intruder is funny... because it MATCHES THIS COMIC BOOK CHARACTER FROM IZZY’S ROOM!!

izzy created that comic book character… so the plot is thickening???

enter izzy. we must confront him with this fact. he says that he’s seen “the great mutato” too, and that plenty of people have!! is he hanging in the neighborhood?? doing evil activities??? he's like, a real guy? and not some mysterious intruder???

cut to izzy outside with a peanut butter sandwich, luring in the beast

“i think what we’re seeing here is an example of a culture for whom daytime talk shows and tabloid headlines have become a reality against which they measure their lives- a culture so… so obsessed by the media and a chance for self-dramatization that they’ll do anything in order to gain a spotlight” (twirling my hair... kicking my feet a little... hey scully...)

“i am alarmed that you would reduce these people to a cultural stereotype” <- YEAH YOU TELL HER MULDER ‼️

they’re fighting about if this is possible or not and frankly i think they should just kiss about it

(about the rumors, he says:) “but nonetheless unverifiable, and therefore true in the sense that they’re believed to be true” hey. when they talk all academic?? i'm swooning.

and they’re soooo close as they're fighting over all of this <3

“is there anything that you don’t believe in, mulder?” <- i was really looking forward to hearing him answer that, but no!! a distant moaning cut him off!!

scully….. oh my god…….. nothing to note here in terms of plot, she’s just pretty

the great mutato EMERGES for his sandwich!! and mulder is in trackstar mode absolutely SPRINTING, coat billowing behind him as thunder crackles and his long long legs carry him into the woods. and scully is fast too, but he is so much faster it’s actually funny. that man was made to run. absolute horse DNA

oooooo spoooooky, mulder is running after the great mutato into the woods with scully not too far behind, and they can’t find him!!

BAHAHA the old school movie effects are kinda endearing. mulder pointing “there!” and then a dramatic crash of thunder revealing a silhouette… yeah, i giggled

i’m not well versed enough in old movies to understand all of these references, but i bet they had the horror girlies losing their minds

but it’s just some guy walking a pig?? telling them to gtfo. well!

guy with pig sends them to his son???? who i later learned is named dr. pollidori. and who has a newspaper article about some experiment he did. this guy is looking like a stereotypical mad scientist. “my father is a simpleton farmer. he understands nothing of my scientific achievements” <- okay nerd, let’s not get in a science-off with dr. scully… also, let's not be mean to your dad!!

this mad scientist dr. pollidori says he is going to remembered for his incredible discovery of the “homeotic hox gene” and i hope he is taken down by scully. i hope she disproves every single thing he says. and then spits on him. fuck this guy for real.

i paused to write that down and she’s smiling at mulder behind this evil doctor’s shoulders :,)

mad scientist dr. pollidori tries to pull the whole “oh, let’s have scully explain my incredibly advanced research” card, further proving his evil tendencies, and she says it has something to do with growth. which is more than i could say.

he says he has to leave to go to an important international talk and she hits him with “sir, unless you want your scientific achievements to end up as a footnote on the jerry springer show, i suggest that you make the time” <- DAMN, GET HIM AGAIN FOR ME!!! i love when she puts people in their place.

i love this sort of "fishbowl/actors looking right into the camera" angle, because they look so cool standing like that. and i want to draw them like this, but i can’t draw. so i will just admire them instead. yeahhhh. they look cool as hell.

so it seems that what this mad scientist fellow dr. pollidori does is torture fruit flies and act mysterious? while thunder crashes about. kind of a sick gig aside, from the fly torture, but i could be mysterious and be way nicer. i could be a friendly mad scientist. i know a few of those, and they’re fascinating people!

so he fucked up some fruit flies and gave them legs in their mouths. that is rude as hell.

mulder asks “why would you do that?” (we were all thinking it) and mad scientist dr. pollidori says “because i can” with another crash of thunder. throw him to the dungeons at once!!!

dr. pollidori says "it" (editing genes to put legs in mouths) could theoretically be done in humans. scully tries to assure mulder this really isn’t the case, and it’s not quite that easy, but mulder isn’t so sure

“given the power, who could resist to create life in his own image?”, mulder asks <- honey, you just need a cat. you’re not ready for a child yet. i know you want one so badly, but you sleep on the couch. it's just not the right time.

ohhh she got him with just that LMAOOOO “we already have that ability, mulder; it’s called procreation” <- i am very attuned to scully, as you can clearly tell by me anticipating that line

she says she’s going to really see if mrs. berkowitz is pregnant tomorrow... i did not know that this was a service scully could provide. but i guess i should have assumed.

dr. pollidori has a wife??? her name is elizabeth. she wants to talk to him about children?????? but he says “you know how i feel about children” okay well elizabeth seems too good for you anyway, so??

“what happened to our dream?” “i think that’s your dream” <- BABE LEAVE HIM!!! FUCK THE MAILMAN!!! YOU CAN DO IT!!!

everything is so incredibly 1950’s coded in this scene, down to her little apron

i’m picking up a sword for elizabeth, why are you being so mean to her, mad scientist dr. pollidori!!!!!!!!!!! NO, SHE’S CRYING!!!!!!!!! DIVORCE, BABES, DIVORCE!!

but something is at the window?? NO!! STAY AWAY FROM HER, GREAT MUTATO, SHE’S HAD ENOUGH!!

diner time with the agents. seems the whole town is there and they are smiling at them. in an unsettling manner. oh lord, why is MULDER so good looking in black and white too?? someone put me down like a rabid dog.

awww, scully finds a newspaper and it mentions their FBI stuff… who snitched on them!!! :(

mulder is presented with an IMMENSE amount of food (he only wanted coffee!) on behalf of JJ (that’s with two J's), and i still can’t figure out the vibe here, because on one hand we’ve got spooky silly mad scientist dr. pollidori, and on the other hand we have a rapist monster so. like?? hey???

some reporter character next to mulder is writing down everything he says and does. and this waitress gets right in his face to ask if jerry springer is coming to town. i’m uncomfy, you’re uncomfy, we’re all uncomfy.

so the newspaper article had everything they said last night word for word!!! who was sneaking around?? other than that person who was just sneaking over mulder’s shoulder, but we had not seen before??

izzy is being questioned for potential recording of their conversation and they’re sticking their heads in one at a time LMAOOOO. mrs. berkowitz has had ENOUGH of izzy's shenanigans!

he pulls out a tape recorder, and their whole conversation from the night before was on there!!! and then mulder rewinds, and they hear the cher song???? what!!! how is this connected??? and they hear a voice singing along!!! it’s the great mutato!!! he wasn't even there when that happened!!!

SO WHO WAS RECORDING EVERYTHING?????

the great mutato is dancing around in the doctor’s house!!!!!

LMAOOOOO mulder’s spouting frankenstein analysis in relation to this case (hey. call me btw) and scully hits him with the “mulder, i’m alarmed you would reduce this man to a literary stereotype” <- yeah the roasting should be mutual

he asks who else would go to such lengths to get mrs. berkowitz pregnant, and she’s looking around as if she has to gently break the news to him that "well, mulder, certain men love to hurt women", etc etc

scully is reading mrs. berkowitz’s file as they drive off, and everything DOES look true, both the tubal ligation and the pregnancy!!! when mulder starts driving the car backwards???

WE GET ANOTHER CHER SONG MOMENT as they run into a house that is covered with a tent!!! like we saw before at the very beginning with mrs. berkowitz!!! i think it’s dr. pollidori's house!!! and it’s filled with smoke!!!

the girls (the agents) are breaking in!!! have we considered that scully should get out of here considering what happened last time we saw this exact scenario go down????? she’s coughing!!!!

mulder emerges from nearby, but nooooo!! they both collapse!!!!!! and the pig guy/dr. pollidori's father from before has a gas mask and says there ain’t no monster!!! HUH??

dr. pollidori comes back to his home a few days later, and poor mulder and scully and elizabeth are on the floor in a heap, looking terribly hung over from this gassing. they must have been out for like three days!!!

mulder says out loud that he thinks that he thinks dr. pollidori's wife elizabeth was impregnated, which is crazy to say btw, but elizabeth seems deeply excited at the fact. and then he tries to stand up and confront dr. pollidori, but he crashes into some stuff. and people are so right, mulder IS my baby girl.

scully, meanwhile, is explaining that she thinks this is all some big hoax.

but mulder!!! he finds a frying pan!! and mrs. berkowitz also had her frying pans “violated”, in his words!!

his tie is all messy and he’s stumbling around. we are given a brief insight into what drunk mulder must appear like. but a principled man, he has generally sworn off alcohol, so this is all we can use to imagine how such a sight would appear.

when they pull out an empty jar of peanut butter like izzy used to summon the great mutato, he proclaims that he found his smoking gun. lmao

IT’S THE DOCTOR'S DAD?????? THE ONE WHO WAS WALKING THE PIG EARLIER??? HE’S BRINGING THE MUTATO SANDWICHES AND CALLS HIM "SON"??? please put your son on a leash sir, because he is clearly committing crimes

ohhh confrontation time between dr. pollidori and his father…. OHHHH choking is going on. the dad said he did "it" because he can….. terrible reasoning to make a guy, btw

mulder is back in the diner, and now everyone is avoiding his gaze, throwing things at him, trying to trip him!!! JJ spits on his plate!!! he still looks good as hell though.

THEY POUR THE COFFEE RIGHT IN HIS LAP???? RUDE AF????

now the newspaper is publishing that the agents think the monster is a hoax, which i guess explains his treatment. so do the townspeople LIKE the monster, then??? and so denying him is to deny what makes them unique? but hold onto that thought, because now everyone is running outside!!!!

THE POLICE HAVE IZZY???? he has a mask on!!! the cop says they've caught their monster. a cosplay mask doesn’t make him a monster, you utter fools. mrs. berkowitz is a good mom though; she says she WILL throw hands with the whole town for judging her boy, and i respect that

oh, scully with the big reveal: the stuff on the frying pan they found at the doctor's house is used to knock out farm animals???? and farmers have to be on a register to use it!! which leads them to dr. pollidori's father aka the guy who walked his pig!!!!

the great mutato finds his father dead in the kitchen and mourns him, bringing him into the barn where he sobs and digs him a grave. it is sad. but. he still did those terrible things to mrs. berkowitz and elizabeth, so i'm not sure how bad i'm supposed to feel.

so the agents arrive, while it seems he is hiding up in the rafters. they find a puck of that weird gas that knocks you out, and mulder says he thinks they’re too late as they find the freshly dug grave

OHHH they hear a creaking and he WHIPS out his gun, but does this thing where he backs up so he is RIGHT in front of scully… wait, i need to watch that again. yeah, it was good.

it’s the journalist person??? from before at the diner?? here to get a good scoop on the murder!!!!

but now the angry townspeople are arriving!!! lead by dr. pollidori! it’s very much giving gaston in beauty in the beast with the flaming torches. well. they’re going after him. while our agents are in the rain. probably still enduring a crazy chemical hangover.

NOOOO!!!! scully turns around and sees the mutato!!! wow, she actually saw the creature for once lmao. that never seemed to happen in the early seasons

so they go in the cellar after the mutato and find a shrine to CHER NOW HOLD ON. HOLD ON. i have to pause and laugh. WHAT THE HELL. LMAOOOO

at least he has taste, i guess??

they find him in the corner and tell him to come out. scully seems deeply compassionate.

meanwhile, the barn is fully on fire as the journalist tries to write everything down. who will think of the sheep and pigs??? and even the chickens???

they emerge from the cellar but nooo, the journalist sees them!!! and the townspeople are invading!!!

the doctor says to let him go or they’ll burn him out. and he reveals to the crowd it was his FATHER who created him!!

mulder holds up a finger to wordlessly say “WATCH IT, WISE GUY” while the mutato is trying to say something. oh he can fully talk. “i have never acted to harm another soul” <- BUDDY. BUDDY WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING TO THOSE WOMEN????????

he’s monologing now, explaining he was the product of the doctor’s experiments. but his father rescued and loved him. and he tried to learn the science to make him a friend. also a horse is listening to all of this btw.

dr. pollidori's calls mutato a mistake which is rude as hell.

however, if i’m supposed to feel bad for this guy for saying sorry after being caught raping women, i’m not gonna 💀 it sucks that he was abandoned and unloved, but we still need to have ethics in our conduct

scully looks deeply upset though.

he says he learned so much about humanity, and about love; “cher loved that boy so much” <- well. yeah. i laughed.

izzy declares that the great mutato is no monster!!!! i guess that he is his father, so he might be a bit biased there.

mulder is troubled by the fact that unlike in the original book of frankenstein, this monster did not escape to look for a bride! he wants to speak to the writers

“there’s not gonna be any bride, mulder. not in this story” “well then where’s the writer? i want to speak to the writer” <- LMAOOO why did this feel like a dig at the MSR shippers, i'm HOWLING

we end with more cher as cars drive down the road. AND THE AGENTS HAVE THE GREAT MUTATO IN THEIR CAR??? he’s just chilling in the back.

AND THEY TAKE HIM TO A CHER CONCERT??? OR IMPERSONATOR??? OR SOMETHING!?? AND HE’S LOSING HIS MIND?? WHILE IZZY AND THE AGENTS WATCH???

AND THEN WE SEE THE GREAT MUTATO BABIES ON JERRY SPRINGER and when he asks if the babies are hard to love due to their two faces (rude??) mrs. berkowitz says “what’s not to love?” <- okay queen!!!! she may have gone through a lot, but damn she loves her babies!!!

and then… mulder takes scully, and they dance??? they dance??? i knew there was a dance scene actually because i had seen in mentioned before, but i am seeing this??? with my eyes???? oh my god???

they love each other man... and maybe that’s romantic or maybe they’re best friends and maybe it's both or some secret third thing, but that is LOVE!!!!! LOOK AT THEM!!!!!

and then izzy turns it into a comic book??

WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST WATCH LMAOOOOO

guys please be kind to me if you understood this because i did not. i’m half laughing and half soooo confused

????? man, hold on

again, i see the similarities to small potatoes as has been mentioned before. and we’re supposed to just feel bad for the great mutato and wave off the rape. which doesn’t fly for me. and also why have there been two episodes with this theme now. what was chris carter smoking? and can we get him a different strain?

tbh, i really haven’t listened to cher before but if nothing else this episode put me onto her?? i guess??

i don’t have that same visceral sick feeling that i had from small potatoes, which i take is because we did not see scully as the victim of the violence this time around, but still. not great.

it felt like a huge inside joke i’m not in on. so i’m confused. and i appreciate that this is referencing old movie tropes, but that doesn’t mean i understand them any better, you know?

but they danced :( they danced :(

i waited two days before writing this up to try and let some time pass and hopefully make my perceptions a bit clearer, but i don't think it worked as well as i had hoped. this has to be a record for most question marks per episode writeup. so i am going to NEED to know what the wider community thinks of this episode. and also what you, the person reading, thinks of this episode. is this a cult classic? am i simply too young to understand the references? or is there truly nothing to get and the episode is just Like That for some reason?

i was, all in the span of 40-ish minutes, amused, disgusted, enamored, and baffled. with different percentages of each.

conclusion: mrs. berkowitz is real as hell, mulder and scully look AMAZING in black and white, and i do not forgive the great mutato. also they danced, btw. not sure if you caught that.

however, if i may venture a guess: this episode and the last were more silly than usual, and i appreciate that. but, i actually do sort of know what happens in the next two, in a "describe it in one sentence" kind of way, because before i decided to watch this show i googled it to see what it was about... and i came across this plot point. and maybe they decided to do something a bit more light-hearted before coming in with the emotional devastation. although, that did not stop them last season, so who knows?

i am excited to watch the next two.

#they danced guys they danced.#um. yeah. i'm literally begging you to tell me what you thought of this episode because i'm confused.#but damn if they didn't look good. like REALLY good.#i'm glad i wasn't alive in the 90's because the casual misogyny in aw shucks he's a rapist but he's MISUNDERSTOOD would have made me lose i #we still have misogyny now btw. just it's a different flavor.#anyway. super excited to see what happens next which as i mentioned i know a tiny bit about #and i assume that if you follow this blog you also know what happens next #before i decide if a show is worth my time i do a little preliminary research so this plot point was one of the only things i knew about #before i began watching. and i wish i could see it with a set of unspoiled eyes but in my defense i wasn't sure if i even wanted #to watch the show at all so i'm okay with that fact since it brought us here #(i google lots of shows if i want to watch them which is why i know everything that happens #in house of the dragon despite not having seen it. because i thought hmm maybe this is my thing #and when i googled it i realized it wasn't)#ANYWAY. excited to move on to the next two. but to go back to the now: please tell me what you thought #juni's x files liveblog #the x files #txf

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oldsargasso · 1 month ago

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pit babe movie stream of consciousness

staying up very very late to watch a movie recut of a show I've already seen several times…what a time to be alive.

Dean cleaning the helmet for sooo long kills me every time

forgot Babe blatantly hitting on Charlie immediarely like okay buddy. the first thing I notice about a stalker is how hot they are as well.

anybody else incredibly distracted by babe's tits in that tight white shirt

what DO they call you babe btw

my soul would genuinely leave my body trying to watch this in a cinema full of other people. I'm here clutching my chest and making squeaky noises how do people watch things normally

I'm genuinely insane over this like!!! the way charlie is kissing him the way babe is touching charlie's face. they were gone IMMEDIATELY. worth the price of admission for this extended scene tbh

forgot how insanely delightful everyone's faces are in the bar scene where Babe brings Charlie along for the first time

I love winner so muchhhhhh

the car winner uses for the drag racing is hot tbh the tyres??

the EYE CONTACT the SONG they are IN LOVE five minutes after meeting each other it's honestly wild

god this scene with the rosy dawn light coming in I CAN.NOT. it's so gorgeous. GIVE US THE LONGER SCENE YOU WOACRDS (<- not fixing this typo I love it)

dean's in his crime hoodie

I never noticed jeff's litle smile in thisd scene before! he knows he can do it!!

insaaaane watching this scene knowing charlie already knows all of it.

the little "well, I also want something from you" exchange is sooooo.

it doesn't have quite the same emotional weight coming so soon but goddd their first kiss still has me clutching at my heart. SO SOFT AND ALSO TENDER!!!!

babe's delicate soft curtains are p[erfect

tony's bonsai time is so deserving of being included regardless of plot-relevance of the conversation happenning

the fact that in this cut we see Kenta first in babe's flashback holding him to get hurt and then now as Tony's proper assistant sure is something

Alan the strongest man alive I would give Dean everything he wanted the moment he asked nicely HE DESERVES IT

"you're a promising young racer" so he HAS been racing already just not anything major

everyone's squeaky shoes on the garage floor is killing meeeee I've never noticed that before

PETE!!! is his suit not fitted correctly

bitchy way my beloved. the peanut gallery just like :D the whole time lmao

godddd the fact that charlie is the only one jeff lets close for so long 😭😭😭

"meditate" is that what the kids call it these days

I never noticed dean all in black for this race

I adore how the only time Kim looks pleased is right before they finish and he knows he beat babe for real

Winner is soooo delightful how can anyone hate him. so pathetic. so terrible.

babe being so overcome by charlie's steady belief in him…if anyoen needs me I'll be on the floor.

tony's pinstripe suit IMPECCABLE

charlie must be the fastest runner around

oh thank god they left the kim confronting winner scene in IT'S PERFECT (second only to the cigarette scene but alas)

jeff, way and dean all in x hunter gear during this scene when they're all on different sides itches my brain like crazy

charlie walking in and blocking dean out….chef's kiss

the way Way is trying to be like "wow Charlie's LYING to you" and babe's just like "they're brothers yay"

they left in the sponge bath scene kill me babe's little smile DEATH

just realised what's missing where's l;actasoy

"I don't care" he said, caring deeply

babe gives up soooo easy truly the babygirl of all time

honestly understandable from dean in the long run I too would try and murder someone who waltzed in and took the job I was gunning for just because they were sleeping with someone. and then babe's just like "sorry dean you're just not good enough" like! murder. acceptable tbh.

they need to put little nametags hovering over the cars in this scene for idiots like me who can't understand anything because all cars look the same

way in his sunnies god he's SOOOO pretty and soooo unimpressed by everything that is happening in front of him

the subtitle's translating phi as brother like. hm.

this scene under the stars is the prettiest scene ever. the headlights, the fog… gorgeous. THEY ARE IN LOVE BTW

COWARDS GIVE US THE MAMA/PAPA ROLEPLAY BEGINNINGS

way hates everything so much I love it

honestly insane of babe to light his cigarette off way's like NO WONDER way's in love with him

god this scene is exruciating. babe knowing and ignoring so they can stay best friends. way just hoping the whole time.

way's breakdown in the car deservedly included SO PRETTY

honestly wild that kim and babe are like half a room away and tony and co don't notice. there's a SHEER CURTAIN in between and then babe yells at charlie lmao

charlie giving babe the glass of water is such a great note in this scene

the fact that this is the first time they're mentioning babe's sense disapearing is hilarious tbh this movie cut is really for people who watched the show

locker room scene in the flashback my beloved

they dropped the child plotline but still kept the enigma mention in lmao AND THE "can mama not break up with papa" incredible

this is my favourite scene I think the HUG "you have to make up for it for the rest of your life" that's marriage actually

bloodied kim on his knees LOOKING RESPECTFULLY 👀👀👀

HOW is tony's security so bad. jeff is RIGHT THERE

Pete buying all the kids to save them 🥺 the only rich man who should be allowed to live

who's phone IS jeff using. I say kenta's

Pete immediately punching babe back is my favourite thing actually

Pete's casual "btw I am the most powerful guy around" and we don't even know he can read minds yet

Way bluescreening as Babe reveals Pete's an enigma. nut is SUCH a good actor

'Charlie ❤️' leave me here to die actually

it's the way Way is so CALM about it it's skin-crawling

at all times I am wondering why Tony values babe's powers over Way's. he can MIND CONTROL PEOPLE

it's midnight and there's still an hour to go. I could pause and continue tomorrow but no. we are committed.

way getting slapped and bent over the table is just for me actually 👀

Winner's smug face!!! that's my boy

jeff's lucky he established himself as very stoic because his reaction is like "oh well. I guess he died. 🫤"

wait I]m not emotionally capable of watching babe go trhough this

honestly pit babe having such a raw real depiction of grief is. I'm constantly thinking about it.

not enough Kenta in this cut but thankfully they left in him getting slapped until there's blood in his mouth. best scene.

way getting tossed around 👀 I am watching very respectfully

aww we didn't get the kim getting not rescued scene. this movie cut isn't great for north and sonic enjoyers (everyone)

pete's sweaters look so soft

babe appealing to kenta using their shared history my HEART

kenta! on! his! knees! kenta begging…. I will never be normal about this

imagine giving winner responsibilities 💀

pete dressing down by wearing a hoodie zipped alllll the way up

they really went "eh people will get the gist" when cutting these scenes lol. dean just straight up disappeared.

alan just leaving the kids behind I cannot get over that like WHAT are you doing

actually this would've been amazing in the show too if this was the first we saw of charlie after he died. this reunion lives in my mind forever the way babe's voice goes all wavery as he says charlie's name "when you weren't here, I wasn't happy at all" GOD. charlie starting to understand that he is important to babe because of WHO he is

they gave pete a chair but not way lol

I know its not the point but jeff's pants are like. perfect.

I hope winner is exactly the same in season 2 he's perfect 😌

I know that scene's not in this cut but what's the point of pete being so good with a bow and arrow if he can't also use a gun just as well. like one's a little more practical these days

KNIFE🔪 TIME 🔪 it's the best. that single tear… kill me as well actually

the fact that none of them even tried to crawl over to way while tony was monologuing they didn't even TRY

I forgive every flaw when babe cries so well and way is so pretty even dying

(god I'm so hungry but it's like 1am)

charlie kissing babe's stomach and babe calling him "dad" that's because babe's pregnant actually 🤠

LOCKERROOM SCENE AS THE POST CREDITS SCENE genius. give them an oscar right now.

final verdict: no regrets definitely worth ~$20 and staying up late for no reason

#oldsargasso speaks #I feel like I shouldn't tag this because it is truly nonsense ramblings lol #but I might want to find it later #pit babe

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janeyre · 9 months ago

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call me on the way home (2/2)

otp: tentoo x rose

word count: 5k

summary: After a slight mishap at Torchwood, Rose has gone temporarily missing. While Mia is out, she runs into her mum, but not as she last saw her - instead wearing a blue leather jacket with deep circles beneath her eyes. Worried about her mum's state and trying to comfort her, Mia calls the Doctor so Rose can speak to him.

AO3

It had been three weeks since Rose Tyler’s unexpected tumble through a far-away dream, and now she found herself towing the Earth home.

She had done it.

Her gaze, as it swept over all the many happy faces bobbing in and out of her view, landed not on the pinstriped Doctor, but on the blue Doctor. Catching her gaze, he winked at her and clicked his teeth.

God, it was really him . Her face was going to split open from smiling so hard.

“Thinking about what adventures we’ll have next, Rose Tyler?” He said her name in that way that only he could.

Something once-blurry came suddenly into blinding focus. That picture of her and the Doctor and their daughter. Sharing a life — normal and yet not all at once. The text that said Grandma Jackie. The one adventure he could never have. The one adventure she never let herself fully believe she’d be able to find again.

Her gaze returned to his. Did he know? Did he know what could be waiting for them?

She wanted it so bad she couldn’t breathe . The voice she’d heard on the phone that day….

You are my heart.

Singular.

She grinned at him.

Do you know what I’m trying to tell you?

She wanted to kiss him, snog the living daylights out of him right here in front of everyone until they all went home and left them to their peace.

Of course I do.

The Doctor took a deep breath. “You told me something. Something I don’t take lightly. And I want, need you to know, that… you’re everything to me. You have given me happiness more infinite than I could have ever dreamed of. You are the centre of my universe. You are my heart. I… I care for you more than I can say. Do –” he felt suddenly worried, worried that this opportunity might be lost, that she wouldn’t know, that she was doomed to suffer this next month in the dark, that she had never known until that second time on the beach; not at the Game Station, or Krop Tor, or— “Do you know what I’m trying to say?”

He held his phone tightly in his hand; if he would have looked at his knuckles he would have found them white.

“Yes, Doctor. Of course I do, I do too, I–”

Her voice was suddenly cut off, marked by the sound of a harsh smack .

“Rose? Rose?!”

Some rustling. His heart thundered.

Mia’s voice. “She disappeared, Dad.”

His head was full of static. His thoughts were rushing and all he could hear was the crash of a wave just about to take him under.

Of course I do. I do too, she had said.

He let out a breath, devastated and relieved as realisation struck him like lightning to the head of a pin.

Oh.

She knows.

He blinked furiously.

“Dad?”

He cleared his throat. His beautiful, wonderful, brilliant daughter.

“Thank you for thinking to call, you brilliant, clever girl. Do you want to meet back here, at Torchwood, and then we can both go home?”

“Yeah, that would be good.” She swallowed, somewhat shaken. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Not if I see you first.” He missed Rose. “I love you, Mia.”

He wasn’t mistaken if he thought she sounded a little choked up too.

“I love you, Dad.” The line clicked.

He let the phone fall from his hands and clatter to the table, eyes wet and growing wetter. He scrubbed the palms of his hands into his eyes and then let them rest there, sitting his elbows on the table.

The events of the day flickered behind his eyelids like a thousand different film reels all playing at once.

Finding out this afternoon that Rose had been teleported somewhere and rushing to Torchwood. Watching in frustration as everyone realised that she couldn’t have gone far and leaving him to figure it out. His wife was missing. Hearing her sob on the other end of the phone. Knowing that even though she would be fine, there was nothing he could do now. No possible way on Earth to be with her at this very moment. No matter how his heart ached. No matter how much he couldn’t fight the panic that grew when she was gone. No matter where she was.

“What are you doing in ‘ere all alone?”

Her voice. His head snapped up.

“Rose?”

It really was her. Back from the aether. Beautiful and perfect and not a hair out of place and smiling at him with that fondness she reserved only for him.

“Rose.”

He was in her arms before he’d even realised he’d pushed away from the table, trying to regulate his breathing but finding himself overwhelmed at the feel of her familiar embrace. It’s only been a few hours , he chided himself.

“Doctor, is everything okay?”

He couldn’t help himself from sniffling a little, burying his head further into her shoulder.

“Yeah, it’s just been a long day.”

“Want to tell me about it?”

He nodded into her shoulder and took a deep breath before backing away to meet her gaze. God, but she was beautiful. Her every feature radiated safety, warmth, comfort.

“Today was the day that you jumped here and met Mia before you really properly found me. Before we ended up here together. I just got off the phone with you.”

Her eyes were wide.

“Oh, Doctor, I’m sorry. I… I wish I could have been here, with you.”

He laughed in spite of himself. “Funny, that’s just what I told you.” He couldn’t help it – he gathered her into a hug again, just to feel her so close to him.

“It was so long ago, but that old fear that had followed me around during our time apart that you didn’t know that I – that I loved you, it came crashing back. All I could think was how guilty I felt for leaving you to carry the weight of every universe on your shoulders all alone.” His words were slightly muffled as he spoke them into her jacket.

“But you didn’t leave me,” she reminded him. “You’re right here. And I knew, Doctor. We’ve talked about this. I’ve always known, okay? Always.” She twisted her head so she could kiss just above his ear. “Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

He laughed again. Being hard on himself was one of his oldest strengths. “For you, I’ll try.” He took in a deep breath, then righted himself once more. “Where did you end up today, anyways?”

“You would not believe – Brixton! Brixton, and I didn’t have my wallet or my phone on me or anything.”

“How’d you get back?”

“I walked – I wasn’t that far away from the Estate Mum and I used to live on, so I made a little detour to see if it had changed in all these years. Wasn’t so far anyway, and less hassle than trying to borrow someone’s phone. Although I would have tried, if I would have realised it was going to be such a traumatic day.”

“Mum!”

Rose whirled around just in time to see Mia rush into the room. In an instant she was in her mother’s arms, properly this time. Her tears flowed freely.

“I’m so glad it’s you, I thought I saw you earlier, and it was you, but you didn’t even know me, and you were so sad, and I didn’t know what to do.”

Rose shifted a little, just enough that she could look her daughter in the eyes. She brought one hand up to cup her face, wiping away the fat tears that rolled down her cheeks.

“But you did so well, Mia. You were so brave. It takes a lot of courage to power through something like that when everything seems so wrong. But you were incredible. Okay?” Mia nodded softly, offering a tentative smile.

Rose’s voice grew softer, lower. “I thought about your face and the conversation I had with your dad every day until I came back. You gave me a light at the end of the tunnel. And I focused on it and fought for it until I found it. You’re the best daughter I could ever have.”

Mia’s face, previously recovering, broke down into tears again.

“I missed you, Mum.”

Rose’s heart broke a little. She brought her daughter close and felt it mend.

“I missed you too, precious girl.”

She felt the Doctor’s arms close around the both of them. Her family. The picture they’d taken last week at her birthday. The memory of the phone call she’d had had faded with time, the fear of future knowledge spoiling her present pushing it away until it really did feel like a dream.

She took a deep breath. She could smell the Doctor’s familiar scent, same as ever. She could feel his singular, human heart beating against his ribs, pressed against her back. She could feel their precious daughter hugging her tight.

I am so lucky being able to talk to you right now, to tell you that it’s all going to be okay. Because it is.

She blew out her deep breath and smiled ear to ear.

Everything was okay.

#ficandchips #timepetals #tentoorose #tentoo #dwfic #otp: if i believe in one thing i believe in her #my fic #fic #doctor who #yayyyy for publishing the second part!! :)#all of the comments on the first part were SO kind. seriously thank you everyone SO much.

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larakb117 · 2 years ago

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LONDON ADVENTURE

Joseph Quinn & female y/n

Summary: London Adventure is turning into New York Adventure…

Content Warning: fluff, rpf, implied smut

Part 10

The next morning you woke up, Joe sat next you in the bed, shirtless, with his phone in his hands. He clearly had already showered, there were some water drops all over his body, his hair was wet. “Hey.”, you said with a raspy voice. “What time is it?” He hadn´t recognized that you were awake, he almost threw his phone away on the night stand and turned to you. “Morning love.”, he smiled, his eyes were filled with adoration. “It´s almost 5 am.” He cupped your cheeks and kissed you softly. You slowly closed your eyes. Your breathe got a little heavier and you could feel your heartrate get higher, it was like your heart was nearly bursting out of you. Your hands wandered down his naked and wet upper body, they rested at his chest hair for a while, your fingers curled up in it a little. It was a long kiss. Once your lips separated he asked: “Do you want to go on sleeping or…?” “I think I slept enough, Joe.”, you chuckled. “You want to go and see the city a little bit?” “Oh, yes!”, you hastily kissed him again, sprung up from the bed and ran into the bathroom. “I´m taking a quick shower!”, you shouted out of the bathroom.

It had two separate sinks, a huge bathtub and was covered in white marble. You showered off the dirt from the 7 hour flight and many hours of waiting in line. “Damn.”, you thought, when you realised you did not bring any clothes in the bathroom. Then it came to your mind, that you wouldn´t need to worry about stepping out in the room naked. That was still new to you, but you were confident enough to do that. The last couple of days Joe had told you how beautiful you were hundreds of times. And you could feel that he really meant it, so you went out there without anything on. Joe stunningly stared at you: “Wow, love, you are just…Come here.”

After a short make out session (you came twice), you got dressed: Joe wore some grey trousers and a pinstriped shirt. It seemed like half of his wardrobe were pinstriped shirts. You decided to go for a simple white shirt and a leather jacket on top of some jeans. The jewellery you wore spiced up the outfit a bit more, Joe wore his chain and the rings as well.

At about 6 am you left the hotel. You took two different subway lines and went to Times Square 42 St. The moment you left the subway station you got to see Times Square right in front of you: Hundreds of billboards were in front of you, movie trailers, ads for various products, lit up signs for shops and restaurants everywhere around you. Suddenly you discovered Joe on of the billboards: “Oh my God!!There´s you, Joe!” “Yes.”, he blushed a bit. Joe had told you about the movie he was part of and which he was about to promote this week in New York. It was the first time you saw him in the costume and everything. You just knew the stuff he told you about so far. Pride started to grow in your chest. You grabbed his hand and squeezed it, while you watched the short trailer with a fascinated look. Then you turned around to look him in the eyes: “I´m really proud of you.”

After Times Square you took a taxi to Lower Manhattan for a long sunrise walk at Battery Park. You slowly started to get hungry, so you got some takeaway breakfast at a café and sat down at a bench with a view to Staten Island and the Liberty Statue. The Liberty was way smaller than you had expected, she was barely to see. You sat there for a while, the sun had already risen a few hour ago. “Love, will you join me at Jimmy Fallon tomorrow?”, Joe surprisingly asked. “What?”, you stared at him with an open mouth. “I´ll be at Jimmy Fallon tomorrow, do you want to come with me?” “Oh yes!!I love Jimmy Fallon!!!”, you lowkey freaked out. You could not believe you were sitting on a Bench in New York City and had the chance to see Jimmy Fallon live. Joe laughed: “Okay, we can go on top of the Rockefeller Centre together before we have to go to the studio, if you like to? So, don´t do that later when I´m at the Buzzfeed office, alright?”

You hastily nodded out of excitement and threw yourself at Joe. You tightly hugged him and wouldn’t let go. Joe stood up with you wrapped around his waist. He laughed, his laugh was perfect, it came right from his heart, it was a true and honest laugh. You just left some metres behind till you jumped off of him. Meanwhile it was 10 am, you sat down at a café to get some coffee and a snack.

Joe had to leave and get to the Buzzfeed Office near to Times Square, he had already texted Maddie that he would meet her there. It was a hard goodbye, even though you would see him again in a few hours, you would very much miss him. Joe told you to enjoy the city, he would call you as soon as he finished filming and doing interviews. The first thing you did was going to the Metropolitan Museum. The fashion exhibitions were the most exciting thing about the museum. After that you walked around Central Park, visited the Bethesda Terrace and Fountain and strolled around the Reservoir. A lot of pictures, selfies and google maps searches later your phones battery was about to die, so you decided to go back to the hotel. The moment you arrived at the hotel, Joe called you. You picked up the phone: “Yeah?” “I love, I just finished, where are you?” “I just arrived at the hotel. Are you coming?” “I´ll be there in twenty minutes, love.” He hung up.

Exactly 22 minutes later, the hotel room door opened and Joe came in. His eyes wided when he saw you laying on the bed: “Oh, I missed you so much.” He jumped up on the bed right next to you and grabbed your face to pull it close to him. “Hi, babe.”, you grinned. “How was your day?” “Pretty good, they let me play with puppies, that was cute. And I had to read some thirst tweets. Fans are begging BuzzFeed for two years now to make me do this video.”, he laughed and ran one hand through his hair. He looked incredibly good, that´s because you stared at him for a moment. You went in for a deep kiss.

“Love, I have a surprise for you.” Excitement rushed through you, you loved surprises. “You told me that you like musicals.”, he stopped. “Yes?” “I texted one of my friends who´s currently on Broadway and he put us on the guest list tonight.” “What?”, that was a thrilling surprise. “You tell me, I´m going to see a Broadway Musical?! At fucking Broadway?!”, you squeaked. “I love how excited you can get.”, Joe said with a loving undertone. “Who´s that friend? And what´s the musical?”, you asked while your hands tugged at his shirt. “It´s Gaten Matarazzo, I met him at the stranger things set.” “Oooh, he is Dustin!!!” “Yes. Gaten´s the best. Such a nice guy. He has some time after the Musical, so you can get to know him” “He´ll be the second friend of yours I get to know!”, you smiled, Joe hopefully did not think that you just wanted to meet Gaten because of his role in Stranger Things, you just wanted to meet all the people who were important in Joes life. “So tell me what´s the musical?”, you curiously asked again. “Sweeney Todd. You know that?” You squeaked again: “I love that musical! I was obsessed with the movie too!” You started to belt the song “Johanna”, but got in a fit of laughter after just a line of the song. Joe covered his face with a pillow. “Am I such a bad singer?”, still laughing, you knew that you were actually good at singing. Joe revealed his face, he was laughing too: “I just love how excited you are, love.”

To be continued…

#joseph quinn #joseph quinn imagine #eddie munson #joe quinn #joseph quinn smut #joseph quinn x reader #joseph quinn x y/n #fluffy #joseph quinn fanfiction #joseph quinn rpf #eddie munson smut #actor rpf

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soupbabe · 2 years ago

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Miss Ambrose 1992 (Magnolia Sinclair)

Magnolia talks to the first runner up after the pageant.

I listened to Linger by The Cranberries all day today and this is the result.

Warning: Angst, no comfort

Tagging: @rottent33th, @slaasherslut, @the-pinstriped-hood, @devil-doll13, @bugginbeetlew, @manbehindthemask

Staring at the curtain ahead of her, Magnolia's deep and slow breathes quicken in pace. "Hey," her friend, Joan, whispers. A cold hand interlockes with Maggie's clammy one and gives it a soft squeeze. Trailing the olive toned hand up to its owner, blue eyes meet soft brown ones. "You'll be fine- whatever happens, you still proved that you're prettier than half the town." She jokes. "Thanks..." Maggie mumbles, quickly touching her heated face. Chuckling, the brunette leaned down and pecked her cheek. "Good luck Maggie." She whispers, though it fell on deaf ears as the blonde's body went rigid.

"Joan Price just kissed my cheek."

Joan Price. The pretty girl that sits next to her in homeroom. Her partner in biology who laughs when Maggie gets too excited to answer a question. The same Judy Price who slept over the one time Trudy was out of town. The girl that looked so cute in Maggie's pajamas and shared a bed with her. The best friend that she's always thought was prettier than any boy she's ever seen just kissed her cheek.

Just a few more inches over and it could've been a dream come true.

Magnolia didn't hear her name be announced until the bright flash of a camera stunned her out of her thoughts. "Oh my god..." She whispered. The crowd stood in applause as a "MISS AMBROSE 1992" sash was placed over her delicate baby blue dress and a bouquet of roses was placed in her arms. The blonde flushes a bright pink as her second runner up pulled her into a hug, leaving the shorter girl's thoughts run wild.

"Does she like me?" "Do I like her? Is that even possible?" "Mama told me that a man would make me happy one day but she makes me happier than any man could..."

Soon enough, Joan took Magnolia's hand once more and walked off stage with her. "C'mon, Miss Ambrose," her new title danced off her friends words teasingly, "You gotta show off your new crown to everyone!" "Uh, actually, Joan..can I talk to you real quick?" Maggie spoke up, squeezing her hand for reassurance. "Of course." Her focus went straight to Joan's lips. The same soft, glossy lips that made her feel everything all at once with just one kiss on the cheek. "I don't know how to say this...but you make me feel so many things." Maggie breathed out. "When you kissed my cheek, everything just flooded and I didn't even know what happened because I was just thinking about you and your lips and-" her words were cut off by Joan's hands leaving hers.

"Listen," Joan went silent. Her lighthearted tone dimmed, her eyes darted to anywhere that wasn't Maggie's direction. "I'm not..I'm not into you- girls, like that." She confessed. "I think I'm gonna go, my family is waiting outside.." she quickly excused herself and left her by the wing of the stage.

Magnolia took in deep breaths and sat on the steps of the stage, knees to her chest as she reeled in the conversation. Touching her cheek, she felt the residue of Joan's strawberry scented lip gloss. Black streaks of mascara quietly ran down her cheeks upon contact. Faint calls of her name could be heard, but the new beauty queen of Ambrose chose to deck her head in her lap and remain silent.

#Magnolia Sinclair #My oc #oc fanfiction #house of wax oc #horror oc #oc fanfic

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thats-a-weird-warning-sign · 1 year ago

Note

For the prompt game! Avatrice.... discreetly.

Thanks for the prompt, sorry it took a geological age! Please excuse my self-indulgent acadaemia-posting, and don't scrutinise the science too hard...

Finn doesn’t really want to be here. It’s all very well his lab lead saying that presenting at these kinds of things is a surefire way to get in the eyeline of future funders, that networking is half of the battle when it comes to being a postdoc, but that doesn’t mean he has to enjoy it. He’s still trying to fumble his heavily annotated lecture slides from the last presentation into his bag as he wades through the buffet crowd, paper plate with tiny quiches and cocktail sausages weaving through the air as he hustles to the main hall – he’s only got a few minutes before the poster tour groups start. He weaves through the neat rows of stands, nods to a few people he vaguely recognises, checks the smudged black ink on the inside of his left wrist – nearly sacrificing a cherry tomato to the floor in the process.

His poster looms like a beacon; after the countless hours he’d spent on the thing he could recognise it from a mile away. He sends his bag to the floor with a complicated, rustling thump – remembers a second too late the loose-leaf notes that are now surely succumbing to entropy, inhales a bitesize quiche to fortify himself for the coming battle.

Restless, he fiddles with his poster stand – wishes he’d brought the tape measure just to check. The venue mounted his poster, and yes, they’ve done thousands, but what if it isn’t quite square? That’d be the worst thing to notice 5 minutes before the first poster circuit begins.

The woman at the next display along seems to be having the exact same struggle. Finn watches from the corner of his eye as she stands, arms crossed over her pressed white blouse, surveying her own A1 display with a critical eye. As Finn fusses with his own shirt – nowhere near as smart as this woman, he laments at the creases he’s only just spotting – the woman reaches for her bag, a small black backpack sat beside a neatly folded jacket and pulls out the unmistakable form of the holy grail of conferences – a spirit level!

Finn sighs, rubs both hands over his face and berates himself for dropping the ball. His poster is definitely crooked. There’s no coming back from this – it’s all anyone will be able to see.

"Would you like to borrow it?" A softly spoken question breaks him from his spiral.

Finn uncovers his eyes to see the sharply dressed woman has stepped away from her poster and is offering him a small smile and a spirit level.

“Oh, god, yes please – thank you!” Finn accepts it like he imagines people accept priceless jewels, into cupped, shaking hands. “I knew I should have brought one, you’re so much more prepared than me!” He gushes, already trotting to his poster board, reaching up on tiptoes to reach the top border of his poster.

The woman huffs out a short chuckle.

“I doubt that.”

Finn checks and checks again – level.

“Of course it’s level…” He grumbles. “I could have sworn…”

“Mine was, too.” The woman offers, with a rueful grin. “Perhaps we are standing crooked.”

Finn laughs as he hands the level back.

“Thanks, at least I know I’m not losing my mind, at least.”

“No, or if you are, then so am I.” She smiles.

“Well, madness loves company.” Finn grins back.

“Your poster looks very interesting.” She stands up straighter as she surveys it, slips her hands deliberately into the pockets of her suit trousers – very faintly pinstriped, now that he notices.

“Thanks, I spent way too long crying over it, so I’m really glad you think so.” Finn sighs, before blinking apologetically at the woman. “Sorry, I mean –“ He fumbles.

“Mine was a beast too, don’t worry.” She saves him, still squinting deliberately at his results sections. He fights the urge to ask her what she thinks of the graph sizes. “There’s something about formatting for A1 that makes everything that bit more difficult.”

“Oh, absolutely.” He agrees wholeheartedly.

“This is really very interesting.” She murmurs, glances over at her own poster. “The organisers grouped us by research area, our fields overlap.”

“Oh? What’s your poison?” Finn asks, immediately wishing any other phrase had come to mind instead.

“I’m a little more clinical than you, it would appear – I’m working on the preliminary stages of a clinical trial for a new antispasticity agent in HSP – but we are both interested in the mitochondrial element of the disease process by the looks of things.”

“Well, you can’t ignore the mitochondrial element,” It’s tripping off his tongue – the bane of every lab meeting, the catchphrase –

“It is the powerhouse of the cell, yes.” His saviour’s quietly amused, quietly accented voice joins his stupid reflexive chant – but she’s laughing about it, and Finn grins widely.

“It is!” Finn shuffles to get a better view of his neighbour’s poster, “and it’s cool that you’re approaching things from that end, I never understood why that wasn’t already a thing.”

The woman hums, steps back over toward her own poster, taps with thinly veiled frustration at her results graphs.

“This is why.” She sighs, full of an unmistakable aggrieved resignation Finn knows all too well. “There was just so much variety in response, I mean –” she sighs again, sketches a circle around one graph in particular, “look at these error bars.” She gesticulates, raises a hand as if to run through her hair but seems to forcibly catch herself mid gesture, instead toying with a ring, twisting it between finger and thumb. “You can’t draw conclusions from results like that.”

Finn frowns, eyes darting over her poster, opens his mouth to refute her maudlin statement, but is beaten to it.

“Dr Silva, that’s no way to talk about your life’s work!” The admonishment is warm, the tone weirdly intimate – but hey, Finn’s met some pretty intense research teams in his time. The so-named Dr Silva startles, and Finn steps back as she whirls around to face the newcomer, expression washing from focussed frown to something Finn would be tempted to call wonder.

The woman who’s joined them is grinning – beaming really, and Finn feels a bit blinded by it. She’s beaming, and also dressed a little bit like one of Finn’s old-school professors - corduroys and everything, and she’s leaning on a heavily decorated cane. She’s also looking at Dr Silva like she’s the only thing in the world.

“Dr Silva,” Breathes his neighbour, confusingly.

“Dr Silva.” Echoes blinding-smile, stretching out the hand not gripping her cane. Finn feels a little bit like that meme his sister keeps sending him of the woman with the volume-of-a-cube calculation around her head.

The Drs Silva clasp hands in what is definitely some kind of fruity handshake, Finn’s deduced that much. This view is reinforced when the taller Dr Silva uses the fruity hand-clasping to draw the shorter Dr Silva into a hug that lasts way longer than Finn knows how to react to, leaving him inspecting his own poster and crunching aggressively through another half-forgotten mini-quiche.

He can’t chew loud enough to avoid eavesdropping though.

“Ava, what are you doing here?” Asks Tall Dr Silva, with frankly uncomfortable reverence. Finn chews harder.

“C’mon, Bea,” murmurs Shorter Dr Silva, “of course I came.”

Finn eats another mini-quiche.

“But your -”

“Bea, I wanted to be here for this.”

“But -”

“Shut up, Bea,” the tone is so wildly incongruent that Finn finds himself glancing over, blinking embarrassedly at the intimate half-embrace he’s faced with. “Obviously I was gonna come and see you present - ”

Finn’s stomach swoops.

“The presentation!” Taller and shorter Dr Silva jolt, and Finn doesn’t blame them – he basically yelled it at them. “Sorry! Sorry, but I just saw – it’s now – the discussion group are just there!”

“Oh, shit, sorry Bea,” Shorter Dr Silva backs up a few paces, but she doesn’t look very sorry. “Also hi, I’m Ava!” She waves jauntily at Finn. “Don’t sweat it about the discussion group, you’ve totally got this.”

Finn is not sure he’s totally got this, but can’t help grinning back.

“God, I hope so.” He brushes slightly sweaty palms over his shirt, dislodges at least half a mini quiche’s worth of crumbs. “I’m Finn. Are you presenting today too?”

Ava barks a laugh.

“God no, not here at least, not my jam. Just here to cheer on my ex-girlfriend.” She grins winsomely, laughing again at whatever Finn’s face does as that sentence lands.

“Ava,” Taller Dr Silva has gone pink, “you’ve got to stop doing that. Ignore her, Finn. Ava is my wife.”

Finn can’t really help but laugh.

“Whatever, Bea, just be glad I found something funnier than ‘my ex-doctor’.”

Finn snorts, incredulous – he’s pretty sure Ava just winked at him, though, so he doesn’t feel too bad about laughing.

“Ava, please.” Taller Dr Silva covers her face entirely this time.

“Ahh shoot, gotta go, the discussion group is nearly here. Finn, nice to meet you, you’ll crush it. Bea?”

Ava trots all up into Taller Dr Silva’s space, tugs on the hand still over her face. She laughs at whatever expression she is met with – Finn’s trying not to watch too obviously.

“Dr Silva,” murmurs Ava, before pressing a kiss to the taller woman’s lips.

“Dr Silva.”

Taller Dr Silva’s cheeks stay pink for her full 10-minute presentation – which is flawless, of course.

#warrior nun #avatrice #prompt fill #poster presentations my beloathed #shoutout to all the tiny quiches at conferences - were do they find them all??

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piedelune · 1 year ago

Text

From the Depths | ממעמקים

Part 1: Abyssal Plain

Chapter 3: The Weight of Absence

@fuure and I proudly present chapter 3 of our multi-part Newmann fic, From The Depths!

Authors: @fuure & @piedelune

Fandom: Pacific Rim

Relationships: Hermann Gottlieb x Newton Geiszler

Rating: Mature

Chapter Summary: Hermann's days are dotted with strange and alarming interactions with the elusive Dr. Geiszler -- until one day the man disappears completely. Anxious to keep Newt from being listed as AWOL, Hermann has to use the memories he absorbed in the Drift to track him down.

Excerpt:

Hermann passed his hand over the cardboard lid of his memory box, and stole a furtive glance at Newton. He was so handsome in a better-styled outfit that it almost felt unfair: gone were the wrinkles, the sloppy necktie, the hand-mended leather jacket and black pinstripe jeans, the chunky steel-toe boots. He had a waistcoat over the dress shirt that flowed seamlessly with fitted, straight-leg trousers and nicer, pointed-toe boots with a hint of a heel.

Hermann wrenched his eyes from Newt’s tapered waist and forced a smile. His palm, damp from anxiety, flexed over his cane’s handle; he longed to apologise for the bad vibes and clear up the misunderstandings that were clearly abundant between them, but he didn't want to scare him away. He certainly didn’t want to become nonverbal again.

"I've… just been trying to get in touch with you for a while."

Newt sighed. "Yeah…"

"You're looking smart," Hermann said after a pause, then the rest came without thinking. "B-because, when I saw you that night last week, you looked —"

“You know, looks like I got everything last time I was here. You have fun with your dusty books, my man, I'ma head out."

"Newton, just wait a second — w-wait, damn you!" Hermann snapped, his voice cracking as he hurried over. «For the love of God… please listen to me… for just a minute…»

Why am I always chasing you?!

☣️ READ IT HERE! ☣️

#pacific rim #newmann #newtmann #hermann gottlieb #newton geiszler #fuure #piedelune

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my-head-is-an-animal · 1 year ago

Text

The Sitter

Mycroft Holmes x Bethany Wheeler (OFC)

Story Masterlist

Chapter 12 - GENE THERAPY: Ten Reasons Why The Ville Will Fail (Part 1)

Anthea phoned first thing in the morning to say a car would collect her at half past six from her home to bring her to his office. Mycroft wondered if he should have given her some warning.

We need to talk. My office. Car will be outside at 6:30. – MH

He didn’t receive a reply for a while, he imagined she was probably tired from the flight. He made sure he wasn’t wearing his navy suit again, instead he went for a black pinstripe with a red tie, anything that didn’t put him in a weaker position.

Eventually, once Mycroft had gotten everything in order, he checked the time, she would be walking through that door any second now. He took the time to try and go through the paper once more.

‘Sir?’ Anthea opened the door slightly. ‘Miss Wheeler here to see you.’

‘Send her in.’ Mycroft nodded, preparing himself mentally. But nothing could prepare him for what he was about to see.

Bethany wandered in, a little uncertain and very confused, but that wasn’t what caught his eye first. She was still wearing her black shorts and sandals, presumably having not changed from the flight and wore the same baggy green jumper from the day he’d picked her up from her lecture. She still wore the necklace he gave her, evident from the silver chain poking out from her collar, but there was also a bandage on her forearm and one on her lower leg.

‘What happened?’ Mycroft demanded.

‘Oh really?’ She laughed at the audacity of his question. ‘You drag me out of my house just as I get back from the airport and ask me what happened.’

‘Drag you?’

‘Yes, Mycroft,’ she wasn’t pleased at all. ‘A man came to my door, asked for me and when my house mate asked him why, said man barged in, told me not to bother unpacking and marched me out of my house. So, this had better be life or death.’

‘Well,’ Mycroft cleared his throat. ‘I can only apologise for his behaviour, and I will be looking into that as soon as we’re done here. Would you care to sit down?’

Bethany sighed and took the seat opposite him. ‘I’m exhausted, Mycroft. I was literally about to sleep when I was so rudely commandeered.’

‘I will try to make this quick.’ Mycroft nodded, he noticed just how tired she was, bags underneath her darkened eyes and the way she slumped down in the chair opposite. ‘I was given a file yesterday, your file-‘

‘You have a file on me?’

‘I have a file on everyone.’ Mycroft frowned, to which she made an expression of acceptance. ‘Care to explain “Gene Therapy: Ten Reasons Why The Ville Will Fail (Part 1)”.’

Bethany’s expression suddenly lit up. ‘Are you serious? You’ve called me into your office for a paper I wrote when I was fourteen?’

‘You wrote this when you were fourteen?’ Mycroft said, alarmed.

‘Yeah, it was a mental exercise my mum set me,’ she half laughed, sitting up to explain. ‘She explained to me about this imaginary facility, which I later found out was real, Baskerville, I think it’s called, anyway, she told me all the details of security and some of the experiments that were being run and asked me to figure out what was wrong with it.’ She gestured for him to hand over the paper. ‘I didn’t realise this thing was still in existence.’ Mycroft sat back and thought for a few moments. ‘Wait a second, was I right? You wouldn’t have dragged me in here if this was nothing.’ Mycroft shifted uneasily. ‘Oh my god, so you’re telling me I figured out everything wrong with one of your top secret bases as a mental exercise when I was fourteen?’

‘Worryingly, some of these problems are still existent.’ Mycroft confessed.

‘Well, you’d better fix them.’ Bethany said, still half laughing and tossing the paper back onto his desk. ‘Why did you wait so long to bring this up?’ Mycroft frowned. ‘Surely you found the paper when you did your background check?’

‘No, for some reason, it didn’t come up.’ Mycroft exhaled deeply. ‘Something I will need to investigate more fully. However, the thing that concerned me most was: Part 1.’

‘Well, don’t get your knickers in a twist, I never wrote a part 2.’ Bethany ran her hand through her hair, blinking a few times to try and reduce any tiredness.

‘Thank god for that.’

‘There was going to be ten parts in total, but I think I was studying for a piano exam at the time.’

Mycroft raised his eyebrow, but he couldn’t help but be impressed by her. ‘Well, if you do fancy letting us know what else we can do to improve our top secret bases, we’d welcome the advice.’

‘Would you?’ Bethany challenged him. ‘As I hear it, Lady Smallwood disapproves of my being a student. Oh, don’t give me that look, you think people don’t talk? Receptionists hear everything Mycroft.’

‘Indeed.’ Mycroft made a mental note to have a word with Anthea when he got the chance. ‘So, on to more pressing matters, what happened to you?’

‘Oh, nothing.’ She waved her hand, indicating it was nothing serious. ‘Just a couple of snake bites. They’ve been treated and I’m fine.’

‘Snake bites?’ Mycroft leaned forward, somewhat concerned. ‘Venomous?’

Bethany sighed, knowing she wouldn’t get away with a lie. ‘Just the one on my leg. I need to head to the hospital in the morning to get the bandages changed and make sure there’s no lasting damage, but my mum said it’ll be fine.’

‘Didn’t I ask you to stay safe?’

‘Yeah, but it’s not like I went running through the jungle asking to get bitten. This happened in my room anyway, somehow they got in and it just happened, complete coincidence.’ Bethany reasoned, but it didn’t make him feel any better. ‘Anyway, what about you? Where is everyone, I text John and Mary ages ago and they haven’t got back to me, even Sherlock is off grid. What’s going on?’

Mycroft inhaled again. ‘How much do you know about Mary?’

‘She’s my friend.’ Bethany eyed him suspiciously, but he wasn’t giving away just yet. ‘I know she was a spy for a group called AGRA, I know about the memory stick, but I’ve never seen it, John said he destroyed it… I know that Magnusson was killed because he had information on her-‘

‘So, everything then. You know everything.’ Mycroft nodded, wishing his brother could keep his mouth shut once in a while.

He then proceeded to tell Bethany that Sherlock and John were in Morocco where Mary was on the run from another agent called Ajay. She asked a few questions and he did his best to explain.

‘Right,’ Bethany exhaled, taking it all in. A smile started to appear on her face. ‘Knew I’d get some secrets out of you one day.’

Mycroft chuckled. ‘Yes. It seems you have extracted a significant amount of information from me, Miss Wheeler. Now what’s your next move I wonder.’

Bethany shrugged. ‘I suppose I worked so hard on the extraction that I have no idea what to do. Like a dog that finally caught it’s tail.’

‘I should offer you a job.’

‘What kind of job?’

‘From the looks of this paper, you’d do well as an analyst, but I’d rather keep you a little closer than that.’

‘Is that right, Mr Holmes?’ Her voice had lowered in tone slightly, making a warmth rush through him.

Before Mycroft could respond, his phone began to ring. He rolled his eyes seeing Sherlock’s name come up. ‘Excuse me.’ Mycroft stood and leaned against his filing cabinet to answer. ‘Yes, Sherlock, what is it?’

‘The English woman, that’s all he heard. Naturally he assumed it was Mary.’

‘Couldn’t this wait until you’re back?’ Mycroft sighed.

‘No, it’s not over. Ajay said they’d been betrayed, the hostage-takers knew AGRA were coming. There was only a voice on the phone, remember, and a codeword.’

‘Ammo. Yes, you said.’ Mycroft nodded, glancing at Bethany who was just trying to stay awake and not itch where the bandages were sitting on her arm.

‘How’s your Latin, brother dear?’

‘My Latin?’

‘Amo, Amas, Amat.’

‘I love, you love, he loves, what…’

‘Not ammo meaning ammunition, but Amo meaning…’

It hit Mycroft like a bolt of lightning. ‘You’d better be right, Sherlock.’ Mycroft hung up and looked at Bethany. ‘We’ve got work to do.’

‘We?’

‘I may need that brain of yours to put the pieces of a puzzle together, particularly if this turns out to be wrong.’ Mycroft opened the door and spoke out of his office. ‘Suspend Lady Smallwood’s security clearance, get her sent to the interrogation room for tomorrow morning.’

‘Mycroft, what’s going on?’ Bethany said, confused.

‘Love.’ He said, only serving to confuse her further. ‘Amo in Latin means love, that was the codeword that was used when the hostage-takers were tipped off that AGRA were moving in.’

‘Okay, so the word Love is significant.’

‘Not a word.’ Mycroft shook his head. ‘A name, we all have them, codenames that protect identities in reports that should never be uncovered but if they are, they would never contain our real names.’

‘Okay, so Love is the code name for an individual?’ Bethany was starting to piece things together. ‘The voice on the phone was Love?’

‘Precisely.’

‘So, who is it?’

Mycroft shoved his hands in his pockets. ‘Lady Smallwood.’

Bethany frowned again, something playing out in the back of her mind. ‘But what did she gain from it? Did she dislike using freelancers?’

‘That’s what we’re going to find out tomorrow.’ Mycroft grabbed his coat and briefcase. ‘I’ll drop you home tonight. You should get some sleep.’

They left the office and Mycroft let Anthea know the files were still in his office and should not be accessed by anyone other than him. He needed to figure out what to do with the paper, including how it suddenly surfaced.

Mycroft opened the car door for Bethany who basically fell into the back seat, she was so exhausted. He took his coat off and got in on the other side and smiled gently. It would be a half hour journey to her house and Mycroft knew the traffic would be slow at this time, it usually was, and he often used the time to prepare for the evening ahead filled with work.

Bethany had settled into the warm seat and she looked out at the darkened sky of London.

‘What are your plans for tomorrow?’ Mycroft asked, hoping he could talk to her before she fell asleep.

Bethany sucked in a deep breath. ‘Hospital in the morning,’ she sighed, pulling her legs up to her chest and facing him, though her eyes were heavy, she still looked stunning. ‘Then I’ve got a free day. I was just going to do some light reading, mum and dad have both written papers and I promised I’d read them at some point.’

‘You have an avid interest in medicine and engineering?’ Mycroft chuckled.

‘No, but I understand enough to be able to appreciate what they do.’ She smiled back.

‘I should apologise.’

‘Why this time?’ She rolled her eyes.

‘I knew you were smart,’ Mycroft let his eyes drift over her face, taking in her tiring expression. ‘I just didn’t realise how intelligent you are.’

Bethany just laughed and shook her head, biting her lip lightly again. ‘Well, if you’d ever arranged dinner, you might have found out.’ Mycroft just watched her, not quite knowing what he should have said, she wouldn’t accept another apology, but that was his instinct. ‘Did you like the photos?’

‘Yes, the one where you were camping was my favourite.’ He said, remembering her eyes focused on the setting sun. ‘Did you enjoy the view?’

‘I did.’ Bethany smiled, remembering her time in Peru. ‘I wish I could have stayed longer; it’s been too long since I’ve seen my parents.’

‘You didn’t get the chance to see them at Christmas.’ Mycroft nodded, remembering the reason why. He gently pulled out the pocket watch he’d given him as a gift and ran his thumb over it, thinking on how wonderful it had been that day… well, the time they had together anyway.

Mycroft looked up to see her heavy eyes watching him, smiling as she realised he knew what she had done, but there were no words he could use that would display his gratitude for her existence in his life, no matter how small that existence may have been.

He swallowed thickly, noting his eyes flickering to her mouth, before quickly turning away and clearing his throat. He sensed her disappointment, but wasn’t sure what to do about it.

‘Are you free tomorrow evening?’ Mycroft asked.

‘Yeah, I am.’ She was losing the battle with sleep.

‘Perhaps we could go to dinner then?’ He frowned, anticipating her response to be one of refusal or hesitation.

‘I’d love to.’ She half whispered, he couldn’t tell with just the streetlights, but he was sure her cheeks reddened slightly.

Mycroft smiled, the way he always smiled when she spoke to him and soon a very comfortable silence took over. It was a forty-minute journey to her house and Bethany had managed to fall asleep. She was probably cold and Mycroft, knowing the windows were blacked out in the car and no one would see him, had gently guided her to sleep a little more comfortably against him, laying his coat over her body while he worked on his phone.

Mycroft decided that he didn’t want them to go out for dinner, instead she could come over, he wasn’t a bad cook, not the best, but he wanted to watch another film with her and share another evening where she could be comfortable with each other.

They pulled up outside her house and Mycroft tried to wake her as gently as possible. Bethany lifted her head and the smell of ginger was especially strong, making him feel warm under his skin.

‘Mycroft.’ She hummed and moved closer to his body.

‘You’re home.’ He whispered, his lips moving against her hair. ‘Time to wake up.’

He’d just about managed to get her to wake up enough to get out of the car. She smiled sleepily at him and waved as she entered her house. Mycroft just watched her and thought on how much he missed the soft weight of her body against his. He missed her already.

Dinner at the house? 6pm? – MH

Mycroft text her in the morning, hoping she was still asleep in some ways, she was entirely exhausted when he dropped her off and he wanted to see her bright, happy face again, but that wouldn’t happen if she was always tired.

Sounds good. Will you be sending another car? – BW

He knew she was teasing him, but he didn’t mind it.

You’ve been bitten by snakes, it’s only natural that I would want to avoid anything else happening to you. – MH

Touché Mr Holmes. – BW

He decided to leave it there, he arranged for a car to pick her up at five thirty and he would be out of work around the same time. He would make sure of it.

Sherlock came to his office immediately as his flight landed and gave him an odd look, but Mycroft didn’t have the time or patience to deal with it properly.

‘This is absolutely ridiculous and you know it.’ Lady Smallwood said, severely annoyed that Mycroft had her in an interrogation room at all. She’d been denied access to her office and taken straight down to meet him. ‘How many more times?’

‘Six years ago, you held the brief for foreign operations. Codename, Love.’ Mycroft said, sternly, just trying to get to the truth of everything.

‘And you’re basing all this on a code name? On a whispered voice on the telephone? Come on Mycroft.’

‘You were the conduit for AGRA. Every assignment, every detail they got from you.’

‘It was my job.’ Lady Smallwood wasn’t giving in and Mycroft was starting to think Sherlock had gotten it wrong.

‘Then there was the Tbilisi incident. AGRA went in.’

‘Yes.’

‘And they were betrayed.’

‘Not by me.’ She was being unusually defiant. ‘Mycroft we’ve known each other a long time. I promise you, I haven’t the foggiest idea what all this is about. You wound up AGRA and all the other freelancers. I haven’t done any of the things you’re accusing me of. Not one.’ Mycroft had to concede, Bethany’s question still remained unanswered, what did Lady Smallwood gain from this? Nothing seemingly. ‘Not one.’ She repeated.

Mycroft looked to the mirrored glass where Sherlock was watching from behind. Lady Smallwood was not responsible for betraying AGRA. That seemed fairly conclusive. He had no choice but to let her go.

‘What now?’ Mycroft asked as he left the room to talk to his brother.

Sherlock didn’t answer him, he just wandered off down the corridor to do whatever it was he usually did. Mycroft felt his phone vibrate and checked it.

Hope you don’t mind, one of my bites is infected so they had to put on a thicker bandage. I’ll be fine, I’ve got antibiotics and everything, just a minor setback. – BW

Are you in pain? Which bite? – MH

My arm. Mild discomfort, that’s all. – BW

I can’t tell if you’re lying. – MH

Why would I? – BW

There’s been a lot of it today. I might be losing my touch. – MH

I do hope not Mr Holmes. – BW

The last text made him smile and suddenly he could relax again. Everything was okay, she was fine, she said she was fine and had no reason to lie and neither did Lady Smallwood. He could breathe again.

If you liked this, please consider supporting me ☕ thanks for reading!

#Mycroft Holmes #mycroft holmes x reader #mycroft holmes x ofc #mycroft x original female character #bbc sherlock

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