#please don't steal this one thing from me okay i barely understand this shit and it took me so long to do

[nereidprinc3ss]

okay i know this is kind of a specific request but can you do something with professor Spence and uni reader where they get into a spat and argue bc she did something stupid and he gets mad and she’s like “noooo pls don’t be mad i hate when you’re mad at me I’m sorry🥺” bc she literally cannot function knowing she let him down (me with everybody) but he’s like super stubborn and goes all closed up and quiet so that he doesn’t like blow up on her until she finally says like “pls talk to me” and he’s all pissed and like “hell na bitch u crazy!🗣️‼️” but then later he’s like “it’s ok i love u but neva do that shit again ho” then they make up and it’s good again 🎀 ok i explained that so poorly (and comedically if i may) but i hope u get it and pls make it SO DRAMATIC bc I live for drama! like she steals test answers or something or does something that could like get her kicked out of school OR him lose his job 🤔 sigh … idk I’m leaving now. Also i LOOPOOOCE ORRKGOOVI love your fics. Luv em

hey girl (gender neutral) this made me laugh bc genuinely sometimes i write spencer so ooc that is what he sounds like. and i'm not sorry! anyway this is potentially a vyvanse fueled nightmare but i wrote it and i'm posting it MY BLOG MY RULES BITCHESSSS!!!! but genuinely read the content warning LMAO this one got a lil kick to it

warnings/tags: ANGST, HURT/COMFORT, fem!reader, spencer and r get into a for real argument like they're mean to each other, spencer is a lil toxic but its resolved, emotionally neglects reader just for a teeensy second but then he's really nice and sweet again, discussion of his past addic+ion, gets fluffy because i'm not EVIL, gets suggestive at the end bc i am secretly evil.......

a/n: i don't know whats happening. this confuses me just as much as it confuses you. its 3 am in the morning. im gonna post nice happy things soon. Gootbye

“I cannot believe you right now. I don’t even—I don’t even know what to say.” 

“Spencer, you don’t have to say anything. It has nothing to do with you, and I’m not looking for your approval.” 

He looks up from where he’d been rubbing his temples, like you’re a headache, eyebrows raised and lips parted in indignant disbelief. 

“Oh! You’re not looking for my approval? Well thank god for that, because if you were one of my students I would recommend expulsion to the board.” 

“Are you fucking kidding me? I just said I don’t care about your opinion on this, much less your hypothetical opinion from some alternate universe where you have any authority over my education whatsoever.” 

“You distributed an answer key to half of your class! Objectively this is the kind of thing that gets people expelled. I don’t understand how someone so smart could do something so fucking stupid.” 

The words bite more than you were prepared for—but what hurts even more is how much he seems to mean them. In arguments past you’d both said things you didn’t mean, and then would immediately melt into I’m so sorry’s and the fight would resolve itself. Spencer’s clenched jaw and inability to make eye contact with you do not lend themselves to tender apologies. They cannot be attributed to miscommunication. 

You take a step closer to where he’s bracing himself against the countertop, arms crossed defensively in front of your chest. 

“Spencer, I’m sorry. I didn’t think it was such a big deal. People cheat in college all the time.” 

Still no reply. His head shakes so minutely you wonder if you’re imagining it. Panic wells in your chest. 

“Please talk to me. I really hate when you ice me out. I’m sorry, okay? Just... please say something.” 

Finally, his eyes slide to you. They lack the fiery anger of moments ago but there’s not much softness there either. His normally warm gaze now feels too abrasive, too cold and sharp on your bare skin. You're exposed, much too soft for that grating look, and it feels like he can see everything that’s wrong with you. 

“Believe me when I tell you this. I am doing us both a favor by not speaking to you right now.” 

And then he’s leaving the kitchen—nothing but a breeze against your cheek and the sound of a door slamming to prove he was ever there. 

The apartment is silent. You stand in the middle of the kitchen, unsure of what to do next. Spencer very, very rarely gets angry at you to the point of neglect, and you know he’s doing his best with what was modelled for him as a child and his tendency to feel things so deeply it’s nearly disabling; but that doesn’t make it hurt much less. It doesn’t make you feel less abandoned or alone.  

You’re sad, and you’re still pissed, and maybe you’re in just a bit of shock as you robotically move back to your nest of blankets on the couch and resume your schoolwork. What else is there to do? Unless Spencer is right—unless you really are about to get expelled after getting the answer key for an upcoming test from a friend, who then gave it to another friend, and so on. But is that really your fault?  

It’s a struggle to stay focused as your mind keeps drifting back to Spencer in the other room, those cruel words and that cold steely look in his eye that isn’t supposed to ever be aimed at you. It’s not a secret that side of him exists, but it doesn’t belong in this apartment. It’s not something he needs to use against you. He’s supposed to be on your side. But instead, he’d said you should be expelled and essentially called you stupid. And now you’re doing homework for a class at a school you may not even be a student of come Monday. 

---------------------------------------------------

The sound of the office door opening forty-five minutes later spikes your blood pressure and simultaneously makes your heart flutter, because no matter how mad at him you might be, Spencer is still Spencer.  

He comes to stand behind the couch quietly, but you don’t acknowledge him. Maybe your typing gets a bit more aggressive, but aside from that you flat out reject his presence. 

“Can we talk?” 

You let him sweat for a minute as you finish your paragraph. 

“I don’t know, Spencer. Can we? Or are you not done with your temper tantrum?” 

“That is... well deserved,” he sighs, rounding the couch and tapping the bottom of your foot, signaling that he wants you to move your legs. You despise how automatically you comply, pulling your knees to your chest to avoid touching him as he sits next to you. There’s a long moment of silence, in which you resume typing. Spencer scoffs, leaning in slightly to peer at your screen. “Are you doing homework right now? I’m a complete asshole to you and you just... do your homework?"

“What the fuck else was I supposed to do?” you almost-yell, slamming your laptop shut and blinking away potential tears. “The only person I wanted to talk to called me stupid and fucking left!” 

The tears realize their potential once you admit the blunt truth. 

Spencer carefully moves your laptop and pulls you into his arms—and you just let him. There’s not much fight left in you. There wasn’t a lot to begin with. 

“I am so sorry, angel. You’re right, I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have yelled, I shouldn’t have said what I said, I shouldn’t have walked away. I overreacted.” 

“Yeah, you really did,” you cry, allowing him to run his hand over your hair. “Why did you do that? Why were you so fucking mean?” 

His voice shakes slightly as he responds, betraying his own anxieties, and a new, unwelcome sense of trepidation slithers through your veins. 

“I was wondering that, too. Even as I was saying it, I knew—I knew it wasn’t what I wanted to be saying. And then I was in the other room and I wanted to be out here, and I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t. But I think I was just scared. Which—I know, doesn’t really make sense, but... I think about when Ethan dropped out of the academy, and ended up doing heroin in New Orleans for three years, and I think about when I almost left the BAU because I was so convinced I’d never get clean that I didn’t even want to anymore, and—and the idea of you losing your education and your direction like that terrified me, probably unreasonably, and I took it out on you. And I’m sorry.” 

“But I’m not like you or Ethan. You don’t have to worry about that. Even if I... even I do get in some sort of disciplinary trouble. That’s a road you don’t have to worry about me going down, ever.” 

He fixes some unseen wrinkle on your shirt.  

“Yeah, but, remember... I used to not be like me or Ethan either. Do you think twelve-year-old Spencer would have ever even considered that of the infinite realities and universes which exist, he was living in one where someday he’d be shooting up in the bathroom at work?” 

“Mm-mm,” you hum, shaking your head and burying your face in Spencer’s shoulder. The sound is more of a plea for him to be less descriptive than an answer to his rhetorical question. It’s still much easier for him to talk about that part of his life than it is for you to have to actually imagine it. You didn’t know him then, but you’ve seen pictures, and you know Spencer now, and it’s... it’s just too much. Too sad. 

“Okay,” he agrees soothingly, still playing with your hair. “I digress. My point is that literally anything is possible, and while it’s not necessarily likely, I more than anyone know that anxiety even over the most improbable of things is never completely unfounded.”  

You sniffle in response, too emotionally and physically exhausted to contribute much to the conversation by this point. Thankfully, Spencer can talk for two. An idiosyncrasy which you love and comes in handy every once in a while. He can play his own devil’s advocate; in this case, you. 

“But that doesn’t mean I get to take it out on you. Ever. I truly, truly, sincerely apologize for that. I never want to hurt you.” 

You let the apology sink into your skin like a salve, soothing every abrasion those earlier words had left in their violent wake. 

After a few minutes, you find the energy to ask a question that might best remain unanswered. 

“Are you still mad at me?” 

He’s quiet for a beat, seemingly contemplative as his fingers trace abstract patterns in a language all his own on your arm. 

“I’m not thrilled. But you were right earlier. It’s not my place to be mad at you for something like that.” 

“Mm... it’s a little bit your place. You’re an actual professor.” 

He chuckles. 

“At an entirely different university.” 

“Thank god,” you laugh. “You and me at the same school would be such an HR clusterfuck.”

While it’s almost a serious matter, the smile in his voice is evident. 

“Yeah... I, uh... try not to think about it.” 

“Okay, but seriously. In your professional opinion. Am I fucked? Like, do I need to prepare an appeal and character witnesses or whatever?” 

Spencer sighs. 

“It was incredibly reckless and irresponsible. You should be ready for disciplinary pushback from the schoolboard if you get caught. That being said... because over sixty of you got a hold of the answer key, I doubt anyone is getting expelled, and even if they did, it would likely only be the TA and the student he gave the key to. It’s my tentative, professional opinion that you’ll probably be fine.” 

You relax slightly, allowing a tension you didn’t realize was there to shed like an old skin. 

“I’m not gonna cheat again,” you promise on an exhale. It’s simply too much risk for too little reward.

Spencer’s response is quiet, and comes much faster than you’d expected. 

“Oh, I know you aren’t. Because if you do, you’re going to have to worry about disciplinary action from me. And I’m not nearly as nice as the dean of your school, darling girl.” 

But something about the way he says it—a thinly veiled threat/promise contrasted by a sweet kiss to your forehead—doesn’t exactly make academic honesty look all that exciting.

[gothicemoowl]

Push: Chapter 1: Prologue

Summary:

(Bought and paid for Rewrite with NottaMoxxie and Geez43)

Alternate universe where Blitzø was forced to be a slave for the Goetia family as a punishment for stealing.

Years later Stolas misses his friend Blitzø and wants to help Blitzø with his company as a way to make amends.

But Blitzø doesn't know If he can forgive Stolas for what he did.

Begining Notes:

TW: Child slavery hurt feelings, getting arrested, dungeon. Lmk if we should add.

(This is a rewrite. Please read all the way through)

{Blitzø:}

He thought he’d finally escaped the Goetia family for good…

But as it seems that’s not the case at all.

"Well, well, well. Look who we found."

"Oh…fuck.

"Blitzo, no see long time." The gray hellhound (Darron) says.

"Dumbo and Torso. Don't you two have better things to do with your time?" Blitzø asks.

"Those aren't our names and you know it!" Turbo says, rolling their eyes and grabbing Blitzø’s arm. "You're coming with us, his majesty has been trying to catch you for some time."

"Right, okay. Do you mind removing the death grip? Christ on a stick, there's no way Paimon can still be this upset, it's been years!"

"You think that's what this is about? You think we don't know about you stealing the grimoire from Master Stolas?" Turbo asks.

"...shit."

When will he finally be freed from this?!

“Sir, we found the imp.” Turbo announced to Stolas, in the middle of some sort of party they were throwing.

Anniversary no doubt… Blitzø could never forget that fucking date!

His guards barely got Stolas’s attention. “Who-“

Stolas stops to look at this imp. His face glows for a moment, then grows angry at the sight of his old…friend. “Blitzo.” He greets.

“Stolas…” Blitzø mumbles, not wanting to look him. "How's it going?"

“Thank you, but you can leave him to me, I will handle him.” Stolas says.

They agree and set Blitzø down.

"Follow me…Imp." Stolas says.

Blitzø barely manages to breathe…

He couldn't go through all of this…

Not again…

{25 years ago:}

Blitzo and Fizzarolli were happily playing with their horse balloons; They were in-between shows and they needed time to just have fun and be kids for a change.

The three kids- Fizzarolli especially was constantly working, they took on a lot for them being so young, but Blitzo never understood that, none of them did. They just knew it was their job to help their parents get money so they can afford the basic necessities.

Cash grabbed Blitzø and pulled him away from his friend. "Hey-"

“Boy, I've got a job for you! You are gonna spend the day with one of the Goetia princes.” Buckzo says to him.

“Ew. Why?” Blitzo asks.

Cash rolls his eyes. “Because money! Now, listen carefully. You are being bought out to be his playmate, but I want you to steal as much from those rich fuckers as you possibly can.”

Blitzo retorts. “Steal? But… What if I get caught?”

Cash’s eyes widen and he pouts. “Don't you want your family to be able to buy a bigger tent? better food? don't you want to be able to help me and your mama out?” He asks.

Blitzo defends: “Of course I wanna help mama!”

“Then, you gotta do this. Everything those rich fucks have will be worth a fortune!” Cash explains.

Blitzo rubs his arm anxiously, he’s sick of seeing his mom and sister suffer like they had… of course he wants to help them, he’d do anything for them, really! It's such a risk though. “But, if I'm caught - I'm scared, dad.” He admits, hoping his father would understand or offer him some advice, or comfort.

Cash gets closer to Blitzo, eyes darken as he grips his shoulder tightly. He pulls Blitzo closer to the boys dismay. “There are scarier things, aren't there, son?” He asks.

Blitzo can smell the alcohol from his father’s breath, he couldn’t even move away from it for his ownprotection... “But -“

Blitzo looks up as his father, eyes promising a fate worse than death if he didn’t comply.

“Yes, papa.” Blitzo finally complied.

“That’s a good boy.” His father says.

{Later:}

Blitzo surprisingly had a good time with Prince Stolas… at least- it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. His father even got to take a ton of treasures home. Barbie and Mama would be taken care of…that's all that mattered.

He felt accomplished, like he actually did something- he wasn’t a failure for once!

Blitzo and Stolas were playing by a tree. Stolas had a strange book in his hands that intrigued Blitzo. “What Is that? Your diary?” He asks.

Stolas shakes his head. “No, this is my new grimoire! It's a spell book! I have to learn it so I can access the living world!” He explains.

“The living world? Like the world with humans and stuff? Where the sinners come from?” Blitzo asks.

Stolas nods. “Mmhmm.”

Blitzo is in awe. “That's cool!”

Stolas nods. “Yes! I'm supposed to use it to study the sky!”

Blitzo tilts his head. “Why?”

“My dad says I can find prophecies, but I don't really know. But, I'm supposed to, that's what my job will be when I grow up. To join the rest of the Goetia family.” Stolas explains.

“Sounds boring.” Blitzo says.

“Not really…though I also have to get married…" Stolas explains.

"Ew, married?!" Blitzø asks.

Stolas nods. "It's my responsibility as a Goetia."

“Not me, I’m never getting married.” Blitzo declares.

“Never?” Stolas asks.

Blitzo scoffs. “Well, maybe someday. But not till like I’m like- thirty or something.” Blitzo explains.

Stolas nods. "Good plan. Must be nice to be able to do whatever you want."

Oh yeah! You wanna know what I'm gonna do when I grow up?” Blitzø asks.

“What’s that?” Stolas asks.

Blitzo jumps up on the tree. “I'm gonna run my own circus and I'm gonna be the most famous imp ever and I'll be able to do what I want to do, all day! I'm gonna make so much money and buy myself a big building, with a big office!”

“A big office? For a circus?” Stolas asks, confused.

Blitzo nods. “Yeah! A big office! Circus business with clowns and horses! and the horses will all have good names like Stapler and Biscuit Queen!”

Stolas giggles. “I'm sure you will. That sounds like a good business.”

“Yeah! And, if you want to apply, I'll hire you. Maybe.” Blitzo says.

Stolas chuckles. “You'll hire me?” He asks.

“Yeah, if I feel like it.” Blitzo shrugged.

Stolas giggles. “Well, I hope I qualify! You'd be a good boss, Blitzo.”

Blitzo puts his hands on his hips. “You say that with sarcasm, but I totes would! You’ll see.”

Stolas laughs happily, and Blitzo does too.

Suddenly a hellhound came by and snatched up the tiny demon. “Hey, let me go!” Blitzo screamed. “Help!”

“What is the meaning of this?” Stolas asks, infuriated by how his fathers guards were treating his new friend. "Release my friend at once!"

“Apologies, Prince Stolas. Your fathers orders.” The wolf says.

Stolas is terrified, not unlike Blitzo, he decides to follow them to see where they might take the Imp.

They had the young imp sent to a cell to be chained up.

Paimon called the circus to pass on a little message to Cash:

“You thought you could steal from the Goisha family and get away with it? Well, I think not! You have until sundown to return my treasures, or else I will be keeping your son in my dungeon until his dying days!”

Blitzo gasps.

That’s it then, he failed. His father will have to give the owl man his stuff…he could’ve helped out his family if he had just been more careful. Now they’re back to square one.

His dad was probably on his way back now. He’ll have to come up with a good excuse for when he shows up.

But then the sun eventually started to set.

His father wouldn’t abandon him…

Right?

Barbie and Fizzarolli:

“Dad? Where’s Blitzo?” Barbie asks her father while they packed everything up to move the circus to their next big location.

“He….Uhh was kidnapped.” Cash said.

“What?!” Fizzarolli shouts, Barbie gasps.

“By pirates.” Cash says.

“No! Not Pirates!” Fizzarolli gasps.

“What’ll we do?!” Barbie asks.

Tilla, Blitzo and Barbie’s mother takes her husband’s arm and pulls him away. “Cash, where’s Blitzo?” She asks.

Cash sighs. “Listen, the plan didn’t work the way I had hoped. The Goetia prince has him now.”

“What? Go get him!” Tilla demanded. “Now!”

“Don’t you think if I could I would?!

If we go over there they’ll have our heads, using Blitzo as an example!” Cash shouts.

Tears fill Tilla’s eyes. “We have to try.”

Cash hugs her. “We will try. We just need a plan.

Stolas and Blitzo:

Blitzo has been trying his best to escape for the past two weeks but nothing has worked. No matter how many times he’s been caught, no matter how many times they beat him, he wasn’t going to give up. Mama needed him! Barbie needed him. He had to get out of here!

The king's guards grew tired of dragging the Imp into the castle, so they chained his arms and legs up so he couldn't leave the dungeon, they threatened to tie him to a table if he tried anything else.

Blitzo sat on the floor and cried despite himself, he hated being so weak, but he was defeated. He was stuck, and he may never see his family again…he may never see anything again actually.

“Blitzo?” A voice called, the small owl prince opened the door to his cell and walked in.

“What do you want?” The Imp asks him.

“I- I just wanted to make sure you are okay.” Stolas says.

“Well, obviously I’m not okay!” Blitzo shouts. “I’m all alone, I’m cold, my arms hurt and I’m slowly loosing my hecking sanity over being trapped in a cage!”

“Maybe if you stopped trying to escape, father would go a lot easier on you?” Stolas suggests.

“Why should I? There’s no risk, I don’t want to be here, I just want to get out! I’m all alone here, no one cares about me! If I die no one will even notice. So why don’t you just leave me alone?” He asks.

Stolas walks over to him. “I’m here for you, Blitzo.”

“What?” Blitzø asks.

“I care about you, I would be very sad if you died. I’ll help you as much as I can.”

“Buy why? I tricked you, I used you for your money.” Blitzo says.

“Only because your father made you.” Stolas defends. “I understand having to do something you didn’t want to do because of obligation.” He explains.

“I don’t even know what that means.” Blitzo mumbles.

Stolas sits on the floor with Blitzo, making eye contact. “What I mean is, I want to help; I can’t convince my father to let you go, but I can take care of you. Get you food, water, we can talk about stuff, have fun. Whatever you need.” Stolas explains.

Bltzo sniffs and wipes his tears away. “Why would you do something like that?”

“Because that’s what friends do, right?” Stolas asks.

Blitzo nods. “I guess.”

“Great! I shall go fetch you something warm, oh, and better food. I’ll be back soon, Friend!” Stolas promises, leaving the dungeon.

Blitzo didn’t really expect Stolas to come back, but he did just as he promised with food and a warm blanket for him. “Wow, thanks.”

“Of course! I know this is scary now…but over time maybe you’ll grow to like it here?” Stolas suggests.

Blitzo shrugs. “Maybe.”

Once Stolas left, Blitzo looked out the barred window. He knows his family would be busting him out of here soon..he just has to play the victim, and play nice for Stolas until he can break out.

They are coming…right?

{25 years later:}

Stolas looked down at Blitzø, eyes glowing bright red in anger, but Blitzø can sense a little pain behind those eyes. “Follow me, IMP.”

Blitzø sighs and does. He crosses his arms and reluctantly keeps up with Stolas. He hates the way Stolas called him Imp like they didn't fucking know each other.

They walked down the long hallways. Blitzø looked around at the different portraits. There were hideous pictures of Stolas and his good for nothing shrew Stella, but then he saw a picture of Stolas where he looked…not miserable, holding a small owl demon- did Stolas have a kid?

Stolas led Blitzø to his bedroom and locked the door behind them. He slowly walks over to the smaller demon. It was eerily quiet. The only sound was coming from Stolas’s boots stepping forward.

Blitzø sighs, he can’t stand quiet; he needed to get out of this, and fast. He had people waiting for him! He backed away slowly from the prince, maybe he can talk his way out. “Stolas, listen, I-“

“Give me the book. Now” Stolas orders harshly.

Kinky.

Okay.

Blitzø reluctantly takes Stolas’s book out of his jacket and hands it back to the owl.

Stolas let him go and he opens the book to be sure this wasn’t a fake or something. “What exactly were you planning on doing with this?” Stolas asks.

"Why should I tell you that?" Blitzø asks.

"Would you like to be arrested?" Stolas asked.

"Testy, who pissed in your Cheerios?” Blitzø asks.

"Wh- you did! Pardon me if I'm not thrilled to see my former best friend who abandoned me, and is now stealing from me."

"Believe me, I don't want to be here eithe." Blitzø says. "In case you forgot, I had a good reason to leave, and speaking of which, happy fucking anniversary!" He says.

"I had no choice but to marry Stella! I could have lost my rank, my family! I would have lost my home!” Stolas says.

“Really? Wow, Stolas. I'm so sorry. I wouldn’t know what that’s like at all." Blitzø says loudly and sarcastically.

“Fucking hell! Will you never let that go?! Don’t you fucking care about anyone but yourself?” Stolas asks.

Blitzø scoffs. “Right. I'm the selfish one."

"You’re the one who left, what was I supposed to do?” Stolas asks.

"I dont know, Stolas…maybe not marry Stella?" Blitzø suggests.

“I had no choice! We had an obligation to our families!” Stolas shouts.

“No, you're just a coward who couldn't just say no to daddy." Blitzø says. "You never could stand up for yourself, I always had to do that for you."

“Shut up!” Stolas shouts. “Shut the fuck up!”

Blitzø does, still heaving angrily.

“I will not ask again, what were you going to do with my book?” Stolas asks.

“Fuck off.” Blitzø says.

"Why won't you just tell me?" Stolas asks.

"Many reasons, mostly because I think you're an entitled privileged asshole." He says.

Stolas sighs. "You don't know me, Blitzø. You don't know what I've had to go through."

"And you were so sympathetic to me growing up? I'm out of here, sorry to disturb your special event. Either arrest me or let me go, I have somewhereimportant to be." Blitzø says.

Stolas sighs. "Blitzo-"

"Blitzø, the O is silent now.” Blitzø explains.

Stolas tilts his head. “You changed one-fifth of your name?” He asks.

“Yeah. What of it?” Blitzø asks.

“It’s…nice. But, why?” He asks.

"I don't need to explain myself to you!" Blitzø says.

Stolas sighs again. "Fine, Blitzø. I just- I'm trying to understand is all. I never meant to hurt you, I just…didn't know what to do." Stolas says.

Blitzø sighs, hating this conversation. Stolas was nothing but a coward, he shouldn't feel sympathy for him!

"We were best friends." Stolas says. "I know you wouldn't be here if there wasn't a legitimate reason, just please talk to me? I promise I won't lock you up like he did."

"I'm- look,...it's just complicated." Blitzø says.

"Complicated how?" Stolas asks.

Blitzø sighs. “I needed your book to access the human world.” Blitzø says.

“Why would an Imp need access to the human world?” Stolas asks, intrigued.

“I’m an assassin. My team and I are running out of clients here, most of them seek revenge on the living world…so we’ve been using it to get new clients. We’ve been very successful in it so far.” Blitzø explains.

Stolas hums. “That's..actually not a bad idea."

"Business has been great, but I need your book to do my job." Blitzø says.

Stolas frowns. "Well, I'm sorry I can't help you, Blitzø. My book is too important to lend out, if you want to access the human word, I'd try Asmodeus."

Oh yeah, because an Imp like Blitzø can just talk to a sin like Asmodeus.

Blitzø shrugs. "Fine."

"Blitzø-"

"I should go; My daughter will wonder where I am." Blitzø says, not wanting to linger too much.

Stolas's eyes widened. "Daughter? You have a daughter?" Stolas asks.

"Yeah, I adopted her a few years ago… She's my whole world." Blitzø says.

"I know what you mean." Stolas says. "My life began when I had Octavia."

Blitzø couldn't help but hurt a little at that comment, but he knew what Stolas meant, it wasn’t a jab at him.

"I'll tell you what…you can use my book. But, there will be some conditions." Stolas says.

Blitzø looked at him suspiciously.

"You have to return the book to me once a month on the full moon." Stolas says.

"...okay."

"No one can know about this deal, this stays between us." Stolas says. Blitzø is totally telling everyone, but Stolas thought he'd try.

"Okay. Fine-"

"And…be careful. Do not use any spells you don't recognize. I can teach you how to use it, but don't do anything stupid, I beg you." Stolas says.

"I won't do anything stupid, I'm not a child, Stolas." Blitzø says.

"I'm not so sure about that, but…I do trust you." Stolas says.

"And what exactly do you want in return?" Blitzø asks.

Stolas thinks about it. "You don't owe me anything…you worked for my family longer than you ever should have. I just want to make amends." Stolas says.

"That will be hard." Blitzø says.

"I know. And I do understand." Stolas says.

Blitzø takes the book from Stolas. "Thanks."

"My guards won't bother you anymore." Stolas promised. "I'm sorry they grabbed you like that." He says.

"It's fine, I'm pretty used to it." Blitzø says. "I have to go, I have somewhere important to be." He says.

"Blitzø-"

Blitzø climbed up to the window, then looked at Stolas.

"I am sorry." Stolas says. "If I could change what happened, I-"

"Yeah? Well…you can’t, so I'll see you later.." He says before climbing out the window.

Stolas sighs, trying not to feel so awful over this.

He hears Stella laughing and making fun of him…

Tears start to fall down his face…

What an awful life this turned out to be…

END NOTES: Co-written with Geez43 on Ao3

If you would like more, please lmk.

Also let me know if you want to be tagged when the next chapter comes out so you won't miss it.

Lov!

[faewritesfanfic]

Confrontation

I'm serious! Don't fuck with Kore's man!

˚���‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

“Your psycho girlfriend poisoned me!”

A shrill scream rang through the cafeteria. It had been a few days since Kore confronted the girl who had been flirting with Eden, and the girl had been absent from school. It was really her own fault, Kore thought. You shouldn’t go around eating things of suspect origin.

Eden tried to ignore the girl, switching to eating his sandwich with one hand as he put his other arm around Kore. Bailey shifted his attention to the girl, his eyes sharp but his posture relaxed. He would appear carefree until the moment he had to snap into action.

Kore was pleased, but schooled her face into an expression of surprise and set a hand to her cheek as the girl stomped over. “Oh my! Did something happen? Are you okay?”

The girl stopped next to Kore and Eden, livid but unable to lay hands on Kore with Eden’s arm in the way. “Don’t play innocent, you sack of shit!” Kore felt Eden tense, but she set a hand on his leg to calm him. It would look bad if one of the boys attacked a girl in the school cafeteria. “You put something in that cupcake I took from you, didn’t you?”

Kore arched a brow. “You’re saying I poisoned my own food on the off chance you’d steal it from me?” She asked. It really had been a good idea. The other girl was so insecure in her superiority it had been easy to predict her actions. Kore had barely had to bait her. “Why would I enact such a conspiracy against you?”

“Oh for fuck– just talk normal!” The girl half screamed. “You did it because I’m trying to steal your boyfriend, and you know he’ll pick me!”

Bailey strangled a laugh next to them while Eden continued to eat his sandwich. He seemed uninterested, but from her position tucked against his side Kore could feel his muscles tense, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice.

“Is that all?” Kore asked, looking at the girl curiously. “I’m afraid I don’t agree with you. I’m fairly secure in my relationship with Eden. I asked you to leave him alone, yes, but I don’t feel threatened by you.”

“That’s it!” The girl turned to Eden. “You’re going to have to choose! Her, or–”

“Her.” Eden said simply, not even looking up from his food.

The girl stood there, gobsmacked. “I don’t think you understand, Eden. I’m asking you to choose between her, or–”

“Her.” 

Kore tried not to feel too satisfied with the outcome of this interaction as she watched the girl silently fume, her face turning red.

“Fine! You can have him! He sweats like a pig, he’s hairy, and he smells gross anyway.” The girl turned to go, a vital mistake.

The moment the girl’s back was turned, Kore slipped out from under Eden’s arm and tackled her to the floor. The carefully constructed mask she wore was gone, a look of rage and disgust on her face.

It was perfectly alright for people to insult Kore, she thought. The opinions of other people rarely mattered to her. Insults to Eden, on the other hand, Kore would not stand for. He was already insecure about his appearance, and even casual comments could sting. Besides, Kore liked how much he sweated. It made it easier to get his scent all over her.

“Say that again! I dare you to say that again!” Kore screamed, grabbing the girl by the hair and slamming her face into the floor. The girl struggled and tried to get free, hissing like an angry cat all the while.

Eden dropped his sandwich, watching the girls fight with his mouth open.

“Could you at least try and hide how horny this makes you?” Bailey sighed, leaning over to watch and make sure Kore was okay. “She’s your girlfriend, but she’s my sister.”

Kore was in such a rage she didn’t notice Eden get up until he’d set a foot on the other girl’s collar bone to hold her down and pulled Kore off of her. The next thing she knew she was over his shoulder and being carried from the room.

“Insult him again and you’ll have more than a bloody nose!” Kore shouted at the girl, glaring at her bloody form as Eden hauled her away. Crud. He was probably mad at her. She could have handled that better. “I am so, so sorry, Eden.” Kore sighed. “I just… I get so angry when people insult you.”

“Hold that thought.” Eden muttered, heading into an empty hallway. He tried the door to one of the storage closets, and upon finding it unlocked he set Kore down and ushered her inside.

Kore wasn’t sure what was going on until Eden had pressed her back against the door and dropped to his knees, his head slipping under her school skirt.

“You were ready to fucking destroy that girl.” He groaned, kissing his way up Kore’s thighs.

Kore’s hands flew to her mouth to smother a squeak, and she felt her cheeks flush red. “I lost control.” She said, her voice contrite.

Eden nuzzled up against Kore’s cunt, licking her through her panties and causing the girl to whimper. “You did. It was hot.” Eden pulled Kore’s panties aside, his breath hot and moist on the most sensitive part of her.

His tongue follows next, licking up between her folds and Kore nearly slams her head back against the closet door it’s so sudden and so good.

“E-Eden!” Kore whimpers, her hands finding their way into his hair. It’s hard to keep standing as her boyfriend attacks her with licks and sucks. He’d been nervous about going down on her at first, but Eden had gotten so good with his tongue that Kore could barely stand it. If he kept this up she was going to cum, and while she was sure that was Eden’s intention it wasn’t what she wanted just now.

Kore tugged gently on Eden’s hair until he pulled his face back from her. His chin and mouth here shiny with her slick, strings of moisture connecting him to her. “I-in.” Kore mewled, her eyes pleading.

Eden grinned and wiped his face on his sleeve as he rose to his feet, pulling a condom from his pocket. “How can I say no when you’ve been so good for me?” He murmurs in her ear, pressing his hard-on between her legs so she could feel just what she did to him.

Kore watches, panting as Eden readies himself, slipping her panties down her legs and off. He’s so big that it amazes Kore every time she manages to fit him inside her. To think he used to be worried she’d leave him for someone else. Who else could fill her as well as Eden did? Who else could make her feel this good? Kore didn’t think she could want someone this badly, but she needs Eden like she needs air. It feels like she’ll die without him.

“Hurry, please.” She whined, wrapping her arms around Eden’s neck. He rumbled in approval, lifting Kore and wrapping her legs around his waist. They’ve never tried this position before, and it’s a struggle not to scream as Eden thrusts inside her. “B-big! So big!” Kore smothered her cries in Eden’s neck, not wanting anyone to find them.

Eden groaned, his hips jerking at her statement. “Fuck! You say things like that on purpose.” He accused, but didn’t sound like he was complaining.

He was completely right. Kore loved to stroke Eden’s ego. He had so many voices in his head telling him how awful he was that she was all too happy to remind him how wonderful he really was. “And if I do?” Kore said with a breathless laugh.

Eden gave a sharp thrust that had Kore clinging to him, struggling to be quiet. In this position his abdomen rubbed against her clit just right. “Then I’m even luckier than I thought I was.”

When Eden starts to thrust it feels so good Kore’s eyes start to water. She’s completely helpless to push back against him in this position, only able to hold on and take whatever he gives her. Kore whispers how much she loves him into Eden’s ear as she rides him, the pounding between her legs feeling so, so good. In moments like this he eclipses the rest of the world. All Kore can think about is his smell, the salty taste of his sweat on her tongue as she licks his neck, the soft scratch of his stubble as he kisses her…

Eden was magnificent. If no one else could see that, they were blind and stupid. She could love him forever and it still wouldn’t be enough.

When Kore comes she comes hard, clinging to Eden as he explores her mouth with his tongue. Her legs tighten around Eden’s waist and she lets out a whine. A few more thrusts and he buries himself in her, holding still and gasping for breath.

They stay joined like that for a few more minutes, content to breathe the same air and feel each other’s body heat. Eventually Eden lets Kore down, cleaning himself up as he kneels back down to pick up her panties.

“So you don’t think I’m hairy, sweaty, and gross?” He asks smugly, gently using Kore’s panties to clean between her legs.

She gasps and trembles, still sensitive. “Hairy and sweaty, maybe. Gross?” Kore looked down at him, smiling affectionately. “Never. I love when you get your scent all over me. It lets people know who I belong to.”

Eden closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. “Woman, if we didn’t have class soon…”

“I know.” Kore chuckled. “But we’ll have time later.” She reached for her panties, but Eden pulled them away.

“These are mine now.” Eden held them to nose, inhaling deeply before folding them and putting them in his pocket.

Kore was certain she’d never blushed so much in her life. “B-but Eden!” She protested.

He leaned forward, kissing her quickly but thoroughly. “You can have them back later.”

Kore sighed, but acquiesced. She could never say no to him. “You going to be like this every time I fight someone for you?” Kore teased.

“Definitely.” Eden grinned.

“Then I’ll have to do it more often.”

After checking to make sure the coast was clear the two reluctantly separated to head to class. Kore would probably get in trouble for what happened in the cafeteria, but as far as she was concerned it was worth it.

[masterofdeath]

HARRY POTTER’S NATAL CHART.

5:00 PM | JULY 31, 1980 | GODRIC’S HOLLOW, UK.

OVERVIEW

Harry is a triple fire sign, signifying someone with an abundance of creativity, courage, loyalty, and strength. Harry’s Aries Moon trining his Leo Sun explains why he is so often singled out for a leadership role, even before he would readily nominate himself for the role. It suits him, naturally, and is obvious to those around him. This fire primes him to be someone of action, with little patience for lies, Harry actively seeks the truth and doesn’t readily accept authoritative roles telling him no. In fact, he isn’t very inclined to follow rules at all. And while he may be dynamic, triple fire also leaves a path towards a lazy streak, something that crops up particularly in school. He’s not suited for a classroom setting, even when quite competent in the more physical demands of the wixen world.

SUN | LEO, 8°34'44" | EIGHTH HOUSE

The Sun determines conscious self, identity, and “role” in life. In many ways it is the core of who a person is, and what they most readily identify with. Harry’s Sun is in Leo, meaning he is fundamentally bold and proud. For the most part, he is self-assured in his abilities and how to use them. Harry’s honesty and refusal to compromise himself, coupled with an inability to give up on goals ( or fixations ) make him a natural leader. Occasionally this commitment to honesty can seem overly hardheaded, domineering, ostentatious or patronizing and we have seen instances in which he is at risk to lose the goodwill and admiration even from the people he trusts the mosts. ( This becomes most evident in his pursuit of the Horcruxes. )

The placement of Harry’s Sun in the eight house also indicates that he runs the risk of being fueled by a desire for revenge. It’s a tricky balance to ensure he is not building his entire identity around this driving force. The Scorpion streak also indicates that Harry tends to be secretive, and while it means his emotional depth is beyond the typical Leo it also gives way for him to self-isolate in pursuit of his highest goals.

Finally, his Sun is placed in the eighth house of death and legacies. A certain pull towards the afterlife is present throughout his life, marked initially by his first encounter with Voldemort. He’s born under a “lucky” ( read: prophesied ) star, indicting that he not only comes into great fortune - in fact, being a recipient of two but also a great legacy from the dead.

ASCENDANT | SAGITTARIUS, 9°14'59" | FIRST HOUSE

The Ascendant is the “mask” which is presented to people, the first impression typically falls in line with this. Harry’s Ascendant is in Sagittarius, he can come across as independent, optimistic, and confident, though sometimes overly blunt or critical. Generally a charming conversationalist, your free-spirited approach may come off as restless or easily bored. Sagittarius on the Ascendant also adds a certain risk-taking quality to Harry’s personality. When in pursuit of something he truly believes in, Harry is willing to lay it all on the line. Whether it be bodily harm during a Quidditch match, or his life while attempting to defeat evil as he sees it, Harry doesn’t often hesitate to do whatever it takes.

Sagittarius’s ruling planet ( Jupiter ) in the analytical sign of Virgo indicates that Harry’s mind is quite capable of detailed thinking, particularly when there is a mystery to solve. Without physical endeavors, Harry can become quite restless. There is also indicators of a deep inner life, leading way towards in-depth fantasy worlds or vivid dreams. ( Both of which are extremely prevalent in Harry’s life ).  He can feel trapped, often, and really dislikes feeling helpless or aimless. He likes freedom of choice, and enjoys being outdoors. He’s also more inclined to be attracted towards physical / outdoor sport.

It also shows a sense of humor that leans toward the sarcastic and cynical end of the spectrum. Despite more introverted tendencies ( and inclinations ), Harry does enjoy socializing and in fact can get quite a great deal out of it. His preferences toward socializing with a selected few are exactly that - Harry enjoys being with people he knows will be honest with him, people he can trust. ( More on that in a second ).

MOON | ARIES, 0°40'34" | THIRD HOUSE

The Moon rules emotions, moods, and feelings. It reflects personality when someone is alone or deeply comfortable. Harry’s Moon is in Aries, meaning his emotional self is independent, energetic, and enthusiastic. He has a tendency to feel inadequate and being it is in his third house, he finds security and safety through the things he knows and is familiar with. ( Most notably his affection towards Hogwarts, despite it quite literally being a place fo death for him. )

High-spirited and courageous, Harry is a fighter. The degree of drive that Harry brings to any effort sometimes surprises others. He operates, more or less, on a hair-trigger reaction to certain stimuli, which sometimes means he acts in the heat of the moment which isn’t always the best thing. Similarly, Harry has a temper but rarely holds grudges. Very independent, with an extremely strong and forceful personality, he is known for being impulsive, careless, reckless, foolhardy, rash and daring.

MERCURY | CANCER, 19°11'26" | EIGHTH HOUSE

Mercury determines communication and the processing of information. It also indicates the way he learns. ( It is the mind’s planet. ) Harry’s Mercury is in Cancer, meaning his intellect is emotional and empathetic. He has a strong intuition and ( at times ) skill for diplomacy, but ( more times than not ) he tends to favor volatility and irrationality. Co-Star in particular came through with a good read, “ Sighing is a favored mode of communication. ”

Harry has difficulty seeing life objectively, his emotions ruling his thought processes. Harry’s rich inner life points towards having an excellent memory, especially when he has emotionally bonded with such a memory. He would do well to make his decisions with a clear-mind, but Harry’s restless nature rarely allows that. Mercury’s position also indicates that however confident, however popular, however brave Harry becomes a portion of his thoughts will always dwell on his losses.

Harry’s life is not dictated by sadness, however. He does have a tendency to brood, but his emotions usually feed into direct action. It lends to a certain sensitivity in him. Harry is kept from becoming too arrogant or power-hungry due to his attentiveness to others and care for their feelings. He possesses a very Cancerian need for a home and family, which explains why he loves staying at The Burrow. Harry desperately needs to feel familial warmth and acceptance, and Mercury’s link with Uranus in the eleventh house proves that the answer to Harry’s need for family can be found in his friends, who have become his surrogate family. This also indicates a willingness to befriend unusual or unpopular people and remain loyal to them, perhaps acting on a deep “misfit bond.”

VENUS | GEMINI, 25°40'6" | SEVENTH HOUSE

Venus determines indicates how affection is expressed and what qualities are sought after in a partner. Harry’s Venus is in Gemini, meaning his romantic side is dynamic, curious, and easily bored. He is drawn to wit but his near-blunt honesty finds hesitation in being forthcoming about his feelings for people. It’s in his seventh house, meaning love is usually expressed in close relationships and long-term partnerships. Harry is friendly, warm, open and tolerant toward others. He is also very witty and humorous, and he is able to amuse and please others especially those he shares a similar sense of humor with. To put it out there : he is very crushable.

What Harry seeks ( read : desperately needs ) is a stable influence to love him and be the recipient of all the love he has to give in return. However, given Pluto’s influence on Venus he’s is not likely to date around in pursuit of the right partner. Although men with Venus in Gemini can tend to casually date many different partners, the rest of Harry’s chart shows a bone-deep sense of loyalty and how serious he is about love to ever dole out his affections frivolously.

He is drawn toward assertive, spirited, and active ( read: jocks ) individuals. He prefers someone who is straightforward with their feelings and intentions, especially in an area where he feels most vulnerable and anxious. Harry craves long-term commitment and stability, so often riddled with social insecurity though it presents itself as being aloof rather than shy. He is endowed with innate charisma, so while people are often drawn to him he sometimes feels at a loss with what to do next. Mars in Libra gives us a hint that Harry is just not as aggressive in his love life as in other areas.

MARS | LIBRA, 12°7'36" | TENTH HOUSE

Mars is the planet of aggression. It determines how Harry asserts himself and how he presents himself when he’s angry. Harry’s Mars is in Libra, and while it may take him a minute to make a decision he often asserts himself in a way that is fair-minded and relativistic though he does trend towards being passive aggressive. It’s in his tenth house, meaning you put a lot of energy into goals, success, and responsibility. Mars is concerned with fighting unrelentingly, while Pluto presents it own formidable areas of focus. Paired with Mars in the tenth house, Harry’s status of “ Chosen One ” actually isn’t all that surprising. This placement also enables Harry with the determination to see this particular destiny through to the end, and makes him apt at handling the pressures he’s so often saddled with.

A Libran influence of harmony and kindness is bestowed upon this aspect, pointing towards Harry’s true nature. Harry’s temper may cause him to have ( occasional ) vengeful thoughts, but he is much more inclined to settle on more peaceful ways of resolving conflict. He seeks out cooperation, and thrives in a collaborative environment. Harry is drawn to finding new evils to conquer, meaning even in post-war life his sense of destiny will never truly be fulfilled. Harry is someone who will always be willing to fight for what is right, and given his aversion of holding / seeking power he is not at risk for being swayed towards a more tyrannically / murderous approach.

With Venus, Harry really does have love on his side, and his willingness to fight is his ultimate love language. Harry’s life’s work will always be viewed as being a labor of love, never of hatred. He seeks out friendly competition, very much enjoying the benefits of it. Harry has the ability to sense injustice and the desire to take corrective actions to make proper compensations. All in all, Harry’s approach to conflict is very even-keel, surprising for someone so driven by emotion.

JUPITER | VIRGO, 11°34'27" | NINTH HOUSE

One of the two social planets, Jupiter rules idealism, optimism, and expansion. It’s also very philosophical. Harry’s Jupiter is in Virgo, meaning he grows and finds understanding through careful thought, goal-setting, and hard work. It’s in his ninth house, meaning he finds success through the creation of meaning, rather than simply contemplating it. Again, with any relationship or social-leaning, Harry is drawn towards action as his language.

He feels most at ease and content with himself when he is doing something that he considers practical or useful. Responsibility, for Harry, brings about a certain amount of comfort in believing he is not burdening those around him. Harry is often disappointed when he is not trusted with enough responsibility and will even take on tasks that others seem to avoid. He demands very little for himself in life, and needs to be careful to temper his guilt over anything he can deem as too self-indulgent.

Harry is an analytical thinker, on a broad level. His function within his core relationships is typically to be the one who keeps his eye on the larger goal at hand, and as such Harry can often be looked to when people need guidance or direction in their lives. Harry’s ability to think deep and remain general optimistic about those around him allows him to see good in people, and he can often be a guiding force towards setting them on the right track ( even better, he can do this without even realizing what effect he has had ).

SATURN | VIRGO, 24°1'34" | NINTH HOUSE

The other social planet, Saturn rules responsibility, restrictions, limits, boundaries, fears, and self-discipline. Your Saturn is in Virgo, meaning you struggle with perfectionism, a critical eye, workaholic tendencies, and your need to be pure. It’s in your ninth house, meaning you have had difficulties with the creation of personal meaning.

Your life must be orderly and practical and full of known and familiar routines in order for you to feel comfortable with yourself. Be careful, however, not to let “order” become the be-all and end-all of your life, or you may become cold, crass and unfeeling. Doing useful, practical things boosts your self- esteem. Abstract concepts and reasoning seem frivolous and a waste of time to you. You are very critical of yourself (and others), indeed at times quite self-deprecating. Try to relax a bit and allow yourself the freedom to fail once in a while. However, you probably won’t fail very often because you are such a perfectionist.

URANUS | SCORPIO, 21°30'5" | TWELFTH HOUSE

Uranus stays in each sign for seven years, meaning it rules a generation more than a person. It rules innovation, rebellion, and progress. Harry’s Uranus is in Scorpio, meaning other generations are shocked by his peer’s intensity, passion, and hunger for power. It’s in his twelfth house, meaning that for Harry, this manifests in rebelling against dated expectations ( particularly around secrecy ).

Harry’s generation demands to confront life at its deepest and most meaningful levels. Harry tends towards being compulsive and obsessive in just about everyone, but through this he is unwilling to accept anything that is casual or superficial ( again, circling back to relationships ). This also means this generation will seek out and explore new methods of healing as well as different ways to deal with deep-seated emotional problems. Perfect for post-war healing.

NEPTUNE | SAGITTARIUS, 20°9'21" | FIRST HOUSE

Neptune stays in each sign for around fourteen years, meaning it again rules a generation more than a person. It also rules dreams, imagination, and the unconscious. Harry’s Neptune is in Sagittarius, meaning his entire generation finds inspiration through its expanded horizons, a desire for freedom, optimism, and curiosity. It’s in his first house, meaning that for Harry, this manifests in your ideal ( verging on unrealistic and impractical ) about his dreams, inner life, and self-image—and, because it’s his first house, his Neptune in Sagittarius is hyper-present in your personality.

Harry oftentimes found himself disappearing into a rich inner world through the various traumas of his life. It is hinted towards this being a key factor in what allowed him to cope, in any regard, to the abuses he faced as a child. However, this can also get away from him. Harry’s dreams and desires so often get tangled up that he mistakingly takes them as truth and finds himself wishing for the impossible, being let down when it doesn’t come to fruition. Despite all other evidence, Harry believes James was the one who saved him in Prisoner of Azkaban. His momentum and forward-thinking allows him to save himself at the last minute, but this sort of wishful thinking never exactly goes away.

Harry, and his entire generation, will be at the forefront of humanitarian attempts to improve the lot of those who are in need of assistance. They are comfortable with the idea that progress takes the work of groups, and so he finds himself in the company of like-minded peers throughout his life.

PLUTO | LIBRA, 19°16'21" | TENTH HOUSE

Pluto stays in each sign for up to thirty years, so it again rules a generation more than a person. It rules power, intensity, obsession, and control. Harry’s is in his tenth house, meaning he and his peers are fixated on transforming outdated definitions of success and responsibility.

[kiridarling]

"𝐒𝐈𝐌𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐘𝐒."

izuku midoriya | friends older brother!izuku + college student!reader + f!reader + squirting + size kink + more! minors dni! does this count? as dark content?

— 2.4k words

"It's simple: I'll stuff you full with two fingers, but they only do what simon says. Understand?"

“[Y/N?]”

“Uh, hey Izuku!” You smile, grip tightening around the strap to your bag. Izuku fills the doorway, broad shoulders kissing both sides of the frame, and you can’t help but feel minuscule in comparison. “Kota around?”

Izuku shakes his head, peering over his shoulder for a second before returning his attention to you with a click of his tongue. "Uh, no I think he's out with Eri. They should be back soon though...it's been a few hours."

"Shit," you curse under your breath. Your friend's older brother smiles in apology, biceps straining under his white tee.

"You need something?"

"Yeah," you nod, forcing your eyes back onto his, instead of the broad chest presented at eye-level. "Just my precalc book."

Izuku waits a second, thinking, before his palm claps against the doorframe and he's walking deeper into the house. "Come on in, then! I'm sure he won't mind."

You step into the house after him, and it's...weird. Weird being with your Kota's older brother without Kota there, because despite the thousands of times you've been in your best friend's house and as well as you know the greenette, you and Izuku have never been alone.

"Find it?"

You've been rummaging through Kota's room for a solid ten minutes and somehow still empty-handed, moving slowly in fear you'll see something you can't unsee. And hey, with Kota and Eri dating, anything's possible.

"No," you sigh, ready to give up rather than find a strap-on. "It's fine. I can just come to get it tomorrow or something."

"How soon do you need it?" The greenette asks, his forearms leaning against his younger brother's dresser. You take a seat on Kota's comforter instead, silently hoping you'll find your book by accidentally breaking your tailbone against the damn thing; you're a little disappointed when all your ass comes in contact with is a plush mattress.

"Like, tonight," you grieve, knowing that tomorrow morning, your math grade will suffer severely. "'S fine though. There's always another test."

Izuku snorts at that, crossing the room to take a seat next to you. The bed whines under his weight but doesn't collapse, and you feel a little bad to say you're surprised. Voice full of reminiscence, he sighs, "Ah, the college days."

You giggle, "You act like they're lightyears behind you."

"They might as well be," the greenette shrugs, before reaching behind your waist to steal a pillow. "Couldn't tell you a thing I learned."

You shrug trying to remember the last time you’ve felt prepared for a test, “Neither can I.”

Izuku chuckles and nods, though you’re convinced it’s because he has nothing to say. An awkward silence takes possession of the room by the neck, and you shift awkwardly, unsure of what to say that could give you an excuse to leave, or at least redirect his strange yet heavy gaze. As Izuku licks his lips, you notice how close you two actually are, as he's big to the point where your shoulders almost brush, but not quite.

"How um, hows your boyfriend?"

You scoff at that, but you suppose it's been a while since you and the greenette have talked one on one—and the last time you had, you weren't single.

"Oh uh, he's fine, I guess," you brush it off with a shrug and a wave, cringing at the thought of how that ended. "I don't know. We broke up a while ago, so."

"Oh sorry!" Izuku flushes and throws a hand over his mouth, and you giggle.

"You're fine. He was an asshole anyway," you chuck a laugh, but it's not really that funny. Frankly, he's left too many emotional scars to count, along with the ones healing from past exes. "I...don't have a good reputation when it comes to picking boyfriends."

“So, I’ve heard—no offense,” he says sheepishly, though you don't blame him. You've definitely had a few surprise visits caused by a nasty break-up or two, knowing this is the place you'll probably find both of your best friends hiding out. When Izuku speaks again, it’s borderline awkward as his eyes dart around the room, cheeks puffed and lips pursed in apprehension. “Found...anyone new?”

You frown, “Anyone new.”

“Yeah!” Izuku exclaims, and it’s almost encouraging. “Like a new boyfriend.”

“Oh,” you laugh, shaking your head. “Um, no. Like I said, I don’t have much luck with that type of stuff.”

Izuku snorts, rolling his eyes before he’s adjusting himself to lay on the pillow, half of his body upright. “I bet you do. You might not realize it, but you do.”

Now it’s your turn to snort and roll your eyes, leaning back on your hands with a huff. "You're just being nice, Izuku."

"No, seriously!" He props himself higher so you can see he really is serious, evergreen eyes locked and deadset, "Like—okay, and this might be a TMI or something, but how do they, y'know, and then be dicks, y'know?"

"They don't."

"They don't...what?"

"They don't...make me cum," you heave with great depression, despite the seemingly surface-level complaint. With wrists tightening around your ankles, you hate uncomfortably in the silence, and watch Izuku's mouth open and close, before it opens and closes again.

"Like...never?"

"No." You give him a weird look.

"But what about your last boyfriend? I thought he—"

"I don't know what you're looking for, Izuku," you chuckle, shaking your head. The greenette seems more pained than he is shocked, eyes wide with a big fat pout in place of a neutral face. "It's not like I haven't had an orgasm before. Just...not with someone else."

"That's not the same!" Izuku defends, slowly becoming more animated than you've ever seen him. "It's like...more passionate with another person, you know? And that makes everything a whole lot hotter."

"Thanks," you huff, mood souring more than it already has. Izuku's mouth stills once he realizes what he's essentially bragging, guilt clouding his face. As you exhale out of your nose, you can't escape feeling bad for snapping. "Look. I'm perfectly fine with being the only person to be able to make myself cum. It's not that deep."

"You sound like you expect no one to be able to," Izuku snorts with a raised eyebrow, shoulders bumping against yours. "You've just...had bad boyfriend luck. That doesn't mean no one's capable of doing it."

"Well," you click your tongue bitterly, because you've heard all of this before, and you're utterly tired of hearing it. "They've been able to make all their exes orgasm. And it's not like it even matters, relationships aren't abou—"

"I could do it."

"I—" you blink, shaking your head at the pure audacity of his request? Suggestion? Comment? Whatever the fuck. "Excuse me?"

"I—wait, listen," Izuku rushes like you're getting ready to book it the fuck out of there, sitting upright so his body is turned to yours. "You're...it's...I've been told I'm good with my fingers, right?"

And what a way to start a story.

"Izuku, in the nicest way, every guy is like this," you scoff, "He thinks he's all that just because a chick or two said you made her feel really good. I don't need to fake another orgasm."

"You won't have to," Izuku purrs cockily, leaning forwards on his hands and making you wonder where all of this is coming from. "Let's play a game of simon says, yeah?"

"Simon—" your chest collapses with a giggle of pure disbelief, "I'm not that much younger than you, you know."

"I wouldn't be offering if you were," the greenette reasons, eyes growing dark slowly, if any. "Yes or no?"

"What's the catch?" You bargain and Izuku huffs a laugh. You can feel it on your face.

"No catch, Pretty," he hums, and you can feel the vibrations in your fingers. "It's simple: I'll stuff you full with two fingers, but they only do what simon says. Understand?"

You gulp as Izuku lifts a hand—and a very large one, at that—and it's jagged and rough with scars and bulky knuckles. His free hand makes you grab his wrist and you're fingertips barely touch, but you’re pulling his hand south by your own volition.

“Gotta take your pants off first,” he chuckles, and you flush red. That would be helpful, yes.

It doesn't take long before they're off though, flung towards a corner somewhere—and this is when you realize that maybe, you shouldn't do this on Kota's bed.

"Izuku maybe we shoul—"

But before you can say anything else, he's pushing your panties to the side and shoving both fingers into you at once, eyebrows folding as he groans under his breath from the sensation.

"So wet already? Clearly, someone likes this more than they let on."

"I—what the fuck happened to simon says!" You yelp, but his fingers don't move. Izuku just beams like the deceptive asshole he is.

"Game starts now," is all he says, and you're huffing, propping yourself up on your elbows. Izuku's fingers might as well have knocked the wind out of you, lungs struggling to find room to breathe as he curls his fingers to tap directly onto your g-spot with worrying precision.

"Simon says um, move please," you grunt out. Izuku's fingers stay still, and you frown, kicking him in the thigh. "Hey, I sai—"

"You gotta be more specific than that, Pretty,” he says with a grin. You snarl. "Tell me what you want me to do to you."

"I..." you start, but it's fucking embarrassing, and you know Izuku feels you twitch around him when you say: "Can you um, fuck me with your fingers."

He doesn't move.

"Simon says fuck me with your fingers, asshole," you grunt with narrowed eyes, though they widen when he starts to pump his fingers in and out, chuckling when you shiver from the dexterity.

Except, his fingers move painfully slow, and you find yourself gritting your teeth at the speed when he doesn't make an effort to go any faster. You click your tongue—he's really going to make you request everything, isn't he?

"Simon says faster," you growl with a challenge burning in your eyes, and Izuku meets them with equal fire, fingers finally forgetting their torturous pace for a much quicker one. Finally.

"Fuck! Simo—simon says right t-there," your legs spread wider and Izuku makes more room for himself in between. He hums with dark eyes as you whimper and whine his name, writhing in his younger brother's sheets like they belong to him—like you belong to him.

"I wanna touch you all the time, you know," Izuku grunts before cursing at the sight of your wetness around his fingers. "Make you feel good, make you mine. I don't think Kota would approve, though."

"We don—" you wheeze and he places a hand next to your head, towering over you. The angle only gets better, your hands digging into the sheets as Izuku's fingers curl just right. "We don't have to tell him."

Izuku chuckles at that, chest rumbling as he leans in closer to the point where your noses nearly touch. "You dirty fucking girl."

You moan at that, hips bucking into his hand. You're so close and yet you need more, something else to push you over the edge for good. With a whimper behind a bitten lip, you say, "S-Simon says rub my clit."

Izuku's thumb falls upon your clit and you squeal from the amount of initial pressure, thighs jolting from the white-hot waves that pump through your bloodstream as his thumb moves in small, ever-quickening circles that have you gripping for Kota's comforter for dear life.

"Iz—Izuku I'm gonna—g-gonna cum," you pant, and he's ripping his hands away before you can even reach a hint of the edge. You glare at him out of pure and utter betrayal, and he beams.

"Simon didn't say, did he?"

Your mouth flies open before your brain has time to process it all, "Simon says make me cum, p-please, I need to—fuck!"

Izuku's stuffing you full with his fingers in an instant and his thumb returns to its rightful place.

"Yeah? You gonna cum for me, Pretty?" His hands somehow find the energy to speed up to the point where the clap of his palm against your pussy fills the room, slowly being replaced by a lewd squelch as you tighten around him. He chuckles when all you can do is whimper, grappling for his big shoulders as he says, "Oh, yes she is. So fucking close I can feel it."

You let out a broken moan and in a blink you're squirting, body buzzing as you make a big wet mess of Kota's sheets. It doesn't even register how screwed you two are because you're too busy wading waist-deep in the sea of Izuku's eyes, chest heaving in time with his as he gives you a look of pure awe. Not at what you've done, per se, but at you, and that's when you understand it—the passion.

"We should uh, probably clean up," Izuku flushes as he chuckles, cheeks pressing into the crescents of his face, and you find yourself smiling along with him. With a final click, he pulls his fingers out, gesturing to a circular wet spot on his now see-through shirt. "You made quite a mess."

Fuck the passion.

You shove your fists into his chest and Izuku laughs, pushing your hands away with his one dry free hand, wiping the wet one on Kota's sheets.

"Izuku!" You gasp, looking at the new and improved addition to your mess. The greenette shrugs.

"What? We're going to have to clean it anyway," he shrugs before assuming the dry spot to your right and nestling his forearms in the pillow to peck you on the forehead. Then he freezes.

"I uh...am I allowed to do that?"

You roll your eyes, grabbing him by his squirt-soaked shirt to pull him into a kiss. Izuku hums at that, suppressing the urge to smile as his big hands find their way to your waist. He's an annoyingly good kisser

"No, you're not," you say with swollen lips once you pull away. Izuku grins, teeth digging into his bottom lip as his eyes flutter to yours for a moment, before they're staring into your soul again.

"I like you," he boldly states, albeit quietly, like he's talking to your eyes and nothing else. "Like, a lot."

"I—" You start, but you're interrupted by a click of a lock and the sound of the front door opening. Shit.

"Oi! We're home, Izuku!"

[alirhi]

10 Sebastian roles as boyfriends

Because... I'm bored and I feel like it. 😂 Probably some spoilers for, like... everything? So yeah... That.

Putting it under here for easy scrolling:

10: Chase Collins

Who doesn't love a goofball? In the first half of the movie, Chase is basically perfect. He's sweet, funny, not all caught up in his ego, and actually pays attention to what the girls around him are saying, not just to what he wants to hear. If not for the whole... it was all an act to get close to Caleb and try to steal his magic thing, Chase would actually be a damn good high school boyfriend. He's adorable and would be a fun date, but he's also only 18 so best not to start making long-term plans lol. Also, y'know... the whole psycho revenge/power grab thing.

9 Jack Benjamin

Y'all. Y'all. Words cannot describe how much I love Jack. Pretty sure I've made this clear. As a person/character in general, he's absolutely in my Top 3 - not just of Sebastian's characters, but any character ever. ❤ But as a boyfriend? Boy's got baggage. It's what makes me so protective of him, but seeing as how he's trapped in the closet thanks to his overbearing homophobic family and the insane expectations heaped on him, as the show left him, he can't handle an honest relationship. He's too easily influenced by all the wrong people, poor babe.

8 Chris (Destroyer)

On paper, undercover cop sounds cool and exciting, but even if you ignore the fact that he, y'know, dies... Chris got in too deep and kinda lost the mission, so to speak. Best case scenario, you're his sexy partner and in on it all with him and end up on the lam for the rest of your lives. Worst case, this man lies for a living, so can you even trust him? And... yeah. The whole dead thing. Chris is hot af but getting involved with him is a recipe for disaster.

7 Ben

Min and Hathor have mercy, I love Ben! He's smart, he's snarky, he's caring and loyal... he's an absolute disaster. He's another one who seems allergic to honesty, until his lying and avoiding nearly kill his girlfriend. Not exactly relationship goals lol. Everything before totally was, though! Ben's adorable, and I love how he stayed up all night to protect his girlfriend (from a ghost/demon thing... with a baseball bat. I said he was smart, not perfect, okay? XD points for effort lol)

6 Mickey Henry

I. LOVE. MICKEY. Oml I love Mickey. He's a spazz and - even more so than Ben - an absolute disaster of a human being, but I love him. Pros for dating Mickey Henry: he's fun, he's carefree, he'll cook for you even though he's kinda bad at it lol, he loves his son and wants to be a good dad, he wants his partner to be happy and to love life as much as he does. Cons, and the reason he's not higher on the list: He's a pushover; easily influenced by the toxic people in his life, and it gets him into a lot of trouble. Being easily influenced by toxic dumpster fire of a human being Chloe almost lost him the partial custody of his son that he barely even had. He's an absolute sweetheart, but he's a complete man-child, and dating him would often feel more like raising him.

5 Frank "Suffer Buddy"

Come on! You know he and Mickey had to be back-to-back - they're practically the same character! 😂 Frank is Mickey... slightly more grown up. He's still a disaster, but he's respectful of boundaries, he's caring, he's funny in a dry, witty way that I just adore, and hoo lordy that man is a giver! 🥴🥵 Honestly, if he didn't smoke and didn't ditch Daphne in the middle of a party hours away from everything familiar to her surrounded by strangers to go do drugs, I'd call Frank perfect. He listened, he respected her wishes, he tried to keep some distance between them when he found out she'd gone on a date with his best friend (it failed utterly and brought us to the "damn that man's good with his mouth" portion of the movie lmao but still)... I don't have a whole lot of experience with men who actually give a shit, okay? So Frank is like a goddamn unicorn to me lmao. But that drug thing... That keeps him at the bottom of the Top 5 for me. Sorry, bb

4 Bucky

I can already hear everyone on here raging at me for placing Bucky so low on this list, but hear me out: I love this man. I love all four iterations of this man. Flirty 40s Bucky was a doll (fun date, not commitment material). Post-POW camp 40s Bucky had a fire to him that set me on fire. The Winter Soldier can choke me any damn day. Unf. And TFATWS Bucky... Oh, lady above, 2023 Bucky is a gem! He's sweet, snarky, and broken. He feels utterly, wretchedly alone in the world, and everyone around him, including his only friend, is telling him to "man up" and "make amends" for shit that was never his fault to begin with, rather than helping him come to terms with all that he's suffered and all that he's survived. Bucky needs and deserves love. A relationship with him would be so solid, if he found the right person... But it would take a fuck ton of work. He needs someone strong, patient, and more stubborn than he is to prod him until he finds a better therapist and actually opens up, and to keep him on track because even good therapy comes with homework. He does have to "do the work," Sam was right about that much, but he was way off base with what that "work" is. Bucky needs help and understanding, and he would be an amazing boyfriend... if he found someone with the strength to help him weather his nightmares and flashbacks, and help pull him out of this PTSD pit he's been in since 1943.

3 Chris Beck

Big brains turn me on, okay? 😂This man is an astronaut and a surgeon! Yes, please! Come here, you sexy genius! He's smart, he's funny - pretty sure Sebastian is incapable of playing anyone who's not delightfully snarky lol. He's pragmatic when he needs to be but there's also nothing he wouldn't do or risk for the ones he loves. This man is husband material and I cannot be convinced otherwise! So why isn't he #1? Cuz of the whole... spending years in space, thing. Super cool job and I'd be his biggest fan on the ground, but god damn, I would miss him while he's away!

2 TJ Hammond

Look, I'm gender fluid and he's a little bit bi 😂😂😂 Let me have my fantasy, okay? TJ's definitely got a lot of shit to work through, but love brings out the best in him. Before that fucking closeted shitbag broke his heart and stomped on it for good measure, TJ was clean and sober for months, he was happy, he was playing piano again, he was pulling himself together. Not only would he be an amazing boyfriend, but his partner would get the extra joy of getting to watch their love and devotion to him be the thing that saves this beautiful man's life. It's not healthy overall to tie your self worth and will to live to a relationship, but if he found the right person who would be there for him through all of life's shit and stick it out, I think he'd be okay. Even after his lowest point and without the support of his family, TJ still had a dream and he still chased it. He's not just the sweetest person to ever grace our screens, but he's ambitious and business-savvy, too. Keep him off drugs and watch this man take over the world, I'm telling you!

So why is TJ only #2? Well, besides the fact that he's like 99% gay and I have no bits he'd be interested in lmao, there's also the fact that this guy owns my heart:

1 Will Franklyn

And not just because we get to see him wet and mostly naked lol. Will is fucking perfect. I would die for this man... because he's already shown that he would die for his love. He almost fucking did, and they weren't even together yet! He's smart and very aware, he's a writer so we'd get to bond/geek out over books together, he's not all full of himself (self-deprecating humor ftw!) and he's willing to help a total stranger despite actual mortal peril, just because it's the right thing to do. Fierce, intelligent, sassy, strong-willed, and a flawless moral compass? YESYESYESYESYES! Forget boyfriend - let me MARRY this man! 😍🥰

[volleychumps]

Hey so I've been dying out of stress lately (I nearly started crying) because of school and finals that are coming way to fast and I wanted to request like how the Karasuno boys would comfort their s/o (you don't have to tho)

Comforting a S/O who’s Stressed about Exams (w/ Karasuno)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daichi

-okay who the fUck made his baby cry he wants to know 

-come on just let him talk to them 

- Enters your bedroom to see you on the verge of tears as you sat at your desk, freezing at the sight

- “Are you okay?” “Dai, why would you even ask that?” “...sorry.” 

- leans against your desk with a worried expression on is features, listening to your explanation on how high your anxiety was for the upcoming finals as his fingers swipe at the tears 

- As you speak, he maintains eye contact with you as he slowly closes your textbook, beginning to pickup stray pens and pencils and putting them in their respectable cups until you notice 

- “...Dai, what are you doing?” “Hm? Oh, don’t mind me- you’re just cut off for today.” 

- “I’m what” “You heard me. Come on.” 

- holds his hand out to you, gaze serious as ever as you look at him increduously, beginning to open your textbook back up 

- “Dai, I’m serious, I need to-” “Alright, so we’re doing this the hard way.” 

- deadass picks you up, sliding some easy slip ons over your bare feet before beginning to walk towards the exit of your house as he ignores your attempts to break free

- “This is kidnapping.” “That’s just an shorter word for giving you an opportunity to relax.” 

- Buys you ice cream and takes you window shopping in order to give you some fresh air, smiling a little when he sees how relaxed you become afterwards 

- Takes you home eventually, but leans his head on your shoulder while you study, giving you tips on how to do it with short intervals so you don’t run out of stamina 

- Forehead kisses here and there, allowing you to take naps on his lap while he reads through his own book for school, fingers running through your hair absent-mindedly, but that helps you relax too 

- so when you pass the exams, you’re walking up to Daichi in the halls with both arms raised

- “...what?” “I passed. Kidnap me.” 

- Doesn’t even question it before picking you up again, kissing you on the forehead 

- “That’s my girl.” 

Sugawara

- “You’re ignoring my calls because?” 

- You yelp, covering your mouth after doing so because you were seated in the library, your gray-haired boyfriend scaring you from behind with both hands on your shoulders before he pauses, catching sight of the brimming tears in your eyes

- “Wait, are you crying?!” 

- “Suga, say it a little louder. Australia might’ve missed it.” “Shoot, sorry...”

- Cautiously takes a seat next to you, eyes scanning over the material and frowns when he sees just how many practice problems you’ve completed 

- “It’s an important exam?” 

- When you nod, he rolls his eyes once, simply pulling you into his chest as his hand rests on the back of your head, when you try to pull away, he clicks his tongue 

- “Suga, I can’t-” “When you can’t hug your boyfriend because you think an exam that’s making you cry is more important, then we have a problem.” 

- Kisses around your face, including the loose tears that were strayed down your cheeks as you can’t help the laughs from slipping your throat 

- you blink as he’s suddenly shoving everything in your bag, ignoring your protests before kissing your cheek and bending his knees 

- “Alright, get on.” “Suga, no.”

- “Suga, yes. Come on, I look like an idiot crouching like this.” “And what if I said you always look like an idiot?” “Then I’d say I’m an idiot who’s in love with you. Now stop yapping.” 

- you roll your eyes as you awkwardly clamber onto Suga’s back, hearing his satisfied grunt when you do so

- “Perfect. Now, where would you like to go, little miss?” “...I think I’d like to be put down-” “Wrong answer!” 

- takes you on a stroll through the school courtyards, not letting you off his back despite the strange stares you were getting from students

- you quirk an eyebrow when he places you under a shaded tree, letting out a few hums as he begins to unpack your stuff for you

- “Suga, what-” “We’re going to have a study picnic. You missed my calls, I missed my lunch. No complaints!” 

- feeds you while you study, grinning at you when he tests you with flashcards, and high-fives you when you get it right 

- “Suga, I passed!!” “Well duh, goregous-” 

- Hugs you tightly as you melt into his embrace, his smile hidden in your hair 

- “Never doubted it for a second.” 

Asahi 

- “Asahi, please, not right now.” 

- poor baby was just trying to ask if you wanted him to walk you home from school, leaving the room with a frown when your tone seems annoyed 

-is halfway down the hallway because he doesn’t want to bother you before he pauses, and then spins on his heel back towards your classroom

- freezes when he sees you sitting alone in your empty class, hand covering your eyes as you sob freely, thinking everyone had gone home 

- “Y/N?” slowly reaches for your hand, flinching when you pull it away

- “A-Asahi, I thought I told you to go without me! Y-You don’t have to see me like...like-!”

- cuts you off with a bear hug, allowing you to cry into his shirt as his large arms embrace you 

- “I want to know when you’re feeling like this, okay?” when he finishes listening to your hiccuping explanation, he plops down in the seat next to you as you eye him questioningly

- gently leans your head towards his shoulder, shushing your protests and not allowing you to lift it 

- “Rest. Please? For me?” 

- so, in an empty classroom past school hours, you fell asleep on your large boyfriend’s shoulder to the sound of him writing

- smiles at you as you sleep, eyes scanning over the material before he realizes that he remembers the information on the exam you were about to take, seeing he was your senior 

- when you wake up a half hour later, you’re left in your seat with Asahi’s school coat draped around your shoulders, and a notebook with a sticky note on the front

- Look over these for now. I highlighted what was important. I’ll be back soon, I went to get you some tea and snacks <3

- when he slides the door to your classroom open, you tackle him in a hug, apologizing for being short with him earlier as he chuckles and pats the top of your head 

- “I’m glad I came back.” “...did you get me mochi?” “Of course I got you mochi.”

- so when you pass your exam with flying colors, you’re the one to poke your head into Asahi’s classroom as the bell rings, a bright grin on your face 

- “Want to walk me home?” “Nope, let’s go celebrate-”

-he plants a shy kiss on the top of your head as he swings his bag over his shoulder “-you earned it.” 

Nishinoya 

-Let’s be honest, he really can’t understand why you’d be so upset over an exam

- so when he catches sight of you in the middle of the courtyard from the second floor of the school, he’s darting towards you as fast as you can, holding you by your shoulders as he meets your eyes with widened ones 

- “D-did someone die?” “No!” “Did you get bitten in Animal Crossing?” “No.” “Are you dying?” 

- whines when you thump his head, your other hand wiping hastily at the tears in your eyes that he caught you with as you huff, turning back to your textbook as you begin your explanation 

- “...that’s why you’re crying? Babe, it’s just a test!” “To you, maybe. I seriously can’t fail, and I’ve been studying non-stop.” 

- frowns when he sees you going back to studying the tear-stained pages, sniffling quietly to yourself before he snatches the book from you, throwing it over his shoulder 

- “Noya what-?!” “Leave it. It’s not like anyone’s gonna steal it.” 

- deadass pulls you away from the courtyard, hand clasped tightly in yours as you arrive in the gym used by the volleyball club 

- “Sh. No questions.” Puts a finger to your lips as he disappears and reappears with a cage full of balls 

- “Noya-” “Hup! What did I say?” 

- smirks at you as he puts a ball in your hand, making his way to the other side of the gym before crossing his arms cockily 

- “Hit it.” “What?” 

- “If you can manage to make me lose a receive, I’ll let you go do your nerd thing, or whatever.” “Noya-” “Babe, please just hit it.” 

- you sigh before tossing the ball lightly in the air and hitting it with your free hand dejectedly as it projects off to the side 

- “Wow, you suck.” “Yuu, I swear-” “Hit it again. Like you mean it.” 

- you don’t question the glint in his eye before grabbing another ball and hitting it again, this time with more force as Noya’s eyes gleam before receiving it easily, smirking all the while 

- “That’s more like it. Unless you can’t make me miss?” “...what the hell did you just say?” 

- as you hit more and more balls towards your boyfriend, beginning to stop questioning his antics you realize one thing: it felt good

- “Y/N!! I love you!!” he yells as his arms form a heart with his head, grinning at you cheekily as you laugh. “Hit that ball like it’s the exam! Come on!” 

- so you did, hitting many until you’re breathing heavily, arm beginning to become sore 

- “How do you feel?” Noya jogs up to you, wiping sweat from his brow before you grab the front of his shirt, pulling him in to kiss him feverishly, smiling when his lips move back against yours easily as his arms snake around your waist 

- “I feel amazing.” is what you whisper when you pull back, Noya running a full lap around the gym at top speed at the energy you gave him with your kiss 

- “Alright baby! Let’s get our study on!” “Our?” “As long as it’s with you, I’d most definitely jump into a volcano.” 

- picks up the tossed book in the courtyard, opening it seriously before pulling you in with his other arm, sitting criss-cross next to you as his eyes scan the pages 

- “Alright, so where are we?” “...english.” “Shit.” 

Tanaka

- Walks into your bedroom with his hands shoved in his pockets before he stalls at the sight, seeing you curled up on your bed with a textbook laying open at your side, tears streaming freely down your cheeks 

- Lifts his sleeve up his arm and passed his elbow as his expression darkens, hands gentle around your tear-stained cheeks as he lifts up your face to meet his deadly gaze

- “I want names, and I want them now.” 

- “Unless you can beat up an exam, babe, I can’t give you any.” “...huh?”

- plops down on your bed, facing you as his hand wipes at the tears on your cheeks before he sighs, pulling you into his chest gently

- “You scared me. I thought it was something serious-OW! Violence is never the answer!” “This is something serious to me, Tanaka!” 

- “...oh.” awkwardly scratches the back of his neck as you open your textbook back up, causing him to put it down again with an eyebrow quirked

- “Why are you going back to the very thing that made you cry?” “Because I have to, so gimme.” 

- deadass puts your textbook in an outstretched arm to where you couldn’t reach it, smirking when you land in his chest when trying to do so 

- throws the textbook on the ground as he relaxes into your bed, not letting you go despite your protests as he hugs you to his body, smiling when you finally relax

- “Isn’t this nice?” “...no.” “Oi, don’t lie. It won’t kill you to take a little break. So I’ll cuddle you, okay? What do you want, I’ll do anything for you.” 

- “Can I be the big spoon?” “...anything but one thing. I’ll do anything but one thing for you.” 

- groans when you win, becoming the small spoon to his girlfriend that absolutely had him won over completely

- “Do you feel better?” “Mm. Will you kiss me?” 

- cheeks turn hot immediately, turning towards you slightly before he turns back again 

- “...anything but two things-” “Tanaka, just shut up and kiss me.” 

- kisses you quickly after he sits the two of you up, placing a hand on the side of your cheek with reddened ones, rolling his eyes at your cheeky smile 

- “Well, at least now you’re smiling. Come, let Tanaka-sensei tutor you.” “...how about you be here for emotional support?” 

- “Rude, but I can do that too...are you sure? I think I’d make a great-” 

- “Oh, I’m sure.” “You answered too quickly.” 

Kageyama

- awkward boy doesn’t know how to react to ANYONE if there’s tears involved

- “She’s what?” “Y/N was crying in class today...” Yamaguchi puts his hands up in slight defense as Kageyama’s out the club door a split second later 

- manages to catch up with you halfway down your route from school, nose buried in your textbook as he easily jogs up to put a hand on your shoulder

- blue eyes widen when you lift your head up to meet him with tear-brimmed eyes, stress evident on your features as you weakly smile at him 

- “H-Hi Kageyama...” “What happened?” 

- Stiffens when you lay your head on his chest, feeling his heart rate go out of control as you explain the upcoming exam, and the toll it was taking on you

-barely heard any of it because he was internally freaking out, but got the gist of it

- “Ah.” “Yeah.” 

- stands there awkwardly as you manage to stop crying, still sniffling and hiccuping slightly as Kageyama hesitantly takes your hand in his 

- “...it’s just an exam. If it makes you feel any better I haven’t passed one all year.” 

- you stare at him for a second before laughing, causing your boyfriend to blush as his features turn accusing

- “what?” “No. I think it’s just cute. You’re cute.” 

- shit why did you need to go call him cute twice in one sentence

- “...do you want to go get something sweet?” “Sure. What about your club?” “It’s you. They have to understand if it’s you...” 

- “what was that?” “noTHing. what did you say?” “Uh, I didn’t say anything...”

- watches you happily eat the parfait he bought for you, feeling satisfied that you were mostly back to your usual self until he sees you opening your textbook back up, his hand reaching out to stop yours before he can realize it

- “What are you doing?” “I still have to-” “No. No exam is worth making yourself cry over.” 

- “But I-” “We’re on a date, aren’t we? Pay attention to me.” 

- clamps his mouth tight after the words come out, blushing at your look of surprise as he struggles to find the right words, watching as you slowly shut your textbook 

- “I didn’t-!” “Alright. I’ll pay attention to you.”

- “W-wai-” “Hm? Or I can go back to study-” “nO okay yes, pay attention to me.” 

- frustrated at your teasing before you giggle, stopping in surprise when his hand covers yours from across the table, ears pinkened 

- might as well damn you’ve stepped out of comfort zone twice today Kageyama

- “I...I’m glad you’re laughing.” 

- “What was that?” “I didn’t say anything, are you going crazy?” 

Hinata

- “Hinata get off of me.” “Not until you tell me why you’re crying. I will tickle you dammit.”

- the orange haired baby had burst into your room with the play from yesterday in hand, excited to watch it with you when you had looked up at him with red eyes and wetness down your cheeks

- pins your wrists to the bed, orange eyes serious as his hands begin to trace your sides, signalling he was about to start tickling you soon if you didn’t fess up

- “Who made you cry?” “No one.” 

- Hinata gettin kINKY as shit ngl 

- “The upcoming stress is giving me a bit of anxiety, that’s all.” you mumble in response to Hinata’s tilted head and look of questioning as he releases you, falling on to the side of the bed as he stares up at the ceiling by your side

- “Then let’s do it together.” “Hm?” 

- “I need to study too! Plus you’re waaay smarter than me, so maybe if you teach me, you’ll be able to do even better!” Sits up excitedly, pulling you into his lap as his orange eyes gleam

- “Whaddya say?” “I...that’s not a bad idea.” You blush when Hinata rests his chin on your shoulder, seeming to be deep in thought as he plays with your fingers

- “What are you thinking about?” “How to make the exam makers suffer because they made my baby sad.” 

- “HinATA-” “Joking. It was a joke.” 

- studies with you brightly, not letting a wrong answer bring the mood down as he simply punishes you with tickles, willing you not to get the answer wrong or you’ll face his wrath 

- “u-uh, a comma?” “Nope! Come here!” “Hinata please-!” 

- laughs when you let out a shriek of laughter, pausing when your hands find the sides of his jaw, your eyes looking up at him lovingly 

- blushes when you lean up to kiss him once on the lips, using the opportunity to break out of his hold 

- “T-That’s cheating!” “I call it, using my resources.” 

- “How about this, for every answer you get right, I’ll kiss you.” he shyly states, looking off to the side as you grin at his cuteness

- “You’re on, love.” “Better not get it wrong!”

Tsukishima

- “I left for three minutes, did you miss me that much?” 

- was studying with you in his living room in his empty house, leaving to use the bathroom and grab you a drink only to return to the scene before him 

- you were staring down at your textbook with tears in your eyes, brows furrowed in confusion as you lift your head to meet the blank stare of your boyfriend

- “N-no...I just realized how close the exams were. It’s stressful...” 

-says nothing as he sits next to your trembling figure, placing the cold can of melon juice on the table in front of you silently

- “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel-!” “I’ll listen. You have five minutes.” 

- stares straight ahead as you hiccup through your explanation of worries, turning his head towards you when he’s met with silence 

- “You finished?” “Y-yeah...” 

- pops your can of melon juice, holding it out to you as you stare at it in confusion

- “Drink.” 

- Watches as you down half the can, feeling refreshed as he takes the can and drinks the rest, setting the empty drink on the table

- “Now take a deep breath.” 

- didn’t expect for you to start panicking again and runs a hand through his blonde hair before hesitating

- blonde baby isn’t good at affection

- but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t like it, he just feels better when you’re the one to initiate it 

- puts a single hand on the top of your head, looking off in the opposite direction as he brings his knees to his chest 

- “Don’t cry. It makes me feel weird.” 

- looks back and sweat drops, only to see you gazing up at him with a look that screamed you’ve never done this before wtf before retracting his hand hastily 

- “Are you tired?” He changes the topic quickly, and you bite your lip before nodding once. “Can I...lay on you?” 

- shit why did you need to ask him he would’ve been fine if you just did it

- looks off to the side again before nodding once, feeling blood rush to his cheeks when your head is suddenly in his lap, causing the tall boy to have to steady his breathing 

- “Tsukki?” “What.” “You’re really good to me...you know?” 

- begins to play with the ends of your hair as your eyes droop closed, carefully placing his earbuds in your ears and selecting a soft music selection as you fall asleep, ensuring you can’t hear him 

- “The feeling’s mutual.” “...hm?” 

- “I said shut up and go to sleep. We’ll continue when you wake up.” 

Yamaguchi

- “Y/N, you’re mom let me- whoa. Hey, are you crying?” “No Yama, I’m not.” 

- Sits his bike helmet down slowly before approaching your frustrated figure, your hands clenched through your hair as you shuffle through the strewn papers, eyes brimmed with tears 

- “Are you okay?” “Do I look okay?! Exams are within the next week, and no matter how much I study, I-” 

- listens to you rant as he takes a seat on the edge of your bed, flinching when your voice raises octaves as if accusing him until you come to a sudden halt

- “Yama, I...” “No. Continue. Let it out, it’s okay.” 

- When your boyfriend smiles his sweet smile towards you, your throat becomes choked up as your arms reach weakly out 

- Hugs you immediately, smiling when you bury your face in his shirt from your sitting position 

- “I-I’m sorry...” “Nope. None of that...do you know how you can make it up to me, though?” “Hm?” 

- gently turns off the lamp that lit up your desk space, putting all the papers in one neat pile before tugging you out of your chair 

- “Where are we going?” “We’ll figure it out when we get there.” 

- Straps his jacket helmet on you tightly as he perches you on the back of his bike, ensuring you were okay with sitting with both legs to the side before kissing your forehead before fastening the strap

- “Yama, I hope we’re going to a library or something-” “Nope! Nice try, though.” 

- “Hold on tight, Y/N.” as he wraps your arms around the middle of his body, grinning when he feels you tighten your grip before he begins to move his legs to begin cycling 

- the fresh air calms you down immediately, and you close your eyes and lay your head against Yamaguchi’s back peacefully as you enjoy the ride

- “How do you feel?” “Better. Lots.” 

- stops cycling in front of your favorite food stand, resting his bike against a rest stop as he approaches you to unfasten the helmet

- “Hey, Yama.” “Yes, Y/N?” 

- was not expecting for you to reach your lips up to meet his, causing a blush to spread over his freckled cheeks when you keep him there with your hand

- “...I seriously need to study.” “Bribing me with kisses won’t work.” 

- “What if I did it again...?” “I love you, but no. How about I kiss you anyways?” 

- “I mean, if you want.” “Did you just play me?” “Like a fiddle.” 

- Rolls his eyes before he kisses you again, you still perched on his bike as he uses the straps on your helmet to pull you in 

- Exams should come sooner, tbh 

[iamnotawomanimagod]

the fucking parking spot saga continues!!!!

the people actually stealing our spot aren't the people I thought - it's the people below them. they're kind of rough people to live by because they're always doing work outside of their house - painting stuff, cutting wooden boards, etc. and theoretically that's fine. maybe the dude makes furniture for a living.

but he also *constantly* puts his car in our spot. CONSTANTLY.

husband is out of the house about four days a week. within a few hours of him leaving, this guy will park his car halfway in and halfway out of our spot. he's always loading shit up in his car or like, wiping it down. he's treating our spot like it's a loading zone and it just isn't!!!

today we had to move some chairs out, and I moved husband's car about fifteen minutes before my friend showed up with his truck. the next time I look outside, as my friend is pulling up, the neighbor's stupid car is parked halfway into our spot. it took him less than fifteen minutes to take it!!!!!

I went outside (definitely irritated) and said "hey man can you please move your car, we're moving chairs"

and he snapped back at me like, "I'm right here, you can just tell me to move, I'm not going to leave it. by the way I'm Brian, nice to meet you" all fucking sarcastic.

(Idk what the protocol is for moving into a new place that you own, but like, only one neighbor came and introduced himself to us - which he did by immediately trash talking the queer couple across the hall from us - the rest I've had to stop and greet myself, which I honestly hate doing. And this guy hangs out outside all the time and he is clearly drinking a lot, and I'm not going out of my way to invite that kind of bullshit into my life, even on a barely-acquainted level. And I honestly don't really care to know my neighbors!!! I know that's not how you're supposed to be, but here I am!!!)

and yes, I can just ask him to move, but one - I did that, and he was a dick about it, and two, I shouldn't have to!!!!

like if your neighbor was parking in your driveway every day after you left for work so they could work on their car, you'd be pissed, right???

I know my reaction is probably outsized but I don't think I'm in the wrong on this one.

We have a secondary spot in the back that's farther away, and right now our other car (which needs to be registered so it can't be driven right now) is parked there. I'm thinking about being really petty and passive aggressive and just moving that car into our closer spot every time we vacate it. So he has to stop whether he wants to or not.

if he had just asked, it might be different. but this was immediately a problem when I started moving in here. a bunch of people were using that spot then, and I understood (even though I was still pissed, hence this saga being ongoing,) because the apartment and parking spot had been vacant for several weeks.

but he never asked us!!! never came up to our door after we moved in and went "hey, I'd like to pull into your spot a few times a day, let me know if that's okay" - I am socially awkward and people-pleasing enough that I almost definitely would've said yes!!!

but he just took it!! he just started using it whenever we're not in it because 90% of straight white men in the world don't understand how to leave things that aren't theirs alone.

I've had too much caffeine and I know I'm being a little crazy about this, but it's just. such a pet peeve of mine. I hate when people are inconsiderate and take things without asking. I'll give almost anything if someone asks. just fucking. ASK.

GAAAAAAAAAH.

[kingsuckjin]

Jimin's Body- Teaser

⫸ possessed Jimin x reader

⫸  Genre: horror, (Jennifer's body au)

⫸  Rating: M (18+ for eventual smut and very dark themes)

⫸  Warnings: (for this teaser only) demonic possession, blood, low self worth, mention of being a loner, question of a heart attack, embarrassing childhood story, Jimin might be being teased, hmmm Tae's house is haunted maybe?

⫸ About: This wasn't the party Jimin thought it would be. After the party you knew Jimin wasn't the person you thought he once was either... that is, if he’s a person at all anymore.

⫸  Words:1.8k

-------------

"Taehyung, stop fucking with everyone." You scolded as Jimin stared wide-eyed at the ceiling at the light that had just flickered out.

He had to look tough with you sitting in the circle right across from him on the brown, shag-carpeted floor of this basement that looked like it and its living room-like furniture hadn’t been touched or updated since the 70’s.

It was supposed to be a party, and there indeed was one upstairs blasting music but muffled by the floor above.

You were all supposed to be playing a childish and tipsy game of spin the bottle in the basement.

Jimin was supposed to kiss you. He had only come here because he wanted to spend time with you because you invited him, but so far nothing was going as planned.

"He's not fucking with anyone his house is haunted." Jungkook chuckled while Taehyung gave you a boxy grin. 

Jimin couldn't tell if they were lying or not, he didn't really know anyone here but you and Seokjin, who had already passed out on the basement couch across the room, oblivious to everything happening.

Jimin also thought maybe they were all playing a joke on him, he hadn't said a word to anyone but you and Jin since he had got here.

"He's not lying, I saw a ghost once when I stayed over. I don't even believe in ghosts." The rather stoic guy named Yoongi spoke with his arms crossed.

"Tell them the story Tae." Jungkook urged.

Taehyung's eyes flitted around the circle to each person's face, possibly pausing to add anticipation.

"A woman died in this house." 

"So what? People die everywhere, it doesn't mean a place is haunted." You spoke up, already seeming like you didn’t believe him right from the start.

"She was murdered," Taehyung added.

"Sure." You scoffed as you rolled your eyes.

"She was. Right here in the basement. She ran from the killer and hid in the basement and locked herself in the bathroom. She was supposedly very beautiful and vain. Sometimes if you look in the mirror and tell yourself how nice you look, she'll get jealous and appear, maybe she'll even steal your soul if you're pretty enough." 

Although Jimin had been a little scared at first. He couldn't help but stifle a laugh and a smile at how cliché Taehyung's ghost story sounded and suddenly all eyes in the circle were on him.

"What? You don't believe me?" Taehyung raised his eyebrows at Jimin.

"No one does, Tae. Even if the house is haunted you're obviously dramatizing it." You scoffed.

"I believe it," Yoongi muttered.

"Go in there and do it Jimin." Jungkook urged pointing to a darkened doorway in the basement.

"Oh Jimin, you made her mad." Taehyung teased as he watched the light above begin to flicker back to life just before dying again.

Jimin could feel the "are you serious?" look on his face that he was now giving Jungkook. He didn't know any of these people but you, and you were the one he was afraid of looking like a coward in front of. He cursed at himself in his head for laughing at Taehyung's bad ghost story. He should've just stayed quiet like he always did.

"Go on." Jungkook urged again, ignoring Jimin's surprised look.

"Guys don't. This isn't how you treat new friends. Can we please go back to-" 

"Too scared?" Yoongi now asked Jimin.

"No." He answered more confidently than he felt. Should he be scared? Probably not. Taehyung's story was shit and everyone in the room knew it. They were obviously just picking on him because he was a new friend and shy, right? Jimin didn't really have many friends until he started working at the restaurant with you and Seokjin, he was always just too shy and quiet for friends to really stick. But what if he simply just wasn't this time? What if he became the outgoing popular Jimin he always wanted to be and started over with these new friends. What if he pretended to be everything he wasn't? That’s why he came tonight, he thought if maybe he was all of those things finally, maybe you’d want him. He wasn’t about to mess up the charade he was doing okay at putting on now. 

Jimin stood from his place in the circle of new friends on the floor, trying to stop his nervous legs from shaking.

"So what do I do?" He was wanting to prove them wrong, show them that he wasn't scared and this was all bullshit, even though he knew in the back of his mind that this was how every horror movie and story started.

"Jimin you don't have t-" you were interrupted by a smirking Taehyung. Jimin wondered how he could be so chill about this if it was real.

"Go in the bathroom, don't turn on the lights, look in the mirror, and tell yourself you're pretty and genuinely mean it."

"Oh, so you can all hear me and laugh at me?" Jimin saw a new ploy to their jokes.

"No ones going to laugh at you." Taehyung was serious as he looked Jimin in the eye.

"You've got more balls than I do, new guy." Jimin heard Yoongi say as he looked towards the dark basement bathroom. Something about their suddenly serious tones of voices and the way they were looking at one another now made the fear and nervousness in Jimin’s stomach rise once again. 

"I swear if you're tricking him or you plan on actually making fun of him I swear I won't be your guy's friend anymore, I mean it." Your tone was deadly serious at the group and that gave Jimin some reassurance.

"It's not a joke," Taehyung replied in a way that took away any shred of confidence Jimin had left. What was worse, his new friends playing a prank on him and wanting to embarrass him or something actually happening? Jimin felt fucked either way but still made his legs carry him to the bathroom as he tried to shake off the unsettling feeling Taehyung’s story had left him with.

He wondered if they would stop him and tell him they were just kidding, but as he closed the door and the complete darkness took over the room, he lost any hope of that happening.

The bathroom smelled musty unlike the livable rest of the basement. Although it was a full bathroom with a sink, tub, and toilet, the walls were unfinished. It just felt like someone had given up on the room long ago. 

Jimin placed his hands on each side of the cool, white porcelain sink and looked at himself thoroughly in the mirror in front of him. How was he supposed to tell himself he was good looking and mean it? Jimin felt like he was a timid, friendless, freak. Even this incident reminded him of a sleepover he had in first grade where he got scared and peed his pants and all the boys laughed at him. He knew you'd never want him, not when he was too shy to finally make a move, not when you had all of these cool guy friends.

Jimin placed his hand on his cheek and let his thumb drift over his lips. Have you ever once thought he was handsome? Just once? If you did you wondered what you thought about. Maybe you liked his lips and thought about how good they would feel pressed to yours… or even other places on your body.

Maybe you liked his hair and thought about how nice it would feel to run your hands through it. Perhaps his body? As a dancer, Jimin knew his body was in shape but was it good enough for you to imagine on top of you?

He finally came to the conclusion that maybe he had more in the looks department than most did. That was when he let the words pass his lips.

"I'm attractive." 

The affirmation felt good, he had never once thought to do this before. He continued to look over his features and think about what you might like about him.

"My lips are nice, my hair is nice, my body is nice and I'm so attractive. I'm pretty." 

Jimin began to understand that the others in that room weren't him, they were nothing like him. He had things that they didn't, many things they didn't. Even in the kindness department, Jimin had a leg up, after all, who sends a new friend into a bathroom to scare them? Did they even want to really be friends with him? Probably not. Perhaps they did this out of jealousy. They were probably jealous Jimin was better looking than them, he was a better person than them. They wanted you and couldn't have you, Jimin could.

All Jimin could see in the mirror was darkness all but the beautiful features of his face. He didn't feel the smirk that erupted on it, but he saw it in the mirror and it felt so right.

"I'm the most beautiful here. I am."

Jimin was so lost in himself that he barely noticed the shadow right behind him, reaching out for him with its dark, spindly fingers each tapered to a claw tip.

Jimin did however see the dark liquid begin to drop from his nose, run down his full pips and chin before dripping onto the white porcelain sink in front of him. 

He doubled over with the sudden pain in his chest that hit him faster than a lightning strike. It felt like his heart was being tightened in a vice.

He collapsed completely onto the cold, cracked tiled floor in the dark grunting with a ringing growing overwhelmingly loud in his ears as he waited for the squeezing in his chest to pop his heart like a water balloon.

Could anyone hear him? Surely someone had to. What was happening? He wondered if he was suffering a heart attack. Was he dying?

The pain was so terrible and felt like it was lasting so long that Jimin had tried to dig his fingers into the tile until his knuckles turned white.

Over the piercing ringing, Jimin could hear soft whispers that didn't make sense at first. The whispering of a woman. The longer he listened as his vision began to fade, the more he was able to make sense of the words.

"Let me in. I can make your dreams come true. I can give you everything you want, just let me in Jimin." Whatever it was knew his name, and it knew about you and how much he liked you. it felt like whatever the voice was was burrowing around in his brain looking for something.

Jimin felt weaker and weaker as his struggling against the pain lessened the more he decided to give up.

"Fine." Jimin had struggled to say, but once he did, everything stopped. Everything turned black, even his thoughts of you had melted away into the darkness.

[wendystales]

Memories - lrh (Chapter Fourteen)

Memories (also on Wattpad)

Chapter Thirteen ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Chapter Fifteen

We stopped in front of the new location of The Art of Taste, where a group of people were waiting to enter. The entire facade was lit with small bulbs wrapped around the bushes, which framed the outside.

My mom is the first out of the car, excited, barely expecting Luke and me. She takes the lead, going straight to security and showing us our invitations.

“She's very excited”. Hemmo comments from beside me, offering me his arm.

“You have no idea.” I open a smile.

We followed my mother as she led the way, looking for Mr. Marshall. I appreciate the decor of the place and fall in love with the small wooden bridge that leads into the restaurant, passing by a pond with koi.

"Debra! You came!” Mr. Marshall approaches as excited as my mother. “You’re stunning.” her cheeks blush.

“Oh, not that much. It's an old little dress I had in the back of the closet.” she lowers her head shyly.

"Didn't she say she bought the dress today?" Luke whispered confusedly to me, almost making me laugh. I watch the two lovebirds praising and flirting like two teenagers.

"Marnie! I'm happy for your presence too.” he hugs me. “You must be Luke! Debra talks about you a lot.” he opens a sympathetic smile.

Subtly, I widen my eyes at my mom, wanting to scold her, but she just shrugged, ignoring me. Luke smiles sympathetically and handles the situation perfectly.

Mr. Marshall takes us to a more private table and away from the window for more privacy. I sit next to Luke, having a full view of whoever enters the restaurant.

“I'm going to have the menu degustations served, and if you don't mind, I'm going to steal Debra for a while.” he smiles at my mother.

“Be my guest!” I open a tight smile, very happy for them.

"Is there something I should know?" Luke asks me after the two walk away arm in arm.

“They're in love, but they don't know what to do.” Summary, still watching the them.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about it." Luke repeats the same thing I said yesterday. I let out a laugh, disbelieving his audacity.

“Sorry, there was no time.” I raise my eyebrows, like he does.

Yesterday was a special night with Luke. After Urban Light, we went to Santa Monica, to sit on the sand and watch the sea, illuminated by the lights from the pier. It was fun to have this time with him without anyone looking at us like fools for whatever move we made.

It was nice to meet him and know everything he likes and dislikes, as well as getting to know the band's history better. For moments like this, just the two of us, I could let him get closer, totally letting my guard down and creating a better relationship.

Of course because of this endless conversation we had and cause we got super late back home, today I woke up looking like a zombie and only managed to get out of bed by a miracle. But even tired, I would do everything exactly the same, just to be able to spend this time with him.

"Should we wait for the girls?" I question, seeing a board of small toast and various types of sauces and pates being served to us.

“I believe not!” he's the first to take the toast and dip it in a red sauce.

I follow him, quickly taking two and sinking into the same sauce. Tomato and basil. I let out an exclamation when I taste it. I start to eat more, after all, I didn't even have time to have lunch today and I didn't even want to, because I knew I would eat here.

I had invited everyone to come to the opening today, but only Luke, Leah, and Kyleen agreed right away. Calum, Ash and Noah had other commitments and Michael also tried to use this one, but Ashton soon revealed the lie, saying that he was actually going on a date, with that Sophie.

"You didn't have lunch today, did you?" I stop the toast in the air, mouth open, watching Luke look me curious.

“I didn’t have time.” I answer a little embarrassed.

“Well, if we run out of those toast, just ask for more.” he takes one more, sinking now into a green pate. I watch his face, trying to guess what that would be.

“Pesto?” I ask, looking at the pot. Luke denies it. I smell the content not identifying much.

"A bitter taste." he make a face. “No! It's a good bitter.” he adds quickly.

When I least notice, Hemmings and I are playing russian roulette with sauce and pates. We just don't know how to just eat quietly, we have to play.

"Bad?" I ask, watching him close his eyes and wrinkle his nose. Luke nodded, swallowing and eating another toast with the tuna pate, which was what we liked best.

"A taste of… I can't explain it. Eats!” he offers me the toast with the white pate and small green bits.

“No! Don't you know what it is and want to push it to me?” I drop the toast on my plate, wanting distance.

Interrupting our little discussion, Leah and Kyleen arrive.

“Sorry we’re late. There was an accident on the expressway. Have you started eating yet?” Leah glances across the table sulkily.

"M&Ms didn't have lunch." Luke hands it to me. I slap his arm.

“Great, there are two of us.” Kiki smiles, already eating some toast. "What is this one?" she points to the weird pate.

“We haven't eaten yet, but try it there.” Hemmings encourages, surprising me with his performance. I stare at him laughing.

Like Luke, Kiki grimaces, disapproving of the pate. I offer my glass of juice to her, which she drinks in one gulp.

“This is horrible. What is that?” she whispers disgustedly.

Luke steals the menu from the next table, looking for the pate. I squint at the ingredients: ricotta, gorgonzola and pickles. I understand why it's horrible.

It doesn't take long and more stuff arrives at our table. Once again, we started our russian roulette, trying everything out and grading, as if we were at MasterChef. We really don't have maturity for anything.

Looking at the restaurant entrance, I start nudging Luke, flustered, discreetly asking him and the girls to look too. Surprised and excited, we watched Michael approach our table, hand in hand with a girl shorter than him.

“Is it her?” I try to contain my excited voice.

“It's her!” Hemmo confirms.

“Okay! But who is she?” Kyleen asks, lost.

“They met at a game match and now Michael is in love.” I almost run over my words, trying to deliver the information before they arrived.

"I didn't tell you." Luke already takes his off the line.

“Hey!” Michael sighs standing next to the table.

“Hey!” aside from Luke, the girls and I were all smiles.

“This is Sophie! My friend.” Mike introduces. The girl with dark hair and two streaks white, like Narcissa in Harry Potter, smiles shyly.

“Sorry for the delay, we got lost.” her voice is low.

“Actually, I didn't want to come.” Michael doesn't even bother to lie. If it wasn't a public place, I'd throw a shoe on him.

Sophie excuses herself and heads to the bathroom as we pull another table for them. Michael sits across from Luke, leaving Sophie in mine and Leah beside her.

“Please, I'll pay you whatever you want, but don't embarrass me.” Mike begs. “I like her a lot.” he admits it quietly.

"Awn!" me and the girls hold hands, dying of love.

“I hate you.” he declares.

“To show that we are willing to help, do not eat the white pate. It’s not from this world. And not in the good way.” Leah warns him.

Sophie returns to the table, taking a seat across from me. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice how Michael's posture becomes tense. He's so into her. Without needing much, we start a conversation and Sophie slowly walks in, forming a group.

“This gaming field must be shit, right? I mean, for who is a woman, isn't it?” Kyleen asks.

“Yea! No man likes to lose to a woman. They never accept that I play better than they do. Cause of this, when Michael called me, I thought he was going to argue with me.” she gives a shy smile.

"Actually, I was going to ask for my shield back." he gives an ashamed laugh.

"And complain to me how you lost." she completes, making him laugh. The way they look at each other makes my heart melt.

The four of them get carried away on a subject as I approach Luke.

“They're really cute.” I whisper.

"I think we're both a lot cuter." he snaps, smiling. I open a smile, denying the way he's sassy.

“You were not like this.” I comment with a smile. I take my gaze to the hall, finding my mother walking with Mr. Marshall, still arm in arm. "I think they're cuter than us." Luke follows my gaze.

“All right! She's your mother, I'll give you my arm. Do you think they'll be together?”

“I hope!”

“Are you gossiping about Debra?” I am startled by Kyleen approaching me and joining in our conversation.

"What's the gossip with Debra?" Leah already turns her attention to us.

"Is there gossip about Debra?" Michael leans against the table, moving closer.

I look at the curious faces trying to identify how my mom became the subject of the table. If she knows this, she will kill me!

"Don't let her know that." I declare before I lean against the table and tell her about my mother and Mr. Marshall.

Friday

I feel terrible, not only for the cramps and indisposition, but mainly for having to cancel with Luke. I've waited so long for this date and now I'm here, lying on the couch, suffering for being born a woman.

“Here.” Leah hands me a pain killer and a hot water bottle. I lay my head on her lap, wanting to cry. “It's OK.” she repeats calmly as she cuddles me. She knows why. “You can go out next week, he won't change his mind until then.”

“I know he won’t, but…” I catch my throat, not wanting to accept that I would cry about this, but I can't control it, letting a few tears fall. Damn hormones. “I don't know if I can make it another week, I was so excited.” my voice crack it. “Stop laughing!” I scream when I feel her body move.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! But you look so funny like this. Sorry.” she hugs me, holding back her laughter.

Before I can complain, the doorbell rings and I'm grateful that Kiki has finally arrived with food and a lap where I can cry more. Leah runs to open the door and I feel my heartbeat stop for seconds when his voice reaches me. I lift my head, seeing him come in full of bags and a Petunia on a leash.

“What are you doing here?” I quickly dry my face and try to fix my hair. I look awful. Luke looks at me confused and opens his arms, as if the answer is wide open there.

“I came to take care of you, of course.” he laughs. Leah is behind him, smiling like hell.

I sink my face into the pillow, wanting to cry more. I don't deserve him. I don’t deserve. Luke lets go of Petunia, who runs off to try to climb onto the couch and lick me. Leah helps Luke empty the bags in the kitchen.

While they straighten everything out in the kitchen, I go back to tidying up my appearance, trying to look at least presentable.

"I brought some soup that Calum made. Pain killers, sweets and some facial masks, This always helps you relax and get better.” he comes closer and I just want to bury myself. I look awful.

“I can't believe you came here and still brought all this.” my heart melts at the attitude and smile he gives.

"I'm sorry if you thought you were going to get rid of me." he sits beside me with a bowl of soup, pleasant smell by the way. I move closer, almost getting under his arms and snuggling into his chest. However, I still keep a safe distance and control my urges to cling to him.

“Well, since you’re very well cared for and accompanied. I think I'm on my way.” Leah still has the smile. “Get well.” she kisses my cheek. "Anything, call me. And you, take good care of her.” she orders Luke.

“Promise!” he raises his right hand.

Leah left, leaving us alone. Petunia lying on my lap, curious about the hot water bottle. Luke beside me, holding the bowl and spoonful of broth toward me.

"You know you don't have to spoon-feed me, don't you?" I ask before opening my mouth.

"Can you let me take care of you?" he counters, falsely sulking.

“You can, just don't need…”

“Sh-sh! Eat the soup.” he advances another spoonful into my mouth. I roll my eyes, silent.

"Calum who did it?" I ask impressed, after a few spoonfuls.

“He's been taking some cooking lessons, especially now that he's turned vegetarian.”

"You should do it too, to stop making eggs in the microwave." I let a fake smile in the end.

"Worried about me?" he asks smiling.

"Shut up and give me the soup." I ignored him, taking a deep breath and not smiling under his amused gaze.

Between spoonfuls, I play with Petunia, already feeling much better. At least the urge to cry has passed.

"You said you brought candy." I knelt on the couch, watching him carry the bowl of soup to the sink. Luke laughs, grabbing some white and pink boxes from the fridge.

“Yes, I believe sugar can help.” he puts the boxes on the table and pulls Petunia onto the rug. “You don’t!” she barks. “You can’t!” she barks louder. “Hey! Come! I'll give you your food.” I watch her follow him into the kitchen.

I open the first white box seeing a generous piece of Red Velvet. I pick up the fork he brought and already steal a piece. In the second box, I find four cupcakes and four donuts. My eyes widen as I open the third box.

"Did you go to Mr. Marshall's restaurant?" I question shocked.

“Yea! You said you liked his chocolate cake. He made this one especially for you.” I look at the smaller size cake.

“I don't remember him decorating with M&Ms.” I comment, stealing a piece already.

“Oh, I asked him to do it.”

I close my eyes, letting my body react to that information any way it wants to. He asked them to put M&Ms on my cake because he knows I like it.

Luke returns to sit beside me, picking up a white chocolate cupcake. I hold the box of Red Velvet in my lap, recklessly eating the cake.

"Argh! I feel so guilty. I'm going to get fat like this.” I complain, but without stopping eating.

“You are indisposed, you can eat what you want. Tomorrow we worry about our weight.” Luke speaks with his mouth full.

"I thought you didn't like red desserts." I comment, watching him take a full fork of my cake.

“How do you know that?” he looks at me curiously. Then I realize I've been cornered.

“In an interview last year.” then I fill my mouth, making it impossible for me to continue the conversation.

"Are you still googling me?" he puts again that amused/satisfied smile on his face.

“Of course, you were my boyfriend. I need to know what kind of people I'm getting involved with.” I shrug.

“I understood. Well, I really don't like it. I don't understand the need to make it red.”

“It's to be more aesthetically beautiful. It's like wearing makeup. You use it and looks more beautiful, it enhances your beauty.” Luke stares at me, holding back his laughter. I've seen this same expression when I defended my M&M’s organizer.

“Well, I know you're crazy about this cake, so I brought it.” he shrugs, like it's no big deal. But for me it's something. If Luke still has any intentions of winning me back, he's doing great.

“Thanks.” I advance toward him, kissing his cheek in shyly. I notice Luke is ashamed too, but maintains his pose.

After we stuff ourselves with candy. Luke and I were in the bathroom, trying to put on those face masks. At first I thought he brought it just for me, but when I saw him putting it on, I understood that he would participate body and soul in that night with me.

“This isn't right.” he comments still struggling with that piece of material.

"You didn't put it upside down, did you?" I approach trying to help.

“No! The eyes are here. So why don't stay?” I see the mask slip off his face. I hold back a laugh, taking the material from his hands.

"If you take the cape off, it stays." I pull out the plastic that holds the oils and put it on his face.

“Makes more sense.” he comments, watching me massage his face. “I need to shave.” he says as I massage his cheeks.

“No!” the answer comes out faster than I can think.

Luke stares at me in surprise at the revelation. With my hands still on his face, I notice the mood and walk away, drying my hands.

“And now?” I stare at him behind me in the mirror. Luke just raises his hands and shakes his fingers, demonstrating that we're going to get our nails done. The scene itself is so funny it makes me laugh. He's the best boyfriend anyone could have. "I think we'd better wait the twenty minutes for the mask, so as not to blur our work."

“Truth. Let's get back to the series then.” he turns around, his back to me, crouching down a little. I grab his shoulders and push off, climbing on his back. And like this, we go back to the room, on piggyback.

I go back under the covers, grateful that I'm sitting down because my legs are killing me. How can something that stays in the womb fuck my entire body? I shift uncomfortably, not finding a position that would make my legs stop hurting.

“Is it everything OK?” he asks, hitting play on The Office.

“My legs.” I answer softly, lying down on the couch with my head next to him.

“Turn. Put your legs here.” he pats his lap. I roll over on the couch, leaving my legs in his lap, where within seconds Luke starts massaging my legs.

I roll my eyes, feeling my body soften. A moan wants to escape, but I hold it with all the strength in the world, along with the treacherous declaration that explodes in my chest. They were three dangerous words that could mess with him more than anything else.

“You are incredible!” I exchange the words, feeling more secure in that expression. The blonde chuckles, shaking his head as he squeezes my foot.

I can't focus for a minute on TV. The feel of him touching my skin so gently and stiffly steals all my attention. I shift my gaze between him and the screen so I don't get so in the face that I'm staring at him.

After twenty minutes of the mask, we went back to the bathroom, washing our faces and then starting to do our nails. I'm sitting, glued to Luke, my hand propped up on a pillow in his lap as he applies the black nail polish. Once again I shift my gaze between him and the new episode, but I don't care if he catches me staring in the meantime.

"Did we do that a lot?" I inquire softly. Luke doesn't answer me with words, too focused on his work, just nodding his head positively.

“Especially when you were feeling bad, or when I was really tired and stressed out.” he complements after finishing a hand. “Tv shows, candies, beauty treatments and massage. Once you wanted to invent climbing on my back, massaging me with your feet.” he starts to smile, still focused.

“I'm sorry.” I lay my head against his shoulder. Let out a low laugh, focused on him.

“It wasn't one of our best ideas. But I can't deny that it wasn't good.”

"Were you happy with me? I mean, we had a good relationship, didn't we?” I question after a while.

Luke stops and stares at the wall, maybe thinking. I analyze your profile apprehensive about the delay. Then his eyes connect to mine. It's like a screen, I don't need the answer anymore, it's there, explicit in the glow of his eyes.

“Yes. I believe we had a great relationship.” he goes back to painting my nails, putting the last coat on.

“Itn't was those weird, honeyed types, was it?” curiosity takes me more every second. Luke holds back a laugh, denying it.

“No! I tried once, but you hit me with the pillow. But that's not our style either. It's like wanting Leah to be cute.” he shrugs. "Don't let her know that." he looked at me in alarm.

“I won’t! Honestly, I'm glad it's you here.” he stops and looks at me curiously. “You know…not that she's not amazing. Even because she was taking really good care of me, but…” I swallow with his gaze so fixed on me. Oh Lord, where are the words?! “You are you!” I shrug. "Don't let her know that." I ask in an alarmed way, as well as he.

“I'm me?” he turns more to me.

“Yeah!” I take a deep breath, trying to find myself in the mess I decided to make. “You seem to know how to handle this whole situation and cause…" Why is it so hard for me to say that I enjoy his company? “You know…I like being with you.” I whisper, wanting to crumble into thin air and disappear.

I lower my gaze, not holding that moment. I've known Luke for a month. I know that he only has size and age in his identity, that inside he is as child and silly as the guys. But there's something about him, so subtle and unobtrusive, that intimidates me so much.

“I like being with you too… but something tells me you already know.” the playful tone breaks the pit of shame I was in. I open a shy smile, going back to watching him finish painting my nails.

“Can I ask you something?” I question fearfully, after he finishes. Luke nodded. "How was that day? The one from the accident.”

He just stops. His jaw locks and that glint in his eyes fades. He leans back against the sofa, snorting. I feel bad for causing this discomfort. I'm even thinking about withdrawing the question, however, Luke is already starting to speak.

“You had gone to rehearse for Vogue and then we were supposed to go to lunch cause I turned off your alarm, and then you were late and we can't have breakfast together.” he narrates quietly and with a lost look.

"Why did you turned off my alarm?" I frown, confused.

"Cause I thought that way you'd stay home with me." I pick up my lips, pressing them together so I don't laugh at his pout. “Well, I was at the restaurant when it happened. The manager came to me and told me what happened, apparently was already on the news.” he takes a deep breath before continuing. “I was the first to arrive, but you were already in attendance, so I only saw you in your room a couple hours later.”

"The nurse said you slept there." I comment quietly, letting my mind wander to that day. Your cheeks are easily pink.

"I wasn't leaving your side." he answers in the same tone.

“Sorry I got you into this. And for being stupid the first time we met…again.” I add.

“It's OK! I mean, it was kind of good.” I widen my eyes, not understanding. “By making you fall in love with me again, I also ended up falling in love with you all over again.”

My heart races. The revelation takes me by surprise, not giving me time to hide the stupid grin gaping at my face. I roll my eyes, looking at the TV, which is currently playing with Jim asking Pam on a date. Ironically, she had the same stupid smile as mine.

"I never said I'm in love with you." I try to maintain my dignity, or whatever I'm supposed to maintain at a time like this.

“It's just a matter of time.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see him shrug. “You've already admitted that you like being with me. For those who hated me in that hospital, enjoying my presence is already a big step forward.”

I bite my lip, closing my eyes. He can’t be serious.

"I never said I hated you." I look at him, who was focused on the TV.

"And you never said you're not in love with me either." he blinks, smiling in amusement.

“I hate you!” I say loud enough.

“In seventh grade, when a girl said she hated a boy, it's because she liked him.” Luke comments, leaving me speechless, my mouth hanging open. "I will take your silence as a yes."

I kneel down on the couch, taking the pillow from my lap and hitting it. Hemmings starts to laugh as he shields himself from the flurry of beatings I give him. My God, how I hate him.

I return to sit on the couch more relieved, but still with my heart pounding. It's a mixture of very random feelings. I want to hit him at the same time I want to kiss him as I sink his head into the coffee table, telling him how much I like him.

The desire to let these feelings take over me fascinates me. But that's not how I wanted everything to happen between us. Expected to be a little more romantic, with me more tidy and less messy.

"You made me smudge my nail." Finally, I accuse him, sulking.

[coffee-n-bagels-comic-universe]

Bloody, Beaten, Bruised or Maximum Effort

Quick Tag List: @kuruumiya @spacelizardtrashboys @enigmaticandunstable @nattinngrst @amyofaquitaine

This passage contains potentially: scenes of one (or more) characters swearing, blood, self-harm (unintentional) and scenes of a violent nature. whump content and potential tear-jerking moments.

Summary: In this 'chapter' Kirby has her first fight in New Jersey, and stay in New Jersey for a week, leading to some heavy whump content by a certain someone.

Kirby's POV:

Standard match, one on one with a ten minute time limit. Not much for a debut but it's made into a big deal upon learning the opponents were male and female and not the standard male on male.

Jobber VS Newcomer.

Andrew Strong VS Kirby 'Gluttony' Lucifarian.

The bell rings and the fight starts.

"Strong throws the first punch and misses."

"The Ogress capitalises and hits him with a Feeding Frenzy."

"Strong is backed into the turnbuckle but the Ogress continues her attack."

"The referee is forced to separate them and Strong gets The Ogress in a lock-up."

"A swift knee to the stomach and Strong is staggered."

"The Ogress hits Strong with the Organ Grinder and it looks like it's all over."

"She covers Strong and … one … two … three. She's done it! The Ogress has won!"

Walking back to the locker room, I caught a glimpse of Moolah as she sneers at me and I shrug her off, focusing on getting into some clean clothes and going back to the hotel. I change and walk out of the dressing room with my bag slung over my shoulder.

"Good work out there, Kirby."

I recognise the voice and turn to see André, "Thank you, Drey."

"Moolah, doesn't seem to like you girls."

"We're stealing the hag's time in the sun. She always hates people who do that, even if she brings them in. I'll see you soon Drey."

"See you soon, Kirby."

I start walking back to the hotel when I start hearing a voice behind me, gradually getting closer.

"Hey, Miss, I think you dropped this." A distinctly masculine voice called out.

I turned around to see what the person wanted. To my surprise they had picked up my wallet, "Huh, I didn't feel it fall out of my pocket, thank you."

The man handed it to me before introducing himself, "Paul Orndorff. I saw your match earlier, you're fast for a giant, tough too."

"Thank you, Mr Orndorff."

He looked over his shoulder, "Oh, well, I have to go, Piper's waiting for me."

"Uh well, bye Mr Orndorff."

He left without another word and I unzipped my bag slightly to place my wallet inside, zipping it back up and continuing back to the hotel. I spent the night in a cramped hotel room and went to the gym the next morning.

Setting myself up at a heavy bag and practicing as per usual, no interruptions, no one else near by to talk to.

It was as if my mind just drifted away and I went into this mental fog, no gloves on but punching as if I did, breaking through the skin on my knuckles and only stopping after I noticed smears of blood on the heavy bag.

I wiped it down and bandaged my knuckles before moving on to doing push ups, lunges, squats and other exercises that wouldn't leave me covered in blood.

I was alone for the rest of the day, so I ordered some pizza (simple, pepperoni) and relaxed in the hotel, I pulled out a sketch book from my suitcase and began sketching.

I didn't plan on sketching anything too important so I just went with what was on my mind, which happened to be Roddy, Jeez it's like I'm becoming emotionally attached to this idiot.

When I see him next I'll give him the drawing if I have it with me. I close the sketchbook and go back to the gym for around an hour, before coming back to the hotel and getting some rest.

I woke up the next morning (January 9th) and had a day much the same as the last, got up, did my morning routine, went to the gym, came back, ordered Chinese food and started drawing. It was just a shitty little thing, but once again, the Rowdy one came to mind.

What is it with Scottish men and me, is it because I'm a quarter Scottish, is it maybe because I believe in the folk tales and stories of old, of knights on white steeds, saving fair maidens and living happily ever after, while the monsters they kill or maim lie in a pool of their own blood and wish they could've had a different life?

I have no idea, and the idea of my own mind comparing me with those monsters makes me regret ever reading those stories while growing up, rather I should have stuck my head into scientific textbooks instead of tales of heroism and fantastical ghouls, then I would have never become and wrestler or met the amazing people in my life.

I look back down at the paper and decide to let Roddy have two final full page drawings on the other side of the sketches I've already drawn of him, I add in a small note on the page under a picture of Roddy that Sam had found.

The more I looked at the drawings and that lone picture, the more I realised the small details of Roddy's features, the strong jaw with a cleft chin, his hazel eyes? or are they dark blue? either way they intrigue me. And that musculature, Roddy's not slim but not a big man either, he's at that almost perfect weight to body fat ratio. Good lord, listen to me calling … Piper, Roddy, Him, perfect. I think I want to be sick, just to be rid of those thoughts.

Right as I run into the small bathroom I hear a commotion in the hallway and someone being thrown or more accurately, hurled into the other side of the bathroom wall. I take a deep breath, re-fix my mask into it's usual position and dart out into the corridor, right as the commotion ends.

The obvious victim of the bout was on the floor face down with a long, not to deep cut down the back of their left leg and was breathing heavily when I reached them.

"Woah, hey, hey buddy." I whispered to them in an effort to calm them.

"Kirby?"

FUCK

…

That Glaswegian accent, fuck, He's not even supposed to be in town, or is he?

"Piper?!" I whisper-yelled, more to myself than to him.

"Hey…" his voice trailed off, I heaved him over my shoulder and went back into my hotel room, tossing him down on the only bed and grabbing his left foot, reaching over to my suitcase and getting my personal first aid kit, nothing too fancy, some bandages, plasters, the bare essentials. I cleaned the cut and bandaged it, taping the bandage in place.

I glanced up from Roddy's leg and saw that he had passed out, "Shit." I muttered to myself, louder than I thought and his eyes flickered open.

"Kirby? Is that you?" His voice weak but still understandable.

I stood there, frozen to the spot, unable to move, I wanted to cry as I realised how badly he had been beaten up, his eyebrow cut, coming close to his eye, his hairline a mix of matted brown hair and blood that was starting to coagulate and then I started to notice more things wrong with Roddy's visage.

His shirt (a Piper classic, yellow with a wild cat graphic) was torn in several places, showing bruises and nicks in his flesh. His kilt, however, was fully intact, including his belt and sporran, though all of it was scuffed with little scratches, but no cuts.

"Kirby? Kirby talk to me, please?" He spoke so carefully and it broke me.

I dropped to my knees, weeping, and Roddy shot to his feet, before dropping down on his left side and leaning on the bed, getting only a couple of steps closer to me.

"Kirby, are you okay?"

"Roddy, look at ya," I took a deep breath in, "How can you be so beat up and worried about me? How is that possible?"

"Kirby? look at ya, you're crying over me? I thought you didn't care about me that much?"

I wiped the tears from my face and got Roddy back on the bed.

"Stay there, Piper."

"Oh, feisty."

"Roddy! Stay on the bed and don't move."

"Yes Ma'am."

I trudged into the bathroom and ran a long cold shower, and I heard him move off the bed before swearing and sitting back on the bed.

"I thought I said, DON'T MOVE Roddy!"

"Alright, alright. … feisty"

After the shower, I dressed in the bathroom after drying myself off and exited the room. I instantly noticed a sleeping Piper.

"I guess I'll sleep on the floor then."

"C'mere." He lazily waved his arm to try and beckon me over.

"No, Roddy, get some rest."

"Come here and get in the bed." He rolled over and picked up the duvet, lackadaisically blowing a joking kiss in my direction.

"Jesus, Roddy, fine."

I climbed into the bed and felt Roddy's arms curl around my waist and his face between my shoulder blades.

"Rod, get off."

"Wha'?"

"Get off of me."

"Why?"

"Aren't you married, get off."

"if I was married, there would be a ring on my finger," He waved his left hand in front of my face, "No ring, no wife."

"Oh. Still, get off."

"Now, would that be 'get off' in the, leave me alone, way or the 'get off' in the, I love you take me now, way." The latter a clear joke but it annoyed me even more.

"Leave me alone, Roddy."

He slid his arms off and rolled to face the other way.

"Small bed, Kirby."

"I wasn't expecting company, Piper."

"Your tattoos are nice."

"Sleep, Piper."

"I'm just saying."

"Roddy, you are injured, sleep."

"I looked through your sketchbook earlier, y'know, when you were in the shower, just flicked through it, and wow, you're a great artist."

"For the love of God, Roddy! would you please just get some sleep."

"Alright!, alright. No need to yell."

"One more word and I'm chucking you out the nearest window."

We both fell silent and managed to get some sleep, it wasn't until sunrise that either one of us awoke. As I stirred from my slumber I was face to face with the Scottish idiot. I yelped and, without realising his legs were intertwined with mine, fell off the bed with him falling on top of me, waking Roddy up in the process.

"Oh, well, morning sweetheart, did I wake ya."

"Rod, get ya damn 'Loch Ness Monster' away from me."

Rod's cheeks turned pink and he quickly looked down between our bodies before sheepishly standing up and hurrying to the bathroom, I took the chance to change into a graphic tee and some black jeans, not noticing that Piper had left the bathroom door wide open, until I heard his voice.

"Woah, so uh, all of you is bigger than normal?"

I yelped and threw one of my shirts at his face, before realising that I had thrown the shirt I was planning on wearing at him, "Wait, Roddy, I need that shirt."

He laughed before handing me back my shirt, "Uh, thank you … for …saving me last night."

"Were you even supposed to be in town?"

"Well no, but I …" He trailed off

"I can't hear you, Roddy?"

"It's nothing, really."

I continued on with my normal routine, mindful that Roddy was in the same room as me and injured. It wasn't until the phone rang that I had a problem, before I could reach the phone Roddy had already answered it.

"Who is this?"

I could hear a loud, angry voice on the phone and Piper got defensive.

"You think you're a hard man do ya?!"

Damien. That's got to be Damien, which means I am in some real trouble now. Thanks Piper, ya dafty.

"I'll get her to call ya back once you've calmed down."

He slammed the phone back into it's place and breathed out a hefty sigh.

"Kirby, is Damien your boyfriend?" He seemed instantaneously calm

I almost choked on air for a moment, "No! He's my manager, and he's like double my age. He's Vic," I paused for a moment, "He's my dad, as well as the other members of the D.O.D. We're not all his biological daughters though, just Vickie."

"So, he adopted you?"

"I guess you could say that." I avoided looking him in the eyes.

"Tell me the truth. Now!"

"Promise you won't tell anyone first."

"I won't tell a soul, now, why are you so, uptight, about who he is to you."

"First things first, my name isn't Kirby Lucifarian, it's actually Kirby Trevor."

"Oh, so Damien's not you're adoptive father, either?"

"No, my real parents are Heaven and Eric Trevor. Damien's Vickie's dad and only Vickie's dad."

"Are either one of your parents giants? or is it just you?"

"Just me, the closest person to me in height, family-wise was my uncle Rory. He's the reason I have the tattoo on my wrist."

I walked up to Piper and showed him the 'R' tattooed on my right wrist.

"So, he passed away?"

"Yeah. He died, eleven, no no, twelve years ago now, when I was Seventeen, My uncle Vaughn died a couple months later, he's why I have the lighter on my left arm, my uncle Vaughn was best known for being, in the nicest terms, a layabout smoker, and the smoke took him in the end."

"So, you have a lighter to remember a man who died by smoking?"

"Dark, I know, but uncle Vaughn would've laughed at it. Erik laughed at it when I explained it to him."

"Eric, your dad?"

"No, no, Erik, with a 'K', my old tag partner before I joined the D.O.D. I think you would've liked him."

"Really, now why would I like a guy I know nothing about?"

"Well, Erik's Scottish, He's from Edinburgh. He's tall-ish, then again I am a giant, so who am I to say what's tall, he's six-foot-five. He played the bagpipes when he was younger, he quit playing when he was twenty-three, same year we lost the tag titles."

"Rough," He interrupted "Continue, please."

"Uh, well. Erik's strong, very strong, he would compete in the Highland games and well, … I guess back then I thought I'd never leave him, until Damien gave me an offer I couldn't refuse and I left him. I had a whole life with him planned inside my head and I left it all behind, for what, cramped hotel rooms and breakfasts with André."

"You had breakfast with André the giant and you didn't tell me … You, You had a good Scottish man, and you left him, for," He gestured to the room, "all this?"

"Well I jus-"

"No," He held my jaw and looked me straight in the eyes, "You had a life, a man who obviously a close relationship with you, and you gave it up for breakfasts with André and shitty hotel rooms."

"I know I'm stupid."

"But you're not stupid, you saved me, I could have died in that hallway and you brought me in here, you stopped that bastard from killing me. I could kiss you."

"Please don't."

Sorry for cliff-hanger ending, but … END OF BLOODY, BEATEN, BRUISED or MAXIMUM EFFORT.

[luthorao3]

I forgot I sent in the Selkie!MC thought! But thank you for reminding me and also thanks for the Nadia thought because now all that's in my head is this following idea of how she finds out about MC (if you have your own idea please share, I'm just chucking mine out because I'm a mess for these characters and the myth and folklore genres).

Also forgive the length of it, I started typing and the idea grew much, much further than intended. I should not be as invested in mythical and folklore creatures as I am, but once I start thinking it does. not. stop.

Anyway, here's the initial idea I had:

Nadia's not a fan of hypocritical behaviour because, fine, some people have moral codes but at least have the strength of character to stick to them. So she's annoyed about the Poppy having a pet seal, so maybe she decides to be petty about it and give them the metaphorical finger.

How does she decide to do this?

By kidnapping the seal and releasing it back into the wild of course!

She figures out quite quickly that the seal in question isn't always in the pool, but for the life of her she can't find out where they keep it indoors. Is there a hidden water tank inside she doesn't know about? If there is she can't find it, which leaves the pool as the only viable option to take the "poor, trapped animal" from.

And sure, MC loves being (as you perfectly put it) a menace in the pool when others are around, but sometimes she just likes to swim yk? So she goes swimming on her own sometimes.

And during one of Nadia's checkups on the spot, she sees the seal splashing around unsupervised and sees her chance.

MC does not expect the net.

She thrashes, of course, but at first thinks it's an ill-advissd, not very sensitive prank and is just like "I'm gonna kill them" until she realises exactly who has just pulled her out of the water.

The plan for Nadia had been to use a seal-carrier bag usually used by rescuers after getting the seal out of the net.

The plan absolutely had not included the thrashing seal to almost immediately shift into an infuriated MC because she recognises the bag Nadia's holding and it might not exactly be a cage but it's pretty close and she doesn't know what the hell Nadia wants with a seal so she's at least going to get into a form where she can defend herself.

Nadia's of course frozen in shock and barely avoids getting her nose broken again.

The Poppy hear MC shouting and come running, and Vivienne nearly kills Nadia the moment she sees the net, the bag and MC clinging to her sealskin. The rest of the Poppy are fully ready to throw down but it's Nadia's shock that saves her because she just blurts out "You're a SEAL?" And the Poppy pauses because they're like "...you aren't trying to take her coat?"

"Wtf would I do that? You think I need sealskin?"

And they really don't like this situation, they don’t want to be in a position where they have to trust Nadia because, yk, it's Nadia, but they can't kill her either (Vivienne does ask again if they can reconsider their no killing rule, but this time she's only half joking) so they don't really have a choice. They chuck her out as fast as possible because they are not explaining anything that could give her leverage and also they don't want her around MC, and Nadia's more than happy to book it out of there because she needs more information but her mind is still reeling (MC, seal, MC, seal, MC is the seal, what the-). The Poppy move to another penthouse and are gearing up to dispell any rumours that might "crop up" about MC in the Underworld, practicing scoffing in people's faces like "Selkies? You mean like magic? That doesn't exist!"

But Nadia doesn't spread any rumours, there's just total silence, nothing to indicate that anyone's heard anything about Selkies or seals.

And nobody's going to, because once Nadia's done her research and worked out that, yes, MC is an apparently not-so-mythical Selkie, she knows she isn't going to tell anyone (aside from looking insane if she did so, she also does want to win the Poppy over and stealing a pet seal is one thing but this is on an entirely different level).

Of course her research of Selkies inevitably raises the point of how important MC's sealskin coat actually is, and it clicks in her brain exactly what the Poppy thought she was doing by attempting to kidnap MC, and Nadia's a terrible human being, okay? Absolutely terrible, she would kill a man without hesitation, she would wreck someone's life in all kinds of ways, but she wouldn't do that. She gets the implications of what taking the coat would mean immediately, what it looked like to the Poppy by the pool before they realised she didn't know, hadn't worked it out.

And the Poppy don't hear anything, not for a while, as Nadia tries to work out how to approach the situation, until she gets wind of Vivienne punching a man who hadn't known that MC was a Selkie, but had thought that the sealskin coat looked very nice and tried to steal it.

He ends up dead in a couple days.

please never never apologise holy shit also please tell me you write??? please tell me you have fic somewhere that i can read because oh my gos your mind???? i’m about to go zombie weird on you and your beautiful brain lmaoooo this had me laughing out loud!! nadia ‘releasing the poor, captive seal back into the wild’ ajdjdjfkfkfk.

all i could imagine when i read that, though, was— you know that one scene in the parent trap? where the twins take meredith (??) camping, and as she’s sleeping they drag her blow up mattress out into the middle of the lake? like either THAT or the fucking aristocats, with MC waking up in the middle of the wilds hearing a toad croak directly beside her ear like ‘MAMA? D:’

but oh my GOSH!!!!! at nadia understanding the implications of her rescue attempt looking like she’s trying to steal MC’s coat. oh god. i can’t tell you how much of a sucker i am when it comes to ‘yes, i will do unquestionably evil acts, but i don’t fuck with kids/animals/vulnerable people’ villains. you sexy piece of shit. 😔👌

also can we just for a second appreciate after everything calms down nadia rocking up to mc with like a bucket of fish or smth equally awful because she is still, alas, a rat bastard. <3

[iamdorka]

The making of the new album

I wanted to post this hours ago but the wifi at the train station decided to be a bitch so I try to post it now. If it gets posted two times please love this one more, okay? 🙈

So as the release of his new album is closer and closer I decided to write something about it. Hope you will like it.

The making of the new album (headcanon)

- He was really excited about this one, because after opening about the demons in his head in Hotel Diablo on this one he really could show his true passion, every piece of it, without any restriction. He just kept pushing himself towards his truest self and you had to admire that, because his work was his life. Also he worked with some of the finest artist (including literally your heroes from your childhood and that got you even more excited if it was even possible).

- He loved when you were around in the studio even if you had nothing to do with music, your presence calmed him down even in his darkest moments. He needed that firm point in his life, he needed you.

- And you loved being there with him because even if listening to music, pretending you are sometimes Beyonce or other time the fearless frontgirl of a rockband like Hayley Williams was your only way engaging with music, seeing him creating his vision with his mates gave you a whole new understanding of literally everything. He was able to show you new things even after 2 years being in a relationship with him and you loved him for it, lived for it.

- You saw him at his lowest but also the highest point while creating this masterpiece and you were with him all along. You supported him and it meant the world to him, you knew it. He showed you that with words, with cute little actions.

- Yeah, you have to admit that sometimes it was a bit too much and it was hard for you to accept everything not that you should’ve accept everything. Even if you knew that he was working on a precious piece of his soul you weren’t blind. You saw that he was suffering inside. He needed to do this but the ache in your heart still was there it was really frightening sometimes.

- This creative process was a roller coaster for everybody. For him and for you too.

- He was overworking himself and sometimes he didn’t even notice it, which hurt you even more because half of your soul was him and seeing him like that was terrible. After creating and living in Hotel Diablo you knew it would come to this but really living it was different.

- You spent a lot of time alone too because he was on his feet 24/7 and slowing down never was an option for him. Yeah you knew that he was in love with music (beside you) but it still hurt like hell when you just couldn’t find him next to you when you needed him, when you were expecting him to be there.

- Even if you were with him in the last 2 years you still couldn't humanly imagine how he could manage being up and awake ALL THE TIME. Oh yeah... you knew how he could do that but you preferred not to think about it. He knew that his health wasn't at its peak and that you were mad at him because of it. He didn't accept worries from nobody... but you were different. Cliche or not.

- Sometimes but nowadays most of the time you just wanted to slap his beautiful face to beat some sense into him even if you knew it was a mission impossible. But not just he was who needed his other half... you needed him too and didn't want to lose him, not in a million years.

- The day when he finally showed the finished album to his label he wanted you to be there with him but your boss thought otherwise because he sent you to San Francisco the day before for a 2 day job. Your heart ache because you really wanted to be there with him and even if he didn't admit it he was a little but disappointed too.

- So you did everything humanly possible to get the work done in the shortest imaginable time, that's how you ended up on a train at 4am without getting any sleep just to get back in time to Los Angeles to be with him. He didn't know anything about it.

- You didn't even get home, you just cought an uber and with your suitcase and everything you were headed to Interscope.

- The only person who knew about your surprise appearance was Slim and he knew if he told anything to Colson you would gladly kill him with your bare hands without even thinking or blinking.

- You never got out of a car this fast because you got there exactly 5 minutes before them. (It was 10am and having Colson up at this time was a miracle to begin with but you did your own miracle too to be there on time.)

- 'I thought I will have to show them myself the album. You are late' when he entered the floor where the conference room was, you waited him there casually sitting on the couch not showing that it was hard even to breathe for you because you had to be that fast and you just fell to the couch a minute before. You tried to play it cool so you did.

- Not even saying a word as you stood up he brought you in his arms and hugged you like he hadn't seen you in ages. He had his girl with him.

- 'Am I dreaming?' he kissed your cheek as he let himself see your smiling face. For a brief moment he forgot why he was in that building.

- 'I know I'm your dream girl... but no, you are not.' you answered him smiling, biting your lip as you laced your fingers together not engaging in any pda because first: you two hated that, second: you had company and he had work to do, important work. 'But maybe I'm... because I haven't slept in the last 48 hours and I'm running on like 4 coffees' you murmured and when Slim gave you your new coffee you corrected yourself taking a sip from it. 'five and counting... '

- 'Good luck. I'M PROUD OF YOU AND I LOVE YOU' you told this to his lips as you sat down on the couch and he took his seat at the end of the big conference table. Everyone was ready, more than ready.

- He was living his best life and your heart was full of love watching him because he was enjoying every moment of this. He could not stop moving, you could see that he was already feeling himself at the live shows and he proved that too because he even got on the table dancing, rocking his soul to his new goodies.

- It really got your heart beat faster and even if you realised that some of the people didn't really appreciate your boyfriend that much, you couldn't care less because you could see how proud he was of his work. Sweat and blood. It was his, the best one yet.

- You even recorded him dancing on the table because it was the funniest shit ever and you knew his fans would appreciate it later. And you loved feeding them with quality content.

- When the presentation was over he could not hold himself back because when you stood up, wanting to congratulate him again (after all the other people) he picked you up and he was spinning with you not letting you to touch the ground. He was in an euphoric state and he didn't hide him.

- 'You are my world. Thanks for being here' he murmured to your neck and finally he put you down.

- 'I really am proud of you' you repeated yourself and you were glad Slim got closer to you as the people in the room started chatting about everything what was coming.

- 'You got it?' you asked him and he nodded without a word.

- 'Got what?' Colson asked cluelessly looking at you both.

- 'Nothing.' you replied as you asked him for his phone. 'But you just held yours a minute ago' he stated the truth. 'But I want... yours.' You asked politely again and he did finally what you asked him and without even thinking you gave immediately Slim the phone.

- 'Okay... I don't understand you. What are you up to?' he asked smirking at you.

- 'You... and me are up to catching a flight. You can't say no because I will handcuff you to me if you start to rebel. We are going on a little vacation right now.'

- 'You need this bro' Slim stated too watching as you didn't let Colson's hand from yours. 'I already fought with her because of this... and I didn't even have the slightest chance either... nor have you, so... just accept it'

- 'You really have a handcuff with you?' he asked the right question.

- 'Just bought a new pair in San Francisco, to make sure everything would be fine' he threatened him but you were sure that he would even enjoy if you used it right there and then.

- 'Ohh... it will be more than fine' he looked at you with the hungriest smirk on his lips.

- 'Please... get a room or whatever, but catch your flight because I think I'm gonna throw up in my mouth if I have to be with you two two more seconds' Slim said and you already were stealing the star of the moment leaving the place as fast as you arrived there.

- Maybe he had other plans, maybe the others did too but with the help of your very good friends you made sure everything would be okay. They agreed that he deserved this getaway before everything was coming and A LOT was coming. He needed that recharge and so did you.

- You managed to rent a beach house probably in the middle of nowhere and that place was exactly what you two needed. No internet, no people just the two of you and the calming sound of the ocean.

- Yeah, both of you were and still are the people who can't really sit in a place for more than a minute, because you had to do something but once in a while it was good just to... be. Because you just bought 'tickets to my downfall' and before all the craziness you had to remind him that he is a human being and if he loses his power he could not spread the energy to anybody else... not even himself.

Tag list (write me if you wanna be on it❤)

@no-shxt-sherl @kiss-yall @bakerkells @backoftheroomandnotbelonging @mgk-rooklover1997 @just-a-normal-fangirl18 @southernmgkpunk @thegunnerkelly @findingmyth @painkillerash @rosesinmars @rosegoldrichie @pinksocktingz @itjustkindahappenedreally @cclynn88 @bluehairedtracii

[msjr0119]

Love, Fate, Destiny

Part 6 - Jealous

Riley Brooks is a waitress in a ‘Dive bar” in New York. One Saturday night, her past comes back to haunt her as some unfamiliar punters enter her bar on a bachelor party- one of them being someone who she was once close to.

*CHARACTERS BELONG TO PIXELBERRY*

Tags- @annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @drakesensworld @ladyangel70 @butindeed @bbrandy2002 @kingliam2019 @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @pedudley @captain-kingliamsqueen @duchessemersynwalker @insideamirage @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @kozabaji @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @nikkis1983 @dangerouseggseagleartisan @gnatbrain @walker7519 @lodberg @cmestrella @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415 @notoriouscs

******

“I just came to say goodbye.”

Rileys jaw was agape. She believed that after Drake’s outburst they would talk and go back to normal. As she watched him rush out the room, she moved one foot forward deciding to follow before Maxwell pulled her back.

“Blossom, don’t run after him. It’ll cause gossip. I’ll take you to his room after. I promise.”

Riley nodded sadly, she had hoped he meant goodbye as in goodnight. If he decided to leave, what was the point in her being there- there was none.

The evening slowly drew to a close. Everyone bid each other goodnight. Maxwell held Riley back purposely making sure that everyone had gone their separate ways. Luckily, Drake’s room was close to Riley’s so no one would suspect anything suspicious.

Max opened the door, noticing his friend slumped against the bed with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. He ushered Riley in. She knew Drake liked to drink, but she had never seen him this melancholy before- to drink himself into oblivion.

“Drake?” Riley spoke softly, concerned about him.

“Ri.” He couldn’t look at her, he was still pissed off with Liam for suggesting that she completed in his social season.

“I’ll leave you two to it, I’ll stay in your room Ri.”

Giving Riley a soft smile- Maxwell left the two lovers alone, he didn’t want to play gooseberry. Riley slid to the floor, sitting next to Drake- snuggling up to him.

“Sorry.” Drake said quietly and emotionally. His head was spinning and believing he wouldn’t be able to string a sentence together. Riley cupped his cheek, ensuring that his eyes were fixated on hers.

“I’m sorry too. When Liam offered me this opportunity, I just had to follow my heart that led to you.”

Drake placed a comforting arm around her, pulling her into his warm embrace. The smell of whiskey lingered, his scent made her feel intoxicated. Riley decided to make a coffee to try and sober him up- his drunk mind wouldn’t comprehend how much she truly wanted him. They sat silence for a while, holding each other affectionately.

I don't like the way he's looking at you.I'm starting to think you want him too. Am I crazy? Have I lost ya? Even though I know you love me, can't help it.

Drake didn’t want to let Riley know about his inner thoughts. Paranoid. Constantly imagining Liam attempting to steal his girl. It’s happened before when they were teenagers. So what’s preventing it from happening again. But this time, this constant thought stabbed him in the heart like a voodoo doll. Riley was the only woman he had ever had true feelings about. These seven years, he tried to move on from her but physically couldn’t- she was a distant memory that kept reoccurring in his head on a daily basis. They both eventually stood up from the floor- Drake feeling slightly less drunk.

“I suppose I better get to my own room. I love you Drake.”

“I love you too! When this sham is over, my bags are packed to come back with you. Look.”

Riley gazed over to the corner of the room where Drake’s finger pointed. A large suitcase, had been packed. Opening his wardrobe it was bare.

“I want a future with you Riley. I messed up in the past. It’ll be the biggest regret of my life.”

“You didn’t ‘mess up’ intentionally, I understand. I just wish you didn’t completely disappear off the face of the earth and had kept in touch with me. I love you. I always have and I always will. I’ll see you tomorrow baby.”

Riley text Max to make sure the coast was clear. He soon knocked on the door, and witnessed the two smooching, saying their goodbyes.

'Cause you're too sexy, beautiful

And everybody wants to taste

That's why (that's why)

I still get jealous

*****

The next morning, Riley woke up to Maxwell bounding through the door. He gave her some privacy to get ready, before introducing her to his brother- the Duke of Ramsford. Riley believed Maxwell was pulling some sick joke on her- they can’t be brothers, she thought. Maxwell was outgoing. Bertrand was a full on snob, I mean who wears sweater vests with a blazer in today’s society. He gave the impression that he was strict, like a demon headteacher who would use the cane if you did anything slightly incorrect.

“Let’s pretend that I am meeting you for the first time at a royal event. ‘Hello. It’s a pleasure to meet you Lady Riley.’”

“The pleasures all mine, Duke Ramsford.”

Riley curtsied, whilst Bertrand took her hand in his right hand before kissing the back of it.

“Now, what did I do wrong?”

Riley smirked, Maxwell had explained to her about hand gestures. This was a test- a test Bertrand was hoping she would fail. Not that she gave a shit as she really wasn’t fighting for Liam’s hand.

“You should have taken my hand with your left hand. Otherwise it’s an insult.”

Straightening his expression out, he was impressed with her observation. Bertrand explained that the limo was waiting for them to take them to the Derby at Honeyhill Downs.

“I know this is all a sham and fake. But I’m so proud of you. I could turn you into a noble if you carry on impressing the Duke. Are you sure you’re a waitress and not lying to us all?”

“Max, I’m pretty sure I’m just a waitress. Let’s just say I’m a quick learner. And you’re a great teacher.”

*****

They arrived, and the press swarmed around her. Shit. Just breath Riley. Donnie Brine was pleased with Riley’s ‘confident’ attitude for a newbie and now stereotyped her as ‘the mystery woman.’ She also impressed Ana De Luca - Maxwell was grinning like a Cheshire Cat, his attitude was like that of a first time parent when their child begins to walk- he was proud beyond words.

Maxwell escorted Riley to the White tents, where she met Hana and Olivia- err Olivia. First impressions of the redhead wasn’t the best- she needed to make amends. Olivia seemed much more relaxed around Riley now knowing her true intentions of being here- but the Duchess couldn’t resist stirring the pot.

“Lady Riley, I’d like you to meet Lady Penelope and Lady Kiara. Penelope loves dogs- specifically little rat ones. And Kiara is so intelligent - she speaks so many languages.”

“Hi, Riley! And they aren’t rats- they are poodles who are fluffy and cute!” Penelope squealed. She’s going to be the ditsy one of the group.

“Bonjour Riley. Ravi de vous rencontrer.” I don’t speak french- shit.

“Lady Kiara and Drake had a thing a few years back. In fact it’s been brewing for years wouldn’t you say Ki?”

“Oui, Duchess Olivia. He’s so handsome. I’d love to know what he’s like in bed....”

Hana saw Riley freeze, gulping hard she noticed that no one observed her sudden change of expression, and the increase of her breathing.

“Lady Riley can you help with the drinks please.”

“Oh, of course Hana. Nice to meet you all.”

“Thankyou!”

“No problem”

They retrieved the drinks returning to the ladies in the white tent. Riley felt jealous- she needed to grab some air away from everyone. Explaining to Hana where she was going, Hana understood. Riley walked in a daze, she stumbled into a stable with some horses each in their own pen. No one will see me here. Sitting on some hay, she lifted her knees to her face, finally letting tears fall. After her little outburst, she began to admire the beauty of the horses. Feeling like a ‘loon’ she began to speak to the horses as if they were humans- startling one of them, it barrelled straight towards her after the pens door became loose.

“Easy, easy horsey! Everything’s okay!”

Riley shut her eyes, her body froze in shock- not knowing what to do. Should she run, should she stay frozen or should she scream for help.

“Woah there, woah!”

Drake calmed the horse down, before leading it back into a pen. Riley slowly opened her eyes, relieved that someone had come to her rescue.

“Nothing to worry about big fella. I’ll get this girl outta here for you. You okay baby?”

“You saved me. My hero!”

“Really? I thought I was saving the horse... these derby runners are like athletes. Can’t risk an injury over a stray human.”

“Oh charming. Did the horse knock the sense out of you?”

“Nah...in fact I got away without a scratch...Come here.”

Drake pulled Riley up, her hair was skew-wiff as if she had just woken up. He began to pull out hay from her beautiful brown curly locks. Before holding her protectively.

“You know id never let a horse trample you. I love you too much.”

“I love you too- even if you are a sarcastic son of a bitch.”

Drake crashed his searing hot lips onto Riley, she was intoxicating. He didn’t know how many more opportunities he would get with her alone. Grabbing her dress, he yanked it upwards and over her head before thrusting against her. His jeans tightened at the sight of her. Unzipping his jeans, she pulled out his cock gently stroking it before increasing the speed. Slipping his fingers underneath the elastic of her lace underwear, he gently pulled them to her ankles before Riley kicked them away. Laying her gently on the hay she spread her legs, positioning himself in between them - admiring her beauty. Removing his shirt, discarding it on the floor with the other clothes- she began feeling his bare muscled chest. Kissing her neck passionately, he needed her. She needed him. Losing themselves into each other’s touches. She felt her wetness slipping onto his manhood, as he entered her slowly. He took her nipple in his mouth and cradled her other breast in his calloused palm. Rocking in the perfect sync, the pair couldn’t contain their moans. Grunting as he exploded inside her -he fell to the side of her. Riley rolled over in to Drake’s arms.

“That was unexpected.” She said seductively, whilst running her finger over his chest.

“You know how I like to surprise you. Good job you got lost and I followed you.” Winking at her, he was feeling content and glad he listened to instincts.

“Yes. Even though it’s kind of creepy that you were following me. I suppose we better leave- we have a lawn party to attend. And Maxwell will be fretting.”

“It’s not creepy. If we have to go through with this charade, I’m keeping my eye on you and protecting you. I love you.”

“My knight in shining armour. Love you too Walker.”

[mad-madam-m]

Dear Madam can you please explain this poor soul what exactly is going on in Voltron? I wasn't able to watch the last few seasons and I won't be able to watch for a while too so I'm dying to know what's going on. I wasn't able to escape spoilers even if I can't go online much so I learned Shiro is a part of lgbtq+ community but I keep seeing a ship finally being canon (?) and another ship's fans sending threats at creators. I don't mind spoilers so can you please explain the situation for me?

Okay I’m not sure what you mean by the last few seasons, but I’ll outline (as briefly as I can) what’s happened in the show between season 3-6 and a little bit of what’s happened at SDCC this past weekend. It’s been awhile since I’ve watched season 3 and 4, so some of the details may be a bit sketchy, but you’ll get the general gist of things.

Since this will undoubtedly get long, everything’s under the read more. Spoilers ahoy, fairly be ye warned:

Season 3

As we all know, Shiro disappeared at the end of season 2 during the Big Fight with Zarkon, and so season 3 picks up with the paladins doing their best to free people from the Galra while they can’t form Voltron. Keith is, understandably, distraught that Shiro’s gone, and he’s been spending a lot of time looking for him.

However, since they need to be able to form Voltron and for that, need a new Black Paladin, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Allura, and Keith all try their hands at Black’s controls. Black, unsurprisingly, chooses Keith. Keith, unsurprisingly, is less than thrilled, but does it both because he kind of has to, and because it’s what Shiro wanted. Lance ends up in Red and Allura ends up in Blue, thus beginning the Lion Roulette.

On the Galra side of things, Haggar has summoned Prince Lotor, Zarkon’s son, back to take control of the Galra Empire. Lotor is perfectly happy to do so, but he’s definitely out for his own ends. 

Halfway through the season, we see Shiro wake up on a Galra ship and escape to the planet below, and then hitch a ride back to Voltron. Keith is more than willing to turn Black back over to Shiro, but Black won’t respond to him.

We also got what is quite possibly my favorite Sheith exchange to date:

Shiro: How many times are you going to save me before this is all over? Keith: As many times as it takes.

Other things that happen in this season:

1) Alternate universes are a thing and Voltron has the ability to go between them.

2) This is because the lions were built from a transreality comet.

3) Lotor steals a transreality comet which he then starts using to build the Sincline ships.

4) When Shiro escapes, a Galra watching him declares that Operation Kuron Stage 3 is go.

5) There’s an entire episode dedicated to how Voltron was created, where we learn that Haggar was originally Honerva, an Altean scientist and Zarkon’s wife. Haggar…also learns this, because apparently quintessence poisoning really fucks with your memory.

6) Motherfucking Zarkon wakes back up.

Season 4

(my full rambly thoughts on season 4 here)

Keith starts pulling away from the team and going on more missions with the Blade of Marmora, eventually leaving Team Voltron entirely. In his absence, Shiro bonds again with the Black Lion and is able to pilot it once more.

Team Voltron sets about building the Voltron Coalition, a group of free planets and resistance fighters who have long been rebelling against the Galra Empire. Their goal is to build a force capable of taking down the Galra’s stranglehold on the galaxy.

Pidge gets an entire episode dedicated to finding her brother, Matt. It’s amazing. Please watch it.

With Zarkon back, Lotor is banished again. Lotor is fine with this since he has his own ulterior motives, but his motives are (somewhat) revealed when Haggar is spying on him via one of his generals. This leads to the Zarkon bringing the full force of the empire down on Lotor, who barely manages to escape. When another of Lotor’s plans fails, his generals turn on him to take him to Zarkon to get the bounty for him. Lotor escapes.

The Coalition–Voltron, the Blade of Marmora, and the resistance fighters–set up to take the planet Naxzela for strategic reasons. Turns out Naxzela is a giant fucking bomb that will wipe out the entire system and Haggar activates it from just out of range. Nobody can get through the shield of her ship to stop it. Just as Keith’s about to perform a Heroic Sacrifice in an effort to get through, Lotor shows up, blasts through the shield and the ship, and Haggar gets the hell out of Dodge.

We end the season with Lotor offering himself to Team Voltron as an ally.

Season 5

Lotor’s been giving the Voltron team intelligence to help them take down various Galra installations throughout the galaxy. Shiro wants to trust him more fully, Allura’s not so sure, so Lotor offers them a prize that the team absolutely can’t resist: the whereabouts of Pidge’s father.

They go to the coordinates Lotor gives them. Turns out, Sam Holt isn’t there because Zarkon got there first and wants to trade Sam for Lotor. The team makes the trade, Zarkon betrays them, and there is a truly epic Zarkon vs. Lotor fight while Pidge, Matt, and Shiro try to get Pidge’s dad back from Lotor’s generals. 

The Holt family is reunited and Lotor succeeds in killing Zarkon, much to the shock of everybody watching because holy shit it’s only episode two.

As you might imagine, killing the emperor leaves a little bit of a power vacuum and Lotor wants to be the one to fill it. He tries to talk Team Voltron into helping him do so because it’ll be best for all of them, but the only one willing to listen to him is Shiro.

Shiro’s been acting off since his return in season 3, but this season it goes from “that’s…kind of out of character” to “holy shit something is definitely wrong with Shiro.”

As evidenced by the fact that he just up and takes the Black Lion and Lotor to the Kral Zera, the ceremony where the new emperor will be chosen, without telling literally anybody else. 

We get our first glimpse of Keith all season when he stops in the middle of a goddamn Blades mission to undo what they’ve done the moment he realizes Shiro is there and in danger. We also see that Haggar has somehow found Sendak (remember him from season 1?) and that he’s going to be her pick for emperor.

But Lotor’s the one who wins the fight and becomes emperor and it’s not entirely clear if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Keith gets sent on a mission to extract a Blade of Marmora agent, Krolia, who looks like this:

Surprising absolutely nobody with the reveal that it’s his mother.

Lotor and Allura get closer as he tries to get her to help him discover the way to Oriande, a legendary place that holds the secret to all Altean alchemy. They find it, they go, and while Allura learns more, Lotor’s truly selfish motivations send him back empty-handed.

Unfortunately, by finding the way to Oriande, they let Haggar know exactly where it is. (Did I mention Haggar’s spying on them through Shiro’s eyes? Because Haggar’s totally spying on them through Shiro’s eyes.)

DUN DUN DUNNNNN.

Season 6

(full rambly s6 thoughts here)

Okay, so, Lotor’s officially emperor and starting to work at bringing the empire back together, and the Voltron team is helping him. Allura, specifically, is helping him build another fancy ship. Meanwhile, other factions of Galra are trying to take power, the biggest being Sendak and the Fires of Purification. As the Voltron team is trying to help a Galra outpost repair a radiation shield, Shiro gets flashes of Haggar in Oriande.

Meanwhile, Keith is following his mother to finish the mission she’d originally started: tracking down the source of this ultra-powerful quintessence. They have to make their way through a particularly dangerous area of space where time is distorted and you get glimpses of the past and the future. Keith learns how his mother came to Earth, met his father, and why she really left him behind.

Keith and Krolia hitch a ride on a space whale to safely navigate their way through this area of space, which takes two years thanks to the weird time stuff, and at the end they find…a hidden planet of Alteans?!

TURNS OUT that since the destruction of Altea, Lotor has been going around the galaxy and collecting the Alteans that had been off-planet when Zarkon ordered it destroyed. He built a colony for them and then, after awhile, started taking some of them to another colony. But of course it wasn’t another colony. He was actually taking them to a facility where he was harvesting their quintessence. SUPER GREAT, HUH?

So Keith gets his ass back to Team Voltron, everybody is REALLY SURPRISED because holy shit he’s bulked up, and he and Krolia and their new Altean friend, Romelle, tell everybody just what the fuck Lotor’s been up to.

And that’s precisely the time that Haggar activates her mind control switch on Shiro and takes him over, forcing him to turn on the team, get Lotor, and bring him to her.

(NGL I fucking SCREAMED.)

Anyway, shit happens and Keith ends up on the other side of a wormhole alone, trying to get to Shiro and bring him back. After Shiro drops Lotor with Haggar, he leads Keith away to…a cloning facility filled to the fucking brim with Shiros.

Yup. Shiro’s been a clone since season 3.

What follows is one of the best fight scenes I’ve seen in this series, with Keith desperately trying to get through to Shiro and Shiro, you know, trying to kill him.

A fight scene that culminates with this line:

“Shiro, please! You’re my brother. I love you.”

Seriously, “The Black Paladins” is one of the best episodes in the entire series oh my God.

OKAY SO while Shiro and Keith are having their battle to the death, Lotor’s general turn on Haggar and they all escape to the Sincline ships and head back to Voltron. Lotor tries to charm his way back into Allura’s good graces, but she isn’t having it. Thus, it’s the Lions vs. the Sincline ships.

After his fight with Shiro, Keith wakes up in the astral plane confronted with…Shiro! Apparently he actually died during the fight with Zarkon at the end of s2, but his soul merged with Black and his lion’s been taking care of him the entire time. (Just rip my heart out; I wasn’t using it anyway.)

Now he’s flying as fast as he can to get back to the others so they can form Voltron, but Lotor and his generals are making mincemeat of them. That is, until Lotor lets slip he wants to get rid of all the Galra, and his generals go “…fuck this shit, we’re out.”

Then we find out Lotor can combine the Sincline ships to form his own Voltron so THAT’S FUN.

(You can tell I actually remember what happened in this season, can’t you)

So Keith can hear his team getting clobbered over the comms and literally screams Shiro’s name so loud he projects himself back into the astral plane and Shiro shows him how to bond with Black and fucking teleport.

The greatest “sup, bitch” moment the world has ever seen.

Keith sends clone!Shiro’s body back to the castle while the rest of them form Voltron and set at trying to kick Lotor’s ass. “Trying” being the operative word, there, because holy monkeys Lotor is fast. Also, turns out he can jump in and out of the quintessence field at will.

Anyway, they go in after him, they manage to defeat him in the quintessence field, and then they have to get the hell out of there without Lotor.

BUT (because of course there’s a but), the whole “jumping in and out of the fabric of reality” thing has left a lot of rips in space, basically, and they’ve got about 15 minutes before those rips expand and destroy…well, everything. The only way to stop them is with a very, very powerful explosion.

Which they can only get by overloading the teladuv on the Castle and using the ensuing explosion to seal the rips.

(Watching them evacuate the Castle of Lions and send it into one of the rips is one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the entire series. It kills me.)

So they save the world, lose their home, and set down on the nearest inhabitable planet to get Shiro’s soul back into clone!Shiro’s body. And we get this wonderful scene:

Ah yes, Keith gently cradling Shiro post-resurrection, I’m fine.

So they need a new Castle of the Lions, but the only place they can get the blueprints are with Pidge’s dad, who left for Earth in s5e5. So guess what! They’re going back to Earth!

Now granted, there’s a lot more that happens, but that’s the general gist of where we are with what’s aired so far!

SDCC Panel

They aired the first episode of season 7 at the panel at San Diego Comic Con and it’s a pre-Kerberos episode that confirmed Shiro was in a serious relationship with a guy named Adam before he left for Kerberos. They broke up because Shiro had some kind of chronic, terminal illness that would’ve made it impossible for him to continue flying within a few years, and when Adam gave him an ultimatum of the Kerberos mission or their relationship, Shiro chose the mission.

Some people seem to have misunderstood that they were engaged (they weren’t) or that Shiro is still in a relationship (he isn’t). What we do know is that we’ll meet Adam in season 7, although whether that’s only in flashbacks or when the team returns to Earth remains to be seen.

They haven’t explicitly labeled whether Shiro is gay/bi/pan in canon (and don’t intend to), although the cast/crew has referred to him mostly as gay in their interviews. But the point is, he’s not straight. We have explicit queer rep in the show and it’s SHIRO!!!!

SO ANYWAY. That’s where we are! No ships are canon yet, but with the reveal that Shiro’s not straight, it does open the door for a non-het endgame romance before the show ends. (Not sure if they’ll go that way, but hey! THERE’S A CHANCE.)

Season 7 drops August 10 and I cannot waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait.

[ketso]

Episode 28

I have been booked off work for four months. My doctor says that I have depression and I need to be admitted into a clinic. Please understand that:

• I have a one year old.

• My eldest child has been accepted into medicine school, but did not get a bursary and I cannot afford the fees.

• My third born just started in a model c school because my husband and I start them in high school; they go to township schools for primary school.

• I am already struggling with the fees.

• I have to delay my youngest child with starting crèche because I cannot afford all these fees on my own.

• I have asked my eldest to get a job. Two salaries are better than one. I took my husband for granted and I am struggling on my own.

• My eldest is always angry. She has attitude and I just cannot talk to her anymore.

• My second born tries to mediate, but he can even see that things are bad.

• The third and the baby are just there.

• My eldest may not like it, but she has to help me with the third and fourth children. When I wake up and go to work to get us money, she must bath the kids and make sure they've eaten. She must take Simphiwe to school then come back and stay with Khetha because I cannot afford crèche right now and she's not working. She's at home doing nothing the whole day.

• My husband's family wants money from me - money that my husband used to send to them every month. I don't have it. Now they call me names, harass me every chance they get and threaten to take me to court for stealing their child's money. What money? Their child didn't have policies that I'm now enjoying. I can barely keep my children in schools. If I had their child's money, would Unawe not be in university? Would Khetha not be in crèche? They can go to hell.

So you see, I cannot go to a clinic for four months and talk about my feelings. I cannot give Mr Msomi a reason to fire me. I cannot afford to be without a job. I will take the medication that I have been prescribed and try my best to get through each day.

"Portia, did you call the agency that Mr Msomi asked you to call?" Sli asks me.

I nod my head and give her a sticky note with their response to my query.

"Thanks", she takes it and disappears into the meeting she was in. She is the one who takes minutes for Mr Msomi in meetings. Thando manages Mr Msomi's and Mr Ramaru's offices now. She used to be Pearl’s PA. They say that they’ve repurposed her. It looks like an undeserved promotion to me. Her head has grown bigger than ever. She is one of the reasons I believe that if I even take a weekend off, I'll get fired. The only person who puts her in her place is Lydia. We all love Lydia for that.

I have a bad headache, but I need to get through the work that Mr Msomi and Thando have given me. It's a lot of work and it is all due by close of business today. So, this is another day that I will not be having lunch.

Speak of the devil.

"Are you done with the notes I asked you to type?" Thando asks me, storming through the door and to my desk.

"I'm still busy with them." I say.

"I don't understand. I told you they were urgent", she says.

"Mr Msomi had asked me to do a more urgent thing for him. Last I checked, he was my priority, not you", I say.

"You know what I think? I think this job is too big for you. Mr Msomi felt sorry for you and gave you this job because you have stories for days about why you don't deliver. But you are not a fit. You are still bad even at this job and it's been a year since you've been in it. Mr Msomi is just polite. He doesn't want to performance manage you or fire you, so he gives you miscellaneous tasks - small and insignificant enough so you don't mess up. Kodwa we pay you to do actual work. Your role is supposed to mean something here. We don't pay you to be floating around admin that you can barely do." She says.

This really hurts my feelings. I have noticed that Mr Msomi doesn't trust me with big tasks anymore. Even Sli isn't as close to me as she used to be. She behaves more like my boss than she does my colleague. I thought I was imagining things and I thought Mr Msomi was just being nice and empathetic because I have lost my husband and I've been grieving. I've been very open about my struggles at home. I've fainted twice in this very office because I was overwhelmed. I thought Mr Msomi was accommodating me, not making my role insignificant. What am I going to do without my job? I suddenly get emotional.

"As the office manager of Mr Msomi's office, I will not be as nice as he is. If you don't deliver, I will get you out. That's not a joke. So you better pull up your socks, my girl, or shit will hit the fan around here. I'm not Mr Msomi and this is definitely not Jackson's team there at the warehouse. You have one hour. I want that document in my inbox in an hour", she says then walks away.

I wipe my tears and process everything that she has said. What exactly am I doing that is so wrong? I look through Microsoft Teams and find the employee relations manager and call her. Microsoft Teams shows that she is available. I need HR and ER intervention.

"Qaqamba, Hello?" She answers.

"Hi Qaqamba. You are speaking to Portia", I say.

"Hi Portia, how can I help you?" She says. Her voice is very welcoming.

"Can we meet in a boardroom perhaps?" Me.

"Sure. Where do you sit?" She asks me.

"No, it's okay. I'll come to you", I say.

"I have a better one. Let's go get lunch. My treat. Meet me at reception in five minutes." She says.

I agree and we end the call. I know there will be repercussions for me just leaving, but I'll ask her to bail me out of those during lunch.

...

Now that I have told Qaqamba everything: from my time at the warehouse, through Pearl's management, right up to where I am now, she looks at me stunned. She is not shocked because I am sure she deals with this every day, but she is stunned. She has taken notes, cross-questioned me, took more notes and now we sit here with her looking at me stunned and not saying anything else.

We finish up our meals and we drive back to the office in her car. It is a beautiful Mercedes Benz.

She walks with me to my desk where I find Thando, Sli and Mr Msomi gathered. Their faces drop when they see Qaqamba next to me. I stand next to Qaqamba and wait for her to make the first move. Today, she is my shield.

"Mthunzi, may we have a word in your office?" Qaqamba says. She is serious. Her tone isn't what it was when she was talking to me. Thando looks nervous. She probably didn't think I knew people like Qaqamba in this organization.

Mr Msomi leads Qaqamba and I into his office. He closes the door and we sit on his office couches.

"May I offer you ladies something to drink?" Mr Msomi. He is a gentleman yena shame, he is not putting on a pretty face for gas.

"Orange juice for me, please", Qaqamba orders.

"Nothing for me, thanks", I say. I am not familiar with his fridge like that.

Mr Msomi takes out a bottle of orange juice and a bottle of water from his fridge. He gives Qaqamba the juice then he sits down on a couch opposite us then takes a sip of his water.

Qaqamba takes Mr Msomi through what I told her. The way she puts it though, she makes it sound so legal. There are terms that she uses such as "abuse of authority" that I did not mention. Mr Msomi listens to her attentively then looks at me from time to time.

Qaqamba is serious - too serious. I'm even nervous.

"Q, I've accommodated Portia though. I've made things to be as manageable as possible for her so that she can cope with everything that is around her", Mr Msomi.

That is true.

"Portia needs to be in a clinic right now, dealing with her depression. She has been diagnosed, Mthunzi. Why have you not let her go yet or submitted a PHI application for her so the company can give her the support that she needs while she gets better? That Thando girl even threatened to fire her? On what grounds? And if Portia is not performing, why isn't she being performance managed, but rather abused by Thando?" Qaqamba.

"Q, I honestly had no idea that Portia is sick and I had no idea that Thando was treating her that way. I would have never let that happen had I known and I'll speak to Thando". Mr Msomi says. Now I feel bad for not coming to him first.

"That’s not good enough. I want you to discipline Thando", Qaqamba.

"That’s a bit harsh and surely she deserves a right of reply", Mr Msomi says.

"Abuse of authority is a dismissible offense, Mr Msomi. She will be walking away with a final written warning at most. I think we are being very lenient. She will give us her right of reply, with a representative next to her, at her disciplinary discussion. From me, I will be sending you forms to fill in with Portia so we can submit her PHI claim to our insurers then Portia will take leave with immediate effect to go and get admitted into that clinic." Qaqamba says.

The meeting is wrapped up then Mr Msomi asks me to stay behind.

After Qaqamba leaves, it is just him and I.

"I don't like HR, Portia. They just make me nervous. I don't even know what PHI is and Q was just going on and on about shit I never thought I'd have to deal with. I just thought there was trust between us and if you were unsure of things, you would come to me and speak to me." He says.

"I panicked. I'm sorry -

"No, don't do that. I don't want you apologizing. You were right to stand up for yourself and seek help from people who are hired to remedy such situations. I'm just concerned about your interactions with Thando when you return from your leave", he says.

I didn't think about that.

"But anyway, I wish you all the best in your recovery journey and I wanted to guarantee you that your job will be waiting for you when you return", he says.

"Thank you, sir", I say.

“And Portia, while you expect everyone around you to work on their ability to accommodate you, you also need to work on your communication skills. I run my office the way that I do because I don’t want people Q and her team coming in here and instructing me on how to manage my team.” He continues.

“I understand, sir.” I say.

He nods his head then says, “Will you be comfortable doing that PHI stuff with Sli? I’m really busy. I’ll just sign whatever I need to sign after the two of you have populated those forms. Q and her team design forms for a living. I know I could easily spend seven hours just completing forms with that team.”

We both laugh.

“It’s fine, sir. I will ask Sli to help me complete the forms then we will send them to you for your signature when we are done.” I say.

He nods his head.

“All the best with your recovering. Don’t worry about anything as far as work is concerned. And if there is anything more that we can do, please feel free to reach out and let us know.” He says.

I just want to hug him. He is such a nice man.

“Chief”, Mr Ramaru barges into the office without knocking.

We both look at him.

“This looks important”, he says pointing at both Mr Msomi and I, “[b]ut I need you for something urgent.”

“It’s okay, we were done anyway.” I say.

“See you in a few months, Portia.” Mr Msomi says, standing up from the couch.

“In a few months? Going somewhere?” Mr Ramaru asks me.

“Just leave”, I say.

“For a few months? People usually take a few days off.” Mr Ramaru says.

Mr Msomi can see my discomfort, so he intervenes and says, “Chief, what’s the emergency?”

I use this distraction to leave his office.

I get to my desk and I notice that all eyes are on me. No one is saying anything, but everyone is looking at me – judging me. I know people in this office are extremely protective over Mr Msomi because he is such a nice guy. They are giving me this treatment because they think I got their favourite guy into trouble. I reported Thando, not him. But I’m not going to say anything. I’d rather have Thando be surprised by her emails notifying her of her disciplinary discussion for bullying me. But knowing Mr Msomi, he will not discipline Thando. He will fight for her. That’s just who he is. So she is just going to get away with it. I might as well address her myself while I have my immunity from Qaqamba.

“Is there something that you would like to say to me?” I ask Thando, looking her straight in the eye.

“Don’t you get tired?” She says to me.

“Of what?”

“Of being you! You wake up every morning expecting sympathy from everyone and anyone you bump into. You open your mouth and expect to be understood because apparently, no one’s problems are bigger than yours. You take zero responsibility for anything and you play the victim in every situation. And when you are expected to just do what you get paid to do and are held accountable for it, you find your next plan – your next person to feel sorry for you so that you take no responsibility what-so-ever for just being yourself.”

There is silence in the office. I am actually falling apart inside.

“Please don’t faint on us again. We have had it with your theatrics around here.” She says.

“You know, my life is not the bed of roses everyone thinks it is”, I say.

“Trust me, no one was thinking that. You broadcast your life so much, we have a pretty good idea how shitty your life is. But you know what annoys everyone about you – including the people you think understand – is that you don’t leave that shit at home. We all go through things. Our lives are falling apart too. But this is a place of work! When we come here, we come to work. Our conversations are work-related. When we engage, we engage about work.” Thando says. All the other PAs nod their heads in agreement.

“I can’t just switch off from my life just because I am at work.” I say.

“You are not required to switch off. You are required to be professional. That is a minimum requirement for every role that exists in the labour market. If that is something that you struggle with, then clearly, you just don’t belong in the workplace.” Thando says.

“Zinzi, is –

Lydia walks in looking for Zinzi, but stops dead in her tracks when she sees the tension before her. She has her laptop in her hands, so she was clearly coming up here to work. She tries to study the situation then her eyes land on me. She sees the tears streaming down my face and the arrogance pasted on Thando’s face.

“Portia, are you okay?” Lydia asks me.

All the PAs present in this room have now suddenly become nervous, including Thando. I just breakdown and cry. I cannot hold it in. I am just breaking.

Lydia holds my hand and pulls me into Mr Ramaru’s office. It is just the two of us in here. I see Mr Msomi and Mr Ramaru looking at us through Mr Msomi’s glass door. All the offices up here have glass doors – something to do with transparency.

“What do you need?” Lydia says to me after I have cried my heart out in here. Mr Mthunzi and Mr Ramaru are inside of here as well now. I don’t know when they came inside. They are sitting on couches opposite the couch that I am sitting on. Lydia is the only one standing up.

“What do you mean?” I ask her.

“We are friends, right? You and I can be blunt about anything with each other, right?” She says.

I nod my head.

“Good, because I am going to be honest with you now and I will not sugar-coat what I am about to say.” She says.

“Lydia –

“Mthunzi, it has to be done.” Lydia cuts Mr Msomi mid-sentence.

She turns her attention back to me.

“This is your third job within this company, Portia. Third. You keep being thrown lifelines by everyone around here. You get more consideration, more care, more everything. Did you think that would get you likes around here? Did you think that people like Thando would go easy on you? The average person would have long been fired if they were in your shoes. You asked to stay. You begged for chances. Why are you struggling to carry the responsibilities of the things that you have asked for?” Lydia says.

Mr Ramaru and Mr Msomi are extremely uncomfortable.

“Portia, do you understand the position that I had to put my boyfriend in for you? Having his authority and professionalism as a CEO questioned because you asked to move teams. Or you just don’t care?” Lydia says to me.

I look at Mr Ramaru. He is extremely uncomfortable, but happy that this conversation is taking place. Clearly it is long overdue.

“Portia, do you understand the hoops that Mthunzi –

“Please leave my name out of this”, Mr Msomi says.

Lydia looks at him for a split second then looks at me again and continues, “[d]o you understand the hoops that Mthunzi had to jump through to create work for you? To create a position for you? Having to sit in endless HR meetings knowing very well how much he dislikes HR. You just wake up every day, come to work and annoy us with your entitlement – not understanding the background battles being fought for you to walk around here with that arrogance and entitlement.”

I am silent. I don’t know what to say. It is very quiet in here.

Lydia takes a deep breath then sits next to me.

“Take some time off, Portia. While you are away, think about whether or not being in the labour market is something that you want to do. If not, find another passion and start a business. I will personally help you in making sure that your business stands and runs efficiently. You know I’m good at doing that. But if you come back here and make the decision to work, know that your lifeline has expired. One foot out of line – and I am saying this in front of Mthunzi – I will personally fire you. And I am giving myself the authority to do so because I am the same person you annoyed to have you put in this position.”

People like Lydia will never understand. Life is not as easy as having two options to pick from when it comes to choosing how you will sustain yourself and look after your family.

“I’ll help you pack up your bags and take whatever you need to your car”, Lydia says standing up and giving Mr Ramaru her laptop, telling him that he and Mr Msomi can go over the spreadsheet she has opened. She explains that it is something she put together and they’ll discuss it further when she gets back.

We pack my bags and a box of things that I’ll take with me. The office is silent. I look at Mr Msomi and Mr Ramaru through the glass door of Mr Ramaru’s office and they are giggling about and drinking whiskey. If only I could be a fly on that wall and hear what is being said and celebrated.

“Ready?” Lydia asks me, holding one of my boxes.

I nod my head. As we make our way out, she pauses at Thando’s desk and says, “[d]o I need to give you a tutorial on where your place is around here?”

Thando stares at her. Honestly, I am shocked and happy that this happening.

“You are not the new Pearl. And I am getting tired of you behaving as if Pearl left you the “bitch” ropes around here. If you are going to continue to behave like this is your grandfather’s farm and all the employees around here are your cows to milk and slaughter for beef, I will be the National Party and take that farm away from you very quickly.”

Yho Lydia!

Thando’s tears are at the door, ready for release.

“I’ll ask again, do you need a tutorial?”

Thando shakes her head.

“I’ll be sure to check in again when Portia returns. Because your lifeline around here depends on it.” Lydia says.

Ja no, she woke up this morning prepared to suspend lifelines on everyone’s job.

I just give Thando one last smile then follow Lydia out of here.