#plus I was at my second job for an hour just doing a tiny bit of paperwork

[undefeatednils]

Okay, done for today. Rewarding myself with Critical Role. Dinner later, nothing else for today...

[swordsandholly]

Cherry Bomb - tattoo parlor anthology

MDNI | poly 141 x fem fat reader | masterlist

Part 7: Firsts

Kyle bought you lunch before your set time. To make sure you ate, he said. He still asked about five times if you felt like you ate enough or needed water even after sitting across from you while you downed a to-go container of pad se ew and your fourth ounce bottle.

You just laugh and point to a piece on your knee. “Babes I got this with nothing but a trenta iced coffee and two hours of sleep in my system. I’m fine, I promise.”

John made a baffled noise at that. Kyle looked like he was going to throw up. That look remained as he went through the process of setting up in John’s studio room. Kyle is meticulous about it. Each step done with care. You feel a bit silly sitting around and twiddling your thumbs.

“Just breathe. It’s fine.” John murmurs in a low rumble that somehow has you relaxing more than the indented party.

“It’s almost more scary doing someone I know.” Kyle huffs.

You laugh. “Can’t be worse than the blown out piece of shit on my left arm. C’mon, I’ve seen what you can do. You’ve got this.”

John nods, sitting on the other side of you.

“Besides, even if it sucks I’ll still be honored to be your first real apprentice tattoo.” You pipe up.

Kyle chuckles, low and unsure. Part of you wants to give him an out, to say he doesn’t have to, but you can see the set of his jaw even as his eyes flick between his supplies and the stencil in his hand nervously. He’s determined as much as he is scared. There’s no getting him out of that headspace until he’s done.

You chose something easy. One of Kyle’s more dainty, simple flash designs for the back of your thigh, just below the curve of your ass. A little bow with minimal shading. Something he’s practiced a thousand times and an easy enough starting point. Plus, you already mentioned having him do a matching one on the other side when he’s ready for it. Easy practice.

“C’mon, at least get the stencil on before you have a panic attack.” You try to keep your voice light, turning your back to him.

Kyle sighs. You hear his stool roll forward as he scoots in close to place it. John shuffles around to stand over him. A nasty part of your brain complains about exposing your cellulite to these two fit men but you push that deep down into nothing. A second, more embarrassing part wonders if you should have chose a more appropriate spot… that maybe you shouldn’t be standing in front of your boss and coworker in teeny-tiny biker shorts that barely cover you. You shove that down right next to the other mean thoughts.

You pointedly ignore the heat that shoots up your spine as Kyle’s hands feel out the shape of your thigh to get it centered - keeping your eyes forward as he slowly presses the paper against you. You could swear a thumb traces the curve of your cheek as he smoothes it but that’s probably just wishful thinking.

“Good job, kid.” John claps a hand on Kyle’s shoulder as soon as the paper is pulled away. You turn around in the mirror to check it, expecting to probably have to move it, but from what you can tell it really is perfect.

“Damn, dude, on your first try!” You grin, clapping happily.

Kyle nods stiffly, but you see the way the corner of his mouth quirks up. You unceremoniously clamber onto the table, moving around so your back doesn’t hurt from laying flat for the next few hours with your arms folded under your head.

“Hey.” You whisper while John steps away to grab something. “Get through this without freaking out and I’ll give you a reward.”

“A reward?” He tilts his head, smile turning from an nervous curl of his lip to a boyish grin.

You jokingly bat your lashes. “I’ll give you a kiss.”

Kyle chuckles. “With tongue?”

You gawk, face hot. “Mr. Garrick! Where’d my knight in shining armor go?”

“Just tryin’ t’ figure out exactly what I’m workin’ toward.”

You hum, pretending to mull it over. “We’ll see. Depends on how well you do.”

Kyle levels a look at you, something heated as his lip catches between his teeth. It’s only there for a moment, gone as soon as he turns to his tools. Replaced by a laser focus.

“Alright.” John settles back into his seat on your other side. “Let’s do one line and then see how we all feel.”

Kyle nods. You shuffle a little to make you’re you’re as comfortable as possible for the next however long. You know it’s going to be a while even if it isn’t a simple design. He’s new and precise with means slow.

The familiar whirr of the gun starts up. You shut your eyes, waiting, hoping that you aren’t projecting any more tension into the room than Kyle is. The needle stings when it finally touches you, but not as badly as you braced for. His touch is light.

He pulls the gun away and let’s put a giant sigh. “How y’feel, luv?”

“Hm? Oh, I’m all good. You?” You tilt your chin a bit to meet his eye.

“Better now that it’s started.”

“Good.” John nods, chest bumping your leg as he leans forward to look. “Looks good. Keep on.”

The room is nearly silent as he works. You turned down the music before coming back so he wouldn’t get overwhelmed - at least that was your reasoning. You’d get overwhelmed. Kyle is more levelheaded than you are, though.

“Thassit.” John smiles - or at least that’s how it sounds in his voice. “Her skin takes ink so well, yeah?”

Fuck, that totally should not do it for you. Gravelly voiced British bastard. You keep your eyes locked onto the flash on the far wall as you attempt to cool down.

Kyle just hums, seemingly unable to talk as he concentrates. He probably is with how dialed in he looks. You take a break before he gets to shading, stretching and getting some water. It takes a while, but not as long as you assumed. You start to get that ache in your skin partway through the shading - that feeling when your nerves are so tired from firing off pain receptors they just all sort of start burning dully.

However long later Kyle pulls away. “I… think it’s done?”

“You think?” John challenges.

Kyle sighs before speaking with more finality. “It’s done.”

There’s a few beats where John assess and you hold your breath. He points to a couple spots where Kyle’s hand slipped a bit or he applied too much pressure, but when you check it out in the mirror yourself you don’t see that all. Perfectionists.

You can’t help but squeal and jump, clapping happily and barely standing still while Kyle puts the saniderm on. You’re just to happy! Not only did Kyle get his first tattoo done but now you have brand new (free) cute ink to show off. Kyle looks tired, though, so you try not over overwhelm him while he cleans up. Concentrating like that with anxiety must have really taken it out of him.

You sort of forget about your promise of a reward for the next week. Too busy focusing on taking care of your new tattoo. The only downside to the placement is sitting in your office chair itches - especially once you take the saniderm off. You’ve mostly taken to standing while working and wearing shorts and skirts to let it breathe. It’s worth it, though. You’ll have to ask Kyle how soon he wants to do the other one. Without being pushy, of course.

You quietly hum to yourself as you get the cash drawers ready to lock away in the backroom safe. Triple checking the bags and making sure tips are divided correctly, etc.

“Hey, lovie.” Kyle saddles up behind you suddenly, hands on your hips.

You jump. “Holy shit, you scared the hell out of me!”

“Sorry.” He chuckles. A hand slips down your hip, palm tracing the hem of your tennis skirt to lightly rest over the little bow. “How’s she healin’?”

“It’s, uh, it-“ You stutter, eyes wide and skin hot. If it were Johnny, you’d laugh and swat him away - maybe let his hand wander to your ass first - but Kyle doesn’t do this. Not that you don’t like it - the problem lies in that you’re liking it too much. If the patter of your heart is anything to go by. “It’s good. Not itching yet or anything.”

Kyle hums. “Good.”

“Th-that all?”

“Think you forgot somethin’.” He turns you around, hands firmly planted on the softness of your waist. When you just give him a bewildered look he continues. “I was promised a reward, I think.”

“O-oh?” Your face burns, eyes wide. Is he serious? Part of you wants to say no - to push him away. You’re coworkers, after all. Until your eyes meet his, so big and warm and his lips forming a perfect pout. “John….?”

Kyle chuckles ans crosses his chest. “John won’t care. Cross my heart.”

He gives you a moment to mull it over. You don’t think he’s making fun of or bating you - Kyle wouldn’t do that. There’s no way he’s interested either. That’s one delusion you can firmly plant in the ’purely imaginary’ category.

Whatever. What do you have to lose from a little back room make out?

Your lips meets his. Fuck, they’re soft. He steals your breath - greedy and gentile. It’s been so long since you’ve been kissed, much less kissed well. One of the hands on your waist moves to your low back as Kyle leans into you. Your hands grapple onto his shoulders to steady you. He takes advantage of your gasp at being tilted back to swipe is tongue between your lips.

You mould together, breaths heavy and tongues dancing. A needy, pathetic little part of you wishes the hand that drifted from your waist to your hip would hook under your thigh. That Kyle would tilt you all the way back onto the desk and throw your leg over his shoulder, eagerly pushing up your skirt-

An ‘I love you’ dances on the tip of your tongue and you reel back harshly, hand flat on his chest to separate you.

“Alright?” He murmurs, eyes half lidded and dark.

You swallow roughly and nod, breathing hard. “I, uh, I need to finish the safe.”

Something passes across his face briefly as your eyes flick between his. Whatever it was, it’s replaced by his usual easy smile as he returns to standing at his full height, the hands on your waist steady you before disappearing. Your stomach drops as they go.

“See you tomorrow.” Kyle murmurs, pressing one last little peck on your cheek before striding away, leaving you alone in the back room with a hot face and whirlwind thoughts.

Fuck.

A/N: brought to you by the time a tattoo artist told me my skin takes ink well in the most haunting bedroom voice I’ve ever heard😵‍💫 killed me right then and there

[woso-fan13]

2024: Whumptober 10 (Beth/viv)

No. 10: BLOW TO THE HEAD

Slurred Words | Passing Out from Pain | "I can't think straight."

Injuries are common in football, and even more common when someone’s as accident prone as you are. Most are scrapes and bruises, and there’s always some sort of turf-burn. There are more serious injuries though, broken bones and torn ACLs. And, of course, head injuries. 

Most injuries seem to happen during games, when you’re overworked and dealing with constant nasty tackles. Getting hurt in practice wasn’t as common. Getting hurt during a water break during practice was unheard of until now. 

You could have sworn that the bench came out of nowhere, but one second you were walking and chugging your drink and the next you were lying on the ground, wiggling as pain shot through your head. And you quickly regressed, taking a deep inhale before crying loudly. 

Beth dropped her water, hurrying over to you when she heard that sound. She knew that cry all too well, and she knew that that cry meant a very little y/n.

—-

You had gone through a multitude of exams with the physios before your Mummy had scooped you off of the hard table and taken you back to the locker room. She quickly gets the two of you rinsed off in the shower and dresses you in a diaper and pajamas that she had pulled out of your diaper bag. Swinging the multitude of bags over her shoulder, Beth picks you up and carries you to the car. 

An hour later, you were propped up against Mummy’s chest, lying comfortably against her on the sofa. Your ouchie head was feeling the tiniest bit better after taking your medicine, but the cuddles were definitely helping you the most. 

“Bug, look at the screen,” Mummy prompts.

Your head feels too heavy to pick up yourself (plus, Mummy’s doing such a good job holding it already) so you just turn to face her phone. 

Your little face lights up when you see the picture, becoming excited when you realize it’s not just a picture of Mama, but the tiny version of Mama who’s stuck in the phone. 

You babble at the phone halfheartedly, Beth and Viv only able to make out about a quarter of what you’re saying but nodding along to your slurred words. 

“My sweet, concussed baby,” Mama coos at you through the phone. 

You’re not really sure what that big “c” word means, but you know ‘baby’ and you confidently mumble it back to her to ensure that you are, in fact, her sweet baby. 

Mama’s still cooing at you over the phone, speaking words that you can’t understand but sound really pretty in your ears. And Mummy’s rubbing her hand that’s not holding her phone over your belly and it tickles just a tiny bit in the way you like. 

Maybe it’s all of the love, maybe it’s the head injury, but it's probably a combination of both that causes your eyes to get really heavy as you become so sleepy that you relax fully into Mummy and drift off. 

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Paradigm Shift 3

Warnings: this fic will include elements, some dark, such noncon/dubcon, and other untagged triggers. Please take this into account before proceeding. It is up to curate your online consumption safely.

Summary: you get transferred to a new position but it’s hardly a breath of fresh air. (plus!reader)

Characters: Loki, Bucky Barnes, this reader is known as Billie.

Author’s Note: Please feel free to leave some feedback, reblog, and jump into my asks. I’m always happy to discuss with you and riff on idea. As always, you are cherished and adored! Stay safe, be kind, and treat yourself💜

💼Part of the Bad Bosses AU💼

Dark roast, black. You're tempted to order one for yourself but the extra dose of caffeine might unhinge you after the morning you've had. Transfer, no desk, a firing, a stolen desk, and two painfully aloof bosses.  

You go back up to the office, the short reprieve offering some clarity but not solutions. There has to be some way to get more than a grunt and a closed door from these men. Geez, if you wanted to work with children you would've done so. 

You knock on Mr. Barnes' door. The one next to it opens first. Laufeyson considers you from head to toe and Barnes appears not a second after. He takes his cup without a thanks. 

"Mm, and where is mine then?" Laufeyson challenges. 

You blink, long and hard. Of course. Of course! You let out a slow breath, "what would you like, Mr. Laufeyson?" 

You don't miss the quiet snort from the other door and it closes before you can glance Barnes' expression. You have a suspicion he expected this. It's like your first job when you worked with a bunch of men in stocks. Their numbers were as bloated as their egos. 

“Matcha.” 

The door shuts in your face. Again. You bite down and stretch your fingers wide. It’s fine. It’s fine. Growing pains. 

Matcha... what? Iced? Latte? Hot tea? Smoothie? Wonderful, a guessing game. 

You will be getting yourself another coffee for the trouble. Another trip to Roasters and you settle on the simplest option; just tea. You’re certain if you’re wrong, he’ll let you know.  

You stand at the two office doors and contemplate your life decisions. Is this worth it? Can you beg Odinson to take you back? To send down another poor soul? You almost feel bad doing that to someone else. You’re about to give when that innate stubborn ticks in your jaw. It’s only been a few hours. You don’t just give up that easy. 

Knock, knock. There’s a delay before Laufeyson answers. You’re not put off by it. You know the tactic. It won’t work on you. If his tea is cold, it won’t be your fault. 

“Matcha, sir,” you hold out the cup. 

He accepts it and reads the sticker on the side. He narrows his green eyes and looks at you, “note for next time, I prefer Garcon’s to Roasters.” 

Click. Another shut door. You’re really starting to get angry. You laugh out the flurry of agitation and turn away. What else can you do but think of it as a joke? It has to be. It’s just that absurd. 

You sit at the desk and open your laptop. You get it hooked up to the monitor and refinagle the cords. That’s an accomplishment at least. A tiny morsel of victory. You glance around and frown. It’s like the waiting room in Beetlejuice; everyone looks miserable. Well, can you blame them? 

Your phone buzzes and you check the messages. Girl nights hangs like bait at the end of your day, keeping you swimming through dark waters. It’s a bit ridiculous. Your friends are all like you in one way but all vastly different in many other ways. You all spend your days taking care of men who couldn’t give a shit about any of you. 

You can already taste the Paloma; bitter grapefruit with the burn of tequila. You are dying to drink away this day. You look at the clock and nearly whimper. It’s not even one o’clock. Ugh. 

You plug away at your desk. You get the daily agendas templated then spend time scouring the web. You have something in mind. You’re pretty sure you can make it work. As long as those grumps can do the simplest of tasks. 

You customize the survey and send the link. You doubt you’ll get a response today or even at all. It’s a hail mary, really. Barnes’ door opens, then Laufeysons. Your chest fills with dread. Great. 

“Hello, sir and... sir,” you sit up as they approach. 

“What is the meaning of that quiz?” Laufeyson demands. 

“It’s not-- 

“Asking a lot, aren’t you?” Barnes crosses his arms. 

“No, I just--” 

“What business do you have about my dry cleaning?” Laufeyson hisses. 

“I have lunch when I have lunch. I'm not a child at grade school,” Barnes sneers.

“Okay, woah,” you put your palms out, “first, there’s an n/a column, you can choose not to disclose the information. Two, I need to know what to do. What do you want from me?” 

Both men frown and look at each other, then back to you. 

“I can think of one,” Laufeyson raises a finger, “don’t treat us as children who need you to put our socks on.” 

“Good one,” Barnes scoffs, “also, you could stop with calendar reminders.” 

“Those are automatic,” you mutter. 

“And the arguing,” Laufeyson points at you. 

You sputter, dizzy at their onslaught of criticism. They can tell you exactly what they don’t want but they can’t give you a clear answer as to why you are there. You calm yourself with a breath and sip of coffee. 

“Mr. Laufeyson, Mr. Barnes--” 

“Why him first? My name’s first alphabetically,” Barnes says. 

“I--” you stop yourself and take another taste of your coffee, “if my presence is getting in the way of your work, I will go back upstairs and talk to Mr. Odinson--” 

“Mr. Odinson? Thor?” Laufeyson says, “no, you won’t do that. In fact, that is another item for your list, no talking to my brother. Especially of me.” 

You could tear your hair out. You could hit your head on the wall. You could gauge your eyes out and drown yourself in your coffee. Instead, you smile. 

“Got it,” you say, “well, sirs, good luck with your meeting this afternoon.” 

“Yes, thank you,” Laufeyson intones. 

“Mm, sure,” Barnes says and they both turn on their heels then stop at once. They face you in sync with each other. 

“Meeting?” They ask. 

“Mmhm,” you nod, “it’s in your calendars.” 

They stare at you. 

“If that’s something you’d like me to brief you on,” you say tritely, “you can submit that in the survey.” 

Laufeyson hums dryly and Barnes growls. Neither says anything further as they retreat. You keep your eyes on the screen as your heartbeat races. You can’t believe you said that. 

[idkwhatever580]

Her pt. 2

Pairings: Natasha Romanoff x reader

Prompt: after y/n gets rescued what is in store in the next chapter of her life with Natasha?

Warnings: cursing

Pronouns: she/her

A/N: I’m super excited about this one. Make sure you read chapter one first so you have some insight on how nat and y/n met!!! I hope y’all like it :)))

Here’s part one :))) I’m working on a master list I swear -> https://www.tumblr.com/idkwhatever580/749750524015984640/her-pt-1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Y/n’s pov

I cannot believe it’s been a whole year since I met Natasha.

She and the avengers immediately took me in and I found myself going over to the compound much more than I expected.

I still have my house in Long Island. But I never stay there really anymore. Ever since Natasha and I started dating I haven’t spent too much time there.

It only took three months for me to virtually move in with her. Although I do wish she’d come with me sometimes.

But I don’t really worry about that since one of the floors in the tower is my new soup kitchen. It’s open twenty four hours a day and there are at least 2-6 people working there at all times.

As promised Tony Stark and SHEILD helped me get my business up and running.

I make homes for the homeless. Sometimes they are bigger more communal homes and sometimes they are tiny one or two person homes.

My first two homes are side by side. They were for gran and pops. They were always my biggest supporters and still are.

My program has changed so many lives. There are so many people out there who just need a little bit of love.

Sometimes the homeless people will use the homes as a forever home but most often they get jobs. Become more financially stable and independent and then they will move out. It’s really great. Because I see so many people I’ve helped become something. Someone.

There are so many who have told me they thought they would never amount to anything. And a few of them have become very successful even as far as becoming a CEO.

I am incredibly proud of my work.

And honestly it’s so exciting to see what changes I can make every single day.

For example. Today is the release date of my nationwide program.

All over the country a program is being launched where homeless people can find shelter, rehabilitation centers, and other necessities for free so they can have a second chance at life. I am doing some interviews today.

Unfortunately Natasha isn’t here. She has a mission. I’m a little sad that she won’t be with me tonight as the program launches but the show must go on.

I check my watch and see it is time to leave for the opening ceremony and I go downstairs to find Happy.

I smile and say

“What’s up Happy! Are you ready?”

He smiles sadly and says

“Yes I am ready. But I must inform you that I am only your chauffeur tonight. Unfortunately I cannot be your plus one.”

I frown when he says this because he was supposed to fill in for Natasha and now I have nobody.

“Oh. Well. That’s okay!”

I smile and cover up my disappointment. He drives me to the red carpet and helps me out. I kiss his cheek accidentally leaving a lipstick stain and I say

“Thank you. Have a good night Happy.”

He usually goes home and I have a different driver drive me home.

I walk to the red carpet by myself and put on my best smile. I make it about halfway through the carpet and an arm snakes around me and this mystery person says

“Am I late?”

“Oh!”

I jump and put my hand to my chest and I look at my beautiful girlfriend with a huge smile on my face and I say

“Jesus! You scared me!”

My brain doesn’t even register that she’s back since I’m in the zone and then I do a double take and say

“Wait! What!?”

She giggles when I realize and I slap her chest and say

“I thought you were at a mission?!”

She chuckles and says.

“I got off early enough to make it. That’s why Happy isn’t here with you. I tried my best. But I couldn’t get the best suit”

She looks down at her suit and I look her up and down and say

“You look amazing baby. Perfect right here with me.”

I smile and give her a kiss. We always wear matching lipstick colors so that we can kiss and not get it messed up.

Then I put my hand on her chest and we keep taking pictures.

The rest of the night goes smoothly and I give a speech. I talk to a few people who have helped my journey and then we head home.

I get changed and wait in bed for Natasha. She takes a while so I complain

“Nattyyy”

She comes out of the bathroom and smiles and says

“Yes baby?”

I hold my arms out for her and pout

“I missed you”

She gets into bed with me and says

“I missed you too.”

Once we’re comfy she looks me in the eyes and says

“Goodnight my love. You have done such amazing things for so many people and I am so lucky to be yours.”

I smile and say

“I love you baby. Goodnight”

We kiss and drift off into a nice comfortable sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: guys this is so bad. It feels rushed and blah. Idk how I feel about it. I became so unmotivated and just wanted to move on to the next thing but I didn’t want to just leave it. 😭🔫

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I didn’t let my friend bring their partner to social events?

We are all in our 30s and all trans/NB/queer. My friend (B) and I have known each other nearly 20 years, and over those years they’ve had a rough dating history. They’ve had several emotionally and mentally abusive or neglectful partners, further details about that I won’t give here. I’ve met most of them and they’ve always disliked me for various reasons (usually they were just jealous of the place I held in their life).

Recently though, B seems to have found someone who makes them happy (we’ll call them T) and T treats them better than their previous partners. Which is great! I’m happy for B. But I find T insufferable.

Granted, I don’t have to see T very often, but when I do its always uncomfortable.

The first time I met T they trauma dumped immediately. In the first half hour I knew all about their horrible family but couldn’t tell you any hobby or interest they had. We were in a very public place and I didn’t feel it was the most appropriate topic to get to know someone, but I tried to relate with my own stories all the same. However, T always had to “one up” every story I told. it felt like a “whose childhood was worse” competition.

The second time we all hung out T ignored me completely, really only hanging around and talking to B. Since it was B’s birthday I didn’t really mind at all. Plus, we were at a beercade so everyone was kinda off doing their own thing. But even when we all sat down they just kinda threw looks my way but didnt say a word to me.

But most recently I had hosted a halloween party (it was only 8 folks so tiny party) where B and T both showed up. When T asked me how work was going I started with what I felt was a normal “Ah yeah, it sucks but—” and before I could say anything else they spoke over me to say

“Yeah you’ve mentioned you hate your job every time I’ve seen you so thats sort of my only impression of you :/ ”

(a possibly important side note: B and T are both doing things that they enjoy but have to hustle a bit to make ends meet whereas I have a full time retail job through which i have insurance so leaving isnt as easy for me since I have more tied up in my job than just a paycheck)

This really pissed me off, as not only is being interrupted a huge pet peeve, but there are aspects of my job I enjoy. I just never got to talk about them because the conversation would either divert or we would just stop talking altogether. Also the way they came across felt pretty judgmental.

T then proceeded to spend the rest of the evening talking about everything from the movie to the snacks with therapy speak and trauma processing. (ex: I think I’m locked into this movie because it might’ve been a safe haven for me during my childhood and I just dont remember watching it but I can feel its importance to me) And only ever to B, never engaging with anyone else.

(another note: they are not the only one at the party with anxiety. two of my other friends have severe social anxiety and while maybe a little awkward were still able to hold casual conversations. no one was a stranger to anyone at the party)

This also meant that I didn’t get to spend any time with B during the party either, which was a shame cause I see them so rarely.

I understand that trauma processing is important and its great if you have someone in your life that can help you. It does not need to happen every where all the time. And I’m worried that B might be getting taken advantage of like they have in the past (in the sense that they have to do all the emotional legwork in the relationship and get very little of that effort back).

I’m tired of catering to this attitude and I don’t enjoy being around them, so I no longer want to involve them in group events I host.

would that make me an asshole?

What are these acronyms?

[askthe-r-m-au]

Ok this is currently being written the morning after chapter 4 because I'm in a good mood

Now let's bet on how long I'm gonna take to actually publish this!! (20 bucks says I will forget about this for another month)

[Ring-Misstress Chapter 5 : Firsts]

Everyone stood around the stage with the new players. The ringmaster still sat their dumbfounded.

☆This audience is a bit... taller and... more edgy than I'm used to.☆

Zari: ... The #@/! Is that supposed to mean-

The ringmaster and his tiny assistant simultaneously gasped

☆Now now, I've come to expect mild language from my permanent performers, but from our guests!? How disrespectful!☆

Osa: Sorry, your... what-?

♧E-excuse us for a second, folks!♧

The Ring-Misstress stepped in and pulled Caine aside, out of ear range. They still exchanged words through whispers, just to be safe.

♧This isn't going anywhere, What are we supposed to do??♧

☆I don't know!?!?☆

♧What do you mean you don't know!??!♧

☆I- I haven't run an adventure for an audience other than you guys for years! Besides, I spent half the time making the circus look pristine...☆

Caine trailed off with his words. Pomni put a palm to her face. She took a breath, contemplating a solution.

♧You say this... "Audience" is ...different than usual?♧

☆Yes, they appear younger than us, but mature at the same time...☆

It didn't take long for things to click.

♧Mm. ... wait a minute... You said they're more... mature?♧

☆Yeah... At least I think so? I'm not sure if we can work with this... last time I tried to make an adventure more mature for someone it went...☆

Pomni recalled the adventure he mentioned. The thought of it still made her shudder. But Caine was referring to something else... She remembered not too long after that adventure she had a conversation with Zooble about what they did while- hold on...

♧A-hah! I think I have something!♧

The pair returned to the audience, now with a plan actually in mind.

♧Sorry for the wait, everyone. Your adventure today is...♧

The Ring-Misstress snapped several times until letters finally appeared overhead.

♧The... SkatePark!! Objective? None today, just- skate? And... if not- hang out, I guess? Uhm... right!!♧

With another snap, the circus crew (Plus Voz) AND the new players were given helmets and knee and elbow pads. Pomni made her way to the main cast.

♧Now, YOU guys have the most Important job! What IS said job? Supervising our new friends, of course!! You could participate in the adventure if you wish, or you can just sit and watch at the sidelines. No pressure! As long as we have each and everyone of you-♧

She paused as she realized someone was missing. Zooble was already making their way to their room. Pomni quickly met their side.

♧Zooble! I- I understand if you don't wanna go, but please, can ya hear me out?♧

Zooble stayed quiet for a moment.

◇Look, Pomni, I appreciate you trying, but I just... It's not your fault.◇

Pomni met them at eye level.

♧You don't have to say yes at all, but... just know we'd like to have you out there. Mostly to talk some sense into Jax, Heh. Besides, I think these kids might like you.♧

Zooble said nothing.

♧All I ask is this one time..?♧

◇... Between you and me, this is only so I can bash Jax's head in with a skateboard.◇

Zooble walked over to the rest of the crew, and Pomni followed suit. She rejoined at her position with Caine.

♧Wonderful!! Now that everyone is ready, your all free to go! The Portal should reopen In a couple hours! Have fun!!♧

The portal opened, and everyone stepped in, leaving Caine and Pomni. She beamed with an odd sense of pride, despite how childish she felt.

♧Our first official adventure!! How exciting! Right Cai-♧

Pomni looked down to see she had been clenching his hand all this time. The Ring-Misstress flushed red as she was brought back to reality.

♧Oh god, I- I'm really sorry. How long had I done that for??♧

She quickly pulled away. The ringmaster was silent for a moment.

☆...From when you introduced the adventure and when you sent then off☆

♧...Again, I'm sorry I was just so busy explaining the- ...why didn't you say anything?♧

Caine froze once again, even longer that before.

☆Well, I-! ...Diiidn't want to interrupt you! The exposition you gave was quite a mouthful (no pun intended), surely you would have lost track of your thought!☆

As if I already hadn't... She tried to keep the conversation going and forget about that.

♧Oh, right... the whole speech thing... too much??♧

☆Not at all! It was well thought out. And you put it together on a whim, which is pretty impressive!☆

The Ring-Misstress forced a smile.

♧Well I uh, I learned from the best, ahaha!...♧

She continued trying to change the subject.

♧So... What do you normally do while we're out on adventures??♧

☆...Nothing much, really. Usually prep the next adventure. That or I'd have to be with-☆

The Ringmaster paused completely.

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

The SkatePark was outdoors. It's ramps and bumps were made from realistic-looking concrete, but some of the greenery in the distance still looked cartoony. The Circus Crew sat at a few Nearby picnic benches.

This was Voz's first time outside of the tent. He made his way to a small patch of grass within the map, shaded by one of the trees. He sat there, picking at it until Ragatha and Kinger Hunched over to him.

□Hey there, little buddy! Whatcha doing?□

[Playin' in the grass.]

+Don't you wanna go play with the others?+

Cut to the players shouting "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" Watching Zooble and Jax hitting each other with their skateboards.

[They seem busy.]

□I... see. Well, are you liking the adventure?□

[... I like the grass]

Kinger joined him on the grass.

+Yaknow, I'm starting to like it too! They really put their attention to detail in this, huh kid?+

[We spent most of the work on the concrete.]

□Oh, you helped them make this?□

Voz tilted his head, curiously.

[No, why?]

□...er, nevermind.□

Just then, a tiny red and black spotted creature flew by and landed on a blade of grass in front of them.

+Oh, look! A ladybug! All the spots on its back kind of look like eyes!+

What Voz hadn't told them yet was that the players weren't very nice. They ridiculed him for his strange eyes. Being the youngest and an AI made him feel small. But looking at that ladybug and being in the grass made him feel less small. It had strange eyes, too.

[He looks like me.]

Kinger flinched at Voz's sudden words.

+GAH! Oh, hello Voz!+

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

The Ringmaster and his co-host viewed the cast from one of his all-seeing eyes.

☆Well, my dear, it looks like everyone's having a good time!☆

♧Really? ...huh.♧

☆You know how DID you get Zooble to join the adventure?? This "SkatePark" thing must be very mature!☆

♧No, Caine, it's not that. This is what I meant by mundane. There's no stakes, no objective, they can just relax.♧

☆Well, my red and blue friend, This "Mundane" formula for adventures was a great idea! I knew I picked the right partner!!☆

♧Uhh... thanks.♧

Pomni thought about the day she became Caine's assistant. It was a big step in her relationship towards him- ...her escape plan. Yeah.

But that didn't come without sacrifice.

♧Uh, Caine? I- I'm sorry about... Bubble.♧

Did he even feel empathy for that thing? Can he even feel empathy in general?

☆Oh, that's all in the past, dear! Why feel the need to apologize..?☆

♧I... I don't know. It's just... eversince we had to... yaknow... you've been acting kinda... different?♧

The ringmaster stammered through his words.

☆M-me?? Different?? Now, why would I be different, especially after Bubble's disappearance?? It'sdefinitelynotlikeIthadaneffectonmeoranythingAHAHAHA-☆

Caine's WackyWatchTM alarm went off

☆Oh, would you look at the time! The adventure is over! Time to retrieve our crew!!☆

He quickly snapped and teleported them back to the stage, just as the Portal reopened.

♧Uh, Welcome back!! Seems like everyone enjoyed the adventure?♧

Plauge: Never thought I'd say this, but yeah, actually.

Aki: You're just saying that because their was violence and bloodshed...

Plauge: And?

♧...Well, thank you for your feedback!♧

Pomni brought her attention to the circus crew once again.

♧And thank YOU all for helping! All of you. You guys are free to go!♧

She flashed a thumbs up at Zooble as they walked away.

♧Well, thanks again for being here. Come again! I guess we'll, uhh... seeya!♧

The players walked out the tents front curtains, which led to the grounds. She quietly followed and peered behind it. She was there for a while until Caine eventually found her.

☆Oh, there you are! What're you-☆

A few feet in front of the tent was a big red door.

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

WELL WHADDA YA KNOW? ITS BEEN- uh... almost 2 months... yay...

Yeah I don't know what's with Me and writing fics at night when I can't sleep.

I feel pretty proud of this chapter.

But honestly I'm not entirely sure how the next one is gonna go but I feel that way for all my works-

I know I said I had a comic planned, but I have been helping the family with Thanksgiving stuff (we celebrated a day late yippee) buuut now I might have more time!

Anywayyy uh feel free to leave asks if ya want and uhm byeee

I'm so tired-

[iwonderwh0]

Someone on reddit asked, "What do you hate about The Hostage chapter?" and i was like, "oh, it's my time to shine."

My reply, copied from reddit:

Tbh, Captain Allen's flippant response to Connor. But not for the reasons other people have commented. Yes, he was needlessly antagonistic. Yes, he should have kept his calm, and not escalated the situation.

But i understand that he was under a lot of stress, two of his men had been shot, an officer from the local PD was dead, Emma was currently being dangled off a very tall building, and Allen was being made to wait an hour for a fresh-off-the-line android to show up so CL could test out their new toy, when at any time, the deviant could jump. There was no guarantee in his eyes that it'd even work, for all he knew, Connor could still have some bugs to patch, and if he failed, a little girl would die. I'd be unbelievable angry in that situation, too.

No, what i don't understand is why Captain Allen knows absolutely NOTHING about the deviant. Connor asks him two questions, and he can't answer the first, and refuses to answer the second. Now, he could just be angry because of all the aforementioned reasons, plus Connor seems to be asking nonsensical questions from his standpoint (Who cares what the deviant's name is? We don't have time for that), but his response to the first question (and it's the same for all 4 questions Connor can ask) gives me the impression he knows absolutely nothing. Which is ridiculous, because that means he's been essentially sitting with his thumbs up his ass for an hour while Emma was in constant danger.

SWAT teams very rarely go into a mission blind, they are briefed on the situation before being deployed, or updated on the go. They know the importance of learning every bit of information about the situation as possible. For them, it can mean the difference between life or death. Especially for a hostage; standard procedure is to learn every single tiny detail you can about the kidnapper's life and motives. This is a big part of hostage negotiation, Allen should be familiar with this considering his job title. This is what he should have been doing, before he got the call that Connor was coming.

In addition, i don't know if Allen ever became a detective before he entered SWAT, but i know that every SWAT personnel must spend at least 2 years as a beat cop, same as everyone else. SWAT usually spend many years as regular officer, some gaining a higher rank, before tranferring. And even a lowly officer knows to 1) assess the situation, 2) learn the how (figure out what happened), 3) learn the why (figure out why this happened).

So.......you question the witnesses.

Emma's mother was there, being escorted out of the premises as Connor arrived. She would be a key witness, as she was presumably in close contact with Daniel often, making sure Emma did her homework, drafting grocery lists, delegating tasks, etc. And buying a new android to replace your old one is not a secret you would keep in a marriage. They're pretty pricey, and that would generally be a joint financial decision. She had to have known her husband bought the AP700.

Allen could have been questioning her....but i have my doubts. He doesn't know Daniel's motive. He doesn't know if this is out of character for him. Hell, he doesn't even know Daniel's name. So what the hell was he doing for that entire hour before Connor showed up?

Why the hell doesn't he know anything about the android he's trying to rescue a 10 year old hostage from??

This has bugged me for years lmao. I was curious of your opinion on it

I don't think Allen and his team was there planning to negotiate at all, and I might be wrong but from what I gathered from a quick research, SWAT doesn't typically do negotiation on their own, they have optional Crisis Negotiation Team attached to them (?) which although works closely with SWAT isn't exactly a part of it. Moreover, from their POV it's a case of a broken machine, not an actual hostage-taker with human motives that are even worth looking into as such — android took a hostage not because it had a reason to but just because it was faulty, end of story. You don't negotiate with a crazy robot, because it's not a person with motives. Even Connor is there wording it as "errors in his software".

So, I think Allen doesn't know those things because he doesn't exactly find them relevant on the first place, his job is to come up with an armed strategy aka the position of snipers, the helicopter, etc, like all those people around the area are organised by Allen, that's what he's been doing. Their team just wants to shoot the android in the right enough way without any negotiation, that's what I think is happening.

As you said, they escorted Caroline in the beginning of the chapter, which means they probably assessed the situatsioon of what and how happened from her words. So it is possible she didn't know the motive herself, so even from her POV Daniel just got bonkers out of the blue. And once again, in their eyes it's not exactly a hostage-taking as it is a case of a broken machine, something not reasonable to talk to. They might have as well be called in a scene with an armed monkey, a wild animal pet that got aggressive. Who gives a shit if there was a reason, it's a wild animal, it's not exactly an acceptable course of action to talk to it and reason. That's why Allen is do annoyed, I think, he sees it as ridiculous to even try to talk to something that doesn't actually understand you. A waste of time.

And regarding what Caroline even knew about tue situation... Buying a new android could really well have been a decision made on a whim because Really, have you seen how rich those people are? Ten grand for them can be an impulsive purchase, even people who Don't have the money sometimes make crazy expensive purchases they can't afford just because they suddenly decide to make a bad financial decision, and then they buy a used sports car just because they saw it on sale and it was slightly lower price and higher quality than usual or something. Things like this happen.

I honestly wonder if Caroline herself even knew about this decision at all, and I think, it's entirely possible she did not. It might have been a surprise from John's side. It might have been even that John's plan wasn't actually to replace an android but just to buy another one, for whatever purposes, without talking to Caroline prior. And if you look at the timing, Daniel shoots him pretty much immediately after he hit the purchase button. Even if Caroline did know about the plan to buy a new model (if there was indeed a plan), do you think she'd have a chance to connect the two things in such a short notice, possibly not having an opportunity to know that John proceeded with the purchase at THAT evening?

So yeah, I don't think the things you listed are really a fault of a chapter tbh. I love it the way it is, I think it makes sense. The only thing I find regrettable about this chapter is that it's barely ever mentioned later on in the game.

[immortal-imagines]

Sabotage - Part 2

Summary: The start of a new uni year brings new classmates, new lessons and a new professor.

Parts: 1, 2, 3 (to be continued)

(professor!Joel x Reader)

Warnings: mentions of smut, alcohol, swearing

Word Count: 941

A/N: A slightly shorter chapter, but I promise, good things are coming!

If you were going to truly fuck with this asshole, you needed to take it seriously. He’d made your first lecture hell. You were going to do one better. It was two weeks into term and you were biding your time. The weekend rolled around and it was time to set step one of your plan into motion.  

Kelsey was having the time of her life with the boy next door. When she finally came home and joined you on the sofa, after a night presumably at his, she looked exhausted. Her hair was tangled, make up smudged, stinking of a cocktail of beer, vodka and sex.

She flopped down next to you, pulling your blanket over her lap. You wrinkled your nose.

“Have you showered?”

“No, why do I smell?” She held her arm up and took a quick sniff, answering her own question. “Gross.”

“You know you haven’t been to a single lecture?”

Kelsey shrugged. “I’ve done it before, I’ll do it again. Plus, you can catch me up, right?” She winked.

“Sure. There’s an assignment due next week.”

Kelsey pulled herself up. “Shit, on what?”

“The Great Gatsby. Professor wants an essay explaining the plot because he’s never read it.”

“You’re joking?”

“Nope.”

You sat in silence for a second, before you broke it with, “Want to go shopping?”

Kelsey groaned. “Normally it’d be a yes, but right now a tiny army are battling in my head and I’m running on beer and 2 hours of sleep.”

-

You’d saved up a bit of money over the summer, doing odd jobs here and there, so had some cash to spare. And some new clothes were step one of your plan.

The first shop you went to was teeming with summer dresses. You picked out a couple of red options, to replace the coffee-stained one, plus some blue and a little purple slip that you were sure was probably pyjamas or lingerie. It brushed your thigh, just short enough to fuck with an asshole, but still be kind of appropriate for uni.

You decided that was your choice for Monday morning. Start the week off right.

Professor Miller was already setting up when you walked in. No one else had arrived yet, which was intentional on your part. You wanted to be noticed. You wanted to tease.

“Morning, professor,” you said, as you passed him.

He grunted, not looking up from his papers.

You didn’t take your usual spot at the back corner. You sat in the middle, in plain sight. You took your essay from your bag and walked to his desk. The paper made a satisfying swoosh as you slid it under his nose. He looked at your then. That same dark look from day one in his eyes. His lips parted and you caught his eyes look you up and down. It was so quick that if you’d blinked you’d have missed it. When you leant over his desk, you revealed just the right amount of cleavage. He pressed his mouth into a line.

“My essay,” you said. As you walked back to your desk, you felt his eyes follow you.

Other students filed in, adding their essays to yours. Professor Miller didn’t look at you again.

He didn’t look at your for the rest of the lecture. It must’ve been hard, seeing as you were right in front of him. His eyes flickered onto you once, but just as soon as he’d looked, he turned back to the board behind him. You decided that this wasn’t good enough. While everyone was focused on a written task, you raised your hand.

Professor Miller’s eyes blackened as he acknowledged your hand. “What?”

“Sorry professor, can I use the bathroom?”

He grunted, which you took as a yes.

You stood, making sure you held his eye as you walked past him to the door. He looked pissed. Good.

In the bathroom, a wicked thought crossed your mind. You used the courage and anger that had built up since that first lecture and took off your black lace thong. You tucked it down into your bra so it was hidden. When you went to hand in your written task, you slipped the thong between the papers and put it in a plastic wallet. Sure, it was risky, but if it worked, the payoff would be perfect. Thank god for plastic wallets. You added it to the pile with everyone else’s and were dismissed for lunch.

A small doubt began to play in your mind as you sat down to eat your lunch. What if you’d got the wrong idea? What if you got kicked off the course? He was an asshole. He could report you, then what? Why did you have to be so stubborn and confrontational?

These thoughts only worsened when you stepped back into class to see Professor Miller, a look of pure rage, hands balled into fists, knuckles white, sat behind his desk. He glared at you when you walked in and continued to until you sat down. If he didn’t stop, other people would start to notice.

Thankfully, he didn’t acknowledge you for the rest of the afternoon. But that feeling of doubt stayed in your mind. You felt like you were going to throw up, but you couldn’t ask to leave. You didn’t want to draw any more attention to yourself. He’d looked pissed. What if he’d reported you already?

Class ended and all you wanted to do was run home. But Professor Miller had other ideas. As you headed for the door, you felt a large hand on your shoulder.

“My office, now.”

[ghostofasecretary]

i feel like i fundamentally do not have enough energy to live my own life

yesterday i was recovering from Exhausting Funeral Trip. so it makes sense that i was slow.

and i did:

- fill out last week's timecard

- make my bed

- get groceries

- do my laundry

- make dinner + plan tomorrow's lunch

- watched TV like a maniac (had fun) (knitted)

realized i still had to fill my med case back up. ugh

- did that, got to sleep late thereby

so. today. throat's sore and nose is stuffy, gross! only charged phone partially somehow! there's a persistent beeping in my house for god knows why! (none of the options i can think of sound good!) i'm TIRED and i JUST WOKE UP and i want to SCREAM and then CRY, MAYBE.

okay. okay okay okay

1. you don't have your focus meds and that makes everything harder. fix that, please. call the number you just put in your journal in the parking lot after work, c. 1:30.

2. class this term is a real and awful stressor. you are not going to be as prepared as you want to be. still, this might be adequate: work on your homework for an hour each evening. 7pm-8pm, or you can knock it out early. just set an alarm.

3. you have to do Scary New Thing at Job this week. plan that tonight.

4. go print thing at library after work. then make the rest of your apple cidey with spices and drink it.

5. i could really use the fucking money from my paid social. i really could. i would *rather* see my actual IRL friends but actual friends don't give you $20 for hanging out with them. because that would be weird. and i lost $20 going home and it would be nice to make it up. (stupid! argh!!) (I NEED A NEW/SECOND JOB BUT WE A R E N O T T H I N K I N G A B O U T I T N O W.) plus maybe you could see your friends and do work? so. RSVP today or tomorrow once you confirm.

6. i am really and truly Not Gonna Worry about poetry. i want to but this is the thing that will last the longest without maintenance. sorry for your loss.

7. do not even start to book club or party plan till Friday evening.

so! okay! that's your week!

today we got:

- restart laptop. fuck it, update AND restart

- eat breakfast

- work outfit (ugh my gross hair, need to shower tonight *also*)

- pack lunch

- plan: what lesson materials do i need, what am i doing today, goal for each group, little list of times + names, etc

- pack bags

- walk to car

- drive to work

- head in early

- gather materials

- head down around [set time]

- teach g1, g2 (survey), g3

- lunch

- teach g4

- finish up admin paperwork, go upstairs, put materials away afaic (all! nice!)

- clock out

- call number about meds; hopefully they will have some or be able to direct you to someone who will. oh they were closed. EPIC. CALL BACK LATER. what do you mean you want me to leave a voicemail message. fine. what the fuck

- drive home

- go to library; print item; walk back home. actually the item cannot be printed! sent an email fml 1989

- call another pharmacy?? should hear back by cidey time. call a third pharmacy. message psych. i hate this stupid baka life (getting adhd meds in the US)

- um. wow. am sick. covid test? yay, it's negative

- shower

- apple cidey (expect this is to be about 3:30?)

- wash today's tupperware

- cooking break: [make some lentils? (soak, cook ~1 hour, cook with reverse tadka. do not make too much, maybe 300g dry?) - make potato sabzi? (start after lentils are in) - make a tiny bit of rice? (start after lentils are in) [- maybe one episode of show but you should begin food at 4:15 at latest so you're done cooking around 5:30 and done with food c. 5:45 and done with dishes c. 6:15 so you can start planning before your Homework Time begins. you can start cooking at 4, that'd be fine. even 3:30 for lentil soaking time.]]

yeah, no, if all that cooking sounds like Too Much instead of like rest then make some mushroom pasta with spinach and arugula. or you can eat your defrosted potato soup. damn. options

- eat dinner

- maybe poke your friends about plans during Food Eating Time (/notify them of. covid test results. UGH)

- plan [new job thing] for g1, g2, g4, g2 On Last Day Only. figure out what materials you need and who you're going to work with and prep those as much as you can. put materials to print on flash drive

- 7-8pm ONE HOUR OF HOMEWORK. it doesn't have to be good you just have to sit at the desk for an hour with no distractions and try. i believe in you

- 8-9pm watch your tv show

- 9:30 shut laptop and head bedwards. this is a lot; you will be tired.

okay! that's a fuckload! but do it step by step and it will. get. done.

[achronicwriter]

My Coding Journey

as a chronically ill nana 👩‍🦳 🛌 💻 💊

I've been thinking about learning to code for a while now. It's a skill that I could use in many ways to benefit my family and others. The problem is my chronic illness symptoms get in the way of everything. Trying to code while face down on the keyboard probably wouldn't work. On the other hand, if I wait until I "feel better" I won't achieve anything.

So, I've decided to record my journey of learning to code while maintaining my baseline. Hopefully it'll keep me on track and help someone else in my situation.

Day 1: 🥄🥄

I only looked after the grandcritter for an hour, with the husband's help, so I had a tiny bit of energy to Do Things with. I hoarded it at first, doing what I call Productive Rest, listening to YouTube videos while crocheting a new snack mat for my desk.

One of the videos I watched lit a fire under my 🍑 -- How I Learned to Code in Six Months and Got a Job Offer by Smoljames. He laid it all out very clearly and concisely, with the steps he took, where he oopsed, and what he did right. He fast tracked his coding education, but the video got me thinking that maybe I can slow it down while still making progress. I listened to it a couple of times, then dragged myself upright and took action.

Step one, sign up for GitHub. And right away I ran into a problem. I didn't receive the verification email. I had it re-sent, and still nothing. I squinted at the form and yep, in my brain fog I misspelled my email address. Irkitating, but fixable. But fixing it took my spoons and chucked them down the garbage disposal unit.

Long rest, during which I hung out with my husband, finished the snack mat, took care of the grandcritter again, and gathered my spoons. Then I set a timer for twenty minutes to prevent sitting long enough to flare my arthritis, and moved on to...

Step two, I signed up for FreeCodeCamp.org. I meant to just poke around, but before I knew it the timer went off and I was 15% through the first lesson. The dopamine! I didn't want to stop! But part of the point is doing this while staying within my current baseline.

Day 2: 🥄🥄🥄

I didn't sit down to code until late, and spent the entire twenty minutes stuck on one problem because of a 🤬 typo in the example they gave me. (Maybe learning to code during Mercury Retrograde wasn't my brightest idea.)

Day 3: 🥄

And now there's no example, or instructions even. Thankfully I found the answer on the forum and got it on my second actual attempt.

Either the instructions are vague/nonexistent or my brainfog is bad. I couldn't figure out the next one, either. We're told to do the thing but now how to do the thing. But there was an article on the site.

That's how it is now? Bugger. Maybe it's building on the previous lessons in ways I haven't been able to see? Part of the problem is it's all typing, and I learn best with a pen in my hand. I need to figure out how to proceed.

On the plus side I'm getting a streak going, of spending twenty-ish minutes a night studying coding.

[turretangel]

Actually I won't shut up about it, people should play The Zodiac Trial.

If you like visual novels, if you like death game/killing game scenarios, if you like a good mystery and some fun puzzles on the side, it's worth giving this game a shot!

It's $14.99 on Steam, which is a great deal, I finished it in ~19 hours and it had me enthralled the whole time. There are lots of endings to get, all of the main routes have unique outcomes so it isn't like you're only seeing tiny variations of the same thing.

There is a free demo as well, if you want to try it out!

More ramblings below, I'll keep it spoiler-free as possible.

It reminds me most of the Zero Escape series, 999 especially, with killing devices and code names and a bunch of seemingly-unrelated people made to play a killing game. It's very much its own thing, though, and if you like psychologically puzzling out characters, you'll love this. Each one has a well-fleshed-out personality and story, and the game evolves depending on the route, pushing different characters into circumstances where they have to decide whether to prioritize themselves over others.

For our cast (minor spoilers from the intro and vibes) we've got:

Token Girl Protagonist with a surprising amount of character who figures stuff out, sometimes, and other times dies horribly when you make the wrong choice (but it does nudge you gently about how you could've done something that led to a better path if you mess up and they aren't super long runs! )

Our government-assigned BFF who's smarter than us a good chunk of the time because it's his job. He deserves a hug, 10/10, very smart, does escape rooms in his free time and is also probably handsome. I, I think. I'm a lesbian who usually gets this wrong but I'm pretty sure he's hot?

My wife. Your wife. Everyone's wife. I'd die for her, I'd live for her, sunshine women who are strong enough to kick me into the sun are always a win

"There's no way that freaking TWINK is a COP" but in a "the reason there are no good cops is because the good ones don't last", but also "bro what the FUCK"

Girl boss extraordinaire who acts first and thinks never but sometimes you need that in a person

This Man Is Autistic (intrigued)

Large Tough Man with a mysterious past, our token strong-silent type

Cute girlie who... look, her animal says it all, idk what else I can say, but if she had to kill me she'd apologize the whole time and I'd forgive her

My therapist?????

Cocky (ha) himbo, who is both smart and outrageously stupid at times, we love to see it

My intuition says that this man would be a hit on tumblr for all the people who like sad wet scrunglies of a man. This man is pathetic but also endearing. He's halfheartedly trying his best. Kind of. He swears he will be soon, anyway.

I was so mad about her name when I first met her, but she's surprisingly smart and resourceful! She's doing her best, can't blame her for that.

I highly recommend not looking up spoilers to the true ending! The mystery is more fun to solve on your own, but it takes a good bit of thinking.

The downsides I noticed (because I won't review a game and then just not mention em!) for me were:

There are a few typos! If you're stuck on a certain puzzle with Ox, ignore the second iteration of the clue, it was accidentally repeated. (But there are no punishments for failing a puzzle!) But they aren't bad enough to ruin the game, and considering how much text there is in the game, with only 9 or so people making it, it's quite good

The art isn't insane, because it's a lower-budget visual novel. It didn't detract from my experience, personally, because the writing was really strong, but I know for some people it's a bigger deal.

Some of the mysteries to solve can be tricky! This was a plus for me, not a minus, but if you get truly stuck there are a few guides on Steam.

There's no in-game flowchart for which path leads to which ending. This is, however, a choices-matter game, so I'd recommend saving when you reach a choice, because there's a chance it'll branch off onto other paths. There are over 50 endings, but there are 12ish main routes.

Thank you to the skip seen dialogue button, I wish other VNs would have you! After a bit you can go to the main menu and the glowing exclamation mark will let you skip the intro and let you jump to the part that branches out.

Overall, it's a very fun game with more positive points than negative ones! I highly recommend it.

Do you ever just find a game and then realize basically nobody is talking about it but you want people to know it's actually really good despite looking lower budget cuz it's indie and not every creator is Toby Fox but the story made you a little insane

[jaehyunnie77]

hi love!! are your requests open? if yes, could i request idol!jaehyun x ceo/girlboss!y/n fluff + smut? you’re my fav writer here & i’d really looove to read your take on ^that! xx

pairing: idol!Jaehyun x female!ceo

genre: angst (tiny), fluff, smut | ex's to lovers au!

warnings: handjob, fingering, couch sex, unprotected sex (reader is on birth control)

word count: 3.5k

a/n: aw you're super sweet! thank you for the request and i'm so sorry for the delay. i hope you like this. i know you wanted fluff and smut, but i couldn't help with the tiny angst. i also may have gotten carried away just a tiny bit. Happy early Valentine's Day to everyone and happy early birthday to Jaehyunnie!!

---

Running a multi-billion magazine empire has its benefits. On the plus side, you get to meet celebrities you never thought you would meet in your lifetime. You get to see the newest fashion first hand before it’s released to the public, and lastly, you’re the first woman to be the CEO of Seoul Magazine.

On the downside, everyone from every department calls you for clarifications, last minute changes or cancellations, the final go ahead to publish their articles, the never ending list of celebrities to work with, and you’re the CEO with no life.

It’s not that you don’t love what you do, because you do, but at times you wish you weren’t the demanding CEO. You simply wish to be a regular person with a regular 9 to 5 day job and go home to soak in a tub filled with bubbles or into someone’s arms. Not the one who carries their work home, stays after hours, and is miserably single with no one to go home to.

It’s another long Wednesday night for you when your assistant Jenni walks into your office. “Miss Y/LN, there is a new client on the phone that says it is an urgent matter.”

Great! Another high and mighty A-class celebrity who doesn’t understand how this process works.

“Tell them I am busy.” You say nonchalantly.

“Yes, I have told them that, but they insist that they need to be moved to the top of the list.”

“I can’t make schedules change just because someone needs an urgency. That is not how it works.” You say feeling a bit irritated that your assistant is coming to you with this.

“I understand Miss. He said that you know someone in this group. It’s a K-POP group called NCT 127 and they are having a comeback in a month. Their managers are asking to move them to top of the list as they want to do whole photoshoot and Q&A right before comeback.”

Your heart drops when Jenni mentions NCT 127. Everything in you stills and you’re pretty sure you stopped breathing for a second. Of course, you know who they are. Everybody knows who they are, except… you have a little secret.

You know one of them all too well and you can’t believe his group out of all the groups wants to work with your magazine.

You deeply sigh, rubbing your temples to ease the oncoming migraine, and look at your assistant with a nod of your head. “Fine, but this is the only time I am changing schedules around. Tell their manager the location and time to meet this Friday.” Jenni nods as she begins to type on her iPad what you’re requesting. “And if they have a problem with it, tell them they can either take it or leave it.” With that you gather your belongings and walk out of your office.

By the time you reach home 45 minutes later, you received a text from Jenni.

NCT 127 and their team will meet us at 6AM on Friday morning at Park’s Studio. Have a good night Miss Y/LN.

In all honesty, you want to hide and run and call in sick, but you know you can’t do any of that. If you don’t show up for that schedule, how would you look to your employees, let alone to the people who wish for your demise.

“Suck it up Y/N. You can do this. You’re a bad bitch.” You tell yourself as you begin to get rid of the long and tiring day with your beauty routine and changing into comfortable pajamas before finally falling asleep.

---

Friday arrives too quickly for your liking. There you are standing outside of Park’s Studio giving yourself a mental pep talk. You’re in a black pantsuit with a white shirt and a trailblazer jacket over it with coffee in hand. “You can do this.” You square your shoulders back and open the door to start this day.

As soon as you walk into the studio, you hear the loud upbeat music blasting on the speakers, the photographer giving compliments to whomever they were shooting, and you see your employees running around getting outfits and jewelry left and right. As you walk further in, you catch a glimpse of some of the boys getting their hair and makeup done. There is one thing for sure; they look good up close and personal.

You had a plan in mind and you were going to do everything in your power to execute that plan. That plan was to avoid him at all cost. If you had to duck under the table, you would do it in a heartbeat.

“Oh there she is. Miss Y/LN.” You hear Jenni calling you over to where she stands with a man who looks in his 40’s. You put on your professional smile and introduce yourself to one of NCT 127’s manager. He looks familiar and you’re pretty sure you’ve seen him a couple of times, but you’re hoping he doesn’t remember you at all.

“Thank you so much for squeezing us into your schedule. I apologize for the late notice. We really appreciate it.” He bows in gratitude.

“Oh the pleasure is all ours. We’ve heard good things about you and the group and we couldn’t have been more excited to finally work with you.” You chuckle a bit to ease your nerves. That is until you heard his voice.

“Hyung, Mark is look-“ Jaehyun stops talking as soon as he sees you. He hasn’t seen you since the night you two broke up and that was nearly three years ago.

You look at his face and only see the face you once loved – still love. He hasn’t changed much except he looks more mature and older. No matter how long time has passed, his eyes will always be the one to entrance you into thinking it’s just you two in the room.

Well, there goes your plan out the window.

“Ahem.” Jenni clears her throat to get your attention back.

Jaehyun shakes his head and looks at his manager once again, “Right, Mark is looking for you and needs to talk to you about something. He’s in the changing room right now.”

The manager bids you a goodbye and a thank you once again before looking for Mark. Jenni walks away when she is called to deal with another matter and it’s just you and Jaehyun. You don’t know what to say to him and you both look elsewhere.

“How are you?”

“It’s good to see you.”

You both say at the same time. You chuckle a bit and so does he. You figured he was just as nervous as you were. You two had always know how to make an awkward situation even more awkward, just like the time he first asked you out.

“I’ve been good.” You finally say.

“That’s good. You look beautiful. I mean you look –“ Jaehyun stumbles over his words and you couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. This man was still the same Jaehyun all those years ago.

“You look good. I’ve been good too. You know how it is.” He gives you his signature dimple smile as his ears turn red.

“Always on the go.” You chuckle as you finish his sentence.

You both stand there a couple more seconds, before he speaks up, “I know my manager said this, but thank you Y/N, really. I know it’s short notice, but it’s nice that you could squeeze my group in when we both know you could have easily said no.” There’s a hint of sadness in his voice you detect, but you shake off that feeling.

“I know, but I meant what I told your manager. We’re excited to work with you guys regardless of our history Jay.”

Saying his nickname felt so foreign yet felt so right. Jaehyun blushes at hearing the nickname easily rolling off your tongue.

“We should catch up.” You both said at the same time. Again, only you two could make the air between you awkward.

“I’m free tomorrow if you are.” You said.

“I should be. Here put your number in and I’ll let you know.” He handed you his phone and you type in your number. Before the conversation can go any longer, the photographer calls him over for his turn. You both gave each other a shy nod and a smile as you watch him walk away to do his thing.

You and Jaehyun have known each other when he was still a trainee in your teen years, but didn’t get into a relationship until a month after he debuted. It was hard at first because he was promoting NCT and trying to maintain a secret relationship with you. You on the other hand, were busy managing your relationship and getting your career on track.

After two and half years of secretly dating, you both decided to break up. It wasn’t an easy decision, but towards the end of your relationship it was becoming unbearable to stand each other and the schedules that interfered. You both agreed it wasn’t the right time and if time would allow it, you would find your way back to each other.

Three years later and here you are watching Jaehyun model behind the table of monitors. You applaud him for the duality he has. In real life, he’s nothing but a goofy and clumsy person, but put him in front of the camera, he has this sexy look as he flirts with the camera. You can see why everyone falls for him. This man was made for the entertainment business and as you stand there looking at the shots taken, you can’t believe you actually know him both as a person and as an idol.

As the day wraps up and everyone says goodbye, you feel your phone buzz in your hand. You look at your phone to see an unknown number and text: I’ll see you tomorrow beautiful.

You walk out of the studio with a big smile on your face, excited for what tomorrow brings.

---

The next day, you spend almost an hour in front of your closet looking for outfits to wear. You shouldn’t even be this excited because one, it’s not a date. Two, you’re catching up so that means casual dressing and three, you’re just really nervous to be alone with Jaehyun.

Finally deciding on a pair of jeans and a shirt, you walk out and meet Jaehyun at a café place. All the nerves go away as soon as you see his dimple smile.

“I ordered for you. I hope that’s okay.” He says unsurely.

“It’s fine. Thank you. The next one is on me.” Before you could take back what you said, Jaehyun beats you to it.

“Oh so there’s a next time?” he says.

All you do is roll your eyes and the conversation between you two flow easily.

“I’m happy you’re finally the CEO of the magazine you always wanted to work at. I know it must not have been easy.” He says as he takes a bite of the chocolate croissant.

“It wasn’t, but it’s paying off. I get to boss people around now.” You joke making him laugh.

“You’ve always been bossy what do you mean?”

Before you could answer, Jaehyun’s phone rings and his face falls. He gives you a sad look, “I have to get going.”

“Oh don’t worry. I get it. I should be heading back to the office anyways.” You both get up and walk out of the café together. His finger lingers onto your wrist as he says, “We should do this again.”

You nod in agreement and you do meet up repeatedly until you realize it’s been three months since Jaehyun came back into your life.

“Remember that one time you laughed so hard, you peed yourself.” Jaehyun laughs at the memory while you slap his shoulder.

“Hey! We promised we weren’t ever going to bring that up.” You laugh alongside him.

You two are sitting side by side on the couch in your living room after spending the entire day together. You swirl the wine glass in your hand as Jaehyun continues to reminisce about all of your top embarrassing moments.

“Or that time when you got locked out of your dorm so you thought it was a good idea to come over to mine, but instead of the front door, you tried sneaking in through the window and Taeyong caught you.” He slaps his lap as he laughs harder.

“Not my brightest moment. Why are you taking digs at me? You’re not that perfect either.”

“Oh, but I am.” He gives you a flirtatious smile.

“Oh really? Remember that time when we went to the ice cream parlor and you threw a fit because they didn’t have pistachio ice cream?”

Jaehyun laughs, “I wasn’t throwing a fit –“

“Yes you were because you started crying as soon as we left and pouted the entire way home.”

“Okay, but –“

“Oh and there was that one time when you got me roses and as you were handing them to me you tripped over your own two feet and I ended up getting a thorn stuck on my finger.”

“Okay Y/N you made your point.”

“Or that time when –“

Suddenly you feel his hand on your cheek making you turn to him. You didn’t realize your faces were inches away from each other. You can feel your heart rate pick up and you swear he could feel it just by touching your cheek. With his other hand, he places a lose strand of hair behind your ear and looks at you in a loving way. He searches your eyes silently asking if what’s he’s about to do next is okay with you. You nod your head as he leans in and finally captures your lips with his.

You close your eyes and enjoy the feeling of his lips on yours. The emotions behind the kiss and the way you move with each other. The feeling of pure bliss and excitement runs throughout your entire body as you wrap your arm around his neck to bring him closer to you. He places his hands on your thighs and moves you on top of him to straddle him.

His hands begin to wander under your shirt and you couldn’t help but grind and move your hips in circular motions. The feeling of his growing bulge at your center makes you wetter. He unclasps your bra and as much as you don’t want to move away from his addicting lips you do. His eyes filled with lust as you take off your shirt and bra. His large hands cup both of your breasts as a smirk comes across his face.

“I’ve missed my two best friends.” He says making you laugh and jiggling them in his hands.

“You’re a dork.” You manage to say.

Jaehyun massages your breasts as you resume rotating your hips to get more stimulation. He encloses his mouth around your left nipple as you let out a loud sigh. His tongue twirling around your bud as he continuous massaging the other. He continuously flicks, sucks, and lightly bites your nipple as you arch your back and move your hips faster.

While he moves to your right breast to repeat the same motions, you lift his shirt a bit to play with his happy trail and finally undoing his jeans. You lay your hand over his briefs to feel his now fully hard cock. You tease him by letting your fingertips run from the head to the base and he moans quietly from your actions.

Jaehyun lets go of your breasts to bring your face close to his to kiss you once more. This time fast and hungry as your tongues explore the familiarity of another once again.

You lower his briefs until you feel the velvety skin of his cock in your hands. He feels heavy and soft, making you clench around nothing and begin to stroke him slowly. He bucks up into your hand to make you go faster, knowing he hates it when you go slowly.

“Y/N, stop, you know I hate it when you go slow.”

You smile into his neck and take in his woody cologne that you’ve missed so much. You lick and kiss his neck and whisper into his ear, “Make me.”

“Y/N-“ Jaehyun groans loudly when you suddenly pick up your speed and squeeze him a bit harder, all the while continuing to mark his neck.

He lifts up your skirt and gives you butt cheeks a hard slap making you yelp in surprise. He pulls your thong to the side as his fingers find your slit.

“You’re soaking through your panties baby.” His deep voice vibrates through you and you clench around nothing once more. He notices and smirks as he inserts two slender fingers into you scissoring you open and pumping into you hard and fast.

“Jaehyun!” you moan in his neck.

Your hands stop their motions as you make your way to kiss his lips. You raise yourself up so he can get rid of his jeans and briefs. The sight of his swollen cock makes your mouth water and you want nothing more than to have it in your mouth, but that can wait. You lower yourself slowly onto him as the stretch stings just a bit from not being used to him. He kisses your neck to help you relax and you feel yourself finally adjusting to his size and begin to rock your hips against him.

“Stop teasing baby.” He whispers in your ear.

With that deep voice, you gather all of your strength to lift yourself and slamming back down onto him and bounce on him. It feels fucking amazing. Jaehyun feels amazing.

Jaehyun isn’t the type to let his partners take control, but it’s you and he let you use him as you fuck yourself on him.

“Fuck!” you moan loudly.

“Look at you. You look so beautiful fucking yourself on me.” You dare to look at him to see his eyebrows furrow together and his mouth in an o shape. That sight is enough for you.

“Jay.” You feel your thighs begin to ache as you lose your energy. Jaehyun senses this, pulls your body against his chest, and fucks up into you making you whimpering mess. He hits all the perfect spots that makes your vision go blurred and the sound of slapping skin against skin and the feel of his balls hitting against you makes you closer to the edge.

“I’m going to come.” You say.

“Come on my cock.” He thrusts faster into you, making it his mission for you to come first.

“I want you to come in me. Please Jay. I’m on the pill, please come inside of me.”

That’s enough for him to go crazy as his thrusts get sloppy and you both reach your highs together. Your body convulses at the feeling of you both coming at the same time.

You rest your head in the crook of his neck as you catch your breaths to even out your breathing. He pets your hair before saying the words he’s been dying to say.

“I think now is the time.”

You look at him and as much as you want to go to sleep with him still inside of you, your breath gets taken away once again. Even with the sweat and hair stuck to his face, he is still perfect.

“I miss you.”

“I miss you too and I’m still in love with you.” You confess. “I never stopped loving you.”

He gives you a big smile in return, “I never stopped loving you either. You’re my home and my person.”

You smile back at him, “Does this mean what I think it means?”

He chuckles as he puts a stand of hair behind your ear, “Yes, time for pistachio ice cream and sleep.” He jokes making you laugh and slapping his shoulder.

“I love you.” you say kissing his lips.

He kisses you back, “I love you too and I’m never letting you go ever again.”

You smile when you feel the happiness flow throughout your entire body. “Neither am I, especially with you still inside of me.” You smirk.

“Okay, I lied. I have to let you go because you’re sticky and I need to get the ice cream.” He pulls you off him, only for one arm to wrap under your legs and the other to support your back as he carries you bridal style and runs into your bedroom.

“Jaehyun!”

Timing is everything and both you and Jaehyun are glad you waited for each other, because you two are each other’s best friend. There wouldn’t be any other person in the world to make you feel this loved and happy. Everything in the world is perfect just as is.

---

One year later…

BREAKING NEWS: NCT Jeong Jaehyun and Seoul Magazine CEO Y/N secretly married and welcoming first child together!

[mysticalrambling]

Ending It All Part 1 (C.E)

Part 2

Chris Evans Fan fiction (Fan fiction Masterlist)

Summary: Chris wants to end your marriage and you decide to go along with it. You have to be civil for the sake of the kids but you are hurt. This process is too much for the both of you and eventually, it all ends.

Warnings: Angst all the way. 

._._._._._.

You had seen it coming from a mile. People say that a woman’s sixth sense is her greatest power. You always took pride in it but in this case, it was a curse. Chris and you have known each other for the past seven years and from those years, you were married for five. He was the love of your life. You thought it was forever but apparently you were wrong. You were wrong about so many things.

From the past six months, Chris has been home for a couple of days at most and then he was traveling. Traveling for work, for friends and whatnot. And for the days that he was here, he didn’t look at you like you were his wife, his soulmate. He looked at you like you were a stranger. Spending time with the kids was all he ever did and then came up with measly explanations to go off to bed early. There was no space left for you in his life. You thought that it was just a rough patch but that was not the case.

“(Y/N), we need to talk.” The determined look in his icy blue eyes said it all.

Taking a deep breath, you shakily replied, “Let me just put the kids to sleep.” Your energetic kids had tired out you for the whole day because you were off from work today. Chris had just come back from shooting and he didn’t give you a kiss like he usually did. In fact, he hadn’t kissed you like he meant it for several years now.

“I will be in the kitchen. You want wine?” He was walking away before you could even reply.

“Yeah, sure.” You mumbled out and you didn’t even know that he listened.

“Mommy, we are going to spend the whole day with you and daddy tomorrow?”  Mia and Jace have started to pick up on the fact that there was something going on between their parents. You wanted to keep all of this away from your four and two year old but it seems that you might have failed. You were failing at a lot of things right now.

“Yes, we will. Now, go to sleep.” It took you about half an hour to be put them to sleep and during that time, you were a wreck. There were a thousand possibilities running through your mind.

Coming back downstairs, Chris handed you the glass of wine, your favorite as always. He knew every little detail about you. “(Y/N), I don’t know how to say this but-”

“Before you finish that sentence, I just need to tell you that I promised the kids a day out tomorrow. Don’t ruin it.”

“I- I can’t say that.” Fiddling with his almost empty glass, he couldn’t bring it in himself to look at you. He was going to ruin this promise as well just like he was going to ruin everything.

“Just, go on.” You refilled the wine glass as you knew you needed the alcoholic haze to get through this conversation.

“I can’t do this anymore. This is just not what I want in my life anymore.” Your breath hitched and your heart broke into tiny little pieces.

Exact words were what you needed to hear right now. No vague statements. “What do you mean? What can’t you do?”

“This. This relationship. I think I am done. I am truly sorry, (Y/N).”

“Is- Is there someone else?” It was as if a ball was lodged in your throat and you couldn’t bring yourself to talk coherently. Fluently.

Chris looked at you, horrified. How could you even say that? He would never in a million years even think about cheating on you. Dignity was an important trait for Chris and if he ever cheated, he wouldn’t be able to look at himself. It hurt him that you would even consider this as a reason but he couldn’t blame you.

“No! This is not the reason. Not at all.” A defensive attitude was immediately taken up by your husband.

“Then is it me? Am I not enough for you?” Hot tears rolled down your cheeks but you didn’t have the energy to wipe them out.

“It is not you, darling. I just don’t think this is what I want with my life anymore. I want to solely focus on my career.”

“You are choosing your career over your family.” As the realization started to hit you, you couldn’t control the anger that took over you. “Over your family, Chris?”

“(Y/N) I am just done. I want an out and can we please try to be civil about this?” He pleaded.

“You want me to be civil about this? Fine.” You took a calming breath and closed your eyes for a second. “Just explain it to me. Maybe we can work something out.”

“I can’t- I don’t know how to explain it. Seven months ago I just woke up and I didn’t want to do this anymore. I want to start over.” A shocking chill passed through your body and you realized that it was hurt. You were betrayed.

“So you don’t want to do anything with me or the kids as well?”

“No. I want to be a part of their lives and-”

You looked him in the eyes and spoke in a broken voice, “It’s just me that you want out of your life.”

“Darling, no-” Chris tried to reach out for your hand but you placed them on your hands. He had lost the right to touch you from the moment he said that he didn’t want you. You were just a problem for him that needed to be solved.

There were years when he needed you every step of the way. Chris met you at a party that Scarlett threw. You were her best friend so you were invited to her New Year’s party. The moment he saw you, he was head over heels. He followed you around for two months to get you to go on a date with him. You used to tease him afterwards that he was a love sick puppy. But he was your love sick puppy.

That was not the case now and you didn’t know what you will do if he wasn’t in your life anymore. Your world revolved around your family but now it was all falling apart. You were falling apart.

“We can file for divorce tomorrow. Do you want to stay here tonight?” Wiping your tears, you got up from the stool and put the glasses in the sink.

“Uhh okay, okay. I can stay with Scott tonight.”

This was not what he expected. He expected you to cry, fight, scream. He thought there would be more discussion on this topic. Seven years were going to waste and you were treating this as a simple business transaction. Truth be told, you didn’t want him to see you fall apart. Chris had lost that right. If he didn’t want a life with you, then you were not going to beg him to stay. You were going to fulfill his wish and set him free.

“We have to take the kids out tomorrow. I was thinking the park.”

“What?” He was too distracted by everything to even realize what you were talking about.

“We will talk to them about the divorce tomorrow.”

“Isn’t this going a little too fast?”

“We should get this all over with as soon as possible. Goodbye, Chris.” Silently pecking him on his cheek, you went to your shared bedroom.

The moment your head touched the pillow, you were surrounded by his scent. The dam burst and you couldn’t stop the tears from running down your face and getting soaked up by the cushions. What were you going to do with your life now? You had to come up with a plan to manage the kids together with Chris. You had to think about getting a job that would accommodate your kids in to it now that you were going to be a single parent. You didn’t get a wink of sleep last night and you cried a lot.

On the other hand, Chris was not doing any better. Scott gave him the spare guest room to sleep in. He didn’t know what was going on between his brother and you but he knew it was serious. Chris couldn’t sleep last night either because he was not used to. This was the first time in seven years that you both were in the same city and you were not sleeping together. You wouldn’t be sleeping with him from now on. He has to get used to that idea. The idea of you not being there every step of the way because this was his own doing. He was dreading tomorrow as he was the one who was destroying his family.

“Hi. I was just here to pick you all up.” Guilt washed over him when he noticed your red puffy eyes and eye bags.

“You didn’t have to. We could have come there by ourselves.”

“We always go to the park together. It is our thing.”

“We can’t do all of these things now. Everything is going to change.”

“Right.” You moved towards the kitchen and he followed you like a lost puppy.

“Daddy!” Both kids ran up to him and clinged to his legs like two little monkeys.

“Hey babies.” He held on to them a little bit longer because he knew he was the one who was ruining their little lives.

“Where were you? Missed your pancakes. Mama doesn’t make good.” Mia hadn’t learned to make full sentences yet but Chris understood her perfectly.

“I was busy, baby. I- I-”

“Go get your shoes on. We are going to be late.” You saved him from the conversation because he looked like a deer caught in headlight. Chris couldn’t answer his daughter as this was how it was going to be. He wouldn’t be there for all of this. The important phases. Jace’s first soccer win, his first award, or Mia’s first school day, her first break up, her prom. He was going to miss most of them because you would be there with them while he will get them for weekends mostly.

“Let’s go.” Buckling his kids in, he sat in the driver’s seat. When he pulled out of the garage, his hand instinctively went for yours. It was out of pure instinct. You retracted your hand immediately and Chris just drew in a shaky breath, He was not allowed to touch you now.

“I am taking them to the swings. Do you want to come with?”

“No, I am just going to my usual spot to read my book.” There was a maple tree that had been your spot for the past five years. It was where you rested and caught up with your reading.

“Okay.”

The next hour was spent with Chris going on to every swing with his kids. He didn’t want to miss anything. Plus, he didn’t know how he could sit with you under the tree that held so many memories. You told him that you will marry him under this tree and that you were pregnant with Jace. It was all too much. You couldn’t focus on your reading when this might be the last time you get to see him with your kids. The last time you were together as husband and wife. This might be the last time because Chris wanted you out of his life.

“Hey, kids. We have to talk to you.” You finally gathered up some courage when they all came to sit beside you. Chris couldn’t bring himself to start up this conversation so he was glad that you did.

“Yeah, Mommy?”

“So you know how your friend Oliver’s parents don’t live together but they still love him very much.”

“Yeah.” Jace’s whole concentration was on his ice cream but he still nodded his head to indicate that he was listening. Mia was too young to comprehend it all so you mainly focused on your son.

“Well, Daddy and I are going to be doing the same thing. We love you both very much and we will always there be with you.”

“But Ollie’s daddy doesn’t live with him.” His blue eyes focused on the two of you when he made the statement.

“Yeah, buddy. I will be staying at an apartment really near by. You both can come whenever you want to.”

“You won’t be there to read us night stories or make our favorite brekky?” His question threw Chris off guard and he froze in his place.

“He will be there to do everything for you guys. Mia and you can go to daddy’s place and he can do all this.” You jumped in when you noticed that Chris didn’t know how to respond to all this. “Right, Chris?”

“Yes, that’s right. Nothing is going to change, buddy.” Wiping away his tears, your husband placed him on his lap with Mia.

“Promise?” Mia spoke up this time because she understood that her daddy wouldn’t live with her like he always did.

“Promise. Let’s go back to the house. You both look tired.”

You placed Mia on her bed while Chris did the same for Jace. They both were out the moment they were buckled in their car seats. Coming downstairs, you prepared coffee for Chris and yourself. He always liked his coffee black so that’s what you made for him. The cup was placed in front of him and he sighed because no one made coffee like you.

“Our lawyer said that he will have the papers delivered to us by tomorrow.”

“Okay, I saw this new apartment building when I was coming here this morning. I might rent it out. The penthouse has three rooms. One for the kids and one is the guest bedroom. You can stay there when you bring the kids over.” He looked at you with a defensive position.

“I won’t be staying at your apartment so please don’t take me into consideration.” You didn’t understand why he thought you would ever stay over at his place. You would never subject yourself to that kind of pain.

“But there can be special circumstances and my home will always be open for you, (Y/N). We can still be friends.” He was hoping against all hope that you would agree. He still wanted you in his life.

“I don’t think I can do that. Be friends. There is too much history. Let’s just keep it to the kids right now.” You picked on your nails because you didn’t want to cry like a little girl in front of him. “And I am going to change houses as well so do you want to sell this one?”

“Why do you have to move?” Chris was shocked to hear those words come out of your mouth.

“I can’t live in a house that was meant to be our family house. I just can’t.”

He understood where you were coming from but this house held too many memories. He couldn’t think of another family living here. Some couple living in your master bedroom, some kids running around in your children’s playground, some other family’s picture instead of yours. It was just too much to think about.

“Let’s just keep the house. When the kids grow up, they can have it.”

“Okay. I am tired right now so I am going to bed. I will sign the papers tomorrow and send them over to Scott’s.” You placed the empty mug on the counter and stood in a straight posture. “You want the kids this weekend?”

“Yes, I would like that. Do you want to maybe come with us?” He didn’t know why he was not ready to let you go yet. This was all his doing but he just couldn’t accept it right now.

“Umm no. I think we should settle the kids into this new routine.”

“I guess you are right.”

“Goodbye, Chris. I love you and I will always love you.” You regretted the words that came out of your mouth the instant you said them. You were so stupid but you just couldn’t help yourself. This was probably the last time you ever got to say it.

“I- I love you too, (Y/N). I will always be there for you. Goodbye, darling.” The lump in his throat seemed to grow bigger by the second but he had to say this. Lightly pecking you on the lips, he knew this was the last time he ever got to do this. He left afterwards and you couldn’t help but tear up. The same thing happened with Chris. This was it. Your marriage was over but your love would always be there.

Hope you guys liked it!!

._._._._._.

A/N: I literally cried while writing this fan fiction. This one is particularly close to my heart so please let me know what you think about it. If you want to be added to my tag list, message me. I am also open to requests for this series; requests, blurbs, anything.

P.S: There is a part 2 as well.

Tag list: @kalopsia-flaneur, @justile, @iguessweallcrazyithinktho, @jessyballet , @luckyladycreator2

Like, comment and reblog.

._._._._._.

[wonwoonlight]

my daisy / chapter 1 | kim mingyu

➝ CEO!Mingyu x Secretary!Reader

➝ strangers to lovers // single dad!Mingyu // fluff // lighthearted // non idol!au // like pls dont expect any dramas here lol // tiny bit of angst ig

➝ series warning: mentions of sex, no smut but there's implied sexual activities, insecurity (as always jshbdjhsfshbf am sorry), curses, food, let me know if theres more ^^

➝ word count: 3k~

➝ A/N: ok AAAAAAAAA im actually very nervous for this bc this is my first ever series and i finally had the guts to post it bc im done writing all of it, i just gotta edit some stuff. that said, im sorry if i cut the chapters weirdly and etc lol thank you for being interested in my daisy!! Also tbh i decided to post it today to match the 1st anniversary since i started writing svt haha. your feedbacks will always be appreciated <3

when your cousin asks you to be her substitute at SVT Inc. as she takes her maternity leave, you're pretty sure this wasn't what you signed up for.

series masterlist

Seokmin laughs out loud at your story, and you honestly still wish the ground would swallow you whole so you’d never see the light of days again.

“You managed to get a one-night stand with a guy who has the money to get a suite room in Triple W Hotel drunk, and you ditch him the moment you wake up?” he recaps in disbelief. “You should’ve at least left your number just in case he wants to keep in touch.”

You glare at him, making the guy cower if only a little. “What, so I could be his booty call when he’s horny?”

Jihoon chokes on his drink, not used to you talking about your sex life in broad day light. You turn to him apologetically as you gently pat his back, whispering a ‘sorry’.

It’s a little past 1PM now, roughly 4 hours since you leave Mingyu, whoever that guy is, in the suite room and quickly make your way back to your apartment. Not long after you’ve washed up, Soonyoung has called out of nowhere, saying it’s been a while since everyone gets together to have lunch and it’s time to celebrate you finally quitting your job.

“Was the sex good at least?” Soonyoung chirps as he innocently slurps his cola, which earns him a slap on the back of his head from Jihoon. Seokmin hands him a napkin even though he doesn’t bother to hide his laugh.

“It’s nothing,” you try to calm yourself. It’s been hours since you’ve stepped out of the hotel and you’re still freaking out. “It’s nothing.”

It’s still fresh in your mind how some of the staffs greeted you politely when you hurriedly made your way to the elevator. You close your eyes at the memory; gosh, he must be the boss or something if they feel the need to do that to you.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Jihoon tries to comfort you. “You did say you both were drunk, right? He probably understood why you left.”

Soonyoung nods in agreement as he bites into his fries. “True that. Plus, it’s not like you’ll meet him ever again. You just went to that club because of Jisoo, not because you’re a regular there. So you should have no business meeting him the second time as long as you don’t go to that club again.”

“Oh, you made sense for once,” Jihoon says with a mock impression.

“Well, but I do agree with Seokmin,” he grins widely through your glare. “What? He’s probably some bigshot dude and you missed that chance. We could’ve slipped into that life, you know?”

“Don’t Seokmin has some bigshot friends too? You go ask them out,” You shake your head at him and Soonyoung just grins shamelessly at your words.

You look at your phone to check the time, standing up from your seat as you notice it’s time for you to leave. “Gotta go first. Promised to visit Jennie. You both don’t make trouble for Jihoon.”

Seokmin and Soonyoung send you a playful salute while Jihoon just waves his hand, telling you to be careful on your way.

"Say hi to Jennie from us! We gotta see that cousin of yours one of these days," someone mutters, but you're already too deep in your thought to reply.

Soonyoung’s right. You just need to avoid that club and all should be fine. This Mingyu guy, whose touch you can still feel ghosting across your skin, would eventually be forgotten, and you’ll happily live your life as it was before because he’s exactly that: a one-night stand.

”Hi Jen,” you hug her as you arrive in her place. Jennie’s a few months away from her due date now, her stomach rounding because of the baby inside her. “How are you and the baby doing?”

Jennie smiles and her hand automatically goes to where her baby’s at, caressing it softly. “Good. We’re both good. You?”

“Well, I told you a few days ago,” you sigh as you make yourself comfortable on her sofa. “I finally quit my job. Been good to rest for a few days at last.”

You consider telling Jennie about what happened the night before, but decide against it because you don’t feel like reliving the embarrassing walk of shame just yet. Instead, you stand up again to rummage her fridge.

“Have you started looking for new jobs?” she asks. There’s more than genuine curiosity in her voice and it makes you wonder if she’s up to something. Jennie’s always been a close cousin to you, only three years older than you are. She takes care of you like an older sister and you trust her with your life; but it’s not everyday that Jennie calls you to visit out of nowhere.

When you sit down and lean back again, Jennie’s eyes are way too focused on you for it to just be curiosity. “Not really. I’m contemplating if I want to try another job or if I should just apply as secretary again.”

Her famous gummy smile makes an appearance and you kind of see where this is going. “Great, how about working as my substitute when I take my maternity leave?”

“Can you do that?” you blink at her, confused and amused. “Is your boss okay with your way of looking for a substitute?”

“He trusts me,” she shrugs. “I’ve been working there for almost 6 years now and he knows I wouldn’t accept just anyone for my substitute.”

Jennie’s boss must be pretty good then, you conclude. Your cousin is the very definition of perfectionist, the perfect secretary if you’re looking for someone who never misses to make sure everything goes well and nothing is ever askew. On another note, if Jennie’s been working there for 6 years with close to no complaints (at least to you), it means the company is probably somewhere between great and amazing.

You know Jennie makes quite a lot, and even though there are times when she’s slightly overworked, Jennie herself says it’s rarely because her boss asks her to stay. The more fitting scenario is: she and her boss are both perfectionists, which leads to them being the ideal pair for working overtime. Plus, the money she makes from working overtime definitely makes up for it.

“And he’s okay with that?” you smile in amusement. “I mean, this person is going to be his secretary. Shouldn’t it be up to him to decide?”

“He can’t do anything without me,” she rolls her eyes playfully, but there's a fond smile nevertheless. “Plus, I don’t have the time to train someone properly and I know you’re competent.”

You ponder for a while; it is a really good chance, obviously. Jennie works at SVT Inc., which was only established less than a decade ago. Naturally, this means Jennie joined when the company was still making its way up the business ladder. From year to year, the company has been famous for its tremendous and continuous growth and it’s now one of the most sought-after companies despite only having two branches: the main one in Seoul, and the other one in Jeju.

You’ve heard from Jennie that the Jeju branch has only been open for 2 years, the old CEO saw an opportunity and wanted to retreat there and move to a less busy city while his son, Jennie’s boss, took over the Seoul branch. You still remember the way things turned too hectic for Jennie for a while because she suddenly becomes the CEO’s secretary.

“It’ll be a great experience, you know? And it’s just for a few months. 6 at most,” Jennie tries to convince you. “And maybe if my boss likes you, he’ll either extend your contract or offer you another position. I know one of the directors need an extra secretary. Or you might be his PA.”

“When do I start if I say yes?” you decide to taste the water, though you know this sentence only encourages Jennie more and, if anything, she knows you’re pretty much convinced by now.

“Next Monday? Or the Monday after that if you still want to enjoy your unemployment,” she grins hopefully, knowing full well you can’t say no to the tone she’s using. Isn’t she supposed to be the older sister here? “You won’t work alone. There’s another secretary and he will help you adapt once I’m off.”

Next Monday is three days away, you count. You kind of want to rest more, but you actually enjoy working if not for the way your old company was overworking you with minimum salary. There’s just something unsettling about being at home and not doing anything.

“And when will you be off?”

“After training you for a month,” she smiles sheepishly. “I know a month is short. But I’ll be on standby in case you need help, plus I know you’re more than capable.”

“What if your boss doesn’t like me?”

“He will,” she says firmly. “He also has agreed when I say I have someone in mind for my temporary replacement. I’ve told him I don’t want to train anyone else and he can try training the new secretary himself if he refuses my choice.”

It’s kind of amusing to hear Jennie speak about her boss like this, but you know she’s only able to do so because she’s worked hard to get into that position. On top of that, she has probably proven more than enough time that her judgement is rarely invalid.

“You really care for your boss, don’t you?” you suddenly say, catching her off guard.

Jennie’s silent for a while, but there’s a smile in her face as something passes through her mind. “Yeah, I do. I mean, even as a person. He’s a good friend, you know? He’s definitely a friend when he’s not my boss; we got a lot closer three years ago because he went through…something and I had to cover for a lot of his schedules.”

You don’t push further. There’s probably a good reason why Jennie words it that way and it’s probably something that you don’t have to worry about just yet.

But now that she mentions it, you remember that exact period of time where Jennie called you crying because her boss was not answering any of her calls and she had to take care of everything by herself. The only reason it’s clear in your mind is because that was one of the rare times Jennie ever complained about her job. A week later, though, she suddenly said she felt bad for her boss and worked overtime almost everyday for a month without complain.

“Okay then,” you finally say.

“Really?!” she sits up, her eyes sparkling with excitement and gratitude.

“I’ll see you in three days,” you shrug nonchalantly and Jennie moves to sit beside you to drop a wet kiss on your cheek as her thank you.

It should be a great opportunity, right?

The SVT Inc. building stands a little short compared to the buildings beside it, but it’s something that you actually like. There are probably 6 floors, judging roughly from the height, which is great because it means you can go up by the stairs on the rare days you feel like exercising.

You prefer buildings like this than towering offices that go almost as high as hotels, to be honest. There’s just something about smaller offices that brings you in, makes working together a little bearable.

“Hello,” you greet the receptionist as you introduce yourself. “I’m here to train under Kim Jennie…?”

The receptionist mirrors your smile, handing you a temporary access Jennie has requested for you as she tells you to go to the 5th floor where the CEO’s floor is at. You thank her before making your way to the elevator. Thankfully, the building is easy enough to navigate through and you only need to ask one more time the moment you get to the designated floor to find Jennie.

“Hello?” You call to someone, your eyes drop to the name tag he’s wearing: Seungkwan, it reads. “I’m, uh, here to see Kim Jennie?”

Seungkwan looks at you in recognition, immediately outstretching his hand to you as he tries your name. “I’m Seungkwan. You’re going to be her substitute while she takes her maternity leave, right?”

“Yes,” you smile awkwardly, this Seungkwan guy sure seems friendly when it’s your first time meeting him. Kind of reminds you of Soonyoung and Seokmin. “Are you the other secretary?”

Seungkwan nods as he signals you to follow him. “Yup, I hope we can work well together.”

You let out a sigh of relief inside, glad that this guy seems nice enough and looks like someone pleasant to be around with.

“Oh?” Jennie turns to you and Seungkwan, having only returned from the pantry. “Why didn’t you tell me you’ve arrived!”

“And make the pregnant woman come and get me?” you ask her pointedly, though there’s a giddy smile on your face. You’re probably more excited about working with your cousin (even only for a month) than you let on. “I don’t want my niece to come early.”

Jennie laughs, her hand waves at you so you’ll come closer. “Who says I’ll come and get you? And who says my baby’s a niece? I will just ask Seungkwan to go down for me.”

You look at Jennie’s desk, almost twice longer than the desk you used to have in your old office. It’s neat and there’s a computer for her to use; everything’s in place like you expected Kim Jennie’s space to be. Seungkwan’s desk isn’t that far off hers, it's a little messy but not all over the place. You figure the only reason it looks messy is because you’ve just seen Jennie’s.

“You’ll sit with me for the time being, help me with things as you learn how it goes around here,” she explains, telling you to put your bag on the chair next to hers. “I’ll let you handle some stuffs too, just to remind you you’re not here as my assistant.”

You chuckle a little at that but nod nevertheless. “Is the CEO still not in?”

“Nope,” she shakes her head as she pulls up some documents you need to read first. “He comes late every Monday and Wednesday; usually sometime after 9. You’ve got to call him once it’s 9.30 and he’s still not in the office unless he doesn’t have meetings and urgent documents, okay?”

Taking out a small notebook from your bag, you write down important stuffs you’d need to remember while Jennie continues to tell you everything you need to know first before anything else.

“Do I need to make coffees every morning or something?”

“Only when he asks for it. He usually has drinks ready by himself when he comes in though.”

You’re about to ask about other stuffs when Seungkwan stands in front of your desk, announcing that you should introduce yourself to the people in the department and he’d come with you for that.

Jennie nods encouragingly at you as you reluctantly stand up. It’s a must, yet you’re always nervous when meeting new people. Plus, you know sooner or later there’s going to be talks going around because you got in through Jennie.

You shake the thoughts away, there’s no need to think about worst case scenarios when it’s literally your first day and you might not even need to talk to some of them at all.

Seungkwan brings you around the floor, introducing you to everyone and you're thankful most of them seems nice enough at first glance. Some of them though, you can tell already, are going to be problems, but you wish the CEO is always busy so you’d have no business dealing with these people unless you really need to.

After he’s done, you thank Seungkwan for accompanying you before you excuse yourself to the restroom. Seungkwan just nods as he jokingly tells you not to get lost.

Truthfully, you don’t really need to go to the restroom, but your heart always beats too fast after meeting a group of new people, and it doesn’t help that you’ve somewhat become the center of their attentions because you’re the new girl.

You exhale another breath, going out of the stall when you think you’ve calmed down enough and wash your hands just for the sake of it.

When you return to your desk, Jennie stands up instead.

“Mr. Kim is in, let’s go to his office,” she says, her professional tone never wavering.

You nod, fixing the nonexistent wrinkle on your blouse. Jennie looks at you encouragingly as she knocks on the door. Her hand reaches out to squeeze yours, the least comfort she can give you because she knows you’re always nervous in new environment, before opening the door to the office without waiting for her boss’s reply.

“Sir?” Jennie calls to the tall figure in the room, busy rummaging through his shelf first thing in the morning.

Your eyes immediately go to Mr. Kim. He’s obviously taller than average, you easily register. Even from behind, you can tell this is a man who carries himself well, an aura of authority hugs him even though it’s not one that scares you. This man hasn’t even done anything and you already know he’s one to be respected.

You wonder what is it about him that feels familiar to you.

Your eyes wander to his broad back, cheeks abruptly heating as it clicks why; he reminds you of that Mingyu guy. It’s probably his wide shoulders and seemingly muscled but lean body, along with the black hair even though it’s styled neatly in contrast to the man whose hair was tousled from sleep and, well, probably your doing the night before.

You shake your head at the memory, making Jennie look at you in concern. This is definitely not the time to think about that guy.

Mr. Kim hasn’t turned around, simply hums as he flips through a file.

“Sir, here’s the substitute secretary I told you about,” she tells him, and you’re about to introduce yourself and bow to him when Mr. Kim turns around and shows his face, freezing you in place.

Fuck.

How on earth did you forget Jennie’s boss is named Kim Mingyu?

©wonwoonlight – all rights reserved.

taglist: @yslshua @penny-quinn @nollixtrml

[hueningchu]

Stuck!

Genre: Fluff 🐇

Paring: Ot5 x reader 🐇

Warnings: Not really any warnings but Yeonjun is sort of a douche in this. He is a bit mean but not really. Also, Since y/n does not know their names she calls them “Angry boy” (Yeonjun), “Blonde boy (Kai), “Tall boy” (Soobin), “Wolfcut” (Beomgyu), and “Man in suit” (Taehyun). It got a little annoying as I was writing it but it stops towards the end.

Summary: You get trapped in a elevator with 5 strangers for 5 hours. Within those 5 hours you all earned 5 brand new friends and overcome different situations with each other. You do all this while being trapped in this tiny elevator.

See the notes at the end for extra explanation or info.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♡~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*BUZZ BUZZ*

You were late on your second day at your new job. You had woken up at 4:00pm when you had to be there at 4:30pm. Hopefully the bus gets here on time. Grabbing your apartment keys and running out the door, you say bye to your pet cat. You lived at a nice little apartment building in a suburban area. You never really knew your neighbors because you were so focused on your own life and plus you just moved there like 2 months ago.

Once you finally reached the elevator you saw it was about to close but you were determined to make it. Waving your hands and calling out to the group of people inside the elevator to hold the door. Only two of them attempted to hold the door. A blonde boy and a boy with the coolest wolfcut you ever seen. You thanked them and squeezed yourself in the elevator along with the group of people.

“Excuse me. Sorry I made it so cramped in here.” You say before pressing the lobby button. Everyone else had already picked their buttons so now it was just a matter of waiting. The elevator started moving up after a few seconds to start to go to the first floor that was selected. After a few seconds one of the guys inside the elevator spoke up.

“Does anyone else hear that? It’s like a mechanical noise?” A boy with a wolfcut said aloud to everyone in the elevator. You did not hear the sound he was talking about and no one else did either but he kept hearing this “sound”.

“Mechanical noise? That’s not good to hear in an elevator.” The blonde boy who tried to hold the door for you earlier spoke up. You stayed quiet and waited for the elevator to get to your selected floor. It almost hit the first stop which happen to be the 6th floor until you heard a loud popping noise and felt the elevator come to a hard stop.

*THUD THUD*

“Hey, that’s the noise! The noise I heard but louder!” The boy with the wolfcut spoke up again. We all looked at him and I sighed.

“Well what happened? It was almost to my floor.” An other boy said before trying to press the 6th floor button again. He pressed it multiple times before getting frustrated and kicking the elevator door.

“Hey! That’s not gonna work! Let’s just try waiting it out and the elevator will start back up again.” The tallest among the men said. The other boy scoffed and leaned against the wall. The boy with the blonde hair pushed to the front of the elevator and tried to press the emergency call button but no one answered back.

“Let’s call the police or something. Tell them we are stuck in an elevator. There is 6 of us so they have to come help us.” Tall boy said. He seemed to immediately take charge of the situation like a leader would. After he said that a man in a suit sighed and pulled out his phone. He dialed 3 numbers and started calling.

“Hello? This is Kang Taehyun and i along with 5 other people are trapped inside an elevator.” He waited before replying again. “Yes the building is (insert apartment complex name) on (insert street name). Okay. See ya soon.” He hung up the phone and put his phone back in his bag. We all did not say a word after that. Now that we knew help was on the way the situation wasn’t as tense.

“About how long did they say?” The blonde boy asked.

“20 minutes until they get here.” He replied. You did a deep heavy sigh, realizing you are gonna be late for work you text your boss and let him know the situation. Now you all just had to wait about 20 minutes to be saved.

[20 minutes later]

“Alright how many people do we have all together?” The fireman asked you guys through the closed elevator doors. You all looked around at each other to count before the blonde boy spoke up.

“All together there are 6 of us. Say just how long is this gonna take? It’s already been like 30 minutes and I need to be somewhere.” The fireman took a long break before answering. He probably knew we all wouldn’t have liked his answer.

“About 4 hours. It could be more or it could be less but that’s our estimated guess for right now.” You all sent out different groans and frustrated sighs. Four fucking hours. You were gonna be stuck for FOUR fucking hours. You had to call your boss and let him know you would not be showing up on your second day. Not just that but you were gonna be stuck for four hours with complete strangers. You knew none of these people and guessing by the tension and vibes in the elevator none of them knew each other either. This was gonna be a LONG four hours.

It was so silent aside from the sounds of the firemen and them trying to get us out. Everyone just went on their phones or had their AirPods in. You took a look around the room and took notice to how not a single person was engaging in conversation. No one even looked at each other. The silence continued until a loud grumble was heard throughout the elevator. Everyone’s eyes flew to one specific spot in the elevator. Wolfcut boy had his headphones in and he started whisper songing the song pretty loudly. Everyone went back to their phones and music after they located the sound. Wolfcut boy continued singing his song and you all ignored it. Until he took it a step further and started lightly swaying back and forth and tapping on the walls. As he was tapping along with the beat he accidentally swayed to far left and bumped into the guy who kicked the door earlier. Wolfcut boy did not seem to notice he bumped into the other boy but the other boy had definitely noticed.

“Hey! You wanna stay in your own personal space? The elevator is cramped enough as it is. I don’t need to bumping into me.” You turned your head when you heard the commotion going on behind you. The other 3 boys also peeked to see what they were arguing about. Wolfcut boy took out his headphones and gave the angry boy a confused expression.

“Talking to me? I’m minding my busine-“ Wolfcut boy was soon cut off.

“Minding your own business? You couldn’t have been when you just bumped into me.”

“Calm down. I’m sorry if I bumped you or whatever but don’t yell at me like your my mom or something.” He went to put his headphones back in before he let one more comment slip out. “Trapped 4 hours with this guy? Kill me now.” You widened your eyes and turned to the angry boy to see how he would react back to that.

“Kill you? Come here then cause the thought of being stuck here with you is suffocating me myself. ” You turned back towards the door to mind your own business this time because of how heated he got but you couldn’t help but turn your head again when you felt a shove and an array of loud shouts flying through the elevator.

“Hey, Keep your squabbling over there! This is a brand new suit!”

“Let’s not move too much in the elevator guys!”

“Seriously guys break it up before something else breaks!”

You were tempted to speak up yourself but your voice was too soft compared to the other 5 men who were shouting and shoving each other. You just sort of leaned in a corner and covered your ears. Just then you felt a warm presence and arms wrap around your figure. You instantly jumped a bit and looked up to see the tallest guy In the elevator hugging you and holding you close to him. You wondered why he was doing it until he spoke up to let you know.

“S-sorry if that was weird to just do but..you just looked so nervous and I know a calm presence in a tense situation is the best thing to have.” He rested his head on top of yours and closed his eyes as he held you close. Normally you would slap a stranger man who hugged you because “you looked nervous” but surprisingly he was right and you felt so much calmer even though the other 4 men were still hassling each other.

“Say you’re sorry for disrespecting me!” The angry man yelled out as he held wolfcut boys arm behind his back tightly.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Let me go psycho.” After he apologized the angry man let him go and pushed him against the wall. It was obvious he won that squabble.

“Ok, now can you guys please just calm down?” The blonde boy who was trying to break up the argument the whole time pleaded.

“I’m surprised the firemen haven’t said something yet.” The tall boy let you out of the embrace and casually turned to the blonde boy to talk to him. You felt a little shiver from the a/c in the elevator as the tall boy left your side. You touched your face to feel your cheeks burning red hot. Trying to hide the blush you turned but only ended up turning towards the quiet man in the suit. He cocked an eyebrow at your weird behavior and then exchanged looks from you and the tall boy. He looked like he wanted to ask something but held his tongue. The two men continued talking to each other.

“Kai. Heuningkai. I live in the building.” He smiled.

“I’m Choi Soobin, nice to meet you!” The others were still tending to their own things until one of them joined the two people’s conversation.

“You live in this building? Me too! I live on the 3rd floor!” Wolfcut boy was loud. It was obvious to everyone there because they all stared at him with annoyed faces. All except you and Kai.

“I’m on the 3rd floor as well! Room number?” Kai asked him.

“Yeah right. Like I’d give that info out to a stranger.” Wolfcut scoffed and crossed his arms. “For all I know you could be a serial killer! Like this guy over here.” He whispered the last part, hoping angry man did not hear him. Kai chuckled and put his hand over his mouth when angry man looked over at the giggling pair.

“True, Sorry to intrude.” They both shared a smirk and giggled again. Seems two of us already made friends. The elevator went back to silence until you heard someone groan and smack their lips. You turned to the man in the suit and asked what’s wrong.

“My phone died. Worst fucking luck ever.” He said the last part to himself and put his phone in her back pocket. You gave him a sympathetic frown.

“I’m sorry. If their was a outlet in here I would have let you used my charger.” You tried to make him feel a little better. He shrugged his shoulders.

“Oh well. Can’t do nothing now.” He looked at the ceiling. You turned around and continued going on your phone. That made you check your percentage. 83% should last me a while if I ration it well.

“I-I have a portable charger block you can use. Only if you want.” The blonde boy spoke up and showed the man in the suit his portable charger. He nodded and took it out his hand, thanking him. He reached his hand out toward you for your charger cord you promised him. You pulled it out and handed it over.

“Thanks a lot. Glad I was stuck in here with you guys.” He said as he plugged his phone up. He then glared over at the pair who was fighting earlier and second guessed what he said. “Actually, I take that back. I’m glad I got stuck here with you..and the girl too I guess.” You raised an eyebrow at what he slipped in at the end of his sentence. The man must have noticed your reaction because he then explained himself. “What? You’re quiet and don’t cause trouble. Besides, You’re nice to look at. It passes the time.” You would feel weirded out at the looking at you part but since he was so handsome you just blushed and took it as a compliment. You bowed a tiny bit and thanked him for the compliment. “And she has manners? Perfect little girlfriend you got there.” You widened your eyes and looked at Soobin in confusion.

“What?? Me and her aren’t dating.” Soobin spoke up first.

“Yeah, I just met him today!” You raised your voice a bit out of shock. Why would he think you were with Soobin? You figured it was because of how Soobin grabbed you earlier during the commotion. It made your heart flutter a bit but you guys were not dating.

“Kang Taehyun. That’s my name by the way.” He said it so randomly but I’m glad he did. If we were gonna be here for hours then we should know each other’s names.

“Yeah I heard you say it on the phone earlier. I-it’s a very nice name.” You said to him you were nervous when talking to him. He was tall and look sophisticated. The type of man you feared to talk to.

“Thanks. Your name is?” He complimented you back once you told him your name. You blush at the compliment Soon realizing that you may have thought Taehyun was attractive.

“Beomgyu. It’s a pretty awesome name.” Wolfcut boy said randomly as he interrupted you two while also giving himself a compliment. You said hello to him and welcomed him into the convo. Taehyun on the other hand seemed like he wanted him to back off. He seemed annoyed that Beomgyu intruded on your convo.

“You guys live in the building?” Kai asked.

“Well I actually am thinking about renting an apartment here or maybe moving in completely. I was actually coming to check the building out today but..ya know.” Soobin said.

“Oh you most definitely should! It has a pool, hot tub, free parking pass, no curfew and-“ Kai cut himself off because he noticed he was ranting. “Sorry I probably sound weird.” He shook his head while nervously laughing.

“No no, it’s fine! You actually almost convinced me haha.” Kai seemed like he brought light to any conversation. It was calming in a situation like this. It seemed Kai made one more friend. You wondered how many friends you could make in this situation. You thought about talking to some of the more approachable ones but you were too nervous. Back on the phone you go.

Two whole hours had passed already and they are STILL trying to get us out.

“God damn it how long is this gonna take.” You turned your head and looked up at the other angry boy to your left. You were standing right next to him.

“Hey! Do you guys know how much longer this is gonna be? I got to be somewhere right now.” The angry boy yelled out.

“Sir, calm down. We are going as fast as we can. We told you how long this was gonna take.” The fireman tried to explain and keep him calm but he was obviously running out of patience.

“I need to call my fucking girlfriend.” He tapped on his phone and started talking through his AirPods. “Hey babe I’m still in the elevator. They are saying 2 more hours.” He explained to his girlfriend over the phone. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but we were so close that I couldn’t help it.

“Madeleine, babe I’ll be there soon I promise.” He tried to smooth talk her and he soon hung up the phone.

“Someone’s girlfriend is not happy.” Beomgyu whispered to Kai. They both giggled to themselves and Kai hit his arm playfully. They seemed to be making great friends. The other angry boy did not like that though. He took his Airpod out and turned to them.

“God something to say, kid?” He said to him as he bent down a bit.

“Hey! My name is not ‘kid’! The name is Beomgyu.” He yelled back at the brown haired boy. The second argument seemed to have struck out. Beomgyu vs Angry boy again. You and the other 4 strangers was just caught in the crossfire.

“You 5 are annoying. Why can’t you guys just be quiet and wait.”

“Just who do you think you are?! You were the one who started yelling in the first place!” Beomgy was obviously the type to stand up for himself. He wanted the last word with Angry boy. After hearing that angry boy just rolled his eyes.

“I’m Yeonjun. There, You got my name and everything. Now shut the hell up.” Damn this kid was mean. He told us his name though and at least that’s a step. Beomgyu scoffed at him and went to say something else but Kai just grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. The little altercation was over and it went back to silence.

2 hours and 30 minutes passed since you got stuck. You wondered if someone else would speak up and just as you were wondering you heard something.

“God damn it.” Taehyun said to himself.

“Are you okay?” Kai asked him. He glared over at him and groaned.

“I..” he started to talk but stopped. “Nothing. Don’t talk to me.” He was obviously frustrated but that was understandable. None of us thought we would spend our whole afternoon in a stuffy elevator getting sawed out by firemen. Kai tried to figure out what was up with him though.

“Is it anything I can help with? Because if it is then I want to help.” He smiled at him but he turned away from him.

“I..need to use the bathroom.” He put his head down in embarrassment. The rest of us all looked at him with wide eyes. We didn’t expect this to happen. We should have but we didn’t. Kai did not know what to say back.

“I’m sorry but I don’t think I can help with that..” he seems upset that he couldn’t help but what would he do? There was no way he could use the bathroom right no-

“Uhh.. I’m not sure if this helps but..” Soobin spoke up. He digged into his backpack and was looking for something. Once he found it and pulled it out Taehyun got visibly even more embarrassed. He shoved his arm and cursed him for even thinking what he was thinking.

“I-I’m sorry! I know it’s crazy but..if you REALLY have to use it then it’s the only possible thing I can thing of.” The rest of us all got embarrassed too when we seen what he was holding. He had an empty water bottle in his hand. There was no way he expected him to use it in that.

“Don’t do that! You can hold it in!” Beomgyu yelled out. He was always yelling. The loudest one in the elevator. Taehyun looked at the water bottle and shook his head. He looked as thought she was contemplating it but in the end told himself no.

“I’m not pissing in a water bottle in front of 5 strangers. I can just hold it.” He straightened his back and stared up at the ceiling. It was helping but for how much longer?

“It’s not that big of a deal.” Yeonjun said with his hands in his pockets. “I would have done it.” He shrugged his shoulders. Taehyun narrowed his eyes at him and was about to say something before Beomgyu interrupted him.

“Yeah I would too.” Beomgyu said. You chuckled because Beomgyu had just yelled for Taehyun to hold it in. Kai tagged onto that. “Yeah same. We are probably never gonna see each other again so what’s the matter?” After Kai asked that Taehyun looked away and muttered something.

“I live in the building. On the 4th floor.” After he said that we sort of understood. It would be embarrassing if he did that and happen to see one of us a few days later.

“What other choice do you have? I would have done it too.” Soobin said, trying it make him feel better about it. That was 4/6 people who said they would have done it. Honestly, I couldn’t do it. Thinking about it is making me all sweaty. Taehyun looked at the water bottle for a few seconds before delivering a heavy, frustrated sigh.

“Give me the fucking bottle.” He said as he snatched it out of Soobin’s hand. “I need you three to block me. The rest of you just close your eyes and turn around.” The three he was referring too were Soobin, Beomgyu, and Kai. The 3 of them squeezed over to him and turned around to block him. The boys all faced one way and ignored the scene the best they could. Taehyun pulled his underwear along with his pants down and sighed. He lined the bottle up as best as he could and just released. You could hear the relief as he sighed again.

“Watch out! Don’t get any on my shoes.” Yeonjun said. Taehyun just flipped him off and continued. He finished and pulled his pants up. Holding the water bottle out fairest away from him as he could. He put the cap on it and shook his head at what he just did.

“What the fuck do I do with the bottle?” He looked around but no one had an answer. “Well I’m not just gonna hold it for the next 2 hours.” No one answered him again.

“Here.” You held up your hand and showed you had a plastic convenience store bag. It was a lose bag you had found on the way to the elevator. You intended on throwing it away when you found a trash can somewhere.

“Put it in here and tie the bag up.” Taehyun nodded and dropped the bottle in. He followed your orders and tied the bag up. “Now where do I put the bag?” He looked down at you guy. You shrugged and pointed to the corner of the elevator.

“Just put it in the corner and we can throw it away when we get out.” He did just that. After that the mood got awkward and tense. Being stuck in this small elevator is soul crushing.

Now that everyone knew each other’s names everyone knew each other a bit more now. That didn’t help the silence though. Kai was the one who tried to start conversation this time.

“Now that we know each other’s names how about we learn a bit more about each other?“ You agreed with him because why not? Yeonjun and Taehyun seemed to be the only ones who was against the idea. They wanted nothing to do with us randos. Kai did not give up though. “Come on. Let’s talk or play a game. I’m bored in here.” He put his hands in his pockets and leaned on the wall.

“Yeah, let’s play a game! That sounds fun. We can like play truth or dare or something.” Beomgyu suggested truth or dare but the rest of us just stared at him. That was like a middle schoolers game and he was suggesting we play it? There was no room to even do any dares in the elevator. “Anyone else got any better ideas?” Beomgyu said with a sort of hurt face.

“How about we just take turns asking each other questions?” You asked with a raised eyebrow and waited for any objections. Of course Yeonjun was the only person who didn’t wanna partake. Taehyun had seemingly been swayed over to participate.

“I’ll go first.” Taehyun looked around the room to see who he would ask a question about. Truth be told, he already had a person in mind but he waited to make it look like he was thinking. After a few seconds of pretending, Taehyun finally set eyes on the person of his choice. “Y/n, Do you live in the building?” That was the first question of the game. If you can even call this a game.You nodded your head and answered his question.

“Yep! I live on the 2nd floor.” Taehyun nodded and seemed satisfied with the answer. So now it is your turn to pick someone? Let’s see…who do you want to pick?

“Mhh..” You looked around at your choices and just picked the behind you. “Beomgyu, What song we’re you jamming to earlier?” Beomgyu’s eyes lit up at the

Question and he immediately pulled out his phone to show you the album.

“It’s ____ by ____! I would definitely recommend it because it-“ Beomgyu got cut off by Yeonjun who just groaned.

“She did not ask you all of that. She asked the name of the song and that’s it.”

“Fine. I got a question for you, Yeonjun.”

Yeonjun tried to explain he was not playing until Beomgyu ignored him and asked anyway.

“What’s up with your hair? It’s so basic. Have you ever cut or colored it before?” It seemed like an insult disguised as a question. Yeonjun took it as an insult but decided to answer it. Knowing it would just piss him off trying to talk to Beomgyu.

“Yes I have colored and cut it before. I just decided to stick with my black hair look. What’s it to you anyway?! Stay out of my business.” Even though Yeonjun said he was not playing he looked over at Soobin to eye him before he shot out a question. “Soobin, Why are you looking for new places? Get kicked out of your old place or something? Cause if so don’t bring that loud shit here.” He seemed serious about the question and the statement. Soobin giggled nervously and shook his head.

“No, none of that. I just wanted to move out of my parents place. I went to college and when I came back I realized that I didn’t want to live with them for like..ever haha..” he seemed a little nervous but who wouldn’t be when you are sharing so much with strangers.

“Good. We don’t need an other headache.” Yeonjun said as he looked over at…Beomgyu? We all noticed that and he did too. Why would Yeonjun call him a headache? Obviously from what we all seen we could tell that Beomgyu was not the most cool-headed or calm person but we wouldn’t call him a headache. Of course he had to say something though.

“What do you mean by that? Why does everyone in this elevator not have a problem with me except you?!”

“Why does everyone in this elevator have a problem with me in general?” He made it sound like he was a victim of bullying or something. Beomgyu rolled his eyes.

“I live in the apartment next door to you. Your wicked friends and you keep me and my girlfriend up all night with your loud music and instruments.” He looked at Beomgyu up and down after exposing him. Yeonjun didn’t mention that he knew him. He probably didn’t feel the need to tell strangers that information but now that we were getting to know each other it would’ve been nice to know.

“You live next door to me??” Beomgyu tilted his head and asked.

“Yeah I do. I live with my girl and our dog.” He crossed his arms as he put his phone away and leaned on the wall, facing us. Looks like he would officially join the “getting to know each other game”.

“Ooo you can have pets in the building?” Soobin got excited at that. “Are hedgehogs okay?”

“Nah you can only have cats but that rule doesn’t apply to you does it, Yeonjun?” There goes Beomgyu trying to expose him. He just narrowed his eyes and glared over at him.

“A tiny fucking beagle ain’t gonna cause no ruckus. My dog doesn’t make a peep.” The rest of you just let them continue their argument until Soobin asked Taehyun a question.

“So Taehyun, Do YOU live in the building?” He just nodded at his question and offered him a piece of advice. Taehyun told him that if he wanted to move in then the 5th floor is the best floor to pick due to the air conditioning being the best up there all summer. He giggled and nodded back.

“Note taken.” He smiled at the ground and the game continued. It kept going like that over and over. Question after question. To be honest, you all talked to each other pretty well and vibed. Everyone was laughing and joking with each other after a few questions. Even the quiet ones were speaking up. Before you guys knew it the time was almost up. Only about forty more minutes left. Everyone was at their limit and just wanted out of the elevator.

“GAHH! I CAN NOT TAKE THIS ANYMORE!” Beomgyu yelled out before knocking on the elevator door. “Hey! I know it’s only a few more minutes but can you please try to hurry! I have to use the bathroom and I don’t wanna use the bottle!” Beomgyu started crying actual tears. He seemed very dramatic but in a cute and funny way. The firemen just ignored him after a while because they had enough of getting yelled at by us for the past 3 hours. As Beomgyu realized his yells were useless he just leaned against the door and sighed. “I am going crazy.” After that Kai tried to get him up but he smacked him away. He banged on the door one more time and rest his head on it.

*CLICK* *CLICK*

“A-Are we moving?” Soobin said. We all felt the ground start shaking and moving. The elevator soon started descending down.

“We are moving!” Kai repeated while throwing his arms up in the air we all matched his energy and immediately started cheering. Beomgyu got up and hugged Kai. Kai returned the hug and grabbed onto Taehyun. Taehyun took your hand into his and you hugged Soobin with your open arm. You all looked over at Yeonjun and he just rolled his eyes at all your expressions. He took Soobin’s hand into his and threw his hands up. You all cheered together and it was a very heartwarming moment. You all felt relief as you hit the lobby floor. You all filed out the elevator and most of you either fell to the ground or stretched your legs because you finally had personal space again.

“Omg I’m so glad I’m not in that pee ridden elevator anymore.” Beomgyu said as he fell to his knees to touch the ground.

Taehyun scoffed at him and just chuckled a bit.

“Yeah well me too.” He replied before getting up and stretching his back.

“I’m going out for a drink. Does anyone wanna come with?” Taehyun said aloud to the other 5 people scattered around the lobby. A drink sounded so nice right now but you were underage and couldn’t get into bars. You told Taehyun why you couldn’t go and he just laughed.

“You really think they won’t let you inside? Come on, Might as well try.” He was right. Maybe they would let you in? I mean you were only 4 months away from being 21. Kai walked over to join our convo and Beomgyu followed him.

“A drink at a bar? I’m totally down!” That was quick. They complied almost immediately. The others agreed also but there was one man who wanted nothing to do with you guys the minute you got out the elevator. Kai walked over to Yeonjun and asked if he was coming.

“No way, I have things to do. Besides, I don’t wanna have to talk to any of you weirdos again.” He started to walk away but Taehyun grabbed his shoulder.

“Hey. You can talk to Beomgyu like that but not me. I asked you a simple question so no need to diss us, asshole!” Damn Taehyun, you liked seeing this side of him. You say that as if you have known him for years but you know what you meant. Guys like Taehyun were sort of attractive to you. The ones who stands up for their themselves. Yeonjun turned around and pulled Taehyun’s hand off him. He looked as if he was gonna swing on him but Taehyun wasn’t scared.

“I have to get home to my girl. She’s been waiting all day.” The minute he said that Yeonjun could feel his phone ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out and seen it was his girlfriend. He picked up the phone and immediately screaming was heard on the other line. “Calm down, what are you talking about? Babe can yo- babe..ok! I hear you!” Yeonjun hung up the phone and sighed deeply. He looked over at Taehyun and rolled his eyes. “I need a fucking drink.” He said as he pushed Taehyun aside and flashed his keys, showing that he would go with you guys to get a drink. The 6 of you left the building and started to fan out to your individual cars. Some of you realized you had no ride so Taehyun and Soobin had offered to drive any stragglers in their cars.

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Word count - 5.6k

Notes: I recycled this fanfic from a Attack on titan fanfiction I made a while ago. I was inspired by a tiktok of strangers getting trapped in a elevator and becoming best friends. I wondered how txt would react to getting stuck with y/n and this was outcome. Sorry if it’s too corny or fluffy but i tried my best so, hope you enjoy. <3