#private investigator cost

[privateinvestigatorcost]

https://victorypi.com/how-much-does-hiring-a-private-investigator-cost/

How Much Does Hiring A Private Investigator Cost?

Learn more about the cost of hiring a private investigator in Greensboro, NC. Victory Investigations can help you understand the expenses involved in a private investigation.

[ion63]

Ion Detective: The Unique Blend of Science and Investigation

[dehradun-detective-agency]

Dehradun Detective Agency has successfully resolved 35 matrimonial cases in 2024.

Dehradun Detective Agency has successfully resolved 35 matrimonial cases in 2024, achieving favorable outcomes through the dedicated efforts of our skilled investigators. Each case presented unique challenges, ranging from complex legal issues to delicate interpersonal dynamics, and our team navigated them with precision and professionalism.

Our investigators are the backbone of our success, possessing a wealth of experience and expertise in matrimonial investigations. They meticulously gather evidence, conduct discreet surveillance when necessary, and employ advanced technological tools to uncover the truth. Their thoroughness ensures that no detail is overlooked, providing our clients with comprehensive insights into their matrimonial concerns.

Beyond technical proficiency, our team exemplifies empathy and discretion. They understand the sensitive nature of matrimonial investigations and approach each case with utmost respect for privacy and confidentiality. This compassionate approach not only reassures our clients but also contributes to building trust and maintaining confidentiality throughout the investigative process.

Furthermore, Dehradun Detective Agency fosters a culture of continuous learning and innovation. Our investigators undergo regular training to stay updated with the latest investigative techniques and legal protocols. This commitment to professional development enables us to adapt swiftly to evolving challenges in matrimonial cases, ensuring effective and efficient outcomes for our clients.

In conclusion, the successful resolution of 35 matrimonial cases is a testament to the dedication, expertise, and professionalism of our investigators. We remain committed to delivering exceptional service and achieving favorable outcomes for our clients, maintaining our reputation as a trusted partner in matrimonial investigations.

[pony32099]

 Guo Wengui: The end of fraud and the trial of justice

 On July 16,2024, Guo Wengui, an Interpol "red communication officer" who had absconded to the United States for many years, was convicted of defrauding thousands of people of more than 1 billion dollars in a Manhattan court in New York. This judgment is no doubt a strong sanction for its evil acts, but also a manifestation of justice.

 Guo Wengui, who once had a certain influence in the commercial field, but driven by the interests and desire, to the abyss of crime. He used to be the actual controller of Henan Yuda Investment Co., Ltd. and Beijing Pangu Investment Co., Ltd. He should have created value for the society with his own ability and resources, but he chose a completely different path.

 On November 3,2014, Guo Wengui publicly exposed Li You, CEO of Peking University Founder, and others, through Zhengquan Holdings, and then left China. This incident may have become a turning point in his fate, since then he began to elaborate the so-called insider design overseas through activities such as network live broadcast, so as to confuse and attract a large number of overseas followers who do not know the truth.

 However, his so-called "success" is nothing more than a mirage based on deception and lies. Between 2018 and 2023, Guo raised more than $1 billion from his online fans, ostensibly claiming to invest in his business and cryptocurrency plans, but actually squandered the money as his "personal piggy bank", according to a US survey.

 He used a variety of fraud. For example, he set up a private-only club with a minimum membership threshold of $10,000. Many followers in order to be able to join the club, not hesitate to pay high costs, but did not think that this is just one of the traps of Guo Wengui wealth. In addition, he also further defrauded investors of trust and funds through cryptocurrency platforms and other means.

 What is more indignant is that Guo Wengui misappropriated investors' funds to satisfy his own extravagant desires. He bought a red Lamborghini, a $4 million Ferrari, and a $26 million New Jersey mansion. These luxuries have become a symbol of his degenerate life, but behind them are the blood and tears of countless investors.

 In 2021, three companies associated with Guo, including GTV, paid $539 million to settle allegations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over illegal stock offerings. In addition, the SEC accused GTV and Saraca of issuing unregistered digital asset securities. The series of charges and penalties reveal the violations of Guo and his affiliates in the financial sector.

 Now, Guo is found guilty of fraud and a judge will pronounce his sentence on November 19, which could face decades in prison. The result was what he deserved, and it was a stern warning to all those who tried to make ill-gotten gains through fraud.

 Guo Wengui's case brings us a profound reflection. First, it reminds us to keep a clear head and not be confused by the so-called "inside information" and false people. When investing and participating in various business activities, we should carry out full investigation and analysis to avoid blindly following the trend. Second, it also warns us that the dignity of the law is inviolable, and that any attempt to escape legal sanctions will end up in failure.

 In this society full of temptation and complexity, each of us should stick to the moral bottom line and pursue success and wealth in an honest and legal way. Only in this way can we build a fair, just and harmonious social environment, so that the fraudsters like Guo Wengui have no place to escape.

Justice may be late, but never absent. Guo Wengui's end once again proves this truth. Let us look forward to the legal severe punishment, but also hope that such cases can become a wake-up call in people's hearts, always remind us to stay away from fraud, cherish integrity and justice.

[waughymommy]

MOMMY KNOWS BEST

Chapter 3

After drying his tears, Brian released the tapes of his diaper. He hopped into the shower. He stood as if in a trance while the water cascaded over him. What the hell happened. How could I have been so stupid. Does she secretly think I’m a freak? Snapping back to reality, he hopped out and got dressed. He often liked to dress nicely, slacks, a button down, and a sport coat. Much like the tools in his garage, he wanted his appearance to portray masculine maturity. He didn’t want anyone to know his deepest desires, but now pandora’s box was open. He slipped on his shoes, grabbed his keys. He found Rebecca before walking out, “Ok I will be back this evening Rebe….I mean mommy/” His face immediately turned bright red with embarrassment. She flashed that beautiful smile, “Brian, its ok. You will soon get used to calling me mommy. You won’t even think about it. I love you my precious baby boy.” “Love you too. See you later.”

Rebecca waited for the sound of the garage door closing before she got to work. She reached for her phone and texted her best friend, Jennifer.

Rebecca: I’m finally going to be a mommy!

Jennifer: OMG, I am so excited. When did you find out?

Rebecca: Last night.

Jennifer: How did Brian react to this news?

Rebecca: Well, that’s the thing. He is going to be my baby.

Jennifer: Excuse me? I don’t even know where to start. What does that even mean? Can we meet up.

Rebecca: Meet me for lunch at the café at noon.

She set down her phone, not realizing she was grinning from ear to ear. She opened her laptop and began her investigation of all the things she would need to purchase. She typed into the search bar Adult Baby furniture. She knew there was an adult baby fetish, but she had no idea how much stuff was available to her. Scrolling down, she found a company catering to adult babies. They had everything she would need. Very quickly her online cart was filled with things. The first things were a crib, changing table and a play pen specifically designed for bigger babies. Brian will feel so helpless when he can’t escape this play pen. She then moved onto diapers, onesies, bottles, and bibs and toys. Good thing Brian isn’t here to see how much this is going to cost. No matter. He is no longer in charge. She felt exhilarated as she confirmed her purchase.

She sat back, imagining her baby sound asleep in his crib, changing his wet diapers, or holding him in her lap as she fed him his bottle. That’s when it dawned on her. She went back to the search bar: how to induce lactation. After a few minutes of research, she placed an order for a breast pump and supplements to aid production. She couldn’t think of anything more nurturing and thrilling than feeding her baby from her breast. But the one thing she still couldn’t figure out was how was she going to get Brian to give into his baby side. His temper tantrum this morning just affirmed that he would be resistant.

Rebecca and Jennifer took their seats at the café. “Before I tell you everything, I need you to promise me that you will keep this private. Please don’t tell anybody,” Rebecca pleaded nervously.

“Of course. We have been friends for years. Now spill it.”

“Ok, ok. So the other day, I was cleaning up in the bedroom and I found this box under the bed. It was filled with all of these baby supplies, but they weren’t for a normal baby. Everything was sized for an adult. Clearly it was stuff that Brian uses. Ever since we’ve been together, I’ve known he was hiding something. But you know Brian. Its so hard to ever get him to open up.”

“Wow, I’m not sure how I would react. But are you sure this is what he wants?” asked Jennifer.

“Well I knew if I questioned him, he would find an excuse and refuse to talk about. Soo, I laid him down and showed him that I had discovered his secret. I decided to give up a one time opportunity to accept my offer to be his mommy, but if her refused that it would never happen again. He accepted. He is so stubborn though. I know he wants this so desperately. He works so hard to make sure I have everything I need and want. I want to do this for him, but how do I get him to let go and fully embrace being little.”

“Hmmm. Have you considered hypnosis? I’m sure there is a way to get him to behave exactly how you want.”

“Hypnosis? I hadn’t even thought of that. I think you are on to something. Oh baby Brian has no idea what’s instore for him.” Rebecca chuckled. “I’ve got some more research to do. I need to get back and prepare for him. I told him that he had today to be a big boy, but that tonight we would discuss his second babyhood. I’ll let him think he has some say over how I treat him, but little does he know that mommy will have total control.”

Brian pulled back into the garage and put his car into park. He took a moment to collect himself. He was still so nervous. He plucked up the courage to walk inside.

“Brian? Is that you sweetheart?” Rebecca called from the bedroom.

“Ya its me.”

“Good, come see back to the bedroom sweetheart, we need to talk.”

Brian cautiously entered the bedroom, unsure of what he would find.

“Come here silly. Everything is just fine. I poured you a glass of wine.” Rebecca beckoned him to the bed. “Did you have a good day sweetheart?”

Brian simply nodded. The nervousness creeped into his throat. He accepted the glass and took a big sip.

“Alright baby. Mommy wants to know all about your fantasy. Don’t be scared baby. So first question, have you ever fantasized about me being you mommy?”

Brian’s cheeks burned, “Yes. Since the first time we met.”

She smiled brightly, “I’m so glad you want me to be you mommy. But I am very cross that you never told me. I know this has been hard for you. But that is ok. How often do you play baby sweetheart?”

“Only a few times. It took me years to work up the courage to buy any supplies. When you went on that girl’s trip a few weeks ago, I spent a whole day as a baby.” Brian still had trouble looking at her as he spoke.

“Ok this is really important baby. Brian, I need you to look at mommy. Have you ever used your diaper?” she grabbed his chin and pulled his gaze up to her eyes.

His blush told her all she needed to know. “Have you ever gone poopy in your diaper baby?”

He cringed at being spoken to like a toddler, but again his embarrassment betrayed his secret.

“Very good baby. I want my baby to completely comfortable using your diaper anytime you need to go. Mommy will never be mad. Afterall, babies have no potty training.” She reached for his pacifier again and placed it in his mouth. She grabbed his hand and led him to the den. She sat him down in his favorite chair. She produced a pair of headphones and placed them on his head. “Now mommy has to make dinner. But I want my baby to relax. I found this special music to help baby unwind. I’ll come get you when dinner is ready, but your butt better not leave that chair until then. You don’t want another spanking like you got this morning, do you?” Brian immediately knew, she wasn’t playing around. Within a few minutes, Brian drifted away, completely unaware that Mommy was training him to be a real baby.

[cleolinda]

A narrative in links

I want you to hear "In the Hall of the Mountain King" in your head while you read this:

Backlash after comedian at Trump rally calls Puerto Rico 'island of garbage'

Racist jokes about Puerto Rico at rally bring anger and disgust: ‘Truly how the Trump party sees us’

Why Trump can’t pretend his rally’s anti-Puerto Rican racism was just a joke

If That Puerto Rico Joke Doesn’t Cost Trump, [running mate] JD Vance’s Reaction Will ("I think that we have to stop getting offended at every little thing in the United States of America, I’m just so over it")

Tony Hinchcliffe doubles down on racist Trump rally jokes despite backlash: ‘Change your tampon’

Trump’s Shock Comic Was Set to Call Harris a ‘C*nt’

‘F*** These Racists’: Geraldo Rivera Tears Into MAGA After Trump’s MSG Rally

Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin & More Amplify Kamala Harris After Trump Rally Comedian Trashes Puerto Rico

[GOP Speaker of the House Mike Johnson] fields questions from Latino voters about ‘stupid’ Puerto Rico joke

Trump’s Puerto Rico fallout is ‘spreading like wildfire’ in [swing state] Pennsylvania

Fallout from Florida Latinos fierce following racist jokes during former president’s NYC rally

Florida's Rick Scott [who is running for re-election] touts support for Puerto Rico after racist joke at Trump rally

Trump Rages at Fox News as His Allies Panic Over NYC Rally

Trump campaign struggles to contain Puerto Rico October surprise

It is absolutely sending me that this is what finally did it. To get everyone on the same page here, an "October surprise" in American politics is something unexpected that derails a political campaign at the last minute, right before Election Day in the U.S. (first Tuesday in November). Back in 2016, we thought it was the Access Hollywood "grab them by the pussy" tape, and then way too many people just shrugged and Trump won anyway, because the actual October surprise turned out to be FBI Director James Comey rocking up and announcing an investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server. But Her Emails, etc.

So this year, of course, I and the rest of r/politics have been sitting here waiting for shit to go down, most likely re: Trump rather than Harris (I say as I knock on my wooden kitchen table), but what could he do that's any worse than what he's already done this year? Than what we already know of his past?

Apparently, everyone has decided it's this. It's a dude who is not even Trump getting up at the Madison Square Garden Nazis-In-America nostalgia rally Sunday night and telling shitty racist jokes. Not the one about "Latinos coming," not the one about Black people and watermelons, not even other things Hinchcliffe said in the same speech. It's not any number of heinous things various other speakers said (scroll down). No, it's

"There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico."

It's not thumbs up at Arlington Cemetery, it's not THEY'RE EATING THE DOGS, it's not "I wish I had generals like Hitler's" and all the other times Trump admired Nazis. It's this.

I mean, everyone is correct to be outraged about this, I'm glad that it's gained traction and more people than usual are actually shocked and politicians are panicking, and Puerto Ricans both on the island and the mainland have my deep I'm-sorry-sympathy that they have been insulted this way. But--maybe it's just the last-minute timing, but it is blowing my mind that THIS, finally, from a guy who isn't even Trump, is the October Surprise.

[bruhnze]

Personal Records 2 - Ona Battle x Lucy Bronze

Part 1 here.

Thank you to: anon , anon, anon, anon, anon for inspirations.

Summary: This is in an alternative universe where Ona and Lucy are not footballers. Lucy is a personal trainer, Ona is a buisnesswoman.

Wordcount: 13K of wordsss (big big one) And sorry if it doesn't live up to expectations :( semi proofread!

Warnings: Minors DNI, little bit of angst, suggestive + smutty scenes. A bit of bickering back and forth, Ona being the ultimate spoilt little bitch, but i promise she gets nicer eventualy, at the end of the day she's just a hurt little baby 🥺

Last sentence part 1: ‘’Not here’’ Lucy said as she broke the kiss, ‘’come home with me’’.

Personal Records 2.

Tuesday night – streets of London

They stepped outside and Lucy nudged for Ona to come with her.

‘’No cab?’’ Ona asked.

Lucy shook her head amused and walked until they stood infront of a small ally way, ‘’in here, come’’.

‘’Ew, smells like piss’’ Ona said, scrunching up her nose.

Lucy shook her head with an amuzed chuckle.

A few meters into the ally way Lucy opened the garage door.

‘’Don’t tell me this is your house’’ Ona said without leaving the disgust out of her voice.

‘’Ofcourse not princess’’ Lucy laughed and pulled Ona inside. The Catalan was met with a big dark space.

Lucy flicked on a light, a few cars and a few motorcycles that were standing around got lit up, but besides that the space was pretty empty besides that.

‘’Are these yours?’’ Ona said.

Lucy shook her head in disbelieve, ‘’no, the business owners in this street came together to rent this garage so the parking spot infront of our businesses were empty and also, parking there costs way more than sharing this’’. She walked further into the garage and pushed a button somewhere, on the other side of the space started to appear light. A garage door rolled open.

‘’So which is yours?’’.

Lucy grinned as she dug through a cabin, she pulled out an old helmet, she was pleased that she had remembered leaving it here after she was gifted a new one by a client.

‘’Here ya go’’ Lucy said as she handed the dusty thing to Ona.

Ona grimaced ‘’I’m not wearing—wait, do you drive a motorcycle!’’.

‘’You bet’’, Lucy grinned as she took her tank top out of her gym bag, ‘’here I’ll wipe it down for you’’ she offered as she took the helmet back. Ona shook her head, what was this woman thinking, wiping dust away with a sweaty shirt, as if that made anything better.

Just as she thought things couldn’t get worse Lucy spoke again, ‘’you'll need to wear both our bags, because otherwise we won’t fit’’. Ona grumbled, but she couldn’t contradict the woman, as it was a true fact that it would be hard for her to hold onto Lucy if there was a big bag inbetween them.

‘’I can just take a cab and meet you there’’ Ona said.

Lucy laughed, ‘’I won’t give you my address, so if you want to come, you need to come with me’’.

‘’You’re just making that up to control what I do’’ Ona said, ‘’forcing me to come on a motorcycle’’.

‘’No one is forcing anything, you can go home you know’’ Lucy grinned, ‘’but by your excitement when you learned I have a motorcycle I think you don’t think it is as bad as you make it seem’’.

‘’You talk too much, we could’ve been halfway through London an hour ago’’ Ona rolled her eyes, ‘’and you know I already got your address’’.

‘’What the hell?’’ Lucy said laughingly as she looked at Ona weird, ‘’do you have private investigators working for you?’’.

Ona shook her head and chuckled, ‘’let’s go Bronze’’.

Lucy nodded and walked over to the bike she owned, on it layed her leather jacket and hanging from the handlebar she took her own helmet.

Ona swallowed hard as Lucy put her bag down and swinged her jacket on, ´´isn´t it too hot for that´´ she remarked.

The Catalan thought Lucy looked incredibly attractive like this, she wore white sneakers, jeans, a white T and the brown leather jacket, but what Ona maybe liked most were the little nose ring and the gold chain the woman wore.

´´You calling me hot?’’ Lucy asked with a grin, ‘’come on, get over here’’.

The Catalan rolled her eyes as she walked over to Lucy and her bike, ‘’big talk for such a whiny little bitch’' Ona said. She caught a little glimpse of a smile before Lucy put the helmet on her head. When she had it on, she reached out to help.

‘’I am not a little bitch’’ Lucy said as she tightened the chin strap of the helmet, ‘’I can squat you two times’’.

Ona rolled her eyes, ‘’exactly, you’re a little bitch because you get your worthiness out of made up achievements’’.

A chuckle sounded from Lucy’s helmet, ‘’made up, ha ha, those achievements are very much real’’ she turned to Ona, ‘’and all earned by myself, from scratch’’ she emphasized the last part.

‘’Sure I had an advantage’’ Ona said rolling her eyes, ‘’but I still put the work in to use it to the fullest’’.

Lucy took her bag from the floor and put it on Ona’s shoulder, opposite of her own bag. ‘’I’m sure anyone in your position would be able to build a business’’ Lucy said.

 Ona shook her head amused, ‘’no, there’s actually living proof that that’s not true, my brother parties in Ibiza all year round’’.

Lucy chuckled, ‘’oh yeah? Well, I bet he is way chiller to hang around with’’, she said as she pushed her motor cycle off the standard ‘’or is he a stuck up bitch too?’’.

Ona couldn’t believe her ears, with any other person she would’ve already have come up with six different plans to ruin their lives, but with this woman here, her urge to get on that bike and sit against her only got bigger and bigger with every comment.

Lucy walked with her bike to the garage door she had just opened, ‘’put of the light, will ya’’.

Ona rolled her eyes, getting her to carry the bags, letting her put off the lights, what an annoying bitch.

But instead of complaining she went to the light switch and flicked it off, and started walking back to Lucy, because she wanted needed to get to the bitches house a.s.a.p.

The English woman took place on her bike and with her tiptoes she guided her vehicle outside. Ona quickened her pace, afraid Lucy was leaving her.

Lucy turned and stood now sideways infront of the garage, Ona recognized by her eyes that she was grinning, even though she couldn’t see her mouth, ‘’what?’’ she said snappily.

‘’On the inside of the door is a button, hit that and quickly go under the door’’ Lucy instructed after which she shut her visor.

‘’No way’’ Ona said as she looked around to spot the button, but she hit it and ducked to go under the door, anyways. It was less dramatic then she’d expected, the door went down fairly slow, but she didn’t like that Lucy made her do all this stuff.

The loud sound of a starting engine filled Ona’s ears, even though they were covered by the helmet it was deafening. She stepped closer but hesitated when Lucy started revving. Lucy turned her head, ‘’HOP ON’’ she yelled.

..

Ona sat on the back of the motorcycle with the two bags crisscrossed on her back. She felt badass as she held on to Lucy who propelled them through the dim streets of London. Ona would never admit it but she was mesmerized by Lucy's scent that hung in the helmet, it smelt like her hair did. The only thing she didn´t like about this little adventure was Lucy´s whimpery driving, she followed the rules perfectly and didn´t even go the speed limit, she went slower.

Lucy slowed down and Ona was pleased to see they were in a -nicer then she’d expected- part of London. Ona knew this area, the houses were old, beautiful, but old, in her opinion you should only buy a house here if you the funds to renovate properly, otherwise it was a waste.

The building they stopped infront looked nice, it was well taken care of. Lucy put her feet on the ground and got her phone from her pocket, in a few seconds a garage door started to open.

They stayed seated like that for a couple of seconds, Ona sat not knowing what to do, until Lucy tapped her thigh. She quickly -but carefully- got of the bike and saw Lucy rolling the vehicle inside while she kept sitting on it.

..

After Lucy had opened the front door the pair stepped inside.

‘’Ahh, I know how you know my address’’ Lucy chuckled to herself as she walked through the hallway and saw the four shoe boxes standing on top of eachother, ‘’I texted it to you’’.

‘’I applaud you Sherlock, I must say I’m intimidated by your attention to detail’’ Ona said as she took of her shoes and walked further into the house as if she knew the way.

Lucy rolled her eyes ‘’yeah welcome in’’ she sarcastically said.

Ona quickly inspected the place, she was surprised to see the same style used here as in the gym, which meant it was Lucy’s taste. She didn’t like that she liked Lucy’s house, that the woman had a beautiful and properly renovated house in the middle of London, with a garden. It would get to close to being relationship material, and she didn’t participated in those anymore. Luckily the place had a shit view and the kitchen was horrific, so it wasn’t like Lucy was perfect.

The Catalan turned back around after her brief inspection and was met with a smiling Lucy, ‘’No snarky comments from property princess?’’ Lucy taunted as she walked to the other side of the kitchen island Ona was standing at, ‘’does that mean she approves?’’.

Ona rolled her eyes, ‘’who did your renovation?’’.

Lucy grinned, ‘’oh it was very expensive, a very skillful person worked on this’’.

‘’One person?’’ Ona asked.

‘’Well, they had a bit of help here and there, but mostly one person yes, they did it in evening hours’’ Lucy said, ‘’is it done well?’’.

‘’Yes’’ Ona said as she nodded, ‘’horrific kitchen though’’.

‘’what wrong with the kitchen?’’ Lucy snapped.

‘’It’s ugly’’.  ‘’I can see that it was placed with good craftsmanship, but it does not fit this house’’ Ona shrugged, ‘’waste of potential’’.

Lucy let out a breathy chuckle, ‘’well if you ever need someone to do your renovations, you can always ask me, but I guess I’d leave the decoration choices over to someone else then’’.

‘’No I like the way you did your gym, and the rest of your place, what I have seen, is allright too, just the kitchen’’ Ona said as she tried not to imagine Lucy in a tank top slamming walls, laying pipes or anything else that only she could make look sexy. Damn, did she really renovate this on her own.

‘’Thank you’’ Lucy said, ‘’that was my first time ever designing anything, but I learned a lot from it, like-

Ona cut her off, ‘’the four showers’’.

Lucy looked at her and tilted her head, ‘’yeah’’.

‘’You would’ve made the shower part smaller and put the lockers in the dressing rooms?’’.

Lucy chuckled, ‘’wow, that’s actually a great idea’’.

‘’You didn’t think that?’’.

‘’No I was only thinking that it was weird to have 4 dressing rooms with 4 showers, while we have 2 gym rooms, which are only used for one-on-one or one-on-two sessions’’.

Ona shrugged, ‘’well it is what it is now’’.

‘’Yeah’’ Lucy said as she opened a cupboard, ‘’water?’’ she asked, ‘’or anything else?’’.

‘’Water is fine, sparkling if you have it, otherwise flat will do’’.

As they were both standing with a glass of sparkling water in their hands Lucy broke the silence, ‘’would you know the complete layout of this house right now, like in your head?’’.

‘’With upstairs too?’’ Ona asked.

‘’Mhmm’’.

‘’If you haven’t done any crazy wall changes I think I do’’.

‘’Have you sold in this area?’’.

Ona nodded, ‘’I did, but only because I had a client who wanted to buy something here, I wouldn’t do it voluntarily’’.

‘’Do you not like the neighborhood?’’ Lucy asked before taking another sip.

The Catalan shook her head, ‘’buildings are way to close to eachother for such low buildings, you have 3 floors, no view, from every window you see brick’’.

‘’Or my garden’’.

‘’Okay from the living room you look on to your post stamp of green’’.

Lucy chuckled, ‘’at least I have a garden’’.

Ona closed her eyes and thought, ‘’I have 7, no 8 gardens, I think’’ ‘’I don’t know if I like my garden in Italia or Vilassar de Mar the most’’.

‘’Oh right’’ Lucy said, completely humbled, she almost forgot the reason this woman was they way she was.

‘’I didn’t think a garden in London was worth it’’ Ona said, ‘’rather had the view’’.

‘’I see’’ Lucy nodded at the woman as if she didn’t just had said the most out of touch thing she’d ever heard.

‘’But feel free to give me a tour upstairs’’ Ona said as it was taking too long for her liking, ‘’if you want my predictions, I think you don’t use the highest floor much, one room with junk, one room with laundry and one with a guest room, then I think you have turned two bedrooms in one for your own bedroom, with an on-suite bathroom’’ she eyed Lucy up ‘’and you are crazy enough to have the remaining room, not as an office’’ she started Lucy in the eyes, ‘’but as a home gym’’.

Lucy’s jaw dropped open, ‘’that is not even one of the skills that a real estate agent or architect has’’ she said in disbelieve.

‘’This one has’’ Ona shrugged, ‘’so am I right?’’.

‘’Yeah, well, I have two guest rooms, but they are on the highest floor, but everything else is correct, how did you do that?’’

Ona shook her head as her sight fell on a couple of family photo’s, ‘’ofcourse 2 guest rooms, for your family’’. ‘’but where do you keep your junk then?’’.

Lucy laughed, ‘’in closets in the guestrooms’’.

‘’Fair enough’’ Ona said, ‘’and the home gym was true’’.

‘’If I don’t feel like driving to the office, I have one at home’’ she offered.

‘’Crazy’’ Ona remarked.

‘’Dedicated’’.

..

Ona pushed Lucy against the wall as soon as they had both walked up the stairs for a ‘tour of upstairs’.

Air escaped Lucy’s chest as she hadn’t expected Ona to make this sudden move, ‘’jeez’’ she breathed out, ‘’give a girl a warning’’.

A dirty smirk appeared on Ona’s mouth, ‘’you’re taking too long’’.

Lucy used her strength and easily flipped them, making her the one pinning Ona against the wall.

Ona leaned in to kiss the English woman but she leaned back, ‘’taking too long for what princess?’’ she teased, ‘’you are the one hindering our tour’’.

‘’You’’ Ona huffed out, ‘’need to stop talking’’.

‘’And do what?’’ Lucy said as she let her lips ghost over Ona’s.

The Catalan squirmed as she tried to catch the other woman’s mouth with her own, a frustrated huff of air left her nose when she felt Lucy pull back after the slightest touch. Just this brush of their lips made Ona unable to think clear anymore, Lucy’s soft lips, the way her sent surrounded her as they stood so close. The strong, warm hands on her biceps, pushing her against the white wall, she couldn’t take it anymore.

‘’Lucy’’ she said, trying to sound as pulled together as possible, ‘’just kiss me’’.

The English woman smiled, ‘’I don’t know if you deserve it’’.

Ona rolled her eyes, ‘’hurt by a couple of stupid jokes?’’.

‘’No’’ Lucy chuckled, ‘’I tend to share the bed with more, better behaved woman’’.

The Catalan relaxed her muscles and stopped fighting the restraint.

Lucy loosened her grip on the woman, a little thinking she had said something wrong, but more curious about what Ona was going to say.

‘’Well, then I better go’’ Ona said reserved, ‘’I don't adapt, people adapt to me’’.

Lucy grinned and leaned back against Ona, not holding her tight as she wanted to give the woman the opportunity to go if she really wished, ‘’I don’t know’’ she whispered in Ona’s ear, ‘’wouldn’t you say please if it would mean I’d kiss you?’’ she traced her bottom lip along Ona’s neck. Then she moved to the other side of Ona’s head, ‘’just one simple word’’ she whispered, ‘’say please and I’ll do what you want’’ with that she placed a line of ever so soft kisses in the shorter woman’s neck, she grinned as she felt the woman get goose bumps.

Lucy pulled back to read Ona’s face, when she recognized she almost had her, she took Ona’s hand and slipped it under her t-shirt, placing it with an open palm on her solid abs, ‘’just one word’’ she said softly, making intense eye contact with the shorter woman.

‘’A la merda’’ Ona grumbled but sighed to oblige, ‘’please kiss me’’ she said with an eyeroll.

‘’See’’ Lucy leaned in, ‘’I’ll teach you right’’ she kissed Ona softly. But Ona didn’t have any of it, she quickly deepened the kiss and pushed them off the wall.

‘’Bedroom’’ she said as she broke the kiss for as short as possible, before crashing in to the English woman again.

Lucy lifted Ona with ease and carried her towards her bed.

She climbed on it with Ona still around her and laid the woman on her back in the middle of the bed with her on top.

Their kiss was filthy, their open mouths mushed against each other as if it were their first meal after 20 years of starvation, Lucy couldn’t help but groan at the way she tasted, she could kiss her for hours.

Ona’s hands started wondering below Lucy’s t-shirt, she pulled on it, signaling she needed her to take it off.

When Lucy pulled away to quickly take it off, Ona took her own blouse off.  

In their bras they continued their make out session, Ona’s hand found Lucy’s head and she buried her fingers in her dark strands of hair.

The heat Lucy had experienced during the sex they had in the showers not even an hour ago was back, she had wanted to take Ona home to have her way with her properly, the way she’s was acting like such a fucking brat was just begging to be fucked good.

 Lucy broke the kiss and shifted her attention to Ona's throat, sternum and collar bone, marking her with open mouthed kisses, ‘’have you ever been fucked with a strap?’’ Lucy asked against Ona’s skin.

It took a few seconds before Ona answered, ‘’yeah, why’re you asking, just because I’m young?’’.

Lucy chuckled, ‘’no, age has nothing to do with this and you’re not even that young’’ Lucy said as a grin tugged on her mouth because she was about get Ona crazy, ‘’you’re just acting as if you’ve never had a good fuck’’.

Ona’s mouth dropped open, ‘’I have’’ she huffed.

‘’Oh yeah? And ours didn’t count by the way’’ Lucy smirked, ‘’or did you mean by that stiff rake Evelyn?’’, ‘’did she make you cum as fast as me?’’.

Ona rolled her eyes, but secretly this talk from Lucy turned her on immensely, ‘’yes’’.

‘’Yeah did she make you cum on her tongue just as easily as I did’’ Lucy got closer to Ona, ‘’I can’t believe her being that good’’ she emphasized her words by rolling her hips.

‘’Oh please’’ Ona rolled her eyes again, ‘’you’re not that good either, and you also used your fingers’’.

‘’Didn’t have to’’ Lucy simply said, ‘’that was just for my own fun’’ she added in a low voice.

With those words Ona could literally feel a pulsation between her legs, fuck she needed that woman, and she needed it now.

‘’Why are you being such a bitch?’’ Ona asked as Lucy was hovering over her, her hips sensually grinding in to her.

‘’Why are you being such a bitch?’’ Lucy said as she was being straddled by Ona, crossing her legs around her.

‘’No you are nice by heart, I can tell you act’’ Ona said in a thoughtful voice and with her gaze on the English woman's eyes as if she could read all of her thoughts.

‘’Well I wont let people walk all over me, if you act like a brat I’ll respond to you that way’’ she said, narrowing her eyes.

‘’Why bother if you don’t like my attitude’’ Ona said, also narrowing her eyes.

‘’Your hot’’ Lucy simply said, ‘’why do you bother?’’.

‘’Same reason’’ Ona answered with a smirk.

Lucy rolled her eyes, ‘’you can’t even say it out loud? It’s a shame that pretty little body of yours is filled with such a shit personality’’.

Ona rolled her eyes as well, "I can say it, you are hot’’ she stated, "but what would the difference be?".

Lucy grinned, "yeah you wouldn’t know, would you’’ she lowered herself to whisper in Ona’s ear ‘’but it’s actually decent human interaction".

Ona huffed out air in frustration, "I don’t know why you annoy me so much".

"Because I don’t take your shit".

Ona shook her head amused, ‘’no it’s not that, it was rhetorical I do know why’’.

‘’Why then’’.

Ona rolled her eyes, ‘’I said it in the showers, but I get you’re slow so I’ll repeat myself, I can’t temper my physical attraction towards you’’ Ona said, ‘’but I know the reason, it’s because I haven’t had sex in a long time and you’re just the first hot person I have encountered in a long time’’.

Lucy looked at Ona weird, ‘’you-

Ona interrupted her, ‘’don’t tell me I haven’t been clear with you, and I thought we were on the same page, hell I even thought you were even more amazing after you felt the same way as me and agreed’’.

Lucy broke out in a chuckle, ‘’I do agree, I would never date someone like you, I just, I expected someone I have sex with to be nice to me, but I guess that’s not the way you see things’’.

If Ona would be completely honest with herself, she knew that she was just being a bitch to sabotage their chances of ever getting closer then to just sleep with eachother. She couldn’t develop feelings, she never wanted another relationship in her life, people just screw you over.

She sighed deeply and uncrossed her legs around Lucy, giving her space to sit away, which she did. Ona pushed herself up and sat against the headboard ‘’I feel like we need to set some ground rules, because I would like for us to continue sleeping with eachother and I want to keep training with you too’’.

‘’Yeah good idea’’, lucy said with a grin, but she swallowed the comment she was about to make as she appreciated Ona’s normal communication, and finally said a sentence without a snarky comment.

Ona sighed, ‘’what did you want to say?’’.

‘’Okay’’ lucy said, ‘’it’s a bit oversimplified, but I wanted to propose’’ she shook her head with a laugh ‘’you are nice to me and I’ll fuck you’’.

‘’Okay’’ Ona simply agreed after a few seconds of silence, ‘’deal’’.

‘’Okay, that’s it?’’ Lucy asked surprised.

‘’I just want to have sex with you’’ Ona replied, ‘’I can be nice to you’’.

A small cheeky smile appeared on Lucy’s face.

Ona rolled her eyes and pushed Lucy’s face. The taller woman pretended Ona had pushed her over with the small motion and dropped on her back, pulling Ona with her. The Catalan chuckled as she laid on top of Lucy, ‘’I think you looked badass riding your motor’’ Ona said, as her first act of niceness.

A big smile took over Lucy’s face, ‘’see, this is so much better, I already enjoy this a hundred times more’’.

Ona rolled her eyes but laughed, ‘’but you drove a bit like a pussy’’.

‘’I knew it was to good to be true’’ Lucy said with a smile as she rolled them both over and started kissing Ona’s neck, making her squirm and scream of the ticklishness.

..

Wednesday 02:00 am – Ona’s penthouse

As Ona was laying in her big bed in her penthouse, after dealing with the stupid joked Sophia had attacked her with, she caught herself smiling at the ceiling. She shook her head and pulled herself together, trying not to thing about the way Lucy was so amazing Lucy, and go to sleep.

..

Thursday evening – Ona’s penthouse

Ona had ordered takeout, but Sophia had ditched her last minute for a date she wanted to go on. Ona didn't want to eat alone, and to be fair, it would be a waste to have to throw away half of it, so she had texted Lucy explaining her situation.

@ Lucy: aw did she leave you alone to get laid

@ Ona Batlle: yeah

@ Lucy: why does it sound a little familiar

@ Ona Batlle: ha ha ha

@ Ona Batlle: now do you have dinner plans or not?

@ Lucy: what happened to our 'being nice' agreement

@ Ona Batlle: Lucy do you want to eat dinner with me?

Ona sended the text with a heavy eyeroll, hoping Lucy could feel it at the other end of the screen.

@ Lucy: you rolled your eyes didn't you ���

She chuckled at her screen.

@ Ona Batlle: maybe

@ Lucy: but sure, i'll eat dinner with you

@ Ona Batlle: do you want me to ask if valet can handle motorcycles?

@ Lucy: oh that would be nice, saves me from those ungodly high rates they charge for parking in your street

@ Ona Batlle: yeah it is expensive, okay i'll text u in a sec

..

Thursday, a bit later that evening – Ona’s penthouse

''And how did that parking garage look'' Ona chuckled as she let Lucy in.

''Good'' Lucy said as she took her jacket and shoes off, ''there were so many cool cars in there''.

''I still think it's funny to hire someone for valet who doesn't have motorcycle licence''.

''But you expected it''.

''Yeah I was thinking about the fact nobody in this building owns a motorcycle, and then I thought, oh would they be able to put it away for you''.

''I had to follow the valet boy who walked me to your parking spot'' Lucy said as they walked into the living space, ''do you not have a car or something?''.

''No I take cabs everywhere'' Ona said with a shrug.

Lucy nodded, ''but you can drive?''.

Ona smiled, ''cars, yes'' ''motorcycles, no''.

..

Friday morning – Bronze Fitness Forge

They had managed to get through the gym session without breaking professionality, okay, maybe there had been some lingering touches here and there, but even with the massage they had both behaved.

Now Ona was done with drying off from her shower and walked back in to the dressing room wrapped in her towel.

Just as she undid herself from it, wanting to put her underwear on, someone knocked on the door on the gym side, she quickly pulled the towel back around her, ‘’yeah?’’.

Lucy opened the door, ‘’you forgot your shoes again’’ she said as she stepped in with the trainers, ‘’this is going to be- ‘’ she lagged as she saw Ona standing there, covered in nothing more then a towel, ‘’a tradition, is it?’’ she finished her sentence.

Ona chuckled and stepped closer to Lucy, ‘’oh shit, sorry for the inconvenience’’.

Lucy laughed breathily as she handed Ona the shoes, ‘’no worries’’.

‘’How can I pay you for your troubles’’ Ona asked whispering as she pulled Lucy closer with her shoes the woman was still holding. She saw Lucy’s chest rising and falling faster as she got closer.

She planted a soft kiss on the taller woman’s lips, ‘’thank you’’ she whispered.

As she wanted to take the shoes form Lucy, who was still holding them, she forgot to keep her elbows on the towel, making the cotton cloth fall to the ground.

‘’Oh eh sorry’’ Lucy said as she removed her hands from the shoes, ‘’I eh-‘’.

Ona chuckled as she dropped the shoes to the ground too, ‘’no worries, you can make it up to me’’ she whispered as she stepped impossibly closer to her, and placed Lucy's hands on her hips.

Lucy lost all composure and kissed Ona greedily.

´´You stay right here and get dressed, mind your business for a sec okay´´ Lucy said after she had got dressed quicker then Ona had ever seen one do before, ´´I need to cancel some appointments´´.

´´I am getting dressed´´ Ona rolled her eyes, ´´you mind your own business´´ she muttered quietly.

´´I am´´ Lucy said as zipped her bag shut, ´´and I’ll see you outside´´.

The door shut when Lucy got out.

Damn what a desperate woman, Ona thought, canceling appointments to get laid.

She quickly texted Sophia that she wouldn´t be there for an undefined period of time.

Then she heard Lucy talking to the secretary, confirming the fact that, the dressing rooms where indeed not soundproof at all.

´´Hey Carla´´.

´´Hey Lucy, what can i--- huh, you’re not in your training clothes?’’.

‘’uh, yeah, I am actually coming to you to call in sick, would you be so kind to call off all my appointments for today’’.

‘’Sick?’’.

Hastily Ona had put on her clothes, she gathered her stuff to throw in her bag and zipped it shut.

‘’Yeah I don’t feel really well’’. Lucy told the secretary.

Ona stormed out of the dressing room, she loved this, what an entertaining day. ‘’MISS BRONZE, I WILL PERSONALLY LET MY PA SEND IN A COMPLAINT ABOUT THIS’’ she said with a raised voice.

Carla and Lucy looked up.

‘’YOU DON’T EVER THROW UP ON A CLIENT, I HAVE NEVER NEVER NEVER IN MY LIFE EXPERIENCED SUCH A DISGUSTING THING!’’

With that Ona disappeared onto the London streets, she giggled to herself as she waited on Lucy.

After a few minutes a voice interrupted Ona’s thoughts and she looked up from her phone. ‘’I hate you, but also thanks, at least it was convincing’’ Lucy said as she walked towards Ona.

Ona looked back at her phone to finish a reply and put it away.

‘’Hate me?’’ she pouted, ‘’I thought we were an acting duo’’.

Lucy chuckled, ‘’Okay, that was a fun Saturday’’ she admitted.

‘’Right’’ Ona said as she already started walking towards the ally way.

Lucy smiled to herself, at least there was no doubt in how much they both wanted this.

...

Saturday night - Ona's Penthouse

After the encounter on friday morning they had told eachtother, but mostly themselfs, that it wasn't acceptable to skip days of work and that that day would be an exception.

They came to the conclusion that they had to see eachother more so the two hours of fitness could be spend in total sobriety. (Ofcourse🙄) They agreed with eachother that they had managed great that friday morning, it had only gone south when Ona's towel had slipped. So they agreed to never be alone in the lockerroom together.

Two weeks went by with this new dynamics, training sessions stayed professional, but Lucy and Ona regularly met eachother for a release. Usualy it would be at Lucy's place, as Ona had someone staying at hers, but this weekend Sophia was going home to her parents again.

This led to Lucy, this Saturday night, lying next to her in bed.

Ona was convinced she had just had the best sex of her life and was now lying on Lucy's chest with her head, her fingers tracing lines on the personal trainers toned stomach.

In a comfortable silence they stayed like that until Lucy spoke, ''that was maybe the best sex i've had in my life'' she sighed as she kept tracing her fingers along Ona's back.

Ona started chuckling.

''Hey'' Lucy said, poking Ona playfully, ''you were doing so good with being nice, don't laugh at me''.

Ona quickly shook her head, ''no i laughed because i was just thinking the exact same thing''.

"Really?".

"Yeah" Ona sighed, "it's a shame i have to go after next week".

"Where are you headding?" Lucy asked.

"Rome" Ona said, "but only for 2 weeks because after that I have something in Paris and then i need to go to Spain real quick for my fathers birthday, so i combined that with a few deals too and after that Rome again".

"Jezus" Lucy breathed out as she retracted her arm from Ona and strechted "i could never".

Ona shifted a bit, moving her head to the crook of Lucy's neck, burying her head against the warm skin. She smelt the English woman's sweat and instead of being disgusted by it she actually enjoyed it. But she wouldn't ever admit that to anyone, she didn't even admit it to herself.

After a few moments Ona started to doze off.

"It's getting late" Lucy whispered as she felt Ona's breath steadying.

"Mhm" Ona groaned quietly, barely hearable "just stay, you're so comfy".

Lucy pulled the bedsheet over them, "are you sure" she said, gently rubbing Ona's back again.

"Mhmm" Ona smiled, "especially if you do that".

Lucy smiled, she was really starting to develop a soft spot for the Catalan business woman, especially on moments she showed her soft spot. The last two weeks Lucy had learned that the woman was actually very kind. She just went through a lot on a young age, Lucy thought. She had learned Ona donated to multiple charities and when she had met Sophia, the woman had had nothing but kind words about Ona. This made Lucy to believe Ona had just acted the way she did coming from a hurt place, afraid to let anyone close again, probably especially in romantic terms, as she had been cheated on by Evelyn.

But Lucy tried not to think about all that, as a relationship with the Spaniard was impossible, she was only in London once every year.

..

Sunday morning - Ona's penthouse

Ona stirred as she woke up, she frowned when she felt herself laying against a bare woman.

Then her memories of the previous night flooded back, Lucy had stayed over, the first time she had shared a bed, for actual sleeping, with someone in over a year.

She took a deep breath, afraid this was going to be the end of her crush on the musculair woman, no one was hot first thing in the morning. Well, she thought, let's just hope it isn't too off putting.

With that she gently got out of bed and went to the bathroom quietly.

When she came back in to the room, the curtains were open and sun lighted up the woman that was, still, peacefully sleeping on her bed.

Ona was mesmerized, she looked so pretty with her slightly bewilderd hair, so peacefull with her arms up and tucked under her head, so cute with the way her chest rose in a steady pattern, covered by the thin white bedsheet.

She stayed standing there for a few seconds until she was weirded out by herself, she put on her robe and went to the kitchen.

In the kitchen she started to make some tea and scrambled eggs, for herself she made coffee, she was always amazed on how the English just went about their day drinking a cup of tea in the morning, no, she needed some real Spanish coffee to have a good start of the day.

As she was setting the table Lucy walked in, "g'morning" a heavy accented english morning voice sounded.

Ona turned around, "bon día hermosa" she said with a smile, looking at Lucy who had put on her white sportsbra, "i made eggs and tea".

"Wow" Lucy sighed in contendness, "you're really getting the hang of this whole being nice thing".

Ona smiled, the comment didn't even bother her, so she just shrugged and continued setting the table.

Now Lucy was flabbergasted, she almost missed Ona's snarky comments, so she wanted to test her limmits, "what are your plans today?" she asked.

Ona looked up with a smile, "i have none, you?".

"Also none".

"Ever seen London from the Thames?".

"Yes" Lucy said with a smile, "but that was lovely and i'd do it again any day".

"I have a friend who rents out boats"

..

Lucy was amazed when they arrived at the dock, sure she had been on boats, but that was nothing compared to the beauty's in this harbor.

"Ona!" A man called out.

"Ha Gerold, how are you?" Ona asked the man she shook the hand off, "this is Lucy, she owns Bronze Fitness Forge" Ona stated as if her gym was a well known fenomenon.

The man also shook her hand, "nice to meet you Lucy, i'm Gerold, i'm in boats" he laughed, "but i'm sure you could've guessed that".

Lucy laughed, she didn't find the man very funny, but she wanted to be polite.

"Well", the man said, "I'm sending Thomas with you as helmsman for the boat, if i didn't have work i would've come myself" he said in an appoligetic voice.

Ona chuckled, "oh i couldn't ask that of you Gerold, and thank you so much for letting us borrow your own boat".

"Any day Ona!" Gerold said, "my wife and i still think of you often, we're so happy with our house, it's perfect".

"Aw" Ona smiled, "It was perfect for you two, I'm still glad that offer was accepted then".

"Me too", the man said, "well have a good day you two, Thomas is already on the boat".

"Thank you" Ona and Lucy said.

Lucy followed Ona to the boat, she was wearing a white blouse and white top, borrowed from Ona, with her own jeans, she thought the blouse looked nice but she didn´t come close to the way Ona looked. They were wearing matching fits, but colored oposite. The Catalan was wearing a white trouser with a light blue blouse. They also matched with sunglasses, Ona had leant Lucy a pair, letting her choose one she liked from the maybe 100 she had laying in a drawer of her closet.

It made Lucy wonder if she had an entire wardrobe like that in every house she owned.

.

It had been a lovely afternoon sailing on the Thames, the boy who was with them to steer was very nice and mostly stayed in the cockpit.

He had first asked a few times if Ona and Lucy wanted something to drink, but Ona had said nicely that they would get something themselves if they needed anything, she had also encouraged the boy to have a drink himself every now and then if he wanted to.

They had laid on the deck and watched London go by, it was a nice summer day but with the breeze on the water they were glad they had put on longsleeve tops.

Now it was almost dinnertime and the boy was berthing the boat back in it´s spot. Ona had tanked him for coming along ealier, and had slipped him a 100 euro note, eventhough Gerold had told her it was on him, she wanted to give the boy a little something.

A few hours earlier she had planned a dinner in a rooftop restaurant she loved with her phone, sending an email if they had a table left for tonight, which they luckily had.

..

Sunday night - Ona´s penthouse

´´Did you enjoy dinner?'' Ona asked Lucy while pouring her a glass of white wine.

Lucy nodded, ''a lot, the whole day actually, thanks for taking me along'' she said honestly.

Ona smiled, ''wouldn't have been fun without you'' she said as she finished pouring her own glass.

She walked towards Lucy, ''want to sit on the couch?''.

''mhm'' Lucy said as she took one of the glasses from Ona, ''thank you'' she said, looking into the shorter woman's eyes, ''for everything''.

Ona held her gaze, unconsciously moving closer ''it was my pleasure'' she said as she could now feel Lucy's breath against her face.

Lucy bowed her head to be on the same level as the shorter woman, she could feel Ona's shaky breath against her lips as she leant in.

They shared a kiss, the kiss was different to kisses they had shared earlier, it was a kiss without hunger, or well, a different type of hunger. It was full of feelings, wanting to be close to eachother, wanting to be connected.

As their glasses clinked against eachother they broke the kiss, disturbed by the sound.

Ona cleared her throath and smiled, ''right, uhm, couch''.

''Mhm'' Lucy said back with a dopey smile, ''can't let the wine get warm''.

Ona chuckled, ''that would be a shame''.

Lucy took place on a spot on the couch that was directly pointed at the big windows, she loved the view from Ona's beautiful apartment.

Ona sat on the other side of the cornered couch.

''Are you going to sit there?'' Lucy asked, ''don't you want the view?''.

The Spaniard chuckled, ''if you want me close just say so''.

Lucy shook her head with a smile but didn't deny anything.

Ona moved to sit on the same side as Lucy, eventhough the couch was long enough for them to leave two metres between them, she took place so close next to Lucy that their thighs touched.

The English woman said nothing and took another sip of her wine, Ona also took a sip, before letting her head rest on Lucy's shoulder.

Lucy sighed in contendness and shifted a bit to get her arm up so Ona would be a little more comfy, resting her arm around the woman.

They sat like that for a while, sipping wine and looking out of the windows, overlooking the city. The air was filled with a warm silence, they were both enjoying this moment together.

When Lucy's glass was empty she let it rest on her leg, holding the stem of the wine glass, spining it around with two fingers.

''Want a refil?'' Ona asked, looking up at Lucy.

Lucy smiled as she looked into Ona's eyes, she shook her head, ''no one is enough for me'' she said, ''I didn't want to disturb you by leaning forward''.

Ona smiled and took the glass from Lucy to put it on the coffee table, she put her own next to it, eventhough it had still a bottom left. She looked back at Lucy ''so kind of you'' she said, ''very thoughtfull''.

The English woman shrugged, ''you looked relaxed''.

''I am'' Ona smiled, but her smile faded as she realised how she had behaved towards the woman that had this calming effect on her, ''hey Lucy'' she said as she sat up, ''sorry again for being so mean-spirited the other days''.

She saw Lucy's gaze go from her eyes to her mouth and back to her eyes, ''it's okay Ona'' Lucy ensured, ''i think i know where you're comming from, and i've noticed you're actually very kind''.

''Where i'm coming from?'' Ona asked surprised.

''Yeah, i think your trust has been broken'' Lucy carefully said, as she kept her eye on Ona, ''maybe even more then once?''.

Ona took a deep breath and let her head fall back on Lucy's arm.

''You don't have to say anything'' Lucy said as she gently started stroking Ona's hair, ''it's okay''.

Tears welled up in Ona's eyes, how could Lucy be so nice to her, they had just known eachother for a couple of weeks.

''Hey'' Lucy kissed Ona's temple, ''you're okay, you can cry, i won't think any different of you'' she planted another kiss, ''don't hold it in because of me''.

With a breathy whimper the tears started flowing, ''because you already see me as pathetic'' she joked.

''Nooo'' Lucy soothed, ''not at all Ona, i think you're so strong, so beautiful'' she placed another kiss, ''just a little broken''.

''God'' Ona sniffed and wiped her eyes carefully not to smudge her mascara, ''this is emberassing''.

''Hey'' Lucy turned Ona's head gently to look her in the eyes, ''you're one of the strongest woman i have ever met''.

Ona laughed with a stuffed nose from her tears, ''who is crying in the arms of a stranger''.

Lucy tried not to take offence from that comment, it hurt a little to be refered to as a stranger, but she realised she didn't know how she would call them either, ''well, showing your emotions also takes courage'' she said as she pulled her hands up to Ona's face and wiped her cheeks with her tumbs.

Lucy looked back at her eyes and saw Ona looking at her lips. She smiled and leant in to kiss the woman.

''So why do you not have a partner?'' Ona asked as she pulled back.

Lucy chuckled, ''I can answer that in two ways, d'you want political correct or the other one''.

Ona crinkled her nose, ''the one thats true?'' she asked laughingly.

''Well..'' Lucy akwardly said, ''they both have truth in them''.

''Allright, get it over with''.

''Okay, first and most important reason, i haven't met the one'' Lucy said as she stared infront of her, ''second reason is i...'' she hasitated, ''..i enjoy flirting with woman''.

Ona couldn't suppress the smile that tugged on the corners of her mouth, ''akward Lucy likes flirting?''.

Lucy rolled her eyes, ''i know, you wouldn't expect it, but i'm usualy pretty smooth'' she grinned, ''they like the abs too''.

''Wow'' Ona said as it dawned on her, ''so that was your thing, you do impress them with your whole fitness thingy'', she started mimicking Lucy, ''i believe i can break personal records with you on multiple fronts'' she chuckled, ''and then you slip their hand under your shirt''.

She looked at Lucy, ''right?''.

Lucy shook her head, with a smile ''maybe''.

''But why?'' Ona asked, ''are you affraid you can't keep from flirting if you're in a relationship?''.

''I would never cheat'' Lucy said quickly, as she knew it was a sensitive subject for Ona, ''i just haven't found the woman that has it all''.

Ona nodded, ''cheaters suck''.

''Cheaters suck'' Lucy agreed, ''it's so stupid too, because you can just communicate''.

''Well'' Ona said bitterly, ''that seems to be very hard for some people''.

''What happened'' Lucy carefully asked as she rubbed Ona's thigh, ''if you want to talk about it''.

Ona looked at Lucy, the beautiful tanned face with the tiny nose ring, she smiled, ''i have been cheated on by both the woman i have ever had an relationship with, Evelyn, the last one, she knew of the first one, and still'' Ona stopped as she felt the lump in her throath, she swallowed and continued ''still she cheated, we had been together for a year and a half, and half of that she'd spent fucking other women besides me'' she spitted the last words out with disgust.

''Heyy'' Lucy soothingly said, ''c'mere'' she patted her lap before pulling Ona on it.

''I just feel like i am not worthy enough to not be cheated on'' Ona said with a broken voice, she sniffed, ''dios, sorry, i am normally not like this''.

Lucy cupped her cheeks and smiled, ''i think evelyn and that other bitch are crazy, and i think they realise that now too'' she gently wiped away a tear that fell down Ona's cheek, ''you're so beautiful, and i hate that you've been hurt like that because i can see there is such a beautiful soul inside you too''.

Ona blushed by the words the English woman spoke, ''Lu-''.

'-sshh, it's true, you've just been hurt, but i know you will find someone who is worthy of your love one day, who will never cheat on you, never intentionally hurt you''.

The Spaniard was at a loss for words, how could Lucy speak so kindly about her, and why did Ona feel this sensation in her stomach everytime she caught Lucy looking at her lips.

She leant in to kiss Lucy. Again it was a kiss different then the once they had shared before this day. So tender, so peacefull.

Lucy hands found their place on Ona's body, not in a needy exploring way, but in a gentle grounding way.

´´Come with me´´ Ona said in a breathy voice as she broke the kiss after a few minutes.

''we d-don't'' Lucy smiled at her assuringly, ''w-we don't have to do anything you know that?''.

Ona tilted her head.

''We don't have to sleep with eachother right now, i get it if you're not in the mood, we can just cuddle or something'' Lucy suggested.

''Oh'' Ona smiled, ''you are so sweet to me''.

Lucy shook her head, ''just being a decent human, the bare minimum''.

''But i was talking about something else'' Ona carfully said, ''come with me when i.. leave for Rome?''.

The smile from Lucy's face slowely disappeared, she chuckled akwardly ''what d'you mean?''.

''Come with me'' Ona said with a twinkle in her eyes, ''i really like your company''.

''i can't Ona'' Lucy said as she soothed her hands along Ona's sides, ''i have clients here and my gym''.

''What if you hire someone in your place?''.

Lucy shook her head, ''they booked me, some people want me explicitly''.

''I want you'', Ona pouted, ''can't i hire you to come with me as a personal trainer''.

''No'' Lucy chuckled, ''then i'll still leave those clients, remember''.

''Just hire some other high class trainer''.

''i cant just do that''.

Ona rolled her eyes, ''you're no fun''.

''You stay in London then''. Lucy challenged.

''No i can't'' ''i have business'' Ona sputtered, before she realised what Lucy did, ''right''.

''Mhm'' Lucy smiled, ''we both have things to do''.

Ona kissed Lucy again, this time it was a hungry kiss, ready to forget their conversation with some physical distractions.

..

Tuesday evening - Bronze Fitness Forge

It was time for Ona's training session again. Lucy had left Ona's appartment Monday morning, just early enough to avoid an akward encounter with Soph, but late enough they'd drawn out a couple of orgasms from eachoter.

Lucy and her worked perfectly together, as they'd admitted to eachother that weekend that they had the best sex they'd ever had together.

Now Ona stepped in to the building, eventhough she'd seen Lucy yesterday, she was still looking forward to seeing her again. They had texted a little bit here and there, saying goodmorning and goodnight and some things about their days.

She got dressed and stepped in to the gym, and maybe she was a bit early, but she hadn't expected to see the thing she was walking in on.

Lucy was standing at the massage table and giving a woman a massage, the woman was laying down and Lucy stood besides the table.

It shouldn't make her this mad, it wasn't her right to feel this sting in her stomach and it was unreasonable the way her sight got blurred slightly from the damp that formed in her eyes.

''Miss Batlle!'' Lucy cheered, ''we are almost done, could i kindly ask you to wait in the dressingroom?'' she said in a professional tone.

''Of course'' Ona said, suppressing a whimper in her voice, ''pardon me, i didn't-

Lucy smiled and nodded.

''It's okay'' a muffled sound from the person laying on the table sounded ''we're almost done''.

Ona turned around and took place on a bench in the dressing room, merda, why does this bother her as much as it did.

Her thoughts get interupted by a loud grunt ''agh, Luce, just like that''.

What the hell, Ona thought, she couldn't believe what was happening.

''Okay'' she heared Lucy say, ''i think that knod is gone now''.

''mhh'' the woman giggled, ''you're such a good masseuse Luce''.

''Thank you'' Lucy said casually, ''well, more next time''.

''Yeah'' she giggled again, ''god, i need someone like you in my house, who could just give me massages every day''.

''Well you got my number Jess'' Lucy said, ''just text to book a next appointment and i'll see if i have a spot''.

''Yeah i have put you under the name magic hands'' the woman said.

Ona grumbled as she hear Lucy laughing with her.

When she heared the other dressing room close she stood up and pretended to do something with her bag, as she didn't want to look like an eavesdropping.

''Hey Ona'' Lucy said as she walked in to the dressing room, ''sorry about that, she is the wife of a soccer player i coach, they did a couple session once and since then she comes alone sometimes'' she got closer to Ona as she whispered, ''i actually think she is so anoying'' she confessed, ''but i'm mates with her girlfriend, so i just do it anyways''.

Ona chuckled, she was confused as why the partner of that woman wanted Lucy's hands all over her girlfriend, but she guessed Lucy was a trustworthy enough person, that they didn't mind. "Why do you find her anoying?" Ona asked sincerely.

Lucy quietly replied, as if she was afraid the woman in the dressing room would hear them, eventhough Ona could hear her sing under the shower "I feel likes she flirts with me, she just acts way different when her girlfriend is around then when we're alone" Lucy said, "and she obnoxiously loud".

´´Oh´´ Ona said, not being able to come up with anything else.

Lucy cupped Ona´s chin with her hand and tilted it up towards her, ´´now what´s wrong´´ she asked in a teasing voice, chuckling.

´´Nothing´´ Ona huffed, acting like a todler.

Lucy leaned in enough to let their lips brush, ´´what´s wrong?'' she asked again, a bit more serious this time.

Ona turned her head, ''let's just go train'' she said. She hated herself for feeling so much for this woman, Lucy could flirt with whoever she wants, it's not like they're in a relationship.

''Okay'' Lucy said, ''i don't know whats wrong, but if you want to go train now we'll do that, i'll just say that i wouldn't have minded to kiss you before''.

With a laugh Ona turned back, ''wouldn't have minded?'' she chuckled, ''good to know you're feeling so neutral about it''.

''No wait'' Lucy said shaking her head, ''i meant, i was looking forward to kiss you again''.

Ona couldn't suppress her smile at those words, but then the smile faded again, ''me, or just someone?''.

''What's this about Ona?'' Lucy asked with a frown, ''i like you, i think you're cute, since we've first slept together i haven't done anything with anyone else, not that we had made rules for that, if anything you were very clear on the 'no relationship' policy you're handling''.

''Right'' Ona said with a broken voice, ''i just--'' she shook her head, she was not going to confess to Lucy that when she had said ''i know you will find someone who is worthy of your love'' that Ona had seen a future flash by where she was together with Lucy.

''Train then?'' Lucy asked when it stayed silent for a couple of minutes, she was dying to kiss the Spaniard infront of her, but she wasn't about to confess she hadn't been able to think about anything else since the freckled woman had entered her life.

Ona sniffed her nose, ''y-yeah'' she said, actively trying to hold back her tears.

There was a sad atmosphere during the sports session, they did what they had to do, but there was not much talking.

At one point it was enough for Lucy, she couldn't hold it in anymore, it had been on the tip of her tongue for an hour ''I like you'' she blurted out.

Ona almost dropped the barbell she was doing swings with, did she hear that right? She put the weight on the ground and turned around to face the woman.

Lucy was standing there as if she didn't know what had gotten in to her, ''sorry i-''.

''What did you say?'' Ona asked, she had heared it, she just needed to be a hunderd percent sure, or maybe she wanted to hear it again.

''uh'' Lucy bit her nails, ''n-nothing, i just'' she shook her head, ''accidentally said something''.

A tear rolled onto Ona's cheek, but she smiled, atleast she tried to smile, ''okay'' she cleared her throath, ''uhm, i am going to the toilet for a second'' she said before she hastily moved towards the dressing room.

Lucy stood in the same position Ona had left her in for a couple of minutes until she regained conscience. She shook her head, what the fuck had she done, Ona would never go with a pleb like her, and frankly, the woman deserved better then here, god, she had litteraly admitted to liking flirting with woman so much as a reason to not date, to a woman who had been cheated on. ''Fucking knobhead'' she said out loud, shaking her head.

Lucy quickly walked to the dressing room, she wanted to apologise. She went in and to her surprise Ona wasn't in the toilet, but stood in the middle of the dressing room, changing ''leaving?'' was the only thing she could mutter.

Ona looked at her, only now Lucy recognised the swollen eyes, red from crying ''y-yeah i need to go home'' Ona said.

''crying?''

Ona let out a sobby laugh, ''can you only say verbs in a questioning matter anymore?''.

''I am not good enough'' Lucy stated out of nowhere, ''technically it might be possible to hand over my role here, but we can't be in a relationship, you deserve better''.

Ona stayed quiet as she kept on getting dressed.

''I get it if you only see me as someone to share the bed with'' she said turning back to Lucy with her bag, ''just don't lie to me about it''.

She walked towards the door, ''i understand i'm not enough to just only have me'' with that she walked out the door, two steps away from it she couldn't keep her tears in anymore.

When she stopped to book a taxi on her phone she felt a hand on her shoulder, ''ona'' a small voice called out, ''let me tell you the truth then''.

Ona shook her head as she turned around, she looked at the ground, ''i don't think i can handle it, please don't say it out loud''.

Lucy bent down and grabbed Ona's face, only now did she see Lucy's tears, ''i have to say the truth, i like you Ona, i like you a lot, you amaze me, you're so pretty and you're the smartest one i've ever met, and you're funny, even when you're mean i like you still so very very much'', she chuckled ''i-'' then Lucy got a lump in her throat, the first part of her confession was easy, but the second part was... ''you're just'' she looked at Ona, ''you, i mean, like that perfect sunday, i would never been able to give you that'' she looked down, ''okay maybe once, but then i'll have to live on water and dry bread for like a month'' she chuckled sadly, ''i'm not at the same level as you, i mean, i rent the space my gym is in from people like you'' she sighed and shook her head ''i bet your closet is worth more then my house''.

Finally Lucy looked up to Ona again, and was met with..... a smiling woman. ''Huh?'' Lucy said confused, then she shook her head, ''don't laugh at me please''.

''No no nooo'' Ona grabbed Lucy's face, ''i am not Lucy, i am not''.

''Lucy, you're such an amazing woman'' Ona said with disbelieve, ''i can't grasp the fact you feel like we are not on the same level'' she shook her head, ''i mean i can't grasp the fact you see me above you'' she grabbed Lucy's face thighter, ''you renovated a freaking house'' she chuckled, ''do you know why i eat scrambled eggs and take out, i can't even cook'' Ona called out to the ceiling, ''and yet here you are saying things like this'' she looked back at Lucy, ''i had an advantage, but if we take all the money out of the picture, we would be left with one skillless woman and one very skillfull one''.

Lucy frowned, ''i hope you just forgot all your skills in the field of architecture and real estate'' she chuckled, ''otherwise this is a big clever roast from you''.

Ona chuckled, ''Okay that came out a bit stupid, but you have to take in account that i am not a native English speaker, i was talking about life skills''.

''Hmm'' Lucy said, ''Well your profession is also a life skill, you make a living off of it''.

Ona smiled, ''you're so cute, i can't wait for us to be officially together''.

Lucy kissed Ona tenderly.

''So we're really doing this huh?'' Lucy chuckled as she was still face to face with the Catalan.

Ona gave Lucy another kiss, ''first to the beautiful Rome, and then to the city of love'''.

Lucy smiled, ''Paris''.

''Mhm'' Ona smiled at her ''I bet you would love waking up with a view of la tour Eiffel''.

''I would, but like i've said before, no view could beat the sight of you''.

''romàntica'' Ona laughed as she rolled her eyes, ''and in Rome i live in a mansion just outside of the city, i fell in love with the olive trees so i needed a big garden full of them'''.

Lucy shook her head in disbelieve, ''we need to work on statements like this, and i'll pay for my own plane ticket by the way''.

Ona laughed, ''okay, don't hate me for saying another out-of-touch thing-

-so you do know what that is!'' Lucy laughed.

Ona playfully slapped Lucy's chest, ''but we fly with one of my dads planes''.

Lucy took Ona's hands ''wow'' she said as she leaned in to kiss Ona, ''I don't think i'll get ever used to the things you say'' she kissed Ona softly ''but I think i'll only be able to join you when you're already in Paris, but Rome was on the agenda again later right, so i'll see your house there later?''.

Ona tilted her head, ''Yes after Spain i need to go there again, but why can't you come with me earlier?''.

''I have to set everything up here'' Lucy gave her another kiss, ''leave it behind properly so I have my full attention for you when we meet up again''.

Ona smiled, ''will you stay my personal trainer too?'' she asked.

Lucy shrugged, ''ofcourse i'll train with you, you just can't pay me for it anymore, and i am going to work where ever we go because i cant just live off of you''.

''We'll set up a gym for you in each city i have a house'' Ona said as if she was stating a fact.

''Ona!'' Lucy said, ''this is exactly what i meant'' she shook her head laughing, ''I need to build things up myself''.

''I'll just give you the buildings'' Ona said.

Lucy slapped her forehead, and shook her head, ''no Ona, i want to create it myself, everything'' she took Ona's hand again, ''but i'll ask you to search for a place i can afford with me when i have saved up enough to rent''. Suddenly and idea struk her, ''maybe i can rent out my house here or something and then use that towards my new project''.

Ona shook her head, ''renting is not smart, it's losing money, it's wiser to buy''.

''It's not about what's smarter, it's about what's possible'' Lucy said as she brought one of Ona's hands to her mouth, ''we'll see how everything goes'' she said as she placed a kiss to it.

Ona smiled, ''i feel so happy already''.

''Want me to changed and come home with me?'' Lucy asked.

''I think i need to kiss you some more first'' Ona said as she cupped Lucy's face.

..

Tuesday night- Lucy's house

Ona moaned while pulling Lucy's hair, ''I think you hypnotize me with good sex''.

A chuckle sounded between Ona's legs, Lucy climbed up to hover above Ona ''I think you hypnotize me with the way you taste'' she said before indulging in a sloppy kiss rich of tongue.

Again Ona moaned, this time it was more whiny, her hips shifted, searching for contact with any part of Lucy's body.

Lucy chuckled, ''is it all i'm good for? giving you orgasms?''.

''Hmm'' Ona let her head fall back on the bed, ''no i love talking to you too, but there's a time and-

The words hitched in her throath as Lucy slid two fingers along her core, ''and what?'' Lucy teasingly asked as she kissed Ona's exposed neck, ''tell me, i love talking to you too''.

''y-you're'' Ona tried to gain back her composure, something that was encredibly hard with those talented fingers teasing her entrance, ''a tease Luce'' she groaned,

''Why am I a tease?'' Lucy asked as she grazed her teeth along the skin of Ona's throath, making her arch of the mattress, ''what did you say, come on i'm dying to know''.

''There's a time and a place!'' Ona called out as she felt Lucy barely dip one of her fingers inside her, ''now is not the time for talking''.

''What is it time for?'' Lucy asked, sucking at Ona's skin, ''for this?'' she asked as she pushed her two fingers inside the Catalans pulsing opening.

Ona moaned as she once again arched off the bed, ''fuck yes'' she cried out.

Lucy grinned, ''i think i need something to shut me up then, so i can focus'' she said as she curled her fingers inside Ona.

Ona's eyes rolled back as she tried to focus on Lucy's words, she pulled Lucy closer by her neck and kissed her.

Lucy groaned as Ona mesmerized her with the captivating kiss they shared and the way she felt around her fingers.

...

Wednesday afternoon - Ona's penthouse

Ona had come home this morning very very satisfied, but most of all very very happy.

She had sat down with Soph and told her everything, well not everything, she didn't need to know anything about her intimate life, but the fact Lucy and her were going to start dating had been shared.

Sophia was really happy for Ona and they had a happy and productive workday behind them, where Soph had made a comment here and there about how Ona was glowing or how love was a good look on her.

She couldn't even find it in herself to care or make a snarky comment back, she secretly liked it.

This brought her to the here and now, where she was sitting behind the computer in her office, she had agreed with Soph to let her handle dinner.

Ona still had some things to arrange.

First she found out who the building owned that Lucy's gym was in, coincidentally she knew the guy, it was an acquaintance of her father.

She gave him a quick phone call.

''Hey tío'' Ona started, ''you're speaking with Ona, Ona Batlle'' she clarified.

''Ona!'' the man sounded happy, ''what do i owe the pleasure too?''.

''I was calling about one of your buildings'' Ona told him wich one she was talking about, ''does it bring in a lot of money for you?''.

''Meh'' the guy said, ''i mean the renters always pay me on time, so it's a perfect building to own, but it's not anything special''. ''Why? do you have clients interested?''.

''I got someone who wants to take it over with the renters, a silent conveyance''.

''Who is it, and you know we always have to atleast give out an email with a new owner'' the guy said, ''what are they offering?''.

''What would you do it away for?''.

''22 milion'' the guy said, ''but if they gave you a bigger budget, i'll accept that too'' he laughed, it was one of those typical rich golfer guys laughs.

Ona laughed in politeness, she knew 22 milion was a fair price from the guy, ''they were thinking 20-21 million, but i bet they'd give you 22, i'll just tell them i negotiated from 25 to 22''.

''Deal Ona, you're a funny girl, makes me miss your dad, how is he?''.

They talked about him for a while before Ona could finally end the call, within two weeks she would be the proud owner of the building Lucy rented from, now she only needed to keep her fingers crossed that Lucy wouldn't read the email about it, she just wanted to buy the building as a safety net for her, if the gym clients really did leave if Lucy wouldn't work there anymore, she didn't have to worry about rent.

Then it was time for her next plan, she made a couple of calls to people in the world of fitness.

When Sophia called her for dinner an hour later, she was done.

In a couple of days Bronze Fitness Forge would have a dozen candidates stopping by for a job interview, she had deliberately planned it on Saturday, figuring Lucy would not like it if her normal program was disrupted.

...

Friday morning - Bronze Fitness Forge

''I hope you are free tomorrow'' Ona said as Lucy walked in to the dressing room.

''Hey to you too'' Lucy chuckled, ''sorry i couldn't wait for a kiss'' she offered as explanation for why she was in the dressing room.

''Yeah yeah'' Ona chuckled, ''sure you didn't just wanted to take a peek?'' she teased.

''Ah busted'' Lucy said smiling as she held Ona by the waist and pulled the shorter woman against her, ''what did you plan for tomorrow then?''.

''Now i want a kiss first'' Ona pulled a sad face, ''can't just talk about it and not do it''.

Lucy grinned and leaned in, ''you're cute when u put on a pouty face'' she said before kissing her.

''So what did you plan?'' Lucy said as they broke their kiss, clearing her throat, almost having forgotten where they were.

Ona blinked, having to regain her thoughts after she'd been broken from the trance of Lucy's smell and taste, ''uhm'' ''oh right, a surprise, i need you from 11 until 17''.

''Is it fun?'' Lucy asked suspiously, as she couldn't read anything off of Ona's face.

Ona chuckled, ''for me probably, for you..'' she looked at Lucy earnestly, ''i hope so, i hope you like my gesture''.

Lucy narrowed her eyes, ''what did you doooo?'' she asked suspiously, ''nothing with money i hope'' she added, ''I don't want you to buy anything for me''.

''No'' Ona laughed, ''if you like one, you can pay for it yourself'' she said cryptically.

''You're crazy'' Lucy shook her head, ''you aren't going to give me any hints, are you?''.

''Nope'' Ona said with a satisfied smirk, ''you'll see''.

''Are you bringing me along shopping?'' Lucy tried, ''making me buy suits you'll accept me wearing when i'm walking by your side''.

''No'' Ona shook her head, ''i accept everything you'll wear if it means you're next to me''.

Lucy lifted an eyebrow.

''Okay, some things i like better then other things, we can upgrade your wardrobe another time'' she said rolling her eyes.

''But not tomorrow?''.

''No tomorrow we have something else planned'' Ona said as she took her clothes off, ''now quit asking stuff because i won't answer''.

But Lucy had long forgotten the track she was on, she was watching Ona getting ready putting her gym clothes on.

When Ona wanted to turn around to put her sports bra on Lucy reached out, ''you don't have to turn around for me you know..'' she cheekily said.

Ona looked at her with an open mouth, ''okay miss pervy'' she said, pushing Lucy lightly.

Lucy chuckled, ''oh yeah, as if you didn't stare at me when i was putting my shirt on that first evening class''.

Ona rolled her eyes, ''just because you looked so dumb being stuck in it'' she said, not being able to keep from smiling.

''Okay fair enough'' Lucy said, crossing her arms and accepting her defeat.

Ona took her normal bra off to replace it with her sporting one, ''and you looked at my ass too'' she said, catching Lucy's eyes roaming her chest.

Lucy blushed, ''i was not'' she sputtered, still looking down.

Ona held her hands infront of her boobs, finally making Lucy look up at her, Lucy blushed as she felt like a caught teenager.

Ona chuckled, ''see, i saw that face too that day'' she laughed again, ''i just hadn't learned what it meant yet''.

Lucy grinned as she took Ona's hands, ''it meant'' she said leaning in, ''that you look so fucking amazing that i can't tear my eyes off of you'' she said hungrily, leaning in to kiss Ona.

..

Friday evening - Ona's penthouse

Lucy cooked dinner as Sophia and Ona sat behind the counter, all tree they had a glass of whine and it was very lovely how Sophia and Lucy were getting along.

Lucy had texted Ona with the idea of her cooking dinner for her tonight and when Sophia heared about the plans she insisted on staying, so she could properly meet Lucy, as she had only spoken to the woman once, and Ona wasn't dating her back then.

So Ona reluctantly agreed, as she'd rather just spend her time alone with Lucy, but she turned around a bit more when Lucy had been enthusiastic about it.

After they had eaten dinner and had a few more glasses of wine, Sophia announced her cab was going to be there soon, as she didn't want to arrive at her parents' too late.

´´Allright lovebirds´´ Sophia said as she came back with her suitcase, she´d fetched from her room.

Lucy stepped away from Ona, she had been hugging her from behind, standing at the kitchen as Ona was wiping the counter.

Ona looked up with a smile, ´´ah yes, have fun with your parents Soph´´.

´´I will´´ Sophia smiled, ´´they love that i´ve been able to come home the weekends, so thank you for that Ona and have a good weekend you two´´

´´Ofcourse´´ Ona smiled, ´´thank you Sophia, you know you´re the best assistant i know right´´.

´´I really like this in love version of you´´ Sophia chuckled, ´´i could get used to this´´.

´´Hey!´´ Ona said, ´´i was nice to you before this too´´ she pouted.

Sophia shrugged, ´´yes but now you´re even nicer´´.

Ona heard Lucy chuckling besides her, ´´hey! you two are not ganging up against me, are you?''.

''Well'' Sophia laughed, ''i have to go, good to meet you properly Lucy, nice to get to know you''.

''It was a pleasure Sophia, nice to meet you too'' she gently put her hand on Ona's back, ''i'm sure we'll be seeing eachother a lot more from now on''.

''without a doubt!'' Sophia laughed as she walked into the hallway ''bye byee''.

''Bye Soph'' Ona chuckled.

''Bye Sophia!'' Lucy called out before she heard the door shut.

''Sooo'' Lucy said as she took place behind Ona again, she burried her face in Ona's neck and closed her arms around Ona's tummy, ''in love huh?'' she smiled as she took in Ona's scent, ''sounds good''.

''Hmm'' Ona hummed as she lightly got rocked to and fro by the woman wrapped around her, ''what if i am?'' she said with her eyes closed, enjoying Lucy's presence.

Lucy smiled against Ona neck and pressed a kiss against her skin, ''maybe i am too'' she hummed against the smaller woman.

Ona chuckled, as she tried to turn around.

''No'' Lucy said as she thightened her hold, ''no you are mine now, can't escape anymore'' she chuckled.

Ona turned her head to try and face Lucy as good as she could, ''i don't want to escape, i wanted to turn around'' she laughed, ''millor et faig un petó'' (so i can kiss you better).

''I am going to learn your language'' Lucy said as she loosened her grip on Ona, ''because i have now idea what you were just saying'' she laughed.

Ona turned around, ''i said i wanted to kiss you'' she said as she leaned in.

---

he he he (stay put for part 3 to find out if Lucy likes what Ona has planned this saturday 😈)

PART 3

[urlocaldesertdweller]

His Ego (Stanford x Reader, PART 2)

(PART 1)

(Suggestive/borderline smut)

By request of an anon for a hate sex continuation of the link above! Also, this is a different ending from the first part!!!

(I tried rlly hard to make it something close to hate sex so I hope you can enjoy it either way)

You only can take so much from an egotistical asshole who thinks so highly of themselves. It frustrated you all the more that Stanford seemingly deemed you unworthy of his time from the say he came out of the portal.

You always had your own ways of fighting back, though, from "evidently" disturbing his private studies in the basement to inviting yourself to his outside adventures. You did this for many reasons, one to annoy him and two to discover why he hates you.

So, of course, when Dipper and Mabel told you that he was planning to return to the buried UFO behind town for further investigations. An idea of yours had struck your mind.

Self-invites were already a common thing between Ford and you. He would only tolerate you because the rest of the family would never let go of this odd, one-sided rivalry. He would mainly avoid you at all costs, even his own life, just to keep away from his own research.

But this time, you thought confidently to yourself on the hike. Things were going to be different, and that was a promise.

He handed you an extra magnet gun without making eye contact, so you'll live on the way down. He knew how much the twins and Stanley loved you. He knew that they would never forgive him if he let you die on purpose.

By the time you both finally landed in the large and dark hallways of the ship. You quickly followed behind him since he didn't care to bring a second light source for you. He had his limits, and you were, for some reason, at the top of the list (next to Bill).

A thick tension sticks between you as he stops in the room with the control room, setting his equipment, and starts to get to work. You watch him for a moment sucking a breath and gaining the courage.

As you step up next to him, you open your mouth to speak. But the moment catches up to you, and you make an awful mix of quiet screech and squeal, which makes Ford glare at you and sidestep away, still staring at you. You cover your mouth, close your eyes, cough, and gather your thoughts. You open your eyes as they harden on Ford.

Before he steps away, you grab his wrist. He is clearly confused, as you now have his full attention, and he turns his body towards you instead of the console.

"If you don't mind, can you let go of my wrist? Surely you have your own reasons for being here than to bother me."

Ford snarkily comments on your odd behavior. He looks at your hand, almost disgusted, and attempts to wiggle his lim away. But your surprising strength keeps him there. You finally speak up quickly, hushing Ford before he can comment on you again.

"Ford. You are nearing your 60s."

You grit your teeth as you think about how such an intelligent man like Ford can act bitterly to someone like yourself for some petty reason.

"What's the point of keeping up with this whole... Hate thing for me? Like, I'm actually confused about you! Why spend so much time and effort to hate on one person and have it be me?"

You are trying hard to shout as you break into a rant about all of the times he has treated you differently and how much it has affected you negatively. Your grip on his wrist goes into both of your hands on the lapels of his coat, nearly shaking him.

Ford is growing irritated not only by you putting your hands on him but also by you asking why he hates you so much. He roughly grabs your arms.

"Get a hold of yourself! You will activate something hazardous; it will all be your fault because you can't bear the fact that I strongly dislike you!"

He steps close, pushing a finger into your chest, and makes you step into the console. You chuckle as his response feels more like an excuse than anything. Your face hardens as you laugh, even in between the console and Ford. You push closer to Ford in an attempt to at least win by making him uncomfortable.

"Oh, it's going to be my fault? Of course, to you, everything is my fault when a small inconvenience happens to you!"

You are chest to chest, having to look up at Ford with his height. A finger raises to push to the tip of his nose mockingly.

"Because you think nothing bad ever comes from you, doesn't it? Isn't that right, little Mister Perfect?"

He pulls back as your finger lingers on his nose, his cheeks dust a warm pink.

"You always make assumptions about me. It's insane!"

Perhaps it's something in the aged air, but it only brings you more confidence. You stomp on his foot, and before you let him react, you take fistfuls of his coat, sweeping him to the console. He groans in pain and gasps at the suddenness of everything.

"What is it, Ford? Do you think that you are too good to even give me an answer to my question?"

He coughs as you push yourself against him. A determined look paints your expression, and he stares into your eyes, unsure of what to do. He does the occasional shift and shuffle, but your iron grip keeps him pinned and leaning comfortably on the console.

"It's anything but that! God forbid I can't be unrealistically nice to everyone on this doomed planet!"

He moves enough to leave him heaving. Eventually, it seems that the tension churns between you as you stare into each other eyes with an odd passion. You smirk until you peek at his lips; if force doesn't get the answer out, maybe being unpredictable could.

The silence speaks for itself as you roughly mash your lips into his. He gasps into the rough kiss, and he keeps his eyes open. You know how little experience Ford has in kissing and other spicy stuff, but you are more than willing to let him take on the challenge.

After a long minute or three, you tempt them to pry his soft lips with your warm tongue, and he resists, but with a hand to push his jawline, he becomes putty.

He can't help but gasp and feel his hips naturally move into yours as he steps into new foreign territory, making out. His reactions make you smirk; it encourages you to push him more as a hand rubs tenderly into the fat of his hip through his pants.

He pulls away, desperate for air; you chuckle, watching his turtleneck stretch and shift with his heaving chest. You don't wait for him; a sneaky finger finds its way to drag the turtle's neck down to reveal his delicious neck. You peck his skin from his shivering lips and strong jaw to, finally, his pale neck.

He mutters through his breath, asking you to be careful. You start with soft kisses to rough bites, making him yelp, which you shoot up, covering his mouth; you lean in close to his ear in a ticklish whisper to his ear.

"Who's going to activate something now, hm? Better hang on, Know it All, because I'm just starting."

He hums in slight confusion into your hand as he isn't prepared for your hand going from his hip to his growing bulge. You message it, pressing, twisting, poking it. His cock quickly wets the fabric making a notable stain.

He gasps and bites down on your hand. You keep it there for him; his reaction is worth every tooth mark on your hand.

He wriths under you, spitting out your hand. You expected a more suitable expression, but you were pleasantly surprised when he glared at you; he leaned to you in a raspy growl.

"I hate you... So much."

You giggle with evident delight enjoying him being pissed off. That is until you feel a hand snake around your back and push you into his hips. Catching you off guard and yelp.

Now, he is the one to smirk, and he starts to fall into an addicting rhythm between you and him. You are not happy to be caught, so off guard, your eyes twitch, and you feel your pride falter just a little.

"Don't make an old man like me all riled up and expect me to finish the job all by myself."

You sit up in one more attempt to roughly kiss him, hands, tongue, and all. He isn't surprised this time. He is a quick learner, after all. And a mix of tounges and saliva as Ford fights against you again, even during the long kiss.

He lasts longer, leaving you to pull away. You catch your breath, and listening to his comment makes you click in your brain.

"I thought you hated me. But don't you hate me nearly enough to keep me from being pushed away during intimacy?"

He stays quiet and stares at you unamused; his silence is up to you whether he truly feels about you.

Nevertheless, this is progress between you and Ford. Besides, you had a long "investigation" session with Ford in the UFO.

[winedarkthoughts]

house of addams (6)

— 🌖 pairing: ot7 x fem.reader

— 🕷️ genre: mystery, angst + fluff + smut

— 🗝️ word count: 5.5k

— 🍄 summary: desperate times call for morally grey measures.

— ☕ content warnings: stalking (but it's mutual??), taking photos without consent (also mutual), slight lore dump, mentions of death/decomposition/missing persons

— 🕸️ a/n: thank you so much to everyone who continues to share their thoughts i love y'all so much!!

previous chapter ← series m.list → next chapter

chpt. 6: don't stalk, investigate

october 19, 2004

The trees surrounding the university are starting to brown at the edges. Fall has begun its descent.

The click of the camera shutter has become white noise to you. Through the viewfinder, you follow the motion of the mop of black hair.

You've found that that's how he starts almost all of his mornings: messily, sleepily. More often than not, his hair is just-rolled-out-of-bed fluffy, the lower half of his face covered with a black mask so you can only see his cat-like eyes.

He looks good today, wearing a loose white button-up and silver jewelry. He approaches the university with his messenger bag slung over his shoulder, still clearly half-asleep.

Yoongi is not a morning person, you've learned. You know because you've been watching him.

Listen, you never claimed to be a saint. And yes, maybe half the reason that you're a damn good private investigator is because you're willing (and perfectly capable) of doing the things that others would rather not.

So be it. You've witnessed others commit far worse evils than the one you're currently undertaking.

Long story short, your mental blockade with the case (and whatever the fuck happened at the lake) may or may not have caused you to look into some of the strange characters frequenting Farrow's End. Starting with the shy, antisocial botanist.

The fact that he supposedly lived in the Addams house (according to the commentary from the college students) wasn't the thing that made you suspicious, it was the fact that he lied about living in the Addams house. Pretended to know absolutely nothing about it, to boot.

As a human being, you can respect someone keeping their secrets. As a private investigator, your job is to dig up any secrets that prove relevant to your investigation.

Half of you wants to believe that he's nothing but a good guy. You can admit that you like him, that you relate to his aura as the token "weirdo." But the cynical part of you, it whispers in your ear that he shouldn't be trusted.

No one should. Your job has taught you that much.

Therefore, you have to exhaust each point of view until you find out who's guilty, and who's less guilty. Because pure innocence is impractical.

And after what you saw (or think you saw) at the lake, you're going to have to gear your research towards less "scientific" topics. And try to avoid the woods at all costs. For the time being, at least.

On most days, Yoongi begins his days early, and mostly on-campus. It didn't take long to witness him being transported by the same black Mercedes that you saw outside the cafe, the one supposedly belonging to one of the mysterious Jungs.

Though Yoongi never enters the car in heavily populated areas. He usually walks a short distance to a more private spot, and then the car pulls up like clockwork.

You can never get a good look at the driver, thanks to the tinted windows.

So far, the only suspicious thing about the botanist is the fact that he lied about living in the Addams house. He goes to class, goes to his labs, gets coffee, goes home, with very little in-between.

Well, that plus spending a large amount of his time on campus with one specific chemist. And it doesn't take much longer to realize that he lives at the Addams house too.

Jimin, unlike Yoongi, is often late. He gets dropped off by the same sleek car, a short distance away from his destination, then he power walks to wherever he's going, fluffing and preening himself along the way.

Whether it's a hand brushing through his hair, or a knuckle pushing up the bridge of his glasses (which he never leaves the house without), or him adjusting the collar of his shirt, he's almost always fixing himself.

Sometimes, you get the impression that he isn't comfortable in his own skin.

He has a few other signatures: those heeled boots, pants that are almost always too tight for your liking, glasses (either tinted or completely dark), and always a mask covering his mouth. That, or sometimes an oversized scarf pulled up to just under his nose when it's particularly chilly outside, the wind rustling his hair and it's oddly shifting color.

You've taken to wearing one of your smaller cameras around your neck at all times, just in case you run into anything suspicious and need to snap a picture.

The morning mist has deepened into a constant drizzle most mornings, and that leather jacket you bought at Magic Shop has come in particularly handy. The garment is warm and cozy, and it always gives you a feeling of comfort whenever you wear it.

Fine, so maybe following Yoongi and Jimin didn't yield the results you wanted, though you'll admit it was fun. Still, something is telling you that there's something suspicious about that house and those who reside in it.

So you move on to another lead: Kim Taehyung.

He rarely leaves the house, you've found. So you have to conclude that he lives there as well as works there. When he does leave, it's on official business. Either to go to the police station to pick up documents or out of town to examine a body.

He doesn't ride in the Mercedes, though. Rather, he drives a classic black hearse. Again, peak dedication to the aesthetic, which you can appreciate.

And fine, maybe you snapped a few pictures of him on the rare times you caught him out of the house, but it's all for the sake of the investigation.

At first, you were quite hesitant to get too close to the house on the hill, with its looming trees and black birds hovering all about the roof.

But one day, when you creep up the path, the front gate opens on its own to welcome you. You were planning on scraping along the outside of the gate, peering into the yard through the iron bars. You weren't expecting it to actually open for you.

A gust of wind surges through the air, pulling you towards the house. The rustle of the trees practically whispers come closer.

It takes you a little bit aback, but you don't show it. Just in case someone is watching. In fact, you barely react to it, simply sidestepping the gate entrance and continuing along the path as if you were on a morning walk.

You walk along the entire perimeter of the gated yard, which is much, much larger than you anticipated. There are a number of gardens, a small hedge maze, a swamp even, and at the very edge of the property, a graveyard.

The tombstones are dotted throughout the wooded grove, a thick layer of ivy covering the ground like a burial shroud, and an air of calm hangs about the place.

But it isn't until you circle back to the other side of the house that you see something you truly weren't expecting: Jin, your favorite barista, strolling through the garden with a cup and saucer in his hands.

Wearing a turtleneck under a black coat, his hair blowing picturesquely in the chill wind, he meanders past the crumbling stone statues and trickling fountains.

You quickly duck behind a tree, reaching into your jacket to grab the small binoculars that you typically carry when you're in the..."observation" phase of the investigation. No, this isn’t the first time you’ve done this sort of thing.

Jin leisurely walks over the cobblestone pathway, sipping from his cup with a satisfied expression. He'll run a hand through his hair or lean against one of the stone garden walls, looking over his shoulder every once in a while.

And maybe it's just a hunch, but you get the sense that he knows that he's being watched. The weird thing is that he doesn't seem bothered by the fact at all. In fact, it almost looks like he's...posing.

An itch at the back of your neck. A glance back at Jin tells you that he's not looking at you, nor has he realized that you're there. But still, now you feel eyes on you.

You look around but find nothing but white-barked trees. And maybe if you looked a little closer you would've noticed that the knots in said trees look a little too much like eyes, open and alert.

Even if you had noticed such a thing, your conscience would tell you that obviously that's not the case. Trees can't watch people.

You'd be wrong, of course, but how could you have known that then?

october 23, 2004

He only ever works nights. The graveyard shift, to be specific. His shift always starts after the sun has set, and it ends just before it rises again.

Normally, you'd split your time between the cafe and the bookshop, but recently you've dedicated almost the entirety of your days to watching the barista and learning his habits. And in that time, you've hardly seen him eat.

In all the time you've spent watching him combined, the only things you've seen him eat include: a handful of olives, a few slices of bread and cheese, and the occasional spoonful of honey. Coffee and the offhand glass of red wine (which he pours into a teacup with a charming wink when he catches you watching him) is all you ever see him drink.

The only time he leaves the Addams house, besides to go to work, is on Saturday mornings when the Farmer's Market takes up the town square.

Sporting a checkered coat with the collar turned up to shield the lower half of his face, sunglasses (even though it's utterly cloudy), and an umbrella held over his head (even though it's not even drizzling), Jin scours the aisles, scrutinizing each booth's wares to find only the freshest and best quality produce, meats, and bread. He also procures some fancy cheese and preserves, his tastes expensive and well-refined.

The only other time you see him deviate from his routine is to visit the nearest hospital one afternoon. You're expecting him to enter into the waiting room, but he circles around the back, waiting by a STAFF ONLY door.

That same tickle from somewhere in your brain, the one that makes your eyes a little blurry. You take a moment to refocus them, and then you see the door crack open.

The person behind the door hands Jin an object that he quickly conceals in his coat, and the interaction is too quick for you to see what exactly it is.

But not quick enough for you to miss taking a picture. Because you've learned that it's always best to prioritize the camera before your eyes.

You take it to the dark room that same day. And the film reveals that the object appears to be a plain white box. Your guess is that it's a thermal container, the ones used to transport samples or the like.

It's a bit embarrassing to admit that it takes another day to put two and two together.

You're sitting in the cafe, skimming through the files of the five missing persons, when Jin approaches your booth and silently places a pastry on the table.

It's another one of his habits, you've noticed. Whenever you're in the cafe and have gone a long time without ordering any food, he'll subtly bring you something without a word, and you're usually too focused on your research to notice until some time has passed and it's too late to reject the offer.

You've told him several times that though the gesture is appreciated, he doesn't need to provide you with any freebies just because you're in here all the time. But he just brushes you off and claims that he needs a taste tester for his new recipes.

You let it slide after telling yourself that he probably does the same to a number of other customers given his charming nature (though in all the time you've observed him he's never done it for any other patron, but that you conveniently ignore).

This time it's a little cake, topped with a strawberry and absolutely smothered in fresh cream. When you cut into it, red jam spills from the inside of the cake like blood from a wound.

Then it finally clicks.

...Blood.

Like a slideshow in fast motion, all of the little details spring back into the forefront of your mind. The time when you noticed his shirtsleeve riding up, revealing a faded scar distinctly resembling a bite mark on the inside of his wrist. The time you noticed him drinking from a to-go coffee cup, but with a ring of red surrounding the opening in the lid.

And at the hospital, a thermal container used to transport samples such as blood bags, or even human organs.

Fuck.

You push the dessert away at the realization, scrambling to gather your things and leave the cafe as quickly as possible.

Of course, that means you miss the concerned and slightly disappointed look on Jin's face as he watches you go.

october 24, 2004

You don't know what makes you more of an idiot, the fact that you're actually close to believing that Jin is some sort of blood-sucking creature of the night, or the fact that it took you this long to consider the fact based on all the warning signs.

Unfortunately, nothing is impossible. And though none of your investigations so far have pointed to something so overtly "supernatural," you have to entertain the possibility.

Because it's possible that something about it could trace back to one or more of the victims, since clearly this case has proven to be far from normal.

Though the internet is a great resource, currently all you can find is blog posts, and you'd prefer not to cite those when it comes to professional matters. So you turn to local folklore, urban legends, and the security of the written word.

When you enter the bookshop the next day, you realize just how broad of a topic it is. There are hundreds, even thousands of mythical creatures across different cultures. It's going to take a long time to factor out one with the right features and track it's roots.

Then you remember the man behind the counter. Namjoon is currently staring at the mass of papers on his desk, looking confused and frustrated.

"What's all that?" you ask as you approach the counter.

"My accounts. Balancing my checkbook," he replies without looking up from the mess.

"Ah," you say in understanding, in pity.

A pause.

"Want a distraction?" you finally ask, and his head whips up almost instantly.

"Dear God, yes."

You chuckle, moving to lean against the desk.

"You're a writer, right?"

"Yes," he answers with a nod.

"What kind of things do you write?"

"Mostly research papers, some articles here and there, a few field guides."

Hmm, so he's more of a scholar, then. Interesting.

"In what area of study?"

Namjoon's mouth twitches like he's trying to find the right words.

"Folklore," he finally answers, but obviously there's a little more to it.

Perfect. You bite back the urge to rock on your toes with excitement.

"Can I ask you a few questions?"

He smiles at that, dimples and all, like nothing would delight him more.

"Of course, anything you want," he answers, voice curling around the edges.

And you don't know it, but he means it sincerely. He would tell you anything and everything about him and his little family if you would only ask.

Any of them would, really. Technically, none of them have ever lied to you, they just haven't share all the information.

And if Namjoon is being honest, all of them are quite eager for you to get a little more invasive and figure them out for yourself.

"What do you know about mythological creatures that feed on life energy?"

You didn't mean for it to come out so specific, so incriminating. But you're getting a little tired of questions without a ghost of an answer.

His eyebrows raise a bit.

"To be honest with you, my knowledge is limited mainly to the folklore of this region," he admits, sounding apologetic.

Even more perfect. You try not to give away too much of your excitement, despite the fact that every time you encounter him he only seems to get better and better.

"Pray tell," you urge, leaning forward slightly with open ears.

A little bashful expression crosses his face as he settles deeper in his chair, all thoughts of taxes abruptly thrust aside.

"Well, vampiric creatures are quite common across folklore in many cultures. They're usually associated with outbreaks of disease, and vampire hunts are mostly accompanied with epidemics..."

You let him talk for as long as he wants, listening eagerly and only looking away to scribble a few notes from time to time. It's clear that he's passionate about what he studies, speaking about it like a lover would.

He tells you that even the word "vampire" is shrouded in mystery, as linguists do not know the precise etymological origin. Apparently, the folklore of this region is steeped in Slavic roots, so that's what he focuses on to narrow it down for you.

From the Old East Slavic language, the term "vampire" hails from the word "upir," which is speculated to translate as "someone who bites" or "the thing at the feast/sacrifice," though the word has no definite origin.

Namjoon tells you that scholars agree that the term was used as a stand-in, since they were too afraid to say the creature's true name.

"An upir needs to feed on life essence to survive. In literature, this is usually represented by drinking blood, since it represents life," Namjoon explains.

"Usually?"

He shrugs.

"The "opir" in Ukraine consumes large amounts of fish as their source of sustenance, preferences vary across cultures."

"You speak of it like they're real," you say with a chuckle, watching closely for his reaction.

Another shrug, this one more uncomfortable.

"To the Slavs, they were. The universal belief in supernatural beings was common. Unseen entities were part of the way they understood the world," he says.

"Hmm," you mumble, scanning him up and down. You try not to delight in the way he squirms slightly under your scrutiny.

"Most of the traits attributed to vampires these days are based on myths, or downright misunderstandings," Namjoon blurts out. "Like how the outbreak of rabies in Europe led to the belief that the upir are afraid of light, which is ridiculous. Many of the symptoms of rabies, which is spread through biting, coincide with the supposed traits of vampires, like the fear of light and altered sleep patterns."

He says it all like he's slightly annoyed.

"Or how they assumed that the upir are undead because during decomposition, built up pressure can push the blood into a corpse's mouth," he continues.

"So the upir aren't undead at all?" you probe.

"No, it's just a misconception," Namjoon replies like he's in the throes of a heated debate.

He seems to notice, since the next moment he's clearing his throat awkwardly and slumping in his seat.

There's a moment of silence as you jot down some more notes.

"They're not evil," he blurts out like he can't help it, and the look on his face implores you to believe him.

You look up at him.

"Across the centuries, they've always been used as the scapegoat for things humans can't understand," he adds softly.

Hmm, yes that seems to be a recurrent theme in human history.

You close your notebook and straighten up from leaning on the desk.

"Very interesting. Thank you, Namjoon," you say and mean it.

He smiles and nods as if to say of course, but after your back is turned, his face falls a bit, wondering if he let a little too much slip.

"Too much? In my opinion, you didn't tell her enough," Jimin quips.

Namjoon rolls his eyes, but he's mainly focused on Jin. The older man only smiles at him, pressing a comforting hand to Namjoon's cheek.

"Don't worry, love. I don't mind at all," he says. Because yes, he too is eager for you to realize just what they all are.

"I just don't want her to think we're the ones behind all this," Namjoon admits.

"If she's as smart as she appears, then she'll figure that out for herself soon enough," Hoseok replies, slowly circling the room with his arms crossed.

He approaches the elegant leather couch that Namjoon and Jin are occupying.

"Joonie," he says, running a hand down the younger man's neck.

"I don't think it would hurt to drop her a few more hints, hm?" And everyone notices the smirk on Hoseok's face.

"I'm tired of waitiiiiing," Jimin whines.

"She's still a skeptic, Minie," Yoongi supplies from where he's watering the plants against the window. "She needs to be eased in."

Jimin just rolls his eyes.

"We could just kidnap her," he suggests.

"No." The reply comes instantly from Namjoon, Jungkook, and Yoongi simultaneously.

Jimin laughs high and bright.

"Come now, Jimin," Hoseok says with a sharp smile of his own. "Everyone knows it's more fun when they consent to it first."

october 25, 2004

The next time you enter the bookshop, Namjoon immediately mentions that he put together a little collection of texts for you to look over, saying they might be interesting to you. Maybe even aid in the investigation.

You thank him earnestly. And no, your face doesn't heat up at the fact that someone has gone out of their way to make your life easier.

When you slip into your usual nook, you notice that one of the drawers in the desk is adorned with a little pink ribbon around the handle, almost like it's gift-wrapped. And when you open it, you see several books, articles, and newspaper clippings, all of which seem very promising.

Something stirs in your stomach at the sight, but it's quickly set aside as you lock in and dive headfirst into the new research endeavor.

There's the notice for each of the missing persons, all the mentions of them so far in the newspapers, including one article from a publisher you've never heard of.

With the headline simple reading DISAPPEARED, the short snippet describes each missing person and the details of their last eyewitness account. The strange thing is that the article includes far more details than the big-name publishers, making you wonder why you haven't heard of it before.

The Periscope Press. You don't recall seeing it in any of the corner stores around town, but you do recall some of the people you interviewed mentioning details from "the newspaper" that you hadn't heard previously. Maybe this is the publisher they were referring to.

When you ask Namjoon about it though, he is surprisingly unhelpful. He claims that he can't remember where he came across the article, saying that he often picks up stray newspapers for wrapping and packing purposes for the shop.

Well, you suppose you'll have to save it for later then.

Also among the pile of papers in the drawer, there's a short blurb announcing the opening of the Kim Morgue and Crematorium. Taking a closer look at the date tells you that Taehyung's practice has actually been passed down through nearly three generations.

Technically, Taehyung is actually Taehyung III, taking the same name as his father and grandfather and great-grandfather before him.

But it's the photo you stumble upon that really stalls your breath.

A portrait, faded and yellowing, dated almost seventy-five years ago. The subject is a man dressed in a brown suit and tie, his hair dark and curly, except it looks exactly like him. From the Roman slant of his nose, down to the way he positions his shoulders, it looks almost indistinguishable from the Taehyung of today. The family resemblance is apparently very strong.

And again, it's a little embarrassing how long it takes you to reach the conclusion that to others, especially to the supernaturally-inclined, might seem obvious.

But you've already mentioned that you're a bit of a skeptic.

october 28, 2004

You fear that you may be going a bit crazy.

The dreams are getting worse. They've escalated from simple images and sounds to corporeal sensations. You feel the water so sharply, the cold, the current, even the vibrations. You can see hands reaching towards you, and sometimes you are compelled to reach back. Sometimes you swear you wake up smelling of seawater.

And the itchy feeling of being watched has only gotten stronger. You feel as though you're always looking over your shoulder, always listening for following footsteps.

In the past few days, you've used your research as an effective distraction.

You've found that the Kim family has run the morgue out of the Addams house for almost as long as the Jung family has owned it, Taehyung hailing from a long line of coroners and forensic pathologists rooted in Farrow's End.

With a little digging, you discovered that the Jungs have been business tycoons for decades, buying and selling and trading their vast number of industries to generate a near endless stream of income that they then hand down to their children and children's children.

Unfortunately, most of the knowledge on the Jung family is circulated through the townsfolk, so you have to ask around a bit to get a more solid basis.

The current owner of the Addams house is one Jung Hoseok. Young, beautiful, and filthy rich, according to those you spoke with on the streets. But, apparently he spent most of his youth in a mental hospital. Not only a mental hospital, a high-security facility for the criminally insane.

Now, you're not sure how much of that you believe, but you still have to entertain the possibility.

And one day, you even catch sight of him. A small crowd tends to gather whenever the black Mercedes pulls into town, curious eyes prying into the tinted windows.

You're lingering outside the bookshop one afternoon, making sure you didn't leave anything behind after a four-hour-long research session, when the car rolls through the streets like a slinky black cat.

Whispers immediately fill the air, causing you to look up from your bag, which is bursting at the seams these days from all the papers you have to carry around.

The car stops at the curb in front of the cafe, the driver soon killing the engine. Then, the driver's side door opens, and a black-booted foot steps onto the sidewalk.

The man is handsome, you have to admit, with long black hair that curls at the nape of his neck. His face is sharp and angular, with a softly heart-shaped mouth and surprisingly bright eyes.

He's dressed in pressed pants and jacket, thin and elegant. The man walks into the cafe and picks up a to-go order, gets back into his car, and drives away without so much as a glance at all the people who have stopped to stare at him.

You being one of them, but you're fairly certain that you're the only one who takes a few pictures.

But it wasn't until yesterday that you started to really feel like you were losing your marbles.

As you're asking around town, you breach the subject of the town's forensic pathologist. Everyone you speak to has nothing but good things to say about the young coroner, except for the fact that he isn't as young as you thought he was.

You ask a woman you struck up a conversation with outside the grocery store about the Kim family, and she says that Taehyung did a fantastic job taking care of her nephew for his funeral.

You agree, mentioning your admiration for how educated he is for someone so young.

That's when the woman's face turns puzzled. "Young?" she says, raising an eyebrow. She goes on to say that the most recent Kim Taehyung has been running the morgue for the last twenty years.

"Taehyung III?" you ask. "Thin, dark eyes, looks a bit like a Roman statue?"

"Yes, that's the one. Took over the family business after his father died. But no children, I hear he's training a young apprentice that will likely take over when he retires."

You mention that surely Taehyung has time to have children, but that same confused expression crosses her face.

"Isn't he nearly seventy though?"

A squirmy feeling in the pit of your stomach. You awkwardly brush off the woman, apologizing for the confusion.

You ask almost every other passerby you see on the street that evening about the town coroner, and they all say the same thing. A kind man, very good at his job, and most definitely in his late sixties.

They all insist that there hasn't been a young Kim in the business since Taehyung was a trainee nearly thirty years prior.

So you do a little more digging, and turns out it's true. If you'd have looked a little closer at the dates on all of Taehyung's degrees and certificates, you'd find that he acquired them all between fifteen and twenty-five years ago.

You're tailing him the next morning. You got lucky, today being one of the rare days when he leaves the Addams house to go into town.

He steps out of the hearse in leather shoes and a sweater vest under his trenchcoat. You suppose he dresses like he's older, from the way he tucks in his shirt and cuffs his pants, but he also sports a crossbody bag over his shoulder that others would most likely consider feminine, but he pulls it off effortlessly.

The clouds are letting down a light rain, leaving dewdrops on your jacket and making Taehyung's hair appear just a bit fluffier.

There's that same streak of gray from his hairline. The only indicator that he possibly isn't an attractive man in his late twenties/early thirties.

But that's exactly what you're looking at. Not an older man with aged skin and silver hair, rather more like a bronze god with a mop of black curls. And the only sign of age from knowledge or experience is deep in his eyes.

You begin to follow him down the street, sneaking pictures occasionally, curious what would happen if you were to show said pictures to others. Would they still see an old man? Or would they see the young one you've been seeing from the beginning?

You get the odd sensation that you're being watched, but from a source you can't name, since you're fairly certain Taehyung hasn't noticed you.

It's as you're nearing the end of the sidewalk, slipping in-between a cluster of people, that he suddenly stops dead in his tracks.

You stop too, a cold chill latching onto your spine. He stands there for a moment, perfectly still.

Then, he turns over his shoulder and looks right at you.

There haven't been many times in your career where you're genuinely shocked speechless. And even fewer when your target is not only fully aware of the fact that you're trailing them, but apparently isn't bothered in the slightest by it.

Because then a smirk is creeping onto his face. Those tiger eyes turn a shade darker, and he nods his head slightly as if to greet you.

He knew you were watching him, they all did.

The ice under your skin only intensifies when you hear the click of a camera shutter from behind you.

Whipping around, you see Jung Hoseok standing just a few feet away, a camera held up to his face and the brim of his hat tilted down, but you know it's him.

And the lens is pointed at you.

What's strange is that no one else seems to notice him. Every other time you've seen him in town, everyone stops to stare, but now they slide around him like he isn't even there, their eyes looking right through him.

Something weird is definitely going on.

You dissolve back into the crowd like a ghost.

october 29, 2004

A letter appears on your doorstep. The stationary is soft and expensive-looking, with your name scrawled on the front in curling script. With no return address.

It's enclosed with a red wax seal, stamped with the image of a crow.

You debate on whether or not to open it for approximately three minutes.

Dearest _______,

We cordially invite you to the Addams House for dinner, dancing, and drinks on October 30 at 6:00 p.m. sharp. Please bring your case notes for discussion.

Dress code: semi-formal.

Fondly,

Jung Hoseok

The back of the paper reads:

How do you accept this invitation?

➳ With enthusiasm

➳ With excitement

You think about it for about thirty seconds. Circling "with enthusiasm," you slip the paper back into the envelope and set it back outside where you found it.

It's gone the next morning.

a/n: thanks so much for reading!! i would absolutely love to hear any of your thoughts! 👉👈

[markrosewater]

Maro’s Teaser for Murders at Karlov Manor

Before previews for Murders at Karlov Manor officially begin, I thought it would be fun to do another of my Duelist-style teasers where I give tiny hints of things to come. Note that I’m only giving you partial information.  

  First up, here are some things you can expect:  

 • white gets a card that lets you play a subset off the top of the deck

• a new enchantment subtype Case

• a card with four different hybrid symbols in its mana cost

• a popular mechanic returns tweaked with a new name

• a green sorcery that you can have any number of in your deck

• a keyword mechanic not printed in a premier set since 2008 returns on a single card

• a creature that allows you an alternate nonmana cost for all your spells

• some creature tokens in the set: (note that some have abilities) 0/0 green Ooze, 0/0 colorless Thopter (also artifact), 0/1 green Plant, 1/1 black Bat, 1/1 white Dog, 1/1 red Goblin, 1/1 white Human, 1/1 blue Merfolk, 1/1 white and black Spirit, 1/1 colorless Thopter (also artifact), 2/1 black Skeleton, 2/1 black and green Spider, 2/2 white and blue Detective, 2/2 red Imp, and 5/5 green and white Wolf

• And yes, Murder is in the set

 Next, here are some rules text that will be showing up on cards:  

  • “Whenever a creature an opponent controls dies, if its toughness was less than 1, draw a card.”

• “Choose any number of target players.”

• “Creature cards in your graveyard gain ‘You may cast this card from your graveyard’ until end of turn.”

• “Then sacrifice it if it has five or more bloodstain counters on it.”

• “you may search your graveyard, hand, and/or library for a card named Magnifying Glass and/or a card named Thinking Cap and put them onto the battlefield.”

• “target opponent gains control of any number of target permanents you control.”

• “If an ability of a creature you control with power 2 or less triggers, that ability triggers an additional time.”

• “As long as there are no cards in your library,”

• “If one or more tokens would be created under your control, those tokens plus a Clue token are created instead.”

• “Whenever you sacrifice a Clue, target opponent gets two poison counters.”

 Here are some creature type lines from the set: 

 • Creature – Vedalken Artificer Detective

• Creature – Ogre Cleric

• Artifact Creature – Insect Thopter

• Creature – Lammasu

• Creature – Weird Detective

• Creature – Goblin Bard

• Creature – Viashino Assassin

• Artifact Creature – Clue Fish

• Creature – Elf Crocodile Detective

• Legendary Creature – Mole God

 Finally, here are some names in the set: 

 • Airtight Alibi

• Caught Red-Handed

• Deadly Cover-Up

• Eliminate the Impossible

• Homicide Investigator

• Innocent Bystander

• It Doesn’t Add Up

• Person of Interest

• Private Eye

• Scene of the Crime

 Follow the story each day this week and tune into the debut at 9:00 am PT on Jan 16 on twitch.tv/magic or youtube.com/@mtg to learn whodunit! Can you solve the mystery before detective extraordinaire Alquist Proft?

[bouquetface]

Vedic Astro Notes 4

accuracy is influenced by entire chart.

this post doesn’t take into consideration all aspects, signs & depositor placements. all that is needed for personal accuracy. this is a general post.

4th House Ruler in 11th House:

Your family specifically the mother adds to your gains. They help grant your wishes.

Indicator of gaining through home related activities - ex: real estate.

4th Ruler is 8 away indicating the mother or home goes through a death/rebirth transformation. You could move very far or your parents could have divorced. These are just examples, your exact situation depends on entire chart.

If Jupiter is the ruler, you gain through homes and teaching. You can teach the people about the home or in the home. You can become an advisor. Your parents wisdom will help you gain. ex: they are business owners, watching them work later inspires you to begin your own business.

4th House Ruler in 9th House:

You can have a religious family. Yet, you can desire to explore other cultures, religions, countries, etc.

Teachers could have felt like parental figures to you.

You can live far from the birthplace. This doesn't always mean in a different country, you can simply be in a different city. You can leave your mother for education or life experience.

If Saturn is the ruler, you could have been at a distance from your mother.

Saturn can delay your education unless aspecting planets like jupiter or mercury. Saturn is putting restrictions in this area: tuition costs could make it difficult to continue. personal matters could take your focus away from education. education can become extremely difficult when you try to get higher education.

8th House Ruler in 10th House:

Generally, this shows mixed perception of your reputation. You can receive sudden rises in career. However, depending on entire chart this can be sudden downfalls in reputation.

Your work can involve research. You have to dig deeper for the truth. This can manifest in many ways - ex: marketing field - you must research to understand how certain demographics will react to certain products. OR science field - you research using the scientific method. Or law/crime field - you investigate.

If Mars is the ruler, you can have a physically active career. You could be a police offer, in the army. You could work for the government. You are an authority figure in your career.

Rahu conjunct Saturn in 7th

Rahu alone in 7th can give a unique/non expected partner. When conjunct saturn, it can give a spouse that is a lot older than the norm. This is because rahu amplifies the sign & planet it touches. This is not the only possible manifestation of this placement.

Rahu here still makes it likely the spouse could be from foreign lands or different culture.

Rahu conjunct Saturn in my experience is an indicator for a delayed marriage or marrying someone a lot older. Rahu brings taboo.

Accuracy will depend on full chart.

Planets 2 away from Venus

A common method in vedic is to check 2 away from your venus to see the MAIN thing you gain through marriage.

ex: Venus in 2nd H, Mercury is in 4th H. After marriage, you gain a home/land, a communicative & busy home life. You could desire education - going back to school, reading more, researching new hobby. This is the MAIN thing you gained not the only thing, likely it is the most significant gain for you.

ex: Venus in 6th H, Moon in 8th H. After marriage, you can gain a private home/family lifestyle. You are likely to have children soon after marriage. This is the MAIN thing you gained not the only, likely it is the most significant gain for you.

ex: Venus in 4th, Saturn in 6th. After marriage, you gain new responsibilities. And I know this doesn't sound fun, however, it is not a bad thing. Possible reasons for the increased work can be: you get pets, you want to save for a new home or renovate your home. Check sign for more insight.

ex: Venus in 8th, Jupiter in 10th. After marriage, you gain a lot. You could find good career opportunities and advancement. You can gain status and feel more confident about your reputation.

4th H ruler in 4th H

This suggests someone is confident and secure in their personal life and home life.

You can have loyalty to your home and family. You can have a good connection and interest in your ethnic background/family roots.

If mercury is the ruler, you can have communicative and busy home and family life. You can have educators/teachers in the home/family.

Sun conjunct Jupiter in 12th House

You may meet the husband in foreign lands. Your children could be born in foreign lands.

Your husband is likely to religious. They can be educated and/or educate you on their religion, culture or career. If sun is the lowest degree, it controls the conjunction which can make the spouse a bit arrogant due to their intelligence&education. They can be self righteous about their religion too.

At some point in life, you can be separated from your family - specifically the father. This can be due to a move and/or fights.

Sun conjunct Moon

You can become a determined person. The house and sign will show what you are determined on and how you get it.

You are independent and spiritual/religious with this placement.

If sun is the lowest degree, sun is controlling the conjunction. This indicates you are stoic, you struggle to express emotions, you are more introverted. You can have alone type hobbies like yoga, working out alone, reading, walks, etc.

Venus in Dhanishta Nakshatra

In a woman's chart, venus is you as a wife. In a man's chart, venus is your wife.

The wife will love music. She may even play an instrument. She may enjoy attending concerts.

Whether you are the wife or husband, you can make more money and are happiest when you are helping the spouse. The wife can help you in making wealth. I’ve seen this in the d9 chart’s of couples who work with each other later in life. ex: opening a cafe together.

For full accuracy one would have to check the pada and the ENTIRE chart. This is general info.

[unrealcity-if]

a cyberpunk interactive fiction

demo: prologue and ch1, 55k. play here.

Streets, empty - gnarled roots burying deep below the city. The gleam of teeth, an endless buzzing like flies. Dry, dead rock. There was water here once. Now toxic sludge seeps into the dirt, leeching life from the land. They staked metal, twisted it into the dead earth to block out the sky. They know that is too late, but they try to defy fate all the same.

Esurio is a city divided. You know this all too well. As a smuggler of black-market tech into the city from the outlands, you would like nothing better than to be free of Esurio once and for all. Yet the city seems to pull people in, and after a job gone wrong you find yourself entangled in a net of lies, inexplicably strange murders, and the one question that no-one knows the answer to -

What lies below Esurio?

[features]

pay off your debt through smuggling goods into the city

run from law enforcement

investigate strange murders, while trying not to end up the next victim

regret every life decision you have made

uncover what lies below the city?

meet (and optionally romance) 5 companions - 2 gender selectable

finally free yourself from Esurio?

[companions]

[ros]

Argo [nb] they/them, asexual :

If there's anyone in Esurio that you trust, it would be them. They've been by your side since you were young : first as friends and then (literal) partners in crime. When they were younger, they dreamt of changing the world. At some point they buried that dream. For now they keep to smuggling, hacking, and breaking every speed limit possible.

Appearance - shoulder-length coily dark brown hair, medium brown skin, dark brown eyes. prides themself on wearing the most colourful jacket they can find, and wouldn't know colour or outfit coordination if it hit them in the face.

Sora [f/m] she/her or he/him :

A private investigator with a moralistic streak. They attempt to fill in the gaps left by law-enforcement, dealing in all kinds of information, and know practically anything on anyone, while remaining a perpetually shadowy figure themselves. Motivated by curiousity and an alarming lack of self-preservation instincts, they're determined to uncover the truth about Esurio at all costs.

Appearance - straight, dark brown hair that flops over their brown eyes. olive skin. always wears a leather jacket and heavy boots: dresses practically. carries gadgets + a notepad in their bag: they are prepared for anything, especially a high speed pursuit across rooftops.

Brontë [f/m/nb] she/her, he/him, or he/they :

A failed musician with a trail of poor decisions behind them. They were going to make it big in the underground music scene, until, one day, they weren't. Cast-out and adrift, they're cynical and conflicted, a perfect example of a delicately poised balancing act. It's only a matter of time before they fall.

Appearance - wavy blond hair, dyed purple at the ends, reaching about chin length. pale, freckled skin and green eyes. wears light jackets, oversized tshirts, boots that are falling apart, and as many bracelets as possible.

Asha [f] she/they :

She ran with Argo, Jaya and you for several years, after her illustrious political family abruptly fell from grace and she had to look out for herself any way she could. A skilled mechanic, and never one to back down from a fight, she bounces from person to person, always living life at high speed. After Jaya's disappearance, she split from the group, and you haven't spoken to her since.

Appearance - straight, shoulder-length black hair. dark brown skin and dark brown eyes. wears work overalls most of the time, and is frequently covered in smudges of oil fromch her work as a mechanic. else, she dresses casually and comfortably - loose shirts, ripped jeans and a necklace.

Cas [m] he/him :

An artefact dealer in the outlands. You know his name, and not much else. He seems to float from place to place, avoiding strong attachments. Never talks about his past, his strange dreams, and pretty much anything personal. Knows what to do in a crisis, though, and is frequently the voice of reason.

Appearance - straight, short light brown hair, fair skin, eyepatch over his right eye - his left is brown. wears glasses. Always in a fashionable long dark coat and heavy boots: somehow manages to look constantly poised and well put together despite Esurio's characteristic humidity.

[other]

Acheron [nb] they/them :

They control much of what flows from the outlands into the city. After they rescued Argo and you from capture by law enforcement, you have been working for them in order to pay off your debt to them. They're level headed and ruthless, and you can't work out what makes them tick.

Jaya [f] she/her :

She was part of the underground smuggling group involving you, Argo and Asha, until she disappeared abruptly and everything went to shit. To this day, you've been unable to find out what happened to her. But thats in the past, right? [option to have been in a past relationship with her]

Valentine [nb] she/her and he/him :

Practically anyone in Esurio knows Valentine, or has at least heard of her. She's the person to go to for weird tech, fast cars and a way to vanish quietly. Despite her notoriety, and her fame as a guitarist, she always seems to be able to work just under the radar of the authorities.

[content warnings]

17+ (may be subject to change). violence, slight gore, horror aspects. implied sexual content.

[mariacallous]

The US Department of Justice has sued Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, for abusing their alleged monopoly in the ticketing market to trample competitors.

Filed on Thursday in the Southern District of New York, the lawsuit focuses on Ticketmaster’s long-term exclusivity contracts with many of the largest music venues, making it the predominant ticketing service available to concertgoers. The firm secures these deals in part by “threatening and retaliating against venues that work with rivals,” the DOJ alleges.

In the complaint, the DOJ accuses Ticketmaster and Live Nation, which acts as a promoter for hundreds of high-profile artists, of exploiting their relationship to establish a “self-reinforcing flywheel” that blocks competitors from gaining a foothold. Live Nation parlays its exclusive promotion deals into exclusive ticketing deals with venues, the DOJ claims, which are left with no practical choice but to go with Ticketmaster, for fear of losing access to sought-after acts represented by its parent company. The DOJ is seeking to break up the joint organization.

“We allege that Live Nation relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States at the cost of fans, artists, smaller promoters, and venue operators,” says attorney general Merrick Garland in a statement. “The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services. It is time to break up Live Nation–Ticketmaster.”

In a lengthy statement provided to WIRED, Live Nation disputes the DOJ's allegation that it and Ticketmaster wield monopoly power. “The DOJ's lawsuit won't solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees, and access to in-demand shows,” the company says. “Calling Ticketmaster a monopoly may be a PR win for the DOJ in the short term, but it will lose in court because it ignores the basic economics of live entertainment, such as the fact that the bulk of service fees go to venues, and that competition has steadily eroded Ticketmaster’s market share and profit margin.”

The charges brought by the DOJ mirror allegations made previously against Ticketmaster in two ongoing private lawsuits.

In December 2022, Ticketmaster was sued by hundreds of Taylor Swift fans, who brought a case in response to a high-profile ticketing debacle that reportedly left them queuing for hours to pay for tickets that they had been assigned under an early access program, with many ultimately unable to claim their allocations. The incident led to a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee on consolidation in the ticketing industry and, reportedly, helped catalyze the investigation into Ticketmaster by the DOJ.

In their lawsuit, the Swift fans accused Ticketmaster of abusing its dominant position to impose “higher prices in the presale, sale, and resale market for concert tickets.” The company has “effectuated this anticompetitive scheme by forcing fans of musicians to use Ticketmaster exclusively to buy concert tickets,” the lawsuit alleged.

In the second case, a class action brought in 2022 on behalf of Ticketmaster customers in the US, Live Nation and Ticketmaster were accused of abusing the complementary relationship between their services to overcharge consumers and sustain their monopoly. “Live Nation controls the vast majority of the big national touring acts and, either explicitly or implicitly, coerces concert venues into selecting Ticketmaster as their ticketing service provider on pain of losing high-value acts,” claims Adam Wolfson, a partner at Quinn Emanuel, the law firm representing the plaintiffs.

This type of conduct, known as tying, was explicitly forbidden under the consent decree imposed upon Live Nation and Ticketmaster by the DOJ as a condition of their 2010 merger. “Our allegation is that they did it anyway,” says Wolfson. “Ticketmaster’s behavior is an open secret—everyone talks about it.”

In a corporate blog post published in March, Dan Wall, executive vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs at Live Nation, rejected allegations that Ticketmaster is driving up the price of tickets. The face value of a ticket is decided by the artist, he wrote, while the service charge—from which Ticketmaster draws its cut—is set by the venue.

In a call with reporters, a senior DOJ official described this line of defense as a “red herring” in the context of the alleged antitrust violations. “Our position is that removing the chokehold that Live Nation has at all levels of the ecosystem will be beneficial with respect to the way prices are set.”

A problem common to antitrust disputes, says Bradley Justus, an antitrust attorney at law firm Axinn, is the difficulty in distinguishing easily between practices that amount to anticompetitive behavior and those that might be considered sensible business strategy. The DOJ will argue that the exclusive deals entered into by Ticketmaster are categorically anticompetitive. “The antitrust question is: How extensive is the scope of those agreements? Are they truly so broad that another competitor couldn’t enter and scale?” says Justus.

The DOJ claims that the terms of the contracts mean that “venues cannot consider or choose rival ticketers or switch to better or more cost-effective ticketing technology.” The effect, it claims, is both to stifle competitors and minimize the pressure for Ticketmaster to improve its own product, to the detriment of concertgoers.

Although the DOJ has petitioned for Live Nation to be broken up, it has not outlined the specific structural changes it will go after, nor any injunctions it may try to impose with respect to the company’s exclusive contracts. “A breakup is absolutely on the table, but it’s important not to put the cart before the horse. In antitrust cases, any remedy has to be specifically tailored to the violation found,” a senior DOJ official told the press. “Based on the allegation that Live Nation and Ticketmaster have exerted control at every level of the ecosystem, aspects of the company need to be broken apart in order for competition to flourish in the live music industry.”

[simply-ivanka]

Trump Team Should Fund Its Own Transition

The General Services Administration abused its role and spied on the president-elect in 2016.

Federal law provides the president-elect with millions of dollars for transition activities. Donald Trump should reject it.

Ever since 1963, candidates have accepted these services, and the General Services Administration—an independent government agency—has provided them in good faith. That is until Mr. Trump won in 2016.

Reports from Congress and the Justice Department Inspector General’s Office reveal that in 2016, government bureaucrats abused their role in the transition process to spy on and subvert the Trump operation.

The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 authorizes the General Services Administration to provide major candidates office space, administrative support and other services beginning after the party conventions. After the election, the agency also pays the winning candidate’s transition team’s payroll and travel expenses, and it facilitates agency briefings. As a condition of receiving this support, the transition team must agree to certain disclosure rules, ethics requirements and a $5,000 cap on private donations.

As detailed in a 2020 Senate report, the General Services Administration’s agreement with the 2016 Trump team specified that transition records “would not be retained.” Instead, “GSA officials—at the urging of the FBI and Office of the Special Counsel—nonetheless decided to preserve and disclose those records to various investigative entities, all while concealing these facts” from the Trump team.

The General Services Administration turned those records over to special counsel Robert Mueller without requiring any legal process, such as a subpoena or a warrant. In fact, the agency, of its own accord, contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation to ask if it should preserve the records despite the explicit terms of the agreement outlining the opposite. Team Trump wasn’t told anything. When Trump officials later learned of the unauthorized preservation, the General Services Administration refused to provide copies of the records being retained and instead turned those records over to investigators.

A 2020 amendment to the Presidential Transition Act requires the General Services Administration to provide advance notice of any intention to deviate from the agreement, but that merely means the agency has to tell you when it’s going to break the agreement; it doesn’t bar it from happening.

The General Services Administration wasn’t the only guilty party. The FBI used the cover of transition briefings to investigate the campaign. The Justice Department’s Inspector General, for example, found that former FBI agent Peter Strzok sent another FBI agent to an intelligence briefing with Mr. Trump and Gen. Mike Flynn as part of an effort to build a Russia collusion case against them.

Given this history, it would be foolish for the Trump team to trust government transition resources again. Managing it alone wouldn’t be hard. The 2016 transition effort cost about $14 million, counting both General Services Administration and privately raised funds. Relieved of the private donation cap, millions could be raised from supporters such as Elon Musk who also could oversee IT security. Transition teams typically seek background checks on prospective appointees, but those aren’t required by statute, and the campaign is already considering hiring private firms to do the vetting instead.

Biden agency officials are hostile to Mr. Trump, so GSA-sponsored briefings from them are of limited value. Instead, the transition team should rely on annual budget submissions, which contain detailed information on agency operations. That would be supplemented by briefings arranged by the transition team featuring trusted prior or current officials.

Mr. Trump’s critics will say that by shunning General Services Administration’s support, he is skirting oversight, but the retort is simple: The trust is gone.

Mr. Huff has served as a lawyer in the Trump White House and the House and Senate judiciary committees.

[unsoundedcomic]

Whumptober 2024 - 07 - "Only For Emergencies"

New Tawhoque was a dangerous place for Ssaelit, but if a woman knew just what crooked street to turn down and upon which unmarked door to knock, she might find a sanctuary or two open to those of the Way.

This one was a public house (semi-private house, really, they did not allow Gefendur) called Arbert's. A woman slipped its heavy front door closed behind her and pretended she didn't notice the wall of eyes move to sweep across her from the bar. Finding the newcomer hidden beneath a dumpy rain slicker and a waterproof bonnet, the collective gaze rolled back towards their whispered conversations and their glasses of imported beer. She chose a hightop in the corner, asked for a cheap pour of Trieste, and unwrapped her hand to see if the bleeding had stopped.

"They cut your finger off," a male voice observed behind her. She jumped a foot in the air, then collapsed forward over the injury to hide it from him.

"It is nothing!" she said.

"It is nothing now," he agreed, "But until recently I think it was your right index finger."

"Oh, why do you care? Did you want it?"

She turned. Her shoulders hunched even higher to discover an unreasonably tall man looking down at her, his face half a void of shadow. "Perhaps," he admitted at length. The words sounded strange. Artificial. Pymaric? What a strange thing to say, and in what a strange voice to say it! "Which of the gangs have you crossed?"

"I did not 'cross' any of them!" Her head lashed back and forth in pain, then anger. "I am a good and honest woman! I went to the constabulary! I went to report all my hens dead!"

"O-oh!" He seemed to suddenly lose a foot of height, shocked. Perhaps he loved animals too?

She continued: "I think my neighbour's hounds had at them in the night. One of the constables said it would cost thirty sem for them to go and investigate the scene. I pointed my finger in his face and called him a villain. Then he said he would have that finger, and before I knew it he had nipped it free with a spell! Have you ever heard of such a thing? That is not how policing works!"

"Naught works in the expected manner here," the stranger whispered. For all his prior forwardness, he suddenly seemed to be avoiding the sight of her gory hand. "I… am afraid I can be of no help confronting the local lawmen, but I would happily pay for your drink and direct you towards a more honest physician than the twin-eating sawbones you will find on the high street."

His voice was unnervingly tinny, but there was warmth there. In spite of her anxiety and her throbbing hand, she tried to wind down. She hadn't been in town very long but even the Ssaelit she had tried to befriend were standoffish. She was beginning to understand why. Sharteshane was a land of traps and predators; everyone was waiting to see what you had, and if you were strong enough to protect it. Why she had supposed the law would be different, now seemed beyond her. A final illusion shattered.

"Is it still raining?" he prompted when she took too long to decide on an answer. "It is forever raining here. It is as though the city must be kept wet, or its amphibian skin will crack open."

"And out will pour the bloody flies," she agreed, removing her coat. It had done little good. The clothing beneath was sodden, draping, and she coloured to realise how prominently her bosom rose. Oh, dear, her nipples were visible too. These cheap Sharteshanian weaves simply did not reflect her patterns correctly-

Now it was the stranger's turn to give a start! He shuddered and stumbled away as though burnt. Had it been the fly remark that had disturbed him? He was surely scandalized to hear such language from an Aldishwoman. Of course he would be! Soon she would be a ribald Sharte, all cusses and swears-

Ach, no, no. He was trying not to look at her chest. A gentleman! Of course.

"You must forgive me, sir! I dove into the rain after the attack without first buttoning my slicker and… and…" Her good hand fumbled at her bonnet, slipped it free of her head so he could see her earnest green eyes. Oh, a mistake! Now he would see she was a Soud, and hate her-

He stumbled again, struck, and grabbed at his midsection! Then from her eyes to her hair his attention alighted once more upon her missing digit.

"What is it?" she demanded, "Are you ill? What is wrong with you!"

"D-did you keep your finger?" he sputtered, almost wailed, "Or did the constable take it?"

"What a question! You monster! Bartender!"

"Bartender!" he echoed, "Aye, please bring to me my emergency order! I require my emergency order!"

A moment's pause, and a broad-shouldered Bronze suddenly jumped the bar. He was nearly seven feet tall, with a touch of the Glut about him. A steaming hot bar towel was in his grasp. The stranger grabbed it, two-fisted it with all the alacrity of a drowning man reaching for a watertight coffin. Then she swore she heard a hiss as his impossibly perfect white teeth bit down upon it hard. When he started gnawing it like the hounds last night had surely gnawed at her poor hens, she flew from the pub, never gathering the courage to ask if he'd been the one to leave nothing in that coop but two beaks and a pile of bloody feathers.

[anim-ttrpgs]

@thewelllitweenie

These are two very related asks so I’m going to answer them both in the same post.

Okay so first of all, it’s pretty unlikely that a Eureka party will be all in the same room together for the entire duration of the mystery/adventure, so there is plenty of opportunity for investigators to do things behind each others’ backs!

Next, yes, there is a special procedure for when a monster needs to go off and eat people without the rest of the party watching, and this is often handled in a secret solo session, though it doesn’t have to be.

That doesn’t mean that all monster stuff has to be handled in a private solo session. If a monster has a chance to quickly scarf someone down mid-session and can reasonably do so without anyone noticing (which a witch in particular is extremely capable of), they can do that too.

I’m going to write a simplified summary of an Example of Play that isn’t currently in the rulebook that’ll give you an idea of how a monster might use a power without alerting all other players to the fact that they’re a monster.

This actually comes directly from real gameplay, a playtest in which a vampire went the entire 6-month campaign without ever being identified by any other players or PCs.

Yvette (vampire) and Eunica (does not know that Yvette is a vampire, neither does her player) are in the town hall, and need to get into the office of a missing person to investigate the disappearance, but the office door is locked.

Yvette lies to Eunica, saying she can pick locks, and that she just needs Eunica to go to the end of the hall and stand watch in case anyone is coming.

Eunica agrees and starts walking to the end of the hall.

Then, Yvette’s player sends a secret text to the Game Master, saying something like “Yvette turns into smoke and flies under the door, then rematerializes and opens it from the inside.”

The Game Master sends a text back to confirm.

Yvette’s player fakes making a roll for the lockpicking, then says that Eunica hears a click and when she looks back, Yvette has opened the door and is motioning her inside.

Normally, rematerializing as smoke and then back to a human would have caused Yvette to make 2 Composure checks at a +3 Modifier each. Failure on these checks would not have caused her to fail the action, but would’ve cost her some of her Composure. However, there’s also a rule that so long as at least one other player at the table is unaware of the monster being a monster, those Composure checks can be skipped entirely. This not only makes it easier to hide your monster from the other players because you’re not making as many mysterious dice rolls, but also serves as a nice little bonus in reward for keeping the secret as long as you can.

By the way, if you want yourself, a friend, or an OC to appear as an encounter when monsters go on hunts, please check out the post linked below! We have empty slots on the tables that we’re trying to fill!