#private phone pods

[800silentpod]

Why Silent Pods Are Essential for Modern Open-Plan Offices?

The rise of open-plan offices has transformed workspaces, encouraging collaboration and communication. But You might be surprised to learn that open-plan workspaces can negatively impact your employees’ mental health. Numerous studies have highlighted the drawbacks of this layout, such as lack of privacy, persistent noise levels, and lack of control over one’s working environment, which are significant stressors for your staff. However, many of these issues can be mitigated by incorporating soundproof booths into the workspace. As the Affordable Silent Pods manufacturers in Dubai, 800SilentPod provides innovative solutions to enhance productivity and well-being in modern offices.

The Noise Problem in Open-Plan Offices

Impact on Productivity

Open-plan offices are designed to foster collaboration but often result in increased noise levels. Studies show that noise distractions can reduce productivity by up to 66%. Employees find it difficult to maintain focus, resulting in reduced efficiency and increased error rates. Silent pods provide a quiet, private space where employees can focus without interruptions.

Employee Well-being

Continuous exposure to noise can lead to stress, fatigue, and burnout. Employees need a balance between collaborative and quiet spaces to maintain their mental health. Silent pods offer a refuge from the constant buzz of open offices, promoting relaxation and reducing stress.

Key Ways Silent Pods Improve Open Offices

Speech Intelligibility

In noisy environments, understanding conversations can be challenging. Employees taking calls in open spaces may miss crucial information due to background noise. Silent pods ensure clear communication, reducing misunderstandings and frustration.

Speech Privacy

Open offices offer little privacy for conversations. Without dedicated spaces like phone pods, employees must take calls at their desks, risking confidential information being overheard. Silent pods provide the privacy needed for sensitive discussions, making employees feel more secure and respected.

Comfort for Introverted Staff

Introverted employees often find it uncomfortable to take calls in public. The fear of being overheard can hinder their ability to communicate effectively. Silent pods offer a quiet, private space, allowing all employees, regardless of personality type, to handle calls comfortably and confidently.

Reducing Distractions

Open-plan offices can be chaotic, with various distractions from lights, sounds, and movements. For those sensitive to sensory overload, this can be particularly challenging. Silent pods provide a distraction-free environment, enabling employees to focus better during important calls and tasks.

Mitigating Halfalogues

Halfalogues, or one-sided phone conversations, can be highly distracting in open offices. Research shows they are more disruptive than regular conversations. Silent pods capture these halfalogues, ensuring they don’t disturb others, thereby maintaining a more productive office atmosphere.

Benefits of Silent Pods

Enhanced Focus and Concentration

Silent pods are engineered to block out external noise, creating an ideal environment for focused work. Whether it’s for tasks requiring deep concentration or confidential phone calls, these pods ensure that employees can work without distractions. This is a key reason why many consider us the leading Soundproof Pods and booths Suppliers in Dubai.

Versatile Usage

Silent pods come in various designs and sizes, catering to different needs. From single-person pods for individual tasks to larger pods for meetings and team collaborations, they offer versatile solutions for modern offices. This adaptability makes them a valuable asset in any workspace.

Improved Privacy

Privacy is a significant concern in open-plan offices. Silent pods provide a private space for employees to conduct phone calls, meetings, or personal tasks without worrying about eavesdropping. This not only enhances privacy but also boosts employee confidence and trust.

Customizable and Aesthetic Designs

Our silent pods are not only functional but also aesthetically pleasing. They can be customized to match your office decor and branding, ensuring a seamless integration into your workspace. This customization enhances the overall look and feel of the office, making it a more pleasant place to work.

Data and Facts Supporting Silent Pods

Noise Reduction Statistics

According to the World Health Organization, workplace noise levels above 55 decibels can significantly impact productivity and health. Silent pods can reduce noise levels by up to 30 decibels, creating a conducive environment for focused work.

Productivity Improvement

A study by Steelcase found that employees in noisy environments are 15% less productive than those in quiet workspaces. Implementing silent pods can bridge this productivity gap, leading to better performance and job satisfaction.

Employee Satisfaction

Surveys indicate that 70% of employees believe that having a quiet space to work would improve their job satisfaction. Silent pods fulfill this need, contributing to a happier and more motivated workforce.

Conclusion

Silent pods are a game-changer for modern open-plan offices, addressing the critical need for quiet, private spaces. They enhance productivity, improve employee well-being, and offer versatile, customizable solutions for various office needs. As the leading Silent Pods and meeting booth suppliers in Dubai, 800SilentPod is dedicated to transforming your workspace with innovative and eco-friendly silent pods. Ready to revolutionize your workspace? Contact 800SilentPod today at +971 56 392 5955 / +971 55 380 5148  to explore our range of silent pods and discover how we can help you create a more productive and harmonious office environment.

OFFICE Address –

Office #60, M. Floor, Al Fajer Building, Airport Road, Al Garhoud, Dubai- United Arab Emirates

Mobile: 056 392 5955 / 055 380 5148

Email: inquiry@800silentpod.com

Website - https://800silentpod.com/

Our Social Media Presence –

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/people/800Silent-Pod/61556803461662/

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LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/800silentpod/

[pergola800]

The Future of Office Design: Combining Collaboration And Privacy

Office design has come a long way from the traditional cubicles and closed-off offices of the past. The rise of open floor plans and collaborative workspaces has transformed the way we work, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated this trend. In the future, offices will need to balance the need for collaboration with the need for privacy and safety.

Soundproof phone pods, like those designed by 800 Phone pods in Dubai, offer an innovative solution to this challenge. Here are some key points to consider when thinking about the future of office design and how soundproof phone pods can play a role.

Flexibility is Key

The future of office design is all about flexibility and adaptability. Companies need spaces that can accommodate various work styles and activities. Soundproof phone pods are an excellent example of a versatile workspace. They can be used for private conversations, video calls, meditation, and even as a quiet reading nook. They can also be a comfortable space for extended work sessions with the right lighting and ventilation.

Privacy Matters

While collaboration is important, employees also need privacy for certain tasks, such as phone calls and confidential discussions. Soundproof phone pods solve this challenge by offering a private space within an open office layout. They can help reduce noise distractions and promote focused work, which ultimately improves productivity.

Employee Wellness

Employee wellness is a growing concern for companies, and office design can play a significant role in promoting well-being. Soundproof phone pods can provide a quiet and peaceful space for employees to recharge and refocus, which can help reduce stress and fatigue. These pods can also be designed to include features such as air filtration systems, lighting controls, and ergonomic seating, all of which can contribute to a healthier and more comfortable work environment.

Customization Options

Every company has unique needs when it comes to office design, which is why customization options are crucial. 800 Phonepod offers customizable phonepod options, allowing companies to choose the size, shape, and color that best suits their needs. This level of customization ensures that the phone pods blend seamlessly with the overall office design and layout.

Advanced Soundproofing Technology

When it comes to soundproofing technology, 800 Phonepod leads the way. Their soundproof phone pods use advanced technology to block out noise and create a quiet environment for employees. The pods are designed with high-quality materials and are built to last. This investment in quality ensures that companies get the most value out of their investment.

Conclusion 

The future of office design is all about combining collaboration and privacy. Soundproof phone pods offer a unique solution to this challenge, providing employees with a private space within an open office layout. As a leader in phonepod design and manufacturing, 800 Phonepod is the go-to choice for companies looking to create a flexible and adaptable workspace that promotes employee well-being and productivity. With customization options, advanced soundproofing technology, and a focus on employee wellness, 800 Phonepod is leading the way in the future of office design.

[lnfours]

you are in love | l.n

summary: the moment where you knew he was the one.

warnings: best friends to lovers au, shitty dates, language, a little bit of innuendos, and just pure, tooth rotting fluff.

masterlist | inbox | listen

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

you walked out of the restaurant, nails tapping against your screen as you walked on the sidewalk. there was a soft, warm breeze in the city of monaco as you stared down at your phone. your phone locked once you found somewhere to stand, out of the sight from the crowds, and specifically the guy you had left at the dinner table.

can you come get me?

it was almost ten. and if he wasn’t asleep, he was definitely doing better things with his time-

of course, where are you?

your heart pattered against your chest, your fingers moving to tell him the name of the street corner you were standing at. he had responded quickly after, saying he’d be there in five.

and he was, the mclaren pulling up besides you. he had the top open for the nighttime summer breeze to flow through. you stepped closer, opening the door and climbing in carefully before closing it behind you.

“you alright?” he asked, car still parked as he made sure he didn’t have to go back into the restaurant and give the guy a piece of his mind.

when you nodded, he let out a breath of relief, “i just really know how to pick ‘em, huh?”

he huffed out a laugh, pulling onto the road, “we could say that,” he looked back over at you as you looked out the window, “back to mine? or yours?”

you met those stupidly beautiful green eyes and you let out a shaky breath as his eyes scanned your features, “yours is fine. blair is out of town anyway, so it’s been lonely.”

“oh, yeah? where she go this time? ibiza? france?” he joked and you snorted next to him. your roommate, blair, came from money. big money. and every other weekend, she always had somewhere new to take her father’s private jet. even if it was just to visit a louis vuitton store in paris.

her frequent trips had become an inside joke to you, max and lando. so far as to where the three of you make bets on which extravagant place shes visiting every time she leaves. this week, it’s bali.

“close,” you nod, “her family’s vacationing in bali this week.”

“damn,” he mumbled, “so close.”

you both shared a soft laugh, a comfortable silence falling over the two of you as you watched the city life out the window. he couldn’t help but take occasional glances towards you, his eyes falling to the necklace sparkling around your neck.

the one he had gotten you for your most recent birthday. you had refused to accept his gift at first, immediately shaking your head when you spotted the tiffany blue box underneath the wrapping paper.

but he insisted, and now you never took it off. a silver heart engraved with a little four. a subtle detail, but a special one. some people thought he seemed ‘full of himself’ because he got you a gift with his number on it. but, you were the one who encouraged him to chase his dreams. the one who pushed him to do better, the one who never believed for a second how the media tried to paint him out to be.

because, to you, he wasn’t ’lando norris: mclaren formula one driver with a sassy attitude who’s full of himself’, to you he was just ‘lando: the boy you’ve known your entire life, who knew everything about you, and the boy who would pick you up after a shitty date’.

at the end of the day, it was always the two of you against anything and everything. two peas in a pod, as cisca would say.

the two of you got to his apartment, his key unlocking the door and pushing it open. once you got inside, you kicked your heels off by the door as he made his way into the kitchen.

“do you still have those makeup wipes i left here?” you asked.

he nodded, reaching into one of the cupboards as he grabbed the white mug with little yellow stars on it. your mug.

“should be in the top drawer in the bathroom with your toothbrush and hairbrush,” he said, turning back to you, “want a coffee?”

you nodded, letting out a soft sigh, “please. milk and two-“

“two sugars,” he smiled softly, “i know.”

you smiled back at him before turning and walking down the hallway to his bedroom. when you entered, you took in the view of his freshly made bed and the hamper in the corner being empty. a sign that he had done his laundry and cleaned the house today.

you hummed softly, opening the closet door and thumbing through the different hoodies he had. you settled on an older mclaren one, the same one he had lent you a few years back when you were crying on his couch.

you also snagged a pair of sweatpants while you were in there, changing into them and placing your dress on his dresser. making a mental note to take it with you when he takes you home in the morning.

once you had taken your makeup off in the bathroom, you made your way back to the living room where he was sitting on the couch, phone in hand as he held his mug. you sat next to him, your mug on the table next to you. you took it into your hands, smiling over the rim.

“thank you,” you said.

“‘course,” he smiled, locking his phone and picking up the remote, “what episode were we on before we fell asleep the other night? i don’t remember,”

you looked over at the tv in front of you, now noticing he had the show the two of you had been watching pulled up. you twisted your lips in thought.

“uhm, i think six? maybe seven?” you said, he clicked on six and after a few seconds you realized the two of you had guessed correctly.

at some point during the show, your head had ended up on his shoulder. his arm had pulled you closer into him, taking in the smell of his cologne and the shampoo he used. a scent you had grown to love, to look forward to every time he wrapped his arms around you to give you a hug, or whenever you were close enough to him to pick up on it.

at some point you had zoned out, thinking to yourself. maybe the reason all these dates hadn’t worked out was because they all lacked something. something no one else had other than lando, the boy who knew you like the back of his hand.

you shifted, moving to look at the boy with curly brown hair, his face illuminated by the soft glow of the tv. you took in the beauty marks that freckled his face, the ones he used to complain about when he was younger, but you always said it was your favorite thing.

maybe it wasn’t the fact that lando knew you like the back of your hand that turned you away from all the other men who’d swipe right on you. maybe it was the fact that they weren’t him.

you didn’t know when, but somehow you had fallen in love with the boy next to you. i mean, who could blame you? he was everything you could ever dream of, the perfect man.

he turned and met your eyes, his face inches from yours now. you smiled softly, his lips turning up in return. his eyes scanned yours and you took in a nervous breath when his eyes traveled to your lips.

“i’m sorry that date didn’t work out for you,” he said softly, “these guys really don’t know what they’re missing out on.”

you shrugged, “it’s okay,” your heart was hammering against your chest, questioning silently to yourself if he could hear it.

he couldn’t, but he could tell when he scanned your face that you didn’t really seem all that upset. he wasn’t really sorry, either, to be fair. it might’ve seemed selfish, but he always anticipated your ‘can you come get me?’ texts whenever he knew you were going out. he prayed the dates would fail, so he could finally be the one to take you out and do it properly. give you that fairytale kind of love you deserve.

he blurted out before his mind could even filter it, “can i tell you something?”

you hummed. fuck, there was no going back now.

“i’m kind of glad those dates haven’t worked out.”

you furrowed your eyebrows in question, “why’s that?”

“because i want to be the one to take you out,” his voice was soft and it sent your heart right into your throat, “all the fancy dinners, the kissing goodnight at the doorstep, all of it.”

his eyes traveled back to your lips and you sucked in a breath, “can i tell you something too?”

he nodded, his face centimeters away from yours now. your warm breath fanned his face, the smell of your perfume and the hair product you had put in hours beforehand captivating him.

“i want all of that with you, too.” you smiled and he grinned back, a soft laugh leaving both of your lips. he reached up, his hand lifting your chin.

“you sure you want to be stuck with me?” he asked, “cause once i start, i don’t think i could stop.”

your nose brushed against his, “i wouldn’t have it any other way.”

that was all it took until his lips were pressing against yours. you kissed him back, the hand that wasn’t holding your jaw reaching to your hip and pulling you closer, leaving no room between you as you climbed into his lap.

your hands threaded through the curls on the nape of his neck, his arms wrapping around you. a moment of complete bliss, the moment you’ve been waiting for for what felt like ages.

“lets go to bed, yeah?”

you nodded back, nose bumping his as your face wore a smile. he stood from the couch, hands supporting your thighs before letting your legs wrap around his torso. he carried you down the hallway, your face nuzzled into the crook of his neck.

he placed you down on the mattress, the two of you entangling limbs underneath the sheets. he played with the soft strands of your hair, his lips pressing against the top of your head as you listened to his heart beat against his ribs. existing in complete contentment with each others company.

“breakfast in the morning?” he asked softly.

you thought about it for a minute, turning to look at him. it was dark, but you could still make out his face, “sure, just as long as you don’t burn the toast.”

[cwritesforfun]

Art x Patrick x Tashi x Fem!Reader: Four Peas in the Pod

now hear me out... four people in a relationship ... this doesn't get too smutty (mainly just implied), sorry to disappoint ... you end up with all of them separately and together at least once in this oop... Bold and Italics from the movie *** I Do NOT own the lines from the movie or the characters *** I also did change the plot Y/N = Your Name

Masterlist

Tashi asks, "So how often does this happen?... Going after the same girl?" Patrick answers, "Not as often as you'd think actually." Tashi asks, "Really?" Art answers, "No, no we uh...we usually have different types." Tashi asks, "So you're saying I should be flattered? Art asks, "Aren't you everybody's type?" Tashi laughs and asks, "Was the last time with Y/N?" Art and Patrick exchange confused glances before Patrick asks, "How do you know Y/N?" Tashi asks, "Do you mean reigning mixed doubles tennis champion, Y/N? She literally plays with Ivan and they win almost every game they play together. Did you see that Ivan is moving and retiring? Y/N is out of her doubles partner. Are either of you stepping up?" Art asks, "How do you know all of this? Y/N hasn't said anything about it to us." Tashi smirks and replies, "Oh yeah we're best friends. We met at tennis camp 2 summers ago and we talk all the time... It seems like you two were replaced by me in her life." Patrick replies, "No, we weren't replaced... and if Y/N is your best friend, why is she not here right now supporting you?" Tashi answers, "Because she's competing in Florida dum dum." Art sighs and asks, "How did you know that the last time... that we ..." Tashi says, "That you two liked her?" Art shrugs and nods. Tashi exclaims, "Girls talk boys. You two came up and she promised me not to tell anyone. You two were involved, so I figured I could ask you about it. I want to know if you two actually liked her and if one of you is still hung up on her." Art points at Patrick and says, "He misses her." Patrick snaps, "Do not. You miss her." Tashi laughs and says, "I'm calling her real quick." Patrick asks, "Why?" Tashi answers, "I don't have to answer that."

((Start of Conversation)) Y/N - Hello? Tashi? Tashi - Hey Y/N. You'll never believe whose room I'm in. Y/N - Art and Patrick? Art already told me. Tashi - Omg he didn't tell me that. Art - I didn't think you knew Y/N when I told her. Y/N - *laughs* Oh sweet Art, there are not many bada** female tennis players out there. And the few out there are my friends. Patrick - I wouldn't call you bada** sunshine. Y/N - Ok Mr. Sour Puss Art - He's just angry you haven't texted him back...Ow Patrick that hurt. Tashi - They keep fighting about missing you and not missing you. I wanted to tell you and I wanted to be on the phone for you to find out. Y/N - Aw well I miss them. I would've been there this weekend if I wasn't competing. My last match with Ivan is today, he is retiring tomorrow. It's quite insane. Art - Why didn't you tell us? Y/N - You get sappy and Patrick would say I told you so. Patrick - I was thinking it but wasn't going to say it. At least not today. Tashi - So how is the week going? Y/N - Fine. We advanced to the finals. Patrick - Hey, I think Tashi likes you as well, Y/N. Why else would she call you before a threesome? It's some kind of foreplay for her. Art - Patrick really? Patrick - I'm just saying what we're all thinking. Y/N - See, Tashi, I told you they were like this. Ugh, I have to go, my Coach is calling me into the next room and I don't want her to be mad at me. But, you three have fun. I miss and love each of you. Bye. ((End of Conversation))

Tashi slaps Patrick's arm and says, "You weren't supposed to tell her that I liked her. I don't even know if she likes girls too." Patrick replies, "Y/N is pansexual. She likes everyone unless they're jerks, which you are not." Art replies, "Pretty sure Y/N doesn't want you spouting her private info like that." Patrick replies, "You're too sensitive, Art."

SKIP to one year later ~ Your POV

You invited Art, Patrick, and Tashi to your vacation home for the weekend. Your family wasn't on vacation with you and for that you were grateful.

You missed all three of your crazy friends. Patrick and Tashi were dating now, which seemed weird. Patrick stopped checking in with you as much and Tashi would explicitly tell you every detail of her sex life. You talked to Art when he felt alone, which was a lot and you visited him a few times at Stanford to "talk" in person. While you visited Art, you secretly visited Tashi to also "talk" in person.

You invited them all together because you had big news to share and wanted to see their reactions to it in person. You made sure there were plenty of drinks and food for the weekend. You even ordered robes with their first names on them as a keepsake. You were drunk when you ordered them one night and thought it would be cute.

You hear a car pulling into your driveway and you open your front door. You run down the steps and Art is the first one out of the backseat of the car. You run up to him first and hug him tightly. He says, "God I missed you." You reply, "I missed you too. Thank you for coming this weekend." He replies, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

You turn around and see Tashi. You open your arms and hug her tight. You say, "Thank you for being here. I missed you, Tashi." She replies, "Thank you for inviting me." You reply, "Of course, you're part of our group now whether you like it or not."

You turn to Patrick and say, "You don't text." He replies, "You don't text either." You smirk, he smirks, and then you hug him. He whispers in your hair, "I missed you, my Y/N." You reply, "I missed you too."

You lead them into the house and show them all of the rooms. You exclaim, "My parent's room is off-limits, but you can stay in any other room here. Toss your stuff upstairs then come down for dinner. I have something to tell all of you."

You rush off to the kitchen to prepare your surprise. You take the prosecco out of the fridge and grab 4 Red Solo cups. You do not trust your friends with glass. You pop off the cork and pour 4 equal cups.

Art walks into the room first and exclaims, "I guess I'm first." You reply, "I knew you would be." He asks, "Is ... is that a good thing?" You answer, "Yes, it means you're reliable and punctual. Those are both qualities I respect and admire." You notice his cheeks blush a little and you smile. Good to know you have the same affect on him after all this time.

Patrick and Tashi walk into the room next. You hand them each a cup and say, "Don't sip yet. I just need to tell you one thing then we can cheer to the news. I bought extra drinks for tonight too." They all look at you weirdly and you exclaim, "So all of you know that Ivan retired and moved last year, which meant I was in search of a new mixed doubles partner, right?" They all nod and you exclaim, "Well my parents complained that I need a back-up plan in case I really cannot find a replacement that I like, which has been the case. I don't mesh well with anyone so far, so I'm going to college... and I'm going to Stanford starting next year. I've been taking online classes this year to waive the basic courses, but I'll be in business management starting in August. We'll all be seeing each other a lot more now." All of their jaws drop and you say, "Stanford offered me a full ride for tennis and I'll be on the team. I don't know who will be my partner, but the coaches were adamant that I could find a match there. I mentioned that I knew you two, Art and Tashi. The Coach was pleased with that...So now we can cheer and drink to the future of us!" Art exclaims, "Congrats. Truly. I can't wait to see you next year." You smile and Tashi says, "Oh my god, we have to be roommates. I need one more person to sign onto my apartment. This is perfect. Oh wow, I'm excited. Congrats." Patrick says, "I'll be the only one not in the Stanford club now. It'll be good to see you again, Y/N." You smile and say, "Ok now drink! Drink!" They all smile and you all drink.

You show them the dinner you prepared, which features food that you know each of them likes. You all talk, laugh, and enjoy your dinner together. You also drink more. You bring drinks outside, so Patrick can smoke. It makes him happy, so you don't mind going outside to hang out with him for that. You choose to not smoke, you hate the feeling of it and how it leaves your brain feeling. That and the smell give you a horrible headache.

You're on the couch with Tashi passing the bottle between each other as Art and Patrick sit across passing a joint.

Patrick laughs to himself and asks, "Do you guys wanna know something funny?" You all stare at him expectantly and he says, "Every single one of us has hooked up with the whole group." Art asks, "Wait, Tashi and Y/N hooked up?" You laugh and say, "Yeah when Patrick spoiled that she liked me before you three made out, we talked and we hooked up at our next tournament. We also dated for a summer, which was chill. And we won all of our matches." Tashi replies, "Of course we won, we're winners at heart." You smile. Patrick asks, "I'm just thinking that I wouldn't be opposed to a foursome." You laugh at the thought and see all of them looking at you with serious faces. You say, "Wait, I thought he was kidding. You're all freaking me out." Art says tentatively, "Uh ... we might have thought that you invited all of us to hook up this weekend." Tashi adds, "And you said your parent's room was off-limits, but your room was wide open. We thought that meant we were all invited in." You reply, "I see how it sounded now... oh wow... I hadn't even considered it for this weekend." Patrick asks, "When did you consider it?" You answer, "You always call me on my sh** haha! I thought about it when you three called me that first time." Patrick replies, "God, you've been thinking about it for a year. That's kind of pathetic." You reply, "Believe it or not, but sex wasn't the only thing on my mind this year." Tashi adds, "It was sex and tennis." You laugh and pour more drinks.

The next morning, you wake up naked lying with Tashi wrapping her arms around you and Art on your other side. You see Patrick on the other side of Tashi too. You don't want to wake them, so you slowly sneak out of bed. You see a messy pile of clothes and smile.

You put on a robe and walk downstairs to the kitchen. You start the coffee machine and wait for it to be ready. You feel arms wrap around you and you smell Patrick. You lean against him and he starts talking in his husky morning voice, "I didn't get to cuddle with you because those two are needy, but I missed you more." You reply, "I missed you too. I'll text you more, I promise." He replies, "Good. I'm glad. Can you make me a coffee too?" You answer, "Sure, love." He kisses your head before hopping on the counter next to you. He's wearing his robe and he's smiling at you warmly. You make coffee for you two and you sit outside. You lean your head on his shoulder and you talk about your lives.

Art makes his way outside at some point with a coffee mug and he curls against your other side. You all talk and just laugh.

Tashi makes her way outside with coffee and starts complaining about tennis. She had to talk about tennis right now, didn't she? You can hear the boy's annoyance through their gritted teeth and tense posture.

You all go on a run around the water because Tashi doesn't want to miss a workout and then it's time for breakfast. You cook with Tashi and you all eat together outside.

The next two days repeat similarly: calm coffee with the boys, workout with Tashi, breakfast, tennis practice (how did Tashi find the one court within 15 miles of you?), lunch, tennis talk or sex, dinner, movies, sex, and sleep. It was a great weekend for you.

Things between you four stayed casual.

You moved in with Tashi, but you refused to have her put too much pressure on you. You set boundaries and rules with her, which seemed to anger her. She accepted it though. You now texted Patrick a lot and he visited Tashi when he wasn't competing. Art only visited when he visited, but you still kept in contact with Art. You were playing on the same team as Art, so you saw him at practice every day. You four were blissfully happy when it was just you four, no tennis talk, at night. But you noticed Art slowly falling for Tashi and she didn't even notice. Patrick didn't seem worried either.

You had a new partner and he was decent. You hoped that you both could get some wins for Stanford.

You didn't see Tashi's injury happen because you were playing a mixed doubles match two courts away, but you did hear the bloodcurdling screams. You had convinced yourself that it was nothing to be worried about, but you should have known something was up when you saw Patrick at your match in the audience. He was supposed to be supporting Tashi with Art in the audience.

After you finish, your Coach tells you that Tashi has been transported to the hospital and you ask to see her. Your Coach bans you from going because you have a match tomorrow and need to be ready for it. You don't have a car because you all took a bus, so you don't fight them even if it's taking everything in you to not go.

You find Patrick outside and walk up to him. You ask, "So uh what happened today?" He answers, "Tashi and I fought last night when she was trying to Coach me as we had sex. I was angry she wouldn't just focus on us. She must have cared at least a little because she tripped and tore her ACL. I went to see her to make sure she was okay, but she kicked me out and ended our relationship. Art then told me to get out because she allowed him to stay. I don't want to see them anymore. I wanted you to know because I hope we can still talk." You reply, "Of course, Patrick. You'll always have me... And if you ever decide you might want to try mixed doubles when I graduate, give me a call." He smiles and says, "I will... I'm going to leave town, but great job on your win." You reply, "Thanks." You hug him and he heads out.

You graduate with your business management degree in three years and help with several tennis wins along the way. Art and Tashi had cut Patrick out of their lives completely after her injury. They also started exclusively dating each other and got super weird. Tashi was still uptight about tennis and she would randomly try to kiss with you if Art was out. Art would talk your head off about his relationship and his overall feelings about life claiming that Tashi didn't care. He stayed loyal to Tashi... you didn't have the heart to tell him that Tashi had tried to kiss you a few times. You text Patrick some, but he seems busy, or at least he stops responding to you.

Tashi had asked if you wanted to live with her and Art, to which you refused. That was too awkward and you didn't like being the third wheel.

You move to NYC and start working with a new Coach that you had met at a random tournament when you were younger. You create routines that work for you, find a decent partner named Mario, and you start practicing. You get an invitation to Art and Tashi's engagement party, which you attend and it's beautiful. They seem happy to you.

You're in Atlanta when you see a few familiar names on the list for this tournament. You decide to see if they're already here and Mario follows you confused.

You see Art hitting the balls with Tashi yelling and throwing them. You see Patrick sitting and watching. It's then that everything happens ... Art sees you, Tashi sees you, Patrick sees you, and then they see Patrick. It's the first time all four of you have been in the same space in years. Mario asks, "Is this weird or just me?" You turn away and say, "Come on Mario, let's go practice." He follows you and replies, "I heard you three were friends at one point." You reply, "We were the best of friends, but sometimes you outgrow your friends." He replies, "You do... did I ever tell you..." Mario keeps rambling and you think about the good times you all had together. Things were good. Too good for that one year... well you have to admit the best time was that first weekend together.

You practice and practice.

Your Coach checks you into the hotel when you notice Patrick walk in. You get your key from your Coach and decide to say hi to Patrick because you really did miss him and you want to know why he stopped texting you. You walk up to Patrick who is with a girl and he looks to be shamelessly flirting with her. You laugh and exclaim, "Hi Patrick, I didn't know you would be here." The girl turns to you and asks, "Oh, you know him?" You answer, "Yeah, we're old friends." She replies, "Great, you can take my seat and catch up then. I'm sure that would be better than talking to me, bye." She rushes off and Patrick says, "Great, you just ruined my chances of sleeping in a hotel room tonight." You slump into the seat opposite him and say, "Oops well what can I say? I wanted to ask my old friend why he stopped texting me. You disappeared on me, Patrick." He sips his drink and says, "You seemed happier without me." You gasp and he adds, "Especially with Mario... have you two slept together yet?" You answer, "No, we're just friends and tennis players. We've never kissed nor do I want to kiss him." He replies, "Oh well I guess I just assumed you did. Sorry." You reply, "It's fine. I guess... Need a place to sleep? I don't want to have sex, but you can have half the bed. I mean if I lose first, you'll have to leave, but my Coach is hopeful that Mario and I will make it to the final." He asks, "Why would you do that for me? We haven't talked in years and you're angry with me." You answer, "It's plain and simple. I miss you and care about you, no matter what. Yes, I am angry about not texting, but now you're going to see how awesome I am and start texting again." He laughs and says, "You're funny, sure. I'll be right up. I need to pay my bill. What room are you in?" You answer, "Do not charge it to me, my Coach will throw a fit. But I am in room 312." He nods and you head up to the room.

You see a text from Tashi: Good luck this weekend. And a text from Art: Good luck this weekend. I hope we can see you at some point. I missed you.

An hour passes ~

There is a knock on the door and it's Patrick. He looks upset. It's best not to push him to speak. He's already barely talking to you. You let him in and he puts his stuff on the other side of the room. You say, "You can shower first if you want." He nods and asks, "You don't want to shower together, do you?" You answer, "Fine, sure."

After you lay in bed all cozy in pajamas, you finish setting your alarms and say, "I'm getting up at 6:00 am, so I'm sorry if I wake you." He replies, "It's okay. I'll need to be up anyway for check-in." You reply, "I'll leave a card for the room by your stuff, so you can come and go as you like." He replies, "Thanks, Y/N."

You turn off the lights and Patrick says, "Tashi cornered me in the bar and was all angry with me for being her. She told me not to mess with Art and we made out. I just wanted you to know." You reply, "Ok." But inside, you're screaming. You knew letting Patrick into your room meant something complicated. You just didn't know it meant this...

Every day passes in the same way, you wake up cuddling Patrick, you compete, you get back first, you bring him extra food, he gets back late, he eats, you have shower sex, and he confesses something random to you in the dark.

Tonight goes a different way... The lights have been off for five minutes and you have no idea if Patrick is going to say something. You ask, "How did your match go today?" He asks, "How did yours go?" You answer, "We advanced to the semi-finals." He replies, "I lost." You ask, "How long are you staying in town?" He answers, "I wanted to see you play at least once." You reply, "I play at 5:00 pm tomorrow." He replies, "Ok, and maybe we can talk about hanging out more later." You reply, "I would like that very much."

You win, Patrick is cheering for you, and you both talk that night about your lives.

You text Art and Tashi, but you them you don’t wanna see them this weekend outside of tennis.

You win the mixed doubles final and are immediately on a plane to Los Angeles for meetings with sponsors. You and Patrick were talking again. Patrick left when you did and he started the long drive to Los Angeles, so you two could hang out more.

Patrick moved in with you. He met Mario and they hit it off as friends.

Life seems to be happy again for a year.

And then it isn’t.

You get back from a tournament that you won with Mario and notice your house looks different. You see less pictures on the wall and less clutter. You notice your dog, Spots, run up to you and you pay his head. You run to your bedroom expecting to find Patrick only to find a note on the bed. You rush over and read it:

Hey Y/N ~ I’m sorry. I couldn’t do it. It felt too real. It’s scary. I don’t think I can commit to dating any longer. You are a winner and I’m not one. Be with a winner. If you need me, Tashi & I are running away together. We’ve been secretly together for years. Sorry for not telling you sooner. Oh and I left this morning. Spots had breakfast. Your grocery delivery arrived and I put it away. Xx- Patrick

You fall to your knees and cry. You get up and notice everything that Patrick had is gone. No trace of him remains, except him in group pictures. Why does he say he doesn’t care than he feeds Spots and deals with my groceries? I’m so confused and honestly angry.

You text Tashi: You deserve him. Don’t text again.

You text Patrick: You deserve her.

After a while, you hear a knock on your door, slide the letter into your back pocket, and wipe your tears a little before opening it. Outside are Art and Lily. Lily looks happy and Art looks defeated. You understand why. You feel the same way. You exclaim, “Hi Art and Lily. Um, what are you doing here?” Art exclaims, “I think we both know… but Lily here wants a sleepover and a sleepover is what she will have.” You laugh and say, “Well then welcome in. I hope neither of you is allergic to dogs, this is Spots. Spots is a 6-year-old Dalmation.” Lily excitedly asks, “Can I pet him?” You answer, “Yes, Spots loves to be pet. Here come inside, I’ll show you his favorite place.” Lily skips after you into your living room. You sit on the floor and Spots sits in front of you. You say, “Okay Lily, now that he is sat, you can pat his head. Once he likes you, he’ll flip onto his back and you can scratch his stomach. He also likes you if he gives you his paw.” Lily pets him and is excited.

Art asks, “Hey Lily, do you mind if I borrow Y/N for a second? We’ll be right over here. We just need to talk about grown-up things. You can let Spots.” Lily nods and you follow him across the room. You pull out the letter and ask, “Did you get one too?” He hands you his and answers, “Yeah. Here is mine.”

Art ~ I’m leaving with Patrick. We’re going on a trip. We’ve been seeing each other for years. He just plays tennis more passionately than you. Tell Lily that I will see her soon. I’m her mother, so I will return. The divorce papers are underneath this. Sign them and give them to Mr J this week if you can. I want the house. Also give Mr J the paternity test in the box. I want to know if you or Patrick is the real father of Lily. Xx Tashi

You exclaim, “That is horrible parenting.” Art replies, “Yeah well… she was a great parent at one point. Just not now. We still have the house, but I had to get out of there. It feels like it’s suffocating me. I assumed you got a letter, so I just told Lily we were going to visit you for a sleepover and she was happy… she likes Spots.” You smile and reply, “Spots is my emotional support dog and my best friend.” He replies, “Damn… I lost my best friend status.” You reply, “Sorry, you just got too attached to Tashi and your only conversation topics when we talked were her. It felt like I lost you.” He replies, “I should’ve opened up to you… I realize that now.”

You notice Lily run up to Art and she pulls his hand then says, “Daddy, I’m hungry.” Art sighs and you say, “I have food. We can cook up something. What are your favorite foods?” Lily answers, “Noodles and cheese and strawberries and chocolate and crackers and cakes.” You reply, “Let’s go see what I have in the kitchen then.” She asks, “Can I help?” Art says, “Lily, you can’t just do that.” You notice how defeated Lily looks and you reply, “I don’t mind, come on Lily. Let’s cook dinner. Art, there are two bedrooms upstairs. You can put you and Lily’s stuff in whichever one you prefer. You can also take a shower if you need too. Lily & I got this.” Lily looks up at Art and says, “Yeah Dad, we got this.” Lily takes your hand and you go to the kitchen with Spots running after you. You find the pasta and you let Lily help out a few times. She sits on the counter and you let her choose music. It’s some group that does piano covers of pop songs. Very odd choice for a kid, but better than Kidz Bop.

Art returns and you notice his hair is wait, so he must have taken you up on your offer. You’re glad. He looked rough when he walked in.

You sleep on the couch the next couple of nights. You can’t sleep in your bed without thinking of Patrick and you in that bed.

You’re reading in the living room and you hear your name spoken in a small voice. You see Lily standing there and she is in her pajamas holding her teddy bear. You say, “Hey Lily, sweetie, do you need something?” Lily asks, “Can I sleep with you tonight? Daddy never used to kick, but this week he is. He is annoying me. I want to sleep.” You answer, “Sure, let’s go to my room.”

You text Art: Lily is with me. If you wake up and worry about where she is.

You then walk with Lily to your room and you ask, “Is it okay if Spots sleeps in the bed too?” She answers, “Yes. I want doggy cuddles.” You laugh before helping Lily on the bed. You then make sure Spots’ ladder is set for him to climb onto the bed. He runs over to Lily and licks her face causing her to laugh. You yawn and say, “If he does something you don’t like, tell him to stop, okay?” Lily answers, “Okay.”

You fall asleep fairly quickly and you wake up to your arm being shaken. You see Lily and she says, “We should make breakfast in bed for my dad.” You forgot that kids have wild sleep patterns and also will disrupt your sleep. Great. You say, “Okay, let’s do it. What does he eat for breakfast?” Lily answers “Eggs and fruit and smoothies. But I like pancakes more.” You reply, “Okay let’s go see what we have.”

You text Art: If you read this after you get up, stay in bed. Trust me. Lily wants to make you breakfast in bed.

You help Lily carry Art’s breakfast in bed and you deliver it to his room. Lily goes back downstairs to get her food and she says she can do it by herself. You let her and hope for the best. Luckily Spots stays next to you, so you feel better that he won’t steal her food. As she’s gone, you exclaim, “Uh sorry about stealing her. She found me last night and complained about you kicking in bed… she also woke me up asking to make you breakfast. I texted and I’m assuming you saw that because you’re still in bed. I didn’t want to leave a note. I thought it would be too soon. But I felt a text was the right in-between thing.” Art replies, “Yeah thanks for the text. I was stressed for a second, but I heard her voice downstairs too… and thanks for being so great with her. I know you didn’t ask for this right after a break-up.” You reply, “It’s been a great distraction.” He replies, “Good, I’m glad… the movers should be taking Lily and I’s out of our house today then we’ll be gone soon.” You ask, “Why don’t you both stay here until you find a new house? I don’t mind the company and you’re both sweet.” He blushes a little and just then Lily walks in. Art helps her onto the bed with her food and asks, “So Lily, remember how I told you we were moving?” She nods and Art asks, “How about staying here with Y/N and Spots until we find a place for just us?” She smiles widely and says, “Yay! I like Y/N and Spots. I finally get to have a pet dog. Does this make Y/N my new mommy?” Oh … She looks between you and Art before saying, “Daddy, I thought you liked Y/N. She’s very pretty and she lets me cook. She has a dog! And she let me stay with her in bed! And her bed stayed in the bed too!” You laugh and Art says, “Let’s just call her Y/N for now.” Lily frowns and eats her breakfast.

You leave to go eat your breakfast and Spots follows you. You eat at your table outside and let Spots roam the backyard. You hear the door open and Lily is there. She asks, “Can I play with Spots?” You answer, “Yes, put some shoes on first. You don’t want to hurt your feet.” Lily returns with her shoes on and Art behind her. Lily skips off the deck and to Spots where she starts chasing him. You look over at Art who looks nervous, so you say, “You know you can sit down, Art. I promise I don’t bite.” He replies, “You did that once… oh sorry for saying that…” He sits down and says, “Tashi was never close with Lily. She never let her cook or get a dog either. Lily just wants to be a kid and I thank you for letting her do that.” You reply, “Of course, Art. She deserves it. She is a good kid.” He places his hand over yours and rubs his thumb along the back of it before saying, “Sometimes I think about if I had chosen you instead of Tashi… if we had dated and if you were my wife and the mother to my kid who may not even be my kid.” You place your hand on his and say, “Art, don’t beat yourself up about the past between us… you have been more of a parent to Lily than Tashi was. She even left her with you. Even if you aren’t her dad, you’re the best father figure she’s going to ever have.” You notice tears in his eyes and you reach over to hug him. He cries into your shoulder for a while. Lily runs over and asks, “What happened to Dad?” You answer, “I think he just needs a hug. Lily, why don’t you give your dad a hug?” You let go of him to hug her and she says, “I love you dad. No more crying. Be happy.”

Art and Lily move in officially later in the week. Art asks to join you two together in bed and Lily makes him pinky promise not to kick. He sleeps on the other side of you and Spots is cuddled against Lily. You sleep very peacefully and it's nice.

You and Art never talk about the break-up, which is fine. But when you return to work, you talk to your friends and go out with them to confide in someone. They now hate Patrick.

When you get back home after a long day, you drop your bags in your bedroom and hear, "Hey uh Y/N, I got you these." You see Art standing there with roses and he's dressed up. You say, "Thanks, Art. What are you all dressed up for?" He answers, "I uh found a babysitter for tonight, so we could go have dinner just the two of us." You ask, "So like a date?" He answers, "If you don't want it to be one, no. If you do, yes." You reply, "I do want it to be a date." He smiles and replies, "Great, uh the babysitter should be here in 30 minutes and we'll head out after that." You nod.

You get ready for dinner and you leave with Art to a nice Italian restaurant where you both eat yummy pasta. You also drink some wine and you talk. It's nice to be together.

Now, Art stays in your bed every night and you cuddle. Lily has her own bedroom and Spots stays with her at night. You're happy.

Art's divorce is finalized and you get married the next day at the courthouse with Lily present. You go on a honeymoon to Hawaii :)

[equallyshaw]

star crossed lovers, pt 2 | connor bedard

↳ oc hughes sister x connor bedard x brendan brisson + blurb + tiny insta post

↳ au masterlist!

takes place in 2026 with a connor sighting!

warnings: swearing

word count: 4.7K

Two households, both alike in dignity...

oh that love story that was too good to be true, so beautiful and soft and wholesome; was never meant to last. romeo and juliet had truly run their course it seemed. though originally, weren't they destined to be together forever, and never see the fate that the original story predicted?

maybe her brothers were right, kailey thought as soon as it happened. he dug the sword deep into her heart, twisted, and then pulled away. it was if they'd never been together. as if they hadn't spent the last three years together.

but was it the end for miss hughes? was it the end of her journey in finding love with a powerful and notable name within the world of hockey?

◦

These violent delights have violent ends

And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, Which as they kiss consume.

kailey pushed jack a bit as soon as entered the kitchen in the townhouse her two brothers shared in jersey. she quickly made her way over to the coffee machine and put a nespresso pod in, smiling once the humming of the machine began. she pulled out her phone and opened connor's message that popped up, and she wished she hadn't. she stared at the screen, allowing it to fade to black. "kails!" jack said hurrying over and putting a towel down, as the expresso spilled over the too small cup. she didn't move. he looked down at her, not understanding why she wasn't moving. he sighed, wiping the counter in front of her, before he heard her whisper. "he broke up with me." jack thought his mind was playing tricks on him, "funny kails." he said turning around to finish making his breakfast. "he br-broke up with me." she said again, louder and more clear. he looked back at her before taking two steps to catch her as she fell backwards, out of shock. he quickly brought her to the ground, holding her closely as she sobbed.

24 hours ago, the two were planning on what they wanted to do for their almost 1 year anniversary.

how could things change in 24 hours?

luke rushed in as soon as he heard sobs, and the look that jack gave him was more than he needed, he knew exactly what happened. the three brothers couldn't have seen this coming from a mile away, they didn't see this happening. ever. they thought that connor was the one, that one that made it past their hard exteriors. the one that had made his way into all of the hughes hearts.

oh how the universe and shakespeare could be so cruel.

◦

thankfully, kailey was finished with school and had graduated a few weeks before the breakup. so she thought long and hard on where she wanted to be, and who she wanted to be. dawning a new hair color and a will to pull herself out of heartbreak, she settled on sunny california. she moved to redondo beach in los angeles county, moving in with her cousin maya - a longtime family friend of the hughes that dated back to her mom's hockey days at college. the three brothers were crushed to see her leaving so early in the summer, and forgoing the lake house in michigan but she knew she needed to go. or else she'd never leave.

it was around 3 months later, late july when kailey reunited with a very old family friend. brendan brisson, out of the blue showed up at her and maya's apartment for a sunday brunch they were throwing. he came with his brother, and at first they did not recognize her because of her new hair color. since she'd been in california, she hadn't had the inkling or draw to post anything on social media. hence, people were relatively concerned as to what she was up to. sure, her family knew through text messages and private snapchats, but other than that- she'd ghosted the world. she also got off Instagram and twitter, not relishing in the fact that connor was off seeing other people. mere carbon copies of the girl, pre brunette. she hated seeing people tag her in things, hated seeing it come up naturally because of how much she used to look up his name; for shits and giggles she used to say.

that sunday morning though, after grabbing a cup of coffee from redondo beach pier, and a walk up and down it- she retweeted something. which let me tell you, alerted the hockey world and hockey twitter. i mean, the sheer power they held when they were together was out of this world. two great hockey names - connected in a magical way, how could they not? people adored seeing them together and that retweet cemented the breakup, which people had been suspecting for some time. she redownloaded Instagram, archiving her pictures with connor, not able to part with them just yet. she then opened up her groupchat with the boys, ripping the canadian boy to shreds. she'd simply put him into an early grave, by her word choice. she woke up with a vengeance this morning, her brothers thought as 6 messages - paragraphs - came in. her brothers agreed with every last word she sent, they were absolutely dumbfounded and out of this world angry when connor broke up with her via text. and without cause. their original thoughts about guys came back in an instant. they would do everything in their power to steer away boys, if luck would have it. nobody would ever be good enough. though she was a california gal now, they couldn't protect her. though - as much as quinn hated to ask for a favor - the boys had asked trevor and alex keep tabs on her on that side of the coast. the two without hesitation agreed, with trevor making a joke at quinns expense.

they were hoping they could sleep a little easier at night.

but as soon as brendan saw her, he quickly pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. "oh my god - blondie! wait no." and kailey giggled, "you're good! i haven't really updated social media so you wouldn't have known." she smiled widely, before hugging jordan. "how do you know maya?" she asked, "new hampshire, remember?" jordan said and kailey grinned. "should have known. those were...uh the good days." she hummed, drinking her iced expresso. "let me show you to the kitchen." she said motioning for them to follow. they walked into the kitchen, the two looking at the buffet of food. "any coffee? i can make it right now." she smiled, and the two smiled. "im good, im gonna go find maya real quickly." he said walking away so now it was just jordan and the girl.

"how's school?" he asked, pulling her out of her trance. "great! i just graduated" she smiled, and he mirrored it. "congratulations, kails! what did you major in again?" he asked and she smiled, "child psychology." she hummed. his smile never faltered, "that would be you. i remember as kids how much you cared for kids on the lake, and they just flocked to you." he said and it was as if they were both brought back to that time when the days never seemed to end, and sunburns were a regular occurrence. "yeah..im very fortunate things worked out the way they did. gave me this wonderful opportunity to start fresh out here." she said sipping some more of her drink. "oh..yeah. totally understandable." he said picking up her drift, "you knew?" she asked and he nodded. "yeah...jack said something in the group chat when it happened. im sorry about everything, that was real shitty of him. you didnt deserve that." he said sweetly. she shrugged chugging down the rest of the coffee, "good thing I've got nobody watching my every move, anymore." she smirked, leaning closely towards brendan before sliding over the his cup of coffee.

◦

“Then I defy you, stars!” 

jordan ended up leaving at some point in the afternoon, while brendan and kailey spent the day together catching up. the two had always been easy to get on with and used to be thick as thieves during the lake days. she'd never told any of her brothers - because god forbid if she did so - but she had had a crush on him for a few summers. it absolutely crushed her, when he got his first girlfriend in 8th grade and then they never came back to the lake house, so her crush disappeared. she'd never known this nor her brothers, but brendan too had had a crush on the girl.

the two sat on the white plush couch in the living room, as the sun was setting. maya had left some time ago to hang out with a friend and do some errands while kailey opted to stay in for the day. kailey and brendan were in the process of laughing, as kailey got a text message. she pulled up her phone from where it was laying on her thigh, and her demeanor visibly changed. it was a text from connor, asking why she retweeted the tweet this morning. brendan saw her eyebrows crease in confusion, before she shook her head and locked her phone. "let me guess..connor?" he questioned and she nodded. "the fucking nerve.." she sighed, pinching her nose. she stood up grabbing the two empty glasses from the coffee table, and made her way over to the kitchen. brendan followed, "the nerve he has! we've been broken up for three months already and he's upset i tweeted something about being respected by a significant other? whats so wrong about that? he's just upset because im calling him out for it, publicly at that." she said setting the cups in the sink. "don't i deserve respect?" she asked turning around to face the boy. he nodded, walking over to her and leaned against the counter. "you deserve that and so much more. he's got a stick up his ass, that's for sure." he began, "don't ever lower your standards because of him. he's an idiot. he's the one who did that, the one who double crossed you for no reason." he finished as kailey met his eye. "wish i heard that sooner." she hummed, crossing her arms over her chest. she looked down at the ground, "well...im saying it now. and i mean it." he said softly taking a step closer and lifted up her chin just a bit with his hand. she looked into his brown eyes. one's she adored as a kid, and now looking into his- something sparked within. a spark she hadn't felt for some time, long before connor. he took this as an invitation to close the gap between them.

oh, how the universe laughs. or hockey gods.

◦

it was now two weeks later, and brendan had kailey in his arms this early morning. the two had stayed up talking about anything and everything that came to their minds. they talked about their childhood, laughing over the fact that they both had crushes on one another but never suspected it. they smiled as the other one brought up conversations and significant memories, both happy that the other hadn't forgotten. this morning, she was savoring the warmth and comfort his body oozed, because he'd be starting back up early morning training again. he'd taken two weeks off due to a stress sprain, and now that it was fixed he would be resuming his schedule. "wanna see my parents today?" he softly asked, as he felt her beginning to hum from tiredness. she nodded her head, against his chest and he smiled. "they've been asking about you since i told them i was going to brunch." he hummed, and she slowly pulled her head up from his chest to look at him, "still the favorite hughes, eh?" she grinned before he leaned down to kiss her. his hand found the base of her neck, and the other found the base of her back. she wrapped her hands around his neck, getting as close as possible. they broke the kiss, resting their foreheads against one another.

kailey had a wave of deja vu, pass over her. making her nauseous.

she pulled away from brendan, pulling her phone to her chest, and saw a missed facetime from each of her brothers, and she sighed pressing quinns contact. she sat up, and inched away from brendan so he wouldn't be in the shot. "hey q, whats up?" she questioned, pulling him from whatever jack was saying. "hey uh, i take it you didn't see yet.." he said and that's when he heard jack yelling on the other end. "what do you mean q? why is jack yelling?" she said rubbing her eye, and quinn sighed sending her a screenshot of the instagram post. she clicked on his text and swallowed, anger seething from her. how could she betray her? her friend lisa from college in chicago was in connor's instagram post, somewhere in toronto. she quickly opened up instagram to lisa's page and she was even more angrier. she had been soft launching for almost 3 months already...that traitor. lisa was the one all along, the one that had been seen in pictures but kailey had never paid too much attention to the fact it was the same girl! she hung up on quinn, quickly locked her phone and turning on dnd. "whats wrong?" brendan asked, setting his phone down and pulling her into his chest as he sat up. "he-he's been seeing my friend from school." she said but she didn't cry. she was just angry, and disappointed. how naive she'd been. "im sorry kails." brendan said softly. he felt terrible for kailey, somebody he cared deeply about. and he knew she cared about him just as deeply. but maybe not in the way that he believed.

"lets just uh, lets get going. we should head over so were not late." she said pulling away and getting up to shower. she quickly took a body shower, hopping out to brush her teeth and moisturize before heading into her closet to find an outfit. brendan came up and wrapped his arms around her, as she inspected her outfit. they looked at one another in the mirror, as she finished inspecting, and she smiled once they found each other's gaze. "you ok?" he whispered, and she nodded giving him a small smile. "yes. thankyou for uh, being here with me these past two weeks. it means more than you'll ever know." she hummed, turning around in his arms. he grinned, leaning down and kissing her. deeply. she melted into his arms just a bit before pulling away. "lets get going b." she said pulling him out of her small walk in closet.

-

"kailey!" kim cheered, as the two walked through the doors of the brisson's manhattan beach mansion. "kim!" she smiled, disconnecting the twos hand as kim pulled her into a hug. kim swayed her just a bit, "oh my goodness! we've missed you so much sweetie, congratulations on graduating! i saw the pictures, they were just perfect." she said pulling back a bit and kailey smiled. "thankyou! had the best photographer." she hummed and kim smiled. "your mom has always been a fucking gem when it comes to pictures. they were just to die for and chicago being the backdrop? timeless." she fawned and kailey giggled. "thankyou!" she smiled, seeing mr brisson walk from the kitchen. "kiwi!" he yelled with a huge grin on his face, and kim let go of the girl. "pat! so good to see you." she smiled as he pulled her in for a hug. "you too! congrats on graduating, heard you finished with honors." he said pulling away, and kailey nodded. "yep! perfect 4.0. to which jack sent 4 dollars exactly, as his gift." she joked, causing the family to laugh. pat shook his head as he could just picture jack doing it, and so could kim. "your hair! oh my god! i love it, it looks so good." kim smiled, looking over the girl. kailey smiled, "thankyou! thought a little change could be good." she hummed and the brissons nodded. "well, breakfast just finished lets go eat!" pat offered and the three nodded. "good, im starvin!" kailey said rubbing her hands together, "good, we made your favorite!" kim said wrapping an arm around the girls shoulders, making her feel right at home. again.

Kailey and brendan ended up staying the full day at the brissons, catching up and reminiscing over the lake days. it was around 7 when jordan and brisson begged kailey to go get froyo and walk the pier at santa monica. "go! have fun, we'll get together soon." kim smiled, and kailey nodded hugging the two goodbye and then they were off. kailey got in the passenger side, and jordan got in the back. kailey quickly leaned into brendans shoulder, and there hands found each others as well. she looked back at jordan, and he quickly snapped a picture. she rolled her eyes with a small grin on her face. the three sat through traffic, singing loudly to whatever music she put on shuffle. a little bit of everything, which the boys loved. they finally made their way to santa monica and parked right in front of the frozen yogurt place. after that, they walked down to the pier and she stopped at one of the shops that was selling books and other knickknacks, getting a book to read at some point. they walked down the pier for the next hour, with brendan taking a sunset pic of the girl with her book who had the biggest smile of her face, at whatever dumb joke jordan had just said. on their way back to her apartment in redondo beach, she posted that sunset picture on her instagram story.

it broke hockey twitter.

"im gonna walk her in and then ill be out." brendan said to jordan who nodded, and the two got out. he walked her up to the townhouse, two blocks over from the pier. "thanks for today brendan, i had a lot of fun." she smiled, turning towards him at the door. "me too, thanks for being a trooper. i thought my parents would never stop talking." he joked, and she grinned. "no i loved it, it felt like home. like old times. it was comforting. with my parents being far, it's nice knowing that they are out here." she hummed and he nodded. "im glad." he smiled. she could tell he wanted to say more to her, but was fighting himself on how to begin. "just say whatever it is you want to say." she said grinning, pulling her free hand in his. he blushed, looking at the ground. "these past two weeks have been...everything i'd wanted since we were little younglings. and i don't want to go back to vegas in a few weeks, not knowing what we are or if we might have missed an opportunity....to see where things might go." he said looking up at her with hopeful eyes. she bit her lip, thinking hard. she liked brendan, and always had secretly; but was she ready to date again? she didn't want to become the laughingstock of the NHL family sphere. going from one player to the next, but shouldn't she at least attempt to move on? even if it was with another player?

brendan saw the hesitation in her features, and accepted defeat. he was about to say something but kailey spoke up. "i want nothing more than to say yes but what will my brothers say? what will the hockey world say? going from one guy to the next? i don't want to become the laughingstock, besides- my brothers don't deserve that. they don't deserve to take any heat from or about me. besides..i don't want to ruin our years-long friendship b." she said hoping he understood, and he did. "give me a few days, let me go take some time in chicago and ill let you know. ok?" she said with a pleading look. he nodded softly, "thankyou." she said pulling him in for a hug. her arms found his neck, his arms found her back; drawing her in as close as possible. incase, he'd never have her in his arms again.

◦

she arrived in chicago two days later, her best friend becca from college and lukas reichels' fiance, as well as alex vlasics wife tessa were waiting for her at the pickup area. she strolled her suitcase and carry on towards the arrivals area, and smiled widely when she saw the two holding a small bouquet of peonies and a dunkin coffee. they jumped up and down, as they saw her. she began to jog over towards them before they wrapped their arms around one another. "oh my god!!" kailey shrieked when they held out her iced americano and flowers towards her, while tessa took her bag and suitcase. "guyssss im gonna cry." she said with tears in her eyes. "we couldn't come empty handed." tessa cooed, as she wrapped an arm around the girl, with kailey taking the gifts from becca. the three girls walked out to the car that was waiting at the curb, that sat alex and lukas. "oh my god!" she said smiling widely when she saw the two leaning against the audi. "kails!" lukas said smiling and quickly hugging her, and then alex joined creating a group hug. tessa snapped a quick picture as kailey just laughed. "thankyou guys for coming to get me, i appreciate it very much." she smiled widely, as lukas opened the door for her and tessa. "you are very welcome hughesy." alex grinned as he opened the other door for becca. "where to first?" she quipped.

-

the three girls headed towards becca's and lukas' guest bedroom in their chicago townhouse, ready to bombard the girls with questions over her california life. kailey had been awfully quiet the past month and they were curious what had been going on. "girl! what have you been up to?? we wanna know everything!" tessa squeled as she shut the door behind them. kailey blushed while throwing a small smile towards her best friends. "did you meet a guy??" becca smirked, and kailey shrugged. "did he take the one sunset pic?" tessa joined in, sitting across from kailey on the bed. kailey grinned, "I've known him for sometime now....I've known him since we were kids." she began and the girls looked at one another. "who is it?" becca asked. "brendan brisson." she stated, and the two girls thought about who that could be. "wait! was he at usntp?" tessa questioned, and kailey nodded. "oh my god i remember him! isnt his dad like THE agent in hockey? doesn't he work with your dad?" tessa rambled and kailey giggled. "yes...we arent like officially together but somethings there. i just don't know if i want to pursue it. like, i don't want people to create narratives that were never true to begin with." she said putting her face in her hands, feeling defeated. "to hell with what everybody says. if you're happy and you see something with him, go for it." becca said and kailey shrugged. "but my brothers....what are they gonna think? they're gonna kill me." she said tessa forehead creased, "do they not know that you two have been spending time together?" tessa questioned and kailey shook her head. tessa and becca looked at one another, sharing silent words.

-

she spent the next week in chicago, reminiscing and growing fond of the memories she'd made the past four years. they caught up, spent quality time together and thankful that nothing from her past had shown up or crossed paths with the three girls. kailey did not need that, at all. she face timed nightly with brendan, him curious at to what shenanigans that three were getting up to. she'd been to 2 concerts, numerous museum trips, countless trips up and down the lakefront, and shopping galore. kailey woke up around 8 am, getting herself put together before heading down stairs. she jogged down the steps, and headed to the kitchen. it was too late, before she realized who was in the kitchen. lukas and connor were laughing at something, that happened at a gym session that morning.

connor caught the footsteps on the stairs first, and then the brunette hair second. he did a double-take, before realizing it was kailey. kailey was on the phone with brendan, before she spotted connor and froze. "ill uh, ill call you back." she said hanging up before brendan could respond. "morning kails." lukas said sipping some coffee, curious to see what was going to happen. "morning lukas." she hummed, heading to the fridge to grab a bottle of water, and her breakfast from the day before. she quietly worked as the two hockey players looked at each other, "ill be right back. im gonna take penny outside." lukas said calling for the small dog, and now it was just the two.

"how have you been?" connor asked as she put the food in the microwave. kailey took a few seconds to respond before turning around. oh, how good he looked. curse the hockey gods. his hair was still wet from the shower, his blue eyes meeting hers and what felt like a sense of deja vu washed over the girl. "I've been good. you?" she questioned, heading over to the expresso machine and began to mess around with the machine. she banged the expresso on the counter, before sliding it into the spot to pour over. "yeah real good. just got back to the city a week ago." he responded, and she nodded. "that's real nice." she hummed, as the microwave beeped. "hows california?" he asked and she sighed, pulling the container out. "its been nice. beautiful as always." she hummed, pulling a few pieces of hair behind her ear. she looked back up at him, "been doing everything i haven't been able to do for a few years." she said, a dig at the boy. he nodded feeling dread wash over him, as her phone began to ring again. she looked over at where it was on the counter, and she let it go to voice mail. she'd text brendan at some point. "hows lisa?" she quipped, biting into her burrito. connor swallowed tensely, "shes good. just started at lurie children's hospital." he said and hailey nodded. "that's nice." she hummed, walking over to the finished expresso and brought it back over to her food.

connor and kailey's tension could be cut through with a knife. even then, it might not even work. "when did you change your hair?" he asked, a few minutes later. "right after you texted me, I thought id try on a different personality." she said sarcastically, "apparently the last one wasn't good enough." she hummed, picking up her container, coffee and phone. connor sighed, "kails-" she cut him off, by turning back to him with a glare. "don't you ever call me that again, so help me god connor." she spat. he was defeated, he knew that much. she turned back and headed back upstairs.

oh how she loathed that boy, who threw away almost 2 years of pure bliss. pure romance. something out of this world. kailey did find out what changed, in those 24 hours and swore she'd place a dagger in their hearts at some point. his last words mere hours before, echoed his love, pure and committed adoration for the blonde. but like life, it can change in a mere moment.

“Do not swear by the moon, for she changes constantly. then your love would also change.”

◦

kailey sat down on the airplane, about to depart chicago and bring her to sunny los angeles. oh how she'd missed her home, and somebody that was waiting ever so patiently for her to return. she smiled, posting her photo dump from the summer. her first post since march. she deleted her instagram after responding to a few comments, allowing for the chaos to consume the hockey fandom. she turned her phone on airplane, drowning herself with music for the next 4 hours, not daring to look at the messages waiting for her when she landed.

“Don't waste your love on somebody, who doesn't value it.” 

◦

oh, what the universe and all of its stars had instore for the young hughes and the bright superstar.

-

@kaileyclara: little bit of this, little bit of that.

tags: tessavlasic, beccamuprhy, jordanbrisson and laurenorlando

-

@trevorzegras: wait a min @jackhughes: wait a damn minute @kaileyclara: can yall leave @trevorzegras: no im too busy inspecting every single detail of this post

@_quinnhughes: hughes sighting! @kaileyclara: hehe

@lhughes_6: who gave u flowers @kaileyclara: idk @jackhughes: to the gc! @_quinnhughes: already there @kaileyclara: i hate yall

@tessavlasic: I loved having you here bestie, i need to come out soon! @kaileyclara: i second this!

@beccamurphy: loml returned ! @kaileyclara: i thought that was lukas? @beccamurphy: he's my second love @lukasreichel: alright.

@brendanbrisson: im here for the hair @jordanbrisson: so am i @jackhughes: im not @kaileyclara: fuck off

@mayaaa: maybe u r a slut @kaileyclara: and that would be a fucking lie ! @mayaaa: 😚😚

@adamfantilli: orlando sighting? @kaileyclara: yes! toronto days hit hard @laurenorlando: still salty you guys moved @kaileyclara: me too @johnnyorlando: absolutely rude

hope you all enjoyed it, please like and reblog if you did-- id appreciate it very very much🥺 oh, and ofc i will have one more part to finish up this little series (:

mutuals from previous part : @privatemythss @boldysswld @trevorzegrizz @jayda12 @simp4hughes @skatesnstuff @slafgoalskybaby @cuttergauthier

[thefallennightmare]

Hi, I love your headcanons so much!! I'm sorry if it's closed, but I could ask for a hc where Noah dates an actress reader?

@thescarlettvvitch @mitchhbitch @missduffsblog @hayleylatour @sleepyomens @loeytuan98 @artificialbreezy @marvelousmal @bngurngheart @lma1986 @dsireland86 @wild-child-7747 @calleyx13 @illmakeyousaywow @jaded-and-hollow-souls @exitwoundsx @shayzillaaaa @lookwhatitcost @badomensls @princesspeach-00 @burning-outx @shadowseve @collective-heartbreak @klutzy-kay24 @sorrowsofsilence @sweetlittlekitsune @shilohrosechicken @itsafullmoon @toospooktocute @niicoleleigh

The two of you first met when you stared in their music video, The Fountain.

You were an old friend of Nicholas', and he knew how you wanted your start as an actress so Bad Omens offered you the spot in their music video.

Noah was captivated by your beauty that whole day, the flirting between the two of you was heavy.

The two of you were dating soon after that and a few years later, you earned some roles in small shows and commercials. Your name was out there, just not as big as you'd like.

There were days you wanted to give up but Noah was always there to cheer you on.

Especially when you finally landed that big role. It was for an upcoming movie that was the talk of Hollywood.

You were nervous because you were staring and if you nailed it, this would give you that final push you needed.

While Noah was away on your and you were on the other side of the world filming, the two of you were talking on the phone.

"Noah, you can go to sleep. I don't want to keep you up," you giggled when he let out another yawn while rubbing his eyes.

You could tell he was on the tour bus, the curtain of his bunk in the background. He had one air pod in his ear while he snuggled into the pillow.

"I'm fine, angel. We can keep running lines."

"But I don't want to keep you up," you frowned.

You also were so nervous about filming later today that you called him to run lines; two hours ago. You had the lines down perfectly, you could recite them in your sleep.

You also didn't want to hang up because you missed his face. It'd been almost two months since you saw him because of your busy schedules and you wouldn't be home for another month once filming wrapped.

People were amazed that the two of you were still together all these years later, especially with the opposite schedules and your career choice.

"She kisses other people!" Someone said to Noah one day when he told them what you did.

Your heart warmed when Noah stood up for you. "It's her job. It doesn't bother me."

A year later, when your movie finally premiered, Noah was there with you to walk the red carpet; even though he was a private person. He wanted to be there to show his support.

He was your number one fan.

[thaliathewriter]

hi <3 id like to request a neteyam x reader if that’s ok :)

maybe it could be a human reader and she has a phone and he asks about it and she just kind of shows him social media (e.g tiktok) and the phone and whatever? anything along those lines would be great. hopefully that make sense, thank you 💗

hi :) thank you sm for requesting, this was really fun writing. I thought this concept was so cute and funny, I hope you enjoy this story <3

warnings: none just fluff

Cuter Than Me?

After what felt like hours tending to the wounded who came back from the train carriers (idk what to call that scene), I was exhausted. I healed the last wounded and started walking back to my pod where I shared a home with the rest of the humans who were allowed and welcomed to stay with the Omaticaya clan. I got back and saw Lo’ak, Spider, and Kiri in the lab. 

“Hey (y/n)!” Kiri said cheerfully, they all turned to greet me. “Hey guys” i answered back, I turned to Lo’ak and hit him on the head not hard, but enough to hurt, “Hey what was that for (y/n)” he asked while rubbing his head, “that's for putting your brother in danger, what the hell were you thinking?” I scolded him. 

“I’m sorry okay, please don’t scold me, I heard enough of it from dad already.” he looked down. I know how overbearing Jake can be on him so I decided to just let it go, “Okay okay but promise me you’ll be more careful, speaking of careful, are you okay?” I placed my hand on his shoulder and looked at him searching for any open wounds. 

He chuckled lightly “I’m fine (y/n), and yes, I promise to be more careful, and don't worry your boyfriend is just fine.” he says referring to his older brother with a playful smirk. I hear Kiri and Spider laughing, I feel my face heat up, “Shut up Lo’ak he is not my boyfriend,” I reply, yes he was but they didn’t need to know that. Me and Neteyam decided to keep us private for now. “Yeah, not yet” Kiri says and they all start to laugh.

I roll my eyes ``Whatever you guys have fun, I’m gonna go lay down playing eywa today was very exhausting.” I say while exiting the lab. I finally made it to my room and changed out of my dirty clothes and finally landed on my bed with huff. I saw my phone on my night stand and decided to go on it. 

I was scrolling mindlessly until I heard my bedroom door open. As soon as I recognized who it was I felt a smile creep up on my face, “Neteyam” I said in a soft tone, “Hi my love” he smiled and replied. I got up and greeted him with a warm hug. It didn't last long because I pulled back examining his body for any wounds. He chuckled lightly and held my hands “I’m okay my love, I promise” 

I squeezed his hands and replied “thank eywa, I’m sorry, I’m just worried I heard what happened at the train wreck with your brother.” He nods and chuckles “News sure does travel fast, I don’t want to remember that though, I just want to be with my girl right now” he gently takes my face into my hands and kisses my lips softly.

 I yelp in surprise as he lifts me up and walks us to my bed. He falls down onto my bed and I land on top of him, I laugh and peck his lips once more before crawling off of him even though he protested for me not to. I didn’t want to either, but I didn’t want anyone walking in on us in that position. 

We were cuddling and playing around with each other on my bed when my phone started to ring. The vibration from my phone vibrated my bed and startled Neteyam, he immediately jumped off my bed, dragging me with him. He puts me behind him and prepares himself to fight the unknown “danger” he thought we were in. I soon realized his reasoning behind his actions and started to laugh uncontrollably. 

He looked at me as if I was crazy. “What are you doing, stay behind me, I don't want you to get hurt baby” he said with concern and anxiousness evident in his voice. I took his face in my hands “Nete you’re so cute” I said while laughing. His hard gaze softens, he looked so cute, he was confused and so fidgety looking around for the “danger”. 

I took one of my hands from his face and placed it in his hands, I said “Nete we are not in any danger, okay? No one is coming to hurt me or you, that sound and vibration was from my phone.” I reassured him in a slow and calm tone so he’d understand, I could see him relax, but he still seemed confused. 

I walked us back to my bed and brought my phone to him. “It came from this” he looked at it, I offered him to take it, he stared at the phone and hesitated but took it from my hands. Due to the movement my screen turned on, illuminating the picture of me and Neteyam on my lock screen. He smiled “Hey thats me and you, I remember this photo, I have the same one in my room” I smiled widely at his confession. 

I could tell he had more questions. “What is it used for?” he asked, “It’s mostly used for communication, but you can use it for all sorts of stuff. Like taking photos, researching, and connecting with other people.” I explained while he listened intently. “How come I’ve never seen you use it before?” he asked, “Well for it to properly work you need wifi, and on Pandora wifi is only in our human pods, so I don't take it out much since it would be pretty useless.”

For the next 2 hours we spent in my room I taught him more about my phone. Exploring the apps I had on my phone and taking about one million selfies with each other, some with him kissing my cheek, me sticking my tongue out at him, and making funny faces at each other. 

The sparkle in his eyes every time he’d learned something new brought me pure joy. he tried playing flappy bird but he never made it far, his little pout made me giggle, he handed me the phone and told me to try every time I beat my high score he would throw a fit and whine “baby you’re cheating,” I laughed “Nete it’s just a game, you’ll get use to it and beat me eventually”

He was lying on his back exploring more apps while I lay on top of him drawing random shapes into his chest. He opened tiktok, music immediately started to play and my screen displayed a human boy lip syncing. Neteyam frowned and looked at me “Who is this boy on your phone?” He showed me.

I smiled, “this app is called tiktok, it's an app where you make short videos to entertain people,” I explained. His eyebrows furrowed and looked at the boy on the screen “You find him entertaining?” jealousy dripped from his voice, I decided to tease him “Yeah, he is cute” I said playfully. 

He could tell I was joking from my tone, he turned off my phone and threw it near my pillows. He smiled mischievously “Oh is that right my love?” he asked in a teasing tone, I smiled and nodded in response. I giggled as he flipped us over, he was now on top, inching his face closer and closer to mine. His breath fanned over my face as he asked “Cuter than me?” as I slowly shake my head my nose bumps into his.

I stared at every inch of his beautiful face, every white freckle, every scar, his smile and every light blue mark on his face. I caress his right cheek with my hand and he leans into it making me smile. “No Nete, never cuter than you.”

[chaos-chloe]

Oblivious Friends - Grizzy X Reader/ Clooless Pod X Reader

Summary: Unknown relationships can happen right underneather your nose, but are you really that sneaky?

TW: Cursing, podcasting, established relationship, online persona known as raye. if i missed anything lmk

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*Hey, anyway that you're free for like 3 hours, in like 30 or less minutes sweetheart? *

*I think it’s your lucky day cuz I just need to put up my groceries*

*Why what’s up, love? *

*Our special guest backed out due to some travel complications, and we said to our audience that it’s someone “famous” ….*

*HAhaha, ofc let me put if my cold items and I’ll be over*

*wait, to puff's house, right? *

*Yes honey, do I need to resend his address?*

*nope! I got it in our previous messages!*

*i'll see you in 30ish minutes love*

I finished organizing my fridge and freezer groceries, grabbed one of my bottles of gamer supps that I stole from the Grizzly bear. Slipped on my white off brand converse with my keys in hand, off to my new adventures for guys.

After zooming in and around traffic for 15 minutes I arrived at BigPuffers house. I texted my lover that I am here and not wanting to cause a big scene. 

*Hey babes, I’m here. Just wanted to let you know it me at the door so tell Puffer not to pull a gun on me again please LMAO*

I got out of my car, door shut and locked it so no one would steal it. I was fixing my outfit as I was walking towards the front door. I did a mentally checked that I had everything I needed, keys, purse, drink, phone and gum. I knocked on the door, patiently waiting for someone to answer. I heard the top lock unlock, when the door opened it was my lover. When he invited me into BigPuffers house, I put my purse on the entry side table by the door. I turned around and reached my arms up so he would give me a hug. He responded with a small chuckle and wrapped his muscle arms around my waist.

“Don't you look gorgeous as always babe.” he whispered into my ear with a small peck on the side of my head, as he was pulling away from me

“Trust me babe, the laid-back look is for you.” I whispered back while biting my lip and wink from my left eye. He shook his head like it was unbelievable. 

“Come on, let's get you to the podcast room.” Grizzy said taking my elbow since my hands were full of my stuff.

“Hi Megan, I know you're somewhere in the house, gorgeous!” I shouted into the house not seeing her anywhere.

“Hi ___! Good Luck on the podcast with those fools!” I heard Megan respond back to me. I laughed at her. 

We were walking back to the “spare” room, which was turned into the Clooless podcast room. Grizzy's hand was slipping from my elbow to my back, down to my butt and he got himself a handful before we were in front of the guys. I shook my head that he was so confident in private just not in front of the guys. Grizzy entered the room before me due to him taking the lead to open the door for me.

“Guess who I convinced to join us at the last minute?” Grizzy asked the boys. 

“Uhh-erm-I don't know.” I heard from Pezzy, Droid, and Puffer.

I jumped into the room with my arms out like a kid surprising his best friend after not seeing them forever.

“Raye!”“___!”“___!” The boys all hopped up to greet me or give me a hug. 

After giving hugs out and briefly catching up on life after it being a couple of months of seeing them. The last time I saw them was the day after Puffer moved into his new house. I was helping Megan unpack and sort everything out so we could have a girl talk but still getting her stuff put up. They all sat down in the respected spot, camera already rolling, I was looking at them waiting for them to tell me where I was going to sit.

“Here ___, take this pillow so you can either sit on the floor comfortably or sit in between Pezzy and Droid.” Puffer said while handing me a fluffy black pillow.

“Alrighty, I'll probably switch in between the couch and the floor.” I informed the boys on the couch giving them a heads up. 

I sat my cup on the table in front of Pezzy, putting the pillow on the floor but sat on the couch so I can start the podcast off comfy. 

“Dude that cup goes; wait that cup goes hard.” Grizzy exclaimed

“What? Wait, that one?” Pezzy pointed at my cup.

“The manga panels?” Droid questioned while looking at it.

“Yeah we talked about that one.” Pezzy said stating the obvious

“Yeah that one makes me hard.” Droid jokes

Grizzy stares down at Pezzy, while his right hand is doing the “gimme gimme” motion, till Pezzy hands him my Gamer Supps black and white cup.

“Alright, okay there you go man.” Pezzy carefully handed him the cup. Everyone laughs with each other with how Grizzy is acting.

“Be careful with my cup now, I didn't bring extra flavors with me.” I stated to Grizzy

“He’s like a little kid, ‘let me see it’.” Pezzy mocks Grizzy

“I don't know how to react to that.” Puffer states, as Pezzy and Droid laughs

“Grizzy, you know that I stole that cup from you, right?” I asked 

“Wait how’d you steal it?” Puffer asked, I responded with a smile and wink. Grizzy didn't see that due to him twirling the cup around to see all the panels.

“WHAT? Why didn't I know this was missing?!” Grizzy questioned like I just took away his favorite toy as he is still examining the cup. I shrug my shoulders while taking my cup back so I can get a drink. I sat down on the pillow due to me being a bit squashed between the guys. 

“Bruh, that is hard.” Grizzy says while mesmerized by the cup, mostly the booba’s that are on it.

“Nothing, it's just a very cool cup.” Droid comments

“Yeah, why do you think I stole it?” I questioned the group with a smile on my face, flipping the cap close while looking at Grizzy with a slight mischievous look. 

“That's the, uh, the collection of the, like their whole waifu drop or whatever.” Puffer educates us on Gamer Supp.

“Yeah, that was like their season seven and they like put it all one” Pezzy says looking a me on the floor

“Every content creator or is it just random?” Droid asked wanting to learn more

“Huh, didn’t think of that.” I said while handing it back to Grizzy cause he wanted to look at the cup again.

“No, their own waifu.” Pezzy answered looking back at me but i was looking at Droid

“Oh, so people should use code Cloo at checkout,” Grizzy plugged as I made finger guns towards the camera

“Code Cloo or link in the description.” Droid echoed 

“I like that, I like that, no gonna lie to you man.” Grizzy agreed with Droid

“Oh my god, we can NOT start the episodes like this.” Puffer moaned

“We can't just start plugging.” Pezzy nonchalantly, I mouthed to the camera to use code Cloo or Griz at checkout with a wink. I started laughing to myself

“Yeah, we can. Take your own Cloo.” Grizzy and Droid said as Pezzy laughed and puffer shaking his head.

“Ayo we just bought a house, Code Cloo.’ Droid informed the camera pointing to himself and Grizzy.

“Now can I please have my cup back?” I groaned

“Help, help.” Grizzy mocked droid begging for money

“Was that a good intro?” Droid questioned Puffer

“It was a good intro but guys, a special guest is here!” Puffer exclaimed

“Yeah, guys I'm here!” i sang while putting my hands on my chin smiling big

“This isn't totally last minutes at all,” Droid sang back while i turned my head to face him with a frown

“Come on Droid I know you're happy to see me.” I sarcastically said while throwing my arms around him giving him a second hug.

Droid starts full body laughing with me basically in his lap, as he wrapped his arms around me to return the hug. Once I got situated back to my spot in between the boys, I looked over at Grizzy who was tight lipped smiling. I knew he was mad or jealous, but it was his idea that we had to hide our relationship from the guys and fans. I gave him a quick questionary look, as he looked at his wrist to signal that we will talk about it later, hopefully after the podcast. 

“Alright alright hands off me woman.” Droid jesters with me for the camera

“Yo, what's up? Welcome back to the Clooless podcast, Episode 6. We are on 6 right? Anyway, we are here with, of course, our special guest, Raye.” Droid finally does the intro

“Yeah, yes I couldn't remember how to count in Spanish.” Grizzly struggled to figure out as Pezzy was counting to six in Spanish on his fingers.

“See he is bilingual; he is my dawg.” Droid said to Puffer

“I am disappointed.” Puffer commented

“Count to 10 in Spanish” Pezzy demanded of Puffer

“How do you say 11 in Spanish? Grizzy

“Uhhh- that's a good question.” Droid responded sounding lost, Pezzy threw his head back laughing and Grizzy started to wheeze.

“Once,” I answered, since Droid didn't know. (eleven)

“I could kiss you, right now. Don't play with me Raye. You know Spanish?” Droid played flirted with me

“Sí, sé hablar español. Aprendí el idioma desde que era un bebé.” I replied to Droid in Spanish. (Yes, I know how to speak Spanish. I learned the language since I was a baby)

“WHAaatt?!” All the guys seemed to gaspingly yell in unison. 

“What? I know English, French and Spanish.” I informed the guys, I was slightly shocked and hurt that Grizzy didn't remember that. 

“See now rewind back, I cannot count 11 - 19 in Spanish, but 20s and up, I can” Droid tried to defend himself. Seems like he caught on to my disappointed reaction and was trying to take the heat off of me. 

“You add an extra at the end of it, right?” Puffer asked

“Exactly its veintiuno, veintidos. Thats 20s, now 11-19 fuck all.” Droid counted (21.22)

“I don't remember at all.” Grizzy said while shaking his head

“Droid you better stop now, you got that Spanish rizz going for ya. You're making Grizzy fluster.” I joked around with Droid, while leaning on Pezzy a bit. 

As I was finally a little comfortable, I looked at Puffer and winked, he started laughing and shaking his head. I heard a weird noise, so I flicked my head around to look at Grizzy and I could see him clenching his pants in his fist. Since Pezzy let me lean on him for a while as he was trying to figure out how to count 11 - 19 in Spanish;  he thought he figured it out he sat straight up and asked Droid. Which led to me sliding off the couch to sit back down on the floor, where my butt pillow sat for my “assigned” spot. I looked at Grizzy when I was sitting, and he had an apprehensive look on his face to see I was finally away from the guys. 

Later on down the night, we wrap up the podcast with one last thought or topic on Puffer's brain.

“Wait, Raye, how do you know Grizzy?” Puffer asked

“Grizzy and I met through our connection of music. As some people know me from singing, Grizzy actually made one of the beats to one of my top 10 songs.” I explained while smiling and looking at him.

“Also, it has turned out to be one of my personal favorite songs too!” i exclaimed with giddiness 

“Yeah, we met through one of her producers that I knew and bam we met irl, and we clicked from then on and kept in contact.” Grizzy added onto the story while looking around in the room but ended up staring back at me.

“To add on to our story, we have actually been dating for a couple months now too.” Grizzy revealed.

“I FUCKING KNEW SOMETHING WAS GOING ON!” Puffer yelled while getting up like if the Dallas Cowboys scored a touchdown. I was full of shock that Grizzy decided to go public and started belly laughing at puffer's reaction. I was happy the cat was finally out of the bag, no more hiding.

I got out of my criss-cross applesauce position on the floor and walked over and sat on Grizzy’s lap, like I was claiming my area if I were an animal. I gave him a quick peck on the lips and snuggled into his side

“Alright let's wrap it up now!” Puffer says walking back into the camera frame

“We wanna say Q&A?” Puffer ask Droid and Pezzy

“Sure” “Oh yeah” Droid and Pezzy acknowledged

“So next episode we want to do a Q&A, leave a comment below of a question you might have, that you want to ask us. Could be something that you're curious about that you heard on the podcast, and you're like can you explain this more? Tell us more about it? UH just leave it below in the YouTube comments or Spotify comments, um, Apple comments." Puffer explained to the camera for the audience/fans.

“All of the above.” Droid expanded on Puffer explanation

“While you are there, rate the podcast 5 stars!” I yelled and pointed my finger at the camera

“Also, I better not see or hear any questions about our super personal life.” i said threatening the fans

“Yes, baby we know. I won't answer anything ridiculous, you know this.” Grizzy said to calm me down as his arms squeezed around my hips, possessively.

“Alright guys, use Code Cloo.”” Stay Clooless” “Save money” “10% OFF AT CHECKOUT”

[edgessunflower]

Can I have a Damian priest x Fem!reader

Possible friends to lovers with the prompt:

“you're not like the rest of them.”

🫂

Not like the rest of them

Pairing: Damian Priest x Fem reader

Description: You realize just how much Damian loves you when he tells you how special you are to him

Laughs could be heard between you and Damian as the two of you walk in the stadium backstage to the locker rooms where the two of you talk to each other in your locker room. The two of you had been friends for years since NXT instantly becoming peas in a pod joining WWE together and becoming a well known tag team before he joined the Judgement Day but even with his persona with them he still talks to and spends time with you leading each member of the faction to slowly spend time with and get to know you realizing immediately the feelings between the two of you that were held back for fear of rejection and losing the friendship the two of you held dear and close to your heart's until things changed as you lay your head on his shoulder feeling a sense of safety in the moment of quiet with just the two of you in the private locker room where things change in a second and changes things between the two of you, "You are dear to me" your heart flutters as you look at him closing and locking the door as you walk in the room noticing the look in his eyes that made your knees weak and your heart skip a beat as he slowly steps closer towering over you but not in a terrifying way but more in a tender way. "You're different from everyone else, I care more about you than I have shown to you and I want to show you the way i really love you if you'll let me" you nod making him smile sweetly before grabbing your chin and pulls you into a long passionate kiss following him out of the arena back to the airbnb that the two of you along with the rest of judgement day were staying in, the two of you smiled holding each other in his bedroom after seeing that everyone else had left probably for one last work out session before heading to the arena to stretch and get ready for Raw tonight which was in six hours. The two of you share a slower tender kiss turning to putty as he kisses and lightly bites your neck and shoulder sending chills throughout your body caressing your hand across his body after he took his shirt off slowly stripping you down admiring your body so gently with caresses and warm kisses before kissing down your body taking time to shower you in praises "You're not like the rest of them, God so beautiful" he takes a slow pace kissing your thighs before licking along your clit taking time to know what you liked kissing back up your body wiping the tears the flowed down your face in the moment of intimacy and vulnerability "So sweet and kind, always showing support and love for the people in your life and that made me fall for you even more than I already did" your hands intertwine together while sharing an emotional kiss as he slowly thrusts inside you. The two of you wake up two hours later slowly getting ready sharing a few small kisses before driving back to the arena stretching and talking with the rest of judgement day who notices the glances between the two of you looking at your phone when you get a text seeing it was from Rhea that said "You guys did it didn't you? 👀😏" you turn a bright red and flip the finger making Dom burst into laughter when rhea shows him the text she sent you quietly telling them about you and damian before running out for your match against Dakota Kai winning and cheering for everyone else during their matches laughing when damian lifts you in his arms sharing a kiss before hugging everyone else who each look at the two of you with faces of joy and looks that said "Finally" as you and damian change and sit in the locker room watching the rest of raw hand in hand.

[reallyromealone]

Hi Rome I hope your doing good and drinking water

Can I ask for prompt 2 and 22 with ran if you don't do both at the same time then just one of them is fine

Make sure to take your time

Event

Masterlist

2. The A.C goes out

22. Mermaid

Y'all love Mermaids

So do I ♥️

Fun fact my first anime was mermaid melody

In Bonten it was rare to have time off for a long period though the executives had opportunity at least a few times a year.

Though Ran wasn't impressed that the air conditioning in his beachside house was broken, far to late to call a repair man as the only repair man in the small town was an old man and his son and occasionally the grandson.

Ran noted how indoors were somehow hotter than outside, the executive decided he would make use of his private beach and after soaking his hair in the sink and grabbing a few towels and a bottle of wine he walked down.

Stripping down to nothing he stepped into the cool water, sighing at the feeling as he walked waist deep before looking out at the wide expanse of the ocean and the person swimming in the dis---wait what.

Ran was frozen as he saw the person swim around and he swears to god he saw a tail.

Then he saw nothing.

(Name) was curious as he looked at the human, going below to swim closer.

He never really interacted with humans, his siblings often went to land to work and such but (name) was shy to follow their lead.

He watched the human curiously and was maybe twenty feet away as he poked his head out, the human looking startled as he looked at (name) wide eyed "holy shit" he mumbled and (name) tilted his head and ran noted how cute the sea creature was.

Ran was in awe at the- the mermaid! Holy shit!

"Hi..." Ran mumbled as (name) swam closer "hiii..." He said back, ran in awe.

Mermaids weren't unheard of, treaties with humans and merfolk long developed but he didn't think he would ever meet one as merfolk were either reclusive or very well in disguise.

"What's your name?" Ran was fascinated with the other, (name)s tail on full display and ran was in awe at it, it was huge and honestly beautiful.

"(Name)" (name) said slowly and ran smiled.

This became nightly, Ran adored the Merman who was so innocent compared to those in his life, smiling as (name) poked his tattoos, never seeing anything like that before.

"O-oh thank you" ran said as (name) handed him a large salmon, a bite mark in it from (name)s hunt and (name) looked very proud of his catch.

After a Google search it was apparently in mer culture to share hunts with members of ones pod or mates.

Ran loved being with (name), no longer Bonten executive in the mers eyes but his new friend who (name) was fascinated by, ran learning (name) never really interacted with humans.

"Oh?" Ran was confused as he was handed a scale by (name), the scale seemed to match (name)s as the mer looked shy and ran pulled out his phone to see what this meant.

"Oh...oh!" Ran was flattered by the mer, it was a traditional way of courting someone in merfolk culture.

He wanted ran to be his boyfriend the human cooed to himself.

"I accept your courting"

(Name) looked very happy and went under water before popping back up with a necklace, putting it on and ran was in awe at what he witnessed.

One moment he had a tail.

Next he had legs.

"You wanna come inside? Enjoy that salmon?"

Ran had a feeling (name) was only going to provide him happiness.

[magnetictapedatastorage]

satirical collection of modern acronyms, date unk. (c 80s-90s), textfiles.com

MODERN ACRONYMS OINKs one income, no kids DINKs double income, no kids PINKs private income, no kids LINCs low income, nine cats NINKs no income, nine kids DUDs demographically undesirable divorcee PODs punks on dope YAMs young assholes on mopeds SLIFs still living in the fifties SLITS still living in the sixties SHITs suburban heterosexuals in town to swing CANTs corporate animals, no talent SIMPs sexually inactive male professionals MIDGETs mentally inferior divorced guys expecting terrific sex TOADs tennis-obsessed advanced-degree holders RUGs rich ugly guys DRUGs dumb rich ugly guys SACs sixties acid casualties SIPs single-income pot smokers DORKs damned overpaid Republican know-it-alls FDAs former drug abusers YANKs young assholes, no kids NERDs nervous evangelicals, recently defrocked SOBs son of the boss CPAs car phone assholes WIGGs women into gay guys BICEPs bisexual college-educated professionals AWOLs always working-out at lunch time SLIMEs single lawyers into money and exercise RAMBOs right-wingers afraid of Mexicans, blacks and Orientals

[800silentpod]

Why Silent Pods Are Essential for Modern Open-Plan Offices?

Discover why Silent Pods are crucial for today's open-plan offices. Enhance productivity and focus with soundproof solutions from 800SilentPod. Learn more!

[marshmallowprotection]

Maybe.. saeran and saeyoung reacting to an MC who takes screenshots of their chats to look back on and giggle? bc I know I love looking at collections of chats I have saved lolol

GE Saeran takes screenshots of all the things you say to him that make his heart sigh in glee!

You don't have to worry about him thinking strangely of you for doing something like that because he's doing the same thing. In fact, wouldn't it be hilarious if the two of you spent an entire conversation just recounting old conversations you already had? It's almost sweet to think that you can find love and not only have old conversations at the forefront, but new ones to divulge avenues you didn't consider before. 

He gushes about you and you gush about him. It's nice to know that you have a similar love language in that regard. Go on, tell him about those old conversations and watch him pull out his phone to do the same with you every time. 

"My love, I wasn't aware you were doing the same thing as me. I suppose it turns out that we're two peas in a pod. Can we trade messages? I want to see if we've shared the same ones."

Saeyoung is no stranger to saving your messages in a private server all for him.

He doesn't want to forget all of the moments he spent with you, and you should be aware that he has saved every conversation he's ever had with you on the messenger. To be fair, the only reason why he has all of those conversations is because he is the one who maintains the server.

But, anything he's ever shared with you has gone on to a separate server, one that is there to remind him of how nice it will be to look back on all the times he shared with you before his feelings of love came in clear. some may say that he fell in love with you all at once, and he might agree with that, but he can see the dominoes falling little by little every time he goes from start to finish. 

"You know, I think it's cute that you have all of our text messages, but I think it would be awfully cute to show you all of the times I made you flustered over the phone, what do you say?"

[ginasbaby]

hii! I was thinking on something like

R and towa are besties, they're in love with eachother (both very oblivious about that) but after the rumours of towa and renee dating, r starts to avoid towa, towa is sad cause r is avoiding her and happy ending with renee being sort of the cupid

I couldn't find the request rules post so I hope this doesn't break any!

I love you

Part 1

Towa bird x fem!reader

Part 2

Warnings; slight angst, tooth rotting fluff.

3rd person POV:

It was a very normal day, Y/n had been performing at many places the past few days. She was a talented singer, she had performed on broadway 4 times- mainly for mean girls, but she's done Hamilton before aswell. On the mean girls set, she met Renee Rapp- who was playing as Regina, they both found out they would be together for most of the musical because Y/n was playing Cady. This is where the off-screen friendship started. The two were inseperable- they couldn't live without eachother if they tried.

Around the end of her Mean Girls era, Y/n met Towa Bird. They immediately clicked together, like two peas in a pea pod. Over time their friendship grew stronger. Over a couple of months, they had known each other almost like they had been together for their whole lives. Towa was not famous at this moment; hell, barely anyone knew her. But Y/n was known very well, so paparazzi and fans were always around her. It was hard to keep her private life private; well, most of it. And so if we skip a few years, here to the present. This is where Towa, Renee, and Y/n stand now: 'Vanity Fair'.

PRESENT

It was obvious that Y/n was pining over Towa, yet Towa was too oblivious to notice, yet Renee wasn't. The blonde was going to play the cupid part of their trio, it was clear that all three of them had a close relationship. However, some of Renee's (and Towa's) fans thought that they had something more going on. This made Y/n's heartache- she was head over heels for Towa, yet no one had noticed, but again we're in the present. Y/n had to deal with it.

There was a lot of photography and flashes, which is exactly why y/n wasn't keen on coming. She was photosensitive, not a good aspect for an actor/singer, she always carried a pair of black glasses with her, the only problem right now was that she forgot to bring them with them.

"Towa," she murmured. "Towa, I forgot my glasses." She grabbed the curly head's arm. Towa turned around with a soft look on her face. She reached into her pocket and handed the y/h/c girl a pair of sunglasses.

"Here sweets, take these." Y/n smiled her heart full of love.

"Why do you eat so many sweets," Towa looked up from her guitar.

"Well, they taste nice, and, uh," she also paused, looking up from her computer. "I don't know, I guess I just enjoy them." Towa smiled in understanding, she looked back down at her guitar before putting it down and picking up her phone. She clicked on Y/n's contact, editing the name to 'Sweets'. Y/n stood up from her desk and moved behind Towa.

"Sweets?" She chuckled sweetly," You're so corny. Hm... Curls! That's your nickname, curls." The Filipino girl chuckled.

"Alright then".

"Oh yeah!" the y/na girl chuckled nervously, "pictures, yay... Thanks".

Time skip

Renee and Towa had an arm around Y/n as she stumbled and wobbled. She hiccupped and burped, her breath invaded by the stench of alcohol. "Y/n did you really think downing that bottle of red wine was a good idea?" Renee asked, stopping to breathe.

"Don't answer that question," Towa intervened. "Renee can you go get the car, please".

"Are you sure you're going to be alright carrying her?"

"Yeah, y-yeah I'm sure." Towa finished by picking her up bridal style. Y/n let out a squeak and pulled herself closer to Towa's body.

"You know-" She hiccuped, "I love you." Towa pauses walking.

"Huh?"

"You silly little curls," she sneezed. "I said: I love you."

"I love you too, silly, we're best friends. Obviously, I would love you." Towa said, awkwardly smirking. Y/n's smile dropped a little but she smiled again, this time fake.

"Yeah, friends." She frowned but she was close enough to Towa that she didn't see it.

If only they knew.

[ezras--moon]

Disorganized Attachment - Chapter 1: Fibonacci

IT'S FINALLY HERE!

Dieter x adult actress reader (no age gap, both in their early/mid 40s)

18+ although this chapter does not contain any explicit smut yet.

This work contains a lot of cursing, talks about substance abuse, mental illness, violence, and I have not researched anything about the film or p**n industry, so if that's not your thing, scroll on. (it is surprisingly soft and fluffy though)

More warnings: Negative self talk/thoughts, body image issues.

word count: 5364

Where to begin?

 You and Dieter met in high school, drama and art classes. You had a secret crush on him back then, but thought he was kind of a dick, too. He was envious, or even jealous, of your ability to memorize long monologues seemingly overnight. These ridiculous reasons were mainly why you didn’t become friends then yet, just secretly harbored certain feelings for each other. If just one of you had pulled their head out of their ass and talked to the other, you would have realized very quickly that you were two peas in a pod. 

 When you met again in college, you had all your acting, theater and film related classes together. You stuck to each other then, because you were both from the same hometown, and you’d both changed and grown. Experimenting with drugs welded you closer together, and you woke up in each other’s dorms after lawless nights quite a few times. Dieter began auditioning long before you both graduated, so did you. He was more successful pretty much from the beginning. You congratulated each other on a few projects, his always bigger than yours, and then at some point you just went your separate ways in Hollywood.

You still privately kept up to date with Dieter’s work and achievements; you watched the Oscars the year he won one of the categories he was nominated for, with a friend over the phone, squealing over the line and damn near rupturing her eardrum at the announcement of the winner. And he looked so handsome on screen, even with the sadness and hubris in his dark eyes that you were well acquainted with. 

He’d told you all the stories throughout your time in college together. The abuse, the violent reign of his strict parents drilling him to be the best in all his classes, to always get the big roles he auditioned for… and the harsh punishment if he didn’t. The constant pressure to be perfect and likeable, the emotional neglect in between his successes. What they never really gave a shit about was if he was happy.

While Dieter went off to become a real movie star, you struggled and clung on to shadier and shadier gigs, until you finally landed in the adult film industry. You’d tried your best and worked really hard to make a name for yourself in this new field, and you did, you succeeded! 

Your screen name was a secret to most people you interacted with in your daily life, you kept a strict line between your private matters and your work. Many of your loose acquaintances believed you were simply “in the film industry”, which was technically true. Sometimes, when you met someone new and they asked what you did for a living, you could see the split second of recognition in their eyes and then, as soon as possible, you’d drop them like hot potatoes. Better not to get involved with fans.

Now…

Around the time when you sign a contract with a new agency, Dieter’s spiraling into another crisis. He’s coked up to the max, never not high anymore, and during the short, intermittent down periods he thinks he’s worthless and needs to rebrand himself. All of his unusually bottomless lows are followed by particularly severe manic episodes lately, in which he comes up with things to do to revolutionize his public persona, and he won’t hear anyone out who tries to stop him. Because of the excessive amount of cocaine he consumes, he believes himself to be in possession of the necessary skills and fortitude to star in a real, professional porn movie during this particular spiral.

 And thank Mother Gaia for modernity, because his manager isn’t even opposed to the idea.

“Get me the most expensive co-star you can find to do this with me!” he barks into his phone, ordering some poor fool at his agency out to get him a role in a big production.

There isn’t much hope, Dieter thinks, that he’ll get anyone exceptionally hot, no matter their price tag - he’s getting old and has gained a few pounds since the peak of his career. But then again, it’s mostly the women in porn who are under pressure to be perfect, fresh off the rack, if they want to make it in the industry. And not just in some niche fetish market, but instead the very top of the food chain, the big studios, like Brazzers or Tushy dot com. His other, admittedly quite reasonable, hope for a really fuckable scene partner is that having an actual Oscar winning movie star like himself, aging and getting heavy or not, fuck his pent-up frustration into a dimepiece on camera would drive sales exponentially more than if he did it to a bridge troll. Fuck, he really should see his therapist again. These horrible thoughts about people’s looks, including his own, can’t be beneficial to his already dwindling mental stability. But that guy is a leech; even as rich as Dieter is nowadays, the rates of a decent therapist are nauseating.

When you receive the offer, you’re just on your way to a set, somewhere up in the hills. You don’t read the e-mail until late that night. The header gives away what type of shoot it’s going to be - a celebrity, a real movie star, and this time not just for a private sex tape. No, this time an A-list Hollywood actor wants to actually publish the tape. It’s guaranteed to make headlines for weeks. This would most definitely be the next Big Thing for you.

It takes you a while to read the wall of text before you find the name of the actor at the bottom of the page. You gasp, then break out into a fit of bewildered little laughs. 

Dieter Bravo! You damn outlaw.

You know he probably has no idea his people sent yours an offer, nor that you would definitely say yes, if he’s even aware you’re in this business - it isn’t likely that he knows your screen name either, because you would hope to have heard from him on social media if he had. You’ve followed him since you made your professional account.

The next morning, you wake up bright and early to give Dieter’s agent a call back, accept the job, make an appointment to sign the contract, and go get a fresh bikini waxing. You can’t wait to see Dieter again. Get to fuck him again, if the surprise of seeing you show up for the shoot doesn’t turn him off of it entirely.

As the aesthetician, a close friend of yours affectionately nicknamed Barbie, rips away at the wax strips to get rid of the bush you’d grown out for a vintage shoot, you think about him and what he used to mean to you.

You tell Barbie about him, in between wincing through the pain of the waxing; you tell her that when you were young, your bodies taut and lean, you enjoyed each other’s company very much. And about the things you’d say to each other in bed, how you could never stop praising his heavy cock, how deliciously it burned when he pistoned it into your welcoming heat; how he couldn’t stop sucking on your tits and emptying his balls into you, again and again for hours until there was nothing left to fill you with, always high on something.

 You know what he looks like, you’ve seen him at red carpets from the comfort of your living room, even this year - Barbie remembers when you screamed at her over the phone and she tried to match your excitement. She also remembers all the times you were intoxicated and reminisced about past loves, your dreamy retelling of your experiences always circling back to Dieter in the end.

 But the new memories all just come from images on screens, they’re not real memories of him. The last real one is over a decade old.

The contract you sign is your agency’s standard adult film production contract, you’ve signed hundreds like this before. Every rich adult film connoisseur who’s into “older” women wants a piece of you.

Several days pass after you sign, before you hear back and receive a shooting date very soon after. 

“Mr. Bravo would appreciate it if we could make it happen as soon as possible.” your agent relays to you on the phone. “Fine by me. I can definitely squeeze it in next week.” you reply.

That day…

Rolling up to his house in the hills, your manager drives you through the LA afternoon traffic, and ultimately you're twenty-five minutes late. “We should have known it was gonna be like this” you complain to your manager, a woman your age named Tonya with round, red cheeks, who’s raised five children by herself. “Nonsense. I guarantee you, this guy’s going to be even later himself. These A-listers usually are, they’re too self important to be on time. Now go, get up there! I’ll be right behind you.”

You grab your handbag and your cosmetics, wallet and phone secure in your jacket, and make your way up the thirty-something steps to ring Dieter Bravo’s doorbell.

A stern looking woman with a sleek black librarian hairdo and penciled-in eyebrows of the same color lets you into the mansion; she’s surprisingly nice. You’re instructed to take a seat in Dieter’s living room, on a comfortable couch. You don’t mind the staff standing by the open doors, and change into your outfit out in the open there - a pitch black, crotchless leotard, equally dark ballerina flats, and a thin pink robe for modesty before the shoot starts. Someone from the production crew arrives and brings a make-up artist, who makes you look a decade younger. That takes almost two full hours and removes any remaining shred of your guilt about being late. It's a bothersome process, but might increase the chances he’ll recognize you.

Finally, after another ten more minutes of waiting for him, his majesty makes an appearance, coming from the garage. He’s dressed in a cornflower blue robe, a fluffy, well-worn thing, and chanclas, along with sweatpants. He holds a starbucks cup in his hand and peeks at everyone in the room over the rim of a pair of sunglasses, chewing gum. His hair is as messy as ever, a patchy, scruffy looking beard on his face now. He’s sporting several heavy rings on various fingers and has a chain with an upside-down cross around his neck.

And then he spots you. You can see the exact moment it clicks for him, and everything falls into place. A sultry smirk at him, a wink perhaps, should do, so that’s what you respond with, to the look of pure befuddlement he shoots you.

He crosses the room so fast, he spills some of the whipped cream peeking over the rim of the cup he’s holding with an iron grip. 

“What on earth are you doing in my house, Dolphin?” Oh, God, not that nickname… you visibly cringe, but then sigh and go in for a hug. He accepts without hesitation, and you note that he’s wonderfully warm and soft. It almost balances out the reminder of that time he renamed you against your will, when you were sitting out on the fire escape stairs of your dorms, smoking a blunt together. It would be a good memory if it wasn’t tainted by that nickname designed to drive you up the wall, when your hysterical laughter at one of his jokes resembled the call of a marine mammal.

“I was hired to have a certain movie star fuck the shit out of me on camera.” you tell him nonchalantly, and he bites down a laugh to counter. “I didn’t know you do porn. I thought you might still be doing theater, because I never saw you at any award shows. Is everything okay?” “Yes, Dieter, I’m fine. I’m financially stable, I’m nominated for an AVN this year; the only setback is I’ve recently been pushed into the MILF category. Absolutely killing it there, though.”

Dieter laughs at that, finally - a hearty cackle, and it causes your already buzzing head to flood with memories of that same laugh that are aeons old. You realize he never laughs like this in any of the interviews you’ve seen. 

He pats your shoulder almost fraternally and sets down his drink to give you another hug. “I missed you, Dolphin.” “Please don’t call me that again. I’ll fucking leave and go home, I swear to God.” “Didn’t peg you to be particularly religious.” “I’ll fucking show you a pegging, amigo.” Again, you make Dieter laugh; he seems like he hasn’t earnestly laughed much in quite some time.

The two of you waste everyone else’s time while you catch up; you hear about his last ten years, he hears about yours, while you wander around the house and he shows you his awards. At some point, his manager shows up in the dining room, where Dieter is feeding  you with the best bread you’ve ever had and antipasti from the catering cart, and reminds you both that you’re here for work.

You think it’s odd that Dieter decided to shoot this film in his home. He doesn’t seem to care and says this house has seen weirder things. It’s more convenient for him to do it here. Your worries about the media backlash directed at him that would inevitably follow the release of whatever you tape today remain a secret for now. It’s not your job to bring it up and you trust that all the adults involved know what they’re getting themselves into.

The set in a spare bedroom is all done, assembled, lit up and prepared; as a last effort to prevent disaster, somebody wearing a headset is grabbing a sphinx cat and removing it from under the massive king size centerpiece of the shot. They just exit the room with their arm full of what you think is a raw chicken when you walk in with Dieter and both your managers, who know each other and proceed to go have a conversation somewhere in the corner.

 He introduces you to the director, a Finnish-American talent of the erotic arts, who then introduces herself as Ansa, and who’s supposed to make Dieter’s filthy vision a reality. The six foot four blonde with an angular jaw, who looks like she could easily be a famous basketball player, explains the concept of the Golden Ratio to you, but you have difficulties following, with the way Dieter is already staring at your mouth. “...in each shot, your two bodies have to be arranged in the exactly right way to align with the ratio, which you might know under its other commonly known name, the Fibonacci sequence. Well, technically the golden ratio and the Fibonacci sequence are different things, but they are closely associated with each other. We’ve come up with a few positions that work, they’re shown here-* She rambles on, then hands you a thin stack of cards, each depicting a drawing of a sexual position in which the visual lines and boundaries of the lovers’ bodies resemble a spiral from a certain angle. You look through them, wide-eyed, while Dieter chews on an Olive and ogles you over the rim of his sunglasses - shamelessly.

Ansa continues, “Somebody might have to touch you to adjust the position of a body part for the perfect shot. I hope you have an active gym membership, you might be forced to stay still and hold a difficult position for a while, through up to a few dozen of his thrusts, so we have enough material from each shot.” 

Can’t we just start fucking? Why does it matter how I sit on his dick? Besides, the whole Fibonacci sequence thing is kind of overplayed, isn’t it? Hasn’t this shit been done a million times before? There’s songs about it, media that’s structured according to it, stuff that won Grammys and everything. It’s been a meme online, too, people already laugh about it.

Those are the gripes coming up in your head in quick succession, and you don't fully realize that you say all of them out loud and worded exactly like that, making Dieter snort and bend over in a cackle. You blush, hard, and begin to stammer an apology for the bluntness, because she’s not used to your Modus Operandi yet and deserves some grace. This job could have very well been given to somebody else, somebody more demure and accepting of bullshit executive decisions. 

Ansa just smiles at you, not quite as amused as Dieter seems to be, still giggling to himself. “You’re funny, I like your attitude,'' she says to interrupt your desaster of an apology before you embarrass yourself, and you notice that you like her subtle accent, although her non-answer annoys you.

 You demand to know why they would ask you to sign a contract before letting you know this was going to be a cringefest, and then attempt to ask your questions again in a more respectful tone.

This is when Dieter realizes he’s missed you a whole lot more than he thought; you’re so quick on your feet, as you’ve always been. Just based on this, you haven’t aged a day. Ansa welcomes the rewording of your questions and finally grants you a real response.

She explains that that’s exactly the point of the scene. It’s supposed to drag this pretentious bullshit through the mud. It’s a direct parody of a short film Dieter starred in, ages ago, which you’d never seen, because it was such an obscure release with practically no advertising budget.

“I want to ruin that motherfucker’s career.” Dieter bites; he’s talking about whichever poor soul directed the atrocious short film. “He’s acting all uppity in the media after he landed a couple hits with some military propaganda, wastes of precious lifetime, bullshit ass movies.” You wonder why he’s so genuinely livid at this director, but he answers the question before you can ask it. 

“This guy screwed me over so hard on that stupid short film, I almost died trying to appease him and his artistic sensibilities, because he convinced me he was doing something worth my while with it. He had me drenched outside at night in Whateverthefuck, Ohio, in the pouring October rain, wearing barely anything, contorting and curling up and posing like a spiral for hours, because no take was ever perfect. And then that garbage didn’t even make a profit, so I got pneumonia for nothing. I had to pay someone to take that disgrace off my Wikipedia and IMDB. I want to make fun of his yuppie ass, I want to make a pornographic parody of his dumb, pseudo-intellectual garbage movie that nearly cost me my life.”

You get it then. The second layer reveals itself to you from behind the curtain of your initial reaction. And with it, you drop the robe they’d handed you. 

Dieter apologizes that he didn’t take the time to talk you through the project before you signed, but he wanted it done as soon as possible. You tell him it’s fine, usually your agency would have sent a request for more information, but you saw his name in that e-mail and didn’t hesitate.

He’s touched by this, though you begin to get a feeling that Dieter isn’t being honest about his intention to do this scene, or at the very least about his constitution. Constantly on edge, fidgeting, shifting his weight back and forth between both feet, extroverted. Friendly. He used to be quieter, and you wonder if he was miserable back then or if he is now, and if it’s your place to even ask.

There’s no time to, anyhow, with droves of production staff pouring into the room, until you and Dieter are practically pushed onto the bed while the camera tests begin. It’s busier than at any normal shoot, but he seems used to it, conversing with his assistant standing close by, about what he would like to order for dinner after. You’re puzzled when he turns to you to ask if you’d like to stay.

But again, no more time to answer questions, the stylist invades your space and touches up both of your faces and hair, and when the cameras are set to roll, everyone who isn’t essential to the shoot leaves the room. The question is long forgotten, when two more people roll a whiteboard into the room that has each of the possible Golden Ratio sexual positions pinned to it for easy review, before leaving as well. 

Dieter is awfully quiet over the next few minutes, when the last round of preparations begin, right before they have some time to get each other turned on, and then the cameras are going to start rolling.

But it never comes to that.

What happens next is Dieter is having a panic attack. A full-on hyperventilating, pacing up and down, cursing and yelling and… crying? He’s crying, crashing. A second ago you were busy holding still for the touch-up, and now he’s sobbing.

You’re immediately overwhelmed with the situation, in your leotard and the ballerina flats, adjusting the shoulder straps and wordlessly watching as Dieter’s team attempts to calm him down. His manager seems to be desperate to get him to stay away from the set while he’s melting down, so he doesn’t ruin the professional relationships they were able to forge over it.

 He’s so loud when he yells, you’re speechless. A moment ago he was content, laughing, talking about having dinner with you… Oh. You hadn’t given him your answer. You completely ignored his advance. He asked you to have dinner with him, and you ignored him, and now he’s breaking down in front of everybody.

It can’t be because of that. Can it? You stand up and put your pink robe back on, tying it in the front. Then, tip-toeing around the expensive equipment and slipping past all of the people outside the room, you make your way up to Dieter, who’s currently trying to vandalize the dining room, wielding some kind of award, ready to smash a glass table to bits with it. However, he’s being held back by his apparent crisis team, his manager trying to talk him down. 

Now it makes sense to you that the set was so crowded, with half of the workers not even doing any active tasks. They’re there to monitor him and mitigate the damage in case he goes off the rails. On second thought, that sounds cartoonishly conspiratorial, like they’re drugging him on purpose or something.

 You decide then and there to find out and try to help him, through whatever it is he’s burdoned with.

A step closer to him earns you a glare of disapproval from his manager, but you ignore it and take another. He’s like a feral animal, if only they had Steve Irwin here with a tranquilizer gun. 

“It’s okay, Dee… it’s me. Look at me.” you say calmly, raising your hands to show him you don’t mean to restrain him like the others, and it’s not like you would even stand a chance to. He looks at you and you almost start crying too, he looks fucking miserable. “I don’t know what to dooo, oh God” he whines, still looking right at you, fat tears spilling from his wide open eyes that are so dark you can’t tell how blown his pupils are.

His manager looks surprised that he hasn’t tried to swing a fist at you yet, you’re stepping so close to him, and finally she gestures for the two burly guys holding him back to release him and give you both some space. 

The out-of-control Hollywood actor in his giant mansion is coming back to his senses slowly, closing the remaining two or three feet of distance to pull you into a desperate embrace, soaking the strap of your leotard with his tears.

You wrap your arms around his middle and shush him, swaying him in place like a big baby and whispering reassurances into his ear. The entire thing is so fucking surreal, everyone’s eyes on you, and when they start whispering to each other so you can’t hear what they’re saying, you ask Dieter where you two can be alone.

You don’t expect him to be able to answer coherently, but the finger he points at a door down the hallway is enough. Keeping one arm around his waist, you lead him there step by step, past all the gawkers. It’s on you now to shoot them a glare, causing them to scatter behind you.

The door leads to another bedroom, which is in complete disarray and stuffed full of boxes overflowing with all kinds of shit. You lock up behind Dieter as he stumbles to the dusty bed and curls up on top of the covers, and you realize he’s been butt ass naked the entire time.

You grab a thin blanket hanging over a chair in the corner and make your way through the narrow path to the bed, past all his stuff. Climbing into bed behind him, you cover him and yourself with the soft blanket and spoon him, pressing a gentle kiss to his shoulder. He grabs your hand and squeezes it with a trembling sigh. 

“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” you ask quietly, so careful not to tread him loose again with the wrong words. He breathes for a minute, deep inhales and long exhales, then croaks, “I hate myself.”

It’s a simple response, easy to understand in theory, but the reasons aren’t clear to you and you’re not sure if you should ask. “Why?” you whisper, pressing your cheek to the side of his neck and nuzzling closer to him. He’s so fucking soft and warm.

He scoffs, like it should be obvious, and you have a hunch but don’t dare to bring it up. “I’m such a fucking waste of space. I’m a piece of shit. I’m so sorry.”

Barely coherent through his tears, you just tighten your arm around him and give his shoulder another kiss. “Don’t say that. Let me help. We can figure this out.” 

He shakes his head, “No, it’s fucking pointless. I’ve b-been to rehab so many times.”

“Are you high right now?” you continue to pry some answers from him with the patience of a saint that you’ve really only ever had for him, nobody else. He nods, sniffling and turning around in your grasp to face you. His eyes are red and puffy, cheeks wet, tears soaking his mustache. Up close like this, you can see the state of him clearly in his fully dilated pupils and everything else, and you swallow the emotions so you can be there for him, because what else are you supposed to do?

Thumbing away the tears that still keep coming, a seemingly endless well of them hidden under his eyes, you give him a soft smile. “I missed you, Dee. I’m so sorry we lost touch. Wish I could have been there for you all this time.” 

“No, no, that’s not your fault. I’m an asshole, I should’ve called.” He brushes your hair behind your ear with a gentle touch that stands out in overwhelming contrast to his earlier demeanor, when he was about to smash his table with his award. 

“Oh, you stop it. It doesn’t matter, I’m here now. And I’m not going to leave, unless you want me to.” you reassure him, and that finally seems to help, his features soften and he manages a crooked smile to try and match yours. 

A harsh rap at the door startles you both, and suddenly he looks like a cornered animal again, sitting up and clutching the blanket to his chest. Giving his calf a reassuring squeeze, you slowly get up and walk to the door, unlocking it and cracking it open to peek out at whoever would have the audacity to knock like a cop right now.

It’s Tonya, your manager, behind Dieter’s manager whose name you’ve forgotten since you were introduced. You make an effort to look annoyed at them breaking the brief moment of peace, expecting an explanation.  “We’re all leaving. I’ll call you in the morning, alright, sweetheart? Take care, and let me know if you need anything.” Tonya says, looking apologetic and her motherly nature appeases you. “Let me speak to him for a minute, please.” Dieter’s manager demands, but you refuse her with another glare. “Absolutely not.” Then you look back at Tonya with a much less furious look and a nod, “Drive safe, Tonya, I’ll text you if… yeah, I’ll text you.”

Tonya leaves, Dieter’s manager reluctantly follows, and you see some more people leaving and carrying gear out of the house. It’s suddenly very quiet, not even Dieter is making a sound anymore.

“Are they gone?” he asks after a while, when you shut the door again, locking it just in case.

“Yeah, they’re gone.” you assure him, and he lies back down on the bed with you, facing each other and holding hands. Yours are cold from clutching the door knob so harshly, and he warms them in his.

“Did I fuck it up?” he asks you after a while, the silence starting to make him uncomfortable.

“No, you didn’t fuck anything up. I promise.” You hook your pinky around his and look into his deep brown eyes, still filled with residual tears. “Pinky promise.”

He laughs again - not loud like earlier, it’s a quiet chuckle, but it seems even more genuine now that it’s between the two of you. “Pinky promise.”

You end up staying the night. It turns out he didn’t mind you not answering his question on set at all, you were busy. He orders dumplings for dinner and rolls a joint you share by his pool out back, huddled together on the side with your feet in the water. The pool is fucking heated and the emerging steam billows around you in the lights like the smoke you blow out your noses.

You haven’t smoked weed in so long, you’re a lightweight and he smokes most of it himself, content with just handing it over whenever you lift your hand to request a few tiny little puffs that make him giggle at you; he still thinks you’re adorable after all these years.

Dieter has make-up wipes for sensitive skin and scrunchies in his en-suite bathroom, and you even discover a half empty box of tampons under the sink. You don’t need any right now, but the fact that he has them on hand at all makes you a little emotional.

He gives you a shirt that’s three sizes too big and puts on a quiet movie for background noise, turning down the brightness of the enormous TV mounted to the wall opposite his bed. You toss the fake lashes into the bin, burying them in there like a casualty of the disaster of a set.

You finally properly meet his cat, which you’d mistaken for a whole raw chicken earlier as he was being carried off set. The friendly little guy - named Mad Max - lets Dieter put a sweater on him with no complaint, strutting his stuff all pretty in pink as he goes to devour the contents of a can of wet food from a bowl on the kitchen floor.

Dieter offers you a guest room, but you decline, climbing into his unbelievably comfortable kingsize bed, the effects of the weed making you feel heavy and deeply content. Exhaustion creeps into your bones as you curl up next to him with your head and hand on his chest, your eyes falling shut. His slow even breaths and the shapes he gently draws on your back with his fingertips lull you to sleep soon after.

This is not how you expected this day to end, but you’re the opposite of upset about it. If only it could be like this forever.