#ruben didn’t die for this

[2nd2tar]

proud to say i was never a story mode hater.

[ornitharts]

I really hope that if the Ratgrinders try to pull something on the Bad Kids Ruben remembers that Adaine saved his ass from that disintegrate spell

[gods-favorite-autistic]

Fig should just get a free vicious mockery for that rant cause holy shit

[ohm-myy-god]

Thinking about my “Alfred & poozie” e&h au I made like 3-4 years ago..angsty amnesiac Alfred you’ll always be real to me

[t0yac1d]

My Juliet, my special girl (C. Diaz x Fem!Reader)

I hope that she looks at me and thinks, "Shit, he is so pretty"

Warnings: gang violence, death, after Olivia's Quince, blood, contemplating suicide

Word Count: 889

It was the morning after Olivia's Quince. The morning after a beautiful party. The morning after Latrelle shot Ruby and killed Olivia.

"It's all my fault."

"I shouldn't have shown mercy to Latrelle."

"I shouldn't have gone after him in the first place."

Cesar blamed and hated himself deeply.

He hated what happened to Ruby and Olivia because in his eyes, that should’ve been him.

In his eyes, that should’ve been him who got shot.

In his eyes, that should’ve been him who got killed. 

I need to cry, but I can't get anything out of my eyes,

Cesar sat on the edge of his bed, eyes filled with frustrated tears that threatened to spill but they wouldn’t fall. No matter how upset he was, they wouldn’t pour.

Or my head. 

And oh my god, the night. That night kept repeating in his brain. 

The sound of the gunshot.

The sound of Ruby screaming his name before getting shot. 

The sounds of Geny and Ruben screaming as their son lay on the ground, bleeding out. 

Every little detail played continuously in his brain. It was like a record player stuck in a loop.

Did I die? I need to run,

Days went by without Cesar coming out of the house. He felt like an empty body, just moving on its own throughout the day.  

but I can't get out of bed for anyone.

He was scared. 

Not of Latrelle or any gang member after him. 

But of his friends and Ruby’s family. 

What if they all hated him? He wouldn’t blame them, but this was the last thing he expected that would break the group up. 

He couldn’t get out of bed to see anyone.

 Not for you,

Not even for the girl he wanted to live for. 

When he did get the courage to go outside, he went to school first. He wanted to see if everyone still wanted to be his friend. Because if not, then he’d just apologize and go away. Leave their lives for good and keep them out of harm’s way. 

When Cesar got to school, no one greeted him. It was like he didn’t exist. 

He hated how no one talked to him, but he couldn’t blame them. He took their friend away.

Cesar skipped a couple classes that day. He just sat in an empty and dark classroom, silently sobbing and crying. 

My sour boy is a pain, 

His chest hurt with each sob he let out, 

I wanna shoot him in the brain,

He doesn’t deserve to live. It should’ve been him instead of Olivia.

He feels like if he died, everything would be better for his friends. 

 but I'd miss him in the morning. 

But a part of him says that this isn’t the way to think. That what happened has already happened and there’s not much to do about it but move on and make amends.

It really hurts when I need to so bad, but I can't see her..

He missed you, 

My Juliet, 

He missed you so dearly.

My special girl.

The only girl that can really, truly help him through a time like this.

But I need to understand when I can power through,

Because he knows you’ll get him through this, and help guide him to the right choice here. 

Cesar pulled his phone out with shaky hands and sent a text to you, he was sure there were a few words that were misspelled, but you’ll understand what he meant. Hopefully. 

He sat in that classroom, patiently waiting for you to come to him. But this time alone helped him think to himself, about himself. 

Sometimes I act like I know, but I'm really just a kid.

He’s just a kid. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. All he’s really doing is causing problems.

With two corks in his eyes, and a bully in his head.

And hurting those around him because of his actions.

I wanna make a colour that no one else has seen before 

He wants to get out and do something with his life. He doesn’t want to be stuck in the gang for the rest of his life. 

I wanna be so much more

He wants to show everyone that he can make something of himself. That he’s not “Little Spooky”. That he’s Cesar Diaz. 

You walked into the classroom and saw Cesar sitting on the floor. You walked over to him and sat with him. You didn’t say anything to him, you just sat there and looked at him with a slight frown. 

You didn’t like this. He looked so exhausted. 

He had dark eye bags under his eyes, and even then they were red and puffy from the crying. He had tear marks on his face and his clothes were disheveled. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, resting his head on your shoulder, as you rubbed his back and lightly scratched his head while you held him.

“It’s ok Cesar.” 

He leaned back and looked at you with teary eyes, wondering what was running in your head as you saw him like this. 

I hope that she looks at me and thinks, "Shit, he is so pretty”

The one thing that was running through his mind at this moment was how you thought of him.

Something I can't believe..

[rainbowtransform]

Before this new episode, I have to say that I love the rat grinders. I think they’re great antagonists.

Redemption arcs? Absolutely not.

Could there be? Yes, of course.

Will there be? Probably not.

The Rat Grinders hated the Bad Kids from the very beginning, they didn’t even know them. They hated them and what they could do.

Kipperlilly hated that Riz had a sad backstory, Ruben hated that Fig got the fame he wanted, Mary-Ann hates that Gorgug is able to talk about his feelings with his party, Oisin hates that Adaine was able to get out from her family’s thumb, Ivy hates that she’ll never have the relationship and love that Fabian has from the Bad Kids.

They won’t became unraged and like love the bad kids they hated them from the very start. They just won’t want them to die anymore.

[mazeyphaedra]

brennan is so intentional about the things he lets slip about the ratgrinders that i refuse to believe ruben’s in space no one can feel you dying is about him being a bad boyfriend. it’s about lucy frostblade

heads up this is gonna be a very surface level assessment lol i hate making definitive statements if there's the slightest chance im wrong. oops! also none of this takes into account the devil’s honey, ruben’s dream, or ivy’s reaction to seeing “lucy”. (lyrics from FHJY ep3, Not All Who Wanda Are Lost)

Your boundaries slit my veins

this makes me think lucy really didn’t want to change her deity to ankarna, that she was pressured into it (still can't pinpoint a reason but probably has smth to do with the ratgrinders wanting a big bad to resurrect and fight). they fought about it and ruben got cut.

Your no thanks killed my family

in her defiance, and probably the fight and death that ensued, the high-5 heroes broke up. (raises an interesting point re: mollykiggins wanting to protect oisín. was she always like that or was it something that came up bc nothing must go wrong. she lucked out that the debacle with lucy happened after finals, but what if something happens within the year? the strength of the hero is the strength of the party. she needs to protect her party.)

And when you asked for space the space you made was outer space

lucy, lucy, lucy. principled, noble, 'she stuck to her guns' lucy. i think she asked out of the high-5 heroes and little miss overachiever was like you know too much that cannot happen i would rather you die. and in the fight, some portal or other was opened, allowing her allies or co-conspirators to do the unholy last rites. if you push a soul back past the point of raising, they can't rat you out! duh!

Can you hear me screaming

yeah ruben it's kind of embarrassing. everyone at the bus stop is staring at you and now none of them are gonna mob you for autographs

crossing my fingers for ruben on the complicated women podcast next ep!!! i need to know what happened to this made up group of high-schoolers like i need my next breath. like a normal person. see u at basrar's! <333

[schmuckered]

Lil first draft snippet from a future chapter of AA

“Can I just ask, and I know that this isn’t like, super popular for a question, but like… why didn’t you guys bring back Kip?” 

Ruben was nervous that he just offended Riz with the question, seeing as the goblin looked up at him with a piercing glance, but then he remembered that’s just how Riz looks at everyone. Riz sighed and put his hands together, resting his chin on them as he leaned forward onto his desk. “Do you remember Penelope Everpetal or Dayne Blade?” 

“Uh, vaguely? They were seniors when we were freshmen, right?”

“Yep. And they fought us, and they died, and they didn’t get brought back.” 

“Right…”

“Ragh also fought us, and also died, and we did bring him back.”

“OK… so um, what was the difference there?”

“Not much of one.” Riz said flatly. 

Ruben blinked. “Huh?”

“There really wasn’t much of one. We brought Ragh back because we needed info from him. That’s it.” The detective’s tone was so monotone that his words sent a chill up Ruben’s spine. 

“Oh.” 

“But then we let him live because we found out he didn’t really know anything. He was just being used.” 

Ruben nodded, still a little unsure about what was translating directly to his original question. 

“We brought you guys back because it looked like you were just getting used, too. And I’ll be honest in saying I don’t think all of us agreed that you all needed to come back. I think it’s good that you did, but still.”

Ruben licked his lips. “But not all of us.” 

Riz nodded slightly. “Not all of you. You know what the difference between you and Kipperlily is? It’s about as similar to Ragh and Dayne or Aelwyn and Penelope. The difference is: choice. Ragh’s choice was to follow the orders of one of the few good men in his life or get his life ruined, and not know that any of it was bad. Dayne’s choice was to kill innocent people or not and he followed every direction to a T and knew what it all entailed. Aelwyn’s choice was to follow the orders of an evil familiar of a dead god or die. Penelope’s choice was to sacrifice people she loved for just pure power and a title, and that’s it. You chose whether or not to be angry and live or die and be tortured in an afterlife for possibly an eternity. Kipperlily’s choice was whether or not to sacrifice her friends and possibly the whole world so she could finally feel special. That’s the difference, Ruben. That’s why we didn’t resurrect Kipperlily. Some people are misguided into doing wrong, some people are threatened into doing wrong. They deserve a second chance. Some people choose to do it only because they can benefit from hurting others. And those people deserve to stay in hell.”

A little voice in the back of Ruben’s head, the voice that reminded him of all of the times Kipperlily looked out for him in battle or hung out with him after class or was just a regular teenage kid, that voice made him speak out one last little defense. “But Kipperlily might’ve just gotten manipulated by Porter, right?”

“And maybe Penelope just got manipulated by Kalvaxus. Maybe she would've grown up to be less self-centered. Or maybe Dayne got manipulated by Daybreak. Maybe he would've grown up to be less racist or homophobic. But I went to hell in my sophomore year and I saw those two, and you know what, Ruben? They were thriving in hell. And I think Kipperlily might just be thriving there, too, from what you’ve told me. And I don’t want to see someone who thrives in hell walking the same streets as people that don’t want to hurt each other just for some kind of profit.”

[adaines-furious-feast]

Anger, Sadness, Injustice

A year and a half and a lifetime after

I wanted to be done with sad stuff for a little bit but here I am, back at it again, making myself sad.

It was over a year since Lucy had stood in the sorcery classroom. She was alone. She’d been alone a lot in the past year, but being alone here was different. The ghosts of the past were suffocating, almost as bad as the silence.

Lucy knew a lot of people described her as sad. She didn’t remember a time when sadness wasn’t part of her bones, binding her personality together. The thing about being sad so much was that she didn’t really cry. It was a choice between not crying or constantly crying.

She sank into a seat at the round table where she and her best friends had spent so much time. So many hours studying with Oisin. So many games of scrabble. So many times they’d hidden Fantasy Subway from jace before he’d told them he knew they were eating and that was fine.

She remembered the last time she sat here, having to pull Kipperlilly off the table as she yelled at Ruben. Just days before she… they…

Lucy didn’t realise she was crying. Tears silently streamed down her face, seeping into her mouth and leaving a salty taste on her tongue.

She folded her arms on the table and rested her head against them. She tried to pray, tried to reach out to Ruvina. But the only things that swept through her head were “it’s not fair” and “I’m sorry”. The words chased themselves over and over in her mind. It’s not fair I’m sorry it’s not fair I’m sorry it’s not fair I’m sorry.

Lucy realised something else pushing her tears. It wasn’t sorrow. It was anger. 

How could something so unfair be the result of bringing back a goddess of justice?

A small hand touched Lucy’s shoulder. For an instance, she thought “Kip”. When she looked up, she saw Ruben.

Ruben was at once familiar and unfamiliar. The swoop of died black hair, the tattered remains of his clothes, the distant look in his eye all hinted at what had happened after death.

Ruben didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. Lucy reached over and squeezed his hand. It quelled the anger, slowed her thoughts.

Ivy, Oisin and Mary Ann came round and silently took their seats. It was almost the same. Almost as if the past year and a half hadn’t happened.

There was an empty seat at the table.

Almost.

Nobody sat behind the teacher’s desk.

Almost.

“This is all my fault,” Lucy whispered.

Ruben was still holding her hand. It was the only thing stopping the anger boiling into her voice.

“Of course it’s not,” ivy said. “We tried to tell her they were evil. You tried-”

“They?” Lucy asked, consued.

“Cliffbreaker and Stardiamond,” Oisin said.

Lucy looked between her friends, trying to keep her breathing steady as she skimmed over the empty chair.

Had they forgotten? Forgotten the Mountains of Chaos? Forgotten Jace’s broken body on the temple floor? Forgotten how Porter had conveniently appeared and stopped Lucy from healing him herself? Forgotten how different things had been after that?

Or was she making it up? She’d been dead for so long, she didn’t know if she trusted her own memory.

“No, not Jace.”

They all turned to Mary Ann. She was staring off into the distance. When Lucy followed her gaze, it landed on the teacher’s desk.

Lucy watched as a cloudy look crossed her friends’ eyes.

“Not Jace,” Ruben repeated, nodding. A couple of seconds passed, then Ivy and Oisin echoed the words.

“I told him about Porter,” Lucy said. “This is my fault.”

“We… we all made our choices…” Ivy said quietly.

“No.” 

Lucy pulled her hand away from Ruben and clenched her fist. Sadness began to be enthused with anger. An image flashed into her mind, of sitting right here and holding Kipperlilly back as angry tears covered her red face. 

“No, we didn’t go through all that, we didn’t die so a god could come back just to sit here and accept injustice.”

What was the point of sorrow? What was the point in being sad about things if she didn’t change what she could?

It dawned on her that this was what had been missing for so long. Winter was beautiful and cold and people couldn’t survive it without each other. But no matter how much community there was, nobody could survive the winter forever. 

What was the point of winter without summer? What was the point of sorrow without the chance of justice?

How many times had Kipperlilly sat right here and insisted it wasn’t fair? She’d been wrong then, and let anger lead her to a place where justice never lay. Lucy imagined she could feel the same boiling sense of injustice that her friend had felt. They had a path to justice now. And the only thing more unfair about the whole situation was ignoring that path.

“Well, you’re the cleric,” Oisin said. “What can we do?”

“I’m going to Yolanda. I need to add a deity to my school forms.”

[zarkishere]

On the sixth day of Christmas, Zark gave to me...

MORE art + fic >.<

fic below too!

_____ What was the reason? _____ “ There’s people! “ He hissed, making his way to Ruben.

“ Eh? “ He took a little step back, looking at him confused.

“ C’mon, we have to go through the window “ Arthur whispered, gently pushing Ruben toward the window. “ Ay—pero…wait, wait, and the rest? “ Ruben asked, looking back at Arthur with worry.

“ I’ll get them in a second, let me just… “ Arthur checked the window and…it was locked. He cursed quietly, looking back at the door. “ C’mon. “ He whispered, walking over to the door again.

They crouched up to the railing, looking down…lo and behold, people had started to come inside. Some sort of party, perhaps, given the fancier clothing. Or maybe that’s just how these types of people dressed up…Ruben didn’t know.

They looked at each other, then to the other doors.

“ So…? “ Ruben whispered.

“ Go over there, check who’s inside and tell them to get out. “ The other whispered back.

He nodded, and they split up…unfortunate for Ruben, he opened the door to another bedroom…in which Javier was in.

He sighed, walking over to Javier and tapping his shoulder. “ Ey, hay que irnos. “ (Hey, we gotta go.) He whispered as quietly as he could.

“ Hm? Ah, bueno…porqué? “ (Hm? Oh, alright….why?) He answered, gently closing the closet he was checking out.

“ Entraron personas a la casa. “ (People came into the house) The other explained, glancing down at Javier’s hands…he was holding a particularly shiny object. He didn’t know what It was, but it looked interesting. “ Ay, mierda…. “ (Ah, shit…) Javier cursed quietly, looking back at the door. “ Pues…vamos “ (Well…let’s go)

They quietly made their way out of the room, finding Arthur and the Callanders waiting by the balcony for them…well—waiting isn’t the right word. The Callanders were already jumping off, Arthur was the only one by the balconies door.

“ What took ya so long?? “ He hissed, glancing between them and the main door.

“ It didn’t take that long! “ Ruben retorted as they went up to him.

“ Jesus… “ Arthur huffed, making his way out, placing his hands at the rails and jumping off—presumably landing on his feet, given all the pair heard was an ‘oof’ and the sound of Arthur’s boots hitting the gravel below.

Ruben looked at Javier expectantly. “ What? “ The other said. Ruben sighed.

“ Get out. “ He motioned to the fence.

“ Ah—you first. “ Javier said, taking a little step back. Ruben frowned.

“ No, you go first. “ He said, crossing his arms.

“ Qué importa? No me voy a morir por esperar 2 segundos más. “ (What’s it matter? I won’t die ‘cause I waited 2 more seconds.) Javier responded, crossing his arms as well.

This was stupid. Another stupid argument. And they knew it, but they went on anyway.

“ Por qué me peleas? Para molestas nada más? Salta y ya, pesado. “ (Why are you arguing with me? Only to bother? Go on and jump, annoyance.) Ruben stated, frowning.

Javier’s eyes widened ever so slightly before he frowned as well. “ Y tú por qué me insultas? Siempre igual, carajo, no tienes nada que decir entonces insultas mi carácter. “ (And why do you insult me? Always the same, damn, you have nothing to say so you insult my character.) He spat, shoulders tensing up.

Ruben groaned, rubbing his face with his hand.

“ Thank you for the coin. Is that what you wanted? “ He asked, no longer whispering, tapping his foot on the floor.

“ First, be quiet, and second, this has nothing to do with the coin! You’re always being rude to me for no reason. “ Javier answered, also not whispering anymore.

Suddenly, they heard the click of a gun.

“ What are you two doing in here? “ A feminine voice asked.

The two whipped their head toward this person—old, obviously rich, with two men with her pointing their guns at the pair. Only two, one younger than the other. Strange. Perhaps she wasn’t ready for any type of trouble…

They slowly raised their hands up, eyes wide as plates as they took a small step back.

“ Fock’s goin’ on up there, lads!? Jump down! “ Mac called out from below. Javier groaned and Ruben snickered. The woman didn’t seem amused.

“ Check them, go check if anyone else is inside and catch the man below. “ She said, and their gunmen did, one of them leaving while the younger one patted down their clothes—obviously, they found what the two had stolen in their pockets…but they also ripped away Javier’s necklace away, breaking the cheap chain in the process.

He glared at them, and Ruben could see his hands twitching as if he wanted to ball them up into fists…he refrained, though, which was stupid to Ruben…that necklace was his, bought somewhat lawfully. This was stupid. They could take them, kill them and run away…

“ You simple fools will pay. After this, I’ll make an example out of you. “ She said, crossing her arms and tapping the floor.

Ruben sighed, quickly thinking up a plan, and when the man approached him to pat him down…he quickly punched his jaw, making him stumble—Javier, taking the hint, turned around and left through the balcony while yelling at the others to run.

He tried to do the same, turn around and run—but the gunman pulled him back and punched the air out of his lungs. Ruben practically growled, tackling him to the ground before he could react and punching him as hard as he could. The woman hollered for help, attempting to pull him off but that only gained her a shove—which made her stumble down the stairs—and for Ruben to get more vicious with his punches.

He broke skin more than once, feeling skin and blood on his knuckles. The kids face swelled with tears and blood. What a mess.

He fought back, obviously, getting a few punches and kicks in…but he just wasn’t strong enough. Ruben almost felt bad…almost. In times like these, guilt only makes things harder.

You can feel guilt for hurting your friends, people you care about, but not some stranger who’s making your job harder than it needs to be.

But did he deserve this? He didn’t NEED to beat him this hard. Hosea often says he goes too far. Maybe he’s right. Maybe. He’d always been like this—well, no…maybe? It was hard to tell.

Hearing more people be on their way, he took the broken necklace back and stood up, running to the balcony and jumping off. The next few moments were a mess—The group ran away while the lady’s hired guns shot at them, so they had to get on their horses and go through the forest to lose them—there weren’t many, so Mac had offered murder as a solution, but Arthur denied it.

All Ruben could hear was a ringing in his ears. The feeling of the blood on his hands. He still had the necklace in one of them, holding so hard onto it he was a little worried it might break.

After a while, he didn’t know how long, they lost their pursuers…

“ Ruben! “ Arthur called out to him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“ What!? “ Ruben turned his head toward the voice…realizing he was much further ahead than the rest. “ Ah—sorry! “ He pulled on the reins, making his horse slow down.

“ What the hell happened!? “ He asked as their horses came to a halt together. The rest of the group stopped a little before.

“ Some…uhh…well— “ Ruben looked into Arthur’s eyes, the mix of worry and anger swirling in them like a storm…he sighed, deciding to just admit his fault. “ Me and Javier argued…and we got caught… “ Arthur groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, frustration evident in every inch of his posture. " Christ… " His voice was more weary than surprised. Like he expected this. He let out a deep sigh, his eyes narrowing. " Alright… we’re headin’ back to camp and tellin' Dutch. " With that, they spurred their horses, their hooves pounding against the dirt as they galloped hard toward camp.

The group were mostly silent. What a mess. When they finally arrived, the camp was anything but calm. It was a damn mess. Word had spread fast—As it turned out, the lady had called for the law, and what was supposed to be just a little robbery ended in a whole mess…the law was already on their tail. There was no time to waste. They had to pack up, move out, and fast. The group were questioned by some gang members, Ruben and Arthur splitting and heading for Dutch, who was talking with Hosea, already planning where to go…north, as it seemed.

Arthur’s jaw clenched as he glanced at Hosea. The older man’s expression was grim. This wasn’t the plan—hell, it wasn’t even close. Hosea and Arthur had agreed they needed to head south, away from the law. But Dutch, as usual, had his own ideas. He wasn’t listening. " Dutch, we need to get south " Arthur muttered, frustration creeping into his voice. " This is gettin’ out of hand. " But Dutch, ever the optimist in his own twisted way, ignored their advice and pushed forward. " We’re moving up, son! " he insisted, his eyes filled with the same determination that had led them here in the first place. " The trees have done well for us, but I heard there’s a few nice rivers up there…a bath wouldn’t do you wrong. " He joked with a smirk. Arthur shot a look at Hosea, who simply shook his head. This wasn’t so bad, they’d figure it out. Run, like always. They had no choice but to follow Dutch’s lead anyway.

[footywritingworks]

It's our love story, baby just say yes {Martin Ødegaard x fem!Reader}

Summary: Going with his best friend to a wedding proves to be difficult for Martin, especially when someone else seems to be keeping her attention away from him.

Wordcount: 1,3k

Warnings: pining, Martin is a lovesick fool, kinda angsty, Rúben Dias

A/N: not edited we die like soldiers here

It had all gone so well until now. He had asked you to come to that wedding with him for two reasons. One, all his other friends and teammates brought dates as well and he didn’t want to be handed around the single women by them in hopes he would settle down. And two, because he hoped he would finally have the guts to tell you how he felt.

For the time you two had been friends he had always known there was something special there. It started his heartbeat going just a little too fast when you got really close to him, longer gazes and little sparks up his nerves when you touched him. But he knew he was done for one night a couple of months ago when he had found you asleep on the couch of his apartment waiting for him after Arsenal had sadly bottled the league. You had wanted to be there for him after the tough loss but since it was an evening game you had fallen asleep. The way you curled up in one of his jerseys sleeping softly made his heart grow that little bit fonder. And the fact that you had driven all the way from the other side of London to comfort him meant the world to him. From that moment on he didn’t know what to do with himself. All he knew is that he wanted to be with you.

He tried to get advice from his mates how to approach the subject and they had come up with a plan to do it at this wedding. It was supposed to be perfect timing. Dolled up in a gorgeous dress, surrounded by the romantic atmosphere and the glow of happiness. There wasn’t any other place more fitting. He wanted to seep you away to the dancefloor to then get you to the decorated, enlightened balcony to confess his feelings. In his mind, it was a wonderful idea.

Until now it had all gone so well. While you got ready in the shared hotel room he noted that his tie had the same colour as your dress, making you look like a couple. He had held you close during the ceremony, his arm around you as you leaned into him while wiping the happy tears away. While walking around the reception venue you had clung to his arm, a little uncomfortable with the amount of people in the room.

The way your hand wrapped around his bicep to keep yourself close to him made him feel protective over you. He knew he would never let anything bad happen to you and he would make sure of that today as well. The way your hands gripped the fabric of his suit jacket made him want to bring you back to the hotel room and make you grip his back instead.

Things were going so well. But now? Now he was sat alone at your table, glass of whiskey in his hand as he watched you being spun around on the dancefloor by someone who wasn’t him. The grip on his glass was so tight that it looked like he was about to break it, knuckles turning white. Of course it had to be him who stole you away. Wasn’t it enough he had stolen the league title from him? Did he have to do the same with his girl? With the love of his life.

His jaw clenched tight as he watched Ruben pull you close to continue dancing. Your hand found his shoulder while his rested on your waist. Whatever he was saying, it made you laugh. And Martin hated every single second of it. He often had felt the feeling of anger burning inside of him but nothing could have prepared him for the raging jealousy that was taking over his body. He imagined how he could rip Ruben to shreds and take you away to make you his. Who was Ruben anyway to try and take what’s his. How dare he? Ruben wasn’t someone for commitment. He jumped from one girl to another and seeing him with you made his heart ache. You deserved someone who would commit to you. Someone who would drop everything just to be close to you. Someone who would love you with every fibre of their being. Someone like him.

Just as Martin was about to take another sip of his drink Declan sat in front of his line of sight, blocking him from watching you and Ruben. A smug smile graced Declan’s face as he leaned close so Martin could hear him over the loud sound of music.

„What is your girl doing with another man?“

Martin raised an eyebrow as he took a sip of his drink.

„She isn’t my girl.“

This seemed to make Declan’s smile even wider. He almost looked like a kid in a candy store.

„Not yet. Come on Skipper. This isn’t like you to sit around and watch. Go to her! Get your girl. I can’t keep watching you two walk on eggshells around each other. You are hopeless.“

Martin sighed and looked over at you again. You were even closer now than you were before. And Martin had enough. He drank the last bit of his drink and stood up abruptly. As he made his way to the dancefloor he could see Declan waving over his other teammates so they could watch whatever was about to unfold now.

On the way over to you his mind was racing. All possible scenarios went through his head as his hands began to become sweaty. He was nervous. But he had to power through because he knew you were worth it.

He laid a hand on Rubens back which made him turn back, finally away from you.

„May I take over?“

Martin didn’t even acknowledge Ruben any further, his eyes stuck on your face. You looked absolutely beautiful. The light making your face glow all while a small blush graced your cheeks. The soft smile directed at him made his heart stop. And he could swear he saw your eyes sparkle.

You immediately had stepped into his arms as you started to dance. You were so close. He could feel the heat of your had through the fabric of his jacket and your breath on the side of his face. You fit perfectly together like puzzle pieces. Your body slotting against his just right. When the steps became more of a routine Martin risked looking down to your face. You were already looking at him, gentle smile with a blush on your face, your eyes in a soft gaze. He couldn’t stop himself from switching his gaze from your eyes to your red painted lips. You leaned your forehead against his cheek and he could smell the intoxicating mix of your shampoo and the perfume he loved so much on you. He subconsciously took in a deep breath.

„Do it.“

Confused he pulled his face away from yours after the whisper. It had been barely audible due to the music but he still understood every word. His heart was beating out of his chest and he prayed that couldn’t hear how embarrassingly fast it was going. The confused visage still very much visible on his face.

„Do what you have wanted to do the whole night. What you have wanted to do for so long but never had the guts to. Do what you have been craving to do and can’t hold back any longer. Kiss me and make me yours Martin.“

He wasted not a second to dive in and connect your lips. He had wasted enough time already. Not anymore. He tried to give all the feelings into the kiss. The longing, the love, the passion, the jealousy and the relief he now felt. Your hand had meanwhile found refuge in his hair, messing up his perfect styling but he couldn’t care less. His Hand squeezed your waist to pul you impossibly closer. You both smiled into the kiss while you could hear his mates cheer in the background. As you pulled away your lashes fluttered before opening, the smile not leaving your face.

„Does that mean you’ll be my gir-„

You let out a giggle before interrupting him.

„Yes. Absolutely.“

[sseomtada]

being [ruben dias]

you run into ruben twice - both ending in unexpected and disappointing ways.

warnings: none | wc: 5609 | 2/???

It was as if all the time in the world and none at all passed simultaneously.

During that theoretically improbable glitch, you felt like you experienced every emotion known to man. Disbelief was the first. Was it really him your eyes were taking in, or did the mice actually exist in your brain and managed to do severe damage to your amygdala?

Then came shock. He stood to his full height, seemingly taller than you recalled and held out something in his hand. It took a moment for your gaze to drift to the item - ah, your original weapon of choice.

You reached out to grab the tail end of your keys. Whether it was to avoid contact with his skin was left to be determined.

Wave after wave, each one slamming more forcefully than the last into your body, you spun helplessly through a cycle that would only end one way.

Confusion, because what was he doing here? Not in this city, the answer to that was fairly obvious even without knowing his affiliation after seeing his address, but actually here on your street. Not remotely close to where he lived.

Anger followed suit. At the forefront leading the march of red hot flames licking the back of your neck was all of the questions you had about that night. Every single one of them starting with the word why. Though, not all of that vitriol was directed his way.

A fraction of it had been left to God or Fate or whichever entity decided to move your chess pieces to end up in this predicament. This was the last thing you needed and the worst time for it to happen. The one thing both he and the powers that be shared was the prefix to all of your venom laced inquiries, why.

You fought against the current and undertow. Nothing good waited for you at the bottom.

That was easier said than done, especially as the sky illuminated with a flash again and gave you an even better look at him. Adding insult to injury was the fact that he was achingly perfect, fully grown into the features you adored.

His strong brow bone contrasting those soft eyes more than they did before. That nose of his, still as big as ever, but sitting just right in a way that highlighted his prominent cheeks. His lips were possibly the one thing that remained unchanged, but you wouldn’t know for sure unless…

“I-” Ruben croaked.

A tiny, broken word was enough to tear you into two pieces. One half of you begged and pleaded desperately for him to spit it out. All of it. The other part wanted absolutely nothing of the sort. It wanted him to never even do so much as breathe in your vicinity for as long as he lived.

You swallowed thickly, eyes squeezing shut. This was too much for you to fully grasp right now. What were you even doing still standing here getting torrentially poured on? What did you hope to gain from watching him grapple to form a single sentence?

It’s over. Don’t contact me. I don’t love you anymore.

The keys bit into your palm as your grip around them tightened. If there was anything he had to say to you, he could’ve done so when you showed up at his door. He could’ve said something on any of the days, weeks and months that followed while you experiencing a part of yourself die and fade out of existence.

You turned to leave and didn’t make it more than two steps before his hand grasped your wrist. He was still so warm. Flashes of memories flooded your mind so quickly and intensely that it threatened to bring you to your knees.

How are you always freezing, baby? Come here. Closer. Perfect.

Just as you pulled your arm up to free yourself of his grip, he released it. You stood with your back still facing him for a beat. It was long enough for him to drape his jacket over your shoulders, shielding you from the rain. Your body let out an involuntary shudder.

And then you ran.

Everything muted. You didn’t feel your legs moving, or your galloping heartbeat, or your lungs burning from uncontrolled breaths. The next thing you knew, you were in your building facing the door opposite yours.

You knocked, careful not to be too loud given the hour and hopeful that despite the time, you’d be let inside. Only God knows how long had passed before you leaned your head against the cool surface. With a final attempt, you raised your first to knock again.

Instead of your knuckles connecting with wood, they swung into empty space. Your torso fell forward into Aki’s as she yelped.

“The rain just had to come down on your run, didn’t it?” She peeled your wet frame from her pajamas.

The playful look of concern quickly turned serious once she took you in. The look in her eyes filled you with deja vu. It was that September 15th stare all over again because she just knew.

This time, the water running down your face was warm - coming from within. There were millions of mice wreaking havoc in your mind now. They gnawed, scratched and unearthed all that you buried years ago, decimating the walls you’d built brick by brick.

Aki pulled you in tight, squeezing and cradling your head.

You let it all out.

Everything that you had created with Bana held more importance to you than most things in life.

It was far more than just a passion or a dream. As silly as it sounded, forming that company quite literally gave you hope. At a time where you’d felt so lost and at your wits end, fully at odds with what seemed to be your only option, you decided to do the craziest and most ill-advised thing. Although the road was anything but smooth in the beginning, you managed to navigate from treacherous dirt tracks to freshly set tar.

You currently found yourself in that same pocket of gratefulness that you were in back then. With the contract finally being signed, the real work had only just begun on the project you had with Nike.

There was so much to be done. That coupled with the pressure of having to solidify Bana’s strength in the new city left you devoid of extra time or energy to expend to whatever the fuck happened a few nights ago.

Aki was more than a saint. She gave you a safe space and the support you needed to seal the cracks, without judgment or prying into things further. The only thing she had to offer was: if you need me to take over from here, just say the word.

She knew that this venture meant an infinite amount to you, so suggesting backing out wasn’t a gesture you would appreciate. An attractive alternative, however, would be for you to take as much time as you needed to decompress while looking after the business for you.

There were no IOU cards in existence that could compensate the support a friend like her gave. You began to think you’d spend your entire life trying to repay her for all that she did for you. On this occasion, that looked like breaking the cycle of the past.

You weren’t going to fall apart and have her clean up your messes anymore. Everything that you went through wasn’t going to be in vain. Despite the massive destabilizing event, you would carry on for both your sakes.

“T-minus two weeks, ladies.” You set your stack of materials on the conference room table. “Let’s get to work.”

Cindy whooped and Aki clapped, ready to dive in. Their high spirits empowered you to shake off any residual feelings in order to pour everything you had into Bana’s debut in the Manchester market.

The schedule was torturously tight, leaving no margin for error. Neither you nor the client’s team had the luxury of dillydallying when the date for the launch party had been set and was a non-negotiable. Your first order of business was meeting up with the design team to essentially interview them about their process and goals.

That would help you in forming the image you intended to portray to the audience. They had been outsourced just like your team, so even delving into a bit of their backstory and their journey to working with a major company would come in handy.

Cindy’s expertise would come in next. She had an unrivaled pulse on current trends across seemingly every culture. Her knowledge was a inspiring and an endless resource that would take this project beyond the local scene, which was the whole purpose of working with a brand like Nike.

Aki had to be the smartest person you knew. Her ability to forecast financials was seen by the top four multinational firms even when she was an undergraduate. She even spent time working with Deloitte post graduation, but was fast to come to the conclusion that the corporate accounting world wasn’t the environment for her. It was a realization you owed your company’s life to.

The weeks approaching the deadline quickly dwindled down to days. All the while, the three of you worked tirelessly alongside your accompanying staff to ensure that the product’s marketing was seamless.

“And…breathe.” Aki shut her laptop with a smack.

Cindy let out more of a roar than a breath, drawing both of your gazes to her.

“Sorry, was that a bit much?” She grinned sheepishly.

Actually, it wasn’t in the slightest. You too found yourself bellowing aloud, to everyone’s confusion at first, until they joined in as well. It was a release of everything you all had endured to drag your bodies to the finish line. It was also strangely therapeutic to nonverbally, yet vocally, express your relief.

At the end of it, you were laughing - something you realized you hadn’t done in quite some time. That moment made continuing on regardless of whatever issues loomed feel so very worth it. This was why you took the leap you did, the rewarding feeling of succeeding and doing so with an amazing set of people alongside you.

“We’ll tidy things up here.” Aki shot you a don’t even argue with me look.

“Sure will! You go and get some well deserved rest, boss.” Cindy offered a sincere smile.

As much as you wanted to put up a fight, you learned with experience to graciously accept kindness when it was extended to you. After bidding them goodnight, you headed back to your place.

For once, your body wasn’t coursing with insane amounts of adrenaline. Maybe the post project high wore off with age. Or maybe you’d finally discovered the limits to running yourself ragged. Either way, you were happy that when your head met your pillow, sleep was all but ready to welcome you instantly.

o passado

Your sophomore year internship was going to be the end of you.

Across every industry, it seemed that there was a rite of passage one had to complete in order to be considered a serious candidate. Going into working for your current firm, you held that belief too. But why?

You thought there’d be some lesson to be learnt or character to be built while being put through endless trials of your patience. Was it to make you value every level or work, or to not take your future position for granted? If that was the case, you didn’t need to go through them.

Everyone held some level of privilege. Whether you were fully able bodied, or neurotypical, or alive, regardless of anything else going on, you held something another wished they had. You’d never gone a day in your life without recognizing the privilege you possessed to be able to go to school, and then work a job.

The only thing the constant barrage of belittle comments, humiliating scolds and time wasting tasks achieved was making you feel disappointed. Was this all there was to life? Were you expected to obtain this badge of honor only to inflict the same horrors upon the next generation in hopes that they’d do the same?

Your tired legs carried you to bed where you curled into a little ball. What made this experience even more gut-wrenching was the misplaced guilt that crept in at moments like this. Sometimes recognizing your blessings came with a side of feeling ungrateful when you were sad because of them.

All those long days and nights your mom worked to sustain a comfortable life were undoubtably for you to even be in a position to be so stressed out. You couldn’t ever bring yourself to tell her just how hard some days were, especially knowing how much she must’ve suffered to provide for you alone.

“What’s wrong, coração?”

Ruben’s question made you whimper. You’d been trying to hold it in as much as possible so that you didn’t disturb him having fun in the living room with his friend. The go-to guise of yours was having to work on a report in order for you to duck out early.

He sank into the bed beside you and wrapped you in his arms. You shuddered, not even realizing that you hadn’t pulled up the duvet or shut the window against the winter air outside. His hand stroked your hair softly in a steady rhythm as your heartbeat slowed to mirror his own.

“I don’t want to do this anymore.” You choked out. “I can’t.”

Something about letting the voices in your head speak aloud felt even more devastating. Your body shook against his as you were hit with another wave of sobs. You felt stupid and weak and hopeless.

Ruben turned you over to face him, his brows pressed together with concern before tucking your head against his chest. He stroked the length of your spine while you cried, giving you the time you needed to let everything you felt pour out. When your shoulders finally stilled and your breathing regulated, he angled your face to look at you again.

“If you truly feel that way and want to quit, it’s okay.” Ruben wiped your cheeks with him thumb. “I won’t think less of you, neither will anyone else who loves you. More importantly, I don’t want you feeling this way or considering that decision make you see yourself as less than.”

You cupped his face with a trembling hand and touched your forehead to his, closing your eyes. With the emotional tsunami subsiding, you slowly put back together the pieces of your spirit.

It was difficult right now, but you genuinely loved what you were pursuing. Just because you were in this current predicament didn’t mean you’d stay there, or have to perpetuate it upon anyone else.

“I don’t want to give up, but…” Your voice was small.

“That’s it, then. All that matters.” His brown eyes crinkled at their edges. “You don’t want to give up on your dream.”

You shook your head, lips pouting.

Ruben sat upright and brought you with him. His hands engulfed your shoulders as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. You subconsciously found yourself doing the same. When yours reopened, you found him gazing at you lovingly.

“You can do it.” He led.

It was a journey to muster up the energy to follow, but you did, “I can do it.”

“You’re the best.” Ruben continued, hands coming down to squeeze your own.

“I’m the best.” You huffed out with a half laugh.

He brought your fingers to his lips, kissing the tips softly.

“That’s my girl.”

o presente

The blaring alarm from your phone on the bedside table didn’t startle you since you were already wide awake.

You’d gotten the most sleep you have in months the night before, but woke up earlier than you’d hoped. The past hour saw you staring into the darkness of your bedroom, groggy mind going places you were too tired to derail them from.

It was better to get those thoughts out of the way before you got your day started, you guessed. Especially those as important as the one that laid ahead.

With one last deep sigh, you threw off your duvet to get things moving. If you didn’t complete your morning routine, you wouldn’t be half of the person you needed to be. And you had to be even more than that given that the launch party was tonight.

You got dressed to go for a jog - indoors at the gym in your building this time, for obvious reasons. Avoiding songs with lyrics had been a habit you picked up since that unexpected run in too. Annoyingly, you were the type of person to be reminded of personal situations when hearing a singer croon about theirs that mirrored your own.

For an hour, you zoned out to a random chill house DJ set while your legs moved without a thought. After ending your run and stretching, you headed back up to your loft for a shower followed by a big breakfast.

You felt strangely serene despite all the recent chaos. For once, instead of questioning that, you decided to lean fully into it. On the way to the office, you even swung by a nearby cafe to pick up coffee for the girls. It would be a nice detour from the exhausted Nespresso machine.

“For me?’ Cindy beamed, taking in her signature flat white.

“Yes, for you.” A bright grin spread across your face. “And you, madame.”

Aki clutched her iced americano to her chest dramatically. “CEO of the year: Y/N.”

Your eyes rolled playfully as you all settled in for a quick recap. Something you liked to do after wrapping up a project was to firstly celebrate the work put in by everyone. Then, you analyzed strengths and weaknesses that could be improved upon for endeavors to come.

“I can’t thank you guys enough for making this process as hassle-free as possible and smashingly successful.” You concluded.

“We’re going to do great things together.” Cindy reached across the table to give each of your hands a squeeze.

“I’m so excited for our debut tonight!” Aki wiggled in her seat.

It wasn’t always a given that the client would invite outsourced teams to launch parties with their stakeholders, but Nike was gracious enough to extend an invitation to your team. They were clearly pleased with the work Bana presented, but this added an extra layer of validation.

The importance of an event like this also couldn’t be overstated. Though it was more or less a party, it was a huge networking opportunity. You and the girls had to be in your best form tonight to do the job that mattered most in this industry - marketing the firm.

After checking in on your home office and answering a few emails that could potentially produce leads, you joined Aki in her preparations for the event. It had been a minute since either of you had the opportunity to get this dolled up, so you decided to go all out.

Why not let the professionals do the heavy lifting? You felt more relaxed than you had in ages having someone else wash and style your hair. Even Aki had found herself less talkative than usual, going as far as nearly dozing off while she got her pedicure.

“You should wear that dress you’ve been saving. Remember the one you got when we were on vacation?” She suddenly perked up.

“The one from Nice?” You scrambled to find the exact one she meant. Shopping on vacation was a kryptonite of yours, making her meaning a bit difficult to pinpoint.

Aki shook her head, “Santorini…”

“Ah,” Your eyes bulged and then you nodded. “Santorini.”

There was rarely a time where you experienced love at first sight with clothing. Most of your pieces were carefully thought out and heavily deliberated upon prior to purchasing. Classic, sleek and complimentary trumped jumping on trend bandwagons to you.

When you saw that dress on the mannequin in the window, you felt like you had an out of body experience. The soft cream color, the draping with it’s exposed back and beaded details - it was a no brainer that you had to have it.

Tonight was the perfect occasion to finally break her in.

It went with the theme you’d decided on for your team’s fist major outing as well. In the spirit of celebrating Bana, Cindy suggested wearing the colors in the logo - cream, burnt orange and sage green. There were no limits to your options, anyone could choose any color and it didn’t matter if you all showed up in the same hue.

You'd just finished fastening your chunky gold hoops when Aki’s knock sounded from the door. She was always on the dot, so that meant you had exactly five seconds to head out to the car waiting downstairs.

“Good lord…” Her mouth dropped at your appearance.

“Stop,” You scrunched your nose. “Is the slight glisten on the skin too much?”

“It’s perfect! You’re giving trophy.” She gave a thumbs up.

“And you look like a sunset on the Gulf.” Your hand extended to grab hers, giving her a twirl to make the orange fabric of her halter-cut gown dance.

If there was ample time, you two would’ve stood in the hallway having a compliment battle. The ticking clock, however, demanded that you haul ass since there was one last stop to be made before arriving at the event.

“You look like a fairy!” Aki gasped as Cindy hopped into the back of the car.

“A sexy wood nymph, I hope.” She arched a freshly shaped brow.

You made a noise of agreement, “It’s exactly that.”

Fate played its hand well tonight given that you all ended up blindly choosing different colors. Cindy’s dress looked like something straight off a Dipesta runway - a soft, dreamy green that perfectly sculpted her frame.

The team’s car arrived just in time for a few photos to be taken before receiving an escort to your table. Aki took an appreciative sip of the champagne that was poured, savoring the bubbles in her mouth.

If you didn’t know she tended to not drink while working on huge projects, you might’ve thought she was a weirdo. You took a sip of your own and understood her pleasure even more — it was fucking delicious.

“I’d like to thank everyone for coming tonight to celebrate this new line of our iconic Air Max. Even though we’re still a few months out from consumer purchasing, each one of you here has made it possible to bring this dream of ours to life.” Nike’s CEO began.

A short round of applause followed. Their words filled you with gratitude and relief. The best part of branding a product like this was that you got in and out early. Everything was in their hands now and you wished them the best of luck on the remainder of their journey.

“A special thanks goes out to our major partners, who’ll be pivotal in the time leading up to the release.” They continued, point towards a table near yours. “We look forward to seeing them on our Manchester City players on European nights and beyond.”

You clapped along with the other attendees, eyes following the direction of their attention. The meeting of your hands slowed to a stop. Only a few feet away from you sat the owner of the brilliant grin that haunted you, that same expression returned to the speaker on the podium for their words.

Aki sensed a shift in your energy instantly, looking at you and then picking up your line of sight. She squeezed your knee to bring you back to the present. Your burning eyes blinked before turning to hers.

Are you okay? They silently asked. You mustered a small smile and placed a hand overs hers. I’m good.

“Our concept with this new shoe in the Air Max line was to really emphasize that trademark, shock absorbing feel that they’re known for.” The head of the design team took the stage.

As much as you wanted to give them your undivided attention, you struggled to keep your eyes forward without shifting off to the left. Get it together, Y/N, now’s not the time. You took a breath breath and held it, begging oxygen to flow straight to your brain.

“The team at Bana really understood what we were going for and found the perfect way to translate that to the masses. A big shout out to you lot for being absolute rockstars.” They saluted your table.

Faces filled with smiles turned in your direction, crippling your efforts to steady your nerves. You somehow gathered what you needed to slightly bow your head in appreciation before they continued with their speech.

Cindy inhaled sharply and leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, “Uh, don’t look, but Ruben Dias is staring over here for some reason. Do you guys know him?”

Fuck it.

Any hope of regaining a sense of normalcy to your night was thrown in the trash. It wouldn’t ever be a usual occurrence as long as you two ended up in the same space. It couldn’t.

You had to stop avoiding that, especially considering that this wasn’t your fault. You’re not the reason why it felt like trying to breathe outside during a heat wave whenever you shared the same space as him.

“Yeah,” Your eyes locked with his, unshifting. “Something like that.”

It didn’t take a detective to realize that your words were loaded. Cindy was quicker than most to pick up on that and her back quickly rejoined with her seat. Aki downed the rest of her champagne, signaling discretely for a top up as soon as the flute touched the table.

She was right on cue for the start of the event’s mixer portion.

You swiped a fresh glass from a tray being floated around the room and tapped into the part of your brain that gave you laser focus. Bana was your priority, had been for the past four years, and nothing - or no one - would ruin that.

The head of design was your first stop. It was only fitting that you return the kindness they’d extended to you in their speech and throughout working with their team. They promised to keep your firm high in their mind when cooking the next great invention for all your hard work.

Cindy introduced you to her mystery contact who was on the executive side. You got to know a bit more about how they met, the middle-aged woman being her former advisor at her university. It said a lot to you as an employer to see that she still kept very strong connections with people she’d met years prior.

Aki was working her charm as usual with some guys who seemed to be too shy to get into the cocktail hour. You weren’t sure about their affiliations, but everyone in this room was worth sparing a conversation. Besides, she’d definitely fill you in later.

“Are you Bana’s CEO?” An accented voice spoke from behind you.

He was tall, tuxedo fitted to his huge frame with superior precision. Oddly handsome too, though you couldn’t pinpoint if his lips were real or not. He was also the person sitting beside Ruben, if you weren’t mistaken.

“I am, nice to meet you.” You shook his hand. “And you’re in the City squad. Excuse my ignorance, I don’t keep up with football.”

His laugh exuded relief, strangely. “That’s quite alright, I can imagine how busy you must be. I play up front, Erling Haaland.”

If there was any waver if your expression, you did well to mask it. So, he was Ruben’s teammate. It made you question whether or not he knew anything about your previous relationship to his coworker.

“I hope our firm continues to have a good relationship with Nike, maybe we’d keep running into each other at events like this.” Though far from explicit, your tone was leading. What was his reason for approaching you?

“It’s something I hope for as well, though I might want to pull your attention away from them just a bit.” Erling smirked.

Suddenly, you became the one being roped in. “How so?”

“I’ve been looking for a change in my own personal branding. Based on what you did here, I’d be interested in having a conversation with you and your team.” He answered directly.

This time, it was your tiny laugh that was filed with relief. No grilling about your past, then. Even better was the fact that you’d potentially lined up a new business opportunity. Was continuing to work in this particular vein the smartest idea? Yes and no.

But you didn't have the luxury of playing it safe currently, you also didn’t particularly care to anymore. Manchester was just as much yours as it was his for the taking.

“We’d love to hear what you have in mind.” You smiled.

Erling accepted your contact via Airdrop, telling you to keep an ear out from a call from his assistant before excusing himself to make more rounds. You bit down on your bottom lip to ground yourself from showing just how good it felt to be in top form. Not just yet, that could wait until you were done hunting for the night.

You refocused on combing through the sea of people for your girls to see if they needed bailing out. Unfortunately, classy gatherings like this didn’t put a halt to rather tasteless behavior from men. You'd just spotted Aki cackling at something the person she was speaking to said, thankfully, when your view was obstructed by yet another tuxedo clad chest.

Salt water, patchouli, sage…tobacco.

Your sense knew it was him before your eyes combed up to meet his. It was the same potent yet subtle fragrance that lingered on his jacket, and your skin, even after you’d washed them.

“I always knew you could this.” Ruben’s voice made your flesh raise.

You can do it. You’re the best. That’s my…

“Well,” You spoke aloud to shut the memory out. “I guess deep down I did too.”

Awkward silence took the reigns yet again in an encounter neither of you expected. Unlike the previous one, it wasn’t an empty street providing him with the opportunity to say any of the things you wanted to hear. It certainly wasn’t the place to get into why he’d so terribly and abruptly ripped your heart clean out of your chest.

“Excuse m-”

“Y/N.” His call paralyzed you.

From within your own body, you watched helplessly as he stepped just a bit closer - shined loafers nearly meeting your gold sandals. Ruben was never in the business of hiding what was on his mind, a trait that evidently remained as he scanned over your daringly cut gown.

At that moment, it felt like more of a curse than a blessing that you chose to wear this of all things tonight.

“If it make things too…difficult, me being teammates with Erling” He whispered. “I can make sure there are no questions if you want to decline.”

A fault line appeared in your composure as you scoffed, blinking in disbelief like you’d been physically struck. Who the fuck did he think he was? Actually, who was this person standing in front of you?

The Ruben you knew was far from this version. Someone who was all but telling you to walk away, much less based on an assumption that his presence in a client’s life was too much for you to handle. Because what, he broke your heart almost a decade ago? Did he really think he held that much power of you still?

Him being here tonight might’ve been a good thing. If you hadn’t ran into him again, you’d still be subconsciously romanticizing the past and letting your mind dip into the imaginary pool of what ifs for longer than you deserved.

Seven years was a long time. It seemed to give Ruben a level of audacity that quite frankly made you feel an emotion that you didn’t think was possible when it came to him, disgust.

Your limbs were suddenly free of any stiffness, and quicker than he could object, you made your way to the exit. You weren’t running away from him this time. Leaving was for the best given the fact that you were seeing red. Besides that, you’d already secured something of a win.

An opportunity that you were going to pursue with every ounce of your being.

[devilishchaos]

I LOVE YOU QUEEN!!!!!

FIRST of all I love when Ruben calls the reader 'meu amor'.

SECOND: can we talk about:

'“Stealing hearts and infants now?” you teased as he nodded' excuse me???? why is this so damn cute

2. '“I showed him how to not drop her, but he figured it out pretty quick.” 

“You just dumped her in his arms, didn’t you?” 

“Threw him completely in the deep end.”' I just know this is exactly what happened. I can see it from miles away

3. '“I watched him do 169 push-ups without stopping the other day.” .. "‘Peak physical perfection.’ was what he told me."' GYM KING is that you?? this is soooo Ruben you can't convince me otherwise

4. '"much to the humor of Jack’s taunts of him being so pussy-whipped that he forgot how to have fun - Rúben agreed. He’d much rather be getting laid every night with a woman as sexy and eager as you than to have to look like an asshole like he did"' Mr. Pussy whipped okayyyy. also why did you do my guy Jack like that I died laughing

5. '"Panic crossed Rúben’s face, as he side-eyed you as the baby in his arms started to wiggle around."' .. '“Want me to help?” 

“Yes, please!” Rúben squeaked.' again I can see this happening

6. 'Uncle Rú-Rú!' I mean .. do you want me to die??? how could you do this to me. so freaking adorable, I need to see it right now!

7. the whole conversation and the hot sex just made me melt. what in the fiction world girl?!!?!? I want this to happen to me so bad!

Thank you for fulfilling my delulu dreams. You're my literal queen *kisses*

Awwww thank you babe! 😊 ofcourse we can talk about everything.

I want to be called that by him sooo bad. 🥺

1. You know he will be stealing them because they are soo cute and chubby, and soft

2. You damn well know she went and did that. Rúben was so confused ant first but he loved it eventually

3. Baby has great phisycal abilities. I mean as the best CB he has to and is performing very well

4. That men is onto you and he is not afraid to show it. And I love Jack but he was just so fitting for this..you know after what Rúbes did with his mom's bag hehe

5. Baby girl said "thank you, next".

6. No, don't die! Theres more fics that you have to read..but ngl I died a little when I was writing it

7. Everyone's been there and wanted that. I had a hard time writing the conversation because I wanted it to seem real you know? I want my work in general to feel real and not just fiction and that is very hard, feel like in every fic the conversation especially for babies is always the same "I want a baby. I do too. Lets have a baby." And I didn't want that for me personally. No offence to anyone.

Thank you for supporting me and encouraging me. All love ❤️

[octochick]

My personal favela five headcanons (and bonus redstone gang trio ones)

Cellbit - So this wet cat of a man has a Backstory. You know. Born a catboy, occultists took him and experienced on him, ascended, learned some rituals and escaped. Was kinda out of sanity at that time so he kinda became a serial killer, classical Cellbit things. He was indeed rescued by Felps after Alcatraz, and had to get some reeeeealy intense therapy... how Felps found a therapist that would effectively treat him is a mystery, but he did and slowly, Cellbit got better. Nowadays, he looks like a mostly normal man. Mostly thanks to his appearance distortion ritual hiding the biggest part of his scars, the tatoos from when he was a guinea pig to occultists and his cat ears. Oh and he also has faceblindness.

Felps - A Felps from the felpsverse that decided to go on a simple vacation to meets some old friends but was dragged to the island. This Felps is actually a quite important Felps, being the one to bring the Felpses that die outside of the felpsverse back home. Sometimes he likes to substitute for other Felpses (The Fuga Impossível universe doesn’t actually have a Felps, it was this guide Felps the “Felps” there). He used to hang quite a lot around some of the few non-Felps entities back on felpsverse, like Rubens. Physically, he has some small differences that distinguish him from the other Felpses, like how he always walks barefoot and how he can float some centimeters off the ground. He can’t really die, but can be hurt. He bleeds black, has lots of spirals over his whole body, and any chunk of flesh that is ripped out of him turns into goo. He has a small mental link to the greater Felps conscience that sends small bits of information about the other Felpses memories whenever he needs it.

Mike - So Mike started out as a simple slime hybrid, orphan, met Pac at school and the two ran away when they finished 9th grade and did some shit, including going to prison. But well, they get out and try a new life for themselves of scientists, with pretty good results if they do say. Anyways, things got kinda freaky when the two figured out genetic modification. So Pac, at the time a simple human, decided to be reasonable despite Mike’s and his own voice and just did a simple fusion. Now, Mike, very confident that his hybrid status would make him sturdier to more extreme transformations, decided to go a little crazy. First was creeper, complete success. A touch of spider, only for the wall climbing? Yup, splendid. Now... blaze? Blaze fucked things up beyond repair. The blaze dna didn’t interact well with his slime dna, fused into magma cube dna and overwrote a lot of his own genome. He almost died and his body became almost unrecognizable. If analyzed, he is around 1% spider, 5% human, 16% slime, 23% creeper and 55% magma cube nowadays. His body is basically a slime mold, vaguely human in shape, red fading into pink, lightly explosive with large eye spots. Despite this body having its uses, Mike was always used to a human body so he and Pac worked hard to make him a robot body. His body went through lots of versions, and it still is being updated. The most recent version has a digital TV face, fingers that have deployable tools (A staple since the second version), and a complex camouflage system. If you pay attention to the joints, you can see glimpses of his true body.

Pac - So Pac used to be a human, but now he is a third planaria. His leg suffered more than Jesus. Despite the rumors, Cellbit DIDN’T eat his leg. But he did bite it. At first it wasn’t all that bad, excluding the obvious, but he still could walk ok, things just got bad when they returned to land and it got infected so bad the leg had to be amputated, bellow the knee. So one of the first things Tazercraft built when they got their lab was a prosthesis for him. And thing were well and swell, buuuut a lab accident happened and Pac’s leg had to be amputated further, over the knee. New prosthesis, everything ok again. Genetic modification time! Mike’s adventures are already written, but Pac decided think a little bit more about it. He decided to go for planaria, because of their regeneration capabilities. He went, got that planaria dna and almost died. But he survived. His leg, for some miraculous reason, got regenerated, but not perfectly, so nowadays he needs a cane a lot of the time. He does wonder what would happen if he is cut in half, but its better to not think about it too much.

 Now the bonus Viniccius13 and DaviGamerHD because they were for a very long time the only minecraft channels I watched

Viniccus13 - He is something of a demigod, almost omnipresent and omniscient, but only on his home world. He is basically a ginormous redstone circuit, the size of a minecraft world, that reached sentience. He can feel and see through all the redstone that is from his home world, and he can “contaminate” the redstone of other worlds to also do that. His body is completely made out of redstone. Think of him a little like a mushroom. He, the man, is the fruiting body, and the redstone underground is the hypha. But he can’t survive outside of his world for very long, he will simply crumble and loose consciousness. To be able to go to other worlds he uses a stabilizer in the form of sunglasses.

Davi - Davi is a hybrid of deer and dryad, a little of a strange mix. His antlers form a ring over his head like a halo, but they have lots of cracks and fractures, and are also very uneven with different growth patterns, caused by his frequents deaths in Viniccius world. Some of Richarlyson body language reminds Forever of Davi, so he calls Richas Davi as a small joke.

[marisatomay]

i guess to get into it maverick is not the reason why nope didn’t receive oscar noms it’s a miracle the academy nominated maverick for anything above the line when they notoriously have about as much respect for action as they do for horror, like, the last action blockbuster best picture nominee was Seven Years Ago with mad max: fury road which, like maverick, also had to make stupid money on top of the filming techniques it pioneered and near-universal critical acclaim it received before the academy threw it a bone so the reason why nope didn’t receive nominations isn’t because one movie received a very rare best picture nom as an action blockbuster but because the academy didn’t like how nope made their industry look combined with the fact that none of us will ever love anything as much as the academy loves middling to bad biopics, films that make you want to die, movies no one outside of film twitter has even heard of, and also anything ruben östlund shits out

[blood-darkened-moon]

(3/3) The documents both in game (Jimenez) and DLC (Marta Martin) stated he "appeared" outwardly normal and even functional. If the fire never happened, that would be way more terrifying in my opinion because he would’ve been more dormant, so his career would’ve lasted longer, which would’ve affected more people. What do you think?

That’s a difficult question to answer. After all, the fire was the trigger for all the things Ruvik did. Without the fire, Laura wouldn’t have died, and his father would have had no reason to lock him up in the basement for years. So maybe Ruvik would never have become a serial killer. And even if he did, I still can’t give you a clear answer. I agree with you that he would have been more dormant, at least the urgency of seeing Laura again would be gone. But I can’t say whether he would have lasted longer or less and whether more people would have been affected.

First of all, he carried out experiments on people for quite a long time undetected. His first victims were his parents when he was 20 years old. He didn’t experiment on them, but they still count as victims. Mobius then eliminated him when he was 37. So, he was active for a total of 17 years. That’s quite long.

In addition, he must have killed quite a few people. The newspaper articles alone indicate at least 21 victims.

“More than a dozen mutilated bodies found in village of Elk River.” (at least 13) “More bodies found near Elk River community.” (at least 2) “Four mutilated bodies found just outside of Victoriano Estate.” “Bodies of Ernesto and Beatriz Victoriano found in wreck.”

In a dialog with Jimenez, he answers the question, “How many have you killed, Ruben?” with “Numbers are irrelevant.” This dialog likely did not happen towards the end of his career. Therefore, there were more victims to come. Ruvik’s statement also suggests that the actual number of his victims might have been far higher if he was not even counting at this time anymore. Furthermore, the dialog and the newspaper articles only refer to Ruvik’s victims from outside Beacon. More died at Ruvik’s hands inside Beacon. Subject Number 23 was the first not to die of cardiac arrest while trying to connect them to the STEM. Further deaths after Subject Number 23 cannot be excluded either. This brings us to a total of at least 43 confirmed victims and probably an even higher number of unconfirmed ones. (I am not counting the people Ruvik later killed in the STEM because he was at least physically dead by then). Exceeding this number will not be easy. Incidentally, with 43 confirmed murders, Ruvik is ahead of well-known serial killers such as Ted Bundy (28 confirmed) and John Wayne Gacy (33 confirmed).

Although many of his victims were found, Ruvik was never linked to the murders or even caught. Mobius eventually put an end to his career. The same thing could have happened to Ruvik without the fire. I would assume that Mobius would have gotten rid of him sooner or later anyway after the STEM was completed. They had what they wanted, he was no longer needed, plus he knew too much.

But since Ruvik could have lived a normal life without the fire, he would certainly have been able to publish his research results himself. Accordingly, there would have been fewer conflicts with Jimenez because of this, and he would generally have been more mentally stable. Therefore, Mobius might have waited longer to eliminate him than in the game. That could indicate more victims. On the other hand, he would also have lacked the deeply traumatic experiences that made him start to despise other people. As a result, he would probably be less sadistic. Therefore, his experiments might have been better planned, and he would have been less wasteful with the test subjects. This could also mean there would be fewer victims.

Lasting longer and killing more people would not be easy, and it is impossible to say in which direction Ruvik would have developed if the fire never happened. It would all depend on the circumstances. I think without the fire, it could have gone either way.