#she wants to go on a normal date with him but it's a difficult subject and she's never been on a normal date and ahh!!

[gyuswhore]

Hits Different (...'cause it's you) [teaser]

«« I trace the evidence, make it make some sense Why the wound is still bleedin' »»

READ FULL FIC HERE!

PAIRING: kim mingyu x reader

SYNOPSIS: Kim Mingyu was the first friend your brother had brought home for dinner. Fast forward a couple years, his toothy smile and pierced ears would wedge their way into a permanent place in your heart. Nail to a coffin, never to escape.

or;

in which you get rejected by the only boy you've ever loved; a rejection you can't quite shake off.

GENRES: based off of 'Hits Different' by Taylor Swift, brother's best friend!au, brother!seokmin, fluff, angst, smut (none in teaser) [MINORS DNI], friends(?) to lovers, university!au.

PLAYLIST: right here!

WORD COUNT: est. 25k

WORD COUNT [teaser]: ~820

RELEASE DATE: est. october 2nd 2023

!PLEASE SEND AN ASK TO BE ADDED TO THE TAGLIST (ageless blogs WILL NOT BE ADDED)!

masterlist

WARNINGS [!is subject to change upon publishing of the full fic!]: slowburn, mingyus a bit of an airhead and an ass, reader has a hard time managing her feelings, lots of frustrated tears, one sided pining, user toruro x minghao make an appearance, swearing, there's another woman (gasp,,,,,but shes cool so), Nayeon is a darling, Seungcheol is kinda annoying here but we love him, (smut tags in the full fic)

[A/N]: I worked rlly hard on the banner pls look at it ‼️ enjoy hehe also this is probably gonna be way more than 25k but I supposed its better than overshooting

teaser under the cut!

It’s a black sedan that rolls up next to you, slower than what’s considered a normal speed on an empty street. It honks and you nearly halt, owing to the shake that passes through your knees. It honks again, and you can’t help but look to the side to find a window rolled down. 

Mingyu sits on the driver’s seat, leaning over to the empty passenger side to grab your attention. 

“The Uber’s free! So is the driver,” he yells out the window. “Hop in.”

“I’m alright. I kinda wanna walk.” You shift your weight between your feet, the distance adding an awkward feel. 

“Wasn’t asking. It’s the middle of the night, I’m not letting you walk alone.” As he speaks, another car passes from behind him, slowing down. You note the look the other driver is giving you through the window, and it’s enough to convince you to step into Mingyu’s car. 

“I think we’re way past the point of formalities, don’t know why you hesitated.” He chuckles as he motions for you to click on your seatbelt. You fumble with it for a moment, his own fingers coming to the rescue to latch it on. You retract your fingers before they can brush with his own any further. 

Settling into your seat, you choose to look forward as he picks up speed. “Uhm, just wanted to walk, it was nice outside.”

“Take someone with you next time, it’s nearly midnight,” he warns. 

There’s a twinge of annoyance that emerges in the back of your mind for some reason, despite knowing full well that he was right. You just didn’t want to hear it from him.

It’s silent for a bit as the radio plays an uncharacteristically upbeat tune, prompting you to wonder if it was just you who felt the atmosphere pressing in on your chest.

“Did you not bring your car today?” he asks out of the blue, eyes remaining on the road as you glance up at him. One look at his side profile and you’re turning your gaze away.

“No, it’s at the workshop. I came with Nayeon.” 

“Why didn’t you leave with her?”

“I…” You pause. “I told her I was gonna go with Seok.”

“Hm. That didn’t happen.”

“It’s like I said,” you mumble.

He hums again in response, dropping the subject.

“Listen, are you…are you okay?” he starts again and it has you looking back up at him. 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” You try to hide the bitterness in your tone but it proves difficult.

“I couldn’t help but overhear but I was sitting right there. Hao was talking to Mika about something she’d said to you, about…” He trails off. “I mean, you looked a little upset, I just wanted to ask if you were okay.”

You bit your tongue. Hard. 

He knew you were staring at him, he knew you weren’t over him. He knew you were still standing on the same square confinement from months ago. Never changed. 

“I’m fine,” you reply, snappier than you had intended. 

“Are you sure? I felt like I should’ve said something but Nayeon was right there so I thought…” He sounds unsure and when you see him look at you, with eyes filled with an emotion that makes you nearly gag, you almost lose it. You did not want him to pity you. Nor care for you; especially when it came from a place that nullifies your feelings. You didn’t want him to care for you for the sole reason that you were his best friend’s sister. 

“Mingyu, I think it’s best if you drop it.”

“Of course. But it might help if you wanna, you know, feel your feelings.” 

Fuck no, you weren’t crying in front of him. Not when you're sure he’s noticed the tear stains on your makeup.

“Mingyu, I said drop it. I don’t need your help, I don’t need to feel anything, I need you stop feeling like you’re obligated to care about me because you’re not.” The words come tumbling out before you can stop them, irritation laced in every snap and dent.

He says your name in an attempt to smooth you over. It only lands him in more trouble.

“No, listen, I get it. You’re uncomfortable about everything but you feel like you need to check up on me at the same time, and I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to worry about that. What happened, happened, and it’s my job to pick up the pieces because it’s my fault. You don’t need to meddle.” You’re breathing hard as you finish, finally settling back in your seat. 

He’s already pulling up to your building, heat still penetrating the silence. You unbuckle your seatbelt, mumbling a thanks for the ride. 

“Seok’s staying at Cheol’s tonight,” he calls out as you shuffle out the door. “Remember to lock the door.” 

You stand sheepishly holding the open door as you nod quietly. “I’ll see you tomorrow for the shoot.”

[yumeurl]

speaking of cho it's a bit disheartening that the overall interpretation of her and harry's date is that she just wanted to talk about cedric and had a crazy outburst about it

their date started out really good in fact, while you can tell there's underlying issues of harry just not having time for something normal like dates when there's the whole main plot going on(and also he was very nervous for his first date), harry still finds her easy to talk to. only thwarted because pansy mocked them along her way

The subject of the Quidditch World Cup carried them all the way down the drive and out through the gates. Harry could hardly believe how easy it was to talk to her, no more difficult, in fact, than talking to Ron and Hermione, and he was just starting to feel confident and cheerful when a large gang of Slytherin girls passed them, including Pansy Parkinson.

this throws them both off entirely, having this long, awkward silence that extended in hogsmeade

Harry could think of nothing else to say about Quidditch, and Cho, slightly flushed, was watching her feet.

they wander for a bit still with the awkward silence, and cho even tries to break the ice by opening a topic about sirius and death eaters. it's a bit lighter topic for cho, since she's only a bystander, but it's not for harry, so he can only agree to her and not much else

by the time they decided to go to madam puddifoot's, harry has a hard time saying his true opinion to cho

“Cute, isn’t it?” said Cho happily. “Er . . . yeah,” said Harry untruthfully.

there's still the awkward silence, with cho trying to gain back their momentum (she introduces the topic of umbridge which harry happily latches onto), harry is extremely nervous because of roger davis' and his gf's PDA. when the topic eventually dies down again. notice how despite all the awkwardness, cho hasn't mentioned cedric even once in their date. the problem starts after this

“Er . . . listen, d’you want to come with me to the Three Broomsticks at lunchtime? I’m meeting Hermione Granger there.”

this is where cho's tone suddenly change. especially with how harry responded immediately after

“Yeah. Well, she asked me to, so I thought I would. D’you want to come with me? She said it wouldn’t matter if you did.” “Oh . . . well . . . that was nice of her.” But Cho did not sound as though she thought it was nice at all; on the contrary, her tone was cold and all of a sudden she looked rather forbidding.

harry of course doesn't realize this, as right after he was mustering up the courage to hold cho's hand. i'm sure harry didn't intend to sound dismissive of cho, but to cho, it sounds like her presence there was optional. and that harry even needed hermione's permission if cho being there was ok. in the reader's view, cho is clearly jealous

“He asked me out, you know,” she said in a quiet voice. “A couple of weeks ago. Roger. I turned him down, though.”

“I came in here with Cedric last year,” said Cho.

then cho immaturely attempts to make harry jealous; first with roger davis, then cedric. but opening up the topic of cedric just led to cho shifting to grief again

“I’ve been meaning to ask you for ages. . . . Did Cedric — did he m-m-mention me at all before he died?”

i don't know why this gets clowned alot, they were dating and cho was grieving. she had NO closure, in her eyes cedric just entered the maze and disappeared. harry may be the wrong person to pour this onto but the progression of this scene wasnt sudden at all, and i'm not going to clown on cho's character for grieving and having no outlet for it

“Well — I have talked about it,” Harry said in a whisper, “to Ron and Hermione, but —”

this all cycles back to cho's jealousy with hermione, she doesn't understand why harry's more willing to share personal feelings with them than the one he's currently dating. harry doesn't understand why cho's acting like this in the first place. they're two people with different experiences and they don't really know each other

“It’s not like that!” said Harry, and he was so relieved at finally understanding what she was annoyed about that he laughed, which he realized a split second too late was a mistake.

by the time he finally realized what's up his reaction was misinterpreted by cho again, and the date ends with cho walking out

i think this whole date scene shows the problem with their relationship. they did reconcile after this for a bit, but it's obvious that harry is just too preoccupied with the main plot to prioritize cho, as well as he's becoming disillusioned from the image he had of cho prior and now sees her as a 'girl who cries alot'

the problem is they don't understand each other. cho incorrectly assumes things about harry and tries to reach out, but harry is not on that level with cho yet and can't possibly talk to her about the order or sirius etc. there's also the problem that harry just has the tendency to bury his feelings and not really talk about it even with ron and hermione

i don't like that cho is being vilified for literally acting like a teenager that's kept in the dark lol... she's the one person who's really close to cedric and she doesn't know anything until the quibbler article released. she's not being unreasonable in the date, the date just showcases the problems in their relationship at this current point of time

anyways to close this off, still my favorite harry outburst

“Women!” he muttered angrily, sloshing down the rain-washed street with his hands in his pockets. “What did she want to talk about Cedric for anyway? Why does she always want to drag up a subject that makes her act like a human hosepipe?”

truly a wtf harry moment

[infini-tree]

episodic - part 4

< back | next >

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Summary: Everyone doubles down.

A/N: alternative chapter summary: Melvin Has A Normal Day.

once again thank you art of book for listing all the faculty names and subjects. 

on that note: Melvin's characterization. since this au is primarily based on movie continuity, in the end i decided to defer to its lead. which makes things difficult, as most of his inventions were all pretty lowkey (and the turbo toilet had been further augmented by a third party), and some future plots hinge on his more OP inventions. scene 2 is meant to bridge the character gap between all his incarnations, and also narratively sets some stuff up for this AU. i did say he's a core secondary,

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

With the final bell rung, Benjamin made quick work of packing his suitcase. Considering how fast the kids ran out of the school, the halls should be quiet now. The last thing he needed was noise and talking. And so, he stepped out into a reception room filled with faculty. 

Not just talking– yelling. At him.

He glanced over to Anthrope, who should have shooed them all away. Her now-empty seat was still swivelling. 

“Of course,” he grumbled.

“Whadd'ya mean 'of course'?” Rected griped.

“We’re up to our eyelids in marking these brats’ worksheets!” Ribble waved a stack of papers at his face– all from the impromptu beach day, if he read the date right. “And you expect us to mark an entire grade’s worth of volcano projects?!”

“Clearly it's not just the students that need to apply themselves.” 

The rest of the teachers froze.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” He narrowed his eyes, his tone still as clipped from the announcements. “Aren’t you the one always complaining about their marks?”

“Well, yes, but–”

“But nothing, you're the one who insisted on teaching three subjects.” He moved on to other teachers. “Meaner, you’re only doing the running tests– I don’t see why you’re complaining. The most you have to do is make sure they don’t trip over their own shoelaces.”

“The papers–”

“Because its so hard keeping track of when kids stop running.” He turned to Guided. “And you– all the tests are based on stuff your class should have covered by now.”

Guided grumbled something about how the topics were from the start of the semester, no one remembers that.

“Dayken–” Said teacher jolted up from the back. “What are you even doing here? You're a kindergarten teacher.”

“I wanted to feel included--”

“In any case, all I’m hearing–” He pointed an accusatory finger at all of them. “Is that all of you are mad that you need to actually do your job.”

“Excuse you?!” Ribble shot back. No other teachers spoke up.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m trying to do before you barged in here.” He pointed at Rected and Ribble. “You have until the end of the week to make it work.”

He could feel something tighten in his chest flare as he saw the teachers back off. It wasn’t relief, but it was a near thing. At least he wasn’t on the back foot. 

“Dismissed.” The tone broached no argument.

The impromptu staff meeting ended– not with a bang, but a whimper. More accurately, it was a grumble of swears that cannot be recounted in a fanwork made for general audiences. He watched all the teachers skulk out of the room with a leveled glare. 

None of them dared to look back.

If we could have, we would have. Who else would agree?

He stood there until he was absolutely sure he couldn’t hear anyone nearby. After that, it was just a matter of going down the steps. Of making it through the hallway. 

Ignoring how unmoored he felt. He looked to his feet– left, right, left, right. Repeat until he was at the door.

It wasn’t the first time anyone would have thought that about him. Heck, it wasn’t the first time the quiet part was said out loud. It was, however, the first time it was actually doable.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, Ben?”

“Guh–” He whirled around. “Edith!”

She blinked. He stared. The silence lingered a bit too long for his liking, though it was clear she wanted to say something. 

“Do you need anything?” he managed.

“Are you alright?” When no answer came, she continued to trail off. “I mean, I– I saw everyone goin’ up to your office. And then there was the announcement earlier, so–”

“Of course I am.”

Another blink. “O– oh, uh, ok, then…”

“OK, then.” 

Edith persisted. She trailed behind him closely as he came closer to the door. Most days he’d be a little endeared to it, but right now, right now–

“So, where are you going to set up this whole ‘science fair’? You, uh. Forgot to mention it.”

Of course he did. “The cafeteria. It has the space for it.”

He held a hand up to the door. 

“I guess the floors have to be cleaned early…” she mumbled. “Uh, hey– wait!”

He had barely half-opened it.

“If you need anything, just ask, OK?” Then, in a lower voice, she added: “I don’t know why you’re actually doin’ this, but–”

His hand was gone as he whipped back to look at her. “Actually?” he snapped back. 

“I– I know you, and you wouldn’t be doin’ this without a reason.”

“Know me?”

His rage was already so spent– from the boys, the teachers, the other guy, it can only persist for so long. It doesn’t billow out so much as burn him out from the inside. And when pushed that far, something had to give.

“It took you a month to realize I wasn’t being an idiot on purpose,” he said. “The real question is why didn't I do it sooner.” 

Edith’s eyes widened and her shoulders shrank at the remark. Guilt curdled in him, but it was a distant thing. He wanted to leave. He wanted to reach out and take it back. His body chose the worst compromise between the two and made him stand there like an idiot.

“OK then.” She looked away. “Um, I guess I’ll prep the cafeteria for it then.”

“OK then,” was all Benjamin could manage before she left to do just that. Which was fine. That’s what he wanted, right? He needed to get going too.

Left, right, left, right. Car. Drive. He forced himself to focus on the road completely. To hold onto the wheel like a lifeline. And it worked. At least until he hit the first red light– and then the thoughts crept in.

He should have said something different. He should have said it differently. What kind of answer was I should have done it sooner, anyway? 

His knuckles turned bone-white at his grip. 

Still, he felt unmoored– like a sharp turn would make him leap out of his own body, and– If we could have, we would have, George’s voice rattled in his head. They had the motive, and they had shown time and time again they had the means. 

And yet here he still was: sweating in sixty-degree weather.

He wasn’t sure what that meant, but it was yet another thing to mull over and hang over the other guy.

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

For the next two days, the elementary school was a minefield for George and Harold. Which was why they found themselves stumbling around a corner and quickly entering the nearest empty classroom. The small mob ran past the corner none the wiser.

Harold gave a forlorn look to the stack of comics in his arms. “I don’t know how much of the sales can take this.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” George placed a hand to the other boy’s shoulder. “We’ll figure it out. Together.”

A pause. The other boy gave a cautious look around, now that they had a moment to breathe.

“Well, maybe put that on hold for five minutes, what the heck is up with this classroom?”

The classroom looked normal for the most part– if you ignored the absurd number of desks. There had to be triple the amount– several stacked up on each other like a fortress or maze walls. One precarious tower looked further away than it should be possible in a room this size, but it could easily be tiny desks.

“What the…”

“You two!” a voice cried.

“Ah!” Harold yelled.

“Ah!” George yelled with a little jump.

‘Ah,’ Melvin did not yell. Instead, he said: “I’m surprised you two aren’t out for recess.”

They were still standing by the door so there was no chance of him sneaking past them, and his shock of ginger hair would have stood out if he had decided to stay in. 

“Yeah, well, I’m surprised you, uh… you…” George said, letting the statement hang. “-- That you’re not working on something for that pop science fair.”

Melvin didn't react. He didn’t know whether it was better or worse– especially after Krupp made that dreaded announcement.

“What is it this time?” he continued, gesturing to the desks. “Something that increases the amount of class per classroom?"

"A scale model of the school’s pop science fair-- with additional statistics?” Harold added.

“Something to make people remember why they went into a room!” George added with a laugh, before snapping to a more contemplative look. “No wait, that’d actually be… not half-bad.”

“Hm. I’ll make a note of those,” Melvin said as he continued to stand there and not do that. The conversation lulled into silence a beat longer than comfortable. Before they could speak up, he added: “And for your information, I am working on it. Hold on.”

The both of them gave another cautious once-over to the room. The room– outside of the weird amount of desks– looked normal. It looked free of any invention, save for the muffled rattling noise. George had even peeked behind the teacher’s desk on the off chance it was hidden. 

“What do you mean hold on? There isn’t anything here.”

Melvin didn’t answer. 

Instead, the walls and some of the surrounding fixtures started shimmering different colors before settling on the color of error bars you see on TV.

Harold jumped away from a nearby desk he was leaning on as he felt it shift and become less sturdy, wobbling like heat hazes. As they lifted up to the ceiling, the whir had become a fraction louder.

“What’s going on?” he turned around. “Melv– ah!”

George let out a yell, seeing Melvin’s shape shimmer until he was a mass of red and greens. He ran to him, and his first instinct was to try and grab where his shoulder was. All his fingers met was air. Then thin strands as his hand sailed past where his shoulders would be and into the now-clump of what was the tattletale.

“Melvin!”

The strands rose up and darted away like all the other ones until they were standing in a regular classroom with its usual amount of desks and a third smaller than it looked before.

“He was too young!” George said.

“It should have been me!” Harold threw himself to the ground, bashed a fist against it, and stopped. He thought for a moment before continuing in the same dramatic cadence: “OK, I take it back, that’s a bit too much, but you get it!”

“Are you two done yet?” 

“I swear I can still hear his voice, even now–” the boy whipped his head around so fast his tie went askew. “Melvin!”

He got out of his overdramatic kowtow. “What the heck?!”

“Like I said, I’m working on the Warp-Weft-O-Tron 2000,” he said like it would explain everything. “Stress-testing it, to be more accurate.”

“The wh–” Before George could finish his sentence, the other boy stood up and pointed at the whirring thing behind Melvin.

In the corner of the classroom, around some tools and papers was something that took the space of two desks. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a sewing machine grafted beside a blocky computer . The needle continued its work and its now-unobscured rattling.

They all followed the threads converged to the machine, now completely colorless. They could just barely see the shiny thread zip through it and up the machine until even that thread dissipated. And once it did, the needle made its final whirring before powering down.

The adrenaline of seeing a kid disintegrate, like the strings a few seconds ago, dissipated to incredulity. 

“What kind of science is that thing for–” Harold pointed an accusatory finger at the machine. “Freak-People-Out-ology?!”

“It's built on the principles of techno-textiles and a bit of virtual simulation.” Melvin clicked his pen a few times before pointing it at them. “How about you two?”

“Huh?”

That was apparently the wrong answer as he put a finger to his temple. “I’m merely curious what you’re working on, seeing as Krupp’s announcement said you two suggested the pop science fair.”

And you believe him? George wanted to say, before answering his own question– of course he’d believe that.

Or at the very least, he wouldn’t cast further doubt. Doubting Krupp would mean doubting The Man. Plus, grades were on the line, and that was top priority to the tattletale than trying to think through whether they would ever suggest that.

It had only occurred now to George that that was the reason why Melvin wasn’t automatically on the defensive.

“We’re, uh– keeping it under wraps,” Harold said, realizing the other boy was taking too long to reply.

“Of course.” Melvin nodded in understanding as he made his way to the Warp-Weft-O-Tron and pulled out a spool the size of a lava lamp sitting on top of the sewing machine half. Its threads were soot grey and frayed. He placed it to the side and put an empty spool in its place, but not without grumbling about the material being insufficient.

“I will admit, the sudden nature of this assessment adds a wrench to everything, but– nothing like the stress of an unforeseen deadline to get everything in gear.”

Harold stared at the machine, and then to the boy still engrossed in fixing… whatever. In gear was an understatement if he made a simulation machine on a time crunch.

“You were really holding out on us all these years,” George said, eyeing the computer.

Rows of code scrolled up its screen. Most of it was gibberish, but there were parts he could understand. A record of previous commands and whether it was typed out or recorded through audio. S., MELVIN x1, DESK x15, and more distressingly, a MATERIAL PROCESS WARNING, whatever that was.

“How’d a sock sorter beat this out when you were picking out stuff for the Invention Convention?”

He poked around a nearby toolbox– which was more of a folder of assorted squares of materials. Many of them looked like normal threads, but a good chunk of them weren’t, from how the light bounced off them. 

“Firstly: it's a sock matcher. Secondly: Krupp only accepts the ‘practical’ ones–” He pulled out a square of the latter and placed it in an adjacent slot. Something between contemplation and annoyance edged into his tone. “The Turbo Toilet was pushing it. But, the pop science fair has no such restrictions!” 

“...It doesn’t?”

A thread the same color as the square spat out of some unseen cavity and began wrapping itself around the spool.

“I asked Ms. Ribble about the specificities for this assignment, and she said, and I quote: ‘sure, do what you need to do’.”

George and Harold both sucked a breath through their teeth. Unlike the tattletale, they knew that wasn’t full permission, so much as the classic grown-up tactic of dismissing a kid by giving them a vague answer to sate them.

“Guess not even tattling can get you all the perks you want,” Harold said carefully.

Melvin stopped typing on the computer part of the machine for a moment. With him faced away, they weren’t sure what expression was on his face, but they could feel a shift. Nothing as drastic as what happened in the principal’s office, but it was there.

“You should go.” It wasn’t a suggestion. “I need to troubleshoot.” 

Harold looked to the clock. Recess was almost over, which meant their opportunities to prepare were dwindling.

“Right,” George said.

And they slipped back into an empty hallway. They looked back, and through the window-sliver on the door, they could see the threads shoot up and around the room. The classroom became a black void, though it slowly made its way along the color spectrum.

“What do you think?” Harold asked.

“That our playground street cred is in the gutter at this rate,” George replied.

He gave him a light punch on the arm. Despite everything they couldn’t help but laugh, the sound echoing through the hall. 

“We could use it in the Captain Plan,” Harold replied. “It might be a little difficult to, ah–”

“Turbo Toilet it?” George finished, thinking back to the Invention Convention. He watched as Melvin tried to recalibrate it. “It’s a pretty big wildcard.”

As if on cue, after a few basic prisms popped into existence in the classroom, a rough approximation of a cat did. That, apparently, was too much as the simulation spooled itself back up like before. 

“But I think we do need a wildcard. It'd drive Krupp up the wall.”

Harold winced. “Well, I mean it can’t make anything worse.”

The both of them walked off to the abandoned art room. Harold shuffled his backpack to the front of him as he counted up the supplies he pilfered. To name a few: flour and water to make glue on the fly. Baking soda and vinegar, because those were Classics. Toilet paper– ‘nuff said.

He stared at a box labelled Office Supplies. In it were huge packs of sticky notes, for irony.

As wrong as Melvin was about whose idea the pop science fair was, he was right, frustratingly, about one thing: nothing like the stress of a deadline to get everything in gear.

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

The Captain Plan was one of their simpler plans, in theory. 

It was simple in the sense that it was meant to only target Krupp. The hard part, for obvious reasons, was that Captain Underpants was integral to said plan.

It amounted to swapping them out at strategic places they set up. Things he can’t stand. Things that he’d be afraid of. Long enough for the experience to stick. Then they’d swap him back to Captain and slowly amp it up. Rinse and repeat.

They’d keep doing this until he took everything back– the whole assignment gauntlet, the whole thing with the science fair–

The whole capital T Thing with Captain. 

And if he refused, well– there wasn’t anything else for it except to rinse and repeat until he did. They’ve got almost half a decades’ worth of grievances to pull back up. 

(“Krupp won’t– can’t expel us for this,” George said the night before, his form backlit by a jumbo flashlight. “I mean, he’ll need us to ‘deal’ with Captain.”

The Treehouse’s windows were boarded up to get ready for the colder weather. They should be prepping it for winter, putting stuff away so it won’t get messed up, since they insisted they didn’t need George’s parents’ help, but here they were– 

“I mean, he could hold us back now.”

“But would he really want to keep us there if we keep doing this?”

Harold shivered. “Point taken.”)

The walkie-talkie in Harold’s pocket made a noise. 

“Yyyello’.”

“How’s it going?”

Right now, the ‘it’ in question was scoping out the cafeteria. The tables were all neatly arranged in rows and ready for whatever project the fourth graders will put on them later. There was no one here save for Edith, who was deep in the kitchen.

“Melvin’s stuff is here.” 

He made his way over to the Warp-Weft-shaped tarp. After double checking for any Tattle-Turtles, he was disappointed to find no obvious screws to loosen at the access hatch.

Harold began pulling at the spool on top, unsure of how exactly to mess it up outside of tying the thread in knots. One end of the thread snaked its way to the needle, while the other end–

The other end came out of a small hole, which in turn was connected to the strange hatch Melvin put in that material square that one time. He pulled out a pair of undies, courtesy of Captain himself, and stuffed it into the slot.

The sewing machine whirred, clearly having difficulty with processing a non-square material. The thread didn’t move to spool itself, but it must have processed it by the way the underpants were disappearing in the slot.

As for the computer: it reminded him more of the school printer. There were menus upon menus of settings. In any case, Harold set out to randomly poking at them all. Some he understood– audio commands on, because that may be useful for their plan since it would be easier than trying to get close to type anything out. Everything else?

“...What the heck is a Young’s Module?” Harold asked, less out of curiosity and more to commentate for George’s benefit. “What do you think? Max or minimum?”

“I mean, Krupp’s pretty old…” his voice crackled through the walkie talkie.

“High it is!” And with that, he quickly swiped it as far to the right as he could before quickly closing everything out to the first screen. “OK, I’ll get back to y–”

“Ben!” Edith’s voice called out from across the cafeteria.

Harold ducked under the tarp before either of them could see him.

“We got a situation. Krupp’s here,” he whispered loudly.

“What? Why?!”

Harold hazarded to peek at the small gap between the tarp and the floor. He had been expecting like-liking goo-goo talk. If he had to be honest, he would have preferred that to whatever angry inspector routine Krupp was doing.

“Checking, I think.” 

He tilted his head at the principal running a finger over a table for dust. The action was clearly more for acting out… whatever this was, than any actual concern for cleanliness. The lunch lady continued to trail behind him, trying– and failing– to start a conversation.

There was a quick inhaling noise through the speakers. “OK, give me a minute. Move when I give the signal.”

Harold didn’t reply, mostly because they were close enough that he could hear them. Even from this distance, he could see how heavy the bags under his eyes were. How his posture was more hunched than usual.

Krupp sighed deeply, and his shoulders sagged even further. “I’ve been through worse. Trust me.” It almost sounded like a plea.

The lunch lady had no time to dwell on a response as the intercom screeched to life.

“Principal Krupp, please report to your office immediately,” George’s voice crackled through the intercom with a mock-smug air.

“Oh, for–” Said principal ran past her brusquely that the pin that was keeping her bangs up over her face had jostled to cover half her eye.

The signal!

“Good talk!” she called after him belatedly, but made no move to go after him. Then with a big sigh, she mumbled, “I’m blowin’ this.”

And with that, she made her way back to the kitchen and finally gave Harold an opening to get out of there. He made a mad dash to the doors, making sure to not slam it as he trailed him. Now that he was in the hallway, the faint sound of crackling and shuffling echoed throughout.

“Hey, how far is he from the office?” George asked, his voice crackling from both walkie talkie and still-active intercom.

“He’s making his way up as we speak.” 

“Cool.”

Krupp was up the first half of the stairs when he turned around. He was breathing heavily, and it was definitely not just because he was speed-walking up the stairs.

“You two have got a lot of nerve disrupting everything–”

“You’re one to talk,” Harold replied, thinking about the pop science fair coming up in a few hours. To all their years in school. To the capital T Thing with Captain.

The principal halfway down a step to approaching him until–

SNAP. The sound reverberated through the school intercoms. For a split second he saw something cross his face. Wide eyes. Furrowed brows.

And then Captain Underpants fell on said face.

He snapped back up, the toupee sitting lopsided on his head. “Sidekick! Where’s–”

Harold held up the walkie talkie. 

“Up here,” George replied.

He gave an unsure look as he tried to find where up was in relation to a walkie talkie.

“In the office,” Harold clarified. He walked past him and up the stairs, motioning him to follow.

Captain stood up, wiping the grit from his cheek. It might be because he took a heck of a tumble, but there wasn’t the typical shock of liveliness he expected when he swapped in. All things considered, he was… well, maybe not calm, but expectant.

George was standing at the receptionist half of the office, one of the curtains tucked under his arm. 

“You ready?” Then, in a stage whisper to Harold: “Anthrope’s gone off because of… ‘printer repairs’.”

Harold stared at the empty corner of the room. There was a smattering of printer ink at the walls, outlining the office printer that was not there anymore. They couldn’t help but snicker conspiratorially.

“Er,” Captain leaned over to look at what had got their attention. “What’s the plan to Free The Children now, sidekicks?” 

“We’re putting Krupp through his own personal gauntlet.”

“I don’t think it’ll take long for him to crack.” Harold gave him a reassuring pat on the arm. “We’ll make sure of it. Everything’ll be back to the way it was faster than–”

“A speeding waistband?” the superhero offered. He was definitely hiding it as he shimmied out of the principal’s clothes and put on his cape, but that same look was back on his face. 

“Exactly.”

“Where do we start?” He approached the ink stains on the wall, as if expecting the answer to pop out of the mess.

“Uh, Captain?” George pulled his attention back to the door of the principal’s office. He opened it with an overdramatic flourish. “Just step into our office for this first bit.”

Harold let out a low whistle at the sight. Every surface of the room was covered in sticky notes, leaving the room in an unsightly pale yellow that made the room look flat. Between the writing and the shadows, it did little to help figure out where everything was as Captain nearly tripped on a chair.

“What do you think of our Prankovation 2– trademark?”

Captain took to floating, mindful not to touch anything. He looked confused– he probably didn’t get things like irony yet. “…How long did this even take you?”

“Prankster’s trade secret.”

“This looks done, though,” he hedged. “I’m not sure how I’m supposed to help you here– especially with this–”

He gestured to his wrists, now tied together by jump rope courtesy of Harold. The boy went over to the sticky notes-engulfed water cooler and poured out a thimble’s amount into an open hand.

“For this one, we need to swap you back over to Krupp,” George explained. Seeing the superhero's disappointed look, he quickly continued: “This part's quick-- we're going to bring you back right after for the next bit.” 

“O– OK, then sidekicks. I trust you.” Captain twisted around so his face was in patting distance. This close, he could see the expression for what it was– hesitation.

And Captain was gone, leaving Krupp to fall on the floor, a flutter of pale yellow in his wake.

[heliads]

Back again!!

This time, could I pretty please request by most beloved pilot Natasha Trace with a female reader? The reader is also a pilot with the Dagger Squad, and she and Phoenix are already dating. Reader is always super sweet and cheerful and friendly, so her callsign is Sunshine, and nobody in the Dagger Squad including Nat has ever seen her get angry, but one night when the Squad’s at the Hard Deck, Sunshine hears some guys talking crap about her friends and goes off on them, shouting and cursing them out in front of everyone, while the Daggers just watched with dropped jaws and Phoenix has the world’s biggest gear eyes and gives her girlfriend a big kiss once Penny throws the guys out.

Hopefully this wasn’t too much, I kind of went on a ramble (😅). Thanks so much in advance, and I hope you’re doing well, my beloved!! 🖤

'sunshine storms over' - natasha 'phoenix' trace

masterlist

According to the well-known and well-cursed laws of physics, an object, once in motion, will remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. Similarly, in the hallowed halls of Top Gun, a pilot will remain in their plane or briefings unless they receive a suitably alluring reason to leave. The reason doesn’t even have to be good half the time. Sometimes, the reason can be something as simple as drinks half price at the Hard Deck, and then every damn pilot in the whole place will suddenly find themselves leaving as quickly as they can.

Natasha Trace enjoys physics a normal amount, but she can certainly attest to its relations to drinks-happy fighter pilots. It’s been a long week, as most at Top Gun often are, so everyone’s more than eager to leave. She swears she’s caught Rooster falling asleep during long meetings at least twice already, even despite him pledging early this Monday morning that he’d be totally focused from then on out.

In his defense, the warm rooms of the lecture halls combined with the lights off is an equation for disaster. The projected flight plans aren’t quite bright enough to keep the pilots awake, and when they’ve been locked in one of those rooms for a couple of hours into the late afternoon– well, Natasha herself has been at risk for nodding off, so maybe she can’t judge too harshly, either.

Unlike Rooster, though, Natasha’s got a pretty good reason to stay awake. Pretty and good are also two remarkable attributes of this lovely, lovely distraction that Natasha is fortunate enough to call her girlfriend. When Nat was called back to Top Gun for the first of many top secret missions, she expected to find herself subjected to difficult flight conditions, extreme danger, and plenty of risky maneuvers. She certainly didn’t expect to get a girlfriend out of the bargain a month or two later, but she’s not going to complain.

Certainly not when her girlfriend is Y/N L/N. Nat has felt the blow of being a female pilot in a room of men far too many times to count, so when she walked in on her first day and saw Y/N already there, Nat had known that she was going to be alright. As time went on, Y/N had steadily grown on her, and then Natasha had come to realize that she wasn’t just grateful for the other woman’s friendship, she wanted something more, something like love, which Y/N was all too happy to give.

It’s a little self-serving to call your current relationship a power couple, but for once, Nat is pretty sure that the other pilots would agree with her. She and Y/N are the top scorers on the various training scenarios every single time. If you’re going to check a results sheet, odds are you’ll see Phoenix and Sunshine in the best slots. Rooster and Hangman always say that they’re the best, but the names never lie.

Usually, that kind of relentless domination would irk the other pilots, but Natasha and Y/N are friends with all of them, so that takes the edge off a little. Besides, it’s basically impossible to hate Y/N. Her callsign, Sunshine, is probably the most deserved nickname a pilot has ever been given in Top Gun history. Y/N’s all smiles even on the longest and most tedious days. She’ll be beaming ear to ear when she shoots you out of the sky, or when you play the piano for her at the Hard Deck. Both are fine by her.

During the first few hours of Natasha’s return to Top Gun, she was disheartened to see so many of the other pilots brushing off Y/N’s skills due to her bubbly personality. It’s not as if every great pilot has to be completely coldhearted, but apparently it was just too much to comprehend that someone could be nice and capable at the same time. Certainly Hangman seems to believe it still, but that’s beside the point.

Natasha had been ready to defend Y/N from the very first moment, but, as it turned out, she hadn’t needed to. Y/N got in her plane and outstripped all of them by a long shot. She even had Maverick complimenting her when she touched down. After that, no one said a word, and it became universally acknowledged that if you were planning on facing Sunshine in a dogfight, you’d be walking out with a new loss under your belt. So it goes.

Nat’s come to love that about Y/N, the sharp contrast between her cheerful personality and her cutthroat fighting style, how she’d been able to prove everyone wrong without losing her cool. To this day, Natasha has never seen Y/N get angry. She’s been decidedly neutral when she thinks someone is wrong, but she’s never been truly irate.

Certainly never with Natasha, at least. When Top Gun’s usual slew of meetings is over for the day, Y/N finds her way over to Nat, smiling delightedly at her girlfriend. “Are you up for drinks later?”

Natasha laughs. “Oh, you have no idea. I think this is the longest week of my entire life.”

Y/N grins. “What, you don’t like being stuck in sweltering rooms until you pass out? I can’t believe it.”

Natasha rolls her eyes. “Easy there, Captain Sarcasm. I know you were nodding off too, don’t try to pass this off like it’s just me.”

“I would never dream of it,” Y/N promises solemnly, then giggles again.

Rooster comes up behind the two of them, slinging arms around both of their shoulders. “Did I hear someone offer to get drinks?”

“You did,” Y/N says in a sing-song voice, “I won’t force you to come if you don’t want to, though. I’m sure Cyclone would be delighted if you stuck around a little longer to go over the flight plans a few more times.”

Rooster groans loudly. “I’ve heard more about flight plans than I ever want to again. No thanks.”

“You’re a professional pilot,” Natasha points out. “What else would you hear about?”

“Friends who are nice to me?” Rooster offers.

Natasha chuckles. “You ask for too much. See you at sundown?”

“Count on it,” Rooster promises. “I’ll rally the Dagger Squad. Be there or pay for everybody.”

Natasha waves him off, leaving the two women alone again. She sighs contentedly at the thought of the night ahead. After all the work they’ve been subjected to over the past five days, the thought of an easy weekend with friends sounds sublime.

And, arriving at the Hard Deck just as golden hour turns into blissful twilight, Natasha thinks she couldn’t be more right about that. Y/N’s a perfect picture as always, not a hair out of place, her off-duty uniform crisply ironed. She smiles when Natasha twirls her, and allows her girlfriend to lead her inside where the rest of their friends await.

The Dagger Squadron has sunk many a night into the Hard Deck’s cheery warmth, and by all accounts, this evening is shaping up to be another lovely endeavor. Bob and Payback have started up a round of pool, and Rooster’s already eyeing the piano. He might be held back from bursting into song by Hangman, though, who’s just getting started on his usual blow-by-blow of the day’s dogfights. Coyote is listening in, looking ready to rescue Rooster should the situation get urgent.

After stopping by Penny at the bar to grab some drinks, Y/N and Natasha make their way over to their friends. Natasha is just starting to lose herself in the usual blur of singing along to the music piping through the fading speakers, laughing at Fanboy’s increasingly dramatic pool trick shots, and dancing with Y/N, when something just has to go wrong.

It feels unfair on a night like this. However, that doesn’t stop the fact that some ass from across from the bar feels the overwhelming need to pause by their happy group on the way to get another round of drinks for the rest of his douchey friends, eye all of them with obvious disdain, and say loudly, “Gee, they let anyone in here, don’t they?”

Dead silence from the Dagger Squad. By Natasha’s side, Y/N arches a brow at the guy and asks slowly, “What do you mean by that?”

Natasha exchanges a panicked glance with Rooster behind Y/N’s back. Y/N’s grin hasn’t slipped, but it’s gained an unsettling edge that Natasha has never seen before.

The guy, however, doesn’t know Sunshine as well as the rest of them, so he has no idea that he’s headed into dangerous territory. Instead, he just guffaws. “God. Navy. None of you get sick of keeping your heads up your own asses, do you?”

Y/N’s eyes flash. It occurs to Natasha that for once, the other woman isn’t happy anymore. More than that, she’s angry. She’s furious.

“I know some pathetic excuse for a man didn’t just try to insult us,” Y/N begins, voice like a razor. “I know you wouldn’t do that. Were you dropped on the head as a child? I mean, it would make a lot of sense, but it still doesn’t excuse how unbelievably stupid you’d have to be to say that.”

The man stares at her. “Don’t talk to me like that.”

Y/N folds her arms across her chest. “Would you prefer that I be nicer? Funny, because I’d much rather call you out for being a fucking asshole with shitty fashion sense and even worse taste in drinks. I’ve seen high school recruits with more muscle mass. If you’re going to be a douche, do it in the privacy of your own home so the rest of us aren’t fucking bothered by a waste of space like you. You make me want to get blackout drunk just so I forget that creeps like you exist.”

The guy is gaping at her now, but Y/N’s on a roll. “Get the hell out of here or I’ll kick your ass. I’d ask if you thought two black eyes would fix your face, but I think that’s a mess nothing could improve.”

The guy looks like he wants to say something back, but Y/N takes a threatening step for him and he practically runs to settle his bill and head out. Y/N watches him like a hawk until the guy heads out the door again, leaving the rest of the Dagger Squad to look around at each other in complete and utter shock as if they’d seen something impossible. Which, up until less than five minutes ago, they had.

Y/N glances back at Natasha and begins to look a little chagrined. “Was it too much? I just got so mad hearing him talk about the rest of us like that, is all.”

Nat shakes her head frantically. “No. No, it was– it was great. I think you should do it all the time.”

Y/N cracks a grin at that. “That might be a little extreme, but I have to say, it felt good. I like scaring men.”

“I like it too,” Natasha breathes, and swoops Y/N into a kiss that lasts several heartbeats.

Friendly chatter returns to the Hard Deck by the time they break away, but for once, Natasha couldn’t care less what everyone else is doing. All that matters is the woman in front of her, Nat’s girl. She’s always known that Y/N was intimidating, especially in a jet, but this is something altogether different. Judging by the way Natasha’s heart keeps tripping over itself whenever she thinks about the incident, she’d have to admit that it’s a good sort of difference, too.

requested by @faerieroyal, i hope you enjoy!

top gun tag list: @luckyladycreator2, @atarmychick007, @ramenyul, @mayfieldss, @nonsensical-nonce

all tags list: @wordsarelife

[indras-curse]

Hi! I’ve been trying to look for someone to do this idea I had. So like Sakura and Naruto are in a trial relationship for a few months. Then on a date both say to each other “look we need to talk.”

Turns out they both gay (sasunaru and inosaku)

I love this

----

It was an "If we are not dating someone by the age of 25 we will just date each other"

Year after year being single opened up the possibility more and more, by the time Naruto's birthday was coming up, they were already planning their first date. Sakura was single as fuck and there was no chance Naruto would be able to get in someone in less than a week.

So, to end their perpetually single status, they started dating.

It was fun, not quite different, but fun. They started sharing a bit more skinship, meaning they would cuddle close under the same blanket, chill each on their own phone laying on the same bed.

It was a couple months already when they realized they hadn't had their first kiss yet.

It was awkward, to say the least. They had both kissed people before but they pecked on the lips, closed lips and not more than a couple seconds.

They didn't do that often.

Holding hands, waiting for each other, having dinner together, buying each other gifts, going out to clubs... All of that stuff they did before.

People were surprised to learn they were dating, they were acting around each other like normal.

"I'm sorry" Sakura starts one day, they were eating dinner in her house, takeout because they took shifts at the same time and nobody had the chance to prepare anything to eat.

"Hhng?" Naruto asked around a mouthful.

Sakura made a face. "You're actually making this easy"

Naruto swallowed and wiped his mouth. "Making what easy?"

"I think we should break up" Sakura blurted, to the point and without any prep. She felt bad about it but sometimes her solution to approaching difficult subjects was to bulldoze through them and just be blunt.

"I, uh... Why?" Naruto asked, seeming confused more than upset, so Sakura counted it as a win.

"I just- don't think we click, you know? I thought you and I would make a good couple because we've been friends forever and we like the same things overall. I put up with your foolishness-"

"Now that's just being mean"

"-and you put up with my bluntness and unladylike manners. But, I think attraction is just not there" Sakura sighed, defeated.

"That's okay" Naruto leaned back, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Is it bad I'm not too upset about it? Will we still be friends?"

"Of course will still be friends" Sakura smiled.

"Then I am okay with it. Not gonna lie, you are beautiful and funny, you're my best friend but I also don't see this going anywhere so it's good you ended it"

Sakura thought that had she been seeking reassurance that Naruto liked her this would have gone very wrong. She isn't neurotic enough to be upset about Naruto's lack of tact in a hypothetical situation, though.

Weeks later while having lunch with their friends, Sakura catches Naruto staring at Sasuke.

The three of them had been friends a while ago but Sasuke left their friend group for another one and while their relationship was overall amicable, they weren't exactly on speaking terms.

At least he and Sakura weren't.

Sasuke was a notoriously quiet guy, but he always took the time to tease and rile up Naruto. Not only that, but when Naruto was really troubled, Sasuke also made time to be there for him.

"Close your mouth, flies are going to come in" Sakura teased nonchalantly.

Naruto snapped his head to her, face red.

"I do not have my mouth open!"

"Like a dog staring at a snack he really wants" Sakura nodded.

"Shut up, that's not true!"

"You look at Sasuke like he hung the Moon and the stars. You're a goner"

"No way! I am looking at him just the same way you stare at Ino, just- just friends noticing another friend in a crowd"

"God" Shikamaru groaned. "You two are idiots"

Neither Naruto nor Sakura would later confess how embarrassingly long it took them to realize.

[the-queen-and-the-king]

A little piece of paradise - 4

Summary: Aaron and Emily have decided to test themselves to be sure that they're healthy. Emily has received her results and Aaron has a very specific idea to celebrate them.

Characters: Aaron Hotchner and Emily Prentiss

Contents: smut, oral sex (f receiving), dirty talk, talk about oral sex NSFW/Minors DNI

This text will be an AU with a sudden canon-divergence. I wrote it when I was rewatching the show, so many chapters will be directly related to some episodes of season 4. There will be 28 chapters.

PS : English is not my mother language so they are necessarily mistakes. Sorry about that.

___

Read on AO3 / lire sur AO3

___

By mutual agreement, they quickly decided to undergo tests to ensure that they were not carriers of any sexually transmitted infection. So as not to arouse the suspicions of the team members, they had no choice but to take advantage of their Saturday to go together to a screening center. Emily had expected to be surrounded by teenagers, but the age range of those present went from minors to people older than them. Most of them were couples, others had probably been dragged there by their parents, and the last ones were alone. And everyone carefully avoided meeting the eyes of their galley-mates. While their presence was commendable – and deserved to be more widespread – they all knew what they were there for in the end.

An intention that the staff had the good grace not to display or note. Perhaps because the form they were asked to fill in was rather equivocal on the subject. Aaron, as embarrassed as she was to have to complete this particularly inquisitive questionnaire, approached the nurse seated behind the reception counter to find out if the results of these examinations would be passed on to their employer. In fact, among the required information, the profession was requested. Clearly, they couldn't both indicate that they were working for the FBI if the latter was then brought into the loop. Two such tests, carried out on the same date, in the same clinic, could only attract the attention of the HR director, who would then go and snitch to Strauss. However, the young woman assured him that this information would remain confidential, like all medical data. 

Reassured, he resumed his place beside her and began writing again. She imitated him, as relieved as he was. And then they waited, for a long time, for a doctor to come and take charge of them, separately, to question them again and take the necessary samples. In the end, the whole operation had taken four hours, but this approach would allow them to make love more freely, without being restricted by the number of condoms contained in the boxes they bought in turn. However, to do this, they had to wait for the results to come in. They had been told about weeks, and she felt as if months had passed before she received the mail at home. And she immediately jumped on her phone – bought so she could communicate with her lover without the Bureau spotting them – to announce them to her companion. For the time being, they only exchanged messages with.

I’ve got the test results. They’re negative.

Great! We can celebrate in style.

Did you get your results?

No. Not yet. But don't worry, I already know how I'm going to enjoy this good news with you.

Really?

I suggest we meet at my place tonight. Is it okay for you?

Sure! I can’t wait!

Me too.

She felt quite aroused by this exchange and found it difficult to behave normally for the rest of the day. Even more so when Aaron popped into the bullpen for one reason or another and her nose picked up the scent of his perfume. He had retained his customary stoic attitude, which might have annoyed her in a different context, but which, on the contrary, made her want to climb on him more than ever. The day seemed endless to her. She wanted so much to know what her lover had in store for her. She crossed her fingers that it would be a happy surprise.

When the hour finally struck, she restrained herself from letting her joy explode, and regretted all the more not having the ability to teleport. She followed Aaron's car home and parked nearby. Then she leapt from the cabin and rushed towards him. He saw her arrive smiling and welcomed her into his arms as if they hadn't seen each other in weeks – they'd slept together two days earlier and it was Wednesday. They kissed energetically, driven by the same thirst for each other. Hand in hand, they entered the hall, walked up the corridor to the last door and entered his home. He had barely closed the door when they left their belongings on the floor to share a fiery kiss. He quickly pinned her against the couch and slipped his hands under her tight purple top. She sat down on the back of the sofa and spread her legs to allow him to get closer. And he didn't hesitate to do so.

While he kissed her neck and caressed the arch of her back, she busied herself undressing him, taking off his jacket, untying his tie and unbuttoning his shirt. She was just unbuckling his belt when he stopped his attentions and lifted her into his arms. She hiccupped in surprise, but let herself go, clinging to his neck. He led her to the bed, where he gently laid her down. Their eyes met, shining with excitement. He pressed his lips to hers and their tongues mingled for a few moments. Then he detached himself from her, ventured down her neck, visited her cleavage without plunging fully into it, but pulled up her garment so that his mouth could rest on her navel. At the same time, his hands were undoing her pants.

She had understood what his objective was, and her lower belly reacted lively to the prospect. Up until now, apart from the usual lovemaking, they had been content to caress each other. She hadn't dared ask him if he was familiar with oral sex, but she'd soon get the answer. Tonight. Once he had removed her shoes, it didn't take him long to ensure that she had only her panties to cover her lower body. However, he didn't throw himself at her underwear, taking the time to grace her legs with multiple kisses and caresses. So much so that when he sent her lace waltzing around the room and his lips wrapped around her clitoris, she was on the verge of coming.

But the orgasm didn’t erupt right away. First, she took advantage of her lover's prowess, whose mouth and tongue worked miracles. He meticulously explored the nooks and crannies of her intimate anatomy, brushing over ridges large and small, surreptitiously insinuating himself into her den, lapping up the nectar that flowed from it and suckling her sensitive knob, before doing it all over again with the same diligence. Until she reached the point of no return, where the pleasure surged inside her unabated, making her repeat over and over again the name of the man who was doing her so much good. Ecstasy exploded between her thighs a handful of minutes after he'd laid her on the sheets, and her legs spasmed before her back returned onto the bed.

She released his hair, in which she had instinctively ended up clinging, and he moved away from her to lie down beside her. A satisfied smile lit up his face, probably as sparkling as her own.

“Are you okay?”

“What do you think?”

“I'm not in your body, I can't know for you.”

She rolled her eyes. She should have expected such a response from him. Aaron didn't trust the emotional part of his brain, only the rational. To answer him, she straightened up, led him to lie on his back and sat on him before kissing him for a long time.

“I’m going very well,” she added, delighted, her veins still tingling with endorphins. “And I can't wait for you to receive your results so I can return the favor.”

The giant's blissful expression immediately disappeared.

“What?” she worried on the spot.

“You know, there's no obligation...”

“Who said anything about obligation?” she retorted, surprised by this reaction.

“Just because I've just... given you pleasure orally doesn't mean you have to do the same.”

She didn't notice that he was incapable, with her, of using terms he regularly threw around without blinking at Quantico. She understood that as long as it involved both of them, he could be more of a prude.

“Aaron, I'm not doing this because I have to,” she asserted in her most confident tone, “but because I want to.”

He winced.

“What? Haley’s never done any to you?”

“No. It disgusted her.”

“Okay,” she conceded, starting to see the beginnings of his reflection. “But there’s no accounting for taste. Just because she didn't like it doesn't mean all women don't like it.”

“How can anyone like that?”

“Do you want me to remind you what you just did?”

He had licked up all the juice she had excreted without the slightest hesitation. From her point of view, the process was similar. But she was obviously the only one to share this opinion.

“It's got nothing to do with it,” he affirmed.

“Why? It's all about swallowing a secretion produced by your partner's genitals. A secretion that wouldn't have been produced if the other hadn't used their mouth and tongue to do it.”

She sounded like Spencer – except that the BAU cadet would probably never have uttered those words – but it was a necessary step. She had to appeal to his logical, pragmatic, almost scientific mind to make him understand that both practices were equally valid.

“Yes, except that…”

“That what?” she bounced as he remained silent.

“Let's just say... you can’t really choke me.”

She nodded, grasping what he was talking about.

“So, let me reassure you right away, you're not the first, so I know how to recognize the warning signs and I know what to do to avoid, well, choking.”

“And you don't mind?” he asked, still looking revolted.

“No. It's true that it's surprising the first time, but you get used to it.”

He watched her incredulously, not at all convinced by her words. She then questioned him:

“No one’s ever given you oral sex?”

“Y… yes,” he stammered, embarrassed. “Be… before I… I met Haley. But they… they had a sexuality… of their own.”

Emily didn't know what he was supposed to mean by this and made a mental note to ask him about it later.

“Did you know that women like sex too? That doesn’t make them nymphomaniacs.”

“Yes, I know. But believe me, they had an issue with that.”

“And so, you think that only lunatic women like to make this kind of treat?”

He didn't answer, but his eyes agreed. She sighed and smiled.

“I can't wait for you to get your results so I can prove you wrong.”

He regained his smile and a certain vitality. Reflexively, she looked down at her pubic bone before realizing that she was literally sitting on what she felt. She lifted her nose to give her companion a questioning look.

“What?” he croaked, unable to conceal his lecherous smile.

“It seems to be having an effect on you…”

“Sorry,” he said, suddenly contrite.

“Don’t apologize, you idiot. It doesn’t bother me. On a contrary.”

She leaned in to kiss him again, and he didn't push her away. She undulated along this visibly hardening bulge as his hands ran under her top, until they came to caress her breasts. He unhooked her bra as she reached under his T-shirt.

“Tell me there are more condoms,” she said, her excitement calling for more action.

He reached over to the bedside table, opened the drawer, and took out the box. He shook it and looked inside.

“There’s one left.”

She pondered for a moment, then her hunger for stupor short-circuited all her thoughts.

“Okay. We'll use it right away, and then you can do again what you did earlier.”

“I’m fine with that,” he added with a wry grin.

She almost slapped his face to teach him how to laugh at her at a time like this, but instead placed her lips on his. That evening, he propelled her twice more into seventh heaven. The tests results were definitely very good.

___

I hope you liked your reading. ^^

___

First chapter >> https://www.tumblr.com/the-queen-and-the-king/771016298484334592/a-little-piece-of-paradise-1?source=share

Next chapter >> https://www.tumblr.com/the-queen-and-the-king/773553021520084992/a-little-piece-of-paradise-5?source=share

[lilbluustar]

*sighs* well... i just wanted to vent about the situation i'm going through, if you have any advice I'd be grateful to read it, if not, I'll be happy that you at least read this :')

i tried to summarize as much as i can.

i have (?) a best friend for almost 8 years, our friendship has always been very good even though we are very different, she has a somewhat difficult character but with me that never happened, we were always very close, we had a ritual of once or twice a month (thanks for the pandemic) see each other, eat ramen at my house or go out anywhere, 2021-2022 basically that's how it was and so was the peak of our friendship. I have supported her all the time, many times she made decisions that I didn't agree with, but I never left her alone or judged her.

2023 came and she started to find a friend of mine pretty, so I encouraged her to talk to her, and everything went well, they started dating, she was very happy and so was I to see her like that. our last date was in may 2023, because months later she became a girlfriend of my other friend.

but if i would have known that that most likely would be our last outing, i'd have enjoyed it much more 🫠

when she started to have a girlfriend, she hardly talked to me, the messages became very occasional, I kept sending her messages, telling her random things as usual and sometimes she would ignore them, she would answer me something very insignificant or just change the subject and I understand, I understand that when you have a partner you usually spend more time with them and it is completely normal, but you must find a balance and not leave your friends forgotten, at that time, I had a boyfriend, and sometimes I would cancel plans with him to go out with her.

2024 began (my worst year) and a few days later, I broke up with my boyfriend. I just needed her, she's my best friend and I thought she would listen to me, that she would be there for me and no, sometimes she didn't even answer my messages or I felt that she simply wasn't interested in me talking to her about my grief.

months went by and I kept sending her messages, I remember a lot one time when I proposed to see her before I started my internship at the university, we made the plan 2 weeks before, a week before I sent her a message again to confirm the date and she only told me "better another day, I don't have money" and guess what... that day she went out with her girlfriend to the same place where we were going to go.

months later, my ex came back to find me and yes, I was stupid and went back to him and she was the person who judged me the most, I felt horrible, she in her past went back to her ex many times and I never made her feel the way she did with me. (i'm not with this guy anymore).

time went by, months... until I realized that things were definitely not like before, rereading our previous conversations, I realized that she only looked for me when she needed something and what did she do 3 weeks ago? Exactly, looking for me just to ask me for help in something at uni, I helped her and I told her "you only look for me when you need something, if not, you don't even remember I exist" and she just told me "nothing interesting has happened in my life, but how are you" girl?????? I'm the kind of person who never let a conversation die and she knows it.

things continued the same, 2 weeks ago she got mad with some friends and me because she invited us to a course at her university, but it's in the morning and during the week, it's hard for all of us to go, even though we were nice and explained to her why we couldn't go, she got mad and started posting hints in her ig notes.

tuesday was my birthday and (my worst day btw), everyone was congratulating me, everyone but her, the truth I thought she was still mad and I cried a lot, I felt very sensitive about all that, because yes, it hurts me... due to my sadness, I acted based on my feelings and left a whatsapp and a tiktok group where i was with her and some other friends. i don’t really know why i did it.

until at 11 pm she congratulated me :) I felt it quite forced, but I thanked her and i let her know that i thought she was mad at me and that’s why i left the groups, but she didn’t reply. instead, she told a friend, "did she really get sad just because of this?" LIKE??? obviously, it hurt to see her indifferent attitude and to think that she wouldn’t congratulate me.

the next day, i sent her another message expressing my feelings more deeply. i never blamed her or said anything bad; i just told her that i missed her and that i felt like if i didn’t reach out, she wouldn’t either, and things like that.

she didn’t reply until the following day, sending a message that was basically an excuse, saying she has no time for anything because of school (seriously, in two years, she hasn’t had even a few free hours, not even during vacations?) and that leaving the groups was wrong, but that she still considers me a good friend. my response was very short, I felt like there was nothing else to say, and she didn’t text me again either. it makes me realize that our friendship wasn’t as important to her as I thought it was, unlike how important she is/was to me :(

but I’m sad that things are ending like this. if something was bothering her, i would’ve wanted her to tell me so we could talk about it. the uncertainty of what’s going to happen makes me anxious, not gonna lie. we’re supposed to celebrate my bday tomorrow, but i don’t think she will go...

i never thought this would happen; i really wanted this to be a friendship that lasted forever :( but oh well…

if you made it this far, thank you! I’ll update tomorrow :)

[kishibe-kisser]

Hi :) can I request a Ghost x fem reader where he realizes he loves her during a battle he thinks he might not make it back from. And him confessing to her once back at base? You can mark it smutty if you wanna. :)

Oh I love a bit of angst. I got you.

Same Book Different Chapter (Ghost/Angst&Fluff)

The apartment was quiet aside from the rustling of his bag as he packed his bag. It had been quiet for the last few hours and you felt like even breathing was annoying him. The air was thick with your anxiety and his fear, even though he wouldn't let you know it.

Looking at him from the couch, you pulled your knees to your chest. You had a lot of things you wanted to say, alot of feelings you wanted air out but everytime you opened your mouth it was to dry to say a word. It didn't matter, Simon's actions had made it very clear that he wasn't in the mood to talk. You hadn't been in a relationship very long in the first place but in this very moment you felt it dwindling. His job made things difficult and you knew this when you started dating. In this very moment though, you weren't sure there'd be a relationship when he returned.

You loved him, you loved the person he was even like this. You'd never said it and he never returned the thought remotely, despite that you still loved him. You liked to think you were both on the same page, well maybe the same chapter... well maybe the same book.

"I'm going to bed, you can join or continue to sulk on the couch over there." His voice was gruff and laced with sarcasm. This was how he joked, you knew that and while you forced yourself to laugh, you couldn't bring yourself to make it sound genuine. "There we go." He remarked, holding out a hand for you to take with a small smile. There was definitely a place in his heart for you, you just weren't sure how big it was and well, neither was he.

You spent your night tossing and turning while he slept, or so you thought. Simon couldn't sleep a wink, he never could before going on a mission and well your moving around wasn't exactly helping. He wanted to comfort you but at the same time the weight on his shoulders was heavy enough, your worry wasn't needed. Simon liked you, he liked you alot but in moments like this he knew he would have been better off single.

"Hey, eyes open. What's your problem today?" Price shouted, making sure his voice was loud enough to be heard over the whirring of the plane engine. Simon opened his eyes and just grunted in response. He was trying to catch a few minutes of extra sleep before being dropped in the middle of whatever hell hole they were going to. "Love issues?" Soap teased and his eyes shot open once more, glaring over at the team. It was none of their business.

"Y/N causing you grief? Thought you liked her... alot." Price asked and Simon just shook his head. "Couldn't sleep last night, she kept moving and tossing and turning. It was irritating." He grumbled, lying through his teeth. He thought it was irritation, it was a newer feeling for him the guilt of leaving someone behind before going on a mission misread as irritation.

"She's worried about you. It must be nice to have someone waiting for you when you get back." Price looked at him and Simon shook his head. "I'm thinking about ending it when we get back." Simon felt an ache when he said it, a sign telling him what he was saying wasn't right but he ignored it. Whether he liked you or not, it wasn't important. Your worry was a burden he didn't need, at least he thought he didn't need.

"Let's change the subject shall we." Simon silenced the murmur and opinions of the rest. They were his good mates and normally he didn't particularly care about the things he had to say when it came to relationships, but this was more sensitive to him than he realised. He shut his eyes and rested his head in his seat, still searching for sleep that would never reach him.

He was on high alert, gun tucked into his shoulder as his eyes darted around the room. It was quiet, too quiet and he didn't trust it for a second. Simon could see it in the whole team, everyone was on edge and it was rare for an assignment to have everyone feeling this way.

"Ghost, you got a bad feeling too?" Soap asked, making eye contact with him through the mask. "Yeah, never quite understood what Y/N meant when she said she could feel it in her stomach but I'm starting too." He said, thoughts of you unexpectedly flooding his brain. "She always talks about this wave of nausea and scrunches her nose." He added on, thinking about just how cute you actually were. "Thinking an awful lot about her even though you wanna end it." Soap remarked whipping his head around to see if there was movement in his peripheral vision. "Ending it is on my mind. That's why I'm thinking about her." He lied and raised his gun. "Movement to the left." He added on, hoping the thoughts about you would leave. He needed to focus.

"Oh shit, we got a big group of guys coming this way." Soap called through the coms as they started taking fire. The rest of the team was retrieving data as they returned fire, hiding behind a wall. "We'll be back soon, try holding them off." Price told them through coms, making Simon sigh before laying down fire.

"How much longer?" Simon called through coms, not appreciating that it seemed like the rest of the team was taking their sweet time to get back. "Don't get your panties in a twist, we're coming back now. Some cover fire would be nice though." Price told him, matching his irritate tone. Bumps in the road like this weren't a welcome surprise. "Better be no more surprises." Soap remarked and Simon could only shake his head. "Better be."

Shots rang through the building and Simon thoughtlessly returned fire, at first. The intrusive thoughts were running rampent and he absolutely despised them, you were popping into his mind with every shot. He didn't want to imagine what it would be like coming back from a mission without seeing you. He was regretting being an asshole before leaving and he was regretting not reassuring you all would be fine. He hated thinking that you were at home a worried mess about him. He was realizing you had reason to worry, reason to be an anxious mess before he left as shots flew around him.

He loved you, he knew it now. Now that a stray shot hit his chest, missing his vest and tearing through his skin. No, not now, not right now, not when he's realised this, not when he's worried about you, not when he knows you love him.

His hand shot to the wound, trying to stay up only to stumble to his knees. "Ghost! Ghost, stay up, stay awake!" Soap called out, Simon's hearing going in and out with each word. He'd experienced getting shot before, he'd experienced pain but the fear was new. Price and Soap hovered over him, the shooting having dimmed down and the room getting darker and darker with each with each breath. "It'll be okay Ghost, we're going to get you out of here." Price's tone sounded panicked, Ghost getting hurt wasn't something he had thought would happen.

Black seeped in from the corners of his vision and he let himself relax, the only thoughts in his mind being you as he grew tired and cold. At least if he was going to go, he was going to leave the world with his last thoughts being of you.

It was the call you had feared to receive from the moment you started dating him. It was the call no one ever wanted and the moment you heard, you were in your car and driving to the base. You had tried your best not to cry at all, trying to be strong as you walked through the sterile halls of the hospital. Seeing him in the hospital bed however, quickly changed that and tears brimmed your eyes.

"Doctors said he's going to pull through, he's just been resting a lot." Captain Price told you, his hand on your shoulder for comfort. "If I would have known this was going to go south like this, never would have done it. I'm sorry, Y/N." He added on and you looked at him, not allowing the tears to fall down. "It's okay. Simon's the strongest person I know, if anyone can pull through it's him and I'll help if I can... if he wants me too." You nodded, hugging yourself for comfort and glancing to Simon in the bed. "He wants you too, he wants you. He might not say it, but he does and he won't admit it, but he needs you." Price rubbed comforting circles in your shoulder as you nodded. "I'll give you two a moment." He finished and nodded reassuringly before leaving the room.

You took a deep breath, pulling a chair up to his bed and staring at him for a moment. The steady beeping of a heartrate monitor being the only thing you could hear aside from your shaky breaths. You were even hesitant to hold his hand, but Price's words weighed on your mind.

"He's right you know." His gruff voice surprised you, making dry up your tears. "Simon-" You grabbed his hand, watching as he turned his head to look at you with gritted teeth. He had heard the whole conversation, not wanting to startle you while you talked but he had a few things on his mind.

"I need to tell you something." He was looking at you, wanting to reach up and wipe the tears from your cheeks. "Simon, it can wait." You told him, nodding reassuringly while you stroked his hair. "No, it can't." He tried sitting up and you placed a hand on shoulder, shaking your head no but he was stubborn. "It really can't because it kept me distracted the whole mission." He added on and a wave of guilt tore through your body, did this happen because of you.

"I'm sorry." You said, tears flowing more and more as you broke down. "No, no this isn't your fault. I was an ass to you before leaving, not talking to you and acting like everything was okay." Simon was finding it hard to say especially now, facing you dead on. "Your worry annoyed me and I didn't know how to deal with it. I was going to end it when I got back but I realised how much I need you, how badly I need you. That your worry is good." You were quiet, appreciating the apology and waiting for what else he had to say. Knowing Simon, this wasn't easy.

"I love you. I didn't think we were at that stage yet or at least, I wasn't there. But I am, I am all in now. I like your worry, I need it. I need you there when I come back from a mission, to hold my hand in moments like this. I need you." He finished and your tears flowed even more freely. Your expression was unreadable to him, his hands coming up to hold your face as you cried.

"I love you too." You told him, letting out the shaky breath you didn't realise you were holding. He kissed your lips gently, much more gentle than you were used to and you melted against him. No longer crying from his words but from relief that he was actually okay.

"Considering you love my worry now." You started, wiping your face and smacking his arms harshly. "Getting that call was singehandedly the scariest thing I've ever been through! Don't ever scare me like that ever again." You cried, watching him chuckle before softly hugging you as his body was incapable of doing anything else.

"Yes ma'am."

A/N: I decided to leave the smut out as it didn't really fit the direction I decided to go in. I hope you enjoy it none the less!

[itsuki-minamy]

"K – LETTER STORY"

SILVER: "ANSWER"

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

Yatogami Kuro was sitting in front of the tea table, worried.

It all started with a postcard he received yesterday from his brother, Mishakuji Yukari.

On the back of the table, placed on a tea table, was a photograph of the brothers posing as if they were blending into a picturesque foreign landscape (Kuro only knew it was a European street corner), as if it were a painting, and above you can see the elegant strokes of the fountain pen added to it.

The content is simple, with a few lines of recent information and a postscript.

For those who have been keeping up to date, there are anecdotes about where he stayed, how his roommate has grown, and his interactions with the other person who appears from time to time. His short, witty one-liners always remind him of Mishakuji's versatility.

(This is good.)

What bothers Kuro is the P.S., just a word.

He said,

"Thanks for your answer."

"......"

The address of the place where he will be staying is also written on the front of the postcard. Regardless of the moral argument for hanging his head, that nerve is very fraternity-like. But anyway,

(Should I respond as requested?)

His head bowed at that difficult question.

The battle of the past had finally been resolved, and the dispute should have been resolved... Not all of his bad feelings have dissipated... but at least he is no longer the subject of blatant denial... but he can't even say that his relationship is good enough to casually exchange letters.

(However, it is rude to leave it unattended and something is wrong here...)

He suddenly realized this and instinctively hit his knee.

(Yes, from here too!)

Like his brother, he wrote about people close to him. That's perfect for a return sword that doesn't add unnecessary emotions. He's sure everyone will be intrigued, even his brother.

(Let us begin.)

He grabbed a notepad and pen from the desk next to him and started writing a draft.

[Adolf K. Weismann, also known as the ''Silver King'' Isana Yashiro, whom I once considered his master and who now stands by my side as a friend, earned a strange nickname like ''German-Sensei'' in honor of assuming his position as professor.]

(Mmm, that's strange.)

Just by writing the minimum of information, and even a few notes, he filled a space the size of a postcard.

(Well, Shiro is a special man... if that's the case.)

He carefully tore off one note and wrote on the second.

[Neko transferred to Ashinaka High School with his real name, Ameno Miyabi, and causes commotion around her regardless of whether she uses supernatural powers or not. To clean up after that, Shiro and I ran out...]

(Hmm, what do you mean?)

He filled out another page.

(I guess Neko often acts like a cat...)

In that case, he would like to broaden the scope a little more and write about Kukuri Yukizome... no, his brother doesn't know about her, nor about Toru Hieda... a person who was involved with the "Green King".

"No, why?!"

Unbeknownst to him, a cry of agony escaped him.

The advice came slightly from behind.

"I think it's best to let go of unnecessary pretensions and just write as you want."

"It's not an unnecessary pretense. It's the way you should behave..."

After answering normally, Kuro turned around.

Before he knew it, Shiro had returned home and was stacking the books he took out of his bag on his desk. Likewise, Neko, still in her human form, was curled up in bed and yawning.

Kuro avoids unnecessary interactions with these two people he knows well (although he thought that, if he didn't take off Neko's uniform quickly, it would take him longer to iron it).

"I found out why I was trying to talk back to my brother."

Shiro let out a sigh.

"Well, I've been thinking about that since you got the postcard yesterday. When I got home, I found you moaning in front of your notebook, so I can understand why you're worried about the wording."

"Umm, squishy, ​​squishy, ​​squishy, ​​all over again. Nyahahahaha."

Riding a horse, Neko lay down and adopted a series of poses that seemed to imitate another person.

Shiro hesitantly told his friend, who accepted his misfortune with a bitter face, an inference that could be another blow.

"I was also thinking about this all day... that person named Mishakuji Yukari."

"What?"

"Maybe he added that word to mock Kuro, in anticipation that you would worry like that?"

Kuro was about to say "Gah!" and he sat upright.

Intuitively, he was sure that Shiro was right.

That's what his brother might be able to do.

A few days later.

Kuro eventually recovered and, feeling depressed and confused, wrote only a poem of his own in response.

[There is no communication between us, but we have a supportive relationship.]

[waywardstation]

Happy WIP Thursday!

I really wanted to get this fic out much sooner for PLA’s two year anniversary, but a lot of surprise things have popped up these last two weeks and made it pretty difficult to work on anything ^^; apologies!

So here is a WIP! It’s shorter, as I’m hoping to get this out soon.

Enjoy! Wording is subject to change.

————

“Thank you,” Ingo dunked his paste-covered rag into the bucket, wringing the soapy water out generously before going back to work on one last spot. A couple thorough scrapes, and the last of the cake seemed to finally be gone.

Ingo handed the rag back to Akari as she reached out to take it, having already placed the bucket back on the table. She set it aside as the warden took one last look around the room from atop the chair, a final scan. “There. While I wouldn’t be surprised if a Galaxy Team member somehow finds another spot somewhere tomorrow, that should be the last of it.”

“Ok, now get down,” Akari gestured to the floor with one hand as she held the chair with the other. “Don’t want you hurting your old man back.”

“I’m not that old,” Ingo played along with her teasing as he always did. But regardless, he began to step down from the chair with a soft grunt that did suggest some tightness, at the very least.

Normally, Akari would have pursued it with more of her usual teasing, like asking how old he really was then — he always came up with something funny when she asked that. But she knew he didn’t really remember his age. And yes, he always said it didn’t bother him in the grand scheme of things. But reminding him he didn’t have that right after they had finished celebrating her sixteenth birthday felt uncomfortable, especially considering he didn’t remember his own birth date either. So she left it there this time, watching him get down.

“Well, exploding cake and its messy aftermath aside, I’d say your party was quite a success; what an array of festivities we had tonight!” With his feet back on the ground, Ingo sang his praises as he set the chair back where it belonged against the wall. “I’m glad to see the sudden rain didn’t dampen the mood; it’s good the professor had opted for an indoor celebration! I do hope you had a good time and enjoyed yourself.”

[cfdreamcrs]

(lucien laviscount | cis male | he/him ) — was that rabastan lestrange passing through diagon alley? those close to them say they remind them of restless nights where sleep was no where to be found, opinions as loud as his personality, old leather that was gathering dust - it was who he used to be, complicitness that was as venomous as the deed, always wanting for more, a grin as sharp as a knife which i suppose seems to fit that slytherin alumnus. they’re actually pretty catalysmic, unrelenting, and loyal for a twenty-seven year old, but i wonder if it serves them well when working as an member of the council of magical law associated with the department of magical law enforcement rumour has it that the pureblood is aligning with the death eaters now. i wouldn’t have guessed… but this is a conversation we should be having somewhere else.

exclusively for wingardiumfm

STATISTICS

Full Name - Rabastan Aldrich Lestrange Age - Twenty-seven Nicknames - Rab Date of Birth - June 3rd 1951 Parents - Ransome Lestrange & Renata Lestrange Siblings - Rodolphus Lestrange & Alice Lestrange Current Living Arrangements - Lestrange Manor Gender - Cis-Male Pronouns - he/him Sexual Orientation - Hereosexual Occupation - Member of the Council of Magical Law Wand - 11" long - cedar wood - thestral hair - quite bendy and flexible.  

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RABASTAN ...

born on one of the hottest days of summer, it was no surprise that Rabastan came out a spitfire, the youngest lestrange was a wild child in his youth and deep down, he knew it was because he had Rodolphus there to make everything okay. Growing up had been realizing that he saw more of a father figure in his brother than he ever did his own father, but Ransome Lestrange still managed to do damage the only way a father could.

rabastan had spent most of his years at school doing what he wanted, now he wasn't naive - he still had a reputation to uphold but those could easily be considered the years he didn't feel the burden of his parents marriage, or how it wasn't normal that he saw his father a few times a year - he didn't need to be brilliant to know something was incredibly wrong, but he couldn't help but use Hogwarts and the time with his friends and away from that empty house as an excuse to ignore what was right in front of him.

calling it difficult to find out at the age of fifteen that he was no longer the youngest lestrange would be an understatement to say the least. he wasn't prepared to be a middle child, let alone have a sister of all things but when alice showed up to live with them - maybe it was the sadness in her eyes - the loneliness, the only type that could come from a parent that wasn't there, whether it be in life or love but he couldn't subject her to more pain. following in Rod's stride, he did his best to welcome her with open arms and in time, it seemed like it was going to be the three of them against the world.

besides his siblings, he could say that he had a relationship with his mother - as much as it frustrated him to watch her deteriorate - break and break over a man who could not even truly give an ounce of himself to her, the frustration of not having a mother remember that she had children to live for, that they could be her prize possessions soon turned into pity. it was hard to hate a living corpse of a woman

ask rabastan at one point of his life - what his dream would be, without hesitation he would have said that he was meant to be a beater for the montrose magpies, it had been what he thought his reality was till his fifth year. not only did his father decide that was the year that he needed to be a middle child, but the year he noticed that he existed. it was ridiculous to think for a second that ransome lestrange would support his dream -- one conversation in his study during winter holidays was enough of a reminder that he didn't belong to himself, that he would always be a lestrange before anything else and the careers they chose for themselves said more about their family than anything. rod wouldn't even be able to spare him from that fate.

rabastan quit the quidditch team at the start of his sixth year and proceeded to pour what was left of his soul in excelling in his classes, his father had made sure that his path would be the council of magical law.

despite their political connections and his brother being the chief head of aurors for the department of magical law enforcement, rabastan very much paid his dues the second he had graduated hogwarts, from errand boy -- to clerk -- to late nights completing paperwork that was not from his own pile, he made sure that it was known that he didn't shy away from the hard work and he knew that in the long haul, being a member of the council will pay off.

the importance of blood purity, being surrounded by those who were really their true peers, he hadn't ever known a life without it and like his brother, he was invested in protecting their lifestyle. a wolf in sheep's clothing, he knew what image he had to present to the public -- the ever fair member, seeker of justice -- but he knew it was only a matter of time before the wizarding world would be receiving the justice they really needed.

CHARACTER PARALLELS

BILLY BUTCHER [ the boys ],  TYRION LANNISTER  [ Game of Thrones], AVA COLEMAN [ Abbott Elementary ], KANG BIT-NA [ The Judge from Hell ]

PINTEREST - https://ca.pinterest.com/sethcohcnaf/rabastan-lestrange/

[jean-dieu]

For the Romantic Questions!

Raphael: 2, 12, 21, 34

Does your OC remember their first crush? Would they ever admit to it now?

Ok second question about Raphaël's first crush and I want to explore a vague idea I had years ago about it.

Even without a celibacy vow, Raphaël is not the kind of man to think very much about love. As a teenager, he's not very interested in that kind of thing... And he's mostly terrible at recognizing his own feelings. I portray him being somewhat friend with a girl from his neighbourhood. They weren't best friends or anything, far from it, just casual friend, nothing more. But she always treated him right, even before they started to get to know each other, which is... Rare for him. He would start to develop feelings for her, but he knows he's nothing more than a positive acquaintance for her, with her having her own group of friends like a lot of teenagers. Raphaël would never confess to her, fearing a harsh rejection, and knowing they're in fact, not that close. Ultimately, she would starts dating someone else, and he'd just forget about it, thinking love isn't for him anyway.

He would admit it to himself, but telling others about it would be hard. He'd probably tell Sosiel at one point though as he gets more and more comfortable seeking help and reassurance about his complicated relation with love.

What was the worst advice your OC has ever received on the subject of love and relationships?

"If you like someone, just tell them! It's not that hard!" Raphaël's little sister, who means well but doesn't understand how her older brother functions

How does your OC feel about virginity? And their own in particular? Is it something to which they attach moral or spiritual weight? Or is it a meaningless social convention to them? Did (or would) their first lover know about their virginity?

Oh the most difficult question of the bunch. I have so many feelings about this but putting it into words is hard so please be patient with me. Also, TW this one is going to be a bit nsfw and darker than rest, talking about Raphaël's OCD and its impact on his sexuality, so feel free to skip that one.

Raphaël's view on his virginity is complicated.

As usual, Raphaël can't see himself as he sees others. He's not allowed to live the way they do. Not entitled to the same things. They are allowed to love, to have sex. He isn't. First of all, he's terrified of the idea of taking advantage of someone through sex, even abusing them. Raphaël has OCD, and has intrusive thoughts he struggles with, and whenever he thinks about sex, they come in. The problem is that he's in denial about it all, and while any normal person would just think "what a silly thoughts, I'd never do that" he can't help but think "this is exactly what's going to happen" and he has to prevent it by any mean necessary. And of course, he does blame it on his heritage, his blood, and it consolidates his thoughts that he's nothing more than a twisted mortal no better than a fiend. That's the first reason behind his chastity vow.

The second reason is also rooted in his status as a tiefling, as tieflings in general are often said to be thrilling lovers, and he wants to distance himself from any stereoypes as much as possible. Tieflings are thrilling lovers? No, not him! He's not like the other tieflings. He's a good little tiefling, as Woljif would put it.

Then comes Sosiel. He falls in love, and comes eventually their first time.

Breaking his celibacy vow was already hard, and he knew it was just a question of time before his chastity vow would be broken too. They both took it slow, but it still was very hard for Raphaël with how much healing he needed regarding his relation with his own sexuality.

Right after their first time, he broke down in tears, completely overwhelmed with the facts that 1. he actually did it 2. nothing bad happened 3. it was actually quite nice 4. he's allowed to love, to be loved, and to feel pleasure. It didn't startled Sosiel too much; at this point they've been dating for quite a few months, and he already knew the tiefling had a very complicated relationship with sexuality as a whole.

There's still a long way to go for him to heal completely, but he's definitely making progress. Sosiel has been more than helpful, and the cleric has been nothing but very understanding of his lover's issues, always being there for him when he needs to vent or to talk about it all. He's starting to enjoy having a sexual life, and is even starting to come to terms with being a bit ~kinky~ too.

Is it usual for others to develop a crush on your OC? Are they usually oblivious to this? If not then how do they manage such things?

No, Yes, They don't. Raphaël appears cold, distant, and stern beyond belief most of the time, so it's ... Hard to develop a real crush on him. But even if someone does, he'd be so oblivious to it. High wisdom + High perception? Fuck that, he doesn't get it until someone actually confesses to him. Thank GODS Sosiel did because they'd still be staring at each others from afar years post crusade.

I suppose as a Knight-Commander, he does get a bit more attention and he's doomed to have a few people having some kind of celebrity crush on him... Something he absolutely don't understand so his reaction to someone shouting "Raphaël I love you!!!" in a crowd would just be "what" and he would... walk away silently and awkwardly klzejzlksfjlkfq.

[indecisive-dizzy]

Hmm,,,,,,,,,, howdy/eddie angst cause they won’t leave my brain

I love them, I love them so much. So they need to suffer >:)

Howdy is a petty ex, I can’t see it any other way

I think they dated in high school, but Howdy’s internalized homophobia kinda definitely ruined things

I think howdy said some… not nice things to Eddie (that he totally doesn’t think about himself haha 😅) and that ended the relationship

Howdy still has feelings, but he still hasn’t fully accepted himself for being bisexual so he pushes them away

Eddie was a hot mess after their breakup, he felt like he failed their relationship even though he tried his best to make things work

What Howdy said stuck with him for years. It was the first time someone he loved told him such things to his face and it haunts him

When they’re adults, Eddie tries to be cordial but Howdy just avoids him and is very bitter either with him

Howdy will never admit it, but in their relationship he liked Eddie more when he was in drag because he could pretend his relationship was “normal”

Howdy is so internalized it hurts but it still didn’t excuse him treating his bf like trash 😔

For extra angst Eddie dates Latter later on and their relationship is actually really happy and healthy

That drives Howdy up the wall, there’s now way someone could like LATTER more than him (I love u latter this is Howdy’s thoughts not mine :,3)

Lizzy tries to be supportive of Howdy’s struggles, but there’s a reason she confided in Latter that she was a lesbian before Howdy :(

Rip Eddie Dear you would’ve loved Chappel Roan

He listens to Pink Pony Club and cries in drag

Casual and Good Luck, Babe give me their relationship vibes

Also Lizzy’s girlfriend is called Gabby and she’s very pretty :)

Random but I think they both stood up Daisey at least once lmao

They’re just hanging out with Daisey and something comes up so they have to go and accidentally end up ditching Daisey

They’re just sitting at the bus stop with one of their coats, smoking a cigarette as they’re waiting for the bus. If they had a nickel for the amount of times that’s happened, they’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice /ref

Either way I think they need to talk it out. And Howdy needs to smooch a man without being ashamed of it- *cough cough* Barnany- *cough cough*

My brain is full of them so this seems kinda random lmao

Have a good day/night pookie :D

The Grinch ass smile I smiled when I read "Howdy is a petty ex" lmaooo HE IS. This man in insufferable and I want to put him in a blender (affectionate)

Howdy projecting his internalized problems onto others sob. my brain came up with the idea that the things Howdy said he didn't say in a purposefully offensive way? like "well yeah duh everyone knows..." like Obviously this thing he hates abouts himself is common sense and everyone thinks this way??

idk I just don't think he started it trying to be offensive. but it was and turned into a full shouting match as Eddie got offended/hurt and emotional. Eddie left crying (sobbing)

cough Eddie pretends he either forgot Howdy all together or at least their relationship cough. blames his bad memory to be respectful and Not Have To Talk About It. Eddie with avoidance tendencies <3 my poor bbg

You're so right. Howdy already disliked Latter (gee wonder why) but now he's in a relationship with His EX. AND They're happy and healthy! Howdy's Gonna blow a fuseeee

Eddie Dear is just like me fr. I Listen to Pink Pony Club and cry. Not in drag, but that's a skill issue lol

Poor Daisey 😭😭🤣 also, reference spotted. I have way more than two nickels for everytime I've seen this ref. I could buy a yacht!

They dooo, but Howdy's bitterness and Eddie's avoidance of the subject make it Difficult. God it'd be so funny and if Frank (or Latter?) and Barnaby teamed up (unlikely duo my beloved) to Force them to talk.

Barnaby get that "If You Were Gay" song and kiss that worm akdhajdja I think it'd fix him 🤣

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

it's me, hi! i'm the anon for last night, it's me!

i think i should use an emoji to identify myself

so, again you were very spot on! as you elaborated perfectly: unfortunately most of the time these partners don't even do this on purpose, it's usually a consequence of this habit of most men always thinking that the woman will solve everything, of being used to having their needs always be taken care of and are catered to. in simply being used to not thinking too much about this kind of thing. and this custom is only broken if the man has some form of will and motivation to try to change and really try to help his partner, whether in emotional or domestic issues, being willing to live as a team where one helps the other. but as you mentioned, most of the time that's not what happens

as for adulthood: exactly! everything is kind of a mess. and I also have a close friend who ended an engagement and was very embarrassed by the situation, in her case, the relationship was already full of problems, she said yes to the propouse but after a few month she realized it wasn't right. they had been dating for a few years, she had even moved to another country with him because of his work, it's a very long story lol.

but anyway, what I also find interesting is that all the situations you mentioned are so common, but when we are going through them we feel so alone. Some women are embarrassed to tell their friends about these problems while things are still being resolved with their partners, some only tell them many years later (I know cases of some women who were betrayed during the relationship, but decided to stay with their partners for a while, so they omitted this issue from some friends). like, we know that adult life is very chaotic and surely know someone (or will you eventually find out) that has been through the same thing as you, but when everything is going on it's normal to feel a little alone too.

lastly, taking advantage of your references to peter and ylm, I wanted to say that I really admire taylor for talking about this, I know it was expected, but sometimes I think it must be very difficult to deal with such a sensitive and vulnerable subject with thousands of people. sometimes I see some people commenting that they thought she made everything too blurry, but to be honest I think that's normal, I think the way she was able to share it all with us was the limit she could go at that moment and I already I think she's very brave. I think we in our late 20s or early 30s can pick up what she's putting down.

Hi anon! Welcome back!

“What I also find interesting is that all the situations you mentioned are so common, but when we are going through them we feel so alone” this is so, so, so true, and tbh I feel might be a big reason why Taylor decided to release TTPD the way she did and when she did, and I think being able to perform it on tour has been so gratifying and liberating.

I’ll tell you that in my friend’s case with the broken engagement, she was incredibly private about their problems — and this is someone I’ve been friends with nearly my entire life. My spidey senses picked up that something was going on with her after a particular day hanging out at their house, but when I gently pressed my friend chalked it up to pre-wedding jitters. So I gave her grace to speak about it how she wanted but just continued to support her as best I could. It wasn’t until the aforementioned bathroom floor breakdown that everything spilled out and I found out what was going on and how bad a place she was in. After it came out, I think it finally gave her strength to understand what she needed to do and do it, as painful and embarrassing and sad as it all felt at the time.

So I really do think Taylor writing and releasing music about it, more or less in real time, is her own way of doing that, and she’s said as much on tour about how cathartic and healing it is. It took a lot of guts to write the album, plan its release in the middle of a global tour and rejig an entire set list to fit it in and get that catharsis every night on stage. And I think about how many stories I’ve seen on here and other platforms in the last three months of people relating hard to the song and having their own Smallest Man or So Long London moment in their lives and I think that’s very much part of Taylor’s intention with the album. All at once the ink bleeds.

I love TTPD. Like, unabashedly and completely. I love how long The Anthology is and there are few, if any, skips on the album for me. And even if there were, I’d still respect Taylor’s right to release such a length album because a) she can and should do whatever the fuck she wants and b) I truly feel every one of those songs had to come out of her and each one says something about what she’s gone through and what she’s processed in the past year. I know people feel like the album needed more editing or whatever, maybe there’s an argument there from a commercial or production point of view, but like I said, I think every song relays an experience from her life, either literally or metaphorically, that she felt she wanted out in the world so people know and understand her.

This isn’t directed at you at all, but I can’t take any argument against her making the muses too “blurry” seriously whatsoever. IT’S HER WRITING AND SHE CAN DO WHATEVER SHE WANTS. She doesn’t owe anyone a verbatim telling of her life, and art takes on so many forms. No one would demand an explanation from any other artist over the inspiration for their work, and Taylor shouldn’t be expected to either. Maybe songs are about one person, maybe they’re about five, maybe they’re about no one and from her imagination, but regardless of the inspiration, it’s all her. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story, after all, lol. But in all seriousness, this is songwriting, and while we know Taylor writes from her own experiences, and we are lucky to be able to take those stories and use them to gain insight into her as a person, she is within her right to share as much or as little as she wants. All she does is release her music, and now it’s up to everyone else to take it forward. It’s incredibly brave and generous of her as an artist and I wish she got more credit for it, but ultimately she’s getting the last laugh.

Luckily, I feel like it’s pretty easy to pick up what she’s putting down, and I’m glad we have this art to reference when speaking about situations like these.

[bigbadripley]

Chapter 5 - DameLove

Marc Spector&Co. x Ex!F!OC, F!OC x Modern!Miguel O'Hara

Summery: Everything changed after Marc and Simone moved to New York. Being in a relationship with the Fist of Khonshu proved to be difficult enough without the added obstacles of normal relationships being forced into the mix. With seemingly irreconcilable differences overhead, fate’s plans continue to drive the pair back into each other’s lives, testing their patience, self-control, and new relationships. Is it truly written in the stars, or is it old habits taking over?

18+!! | Third-person omniscient | Dark elements | AU/AT |  Warnings: Language, OC with religious trauma, childhood trauma, sexual trauma. Effects of trauma in adulthood. Hella kissing, stalking (sorta), smut mention but no detail.

Words: 2.6K

A/N: I DID NOT ABANDON THIS I PROMISE. I had a lot going on this past month, but I will do two updates to make up for it. I update warnings with each chapter. Only proceed if you can handle the themes included in the warnings.

Minors DNI, DL;DR, if I miss a warning, please let me know.

Chapter List

"Buscando el momento preciso Tan cerca pero tan lejos Ya quiero rozar tu cuerpo Tu cara contra mi pecho El humo flotando denso" -"DameLove" by Girl Ultra

There was something about this man that made Simone want to crumble. In many ways, she felt she could trust him with anything and wanted to continue the pursuit of him and everything he had to offer. 

With that, given her past, came feelings of total terror at the idea of going past the first date. No matter how great Miguel might come off or how much he made her smile or laugh, she still had a gut feeling that it was too good to be true. 

That's where the test came in. Drop one extreme truth and tell him who he's signing up for. With Steven, she admitted she was once a dominatrix on their first date, and he took it much better than she expected. With Miguel, she waited until the second date. 

"I was a dominatrix to pay my way through university, you know." She spilled. They sat relatively close in a booth at an exclusive restaurant where Miguel undoubtedly got a table by waving his employment at P.I. around. It was an intimate space, and they knew they didn't have to sit next to each other, but that's how they ended up by the end of their meal. 

At the admission, Miguel was unphased. Not only was he sex-positive, but he believed that as long as people weren't hurting themselves or others, they should get their bag. He was quick to shrug this off. 

"Did that do something for you?" He asked. 

The question aimed to feel around without being too forward or flat-out asking a question too sexual in nature. Simone knew that but was already struggling enough to take things slower than usual. Instead of answering it plainly, she played coy.

"It paid well." She answered with an eyebrow wag before taking the subject in a different, less sexual, direction upon locking eyes with him. "Why don't you take those glasses off and let me see those peepers?" 

A tinge of panic struck Miguel at the request. He knew what his glasses were for, even if Simone wouldn't understand. 

His eyes were ultra-sensitive, for one, and the glasses helped with that, but the other reason for them was to make his irises appear brown. He invented them using a similar tech to red-eye correctors on cameras, as his eye color was an abnormal red from the incident that gave him spider DNA. 

"I'm blind as a bat without them and get these crazy headaches if I take them off." He explained, using the same excuse he gave everyone. Simone didn't question it for even a second.

"I'd hate for a migraine to ruin our evening." She replied before resting her hand on the crook of his elbow. It was a caring gesture that showed she meant what she said, and Miggy was captivated by her all over again. 

Simone wasn't thinking when she invited Miguel to walk her to her apartment. Inviting someone up after a date typically means a nightcap, a hookup, or both. While a hookup didn't sound bad at all, she was devoted to taking things slower to protect herself and avoid getting caught up in the same patterns.

Miguel had no idea what Simone had in mind, but he wanted to get at least a goodbye kiss if she allowed it. He had been watching her lips all night, struck by how soft they looked, and imagined how they must have tasted against his own. It was a wonder he didn't make a move in the restaurant. 

He stood behind her as she unlocked her door, the sound of keys rattling until a click signaled the door opening. He'd never seen her place before, but it looked well-decorated and cozy from the section he could see. His attention was pulled away from the inside of the apartment when Simone pivoted around to face him with a smile and a sparkle in her eye.

"I had fun, Miggy." 

God, she's so pretty. He thought.

"I did too. Same time next week?" He replied, subconsciously taking a step closer, closing the gap between them by a few inches.

Fuck, he's handsome. She thought. 

"I bet we can pull something off a bit sooner if you're game?" She suggested, not totally understanding what she meant by it, but would happily accept whatever he felt fit the bill. The space closed more, and she knew it was game over when his chest was snuggly to hers, and he looked down at her with dilated pupils. 

Their lips connected, and all breathing, sound, movement, and the Earth's rotation seemed to come to a complete stop. She felt her back push into the doorframe as Miguel's right hand held her face, and the left caressed her waist. She felt her body tingle and her heart drop into her stomach as she studied his lips and tongue. 

The intention to not sleep with him was gone as he relaxed his body into hers while she canvased her hands over his back and somehow felt him get closer.

She soon realized they were still in the hallway, halfway through the threshold of her door, where any neighbor could walk by and see them making out like kids outside their school lockers. It was enough to cause her to expel a small giggle between their lips.

"You can come inside if you want." She whispered breathily without noticing the innuendo at first but leaving it alone once she did. His eyes opened to her slightly, and his mouth continued to graze over her lips and chin lightly. 

"Oh yeah? I'd love to." He spoke softly with a slight drunken rasp, and Simone could have collapsed right there with how sexy it sounded. 

Miguel felt as ready as he'd ever been and queued up what he would do in his head, but before the pair could enter the apartment, he suddenly spotted a flash of white outside her window on the fire escape. 

Was that a leg? He thought, almost entirely sure it was, and his vision was rarely wrong. His ghostly kisses stopped, and he began to pull back from her, beaming at the pane. 

"We'd have to save this for another time, though. It's getting pretty late, and I gotta be up early in the morning." He explained. Simone was thoroughly thrown for a loop by this change of pace with wide eyes and a cocked head. 

What, is he supposed to turn into a pumpkin at midnight? She thought. 

"I'll call you." He spoke again before seeming to high-tail it down the hallway, turning the corner to get to the elevator. 

A thousand possibilities ran through Simone's head when she entered her apartment. It reminded her of when Marc and Steven refused to stay the night due to their blacking out, unbeknownst to her. 

Is he hiding something? She thought. No way, he seems so normal. 

These thoughts yelled at her, causing her to hit the panic button and call Jen immediately. 

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jen, got a minute?" 

"Yeah, of course." Jen responded, but a faint but deep "no" was weaved into it from her end. Simone knew the voice anywhere as Murdock's. 

"Wait, what's Matt doing there?" She asked, almost sure that the answer was that they were sleeping together again.

"We'll discuss that later. What's up?"

Simone took little time to explain what had just happened, and Jen was equally quick to ask questions.

"So, he just... left?" 

"Yep, a long, hot kiss, and then he dipped."

"Weird. It doesn't look good." 

"I'm going to be shitting bricks over it until he calls me or something, I swear." Simone sighed loudly. "Did he not like the kiss?"

"That's what it sounds like." Matt's voice chimed in again, followed by the sound of a thump that was undoubtedly him being punched in the shoulder, followed by a soft ouch. "Don't listen to him." 

"I mean, it sure felt like he liked it if you catch what I'm saying, but..." Simone trailed off mid-sentence as she spotted the flash of white in the corner of her eye from the window, just as Miggy had, but with a quick glimpse of blue and red. "What the fuck?" She muttered under her breath, paying little attention to Jen telling her not to panic over her date's dismissal. "I gotta go." She said before abruptly hanging up the call.

Simone rushed to the window and opened it, the sliding sound not interrupting what appeared to be a full-on fight between Mr. Knight and the S-Man on the fire escape above her. 

"What's going on here?" She yelled out to them. The pair froze and looked down at the woman's face, barely visible under the grate, but the voice was unmistakable to both of them. All she could make out was Mr. Knight's fist pulled back in a motion that appeared he was interrupted from clocking the other masked man in the face. 

"Uh, hey, Si-uh, Dr. Fredrick. Long time no see." Said Spidey, trying to avoid calling her by her first name and using the moment of distraction to climb over the railing. "Just found this guy stalking you and that guy you were with," He explained as he slowly lowered himself down to the platform outside her window on a web. 

On the other side, Simone heard the sound of steps on the metal stairs as Mr. Knight made his way back down. The relaxed walk gave away the man under the mask immediately.

"God dammit, Jake? Is that you?" She asked, knowing the answer.

"Yeah, yeah, doll. I wasn't stalkin', though." He replied matter-of-factly. His tone made her subconsciously ball her fist, irritated by the thought that he could have been in the background the entire night and, if not him, likely the person he had watching her before. 

"Go home. I'm sure there are more important people that need your help at the Mission." She managed to say calmly. 

"What about Spider-dweeb?" He asked, gesturing a gloved hand toward the man dangling upside down. 

"Dweeb?" The man in question asked, offended.

"Enough!" She objected before Jake could speak further. It came out as almost a shout and got both of them to give her their attention. She took a deep breath before she continued. "Just go, please." 

Jake couldn't deny that the tone she took hurt some part of him. That same part of him held out hope that she would come back to him. When he realized upon seeing her out and about that she was on a date, he nearly saw red. 

"Alright, hermosa. I'll see you around." He replied, stepping backward and turning when he reached the steps down. Spidey continued to sway back and forth from his web until he felt that the man in white was far enough away.

"I'm guessing that's the ex?" He asked, bringing up the topic from the gala. 

"What gave it away?" Simone asked sarcastically with a snicker. He observed her leaning forward on the window sill on her elbows, resting her chin in her palm. "So, I guess you missed me too much?" 

He was momentarily confused by the comment and remembered the last conversation she had with Spider-Man before responding. "I was in the area." He told her as he lowered himself more and dropped both feet onto the metal below. He realized he could get a sense of her feelings without tipping her off too much. "I hope your date went well, though." 

Simone felt a slight blush rise on her cheeks, thinking it was sweet of him to say but remembered that Miguel departed far too quickly. "It was great until he left, honestly." She shared with a shrug and then realized the person she was speaking with had shared a moment with her a couple weeks prior. "No offense." 

Though her sentence was playful, Miggy felt his heart stop as the last sentence registered in his mind, afraid she could see right through him. "Why would I be offended?" He asked, trying to not sound defensive or nervous. 

"Because you missed your chance. I actually like this one." She answered with a smile. 

Crisis averted. Miguel thought. 

"My loss, then. I'm happy for you, regardless." He offered before extending a thin web from his arm to the building next door. "Have a good night, Doc."

Simone gave him a polite nod, "You too, Spider-man." She replied before watching the suited man swing away like he was flying. She found herself leaning out of the window a bit more to view the ground below better, looking for the man in white and hoping he wasn't sticking around. Once she realized he wasn't in her view, she stepped back and shut the window again but was startled by the sound of her ringtone.

Under blue moon, I saw you So soon you'll take me

Simone let out a loud, dramatic sigh at the song, thinking to herself again that she needed to change it before the screen showed her that the caller was Jen, undoubtedly following up on the abrupt end to their conversation. 

It didn't take a shrink to know that the boys were unhappy with Moni's move back into the dating scene, but there was one that helped articulate the feelings better than they could on their own. 

Dr. Sterman, like Dr. Fredrick, specialized in superhuman mental cases. Due to Simone's inability to work with Marc professionally, given their relationship, he had to find someone else to fit the bill after Khonshu tried to take over the world. 

"It sounds to me like you're following her in hopes that she'll see it as enduring. Like she'll open her eyes and realize you care enough to keep an eye on her, and she'll take you back." The therapist with jet-black hair said. Marc had one leg resting over another, sitting comfortably in his armchair during this emergency session he called to his office. 

"She protected me when we were kids. Why wouldn't I return the favor now that I'm capable?" He asked, half-believing the words leaving his mouth. Though they rang true, Dr. Sterman's theory was closer to reality. Judging by the look on her very animated face, she wasn't buying it and didn't need to see his face under the mask to come to that conclusion.

"Right, and remind me why you sleep in a sarcophagus now?"

"Keeps me closer to the roots of the Egyptian God that I serve; why else?"

"It's crossed my mind that there's no way you slept in that while Simone was around. Could it be that the bed felt too big and empty once she was gone?" She offered, crossing her arms. She knew she was right, and Marc knew it too. 

"No sense in the queen bed when you sleep alone, that's all. Either way, it's in storage-" Marc started but was interrupted by Reese, a girl under his employ that was turned into a vampire against her will, entering with a cup of coffee in hand. She was just a kid with short, curly hair and dark skin, and given her newfound condition, she was perfect to have around to help during his waking hours. "For me?" He asked, referring to the joe. 

"Well, I can't drink it." She replied, handing the paper cup to him. 

With this, Dr. Sterman stood and smoothed out her pants. "I'll be going if we're finished here." She announced, watching curiously as Marc pulled the lower half of his mask about his mouth to sip the coffee. 

"We are. Have a good night, doctor." 

[bisluthq]

a few things

I don’t think it’s fair to say she didn’t communicate with joe. it’s very clear to me that they worked through whatever issues they had in 2021, but they kept coming up. ‘you say I don’t understand, and I say I know you don’t’ kind of implies she told him SOMETHING, and he failed to understand. this aligns with him being blindsided by the breakup, because he still didn’t expect her to end it.

I’ve heard the email thing from many different sources that have nothing in common with each other, and it makes sense timeline wise so at this point I believe it.

taylor def wasn’t seeing matty in april. did she flirt with him at his show in January? maybe, sure. timeline-wise, there’s no time when they were in the same place at the same time for long enough between january and the nashville shows in may for that to be the case. he was touring latam, southeast asia, and australia between march 18 and may 4. the tour dates are not spread out enough for travel back to the states to be plausible during this time. it just makes no sense for her to have left joe for matty when they weren’t in the same place at all geographically.

"it just makes no sense for her to have left joe for matty when they weren’t in the same place at all geographically" - so wait a second you believe she broke up with her actual live in partner of six and a half years VIA EMAIL (and no like the sources in different places have in my experience always tracked back to "friends of Pat's at NYU on the platform formerly known as Twitter" and I find that very weird lol as a source - if something that utterly bizarre - like genuinely unheard of in normal people society - had happened and it was that easy to prove then I'm willing to bet actual money that The Sun would've covered it and yet they... didn't... so clearly no person The Sun considers reliable has ever said it lol) but you don't believe she did it in large part because she was talking to someone else because the someone else in question was on tour???? Also we know for a fact that they recorded together for Midnights at some point and there was the thing about them spending Halloween together idk I've never suggested a steamy physical affair but obviously they were actively in touch because then they started saying "I love you" publicly lol? You think she needed to physically be with Matty to want to be with him but she broke up with, again, her LIVE IN PARTNER OF SIX AND A HALF YEARS remotely but yet she couldn't talk to Matty remotely?

Also I can for sure believe emails were exchanged in terms of division of stuff and logistics and shit because that's probably easier than trying to do all of that in person (especially since logistics in their case must've been hella difficult since he had stuff in like six geographically dispersed places he would've needed to collect or had sent to him) but obviously she didn't end it purely via email lol that would be literally unheard of. No one has ever done that lol unless perhaps it's an abusive situation and it's not safe to see the person/talk to them and this clearly wasn't like that??

re whether or not she communicated and especially how well like idk dude we weren't there and no one except the two of them would know how well they felt they were communicating. That's the other thing here like communication is subjective. Per the line you chose in the song, he apparently seemed to her not to entirely understand what he was doing wrong lol (he might've been gaslighting lmfao idk I don't live in his head and again neither does she) and for her trying over and over to sort shit out and make it work eventually just became too hard. Sad but like alack alas that's life sometimes (very often actually) shit just doesn't work out. Again, all I'm saying is there are multiple sides to a story. She obviously felt justified doing whatever it was she did but I'm sure he had his own version of what was going down.