#shouldn’t be so exciting but I really think as great as streaming started it’s not completely fucked up ideas of ownership. or whatever.

[floral-hex]

Grosse Pointe Blank, save me. Save me early morning viewing of Grosse Pointe Blank. Secondhand DVD of John Cusack’s 1997 hit film Grosse Pointe Blank, please!

[bucksaiga]

I didn’t know I wanted you (Until I couldn’t have you)

Part 4/5 (master list)

“Buck?” Eddie called out to a very distracted Buck. “Something wrong? You’ve been looking at your phone all night.”

“I-I’m always on my phone.” Buck nervously laughed.

“Sometimes…” Eddie nodded. “But not this much. Did you find a substack or something?”

“Uh…yeah.” Buck lied. “Just doing some deep diving.”

Eddie snickered in response, shaking his head. “Of course you did.”

Actually, Buck was checking his phone waiting to hear from Tommy about his date.

As the night went on and it was nearly midnight, Buck assumed the date went really well and Tommy took this mystery person home, or vice versa.

The following morning, Buck didn’t bother to text Tommy and told himself he’s probably sleeping in or spending time with his date.

When Tommy finally texted back, Buck unlocked his phone within seconds, eager to read the text.

He…? Not that Tommy needed to come out to Buck, because Buck’s cool. Totally cool. He’s an ally. He has queer friends. It shouldn’t even be a big deal that Tommy’s revealing this information to him.

Oh God I hope that didn’t sound too forward.

Tommy took Buck to a taco bar and Buck asked about his date, trying not to sound like he was prying for information.

Tommy’s responses were brief and vague.

Guy’s name is Edgar. He’s 42. Works in accounting. Loves the outdoors and mountain biking.

He sounds boring. Buck thought. But he liked all the stuff Tommy liked. He was even a trained pilot and he knew some Muay Thai.

Maybe he’s more interesting than me. Buck negatively thought.

“S-so you guys are gonna go hiking?”

“Yeah, I was thinking of taking him up the trail we went to. I know it pretty well and it seems like a great spot to go.”

Buck felt like his heart exploded in his chest. He felt like his soul was going to leave his body. Even death would have been kinder than this. “O-oh yeah? That’s cool. He’ll love it.” Buck forced out with a fake smile.

Tommy nodded. “Hope so.”

“Yeah, it’ll be pretty romantic. Especially if you end your hike by the picnic area an hour before sunset, when the sun is low and it creates this nice warm light. They-they call it the golden hour because the sun, it—it’s golden with a warm, reddish—“ Buck laughed to himself. “Sorry I know it’s your date, I-I was just—“

Tommy shot buck a fond smile. “I think that might be a little too romantic for a second date. We’re still getting to know each other.”

“Oh—ah—yeah. Y-you’re right.” Buck nervously chuckled. “I guess so.”

Sure, it was just the very beginning of their dating stage, but it felt like the end of the world for Buck, and he just couldn’t figure out why.

But boy, did it hurt like hell.

A week later, Buck found himself complaining to Eddie and Maddie in a separate group chat he’d created for just the three of them.

Buck realized he was starting to sound a bit insane and deleted the entire message.

He didn't want to say that either. He didn't agree with Maddie. She wasn't wrong, she just didn't understand the sort of...friendship they had.

Buck glared at his barrages of texts, hoping he didn’t sound too eager or too annoying.

Buck put on one of his best shirts and threw on his apron and immediately started prepping for dinner. He was so excited to finally see Tommy again and cheer him up that he couldn’t stop smiling.

He rented Love, Actually to stream, curated a playlist of some of Tommy’s favorite songs, and even mixed up some boxed cake mix.

He didn’t have any frosting, so he hoped strawberry preserves would do.

He wanted this evening to be perfect for Tommy, so he could forget all about the cheating bastard that wasted his time and possibly broke his heart.

The thought of Tommy having a broken heart nearly shattered his own. He needed to fix it. He needed to let him know that he would always be there for Tommy, like Tommy was there for him.

Buck texted Tommy to let him know the door was unlocked for him.

Tommy welcomed himself into Buck’s apartment. Buck looked up from the counter, a wide ecstatic smile painted on his face.

“Smells amazing in here.”

“I hope so. I’m just throwing a few things together. It won’t be perfect but—“

“It’ll be perfect. It was more than I could’ve asked for. Thank you for all of this.”

Tommy’s eyes fell onto the cake on the counter. “You even baked a cake?”

“Uh yeah, but I don’t have any frosting. I hope strawberry preserves are—“

Buck glanced over at Tommy as he was helping himself to a slice of cake, slathering the strawberry preserves on top.

Tommy shoved a generous helping into his mouth, glancing up at Buck with wide eyes. “Sorry. Did you want me to wait until after dinner?”

Buck laughed, shaking his head. “It’s fine. Whatever you want.”

“It’s good cake.”

“It’s just from a box. I adjusted the recipe a little bit to make the cake more moist and flavorful—“

“It worked. This is delicious.”

“Good. I’m glad.”

They sat down and ate dinner, laughed and caught up on daily life outside of Gerrard and definitely outside of Edgar.

They watched Love, Actually and finished off the night with some beers.

“You’re right, Tommy. This is some really good beer.”

“Mhm. I told you.” Tommy paused to finish his beer. “Thank you again, Evan. Tonight was…really fun.” He smiled. “Really helped take my mind off—“

“You don’t have to think about him, Tommy. I’m here for you. You don’t have to feel alone.” Buck realized how strange his statement may have sounded. “You’ve also got all our friends at the 118 too.”

Tommy nodded with a small smirk. “I know.”

There was something odd about the sound of Tommy’s voice. Perhaps he was looking for something more. Something Buck just couldn’t give him.

But Buck, somehow, still wished he could give him everything.

[syrikif]

Gamer Etiquette

Kodzuken x Streamer!Y/N

Pairing: Kenma Kozume x Fem!Reader

Genre: SMAU, Written Elements, Strangers to Lovers, Romance, Fluff, Humor, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Streamer/Youtuber AU

Upcoming content creator/streamer, Y/N, has gone viral for lots of things. Her infamous dumb moments, her blended cookie recipe (which tastes better than it sounds), the way she rages at her friends during games, and about a hundred more.

But her most recent viral moment? Accidentally knocking famous streamer, Kodzuken, off the Bedwars map and making him lose his two year winning streak.

Now with more attention (and hate) than she ever asked for, her only option left is to go to the source: the man himself, Kenma Kozume.

Previous | Masterlist | Next

Chapter 4 (b): Guilt

Word Count: 2659

To be honest, Kenma is doing this entirely out of guilt. 

Sure it isn’t technically his fault that people have no self control and don’t know how to mind their own business, but his fans were probably the main root of the problem. So he felt some sort of responsibility towards her, regardless that they’d never met before today. 

“Are you loaded in yet?” He waits a few seconds, almost impatiently so, his eyebrows slowly raising as he waits even longer. “Y/N?” 

A soft sound of movement, a throat clearing, “Sorry, what?” 

Kenma sighs, “Are you loaded into the game yet?” 

“Oh- yeah. I mean almost, my wifi’s being weird.” She laughs then and it’s so painfully forced that Kenma physically feels himself cringe. He has to give the girl props though, she’s doing a lot better acting excited than he is despite the fact that she seems more nervous. 

He’d only asked for her discord on complete impulse, not really considering what would happen if she agreed until it was too late. Don’t get him wrong though, he isn’t upset about it; finding new people to play his favorite games with is always enjoyable for Kenma. 

But he also isn’t looking forward to this being any more awkward than it already is. 

“Are you on the server already?” 

Kenma shakes his head, “No, I’m waiting for you to be ready so I can start streaming.” 

“Oh,” she says and Kenma only then realizes that he’s been treating her like he treats everyone else, even though they know essentially nothing about each other. “Sorry, I’ll be done as soon-.” 

“Don’t worry about it.” And now he’s interrupting her; great first impression, Kenma. “I’m trying to finish eating right now anyways.” 

She doesn’t say anything for a moment and then, almost out of nowhere, “What are you eating?” 

Funny thing about that though is that he’s not. 

“Ummmmm-,” he trails off, desperately searching his brain for some sort of response. “Apple pie,” he finally manages to say. 

“Wait really?” Y/N suddenly sounds much more genuine than she had mere seconds ago. 

Kenma hums in confirmation, head nodding even though he’s currently lying straight through his teeth. 

Why? Who knows. Kenma definitely doesn’t. 

“I had apple pie too,” she goes on to explain. “Literally like ten minutes before I turned on my PC.” 

Kenma isn’t actually eating any apple pie right now, so it’s not as much of the insane coincidence that Y/N seems to think it is. But it is one of his favorite desserts, so he did have some fairly recently enough for it to be considered at least a bit strange. 

“You’re kidding,” he tries to match her enthusiasm.  

“Do I look like the type of girl to joke about something as serious as apple pie?” She’s teasing him now but his mind is slow to pick up on it, unintentionally leaving her in awkward silence as he processes her words. 

“I don’t know,” he drags out the last syllable. “You sound like someone who would.” Kenma has never actually seen what Y/N looks like - and sure he might be comfortable lying to her about eating apple pie - but joking about her appearance without even properly seeing it first seems like a line he shouldn’t cross. 

She scoffs then and Kenma can almost picture the exact face she pulls in the process, having frequently seen the same expression on his own roommate’s. “I have literally never been so offended in my entire life.” 

Kenma subconsciously shrugs, “I have to keep everyone humble somehow, you know.” 

~~~

“I got some stone,” Kenma tells Y/N as he runs over to drop a Stone Pickaxe in front of her. Although, this time he does it close enough to ensure that she doesn’t have to move to pick it up. 

“Oh thanks,” Y/N herself is busy collecting wood, but she’s definitely mining more than she really needs at the moment. 

“I know I explained this a bit earlier but we wanted to stream together just to clear some stuff up,” Kenma says when he notices how confused everyone still is in his chat. “Like how we actually don’t know each other. Right Y/N?” 

Y/N’s character suddenly turns to him in game, mimicking a head nod. “Yeah, I have no idea who this guy is. What’s your name again? Kenny?” Kenma admits that he has to stifle a laugh as she starts running around him in circles. “Well I guess I wouldn’t know because I don’t know you.” 

Kenma rolls his eyes, “You know what I mean.” 

“Yeah,” she easily agrees. “Just like how we didn’t know each other during that game, I also totally didn’t mean to kill you either.”

“Oh yeah definitely not,” Kenma nods, looking over at his chat for a brief second as Y/N stops before a random oak tree to start collecting even more wood. 

Why is y/n mining so much wood???? 😭 😭

y/n’s skin is so cutteeee

I love how Kenma’s just watching her run around lol

But Kenma’s attention is suddenly brought back to the game when he hears the sound of something being attacked, only to see his health two and a half hearts lower and Y/N standing suspiciously far away from him.

“What did you just do?” 

“Huh? What?” She plays innocent almost too well. “What do you mean?” 

“I’m beginning to think you killed me on purpose,” he teases as he starts making his way towards a cave he spots in the ground. 

She gasps, as though she genuinely feels betrayed by his words. “Of course I didn’t mean to, I would never do something like that.” 

He nods as he enters the cave, immediately running towards a vein of coal embedded into the wall. “Oh right of course. Because I totally didn’t see you aiming that fireball at me or anything the other day.” He shakes his head light heartedly as he begins collecting the coal with his own stone pickaxe. 

“See I’m glad you agree with me, Kenma,” Y/N joins his side in the cave, mining the stone beside him before placing down a crafting table. 

His head subconsciously tilts, “I thought you didn’t know my name.” 

Kenma watches as she places a furnace next to the crafting table, “That was before.” 

“Before what?” He opens the furnace when he sees it light up, his curiosity satisfied when he realizes that she’s cooking some Porkchops. 

“Before I knew it. Obviously.”

“Oh duh,” Kenma makes a show of facepalming, adjusting his hand just enough to look into the lens of his camera. “Should’ve known. How could I be so dumb?” 

“You tell me,” she says nonchalantly. “Isn’t that like your forte?” 

Kenma pauses at her words, shifting his gaze back to his monitor as he uses his mouse to slowly turn and look at her. “What?” 

“What?” 

LMAOOOOO

y/n has no chill lol

STOP CUS I LOVE HER

“Did you just call me dumb?” He’s definitely hearing things, because there’s no way that the girl who was fake laughing twenty minutes ago is now teasing him like they’d been friends for years. 

“What- no- I would never- I mean-,” she’s stuttering practically on purpose at this point. “Oh, iron!” 

Kenma turns his character in the direction that Y/N is looking towards, eyes squinting as he leans forward in his seat to try and spot it. 

And then he hears her giggle. 

“Ha! Made you look!” 

He sighs, rolling his eyes half-heartedly as he leans back against his chair. “You’re literally a child.” 

Y/N manages to stop laughing for only a brief second, “I can’t believe you-,” her voice suddenly breaks off with a gasp as she tries to catch her breath. “Fell for it,” she’s barely even able to finish the rest of her sentence, too busy practically cackling.

Kenma finds himself chuckling along with her, even though she’s entirely making fun of him right now. But he doesn’t care, not even a little bit. 

Because for the first time since they’ve met, the interaction feels real. 

~~~

An hour later, Kenma’s stuck in a cave and Y/N is doing who even knows what on the surface, when his roommate walks into the room. 

Y/N is in the middle of telling some elaborate story about the first time she ever played minecraft when Kenma hears his door open. He doesn’t really react at first, only glancing at his viewfinder to confirm that Kuroo’s walking into the room. 

“And then-,” she abruptly stops. “Did I just hear a door open?” 

Kenma would have thought that his microphone (or even discord for that matter) wouldn’t be able to pick up such a soft noise. He’s been proven wrong a lot today though. 

“Yeah sorry,” he confirms as he turns to actually look at the person now entering the room. “It’s my roommate, just give me one second.” Kenma mutes himself in discord but keeps his stream’s audio on, trying not to censor Kuroo as much as he wants to. He then just decides to leave the world, knowing there’s really no way to pause an online game. 

“You? Apologizing? Since when,” the older man snorts. 

Kenma closes his eyes with a sigh, “Shut the fuck up.” 

“That was unnecessarily harsh.” 

The streamer adjusts in his seat, turning in his chair to face his roommate. “I’m still streaming, what do you want?” 

His best friend frowns, “I’m bored and being swarmed by cats out there.” 

“Did you get in the catnip again?” He briefly gets distracted by the sound of Y/N saying something in his headset, but isn’t able to understand anything she’s actually saying because Kuroo is speaking at the exact same time.

“It was only like this much!” He makes a small gesture with his fingers to further prove his point. 

Kenma stares at the distance between his pointer finger and thumb for an unnervingly long amount of time. “Only that much huh?” 

Kuroo suddenly hides his hand behind his back, “Hey don’t look at my fingers like that, you perv.” 

“It’s not my fault you just happened to measure the exact length of your di-.” 

“AHHH!” 

Kenma flinches as he’s cut off by a blood curdling scream, his pulse skyrocketing as he frantically turns back to the game. 

He somehow manages to unmute himself, his fingers clumsily controlling the mouse to log back into the world. “Holy shit are you okay?” 

“Fuck- yeah sorry!” Y/N is still being loud but it’s nothing compared to the way she’d yelled only a second ago. “Jesus, I’m so sorry; that scared me so bad.” 

Kenma feels himself relax against his chair, mentally sighing as he glances back at Kuroo with a clear expression of relief. “She’s good?” 

“Yeah,” he nods, swallowing unsteadily. “Fuck, did you hear her?” 

“Are you kidding? I think the whole street heard her,” he jokes and Kenma can’t help but smile. Leave it to his best friend to be able to relieve such a massive amount of tension with one simple sentence. 

“Your roommate heard me?” Her voice practically exudes embarrassment. 

He chuckles, “Yeah, I think you both gave us a heart attack.” 

“Oh no,” she groans. “I’m seriously so sorry.” 

“What even happened?” (Translation: what the fuck made you react like that?)

“I was just focused on building a house and then a bird or something - I don’t even know what it was  - slammed against my window.” She pauses and Kenma can hear her release a deep breath. “It scared the absolute shit out of me.”

“Okay I guess that’s fair.” He feels something tap against his shoulder and turns to look at Kuroo’s questioning expression. “A bird hit her window,” Kenma elaborates for him. 

His roommate suddenly laughs, “I think chat was more worried than we are.”

Oh noooooo

Poor Y/N 😥

She needs therapy after that 💀

“They like her more than both of us combined,” Kenma confirms. 

Y/N makes a disapproving noise, “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” 

“Here wait,” Kenma says to pretty much no one as he grabs his headphone splitter and the second headset he always has on hand. After plugging everything in, he adjusts his microphone and wheels in another chair so that both men will be able to talk to her. “Okay, my roommate can hear you now by the way, Y/N.” 

“Oh. Hi there roommate!” 

Kenma frowns as he turns back around in game to start heading for the surface, “Why didn’t you sound that chipper earlier?” 

Y/N doesn’t get a chance to respond before Kuroo does for her. “Because I’m better than you.” 

Complete silence. 

“You’re not even going to try to deny it huh?” He shakes his head, still trying to find his way through the maze of a cave he’d somehow managed to trap himself in. 

“I don’t know; I’d feel mean if I did,” she responds without an ounce of hesitation. 

“Yeah why are you forcing her to do stuff, Kenma,” Kuroo suddenly chimes in with a teasing tone. 

“Fuck you Kuro. No one asked you.” 

Kuroo reels back in his chair, as though Kenma had physically slapped him in the face. “Um wow okay. I can really feel the lo-.” 

“Finally,” Kenma (accidentally) interrupts as he sees sunlight shining down into the cave. “I’m coming up by the way.” 

“Wait, already?” Y/N sounds strangely panicked. 

Kenma nods slowly even though she can’t see him. “Why,” he can’t help but feel suspicious now after her reaction. 

“I haven’t finished building yet.” 

He begins towering his way out of the hole, “I’m sure it’s not that ba-.” He suddenly stops as he sees a building in the distance. 

“I’m sorry, you said you aren’t done?” His roommate says beside him, basically voicing Kenma's exact thoughts as he sprints towards the house. 

“What the actual fuck this is amazing.” Kenma marvels as he opens what he can only assume is the front door. “How did you do this in two hours?” 

Her character suddenly runs over, crouching in front of him and dropping something on the ground. “I might not be super amazing at PVP, but I’ve been building since I was in elementary school.” Kenma scoots forward to pick up the item, his eyebrows furrowing when he realizes it’s a bed. 

“What’s this for?” 

“I wasn’t sure which room you’d want so I just decided I’d let you pick,” she explains. 

Kuroo nudges Kenma's shoulder with his own, “That was really nice of her. Right kenma?” 

But he's strangely at a loss for words because he just can’t get over the fact that, “She made it red.” His head tilts, “Why’d you make it red?”

“Oh,” she seems surprised by the question. “I don’t really know. I just thought it suited you, I guess.” 

“Hm,” he hums in acknowledgement, making his way over to the first room he sees and placing it beside the purple bed already placed against the wall. “Why don’t we just have the same bedroom?” 

“Ooohh,” Kuroo drags out. (Kenma had completely forgotten he was there.) “Putting your bed next to her’s huh?” 

Apparently they both decide that it’s better to ignore him this time because all Y/N says is, “Why would we share a bedroom?” 

Kenma blinks, he thought the reason was obvious. “So then we have more room for other stuff in the house instead of constantly needing to build for more space.” 

“Oh. Okay yeah that makes sense.” 

His best friend suddenly reaches over to press his mute key for discord, “Kenma’s got moves guys.” 

“Shut up.” 

~~~

Kenma enjoys streaming with her that night. He really, really does. 

But again, he’s doing this out of guilt. 

Or at least that’s what he tells himself when he ends up messaging her again that very next day.

Taglist: @crazy-people-are-here, @existential-traveller, @peachesncats, @royalz658, @musicluverr

Any names in bold are unable to be tagged.

[plutoccult]

HAIKYUU X THE OFFICE AU — EPISODE TWO: LUNCHTIME VOLLEYBALL MATCH

pairing: sugawara koushi x female reader

description: ukai’s idea to hold a volleyball match with the warehouse staff during lunch proves to be a bad one, but it sure is entertaining for you to watch from the sidelines. well, as long as your fiancé doesn’t ruin the fun for you.

word count: 5.5k

also available to read on my ao3 here

author’s note: hello!!! i’ve been fueled to write the continuation of this au. this time around, it’ll be inspired by the basketball episode, but since haikyuu is all about volleyball… you know what i had to do. i would have waited to do that one company-wide volleyball match episode later on, but who says i can’t do that later anyway? it’s haikyuu, there is NEVER enough volleyball. besides, that’ll give me the opportunity to introduce other haikyuu characters when the time is right. i’m still trying to get my groove when it comes to writing this au, but i think i’m starting to get there. i hope this will be equally as entertaining, and i also hope everyone enjoys it! also, stream livelock by xdinary heroes fr 😮‍💨

ever since filming for the documentary began, ukai had been more… eccentric than usual. everyone knew it was to play up for the cameras, but god, it was annoying. the employees of japan pulp and paper thought they had seen it all when it came to their chaotic boss, but that was proven to be false when ukai burst into the office randomly dressed in sports gear with a wilson volleyball pressed to his hip.

“guys, we’re doing a thing.” ukai announced, much to the confusion of his employees.

“is this the office olympics again?” tanaka questioned. the office olympics was an idea ukai attempted many years ago, and let’s just say it didn’t end well whatsoever.

“no, tanaka, it is not.” he scoffed. “i don’t need corporate threatening to fire me… again.”

“then why are you dressed like an athlete past his prime, but he refuses to let go, so he ends up losing his wife and kids?” tsukishima asked nonchalantly despite completely flaming ukai to bits.

“that kinda sounds like tom brady.” hinata said.

“tom brady was a football player, idiot.” kageyama rolled his eyes, sparking a bickering matching between him and hinata, which was always a classic occurrence in the office since the day they were hired.

“everybody shut up! i’m holding a volleyball match with the warehouse guys during lunch!” ukai yelled over his employees, followed by complete silence. not a peep came out of them, not even a cricket. “come on, why aren’t any of you excited?”

“um… did hr approve of this?” you speak up and ask. it was clear ukai didn’t see how horrible of an idea this was.

“shockingly, specs approved.” he replied. a miracle, really, but ukai claimed it would be a “good way” to “bond” with everybody.

“and he approved of it… with the warehouse guys?” you gulp.

“yes, y/n, why are you so—” ukai cut off his sentence when he realized why you were questioning him with such worry. “oh…”

the reason why holding a match with the warehouse guys worried you was because your fiancé ryo was one of them. it was almost like an unspoken common fact that he was a total jerk who didn’t deserve you. while suga’s fondness towards you wasn’t very known to the office, everyone could at least see that you shouldn’t be with ryo. only tell will tell how this dreaded volleyball match will end up. it was everybody’s funeral, really.

��••

“so, i got the idea to hold a volleyball match because my grandfather—who is a volleyball legend, by the way—suggested it would be a great idea to bring everybody together, so i got him to help me set up some stuff outside the office building.” ukai said to the camera crew while he sat at his desk, his typical interviewing spot. “what i forgot to put into consideration was y/n’s hotheaded fiancé who works in the warehouse downstairs, but who doesn’t love a little chaos, am i right? well, no, not right. it’s just gonna be a friendly game of volleyball. totally friendly.”

•••

while suga sat at his desk with nothing to do, he did what he always did and caught a look at you to see what you were doing in hopes to share at least a moment with you. he always reached for those little moments, even if you seemed to see him as just a friend. when he looked over at your desk, he saw you were staring at your computer, seemingly bored out of your mind, which you most definitely were at this time when there were dry spots in the work day.

suga quietly stood up and went to the break room for a cup of coffee, hoping you’d notice the sound of his footsteps and follow him. there was nobody around, but that soon changed when you followed suit minutes later just as he hoped you would.

“hey, suga.” you say, reaching for the cabinet to grab a mug.

“oh, hey, y/n.” he said, trying to act cool while he waited for his coffee to brew.

“you gonna play in the match later?” you ask. part of you was worried about what would happen with ryo, but at the same time you wanted to root for suga because he was your best friend.

“well, after ukai begged me…” cue war-like flashbacks to ukai begging suga over and over to participate, which included over-dramatically sobbing while on his knees. “unfortunately, yeah.”

“i thought you used to play volleyball in high school? setter, right?” you questioned.

“how did—” suga was shocked but also adorably amazed that you remembered such a thing. “how did you remember that?”

“guess it just stuck with me, i don’t know.” you shrugged. quite a poor lie on your end, really. you would always try your best to remember everything correct out of fear of making a mistake. even if there wasn’t someone there to crucify you for it, you always made sure to get the job done anyway. although you knew suga wouldn’t do such a thing to you, you didn’t want to mess up the only good thing you had in your life.

“i was vice captain too, actually.” he chuckled before taking a sip of his fresh coffee.

“aw, i knew there was something i was forgetting!” you pouted, doing what you knew best and making yourself feel bad for forgetting despite how innocent it was. “i’m sorry!”

suga couldn’t see what you needed to be sorry for, so he always reassured you knowing you truly needed it. “what? it’s okay, really. i’m glad you at least remembered i played volleyball in the first place.”

“you’re serious?” you asked, almost like it was hard to believe him.

“of course.” he said with that smile that always made you feel better, bringing back your light. “why wouldn’t i be?”

“i don’t know.” you sigh for a moment before taking your turn with the coffee maker. you hated yourself for feeling this way all the time. you needed to be bejeweled, but you were always held back by a ball and chain in the form of your fiancé.

“well, if anything, i hope i remember how to play properly, so don’t worry.” suga said to put you at ease.

“why, you rusty?” you question him.

“perhaps.” he jokingly shrugged.

“guess i’ll have to be the judge of that. might whip up some popcorn, who knows?” you tease. “need some entertainment better than the youtube videos i watch during my usual lunch.”

“well, i guess i’ll have to put on a real show for you.” suga smirked.

“i’ll keep that in mind, sugawara.”

•••

while the employees were getting ready to head downstairs for the match, suga was called in for a quick interview with the documentary crew before the inevitable chaos went down. he didn’t find it to be suspicious as everyone was asked questions too, but there was an inkling in his gut that the crew had an ulterior motive questioning him.

“thoughts on playing in the match?”

“ah, i don’t know. i’m just here for some fun, not competition. i’m not trying to take it that seriously. it’s not high school anymore, it’s just a game.” suga said in response to the question, then immediately cringed at his own answer. “oof, i sound like tsukishima. yikes.”

“you’re not worried about ryo?” whoop, there it is. he knew they were onto him when it came to you. suga should’ve known to stop his pining stares while all those cameras were on all of you over eight hours a day.

“huh?” he furrowed his eyebrows before rolling his eyes when the documentary crew gave him a look in hopes he’d spill. “oh, don’t look at me like that. i’m outta here.”

•••

everyone followed ukai to the parking lot to see a volleyball net smack dab in the middle of the sea of cars. his grandfather came while everyone was working to put it all together, and he seemed to have put it in the worst spot possible.

“this… is what you’ve set up?” you question ukai.

with the way the net was set up, it was prime real estate for a ball to fly in the wrong direction and break someone’s window. it was an overpriced repair bill just begging to happen, and none of you got paid enough to throw around money so easily.

“um, hello, my grandfather gave me the hookup.” he rolled his eyes. “amateurs.”

“but it’s outside.” you say, hoping ukai would get the point, but of course, he doesn’t.

“so?”

“in the middle of the parking lot.” you add.

“there’s enough wiggle room, what’s the problem?” ukai shrugged. god, he was clueless.

“to add onto what y/n is saying, some—if not all—of us would like our windows to be intact by the end of the day.” tsukishima said before walking away from the group, leaving ukai unaware of his intentions.

“hey, tsukishima, where are you going?” he called out.

“moving my car?” tsukishima replied with a heap of sass. “god, i don’t get paid enough for this shit.”

“you better come back!” ukai yelled, his words falling on deaf ears. “i need a tall bitch like you for blocking!”

“i’m gonna move my car too…” yamaguchi said sheepishly then followed tsukishima to do the same as him.

in a shocking event, everyone agreed with tsukishima for once and didn’t think he was being hyper-negative for no reason. one by one, almost everyone went to move their cars. some stayed behind, like you, tanaka, and a few others, but ukai began to feel discouraged and worried that his dream match wouldn’t occur.

“suga! everyone! come on!” he whined, hoping they’d come back.

“boss, sir, i can assure you that i can handle balls better than tsukishima.” tanaka said with utmost confidence, thinking his words would make ukai feel better. it only ended up making you resist the urge to laugh, and you had to quickly collect yourself before you did the wrong thing.

“but…” ukai pouted.

“don’t worry, everyone’s coming back, ukai.” you assure him, seeing tsukishima and yamaguchi start to walk back to the group, then daichi and nishinoya, and so forth.

seeing what everyone was doing, your fiancé ryo wanted to hop on the bandwagon, but was a little too “preoccupied” to do so. “babe, can you move the car? i’m in the middle of stretching here and i need to be in top shape for the match.”

“uh, yeah, sure…”

•••

“it’s an unofficial volleyball match in the middle of an office parking lot, not the olympics. what do you need to be in top shape for?” you rant before doing the same thing suga did in his interview earlier. “wow, i sound like tsukki, don’t i?”

“suga said something similar earlier.” a crew member said, mainly to hopefully stir the pot.

“what, did he say something pessimistic like him too?” you question. the crew nodded in response.

“huh. interesting.”

•••

once the whole parking lot ordeal was over with, it was finally time to put this game together. ukai began yelling around like he was some sort of professional coach, which raised questions.

“alright! let’s get into positions everyone!” he hollered. “i need a setter, middle blocker, wing spikers—”

“woah, woah, woah. what position are you gonna play?” daichi interrupted him with the question that was on quite literally everyone’s minds.

“you guys thought i was playing?” ukai questioned as if it were some sort of massive shock.

“uh… yeah?” daichi furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “why else are you dressed like that?”

“is this not what volleyball coaches wear?” ukai asked. what’s ironic about ukai’s look was that he was dressed like a volleyball player, not a coach. whatever sporting goods store employee told him that was a good look on him would remain a mystery, unfortunately.

“they probably wear tracksuits or something, i don’t know.” nishinoya shrugged.

“hm, i oughta look into those.”

“so, who’s playing what?” yamaguchi spoke up, considering they were wasting precious company time. “we need a starting lineup and the warehouse guys are scaring me…”

“well, i can be setter and tsukishima can be middle blocker.” suga volunteered, his words met with an eye roll from tsukishima.

“oh, boy, i wonder why that is.” he scoffed.

“aren’t you a tall bitch who can block?” suga crossed his arms.

“you doubt me, sugawara?” tsukishima questioned him.

“maybe.” he replied, resisting the urge to smirk.

“i’m blocking the hell out of those warehouse guys.” tsukishima said with determination as he rolled up his sleeves. it was manipulation at its finest, and suga wasn’t ashamed of using it for today. unfortunately, not everyone was happy with the results.

“aw, i wanted to be middle blocker.” hinata pouted, having not given the chance to speak up before.

“eh, maybe later, hinata.” suga said, although the chances were quite slim.

“pft, as if you’d let shorty ever be middle blocker.” kageyama snickered.

“i’m not short, i’m fun sized!” hinata exclaimed.

“who even says that anymore?!”

“shut up, you—”

hinata and kageyama then did what they do best, aka start arguing like a married couple out of nowhere. suga and daichi had to break the two up, and while daichi struggled with kageyama, asahi came to his rescue and threw him over his shoulder effortlessly. everyone watched asahi with amazement, including you, but he was quite oblivious to the looks of awe.

“anyways. who’s got ideas?”

everybody was too busy standing there shell shocked until you spoke up with an idea of your own, one that made perfect sense in your eyes. “well, i think daichi should be captain of the office team. he’s really good at handling chaos.”

“you think so, y/n?” daichi asked, touched that you thought so highly of him.

“well, you just handled husband and wife over there. plus, if you can handle those knuckleheads too,” you say, pointing to tanaka and nishinoya. “then yeah, i definitely think so.”

“we are NOT knuckleheads—”

“quiet, you two.” kiyoko cut them off.

“yes, kiyoko.” tanaka and nishinoya say in unison. it was just too easy.

the idea of daichi being captain was in agreement with all of the office employees, but there was still more to figure out before everyone could start playing. “well, if i’m captain, then i think i should have a say in who’s doing what.”

“actually, that’s my job, daichi.” ukai tried to say before he was shut down by asahi, who spoke in a low tone.

“daichi should decide.”

“okayyesjustdon’tkillme.” ukai said quickly.

asahi turned his head and stared into the camera confused.

•••

“he’s always gonna be scared of me, isn’t he?” asahi said with a pout then let out a sigh. “even yachi doesn’t scream in terror when i walk into a room anymore…”

•••

after plenty of debating, the office workers had finally put together their team. daichi as captain and right-wing spiker, suga as setter, tsukishima as middle blocker, tanaka as left-wing spiker, nishinoya as libero, and then asahi as the team’s ace. it had all been so carefully crafted, so they hoped it would be worth it in the end. they all even considered going out for a drink after work if they won too, but everyone was getting too ahead of themselves. they had a match to win.

both teams lined up together on opposite ends, ukai instructing his employees to stand up straight and give their best intimidating look, but they weren’t all that up for it. thankfully for tsukishima and asahi, that was their usual resting face anyway.

kiyoko stood in the middle of the court, taking on the role of scorekeeper for this little event. she did the same during the controversial office olympics, so it was no question of whether she’d do it again today. besides, she loved the power she held right now.

“alright, captains in the middle of the court, please!” kiyoko called out. daichi took a step forward while ryo, the captain for the warehouse team, did the same. “the match will be best two out of three. each captain will pick a side of the coin and whichever side it lands on gets to serve first.”

“i call heads!” ryo claimed over-excitedly, as if the coin toss were the real competition.

“tails, please.” daichi said calmly.

kiyoko grinned happily as she flipped the coin, landing in daichi’a favor, much to her amusement. “it’s tails. daichi, your team will serve first.”

“asahi, it’s your time to shine.” daichi pointed to asahi.

“on it!” he replied, gripping the ball in his hands as he prepared for his first serve.

“alright, guys, let’s go! show me what you’re made of!” ukai yelled from the sidelines as he clapped his hands together, taking on this newfound role as coach seriously, even if no one cared for what he had to say.

ignoring ukai, asahi tossed the ball into the air and performed a flawless ace serve, proving his title as ace was well deserved. everyone in the parking lot was at a lot for words over how effortlessly he pulled that off, especially ukai whose jaw could practically reach the floor.

•••

“i would just like to put on the record that i have never once doubted asahi.” ukai said with utmost confidence, despite the documentary crew having many doubts. “never scared of the guy. never ever. i love that man. he’s my favorite employee, actually.”

•••

the match went back and forth, with your fiancé carrying the warehouse team on his back as they weren’t all that enthused to be on the same team as him. you stood on the sidelines with ukai, taking over as temporary scorekeeper while kiyoko and yachi went into the office building for snacks and waters from the vending machines.

“we’re back!” yachi beamed, skipping towards you while kiyoko held a stack of two boxes; one with drinks and the other with snacks.

“sorry it took so long.” kiyoko said as she set the boxes down. “hopefully you had no trouble?”

“there was a little argument over whether the ball was out or not, but otherwise, it was fine.” you shrugged. in the end, you decided no one got a point, which while controversial, was ultimately the right move.

“good. yachi and i got a bunch of bags of popcorn from the vending machine. want some?” kiyoko asked.

“ooh!” you gasp, hoping they had your favorite. “is it the sweet corn kind?”

“no, they ran out because yamaguchi is always eating them all.” yachi giggled while yamaguchi blushed out of embarrassment.

“really, dude?” you pouted. first your yogurt, now this? the guy was secretly a menace, no matter how innocent he looked.

“i’m sorry…” he looked down.

“ah, it’s fine.” you sigh. “i’ll just take whatever you got. thanks, you two.”

as you start chowing down on a bag a popcorn, your attention is back on the match just in time to watch suga set the ball to tsukishima, who in turn grants the office team another point effortlessly. tsukishima merely shrugged after spiking the ball, but everyone on the office side, including you, cheered the small victory. you particularly yelled out suga’s name and gave him a thumbs up for setting the ball so nicely, which caught the attention of your fiancé, and he sure wasn’t pleased.

kiyoko raised an eyebrow over your cheers, not trying to stir the pot, but couldn’t help but be curious over where your loyalties lie. “so, which team are you rooting for? i thought you’d be a little biased towards ryo, but…”

“huh?” you question. “oh, i’m not really rooting for anyone in particular…”

“oh, okay…”

oof. you’re such a bad liar.

now it was ryo’s turn to serve. still fuming from giving your attention to suga, he served the ball with excessive force. thankfully for your team, nishinoya saved the ball, impressing everyone. now that you thought about it, your coworkers seemed to be a little too good at volleyball to just be casual players.

when the ball came back to the office side, tanaka spiked it and scored. he then proceeded to act like a maniac by ripping his shirt off and obnoxiously waving it around, undoubtedly in hopes to woo kiyoko.

“are you falling head over heels yet, kiyoko?” you nudge and tease her, but she wasn’t going to falter.

“blegh. disgusting.” she fake gagged. despite her words, kiyoko couldn’t help but wonder since when tanaka was so ripped.

•••

“i was NOT blushing. tanaka is gross. and annoying. and stupid. and… oh no.” kiyoko ran out of the room without another word, ashamed of her newfound attraction.

•••

after the end of a difficult first set, the office team was in the lead. before continuing onto the second set, everyone took a little water break as they needed to hydrate and recuperate. while everyone conversed with one another in little groups, you walked over to ryo to hand him a water bottle, and he grabbed it quite aggressively, taking you by surprise.

“okay then.” you mutter and look down, trying to avoid his eyes, but it wouldn’t work.

“i thought you were gonna root for me, not quicksilver and the x-men over there.” his petty statement almost made you think there was no way he could be serious right now, but based off your fiancé’s track record, he was oh so serious. it was ridiculous, really. was it a crime to cheer for your friends? in his eyes, yes, it was.

“i’m just trying to cheer for everyone.” you try reasoning with him, even if there was no point. “sorry that wasn’t clear, i guess.”

“yeah, well maybe consider your fiancé next time.” ryo scoffed as he walked away from you, tossing his now empty water bottle to the side.

without trying, suga overheard the conversation clear as day. you could almost sense his presence from far behind you. but when you look over to him, he quickly turned his head away and acted like he wasn’t listening.

the negative thoughts that swam in your head were interrupted by ukai announcing that the second set would start. you just wanted to have fun today, and you would still try to do exactly that. screw what ryo had to say, right?

as the second set began, yamaguchi came in to pinch serve for daichi after politely asking for just one chance to do so. daichi, being the total sweetheart he is, obviously said yes and told him to do his thing. yamaguchi could feel his hands shake violently as he walked over to the makeshift court, but let his anxieties fade away when yachi gave him a thumbs up.

while his serve wasn’t perfect, the ball thankfully managed to go over the net. the warehouse team tried spiking the ball, but thanks to a triple block from suga, tsukishima, and tanaka, the ball dropped onto the warehouse side, allowing the office team to score.

you without hesitation cheer for suga and the office team extra loud this time. even if you were acting a little extra, you decided not to care about it right now. you knew you’d hear plenty about it later, but that was a future you problem. at least, that’s what you thought.

ryo was boiling with anger now, so when it came for his chance to spike the ball, he slammed it right in suga’s face, knocking him to the ground instantly. it put the entire game on pause as everyone was frozen in shock over what just happened. ryo tried to chest bump his fellow warehouse guys since he scored (although unfairly), but they weren’t feeling it whatsoever because of suga clearly looking like he was in pain.

“suga!” you gasp as you and your coworkers rush to his side.

“man down! we got a man down!” ukai yelled, drumming out the theatrics as per usual.

everyone tried inspecting suga like a guinea pig, words overlapping as they all tried speaking at the same time. he grew frustrated over the sudden treatment, throwing his hands up in the air to make it all stop.

“guys, i’m fine, i’m fine!” suga insisted, trying his best to ignore the pain.

“suga, your nose is bleeding!” nishinoya pointed out. suga swiped his fingers under his nose and watched as droplets of blood fell onto his skin, shocked as he couldn’t feel himself bleeding at all.

“oh my god, he’s dying!” ukai cried out dramatically.

“shut up!”

god, all you could think of was how this was an utter disaster.

•••

“this is all my fault, isn’t it? i should’ve just kept my mouth shut…” you say to the camera with a frown.

•••

while the game was on pause, the office team tried to figure out how they were going to move forward. suga sat there with tissues plugged up his nose, although kiyoko insisted he put pressure on it to stop the bleeding. however, he was insistent on getting back onto the court, but his teammates had other plans.

“suga, you should sit out for awhile.” daichi said, as much as it pained him to say it. “at least until your nose stops bleeding.”

“but…” he pouted, looking over to you. you knew he was having so much fun up until this point. even if it wasn’t a serious match, it was nice seeing him so happy doing something he was good at. suga wanted to see you look so proud of him, but he couldn’t do that with an active nosebleed.

“it’s okay.” you reassure him, and only because you said it was okay, suga surrendered.

“okay.” he sighed, trying to quickly think of a new plan for the team, and he had a lightbulb almost instantly. “kageyama?”

“huh? me?” kageyama questioned.

“i need you to take over.” suga said. “i know you’re good at volleyball. way better than me.”

“well, i haven’t played since college, but—” he shrugged before acting cocky. “oh, alright. don’t threaten me with a good time.”

“if sugawara’s out, can i be out too?” tsukishima raised his hand. he wanted no parts on this nonsense anymore. with good reason, you thought.

“tsukki, you’re literally fine. get your tall ass back out there.” ukai said, seeing no reason why he should quit now.

“yamaguchi, punch me in the face.” tsukishima spoke without hesitation while yamaguchi immediately protested against the idea.

“eh?! no way!”

“okay, i’ll make your little girlfriend do it. come on, yachi.” he said.

“girlfriend?!” yachi exclaimed, her cheeks burning red.

“nobody’s punching you, tsukki!” yamaguchi yelled.

“fine, i’ll do it myself—”

“no, no, no!” yamaguchi and yachi immediately tried to stop him together, swatting tsukishima’s fists away from his face. thankfully, their efforts weren’t in vain as there was no reason for him to inflict harm on himself.

“i can take tsukishima’s place!” hinata leaped and waved his hand for everyone’s attention. it was almost like a record scratch as they all froze in placed and turned to an overenthusiastic hinata.

“huh?!” kageyama gawked. “as if!”

“you don’t know what i’m capable of, kageyama!” he huffed, crossing his arms and pouting like a child.

“daichi, it’s your call.” tanaka said.

daichi put some thought into it for a second, and that second consisted of the words “fuck it, we ball” entering his brain. “let’s see what you got.”

“yay!” hinata jumped for joy, as opposed to kageyama’s despair.

“i hate my life…” he groaned.

•••

“are you excited about playing in the match?”

“excited? excited is an understatement! i’m so…” hinata paused, trying to think of a better word, but failed to do so. “excited! oh man, i need a better word for excited…”

•••

finally, the second set continued. it was pretty rusty for the office team at first as they struggled with the new lineup, and it irritated everyone to no end, especially kageyama.

“god, hinata! you suck!” he groaned in frustration. kageyama was a star setter all throughout his youth, so being matched up with hinata was quite literally his worst nightmare. his fireball of a coworker was too giddy and overhyped to actually hit the ball. instead, hinata always jumped too high to spike the ball in time before it fell to the ground.

“no, you suck! your sets are terrible!” hinata argued. “i thought you were “king of the court”? give me something good, at least!”

“oh, i’ll give you something good, pipsqueak…” kageyama muttered under his breath, cracking his knuckles in preparation to bring on the power.

as the match kept rotating, suga returned to the parking lot after cleaning up in the building bathroom. his nose was cleared up now, but he wasn’t too antsy to return playing just yet. instead, he walked over to you and stood with you while as you continued watching the match from the sidelines.

suga tapped your shoulder, and without him saying a word, you instantly knew it was him standing beside you. of course, your first thought was his well-being as you were ridden with guilt. “suga! are you feeling okay?”

“yeah, i’m okay.” he assured you. “been through worse, no doubt.”

“are you gonna get back in the game then?” you ask him.

“no… i think i should sit the rest of this out. let you root for someone other than me.” suga replied. you knew he had to have heard your conversation with ryo earlier. now you were just embarrassed. you didn’t want him to hear that, and he must have known what ryo did to him was on purpose, you were sure of it.

“yeah, okay, sure…” you frown.

when you turn your attention back to the match, kageyama had given hinata the perfect set. his eyes were so clearly set on the ball, and despite being in the back row, he rushed out of everyone’s way and jumped so high it left the warehouse team frozen in shock. when he spiked the ball, it slammed so hard against the ground that it ricocheted out of sight, and the sound startled all of you.

with the ball gone, no one knew what to do. everyone’s attention turned to hinata, and he couldn’t help but feel like he just did something bad. the stares were killing him. “am i in trouble?”

“trouble? no, no, no.” ukai shook his head. “you just won the game.”

“what? no fair!” ryo instantly complained. the other warehouse guys weren’t all that pressed, just him. but what else are you supposed to play with when there’s no ball?

“we lost our only ball and you were losing anyway! office team wins!” ukai announced, and the office workers immediately roared with excitement. they all lifted hinata into the air and chanted his name, thanking him for not only ending this monstrosity, but also granting them victory.

despite the lively mood, you couldn’t find it in your heart to be happy for your fellow office employees. you wanted to show your happiness for them so badly, but what happened with ryo and suga remained ingrained in your mind. when your eyes meet ryo’s angry gaze, you decided it was best if you just stayed silent.

suga’s focus wasn’t on the celebrations anymore, it was on you. like always, he could read that sad look on your face so easily. he knew, and suga could only hope that one day you’d escape those shackles, even if it meant you didn’t end up in his arms. he just wanted you to be happy.

but regardless of everyone’s excitement, the mood had to be ruined one way or another. “alright, now everyone get back to work!”

“boo!”

•••

“the great thing about sports is that it’s all about character,” ukai began, speaking as if he were giving an inspirational speech. “and you can learn lessons about life even if you don't win… but we did win because we were ahead, so ha!”

“you didn’t do anything, ukai.”

“that’s what she said.” he winked to the camera, resulting in the first of many eye rolls and face palms from the camera crew to occur.

•••

(bonus scene)

later that day, everyone had went home for the night, but you had stayed for a little while longer as ukai needed some extra work done from you on such short notice. you went to the break room for one last cup of coffee before leaving, but there laid a note on the table, one with your name on it.

“thanks for being my biggest fan today. i hadn’t been so excited about volleyball in the longest time and i really appreciate it.

—suga.

ps. check the fridge. you forgot something.”

you furrow your eyebrows in confusion before opening the fridge. inside, there was a yogurt with a sticky note that read “y/n” on it. when you removed the sticky note, it was your favorite, and then you remembered what happened that night ryo called you on your way to the bus stop with suga. you forgot the yogurt he bought you at the convenience store.

ryo would never remember things like that, but suga always did. if only ryo could be like him. if you could only be with suga instead.

oh.

oh.

“fuck.” you curse to yourself before realizing you were still being filmed. “you guys can censor that, right?”

“just don’t tell ukai.”

“easy.” you say. what wouldn’t be easy, however, was navigating this newfound revelation.

© plutoccult / 310802. please do not copy, repost, modify, or translate any of my content in or outside of tumblr. reblogs are appreciated <3

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

Rebus: Richard Rankin discusses huge new BBC drama

E4 series Josh Must Win helped Channel 4 boost streaming this April

Rebus launches on Friday 17 May. All episodes will be available on BBC iPlayer from 6am, with episode one airing on BBC Scotland on Friday 17 May at 10pm and on BBC One on Saturday 18 May at 9:25 pm.

Based on the best-selling books by Ian Rankin, Rebus reimagines the iconic character John Rebus (Richard Rankin) as a younger Detective Sergeant, drawn into a violent criminal conflict that turns personal.

Shaken after a violent encounter with gangster Ger Cafferty, Edinburgh detective John Rebus finds himself at a psychological crossroads. At odds with a job increasingly driven by corporate technocrats, involved in a toxic affair he knows he needs to end, and all but supplanted in his daughter’s life by his ex-wife’s wealthy new husband, Rebus begins to wonder if he still has a role to play – either as a family man or a police officer. In a time of divisive politics and national discord, Rebus’ broke, ex-soldier brother Michael desperately crosses the line to provide for his family, and Rebus begins to wonder if the law still has meaning, or if everyone is reverting to an older set of rules? And if so, why shouldn’t Rebus do so too?

You have played a few cops before, haven’t you?

Yes, a few times now in one form or another. I thought I had sufficiently explored this archetype… and then Rebus came along.

Why did you make an exception for Rebus, then?

Rebus is an iconic character in Scottish literature and television. It already has such a huge following. That aside, it was within the first ten pages of episode one that had me absolutely hooked. I could tell Greggory Burke was doing something new and exciting with this. It felt real, it felt dark, and it felt charged.

So you instantly knew that Rebus was not going to be the same as other detective dramas?

Absolutely. You would imagine a procedural cop show. It’s not. It’s very much a character drama. I knew it was going to be different because we had Greg writing it, Niall MacCormick directing it, and an incredible Director of Photography in Julio Biccari. That combination and chemistry alone is going to guarantee something special.

What other elements grabbed you from the start?

The style and the aesthetic of how Niall wanted it shot were all brilliant. Dark; cinematic; gritty. It felt like something we were missing on our screens. Additionally, Greg and I shared a passion for it to be as authentic as possible to the place. We wanted these characters to be from a very real Edinburgh and a very real Fife.

The novels are immensely popular, aren’t they?

Ian Rankin’s books have got such an enormous fan base. Whenever the series comes up people are always very excited about the prospect of seeing one of their most beloved detectives come back to the screen. Ian Rankin has sold over thirty million copies of Rebus and it’s been translated into at least thirty six languages so it’s an absolute privilege to have been given the honour of bringing Rebus to life again.

What is particularly strong about this adaptation?

Ian Rankin said to Greg Burke, ‘Take Rebus and do what you want with it’. That’s already incredibly intriguing. Exciting even. Great source material amplified by Greg’s almost uncensored and very honest approach reboots the character in a way that is thrilling for TV.

What makes Greg’s scripts so good?

Everything in Greg’s writing has a beating heart. His connection to the character and the material gives him an incredible comprehension of the world he’s writing. His rare ability for dark humour and his observant social commentary brings so much depth and colour. Every character has a voice. A real purpose. So much so, that each actor took immense pride and ownership in their roles. I think that really shines through in the individual performances.

How did you approach your version of Rebus?

I started with the language, the accent and the dialect were important to get right. So vocal coaching was a regular thing. I also took to the source to gain an understanding of what made Rebus ‘Rebus’. There were significant things that stood out for me. His military career for one. I felt this should be incorporated more into his base psychology. Even though it might not be written in our script, he was successful in his SAS selection. He’s a military man. I started with the question, ‘how does this inform the character?’

The job really takes a toll on Rebus, doesn’t it?

Yes. It’s the law of diminishing returns for him. It’s not just the job, it’s life for Rebus. Greg explains this well, he uses the Scottish word ‘thrawn’ to describe someone who makes life as difficult as possible for themselves. A martyr to his own cause. Frequently faced with easier choices, Rebus will take the difficult path. As for the job, Rebus has the potential and aptitude to be a great detective, and in a lot of ways he is, but he gets in his own way often deliberately, often self-destructively.

What do you hope that people take away from the drama?

I hope people take out of it what we put in. The entire ensemble of cast and crew are immensely talented individuals who all brought their A-game to the series. I think that really shows. I hope audiences will develop an appetite for more, so that we can bring another series their way further down the line. I really hope that people will fall in love with Rebus in the same way that we have.

Entertainment News May 13

His answer was a surprise, Richard Ranking starred as D.I. Luke Nelson in Silent Witness (2015–2017) He joined the cast of BBC One's crime drama series Silent Witness in January 2015, in series eighteen's two-part story "Falling Angels".

In 2016 in Thirteen (a TV series) Richard Rankin starred as D.I. Elliott Carne.

Let's combine in this case, a few times means a very small number of cop roles👮 explored.

Posted 15th May 2024

[alertainfo]

5 tips for improving your e-commerce performance

 It's no secret that sometimes these small things and often over-looked details become the source of business growth, better performance and better results. Yet they are sometimes ignored, but the truth is, they shouldn't!This post is for those who have their own online store or are just about to jump into the exciting world of e-commerce.Here are five tips to help your business be more successful.1. Be present and active on social networksLet's put it this way - you MUST have them!It is more common than ever that social media has become the main stream of business growth. Not only is it most likely the best place to get discovered or noticed, but it's also easy to communicate with your audience on a minimal budget compared to other channels available. For most, it should be the main hub for spreading the word and being heard.It is much more common for people to turn to social media when they have some interest and questions about a product. Sometimes people even want to place an order directly from Facebook. Plus, it's a great place to learn about your customers.To summarize - don't expect people to come to you - go to them. Be present and ACTIVE where your potential customers are every day. Social media is exactly that place. 2. Easy to find contact informationThe suggestion of putting your phone and email address in every corner of your website is a bit much, but the reality is very close.Your phone number, email, contact form and physical location (if any) are necessary information to facilitate your customers' communication and decision-making process.There's always the chance that someone will have a question that you didn't think to answer on your site, and in my experience it's sometimes the difference between buying or going elsewhere. So make sure you make it easy for your customers to contact you and find answers. 3. Well written product descriptionsAfter browsing a lot of websites, I realized that some e-shop owners are not even interested in selling.They do this in two ways:By writing book-like product descriptions that are so long and detailed that people are simply bored or tired of paying attention. However, this creates confusion and blocks the decision-making process. In today's world of super short attention spans, with so many other distractions surrounding us, this long product description can be enough to push a customer away.The second problem is when store owners don't even offer small but important parts of the product description.The way to go here would be to write an interesting product description or maybe a story that answers the most important details about your product and gives a super short answer to the main questions a customer might have (size, material, color, weight, smell, taste, etc. . ). Something like 70 words should be enough. 4. High quality product imagesI believe there is no such thing as an "e-commerce" expert, but I believe anyone with some experience will agree that high-quality product photography is essential to achieving better results for your online store.People start by buying things with their eyes (except when it's an audio product). There is no such technology that allows you to feel a product in a different way when you decide to shop online.When it comes to getting high-quality product photos for your online store, don't skimp on time or be too tight on your resources. Don't focus on one photo. Show your product from different angles as this will help your customers get a better image. Sometimes it is good to consider a short and interesting video. 5. Just put this call to action It's really simple - just ask or encourage visitors to buy. Why is it okay to do this? This person is already on your website, which means they are already interested in what you have to offer. You just have to make a deal.A simple "Buy now", "Order today" or similar will do the trick. You can supplement them with one encouraging sentence. For example, "Make your friends and family smile." followed by "Learn more" or "Apply now."I recommend putting this call-to-action button or text at the top of the page so people don't have to scroll for ages to see it. Sometimes the lack of a call to action results in a missed sale or deal. Don't be shy, just put it in there. ecommerce,ecommerce marketing tips,ecommerce tips for success,ecommerce business,increase ecommerce sales,5 tips for building a wordpress website,ecommerce performance max creative strategy,ecommerce marketing,top 5 tips for wix,ecommerce marketing for beginners,e-commerce,tips for interview,top 10 ecommerce marketing tips,marketing tips,ecommerce tips,tips and tricks for interview,seo for ecommerce,ecommerce business tips,ecommerce for beginners Read the full article

[femininefutbol]

transfer talk

request: from the lovely @cneasai, i hope it lives up to your dreams

prompt: jill roord finally admits she has feelings for you when inform her that you are considering transferring clubs

word count: 1.9k

a/n: i said i couldn't upload until next week but wrote this between breaks of doing my uni work, it will likely be the last thing i have time to write until my unit is finished at the end of next week though

-

“Are you really thinking about moving to Madrid?” Sophie asks you excitedly, the two of you sitting in the backyard of your villa in Ibiza that you are at with your other Wolfsburg teammates Jill, Lynn and Lena. 

“There’s a high possibility, I’m going to meet with the club before national camp starts” you explain, a small smile tugging at your lips at the excitement that your former teammate has about you possibly playing together again. 

“What are you two talking about?” Lena practically stumbles into the backyard, basically still asleep. Herself and the two Dutch members of your holiday group, clearly not being early risers, leaving around an hour or so each morning for you and Sophie to just hang out together. 

“(Y/N) is considering transferring to Real Madrid next season” Sophie infroms Lena, the excitement still present in her voice, not even allowing you to tell her yourself. 

“How are you going to tell Jill?” is Lena’s immediate response. 

“Why does it matter how I tell Jill?” you look at Lena, wondering what she is worried about. 

“Because she likes you” Lena states in a duh tone.

Rumours had spread among the team towards the beginning of the season when Jill transferred to the club that she had some type of small crush on you ever since the 2019 World Cup.

You had yourself had a crush on Jill for the same amount of time so you were hopeful that being able to play together would be the catalyst that allowed something to happen between the two of you but she has only been strictly friendly towards the entire season leaving you assuming that the rumours that were spread were in fact false. 

“I like her too, she’s a great friend but I don't see why that affects how I tell her” you shrug. 

A look is shared between Sophie and Lena, the two of them wondering if you are having a laugh or if you are seriously just daft. 

“No she likes you” Lena states, being sure to use a different tone for the word like to emphasise her point. 

“Well by her behaviour this season I would never have guessed. I have been flirting with her since she transferred, I asked her out to countless dinners, I offered myself up as a tour guide and completely helped her settle in to the city and team. Through all that she was only ever friendly so I settled for friendship and now no offence but I will tell her the news in the exact same way that I would tell any of my other friends” you explain, a strained frustration present in your voice. There is also a stream of tears down your cheeks at the end of your explanation. 

Instead of waiting around for a response from either of the girls you leave the backyard, making your way through the house. 

You are stopped only when you bump into someone, hoping with every piece of your being that it isn’t Jill. You slowly look up, being met with the sight of Lynn looking at you in confusion, but all you feel is relief, a sigh escaping your lips. 

“Good morning Lynn! I’m going for a walk, can you tell the others? Thanks” you state and before she is even able to greet you back you are out the front door of your villa, left alone to roam the streets of Ibiza. 

- 

Meanwhile Jill makes her way into the backyard, her usual cheeriness replaced by a silent stature, something clearly playing at her mind. 

“Morning Jilly, excited for another day in paradise?” Sophie asks, herself and Lena deciding that you just need some time to yourself and that they shouldn’t be weird about the conversation you had with them just a few minutes prior. 

“Sure” Jill shrugs, pulling her legs up onto the chair she has sat at, she wraps her arms around them and leans her head on her knees. 

Sophie and Lena share a look, the two of them having a silent conversation about the fact that it seems rather obvious that Jill heard the conversation that you shared with them. 

“Hey Jill” Lena speaks cautiously while attempting to get Jill’s attention. Jill looks up at Lena, a silent confirmation that she can continue what she was going to say. “Did you happen to hear a conversation that occurred with (Y/N) maybe 10 minutes ago?” 

“The window in my bedroom is open” is Jill’s response, as she points to the window that is wide open and the closest to the group's outdoor patio furniture. 

“So what are you going to do about it?” Sophie now asks, obviously referring to the conversation that Jill overheard. 

“What am I supposed to do? She obviously doesn’t like me anymore and she is going to move to Real Madrid. I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear anything and continue being her friend” Jill responds, not understanding what they expect her to do when it seems clear that you were tired of waiting for her and the transfer to Madrid is all but confirmed. 

“You are so stupid Jilly, do you like her?” Lena asks, an expectant stare on her face. 

“Of course I like her, how couldn’t I? She’s literally the most incredible person I’ve ever met” 

“So you win her over, obviously. Make her feel like the offer from Real Madrid isn’t even worth her time” 

- 

You aren’t surprised when your friends allow you the space you clearly needed. You had hoped that Jill would at least message you to see why you aren’t with them today as she was the only one you hadn’t seen before you left but you expect that the others told her that you need time away and that she respected that. 

Your first contact with anyone from the group comes around mid-afternoon when Sophie calls you. 

“Hey Soph, what’s up?” 

“Would you want to go to dinner with me, just us two?” she asks. 

“Um you do know that I left all upset this morning because I like Jill right? So if you are asking me on a date I’m going to have to politely decline” you explain, confusion in your tone as all week she had been talking about the goalkeeper that she plays with in Madrid that she is crushing on. 

“No not like that (Y/N/N), I want to talk to you about your transfer to Madrid some more and I thought it would be nice to just talk one on one” she states, a loud laughter coming from her at the idea of you two ever going on a date. 

“Okay that sounds nice actually. Where should I meet you?” 

“We can go to the restaurant you’ve been wanting to try” she suggests, causing a smile to pull at your lips seeing as everyone had been refusing to go there with you all week. 

“That sounds perfect. What time are we meeting?” 

“Seven o'clock, don’t be late” Sophie speaks quickly, immediately hanging up the phone once she is done. 

- 

You arrive at the restaurant 5 minutes before the time Sophie stated, wanting to be early rather than late. 

“Hi, do you have a reservation?” the hostess asks politely. 

“I assume I do, it will either be under Sophie or (Y/N), just for two people” you explain, feeling a small bit of anxiety as she scans her list. 

“Yep all good! Just follow me” she states after a minute of looking. She begins leading you through the restaurant to a semi-secluded area that is in the corner of their outdoor patio overlooking the beach. You look at the table that she has stopped at noting the extremely romantic set up. “The other member of your party hasn’t arrived yet but feel free to browse the menu” 

“Um I’m sorry but are you sure this is the right table? I’m meant to be meeting my friend and all this is very romantic” you gesture at the tealight candles and rose petals that liter the table. 

“It’s the right table” you hear a voice that does not belong to the hostess, in fact you know exactly who it belongs to, you look up meeting the eyes of your best friend. 

“Jill? What are you doing here?” 

“Taking you out to dinner to return the favour of all those dinners you took me on this year” she answers with a cheekily smile. 

“You heard the conversation with Sophie and Lena this morning didn’t you?” you ask, semi-embarrassed that she heard you speaking about what you had assumed was your unrequited crush on her. 

“I did, and I think we should talk about it” 

You give her a look, urging her to speak first as clearly she already knows your thoughts on the matter. 

“(Y/N) I like you a lot, I know you have heard the rumours about me having a crush on you at the 2019 World Cup and they were very much true. I was so excited to move to Wolfsburg and have the opportunity to play alongside you, and when you did all those kind things to help me settle in I assumed they were just kind gestures and I didn’t want to confuse that for you having feelings for me too. Every single time we hung out in that way I so badly wanted to hope that you were actually flirting and that the dinners and time alone meant something but I didn’t because in my mind there is no way that someone like you could be interested in me. Honestly you should have seen national team camps, the entire time I would just be teased for speaking about you or messaging you but I wouldn’t want it any other way because I liked you a lot and I still do. So while I would be extremely proud of you if you moved to Real Madrid, I do have to ask if there is any way that we could sort out this situation and I could potentially sway you to stay at Wolfsburg” 

“Jill” you speak in a breathy tone, almost melting at her words. 

“Yes?”

“You are such an idiot” a look of hurt crosses Jill’s face, a feeling of pure rejection settling in her heart. You notice immediately, “such an idiot because we could have already been together by now and I probably wouldn’t have even looked at Real Madrid’s offer” 

“Am I too late then?” 

“I would say you are just in time” a smile tugs at your lips as Jill’s face softens, relief overcoming her as she knows she still has a chance with you.  

“So how heavily were you considering Real Madrid's offer? I don’t want to stop you from furthering your career” you can tell the sentiment is hard for her to get out, the dread that you are extremely interested in their offer and that you may still leave even though the feelings between you are now out in the open. 

“Not very heavily, I have a lot of good things going for me in Wolfsburg” you admit, the two of you now sitting staring at each other with goofy grins on your faces. 

[searidings]

hi, i just love you and your writing

can i suggest something - you are in love (taylor swift) and supercorp

i cannot listen to that song without going yeah, that's them

(also on ao3 if you prefer)

Five years from now, Kara is going to reach across the table at Noonan's and take her hand. She's going to look deep into Lena's eyes, biting her lip as her thumb rubs gentle circles into Lena's palm, and her voice will barely rise above a whisper when she asks, “When did you know?”

And when she does, five years from now, Lena will think back to this moment.

This moment, which is as close as Lena's come to happiness since she'd woken up ziptied to a chair in her brother's office. This moment which, despite the fuzzy feeling of her unbrushed teeth and the pungent aroma of burnt toast filling the air, is perfect.

Kara, bed-warm and sleep-heavy, is gazing beseechingly down at the charred remains of a slice of a bread as though if she only pouts hard enough, its edges will un-blacken and its corners will stop smoking.

“I'm so sorry,” she says as Lena rounds the screen separating Kara's bedroom from the rest of the apartment and perches herself on a barstool, tugging her borrowed sleep shorts a little lower down her thighs.

Kara's tone is mournful, her face so forlorn she looks to be one deep breath away from tears. “I wanted breakfast to be perfect, since it's your first time staying over and if it's terrible you might not want to stay again and I, I really want you to stay again, but I don't know why you would since you probably have a private chef waiting for you at home and I can’t even manage toast—”

“Kara,” Lena interrupts, biting at the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing as Kara's bottom lip trembles. “It's fine, really. I once set fire to my dorm kitchen trying to boil an egg. And besides,” she winks as blue eyes meet hers. “I like to give my personal chef the weekends off.”

Kara huffs out a relieved chuckle, her face brightening. “Oh, well, in that case,” she grins, a sparkle returning to her eyes. “I'd better feed you up before you go home. Never let it be said that I don't look after you.”

Lena can't help the smile that pulls at her as the warm bright feeling in her chest grows and grows. She tugs the sleeves of Kara's sweatshirt over her hands, fighting the urge to fidget as the blonde orders a frankly obscene amount of food from the brunch place on the corner.

She feels exposed like this, face bare and hair sleep-mussed, unshowered with unbrushed teeth, huddled inside borrowed clothes after the impromptu invitation to stay over when last night's movie marathon ran late. It's a far cry from the regimented composure she fights so hard every day to project, and something in her chest twists anxiously.

Kara is a reporter, after all, and National City really doesn't need any more reasons to hate Lena right now. The darkest corner of her mind – the one which has been waiting for the other shoe to drop, for everything to come crashing down ever since the whirlwind of Kara's too-good-to-be-true friendship had come blazing into her life – still worries that this may all be an elaborate ruse. A trap, a way to get close to her in order to assess her weaknesses, to bring her down with an inside scoop.

But in their six months of friendship, Kara's never given her any reason to believe she has any kind of ulterior motive. And despite the suspicions and anxieties hammered into her by a lifetime of hurt, Lena knows now that even if this is a trap, she'll take the bait willingly. Especially if it means Kara will keep looking at her like there might just be something in Lena that's worth her time.

"Hey,” the blonde says gently, leaning back against the counter opposite and pinning Lena with a searching look. “You okay? You kind of zoned out on me there.”

Lena jumps, blinking back into herself with a start. “Yes, sorry. I was miles away.”

The blonde only smiles, flicking on the coffee machine at her elbow. “You sleep okay?”

“Very well, thank you,” Lena answers, fighting to lessen the formality of her tone, to soften the edges her harsh childhood had sharpened into a fortress to keep the world at bay. “Your bed is surprisingly comfortable. I had a great night's sleep.”

"Perhaps the company had something to do with it,” Kara winks as she turns to pull two mugs down from the hooks at her shoulder. Lena thinks back to the smell of Kara's sheets and the soft pulls of her breathing, to the warmth of Kara's ankle against her calf and the strong fingers that had wrapped themselves in the sleeve of Lena's sweatshirt in sleep, anchoring them together. She blushes.

Kara only smirks, pouring their drinks and grabbing the milk from the fridge. “Well, the food's all ordered, it should be here soon,” she says over her shoulder, the waterfall of her golden ponytail mesmerising in the bright rays of morning light filtering in through the vaulted windows. “And you don't need to head off in a hurry, unless you have plans—?”

She glances back at Lena, who shakes her head. “Great!” she grins. “’Cause I was thinking, maybe we could check out the botanical gardens, since it's such a nice day? Oh, and there's a new bakery right across the street that I've been dying to try—”

Lena listens to the blonde's excited rambling with an endeared smile plastered to her face, feeling happy and warm and wanted with every fibre of her being. The feeling is new but so welcome she could cry, and Lena wonders – not for the first time – how she ever got so lucky.

Kara's presence in her life is like sugar in her coffee; meant only to sweeten that which has always been bitter.

Lena's always taken her coffee black. Softening the blow was never much her style.

But here, now, perched at Kara's breakfast bar with her hands wrapped around a steaming mug the blonde has brewed to perfection, sunlight streaming in and highlighting the angles and planes of Kara's face, the way she’s smiling at Lena like there's nowhere else in the world she'd rather be, she realises her reasoning is twofold.

Sugar isn't just appetising. It's addictive. And now that Lena's had a taste of sweetness, she's hooked.

In this moment, Lena knows. She's in love.

-

Four years from now, Kara is going to reach across the table at Noonan's and take her hand. She's going to look deep into Lena's eyes, biting her lip as her thumb rubs gentle circles into Lena's palm, and her voice will barely rise above a whisper when she asks, “When did you know?”

And when she does, four years from now, Lena will also think back to this moment.

This moment, which may well be one of the lowest of Lena's life. And she's had some doozies.

The two bottles of wine she'd managed to mainline between Sam leaving to orchestrate damage control at L-Corp and Kara arriving and attempting to confiscate her glass have well and truly caught up to her now. She sways heavily on her stool, the room spinning. Tears sting her vision and guilt scorches her throat as she presses a hand over her eyes so she won't have to look at Kara's face anymore.

“Please, just— just, stop believing in me, okay?” she slurs, heart full to shattering with the faces of lead-poisoned children. “I am not worth it.”

She hears Kara sigh, and the room falls silent for a long long time. Lena drops her head fully into her hands, fighting the nausea that's taken root in the pit of her stomach. It could be the booze that's causing it, of course, but it could also be the incessant headlines baying for her blood, the bullet James had taken for her that she'd fully deserved, the curse of her family finally fulfilling itself.

The guilt, the worry, the crushing disappointment of the knowledge that despite her very best efforts, she'll never be anything but a monster— it's too much to feel. It's too much to bear.

So, Lena drinks.

She drains her glass. She pours another. Kara watches, silent and disapproving, fingers twitching against the granite countertop between them.

Lena finishes her glass. Splashes the last dregs of the bottle into it, blood on ice. Still Kara watches, motionless and mute. It's only when Lena's swallowed the last of the red and is lurching unsteadily to her feet to source another that she moves, a hand reaching out to encircle her wrist.

Shame ignites beneath her skin and she pushes Kara away. Snaps at her to go home, to learn to recognise a lost cause when she sees one and just give up already. Kara refuses with a stoic shake of her head, and Lena sighs.

They repeat the same routine three times en route to Sam's wine rack, the blonde shadowing her every step. Each time, Lena wobbles, head fuzzy and room spinning. Each time, Kara steadies her, and Lena flinches from her touch like her palm is a brand, snarls at her to leave, to cut her losses, to just fuck off. Each time, Kara refuses.

She eventually retrieves the wine after a number of unsuccessful attempts but overbalances on her toes, bottle slipping from her grip as she sways dangerously. And then Kara is there, glass bottle caught a split second before it can shatter, a firm arm at her waist that will not be rebuffed.

Lena struggles, shoving and protesting, but this time Kara does not give in. “Enough,” she says quietly, firmly, blue eyes burning a mere inch from Lena's own. “Lena, enough.”

Lena's unsteady legs buckle further and Kara’s basically holding her up now, walking her slowly over to the couch and she shouldn't be this strong, surely, shouldn't be lifting Lena onto the cushions quite this easily. But it's such a minor concern when weighted against the fact that Lena is personally responsible for the hospitalisation of children that her mind brushes over it, forgets it immediately.

"Please go home,” she slurs as the blonde arranges her on the couch, as she stashes the unopened wine far out of reach and sets about finding blankets and pillows in various cupboards. “Please, just— leave me alone.”

“No,” Kara says, almost snaps, glancing back over her shoulder. Partially hidden in the linen cupboard, her face is cast deep in shadow, a splinter of half-concealed truth. “I made you a promise, I gave you my word. I'm your friend, and I will protect you. Always.”

She crosses back to the couch, soft blankets and pillows held out in invitation. When Lena refuses the offering Kara sighs, draping a knitted throw over her anyway and perching on the cushions beside Lena's hip. “I'm not going to leave you, so you might as well stop asking,” she hums, softer now, a hand reaching toward her that Lena no longer possesses the strength or coordination to bat away.

Long fingers make contact with her cheek, with the mussed curls tangling in her eyelashes, and Kara sighs. “You are not your brother,” she murmurs, fingertips grazing Lena's cheekbone, sliding back to thread into the fine hair at her temple. “And you never will be. There's too much light in you to allow for that kind of darkness, so put that fear down, Lena. Let it go. Be free of it.”

Tears spring unbidden to her eyes. “I poisoned children.”

Kara tilts forward and Lena wonders if it's just that her vision has upped its spinning, but then warm lips are pressing against her forehead, soft and delicate as gossamer wings. Kara's mouth moves against her skin, breath damp and sweet and unmistakeably her. “You saved the world.”

Neither one of them moves. When Lena speaks again, the words hit the elegant hollow of Kara's throat. “I don't deserve your kindness. I don't deserve you.”

Kara's lips are still on her forehead. “I don't care.”

Lena feels as if her throat is splitting open, every last fear and hatred and worry and insecurity gushing out of her in an unstoppable stream. “I'm scared.”

“I know.” Kara's lips press once more, and then withdraw. They watch each other in the dim light from the kitchen. Lena's vision is beginning to blur at the edges. Kara's hand is still in her hair.

“You will get through this,” the blonde whispers, so earnest Lena almost manages to believe her. “We'll figure it out. Together.”

Heart in her mouth, tongue sticking behind her teeth, Lena's eyes slide closed.

The sweetness of Kara's words, her gentle touches, seep inside her like honey. She doesn't deserve it but God, she wants it. She wants to be worthy of Kara's faith in her more than she's ever wanted anything in her life. She wants Kara more than she's ever wanted anything in her life.

And it's telling, she knows, that she's just lost the trust of all of National City, that she has no way of easing those children's suffering and no way to prove that she isn't the cause of it, that she's finally living up to the Luthor name she's been running from ever since she'd learned what it truly meant and yet in this moment, with Kara's hand in her hair and the ghostly imprint of her lips on Lena's skin, none of it seems to matter.

In this moment, Lena knows. She's in love.

-

Three years from now, Kara is going to reach across the table at Noonan's and take her hand. She's going to look deep into Lena's eyes, biting her lip as her thumb rubs gentle circles into Lena's palm, and her voice will barely rise above a whisper when she asks, “When did you know?”

And when she does, three years from now, Lena will also think back to this moment.

This moment, which stands alone as an oasis of calm in the turbulent tumult of the past days, weeks, months of chaos. Lex's escape from custody, Eve Teschmacher's betrayal, James’ shooting, the Harun-El serum, the whole shitty totality of it all has been weighing Lena down like an nth metal chain around her neck.

And Kara, Kara hasn't been around. The one person who has always managed to ease Lena's suffering has deserted her when she needs her the most and it feels like she's been sliced open, cracked in two.

She tells her as much, when Kara at last comes to see her. Tells her she's missed her, tells her she needs her, all but begs her to stay. And what does Kara do? She leaves.

And when she leaves, Lena is gripped by a panic so intense she fears she may never breathe freely again. So terrified is she that Kara is gone for good, that she's forced away the best thing that's ever happened to her, that almost before she knows what's happening she finds herself at Catco with apologies dripping from her own tongue.

Anything to get Kara back. Anything to keep her.

Lena apologises. Kara apologises. Lena cries, and Kara holds her, and tells her that the decision to help her brother when he was dying of cancer doesn't make her the monster she now believes herself to be. And standing on her office balcony with Kara's fingers wrapped around her biceps, with her own tears spotting dark on Kara's blazer, Lena manages to believe her.

When she's collected herself, smoothed away the wetness coursing down her cheeks, she speaks. “I really want to help you with your investigation on Lex.”

Kara's face lights up; Lena's whole world along with it.

“I'd love that,” Kara says, voice quiet and still a little tentative in the wake of their new truce. “But first— would you, um. Would you like to have lunch with me?”

Lena blinks. “Don't you want to get started on the exposé?”

“I do. But—” Kara's face is still painted that earnest shade from earlier, when she'd smoothed her hands over Lena's shoulders and whispered you are a brilliant, kind-hearted, beautiful soul against the sensitive skin of her neck. Lena feels her cheeks heat up at the memory, at the intensity in the blue eyes still roving her face.

Kara shuffles her feet but her gaze is clear, unwavering. “But you were right. I've spent too much time recently prioritising the wrong things. So, I want to work on this exposé with you, and I want to bring your brother down. But first, I'd really just like to have lunch with my best friend.”

Lena's heart trips in her chest. “I'd like that too.”

So, that's what they do. Kara asks her to wait, which she does, idly tapping out a few emails on her phone. And then the blonde is back, far quicker than should have been possible, with her arms full of takeout bags from the café on the third floor and she's taking Lena by the hand and leading her to Cat Grant's private elevator. She presses the button for the roof and Lena's gaze jumps to her face but Kara only smiles, and squeezes her fingers. “Trust me, it'll be worth it,” she hums, her excitement infectious. “You'll be safe with me.”

And Lena believes her.

That's how she ends up sitting at the edge of Catco's roof on a clean sheet Kara had borrowed from the builders on the second floor, heels kicked off, Kara's red blazer draped around her shoulders. It is worth it, she'll admit; the view from this high is phenomenal. The sun burns bright in a cloudless sky, glinting off the glass-sided skyscrapers of the business district, the glittering waters of the bay beyond.

Kara had picked up Lena's favourite salad, some flatbreads and dips, and they drink kombucha and eat strawberries in the sunshine. They talk and they laugh and they catch up and there's no more fighting, no animosity, no megalomaniac brothers or backstabbing secretaries or worlds needing to be saved. There's only them, she and Kara, and it feels like all she will ever need.

The blonde's hands are braced behind her on the rooftop and she looks happy and carefree as she regales Lena with stories of her upstairs neighbour's antics, and Lena feels the tight knot of tension that had taken up residence in her chest begin to unfurl.

"Hey,” Kara hums, pushing up straighter as Lena licks strawberry juice from her fingertips. The motion brings them closer, their shoulders brushing. “Look up.”

Lena does. High above them, a huge murmuration of starlings whirls and swoops through the air. Thousands of birds move together as one, a vast wave cresting but never breaking against the blue canvass of sky.

“Wow,” Lena gasps, awed.

Against her side, Kara hums. “Yeah.”

They watch the birds for a long moment, captivated by the ceaseless swirling and diving. When Lena at last tears her gaze away from the sky, Kara's eyes rest intently on her face. "Here,” the blonde murmurs, reaching out. The pad of one finger makes feather-light contact with her cheek. Lena's breath catches in her chest.

Kara holds out her finger, proffering the stray eyelash she'd captured with a smile. "Make a wish,” she whispers, her fingertip an inch from Lena's mouth. Her eyes never leave Lena’s.

Lena looks from Kara's face to the eyelash, and back again. From somewhere deep inside her heart, the truth bubbles its way to the surface. “I don't need to.”

Kara smiles, a brilliant, beautiful smile, and Lena knows. The stresses and anxieties of their current crisis feel far away here, harmless as birdsong. She's meted out forgiveness, received it in return. For the first time in her adult life Lena has communicated an issue with a loved one and been heard, understood. She has admitted her own mistake without having it spell out the end of her relationship.

Lena smiles back. The weight of the world sublimates into nothing beneath the bliss of a simple picnic in the sun.

In this moment, Lena knows. She's in love.

-

Two years from now, Kara is going to reach across the table at Noonan's and take her hand. She's going to look deep into Lena's eyes, biting her lip as her thumb rubs gentle circles into Lena's palm, and her voice will barely rise above a whisper when she asks, “When did you know?”

And when she does, two years from now, Lena will think back to this moment.

This moment, which has sapped the both of them to the bone. Another fight, another screaming match, another quick-fire back and forth of accusations and recriminations. Another night of cursing and crying and choking on all the things they never said before this, on all the things they can't now that Kara's secret has detonated in the shrinking space between them like a nuclear bomb.

Another round of bloodshed, and for what?

Lena sags against the arm of the couch, exhausted. Her face is hot, scratchy with salt from the tears still drying on her skin. She's dehydrated, probably, and half hoarse from shouting, tongue blistered with the bitter sting of betrayal.

Across the no man's land of her living room, Kara slumps against the floor-length windows, drops her temple to the cool glass. She's breathing heavily, cheeks wet, posture battered and eyes dark-bruised beneath the force of Lena's wrath. As Lena watches, her eyes slide closed.

It's been three months since Lena found out. Three weeks since Kara found out that Lena had found out.

Every night since, they've done this. Every night, Kara has shown up on her balcony and begged, pleaded, apologised, cajoled, defended, rebuffed, and sobbed. Every night, Lena has unleashed the hollow agony of Kara's deception masquerading as anger in her chest, incinerating the both of them in the fires of her desolation.

She would have expected the wounds to have cauterised by now. To feel some kind of release, the relief of catharsis. Or at least, to have expended some of her fury after all this time.

She hasn't.

They've been at this for three hours already this evening, and gotten nowhere. Kara's skin is pale above that fucking supersuit, face drawn and complexion sallow.

Lena knows how she feels. The singular exhaustion that is her rift with Kara has sapped her in every way imaginable. She can't sleep. She barely eats. She's no longer interested in work, research, friends. There's nothing in her life that isn't tainted by the shadow of the lies her best friend told and kept telling, every day for four years. Lena doesn't know how any amount of screaming and crying is ever going to get them past that.

Across the room, Kara sighs. It might be the saddest sound Lena has ever heard.

“Should we keep doing this?” she asks after an interminable silence, voice rough with tears still building. Her eyes are still closed.

Lena manages, with exorbitant effort, to raise her drooping head. “What?”

“Is there a point to all this?” Kara asks quietly, hunched body sliding a little further down the glass. "The explanations, the fighting?”

Blue eyes blink open. The weight of the sadness in them is unbearable. Lena struggles to find it within herself to care.

“Lying to you about who I am is the single biggest mistake I have ever made, and if it will make even one single shred of difference I will apologise to you every day for as long as I live,” Kara says into the aching chasm between them. “But I can't keep doing this. Not if it won't change anything. I can't— I don't want to keep hurting you.”

An hour ago, Lena would have scoffed at a sentiment like that. Would have parried back with some piercingly dry comment about how the blonde should have thought about that before she decided to betray Lena's trust as soundly as she possibly could.

Now, though— now, she's just too tired.

“So, should we keep doing this?” Kara whispers, throat working. “Or— God, Lena. Should we just— should we give up?”

Green eyes meet blue, two shattered hearts haemorrhaging between them. “Is that what you want?”

“No.” Kara's voice is loud, fiercely determined in the face of Lena's hesitant whisper. “God, no. Never. I don't ever want to give up on you, Lena. I don't ever want to give you up.”

Kara straightens then, with a strength Lena cannot imagine mustering herself. Perks of being a superhero, she supposes. Perks of being Kryptonian. The thought stakes another shard of ice through her bleeding heart.

“But I know that I've spent four years calling the shots for both of us by keeping you in the dark,” Kara continues. “I've taken away your agency. I've taken away your choice. I won't do that again.”

She sucks in a deep breath, a little of Supergirl's regality seeping back into the defeated slump of her shoulders. “So, I'm doing what I should have done from the start. I'm being honest with you, and hoping that you'll be honest back. I'm asking what you want.”

Kara's fingers twist anxiously before her, bottom lip bleaching white beneath the nervous pressure of her teeth. “Do you think we should keep doing this? Or do you— fuck.” Her voice cracks, the tears brimming in her eyes once again breaking free. “Do you want to give up?”

Jesus Christ. Lena never knew that the prospect of doing the right thing could hurt so much.

“Fuck,” she mutters as she kneads her knuckles over her closed eyelids, digging in until white lights starburst across her vision. “Fuck, Kara.”

“I know,” the blonde whispers from across the room, brittle and broken. “I know. I'm sorry.”

Lena slows her assault on her own eyelids, pinching thumb and forefinger hard at the bridge of her nose instead. “I want to give up,” she mutters, and in the taut silence between them she hears the blonde gasp, watery and thick.

Lena blinks open her eyes to find Kara's face crumpling, every facet of her seeming to fold in on itself even as she visibly fights to keep herself upright.

Lena sighs, and hates Kara, and hates herself even more. “I want to, but— I can't.” She sucks in a ragged breath, hating the truth that's just fallen from her lips, hating the lies that had necessitated it. Hating everything and everyone and most of all, hating just how much she's hurting. “I can't give this up.”

The tiniest spark of hope flares to life in Kara's eyes. Lena hates that she notices, hates that she cares, hates that the sight eases the tight knot of devastation clawing at her ribcage just the tiniest bit.

She also knows that this was inevitable. She knows that, though she hates Kara, though she's nowhere close to forgiving her, though she has no idea how they can rebuild from here or even if she truly wants to try, a question like Kara's could only ever have one answer.

In this moment, Lena knows. She's in love.

-

One year from now, Kara is going to reach across the table at Noonan's and take her hand. She's going to look deep into Lena's eyes, biting her lip as her thumb rubs gentle circles into Lena's palm, and her voice will barely rise above a whisper when she asks, “When did you know?”

And when she does, one year from now, Lena will also think back to this moment.

This moment, which is barely even a moment at all. It's more like a dream, warm and faded and fogged in darkness, seconds stolen when sleep should have long since claimed them.

Kara's nightmare had woken them both. In the month since they'd pulled her out of the Phantom Zone, she hadn't slept alone once. Often, she stays with Alex, curling into her sister's side the way she would when they were just kids after one too many late-night horror movies. Once, she stays with Nia, tucked up snug in a borrowed pair of puppy print pyjamas.

Mostly, she stays with Lena. It's natural and unspoken and easy as breathing, the way Kara will show up at her place after a Supergirl save or Lena will let herself into the blonde's apartment after a late night in the lab. They cook dinner and watch Celebrity Masterchef and brush their teeth elbow to elbow at the bathroom sink and when Kara is inevitably tugged screaming and sobbing from her night terrors, the way she presses her face to Lena's neck and her hand over Lena's heart is natural and unspoken and easy as breathing, too.

Kara's racing pulse has calmed a little, her grip on Lena's body beneath her losing some of its urgent desperation. After a long moment of Lena's hand stroking her hair, of gentle reassurances and lips pressed to her temple the blonde pulls back, just enough to rest her head on the pillow facing her.

In the dim light filtering in through the bedroom window Kara's pupils are blown, her face solemn. There's something in her heavy gaze that Lena can't identify; something weighted and potent that prickles goosebumps up the length of her spine.

"Feeling better?” she whispers into the inch of warm air between them, reaching out to tuck a sweat-matted curl reverently behind the blonde's ear.

Kara catches her retreating hand and holds tight, twining their fingers together on the narrow swathe of pillow between them. If either of them were to move so much as a millimetre, their clasped hands would press against their lips.

The blonde nods and sure enough, the soft heat of her mouth brushes the back of Lena's knuckles. She shivers.

Kara is still watching her, the intensity of her gaze causing Lena's heart to thud hard in her throat. She squeezes lightly at the fingers threaded through her own. “What?”

A pause, heavy and sweet as overripe fruit. Kara blinks once, slow. “You're my best friend.”

Lena swallows down a sudden swell of emotion. The blonde nudges closer and when she speaks, the wet seam of her lips catches on the angle of Lena's bent knuckles, painting her skin with the words.

“You're the most important person in the world to me,” Kara whispers, breaths skating fire-flashes across Lena's fingers, voice muffling out past the mouth pressed to her skin. “You know that, right?”

Lena's voice deserts her in the wake of the quiet words. She leans forward instead, presses her lips to Kara's fingertips where they rest against the back of her own hand. It's answer enough.

She hears Kara's breath catch, feels the disruption mirrored in her own chest. Both their mouths are pressed to the joined hands clasped between them. If they were to move their fingers down even just a fraction, there would be nothing separating their lips but a promise, a prayer.

Kara's eyelashes flutter in the semi-darkness. The tip of her nose brushes Lena's own. Neither one of them moves their hands.

They only gaze at one another a long moment, and Lena wonders if the blonde is memorising the planes of her face the way she's memorising Kara's. She could look at her forever, be happy here with her forever, and in this moment, Lena knows. She's in love.

For the first time, she wonders if she might not be the only one.

-

Right now, Kara is reaching across the table at Noonan's and taking Lena's hand.

It's been three weeks since they'd taken down Lex for the last time. Three weeks since Kara had stormed into the Tower's med bay to cup Lena's bloody, bruised face in her hands; since she'd brushed her thumbs feather-light over Lena's split eyebrow and purpling jaw and growled don't you ever scare me like that again. Three weeks since she'd leaned in and pressed her lips to Lena's.

It's been two weeks and six days since Lena, confined to a gurney but utterly uncaring thanks to the warm Kryptonian curled against her side, had pressed her aching face to Kara's shoulder and first whispered that she loved her. Two weeks and six days since Kara had first said it back.

It's been two weeks and five and a half days since Nia had walked in on Lena in Kara's arms, lips pressed to her neck and hands wandering beneath her sweatshirt, and promptly shrieked the place down. Since their friends had exchanged pointed glances and relieved sighs and congratulated them on finally making it official, their expressions ranging from overjoyed to exasperated to plain exhausted.

It's been two weeks and four days of she and Kara dating; of morning kisses and shared showers and the perfect partner at game night and all of Lena's wildest dreams coming true.

It's been less than a minute since Kara had admitted, hushed and wondering, that she'd known she was in love with Lena ever since she'd found herself suddenly prepared to poison National City's entire water supply rather than let Lena fall. That she hadn't been able to fully it admit it to herself until she'd found herself suddenly prepared to alter the course of all of history in order to get Lena back.

And right now, Kara is reaching across the table at Noonan's and taking her hand. She's looking deep into Lena's eyes, biting her lip as her thumb rubs gentle circles into Lena's palm, and her voice barely rises above a whisper when she asks, “When did you know?”

And now that she has, Lena is sure of her answer.

The highlight reel of her relationship with Kara lays itself at Lena's feet, each precious memory between them stretching out like a roadmap of her growing affection, with every hard-won step leading her right to this moment.

And in this moment, Lena knows. She's in love with Kara. Really, she always has been.

[whiteqnn]

PURE [5] - Corpse Husband x Fem!Reader

A/N: It’s been a while.  

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

PURE [5]

“Did you guys find anybody?” Felix’s voice sounded out when the man repeated the same question for what seemed like the third time since he joined the call. The number of players showed 7 of them, which meant that they were still missing three people. Sure, they could start the game now, but it would be way more enjoyable and funny with a full lobby. 

“Yeah, Toast will be here any moment. “Sykkuno replied right away. “He just texted me; he should join us in a few.”

“Cool. Anyone else?” 

“I think Corpse was also supposed to join us, right? Not sure though why he isn’t here yet.” 

“Oh, yeah, Corpse will be here soon too!” Jack suddenly chimed in with an explanation. “He said he needed to take care of something first, but he’ll be here before we start.” 

“Great. But that means we’re still one person short.” Felix hummed when Toast’s little astronaut appeared in the lobby “Hey Toast."

“Hey man.”

“Do you have anyone coming?”

“I’m afraid not. I asked MrBeast, but he’s busy, so...”

“Well then, we can just start when Corpse is here, and maybe we’ll find someone in the meantime?” Dave suggested, earning a few hums of approval from the other players. 

“Yeah, I think that’s the best option...” Jack agreed. But then his voice blared out in everyone’s headphones with excitement. “Ha! Corpse is bringing someone!” 

“Who?” 

“I dunno, he just texted me he has one coming and that’s all.” 

“Hm, all right. Let’s wait then.”

***

Corpse fidgeted with his phone, glancing between its screen and the chat in his stream. People were already asking countless questions, but rather than answering them, he was waiting for Y/N to call him. He was nervous - the girl still hadn’t commented on his request. 

The idea to invite her to the lobby wasn’t spontaneous. In fact, he’d been thinking about it for quite some time now, but never found the courage to actually ask if she would like to join them for the game.

It’s been almost a month now since that memorable phone call. A month since Y/N last played with her friends; a month since she considerably reduced her social media usage. 

Sure, she was still active on her youtube channel, but not as much as before the whole haters situation. No matter how hard she tried to just ignore them and simply continue her career, she just couldn’t. There were still these nagging thoughts at the back of her mind, reminding her of all those people and their comments, their messages. It seemed like a good idea to take a short break and sort everything out.

Her fans understood it. They were obviously sad that her videos weren’t as frequent as before, but everyone knew what the situation looked like and that Y/N needed some time for herself. 

Her audience knew it, and so did her friends. Especially Corpse. 

The man kept his word and talked to the girl whenever she wanted to. Which, in the end, was almost everyday. Although at the beginning their conversations mostly focused on her current problem and dealing with it, their topics broadened over the time. 

At one point though, Y/N started worrying that maybe she’s annoying him with her so frequent calls. She thought that she shouldn’t bother him that much - even if talking to him was what really helped her cope with her problems. He already had enough on his plate, and sharing her own concerns with him suddenly seemed like a very selfish thing to do.

But she quickly realized how wrong she was for thinking like that. When one day she didn’t call, figuring out that she should stop troubling him with her own issues, she was very surprised when Corpse reached out to her himself. He expressed how worried he got when she didn’t call, and when she explained what was the reason, he spent the next fifteen minutes lecturing her that she should never think she’s bothering him. 

From that day on, they talked every single day. And they talked about almost everything.

Corpse enjoyed their late night-talks more than anything. He liked to listen to Y/N talk about the things she finds exciting, her hobbies, and her dreams. Hell, she could talk about what she ate for breakfast, and he would still listen with interest. 

And even though they haven’t seen each other in person, even though she still hasn’t seen his face, they managed to get really close during those past weeks. For an outside observer (who also didn’t have access to Twitter) they would seem like a couple of very good friends.

But not for Corpse.

He couldn’t pinpoint when exactly did it happen. They were talking one evening and Y/N was telling him about the TV series she had finished watching recently. He listened intently and watched as her facial expressions changed from excited to frustrated, as she was enumerating everything she liked and disliked about the series finale.

And then he suddenly got this weird feeling in the pit of his stomach, and simply couldn’t take his eyes off her. 

He tried to play it off and act as if nothing changed, but he couldn’t stop his heart from doing backflips whenever she laughed at one of his dumb jokes or called him partner. It was still a running joke between them and among the group of their friends, but there was something in the way she said it that made him instantly smile like an idiot. 

He also started paying more attention to the hashtags on Twitter and Instagram. #PartnersInCrime was still rather popular, even though it was a month since anyone last used this phrase on stream. Corpse also found out that #Y/Nforthebride was trending for some time; he even managed to stumble across a few fanarts. 

There was this urge to send them to Y/N, but he was too nervous that it would make things awkward between them... After all, he didn’t know how she felt about that whole shipping thing. 

That’s why he decided to just leave things between them as they are, and be happy that he’s at least her friend.  

Corpse nearly jumped out of his skin, when he was brought back to reality by the sound of an upcoming FaceTime call. Y/N’s photo appeared on his screen, her smiley face which he had assigned as her contact photo. His lips corners curled up in a smile almost unwittingly. 

“Hey Y/N/N” he said after answering the call. 

“Hi Corpse” she smiled softly upon hearing his voice. Although the screen on her side was dark, she didn’t mind not seeing Corpse’s face. She respected his wish to remain faceless and enjoyed their conversations anyway. 

“Whatcha doin’?”

“Just editing the new video. I guess I’ll upload it in the morning... but I’m not sure yet.”

“Well let me know then, I wanna be the first one to see it.” 

“Sure thing, Corpse” she chuckled, lowering her gaze bashfully. Corpse just looked at her face for a moment, unable to stop smiling to himself. Then he remembered why they were talking in the first place.

“So... have you seen my text?” Y/N sighed at his question but nodded her head slowly. “And what do you think?”

“I don’t know, Corpse...” she ran a hand through her hair in a nervous gesture. “...if that’s a good idea, I mean.”

“Well, it’s been a while. No pressure though, if you don’t wanna play then it’s totally fine.” he quickly clarified. “I just thought it would be fun if you joined us, even if just for a moment. I’m sure everyone would go crazy.” 

Her smile widened slightly at his words, but she still didn’t look convinced. Sure, it was tempting to join them. She wanted to do it each time Sean or Felix bombarded her with messages and codes to the lobby, both inviting her to join the group in the game. But then she remembered how people reacted to her appearance in their streams... and suddenly it didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore.

“We’re gonna play on Polus...” he added after a moment when she still didn’t say anything. “That one map with the planetary base... there’s a lava pit, y’know. Just saying...”

She laughed wholeheartedly at his words, remembering their last game when Corpse jumped into the lava for her. 

“Sykkuno’s gonna be there as well” Corpse continued. “And I promise I won’t kill you this time.”

“Even if I’m the last player alive?” she joked.

“Even then, Y/N.”

Corpse stifled a laugh, as she cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes slightly as if trying to spot him in the darkness. 

“Are you streaming, Corpse?” she then asked.

“Not yet. I’m gonna start the stream as soon as you say yes, though.”

“Oh c’mon” she laughed at his words “That’s emotional blackmail!” 

“Maybe. Is it working?” he asked.

Y/N let out a heavy breath and ran a hand down her face. Corpse watched in anticipation as she seemed to have some internal battle with herself. He hoped that she’s gonna agree, he really missed playing with her. 

“All right, then.” she suddenly said, and his breath hitched in his throat. “I’m gonna stay for a few rounds I guess...”

“Wait, really?” he asked, a smile on his face only widening. 

“Well, yeah, partner.” she replied, which made his cheeks go warm “Your imposter techniques haven’t been very effective lately... Someone needs to help you out, or you’re gonna lose your title of the king of the Imposters.” 

“Oh, is that’s how it is now?” he laughed in fake shock. “I wouldn’t have to worry about losing the title if my accomplice hadn’t left me all alone!” 

“All right, all right.” she giggled at his accusations. “Your accomplice is on her way to support you.” 

Corpse smiled even wider at the sound of her laughter. Her eyes shined with happiness when she was giggling, which only brought out their E/C color. The fact that his stupid babbling was the reason for her smile was making him feel extremely proud of himself.  

“But just so you know... I still have no idea how this map works, so I’m afraid I’m gonna need you to guide me around it...”

“Y’know you could as well just say you want to hang out with me...”

“Corpse!” she laughed, her cheeks blushing in embarrassment. 

“Just kidding Y/N” he chuckled at her reaction. “Of course I’m gonna guide you, don’t worry.”

“Okay then...” she said after a moment, looking at the screen again. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. Will you send me the code, please?”

“Sure I will, Y/N” 

“Okay. See you later, partner” she smiled brightly. 

“See you, partner.” 

When Y/N ended the call, Corpse let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He sighed in relief and ran a hand through his hair, before moving to sit behind his desk.

It was only after he started the stream that he realized he was blushing. Not only because Y/N would join them, but because there was also another thing he wanted to ask her about, but didn’t find the courage to yet... 

***

By the time Y/N turned on her computer and started the game, Corpse has already sent her the code, and there was a Discord invite waiting for her as well. She bit her lip nervously as her heartbeat quickened. 

Was she nervous? As hell. 

She did everything she could to avoid being in unnecessary spotlight since she started receiving those hate messages. Perhaps escaping the problem wasn’t the best solution, but it definitely was a comfortable one. People wouldn’t have a reason to hate on her if she disappeared. 

But then she couldn’t say no to Corpse. And truth to be said - she really missed playing with her friends. From what she’d seen on Twitter, the lobby would be filled with those she’d already played with, so she wasn’t that nervous before the game. What she was nervous about though, was how people would react.

Accepting Corpse’s request was something she did due to the sudden rush of courage. And now there was no coming back.

She knew Corpse would understand if she changed her mind... but she heard how excited he was when she had agreed. She couldn’t do it to him. 

So, once she’d taken a deep breath and put her headphones on, Y/N accepted the invite and braced herself for the inevitable chaos that was bound to take place in the call. She decided to wait with joining the lobby though - at least until they realize she’s with them. 

“..the fuck you’re talking about?!” Felix’s voice was the first thing she heard, which made her roll her eyes with a smile. “It’s not my fault I sound like that! At least I don’t have a liar voice like Rae!” 

“HEY!” the girl yelled “I don’t have a liar voice!”

“You do, you’re using it even now!” Jack argued, much to Rae’s dismay. 

“What is going on here” Corpse’s deep voice sounded out suddenly. 

“Oh, you’re here! Finally” Sykkuno immediately welcomed him with his always happy voice. 

“Yeah, sorry that I’m late guys.”

“No worries, man” Pewdiepie spoke up again. “We were just talking about playing the voice card and that you’re basically the only one who can do it.” 

“Not fair at all!” Rae chimed in, making Corpse chuckle. 

“The voice card...” he hummed after a moment, before adding. “I wouldn’t really say I’m the only one though...”

“Well who else then? Everyone else either starts laughing or have a liar voice” Dave asked, and Rae scoffed at the last words.

“Well what about my guest?”

Y/N inhaled sharply, realizing that now she should probably reveal herself. 

“Oh, right! Who you’re bringing man?” Sean asked with curiosity.

That’s when Y/N typed in the game code, and her white astronaut appeared in the lobby. 

“Wait, who’s- HOLY SHIT” Sean all but yelled, when realization hit him. Y/N laughed loudly at his reaction, and her voice only seemed to prove to everyone that she really was there. 

“KIDDO WHAT THE FUCK” Felix reflected Jack’s response, yelling over his friend.

“Oh my god, hi!”

“What a surprise!” Y/N managed to catch Sykkuno’s words. “It’s so amazing to have you here, Y/N/N!” 

“As I live and breathe.” another voice spoke up, and Toast’s little astronaut came face to face with her white bean. “My lifelong nemesis. Back here snap my neck again, huh?”

“Yeah, happy to hear you too, Toast” Y/N giggled at his words, then she adressed the whole group. “Hi guys.”

“Okay I did not expect that in the slightest” Sean laughed happily “You’re here kiddo!” 

“I am” she smiled from ear to ear, even though they couldn’t see her. 

“Wait- Corpse, is that the thing you had to take care of?” her best friend asked Corpse with suspicious voice. 

“Well...” he trailed off and cleared his throat, making everyone laugh.

“That’s so great Y/N! We missed you so much!” Rae thundered over the bickering of the boys. “The game hasn’t been the same without you...”

“Agreed. I suddenly stopped dying.” Toast commented, making her roll her eyes with a laugh. 

“I don’t know if I should be happy or fucking scared right now.” Felix laughed nervously. “With Corpse and Y/N? We’re fucked now, guys.”

“I promise I’ll go easy on you, I haven’t played in so long I think I forgot all my strategies...” 

“Yeah, sure.” Toast’s forever suspicious voice made her smile wider. “Just don’t kill me in the first roung, okay? I won’t vote you off just stay the fuck away from me you little murderer.” 

“Okay, I promise I won’t kill you...” 

She couldn’t stop herself from laughing, and the smile remained on her face even when they started the game. It only seemed to widen, when she saw the sign Imposter on her screen. 

Only to giggle hysterically when she realized that Toast was the other imposter...

And so the game went on with Y/N and Toast cooperating like perfect serial killers. Corpse did as he promised and guided her through the map, both of them being closely followed by Sykkuno. Because of that she’d just sabotage the map most of the time to give Toast opportunities to kill their friends, but eventually managed to sneak out when her two fellow crewmates were doing their tasks. It just so happen that Pewds was walking past her, and she might’ve accidentally snapped his neck... 

“Goddamnit! I knew it! I fucking knew it was you!” Sean yelled once the game was over and Y/N saw the sign VICTORY on her screen, her small character standing next to Toast’s one. He was ejected at some point because Poki managed to walk in on him killing Rae, but Y/N remained undetected until the very end. Perhaps the fact that Corpse was one of the two crewmates who were left alive had something to do wtih it...

“That was rude” Pewds said in a whiny voice, clearly referring to their encounter which led to his death. “I was just happily walking around, doing my tasks like a good crewmate, and then boom! Y/N happened” 

“I would say I’m sorry... but I’m really not” she laughed, making Felix gasp in shock.

“That’s what happens when you work with Toast!” 

“Good game, Y/N. That was amazing” the man in question said appreciatively. 

“Will you finally forgive me for killing you that one time if I say that being imposters with you was cool?” she laughed nervously. 

“Actually... Yeah, I guess we can bury the hatchet now. AND we should team up more in the future.”

“Great!” 

“Excuse me, what?” Corpse’s voice made the whole lobby laugh. “I don’t remember us cancelling our partnership, Y/N.”

“Corpse...” 

“Are you trying to steal my accomplice from me Toast?” 

“Well she’s a great partner in crime after all...” Toast deliberately used the phrase, making Corpse gasp.

“Hey! She’s my partner! Find yourself your own, Toast” Corpse joked, making Y/N laugh bashfully, her cheeks warming up at his words. 

“Yeah yeah, I remember, don’t worry man. No one’s gonna take your partner in crime away from you...” Toast’s teasing voice made them all laugh, Corpse and Y/N included. 

For the next few rounds Y/N played as a crewmate, running around the map with either Corpse or Sykkuno and doing her tasks. During meetings they joked and laughed, and for a moment, she stopped thinking about what people watching her friend’s streams might think about her presence. After all, there was at least a small chance that they didn’t think about it at all, and simply enjoyed watching their favoirte youtubers. Just as she enjoyed playing with her friends. 

Oh, and by the way, Corpse kept his promise and didn’t kill her even when she was the last player alive...

It was soon time when everyone started slowly leaving the lobby, having played for over three hours. Y/N also said her goodbyes to the others and promised that she’d join them to play a game called Raft next week. 

When she turned her computer off and threw herself on her bed, Y/N immediately grabbed her phone to call Corpse. He answered right away. 

“Well hello, partner...” she rolled her eyes with a smile when he accented the last word. “Or should I say, traitor, instead?” 

“Corpse... you know I would never betray you...” 

“Well how can I be so sure, now that I know how cool it is to be imposters with Toast?” she knew he was joking, she could almost hear the smile in his voice.

“Not nearly as cool as it is with you, Corpse” Y/N grinned from ear to ear when Corpse scoffed. 

“I spare your life so many times and that’s what I get in return? You cheat on me with Toast?” he said in disbelief “I’m disappointed, Y/N, I really am.”

“I would never!” she laughed through her words, even though her cheeks were now red because of Corpse’s words. “You’re the best partner in crime, Corpse, I wouldn’t trade you for anyone else!” 

Not only in the game, she thought.

“Hmm, alright. Let’s say I believe you.” he said after a moment of thinking. 

“I mean it, Corpse...” Y/N said after calming down from her laughter. “I... I really wanted to thank you.”

“Thank me? For what?” he asked, genuinely surprised. 

“Well, first of all for inviting me to today’s game... I really had lots of fun, it was great to play and talk with the others. And I wouldn’t be in the lobby if not for you...” Y/N mumbled, before verbalizing her previous thoughts. “And I also wanted to thank you for just... you know... being my friend. My real life partner in crime. I just wanted you to know I’m really glad I met you...” 

Corpse was silent for a good few moments, and Y/N started panicking that maybe she said something wrong, or maybe he found her spontaneous confession funny, or worse, dumb. She was almost ready to somehow laugh it all off, when his voice cut her off.

“Thank you, Y/N. It really means a lot to me too.” he sounded like he had some troubles with speaking, which made Y/N furrow her brows in worry.

“Is everything okay, Corpse?” 

“Yeah, I...” he stuttered, then laughed nervously. “I just didn’t expect that and... yeah. It’s not something I hear on a daily basis, especially from someone like you.”

Someone like me? 

 “But what you said... it’s mutual.” he said after a moment, and Y/N couldn’t stop herself from grinning like an idiot. “You’re the best partner in crime I could ask for. And not only in the game.” 

She could as well just pass out there and there...

“So uhm... there was one thing I wanted to ask you...”

“Yeah?”

“I was wondering if maybe... you know, if you’d have some time... and if you’d want to of course... would you maybe like to visit me here in San Diego?”

Yeah, passing out seems like a good idea. 

***

This is not the last part. 

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[youryanderedaddy]

I had a dream just now that might make a good story. So, I had a virus on my laptop which allowed a hacker to see everything I did on my computer and use my webcam. The hacker ends up falling in love with me after stalking me for a few months and pays for someone on the dark web to kidnap me. It works, and then I wake up tied up in the hacker's arm as he caresses and kisses me. That's pretty much it, good night! 🌙

Yo this is my kink 😳

Also I couldn't not write this for Saeran, ok.

Title: Stranger danger

Tw: nsfw - ish, female reader, masturbation, cyber stalking, hacking, mentions of dark web, very irresponsible online behavior, obsessive behavior, implied kidnapping

You knew that this was a stupid idea. Lurking on the dark web with almost no protection other than the Tor browser and some free anti-virus program wasn't your best decision, but fuck it if it wasn't entertaining. You had always been drawn to the darker, scarier part of the human mind and this side of the internet proved quite interesting. Your friends always warned you about the dangers that came with looking up shady online searches and sites but everything had been quite peaceful so far. There weren't hackers or murderers on the dark web, the worst you had seen were people selling drugs and weapons for unreasonable prices, along with some questionable fetish porn and the typical popping ads.

Your favorite thing to do while online was chatting. Two weeks ago you had stumbled upon an unusual forum called "Scream buddies" where upon entering you were automatically connected to another random profile. The whole theme of the forum was discussing horror and mondo movies, shockumentaries and overall creepy stuff, your forte. The person you met on there shared a similar fascination with all things dark and gory which soon made talking to them the only thing you were looking forward upon opening the site.

You didn't know much about the guy behind the profile yet, except that he was a young man. His icon showed an eye so green it emited with the neon pigment and his username was just as mysterious - BlueRose7. You enjoyed chatting with him about your hobby but the thing you liked the most was undressing him little by little, metaphorically so, by getting pieces of information about his life. It started small - his favorite food, favorite book, favorite game, but the moment you tried digging deeper and asked whether he had siblings or not, the man simply disappeared for the next few days. You quickly realized just what type of topics you needed to avoid to keep your new friend from leaving. Family, childhood memories and work matters were out of the picture.

The stranger wasn't fair, not really. He didn't show you vulnerability and kept his secrecy while demanding to know everything there was to know about you. For the longest time you didn't want to answer just to stay on a equal footing, just to show him how frustrating it was, but there was something about the man that drew you in. He was magnetic, clever and witty, if a bit pessimistic and dark at times. You couldn't help telling him everything he wanted to hear - what your job was, whether you were single or not, all that jazz. In your defense, BlueRose7 actually listened to your stories, took your problems seriously and provided solutions, which despite being too extreme and overprotective at times (upon hearing that your bestfriend talked behind your back he offered to "take care" of her), were comforting. It was nice to have someone caring around even if you met him on a sketchy website.

Meanwhile your personal life wasn't going too great. You had to balance between attending college, working long shifts as a waitress and meeting your friends from time to time which was draining. On top of all there was a weird virus on your computer which resulted in the camera turning on and off and the most random times of the day - while you were studying, watching TV, or in some cases, fully naked and ready to take a bath. You didn't think much of it though, with all the illegal movies and games you downloaded along with the dark web lurking it was more than expected for your laptop to behave weirdly. You didn't even mention it to your friend from the IT major because you knew that he'd force you to delete Tor and put an end to your internet adventures.

One time you were particularly bored after several long lectures and you were laying in bed, the camera turned on once again. It was a hot afternoon and you were wearing boyshorts and a loose T- shirt with nothing underneath it, you were home alone so there was no need. The bright red spot was twinking like a recorder, the light reflecting in your eyes, when a silly little idea came to your mind. You slid your hand under your blouse and lifted the fabric up, exposing your breasts to the laptop, your nipples hardening due to the sudden coldness, becoming pink and stiff in seconds. You played with for a few minutes, pinching and pulling the buds gently, moaning softly into the pleasant sensation. Soon you could feel yourself getting wet, and slowly, teasingly, removed your shorts and panties. You smiled at the camera, biting your lip provocatively, imagining you were a camgirl performing for her desperate little fanboys and fangirls. The thought alone was enough to make you spread your legs wide and slip two fingers into your throbbing cunt, using the wetness to push deeper. You used your other hand to stroke your clit and whimpered wantonly, your face red, your neck sweaty and your heart pumping fast from the adrenaline. You were quickly reaching your orgasm and your mind wondered to the boy you were talking to in the forum. You wondered how he looked like, how his body was built, whether he was a sweet sensual lover or a rough mean one. Fucked up as it was, you pictured the man as one of your most loyal viewers, watching all of your streams with a fist around his thick vock and an excited grin on his face. He would comment things like "you look so beautiful like this" or perhaps even "pretty little slut" after tipping you enough to last you a week. Soon all the mental stimulation sent you over the edge and you came with a loud cry full of pleasure. Well, this felt good.

After your "performance" was over the camera was magically turned off, which may have caused some concerns if you weren't too busy feeling embarrassed and dirty about the unhinged fantasy you had just had, and with a person you knew nothing about. You managed to calm down though - it wasn't nothing more than a fun pastime, a naughty thought that would never become the reality. You would never actually meet BlueRose7, right? There was nothing to worry about, so you just went on with your day.

You had some dinner afterwards and decided to have an early night as you already felt full and tired. You put on your favoruite pajamas and laid in bed, staring at the ceiling until you fell into deep dreamless sleep.

You woke up due to a weird noise. You could hear someone's heavy breathing right next to your ear, someone's grabby hands were wrapped tightly against your body, trapping you between the wall and their hard chest. You had only a few seconds to scream before the intruder's palm covered your mouth.

"Shhh." The man whispered softly and stroked your hair like you were a doll he was playing with. "Don't scream or I'll be forced to hurt you, flower. I have a gun." His voice sounded deep and rough but this didn't stop you from thrashing and turning on your side until you came face to face with the man. It was dark in the room and you couldn't exactly see all his features but his enchanting green eyes would forever be burned into your memory - they seemed dashing, hypnotizing. You couldn't utter a word.

"It's me, the person you've been talking to all these months. I came to take you home" He spoke out suddenly, the line of his mouth twisting into a smile or a smirk, you couldn't quite tell. You shook your head no, tears threatening to spill all over your cheeks from the fear. It couldn't be him, the man would never do that to you. Or would he? With what little information you knew, you couldn't really tell. His hold finally loosen, seeing you quiet like that.

"Let me go, please." You begged, pushing at his shoulders weakly since you were still sleepy, groggy and tired. "I don't know you." You said, hoping this would remind the stranger you weren't friends, lovers or anything that gave him the right to be so close to you, to touch you so intimately. Unfortunately, this only seemed to amuse him and he chucked darkly as he pulled your hair away to place a small chaste kiss on your neck.

"But I know you, flower." Your supposed online friend replied shortly after, his eyes full of malice. "And your little show today makes me think you want to know me too." He added in a low tone, licking his lips before smashing them on yours, forcing his tongue deep into your mouth just to hear your whines and protests. Then it hit you. The camera, the virus, the questions. He had watched you, he knew where you worked, where you lived and studied, everything. You had told him after all.

The hacker thought you looked so adorable right now, figuring things out, helpless, confused, regretful and most of all, weak. You were so weak and careless, and he loved you for it. It reminded him of himself before life screwed him over.

You wouldn't be in this position, underneath him, if you had just told someone about your laptop virus and the bad guy you had encountered online. But Saeran couldn't say he wasn't glad your self-preservation instincts were so very broken and dysfunctional. He wouldn't meet you otherwise. "I need you, princess. That's why I'll take you to Paradise." These were the final words you heard before you felt lightheaded and sleepy again, your last memory a pair of green mint eyes.

You really shouldn't have trusted strangers on the internet.

[absolutelyfizzing]

unwanted feelings

james potter x reader

description - You'd had a crush on James Potter for years and when he kisses Lily Evans in front of you, you are heart broken. Later you find that he didn't actually feel as you expected and he explains himself.

warnings - some angst, unsure reader, fem pronouns, self doubt, negative self talk, not eating for a day cause reader is avoiding someone

word count - 2800

A/N - so this one isn't my best work by far but i wrote it so looks like its getting posted. i don't know why all of my reader inserts lately are so fem and sort of bubbly, i guess it's sort of what i'm aiming for for myself right now but i'm sorry if it maybe isn't coming off as relatable.

MASTERLIST

Your throat tightened in anxiety as you watched James zoom around the pitch. He was reckless when he was playing quidditch and it was one of the things that made him great at the game and an excellent captain. It was also the thing that nearly gave you a heart attack every time you watched him play. You went to every one of his games and you always wore something of his with his colors when you were in the stands. You were stood up on your seat and a slightly bored looking Remus sat to your right, reading from a book you didn't recognize. You'd thought that Sirius playing would be enough to keep him interested but sports was just not something he enjoyed watching. You were usually that way as well but whenever James was playing, suddenly you were the most intent spectator in the stands.

You were more worried than you should have been. More worried than what was appropriate for a friend to be. That's what you were, friends. That had been reinforced many times by the shaggy haired boy and you tried desperately to get it through your head before you embarrassed yourself one of these days. Sometimes though, you just couldn't help it.

Really you might have thought he reciprocated if you didn't know any better. You often got comments on what an attractive couple you guys were but each time it was quickly corrected by James. Normally along the lines of 'Oh god no, we are just friends. Purely platonic' , sometimes followed by a shudder or a gag even. It upset you every time to no end but you played along. You rarely, if ever, contributed to the shooting down of any feelings but that was never noticed by the man you had feelings for.

You'd had a crush on him since you were probably in your second year and now you were coming to the middle of your seventh. There were a million times that you almost said something but every time there was a reminder that you were not the one he had eyes for. It usually took the shape of disgust at the thought of dating you or commentary as he pined over the Evans girl who you felt you could never compete with. How could you when she was just perfect. You saw her to the left of you as she stood in the stands as well and your hands shook with insecurity before looking back toward the game. Your heart raced nearly as quickly as James did around the pitch and you prayed that the snitch would be caught soon so that you could get rid of the stress surrounding you. You felt a hand on your right shoulder and you looked over to find Remus had stood and was looking at you caringly.

"Are you alright, Y/N?" He asked softly and you tried your very best to soften your gaze and calm your stance so you appeared less concerned with someone that you shouldn't have that much interest in in the first place.

"Of course I am. When am I not?" You smiled before looking out at the pitch.

"When youre watching the guy you're in love with play a dangerous game that you don't like." He stated simply in response to the question you meant to be rhetorical and your eyes widened.

"I don't know what youre talking about." You nearly whispered and Remus smiled.

"I'm not gonna tell anyone Y/N but its not exactly subtle. It probably doesn't help that I know the look on your face because it's how I feel too watching Sirius play." He was still smirking but your anxiety was far from eased.

"Oh god, does he know?" You asked scaredly, terrified that the answer would be yes and you would have to stop spending time with him.

"Shockingly, no." You sighed out in relief but Remus continued. "You should tell him though or else he might end up moving on."

"What do you mean? There's nothing for him to move on from. Everyone knows he's in love with Evans and he has made it pretty clear that he is opposed to being anything more than a friendly relationship with me." You choked out, struggling with the words leaving your lips but knowing them to be true.

"I mean he has a minor crush on Evans but it's nothing compared to the annoyingly huge crush he has on you. He's probably just overcompensating for the fact that he's insecure and doesn't want you to reject him."

"Why are you telling me this?" You asked sincerely. You were friends with Remus as you were with the rest of the marauders but it was nothing compared to the friendship they held within their group. You knew Remus was more loyal to James than to you so you couldn't understand why, if it was true, Remus would be telling you at all.

"Because he is trying desperately to move on seeing as he is under the impression that you aren't into him and I'd hate to see him throw something away that could be really good for him." Remus smiled gently and you looked at him gratefully.

"I really appreciate you telling me and all but I just don't think I can believe you. I can't even count how many times he has made a big show of not liking me. I love him too much to ruin what we have and I know that if I confessed and it went bad that I would lose him all together. I would rather have him in my life in a way that hurts than not have him in it at all." You stated sadly and Remus sighed but nodded in understanding.

"I get it but just know that I'm being honest and pretty soon he is going to give up on it. I just want to see you both happy but if its too big of a leap, I understand. That's exactly the excuse he tells the rest of us too."

Suddenly cheers erupted from the stands, cutting your conversation with Remus off as everyone ran to rush the pitch. The snitch had been caught and gryffindor won. You were excited for James but you were also a little terrified to walk onto the pitch to see him with the now conflicted thoughts running through your head. Your thoughts were stopped by the image in front of you which was causing the whole crowd to cheer. James had pulled Lily Evans into a kiss in his excitement and your heart stopped. You felt nausea rise in your throat and Remus caught your eye with a sympathetic look. You didn't look at him for longer than a second and you ran off the pitch with tears streaming down your face. You found your way up to your dorm, pushing yourself to get there quickly before the common room filled with students celebrating their victory. James was always one to love attention so he would be getting crazy after the game which he did just about every time they won.

When you made it to your bed, you hurried under the covers, throwing the shirt you were wearing which belonged to James onto the floor. You felt your heart clench at the despair you felt. You wanted to be upset at Remus for getting your hopes up but you knew he was sincere in his want to help. Still you felt that you would probably not be able to face James in the weeks to come. Maybe, given a little time, you could be around him and not be upset at the world for taking away your chance with him. As you laid in your bed, you stared at the ceiling. You felt tears streaming down your face and you grew angry at yourself. He didn't owe you anything, he wasn't into you. That wasn't his fault and it was so unfair of you to expect anything more from him when your feelings were not his responsibility.

You weren't sure how long you laid there but you could hear the party start and end in the common room. It must have been late. Sleep wouldnt come though, you could just feel your heart continue to break and you were stuck in a loop of self pity. You made the decision that the following days would be spent away from James if you could at all help it. That was probably what he wanted anyway and it was the only way that you would get over the pain you were feeling. At some point your roomates entered your dorm and sleep overtook you for a few restless hours.

When you woke up, the sun was barely on the rise. You hurried up and got dressed and ready. You were planning on getting to breakfast early to avoid running into any of the marauders. You found your plans were not going how you wanted when you entered the great hall to find a head of red hair next to a mop of black. Your throat tightened and you quickly moved to turn and head out of the great hall. You heard a familiar voice call your name but you rushed out before you could give it too much thought. You knew that if you let him try to convince you, you would end up having a very upsetting breakfast with your best friend and his new lover. You would rather avoid breakfast.

Throughout the day, avoiding James was proving to be harder than you had thought it would be. You had many of your classes with him and you even sat next to him in a few. He was insistently trying to get you to open up about why you were suddenly so closed off to him but you remained shut off, reassuring him that nothing was wrong and you were just a little tired from the game the day before. You avoided lunch for the same reason as you had avoided breakfast and you felt yourself starting to get a bit lightheaded. Your afternoon was spent avoiding James but soon he was preoccupied with Lily anyway.

You were hid in a corner of the library when a cough alerted you of someone's presence. You looked up to find the very eyes you hadn't wanted to see.

You pushed it down with a gulp and smiled a bit at him, trying desperately to keep the tears at bay but they were growing harder to hold back after keeping everything pent up all day. It probably didn't help that you were hungry and therefor a bit more emotional. You could feel the tears sitting in your eyes, waiting for something to go wrong so they had an excuse to escape you.

"I don't know what I did wrong." He mumbled while looking at the floor in front of you and you took a deep breath.

"There's nothing wrong James, I promise. It's just been a long day." You smiled and your heart picked up speed.

"Since when did we lie to each other?" He questioned and your heart stopped. You were left unsure how to respond.

"Since the truth would cause more damage than good." You spoke honestly. At this he looked up at you and your eyes met. A tear left you and James immediately moved to comfort you but you tried to move away, standing quickly to evade him. You regretted it as spots filled your vision, the lack of food catching up to you. You know that you turned a bit green for a moment because James looked slightly scared.

"Y/N I dont know whats wrong but you look like you should be getting to the hospital wing. You don't look well."

Before you could answer you felt your vision blacken and your legs give out before your consciousness left you completely.

When you woke up, you knew you were in the hospital wing. It smelled sterile and the bed was stiff underneath you. When you started to wake madam pomfrey came to check on you.

"You can't go around with an empty stomach like that again, do you hear me?" She scolded, though her eyes were soft. You nodded solemnly. "I was alerted that you hadn't been to the great hall to eat all day, you have to know that isn't good for you. I'm gonna have a prefect watch out for you the next couple days to make sure you're eating at meal times. Understood?" She asked again and once more you nodded before leaning back and sighing. You looked at your surroundings and were surprised to see the black haired boy next to your bed fast asleep. Your heart took off again and you felt trapped by your environment. As anxiety swirled around in your chest, James had woken up a bit.

"You're awake." James sighed, laced with relief. You still wouldn't make eye contact with him.  You felt the bed dip as he sat on it and you looked up to watch him put his head in his hands as he leaned over. You felt guilt fill your chest more than it already had from hating that you felt any claim over the man in front of you. You knew you were in the wrong and the last thing you wanted was to cause him any pain. "Remus talked to me." He almost whispered.

At that moment, you wished you could have apparated to anywhere else in the world. You looked back down at your lap and tears were once again brought to your eyes. You felt betrayal that Remus would reveal your feelings to James.

"I'm sorry." You apologized and you fiddled with your fingers.

"Why are you the one apologizing, I'm the one whos behaved poorly." He assures and you shake your head.

"That's not fair to yourself. You're allowed to want to be with whomever you want and my feelings should have no effect on that. You've made it clear for years that you weren't interested in me and it is my fault that I couldn't take a hint. I'm so sorry." You gushed out and tears started to fall from your eyes. You felt James get up from your bed and you prepared him to leave but instead you felt arms wrap around you and a kiss came to your head.

"Y/N I have had feelings for you for years. I was just always too scared for myself to even consider that you might feel the same." He whispered out but you felt only a different kind of pain. Even though he had now admitted his feelings, he was still dating Lily. Not you. Almost as if he could hear your thoughts he spoke quietly. "I broke it off with Evans." You pulled away immediately.

"What? Why would you do that?" You asked quickly and before he had a chance to answer you feared the worst. "Oh god is it because of me? James please dont let my feelings have any bearing on who you want to date, I can't stand the thought of being the reason you broke up. Even if we do have feelings for each other, you deserve a chance with Lily if that's what you want."

"It was mutual, actually. She understood that I had feelings for you and she said she had a crush on someone else. It just seemed like I had kissed her a bit rashly on the quidditch pitch and we agreed that we shouldn't have gotten together in the first place. It was only a day anyway." He reassured as he explained himself and you calmed a bit.

"So what does this mean." You got out, almost inaudibly.

"It means that, if you'll have me, I'd like to take you out on a date." He stated as if it were the simplest thing in the world and you almost couldn't believe your ears. Before you were even thinking you were nodding quickly, causing spots to once again fill your vision and James grabbed your shoulders to stabilize you before you both laughed. He pulled you by your shoulders toward him and he caught your lips in a kiss that somehow expressed all of the years of repressed feelings. When he pulled away he smiled at you and sat back on your bed. He spent the rest of the day with you in the hospital wing talking about all of the places he was going to take you in the coming weeks.

[rommahh]

{Harry in sparkly black….Harry lemme **** *** *** for free}

You hadn’t talked to Harry all day. Not that you were mad at him or anything but your therapy this morning left you feeling a little spacey. There was something about talking about your emotions that left you feeling emotionally drained.

You missed Harry terribly and though it’s only been a short week, you felt very lonely. But on another note, your anxiety wasn’t as bad as it was. You were starting to feel like your normal self again but missing something.

You loved the tight knit life you have with Harry. You like being around him most hours of the day. You two were inseparable. If you were in the shower, he was in the bathroom reading a book from the lounger chair in the corner. If he was writing music on the beach, you were somewhere on the shore collecting shells. If you were going to the grocery store the least he could do was go for the drive with you. You two were close and it was something the both of you were ok with.

Some couples don’t like being so close but it worked for you and Harry. Being away from Harry was a weird experience. It’s only been a week but you feel like it’s been a lifetime. You haven’t minded being on your own but you wanted to be with the person you felt most connected to.

So being you, you purchased a ticket to Chicago. You didn’t know how Harry was going to react but you could only assume it would be a positive reaction. You told Jeff that you were coming so he could get you a hotel key and backstage pass.

As you sat in the airport you felt your back pocket buzz- your music pausing for the call. Your hand slipped into the pocket roughly pulling out the small phone. Harry’s icon, him in a fluffy robe looking as grumpy as ever, met your eyes. You cursed because you were quite obviously in the airport and if he saw you, the surprise would be ruined.

You answered anyways but only for audio. You made sure that your airpods were snug in you ear and there was no chance of them falling out.

“My lover!” Harry greets you a in sing song voice. You could hear his humph as he recognizes that you didn’t answer with the FaceTime video on. “Turn your camera on.”

“Can’t, I’m not feeling good.” You fib nervously. Harry frowned, nervous that he may have done something to upset you.

“Oh, alright. What’s wrong then?” He asks. You chew your lip trying to think of an answer.

“Uh, period.” You stammer.

“Your period doesn’t start for another few day…saw it on the tracker.” Harry may have your period tracker on his phone but it was because he wanted to make sure he was able to comfort you the best way he could when he needed to.

“Must be the meds-“ The sound of your boarding attendant sounded over your head cutting you off. “Hey bubs, I’ve actually got to go but we can’t chat later.”

“Sure, that’s fine I guess. Love you.” He mumbles, confused by the phone call. You hang up leaving Harry a little lost in his thoughts.

Later, Harry sang through his rehearsal carelessly, his head clouded with thoughts. He even sang through TBSL and though he was in the worst of moods, fans waiting at the venue thought he never sounded better.

You on the other hand had just sat through the worst flight of your life. There was a woman in the flight who didn’t want to wear her mask causing commotion before the flight could even take off. You had the worst headache halfway through the flight and because of the lack on supplies, the flight couldn’t give you any ginger ale or accommodations.

You didn’t let any of it get to you though as you directed for the chauffeur Jeff sent for you to go to the venue for show.

Harry sat in the common room backstage with the band and Jeff eating dinner grumpily. His fork was stabbing every little piece of lettuce of his salad, everyone watched worried that he may break his bowl.

“HS3 is trending on Twitter today, pretty exciting.” Jeff says to Harry breaking the silence. Jeff just received a text from you saying that you arrived to the venue and were walking towards Harry’s dressing room.

“Mmm great.” Harry grumbles. Jeff rolled his eyes at the diva.

“Someone’s a little pissy this evening. How about you go fix that mood before you greet your fans with a bad attitude.” Jeff scolds him like a child who just got caught doing something they shouldn’t have. Jeff really didn’t care about Harry’s attitude, used to the moods at this point, but he needed a way for Harry to leave the room and see you in the dressing room.

“Fine, didn’t want to be around anyways.” Harry shrugs.

Back in Harry’s dressing room, you rolled your suitcase into a corner where Harry’s outfit for the night resided on a hanger. You smiled at the sparkly black top that you helped pick out. You walked around his dressing room from the hair and makeup table, past the bathroom/ dressing area, and back around to the couch’s and coffee table where you took a seat. You snagged one of his green juices needing the boost of energy from being on the flight.

You heard the door knob jiggle but stayed planted in you seat sipping on the juice. You never made a peep as Harry barged through the room, scowl covering his face. He stormed past the couch not batting an eye at you. He went to the mini fridge where his juices were before letting an exasperated sigh.

“Who fucking took my juice?” He whines. You quietly giggle in your hand at his tone.

“Im sorry, thought I could have it.” You chuckle. Harry leaps from where he stands letting out a yell. He turns to look at you with wide eyes, hand over his chest as if his heart was going to explode from his chest. You stood from the couch waiting for him to react more but he just stood there in shock. When the realization of you actually being there kicked in he let out another yell before bounding over to you.

Before you knew it, you had two strong arms wrapped tightly around you. Your wrapped around his neck, hands and fingers spread through his hair. His face tucked into your lower neck peppering desperate kisses all over just to feel something.

“What are you doing here?” You hear him cry. You pulled away from him to wipe his eyes of the tears that streamed down his face.

“I needed to see you.” Was all you could muster. He pulled you down on the couch, your body cushioning his larger frame. He laid in between your legs, your back flat in the body of the couch.

“Im so happy your here.” Harry couldn’t even put his excitement into words. He knew you were coming in a week but to have you here earlier than that made him feel things. He sat up from suffocating you into the couch, allowing for you to sit up beside him. “What about your therapy? I hope you’re not jeopardizing your mental health to be here with me cause I would much prefer if you put me on the back burner and took care of yourself.”

You rolled your eyes playfully. “I’m ok. I still will see my therapist virtually, I’ve got all new meds that are working fine, and if all goes to shit I will go back home. It’s ok bubs.” You reassure him.

He grabs your face with both hands pulling your face to his. Your lips meet with need. His lips slotting with yours, moving slowly but with rigor as if he was scared you would slip from his fingers. Your bottom lips fit between his lips leaving for him to suck on it slightly. You moaned at the feeling making Harry pull you in tighter. You sat slightly upon his lap, chest against each other tightly. Your tongues pushed at one another, lips loving in tangent.

You pulled away when you felt his lower presence awaken. He whined at the loss of contact making you giggle.

“If we go any further you’re gonna be late for your show. I’ll give you more back at the hotel, yeah?” You say lowly trying to catch your breathe. He groaned resting his forehead on yours chasing your lips with chaste kisses making you smile.

“Fine, you owe my though. This is level three apology situation that can only be resolved with these things; sloppy blowies, butt stuff, or face masks if you catch my drift.” He chastised. You let out a deep belly laugh pushing yourself away from him. You two still sit facing each other, your legs slightly on top of his.

“You’re so nasty, but I may be able to arrange one of those.” You wink making Harry let out a triumphant laugh.

“Are you staying for the show? I understand if your not.” He questions fiddling with your fingers.

“Think it would be best if I didn’t. I’m really tired and I obviously need a nap if I’m going to be up for your post show antics.” You joke giving his nose a poke. He jokingly pretends to bite your finger in retaliation.

Harry went on stage that night happier than ever. He started plotting proposals from the second he walked you to the car with your suitcase and waved goodbye to you. You went to the hotel room and “accidentally” fell asleep wearing one of your most recent purchases curled up in your tour bus blanket.

Let’s just say that Harry not so accidentally woke you up after that concert ready to love all of his adrenaline off in you.

Part 2👀

[putschki1969]

Renewal of Hikaru’s Official Fan Club

So many new announcements. Check out my posts covering all the recent news about Hikaru HERE and HERE.

New Name “agiato”

Yesterday I wasn’t quite sure what they meant with the term “renewal” and how it would affect the fan club and its current content. I was fairly certain that the content would remain the same since the announcement sounded more like a transition and not so much like a complete new start. Turns out that I was more or less right, Hikaru’s fan club hasn’t changed as far as its content is concerned, it just went through a nice little makeover. The site design and name have been changed completely. “Masani Hikaru” is now “agiato”. Hikaru explains in her little update video (fan club exclusive) that she has chosen the Italian term “agiato” for two reasons. The word on its own means relaxed/comfortable, this reflects the manner in which she would like to interact with her fans in this exclusive space. The term is also used in music theory to describe when something is being played quickly with agitation and excitement. This refers to the many rather sudden changes that have occurred and which will continue to occur in the near future. While things are bound to change, Hikaru reassures her fans that her fundamentals will remain the same.

New Layout

In accordance to the new fan club name, the layout of the website has been updated as well and I personally think it looks much better now. The previous design was very much in your face/over the top and while it looked cute, I don’t really think it did a good job of representing Hikaru’s personality or image as an artist. The new layout is the epitome of understated elegance with a bit of fun and colour thrown into the mix. The heavier focus on music makes it clear where Hikaru’s priorities lie.

Monthly Membership Plan

In addition to the currently existing annual membership plan there will be a new monthly membership plan due to many fan requests. Right now they are really pushing the fan club and want new people to join so if you have hesitated in the past, please use this opportunity to become a member! It doesn’t make a difference whether you join on an annual or monthly plan, you will have access to the exact same content. A special present will be sent to all members with an existing annual plan as well as to everyone who joins the renewed fan club on a monthly plan from November 1-30. [I wonder what will happen if you didn’t enter a Japanese address upon registration…? I am pretty sure they won’t be sending presents overseas. Thankfully I did enter my Tenso address!]

※Due to the system, annual members can also register as monthly members. Please note that you will be registered twice (with your annual membership still ongoing until next year). ※If you change from an annual membership to a monthly membership, your current membership number and previous records cannot be carried over. If you are interested in a monthly plan, please switch plans at the renewal timing next year.

I am a little confused though because on “My Page” it says my next payment is due on November 10. If I am understanding the instructions correctly, my membership should last until June next year. I am not planning to change to a monthly plan so I’ve no idea what this is supposed to mean...

Christmas Live

In her newest fan club video, Hikaru also announced that she will be holding an event in December! I am not quite sure if this will be a fan club exclusive event (since she announced it only on her fan club site?) or if anyone will be able to attend...No details have been revealed yet as far as the exact date is concerned but the live will apparently take place around Christmas time. Further details will be posted on her fan club site very soon. The live will also have a live stream option so that’s great news. [OMG, PLEASE LET IT HAPPEN ON DECEMBER 24!!!! Everyone manifest this with me!! It definitely shouldn’t happen on Dec 25 because that’s when Wakana is holding her Christmas live. And on the 26th I am already flying back to Vienna so that would be awful timing as well]

[landinoandco]

Our Love is a Game

Lando Norris x Reader

Request from @jamieeboulos

Warnings: pinch of fluff, cute ending because they are the best

Word count: 2.7 k

Requests are open :)

It all started with a phone number, an innocent exchange that would subsequently change the world you knew; mostly for the better. When you had met Lando, as far as you were concerned you had just met a 21 year old who lived in London and had a passion for cars. How wrong you were. It was only when things started to get serious that he sat you down and explained everything that came with being a formula one driver; more importantly the fandom that he was involved in. 

You had always been a private person and admittedly this piece of information almost broke your relationship but after some time to think you had decided that he was worth it all. You both decided it was a better idea to keep your relationship as quiet as possible - you took every precaution to make sure you stayed a stranger to the fans.

For the past 2 years, you thought you had managed to stay clear of the cameras, the photos and the twitch streams but it wasn’t until a fan-made compilation caused your world to spiral out of control. 

You and Lando were out for a run, it was a part of your morning routine - a great way to start the day and it was time that you two could escape the motor sport world and act like a normal couple without worrying about who might be watching. It was time you both valued and appreciated. On this particular morning, Lando had decided to add to his Instagram story, a short video of his morning adventures - the mist still hanging around the trees as you ran under a heavily graffitied bridge, the early birds song chirping animatedly. At the time you didn’t think much of it as you were too busy tying your hair back up to notice. 

It wasn’t until you got home and looked at his story that your heart stopped, rushing over to the kitchen island you placed your phone down and ran your fingers through your hair. It was a blink and you’ll miss it moment but in the corner of his video - the last millisecond before it ended - there was a flash of a purple top (the purple top you had been wearing) and a swish of brown hair as you chucked it back up into a ponytail. 

“Lando.” You called out, trying to keep your voice as calm as you could. You didn’t know why it had affected you so much - or why you were so desperate to keep your identity a secret. It wasn’t like you wanted to hide your relationship; you were the happiest you ever had been, everyday was exciting and offered new prospects - it was more that you were so used to being in this bubble with Lando, the idea of it bursting seemed rather unappealing. Usually you didn’t care for how others saw you but seeing some of the words that people used to describe him, it would be enough to trouble even the thickest of skins. 

Lando’s close proximity broke your thoughts as he stared down at your phone, pausing on the flash of brown and purple. “I am so sorry, love.” He almost whispered, his eyes widening at his carelessness. He picked your phone up to take a closer look. 

“It will be alright, won’t it? I mean, it’s a blink and you’ll miss it.” You had said, more to reassure yourself than Lando. He didn’t answer, anxiety building in the pit of his stomach because he knew exactly what he had started. 

The fan-made compilation didn’t go viral until a few hours later - as it turns out that flash of purple was the perfect cherry on top of an unappetising cake. Lando was sat on stream - not that this was out of the ordinary and Max had decided to join him, leaving you alone to rewatch Friends for the umpteenth time. 

The pair were sat reacting to videos on YouTube when a clip of a seal swimming into a shoal of fish started playing - the amusing part was that they kept quickly dispersing away from the seal in question. Unsurprisingly, they laughed and Lando spluttered: “This is me trying to find a girlfriend.” What the fans didn’t know was the apparent irony of that sentence and this was what caused the major meltdown; whilst Lando and Max were busy crying with laughter - that chat had filled up with the same link and references to the video you would be redirected through. 

Max was the first to stop laughing, tapping Lando on the shoulder as he pointed at the chat. Hundreds of the same message filled the screen: “That’s not what this compilation shows.” “Lando, what are you hiding from us?” “Lando and Max laughing knowing very well he has a girlfriend.” 

“Chat what on earth are you waffling on about.” Max chuckled uneasily, looking at Lando out of the corner of his eye. Lando sat with a forced smile, his nostrils flaring as he continued through the comments. He could only let out a tense laugh as he swallowed thickly - his throat feeling suddenly dry. You were still sitting, completely engrossed and unaware that Lando Norris was now trending on twitter. 

Max had come up with an excuse to end the stream not long after, Lando uncharacteristically quiet. His thoughts were with you in the other room, had you seen it? Did you know? How would you react? He felt as though he had lost all control, like he had failed you entirely - all he wanted to do was protect you yet he was the one to screw it up. 

“Hey,” Max nudged his shoulder, “It was bound to happen at some point. Let’s go and see if she’s seen it - if not then -” He took a deep breath, “We will watch it together. We need to know what we are working with here.” Lando nodded, unable to reply, his body went into automatic pilot mode and too quickly he was standing facing you. 

Pausing the tv, you looked at Lando - his jaw tightened and facial expressions set as though he had just seen a ghost. “Is everything ok?” You asked apprehensively. 

“There’s something you need to see.” Max reached for his phone, pushing Lando onto the sofa. You offered your arm to Lando, pulling him into a hug. Max pulled up the video and pressed play. A tense atmosphere held the room hostage - breath restricted and gazes fixed onto the tiny screen in front of you. 

It started with a clip from this year’s Goodwood - Lando preparing to drive his last hill climb - you remembered it well, a McLaren hat placed on your head mainly to cover your identity; knowing that there would be more than a few fans around. The clip moved to 3 separate stills - all of you in your McLaren hat. One with your back to the camera, you hand placed around Lando’s waist, the other two a side profile as you spoke to Max. 

The reaction was immediate, you slapped your hand to your mouth, Lando looked horror-struck and Max was watching you carefully. 

The video moved on, this time a clip from the quadrant video where Niran trains like Lando for 24 hours - Lando and Niran were in the kitchen preparing to eat their breakfast when once again the video moved to stills. This time they were of your reflection in the oven - holding the camera. You had thought at the time, if you were behind the camera it would stop every chance of you accidentally being caught on camera. Apparently not. 

The video had moved on again, this time to stills of Lando arriving on track - of course there was no way for you to get on track without being photographed and you were fine with that because you would just arrive after Lando either with Jon or Charlotte. Photos of you arriving with Jon and Charlotte flashed up - with them you were just another member of staff but put with those other stills and it really did yell out that you and Lando were romantically involved. Finally the flash of purple from Lando’s story. The game was up. 

“Oh my-” You stuttered as the video came to an end. Fortunately your Instagram hadn’t been shown but judged by how skilled you knew the fans to be - it would only be a matter of time. “I feel sick.” You admitted, wiping your hands across your face. Lando still hadn’t said a word, staring blankly at the floor. Max was the first to come up with something logical, turning to you and Lando. 

“It will blow over.” He started, “The fans will soon lose interest and move onto the next big headline. We just need to ignore anything we see regarding the subject.” He moved his attention to you. “Maybe avoid social media for a few days. Let everyone cool down -” Sensing your means to interrupt, he held his hand up. “I know you shouldn’t have to and I know none of this is fair but unfortunately people have no boundaries and believe because it’s on social media it is their business. If they were in our situation, I’m pretty sure they would be the first to complain. Let’s just go along with it for now. It will give you time to think about what to do next.” 

Lando cleared his throat, pulling you closer into him. “I’ve failed you. All I wanted to do was protect you.” At this, Max got up and left. 

Shaking your head, you pressed your lips to his forehead. “You could never. Think about how long we kept it secret for. Besides, until we announce or admit anything - it isn’t confirmed.” You offered, trying to soothe his worries. He nodded, still not convinced. 

“Our love is like a game and it’s not a game I enjoy playing.” He croaked, lacing your fingers together. 

“I know, Lando, I know. Let’s let everything calm down and then we can think about what our next step is.” 

Weeks later and it was the night before you were due to leave for your summer holiday. You would be spending it with Lando and some of his friends and family. Due to the current pandemic, it had been so long since you had been away - even if it was a bigger group of you going; you were still looking forward to spending that quality time with Lando. 

Max had decided to take himself and Tom off to the streaming room - leaving you and Lando to sort out the remaining items you needed for your time away. 

“I have a present for you.” He said suddenly, his hands behind his back. You beamed, taking a step closer to him. He shook his head, “If you want it - “ He pointed at his lips. 

Rolling your eyes, you pecked his lips then held out your hands like a child. Lando chuckled, “Close your eyes.” Hands still outstretched and eyes closed, you waited for Lando to present you with your surprise. He grasped your left wrist and attached something to it - “No peeking.” He added. A moment or two later, he dropped his hold of your wrist and said: “You can open them now.” You could hear the smile on his lips. You opened your eyes and looked straight to your wrist - he had given you a pink watch. You furrowed your eyebrows and looked up at him, his eyes twinkled as he then pointed to the orange watch on his wrist. 

“Watches?” You asked, confusion laced your tone. 

Nodding, he said, “We all have matching watches but in different colours - they are for our holiday away.” 

You gave him a lopsided grin and wrapped your arms around his neck, “I love it. Thank you.” 

In the streaming room, Max was having to ignore the majority of the comments because they were all asking the same thing: “Who was the girl from the compilation.” He was trying his hardest to keep moving off the topic, instead showing off the watches - it had been his idea, blue for him, orange for Lando, a child’s watch for Tom and a pink watch for you. He had listed off all of the colours and said who they belonged to: “And then pink-” He paused, mentally face palming. He looked over to Tom for assistance - he hadn’t meant to say pink at all. “And pink is for someone.” He cursed his poor excuse but as if by magic - Lando walked through the door. 

Distracting the stream from his slip up. 

Croatia was a dream come true, the hot summer sun on your back and the time to just relax and recharge. Days spent with Lando sunbathing on the boat or stuck in a tense game of Uno. Not being the only female was brilliant as well - as they got to go off and not feel guilty about leaving you on your own. 

Currently, you and Lando were standing in each other's arms - the afternoon drawing into the evening as the sun began to set. You had your arms around his neck and his arms were around your waist, sighing contentedly you broke the silence: “This is nice.” He pressed his lips into your hair, a sign that he agreed with your statement. In that moment, it was just you and him - everyone seemed to disappear from around you and all worries vanished. It was the simple yet affectionate moments that had always meant the most to you. You felt as though you could relax every muscle in your body, listening to his steady heartbeat - you wished for this moment to never end, to forever be in his arms and to not worry about who sees you there. 

Ever since that compilation had been made, the thought had been on your mind a lot. Were you ready to go public with Lando? At the end of the day you were both happy and surely that was the most important thing. 

Later that night, you were sitting eating your meal when a phone was handed to you, displayed on it was a picture of you and Lando - in each other’s arms. 

Instantly you knew what this meant, looking at Lando you were met with the same expression. He did as well. 

You and Lando had decided it was time to announce your relationship, there was no point sneaking around anymore if people knew and were looking out for you. You had agreed that the best way to do it was if you joined him in a stream, that way they got to know you a bit more for who you were. 

“Is it ok to feel as nervous as I am?” You asked him, pulling up a chair beside him. He was setting up the stream, two mugs of tea placed in front of you. It seemed completely unnatural to sit facing the camera. 

“I mean, this is kind of a big deal so yes I would say, it’s completely natural for you to feel nervous.” He reached for your hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of it. Nodding, you took a deep breath. 

“Ok. I’m ready.” You said, your heart beating at a million miles an hour. The corners of his lips turned up, leaning in to leave you a kiss on the lips. 

“I love you and I’m so proud of you.” He admitted quietly, as though you were the only person in the world, his eyes flickered with complete adoration. 

“I love you too. Now, shall we start it?” 

Lando went to press the start stream button but paused. He turned back to face you, his eyes wide and offered an apologetic smile. 

“What did you do?” You asked, a smile toying at your lips as you had an idea of what it might have been. 

“Stream, meet my girlfriend.” 

He had already started it...

[tarosin]

The great adventures of y/n tommy tubbo and jack - using tanks to battle

requested: yes/no

this is part 11 to the great adventures series

it was now 5 am you had been on facetime with ranboo since he started streaming at 10 pm neither of you was going to sleep anytime soon

“isn’t it like 5 am for you”

“trying to get rid of me then”

“no no no soon enough I’m going to be stuck with you pretty much 24/7”

“heh? aren’t you staying with tubbo when you come to the UK?”

you watched his face turn red thinking that he had said something that he wasn’t supposed to tell you it was only when he looked up to see you with your head tilted he realised you weren’t aware of what was going to happen in the following weeks

“I will tackle you in the middle of the airport if you don’t tell me what you tubbo and lani mean when you all make comments about me constantly being around yous”

“I cannot wait to see you try”

“I'm blocking you”

hours passed and it was now time for you to get ready to go meet the others you left your phone on your bed whilst you went to get ready by the time you returned ranboo had fallen asleep

“goodnight boo not long now till you’re in the UK, you’re asleep I’m talking to myself goodnight”

since your parents had to go to work they offered to drop you off on the way, the journey to meet the others was pretty uneventful you just spent the time talking about how streaming was going and future plans. that was until your parents mentioned ranboo was flying over soon

“your friend is flying over soon right?”

“ranboo oh yeah yeah he gets here on 26th as far as I’m aware i’m going to tackle him in the middle of the airport”

“great great you’re going with tubbo to meet him, do you know how long you’re going to be out”

“..no why? shouldn’t be too long”

“don’t worry about it darling we’re here now oh look here comes tubbo”

as soon as the car stopped you laughed as you noticed in the corner of your eye tubbo running towards the car you said your goodbyes as you got out of the car and was instantly pulled away by tubbo

“oh oh okay tubbo I think I can walk on my own bud”

tubbo completely ignored every word you had just said and continued leading the way to the others where you were met by Tommy shouting about tanks and jack pretending not to know Tommy.

the four of you went to get ready, a simple enough task or so you thought as when you looked up you noticed Tommy was putting the outfit on the wrong way around

“Are you sure it’s safe for Tommy to drive a tank..”

“help me then”

“no”

a few minutes later the four of you were now equipped with your rather baggy army uniform safe to say if it started to rain you'd have to deal with getting wet as if you put the hood up it would cover your eyes taking away your eyesight which is unsurprisingly important since you were about to drive a tank for the first time. as soon as you all thought you were ready to go to the tanks tubbo announced that although it’s a bad time he needs to go to the toilet

“he’s fucking waddling”

“y/n be nice to your best friend”

you stood laughing to yourself as Tommy was arguing with Jack about how he’s your best friend, not tubbo.

“believe it or not I’m their best friend”

“elaborate on that”

“no”

“i’d argue ranboos their best friend”

halfway through their ‘argument’ tubbo came back and rested his head on your shoulder making you jump

“you're so tiny”

“I beg your pardon tubso”

the worker came over taking you all to the tank you would be driving putting Tommy and jacks argument on hold, for the time being, you were honestly so excited to drive a tank but you were also nervous as you weren’t exactly a great driver

“y/n doesn’t have a license can I get out the tank when it’s their turn”

“you crashed your parents' car fuck off”

before you all got in you were informed that the tank wasn’t designed to take you on adventures so you were probably going to get injured

“great cant wait in you go Tommy”

Tommy got in first followed by you then tubbo and jack

“draw me like one of your beautiful tank girls”

“I failed GCSE art”

“HOW”

“that my friend is a story for another night”

now this tank wasn’t designed so three of you could look out from the top of the tank so you did what every sensible person would do in a tank…you sat on the floor next to tubbo whilst he annoyed jack by touching his face

“y/n you okay down there”

“having the time of my life”

you could hear Tommy revving the tank and from then you could just tell you were going to leave the tank covered in bruises. you sat talking to tubbo and jack who were talking louder than usual just so you could join in the conversation. not seeing what was happening made the tank ride interesting, to say the least. one minute you were messing with tubbos shoelaces the next minute you heard three boys yelling that there was a cow in the middle of the road. it was now tubbos turn to drive and rather than letting you stay with the others he dragged you with him

“you’re driving next may as well stay with me”

“Please don’t crash I will get injured”

“to be fair y/n I didn’t plan on it”

you sat near tubbo watching him drive the tank occasionally yelling words of encouragement at him for your own entertainment and totally not to your surprise he was actually doing a decent job, he didn’t crash, the tank was going quicker and the ride wasn’t as bumpy then tubbo stalled, you could hear Tommy and jack yelling at tubbo to do more killing. you laughed as tubbo would look at the worker then at you not knowing what to do

“Are you ready to drive y/n”

“I guess so”

you and tubbo swapped places and you began to drive like your good friend tubbo you were decent at driving as you managed to pick up some speed along with many comments from jack and Tommy about how bumpy the ride was alongside tubbo yelling at you that you were going to be responsible for the bruises on his arms and legs

“tubbo stop being dramatic it’s not my fault the road is bumpy”

“Y/N I'M NOT”

“Okay then you’re responsible for the bruises on my arms and legs because you decided to stall”

It was now jacks turn you sat next to tubbo where you and Tommy argued that you didn’t like how Minecraft split the caves and cliffs update into two parts

“IT SAID CAVES AND CLIFFS UPDATE AND IT DIDN'T ADD CAVES AND CLIFFS UPDATE”

“you're such a tory y/n agrees with me”

“NO I DON'T I WANTED TO EXPLORE PRETTY CAVES NOT GET CHUCKED OFF OF A CLIFF BY A GOAT”

the three of you continued arguing your points before jack interrupted you all

“we’re talking about the new Minecraft update…because it was you we weren’t really paying attention”

“I DROVE BETTER THAN ALL THREE OF YOU”

“but no you didn’t”

“YOU'RE A PRICK MANIFOLD”

before Jack could answer Tommy began ranting about the update again before being once again interrupted by jack telling him you were about to shoot things and then go up against a tank that was miles better than the one you were all in, the one thing they didn’t know is you would be going with the boss against them just so you could actually have a role in the mini battle rather than just sitting there. you stood shaking your head as Tommy and tubbo made jokes about the balls you were all given

“say it”

“I like balls”

“jack they’re talking about balls…again”

Tommy was first to shoot whilst you and tubbo stood telling jack that the two of you would be the reason you win the battle against the boss, jack went up next and you both were telling Tommy that you weren’t scared of the boss after the last bit of practice you all went back to reception with the worker where he announced the roles you were all going to have

“so my aimer loader and driver”

“Are we allowed to ram tanks”

“no”

jack was the first to realise you hadn’t received a role for the fight against the boss and spoke up about it making tubbo and Tommy realise you did in fact not receive a role

“wait what about y/n they didn’t receive a role”

the worker just nodded at the four of you confusing the hell out of the others while you stood looking around the room to avoid laughing, you didn’t want the others to know so said you’d be back later you just needed to go to the bathroom. rather than going to the bathroom you went off to meet the boss before the others and decided what role you were going to have.

after discussing what role you were going to have the pair of you went back to meet the worker to let him know you have a plan

“LOOK ITS THE BOSS”

“…and y/n”

“oh now we’re losing”

the worker went up to their table to create a plan, once you watched the worker walk away you made your way over to the table they moved to where Tommy was having a ‘date’ with a mannequin

“Woah am I interrupting something”

“I'm on a date y/n”

“y/n you really had to leave me with tubbo and Tommy”

you whispered that you were sorry so Tommy and tubbo couldn’t hear then turned your attention back towards Tommy’s date which wasn’t going very well as Tommy accidentally pulled the wig off of one of the mannequins only to find out that his ‘date’ was also wearing a wig.

it was now time for the battle clearly best friends think alike as you and tubbo both had the role of driver. you and the boss made a strong team and you surprisingly got along well with each other which made teamwork easy making you more of a challenge for Tommy’s team

“yooo this is amazing”

“you’re doing great y/n”

as soon as the boss made the final shot you cheered

“do you think we won then y/n”

“I'm not sure they did put up a good fight”

“come on let’s head back so you can be with your friends again”

the pair of you made it back after thanking him you ran to tubbo, who for some reason was on the floor, and tackled him into a hug before sitting next to him

“AH FUCK”

“HI TUBSO WHY ARE YOU IN THE MUD”

“BECAUSE WE WON”

“mhm sure”

“What role did you have y/n”

“driver”

“NO WAY ME TOO”

your celebration was short-lived as Tommy decided to chuck mud at the pair of you yelling catch when it was far too late to react, you both looked at each other nodded at chucked mud back at him and jack

“ayo we hit him”

after playing in the mud with tubbo for a while jack called you both over to hear the scores and find out who won

“Why do you both have smiley faces on your face”

“y/n used mud to draw a smiley face on my cheek so I got revenge”

in the end, Tommy's team got 10 and began celebrating that they had won

“the boss and y/n got 11”

“LETS GOOOOO”

after bragging about your win you and tubbo ran off throwing mud at each other and Tommy whilst Tommy and jack bickered about who made them lose a few moments later you and tubbo looked up to see Tommy running past you both

“I don't think he's taking the news well”

you all made your way back to the car park Tommy and jack left together tubbo stayed with you waiting for your parents to pick you up on their way back home.

“you could just stay the night at mine..we could stream for a little while I’m sure you’ve left something that you can wear for the night and tomorrow and to be fair you stay at mine all the time”

“yeah I probably do I’ll call them on the way back to yours”

“come on let’s go home”

taglist:

@bearytime @milkydisaster @dumb-chaotic-bi-energy @uselesssapphickitten @l0ver0fj0y @etheriaaly @xx-smiley-xx @hawarun @kylobensgirl @cawcaw-pretty-thing @reverse-iak @renleicrashed @augustine-is-joy @c1loudee

[thefanficmonster]

Whatever

TinaKitten x Reader (Gender Neutral)

Warnings: Swearing (?)

Genre: FLUFF, Comfort, RPF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: Tina’s stream is raided, leaving more eyes on her stream than usual which freaks her out. Luckily, she knows who to call when that happens.

Requested by 🤸‍♀️ Anon. Hi darling! Thank you so much for your request!  Yours is my first on for Tina and I’m super excited to write it! I hope it was worth the wait and you enjoy the read! Love, Vy ❤

It is a regular day for you minus having to go class since it’s the weekend. You’d typically go out with friends and do something but what is a person to do when all their friends are busy. Some are streamers, some are parents, some have demanding jobs and others are studying or doing homework since they’re just like you - stressed, overly-caffeinated college students. Luckily, you’re not a part of that category today. You can kick your feet up and catch up on your favorite show.

Which is exactly what you’re currently doing.

Huddled up on the couch with a soft blanket and a cup of coffee, you’ve found yourself enjoying the late afternoon after deep-cleaning the entire apartment which is something that had been on your to-do list for quite some time but you never seemed to find the time to do it. Honestly, you didn’t have enough energy for it....ok, didn’t have enough effort for it and your apartment was far from a dump yet so..... Only when you started cleaning did you see how fucking filthy it was. But what matters is that now you’re done with it and are able to relax with a fully crossed out to-do list that isn’t hanging over your head any longer.

Midway through episode two of Euphoria, you hear the faint noise of your ringtone from your bedroom where you had left your phone on accident. You pause the episode and kick the blanket off of you and jog down the hall to answer the call.

You smile to yourself when you see the Caller ID.

“Hi!“ You chipperly greet your best friend....best friend? It doesn’t quite suit what Tina means to you but you’re willing to roll with it to avoid making any possibly fatal assumptions. Fatal for your friendship, of course.

“Hey. Sorry to bother you during your ‘me time’ but I didn’t know who else to call.“ Tina replies, the tone of her voice causing your smile to drop immediately.

“First of all, you could never bother me, Tina. Second, what happened? What’s wrong?“ You ask, sitting down on the edge of your bed’s mattress.

“Thanks, Y/N. What would I do without you.“ She chuckles, calming your nerves down ever so slightly, “And it’s nothing bad, it’s great actually. My stream got raided by Dream from the Dream SMP and that’s amazing and all but it’s also more viewers than I’ve ever had and it’s stressing me out.“ She says, all in one stressful breath, causing you to almost miss half of what she said.

“Raided?“ You ask, cringing at your lack of knowledge about the streaming lingo. With several streamer friends, you still find yourself confused from time to time which you think is utterly ridiculous.

“He sent his viewers to my stream once his was done.“ Tina giggles, “Don’t worry, you’ll be speaking fluent Streamer soon.“

“I’ll study up.“ You giggle back before focusing on the reason she called you in the first place, “And what’s the big deal? You’re your awesome self with 100 or 1000 viewers. Don’t let the viewer count make you feel any type of way except positive. Just keep being you, ok? Those who don’t like that are free to leave, the rest will enjoy your stream and maybe become your fans as well. Now, I don’t know much about the streaming industry, but I do know that a major part of it is accumulating fans and growing your following. That being said, there’s really nothing about this that should make you nervous. You’re doing what you love, that’s what matters. You genuinely enjoy streaming and any fleeting viewers shouldn’t concern you. I understand that it makes you feel exposed more than usual but you better start getting used to it, Tina. I’m not clairvoyant or anything, but I can assure you that that number is gonna keep growing.“

Tina stays quiet for a moment, processing all you’ve told her and trying to incorporate it in her mindset. She hadn’t thought of that before - she never thought her channel would keep growing and becoming more popular. She had always though her circle would stay small and tightknit and within her comfort zone. But now that you’ve put it in a different perspective for her, she’s beginning to think otherwise.

“You think so?“ She asks, inviting a small smile onto your face.

“I know so.“ You reply, “When have I ever been wrong?“

“Whatever, know-it-all.“ Tina replies in a playfully annoyed tone, making you giggle. She’s soon to bring it down to a serious note though when she continues, “Once again, thanks Y/N. I don’t know what I’d do without you.“

“Whatever, Miss Sentimental.“ You reply, getting a genuine laugh out of her.

“Love you.“

Now that catches you off-guard, bringing an intense blush to your cheeks and some restless butterflies in your stomach. It’s not the first nor the last time Tina has made you feel this way but you can’t do much about it regardless. You can only hope she feels at least half of what you feel when she says those two words.

“I love you too.“