#so i think it’s like a networking thing but it’s for alumni | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

seungkwansphd · 1 year

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room for interpretation - 1

pairing: lawyer!jeonghan x lawyer!YN word count: 8.5K synopsis: as top of class, you and jeonghan had been many things to each other. enthusiastic rivals, begrudging allies, and…parties to a jokingly written (but legally binding) marriage contingency contract? this piece of paper would’ve been long forgotten had an unexpected merger not thrown you back into each others’ lives. themes: fluff, rivals to coworkers to tentative friends to lovers, “if we’re both single by X age” marriage contract, IDIOTS2lovers, fake dating, miscommunication. this is just a romcom.

a/n: i have been working on this for SO LONG. it truly got out of hand. thanks to @wavelikewhat and @the-boy-meets-evil for the encouragement along the way & beta-ing! ALSO RIP, i know y'all wanted it to be posted a oneshot, but this has more paragraphs than tumblr allows so 🤷

“My ducklings!” Peter half wailed as he slumped forward with his near empty beer glass. “Oh my ducklings,” he moaned pitifully. “I must warn you now that if you continue down this path, you will be single forever. Law is a lonely profession, full of long hours and no time for work-life balance.”

You did your best to hold in a laugh. Peter was an alumnus of your law school and currently going through a divorce. You’d met him through a student-alumni networking event and he’d become an unofficial mentor to a few of you that were part of the university’s law review. Despite what one might guess from his current display of hysterics, he was quite a competent lawyer and was on track to be partner. Unfortunately, this was also the major leading factor in the current dissolution of his marriage.

“Jeonghan! YN!” Peter grabbed your hands suddenly, “Look at you beautiful people. Are you truly resigned to a life of loneliness? You both have strong potential to make partner before thirty five, but are you willing to give up your happiness to do so?”

“I-,” Jeonghan laughed, surprised at the sudden proximity.

Jeonghan thought for a moment. While it was certainly back of mind right now, he did envision himself with a family in the future. But he could think about that after he made partner.

“I don’t plan to compromise on anything,” you laughed, glancing at Jeonghan as Peter went to go refill his beer.

“Oh no?” He raised an eyebrow in interest.

“Certainly not,” you shook your head vehemently. “I’m a catch. I’ll be married before I’m thirty and make partner before thirty-five. I will have it all.”

Jeonghan rolled his eyes. You had been like this for as long as he’d known you. Confident, smart, and stubborn. You were a huge pain in the ass, but that was also why he respected you. There simply wasn’t anyone else in your class that could give him a run for his money in the way that you did. As a result, you were his frequent sparring partner, even if you wouldn’t consider yourselves friends.

“Good luck with that,” he scoffed, bringing his glass to his lips. “Peter has a point. The hours and demands of an associate trying to make partner are crazy. It would be stupid to try and date through all that.”

“It’s not my fault that no one’s interested in you,” you scoffed.

This wasn’t true at all. While quite the thorn in your side, Jeonghan was also incredibly smart, infuriatingly tenacious, and not difficult to look at by any means. He probably could successfully date while making partner if he wanted to.

Jeonghan’s eyes flicked over you, giving you a withering look.

“We both know that's not true.”

“Not sure why you're so concerned about bagging someone before thirty then,” you goaded him, taking a sassy sip from your glass.

“I prefer to be realistic.”

“It is realistic…for me.”

Jeonghan was standing over you now, eyes narrowed slightly at you in something akin to annoyance. This always happened when you two took up arms.

“Let's make it interesting,” Jeonghan suggested.

You furrowed your brows. This was not a good sign.

“If neither of us is married by the time we're thirty, we'll be each others’ contingency plans.”

“What?” you coughed.

“I mean, it shouldn't be a concern for you, since you’re more than sure you’ll be married by then. And you seem awfully worried about whether I'll be married by thirty, so this should put your mind at ease.”

Your eyes swiveled around in your head, trying to understand exactly how he had managed to twist the conversation into this?

“I’ve returned with more alcohol,” Peter announced as he set three more beers on the table.

You shifted away from Jeonghan and faced the beverages with a grimace. You weren't even halfway done with your first beer.

…

“What's happening?” you looked up at Jeonghan with confusion.

You’d been studying tax law in the library when a hand had slapped a sheet of paper over your text. Jeonghan had a triumphant look on his face, almost as if he’d bested you in an argument.

“Contract.”

As if that explained anything.

“For?” you asked, rifling through your brain to see if there was some contract related assignment that you had forgotten about.

“Our marriage contingency contract.”

“Oh, god, you weren’t serious?” you made a face at him.

“Legally binding. Feel free to review.”

“I-,” your curiosity took over as you grabbed the document, scanning it over.

Jeonghan wasn’t top of class for no reason. He had really written this in language that was clear. There was little to no room for interpretation. If you signed this, you would be marrying Yoon Jeonghan if you were still single at thirty.

“Good work,” you gave the contract a gentle pat as you slid it back towards him. “It’s good to practice our writing skills.”

“Aren’t you going to sign?” he asked, eyes glancing at your pen pointedly.

“Are you serious?” you asked, slightly exasperated at his persistence now. “What is the point of this?”

Jeonghan crossed his arms. He’d never taken you for a coward.

“I guess you aren’t that confident that you’ll be married before thirty.”

Your hackles raised. It was funny because you were often commended for sidestepping goading in practice courtroom settings. In fact you prided yourself on it, but this time when Jeonghan laid out the bait, you fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

…

“Do you know what this is about?” you whispered to Maja as you took the seat next to them in the conference room.

The managing partner of your firm had called for a company wide meeting relatively last minute and everyone was on edge. Occasionally, the paralegals had intel from the executive assistants, but not this time.

“I don't know,” Maja shrugged at you.

“Drinks afterwards? Whether it's good or bad news, there'll be something to discuss,” you suggested.

“I'm in,” she laughed and nodded.

You and Maja had worked together since you'd joined the firm. At this point, it had been a little over four years and you were close friends. Whatever the type of case, you two worked hand in hand to execute.

“Good morning everyone!” Peter Chae, managing partner of Chae & Associates, clapped his hands together after walking into the room. He took his position at the podium as the room quieted. “I’m sure you’re all burning with curiosity, so I’ll just cut to the chase. Chae & A is merging with Zanden Law Firm. We’ve acquired the other wing on this floor, so over the next month you’ll see our new associates move in. We’ll do our best to minimize office moves, but some will be necessary in order to group teams appropriately.”

“Merger?” your head swum slightly at the news.

“Yes, Maja, you have a question?”

“Suggestion, more like,” you glanced over as she lowered her hand. “What do we think of ‘Chae to Z - Covering All Your Law Needs’ as a new slogan? Or wait! ‘We’ve got you covered from Chae to Z’!”

You snorted. That wasn’t half bad. Others on the team seemed to agree.

“I-,” Peter blinked. He hadn’t been prepared for that.

“We can workshop it,” Maja laughed easily with a few of the other paralegals, gesturing for him to continue.

Peter’s eyebrows furrowed at Maja’s casual dismissal before he cleared his throat and moved on. You half-listened as he went through general logistics, but mostly you were wondering how the influx of new associates and partners would impact the office dynamic. Specifically your pathway to partner.

You knew you had been on track to make partner within two years at Chae & A. Frankly, you were the top associate on the team and it was a no brainer, but you had no idea what the talent looked like at Zanden Law Firm and how decisions would be made between their managing partner and Peter. The abundance of unknowns in this new situation was unsettling.

Once the meeting adjourned, you practically sprinted back to your computer. First order of business was pulling up the ZLF website to scope out their team.

“What the hell are you running for?” Maja demanded once she arrived at your desk.

“Research,” you answered shortly as you navigated. You prayed on everything you loved that they had an ‘Our Team’ page that you could peruse. “Aha!”

“Ahh,” Maja nodded with understanding as she settled in behind you.

Thoughts rattled rapidly around your brain as you scrolled. The names and faces did not jump out as particularly notable until you got to the Ys.

“Shit.”

“What?” she asked, alarmed.

“Of course he fuckin’ works there!” you rolled your eyes, leaning back in your chair slightly.

“Who?” Maja demanded, wanting to shake you. You weren’t answering any of her questions to satisfaction.

“Yoon Jeonghan,” you hovered your cursor over his smug face.

“Oh! Isn’t that your alma mater?” Maja leaned forward, scanning his bio.

“Yes,” you answered begrudgingly. “We were classmates.”

“Oh!” Maja’s eyes widened. “Is he good?”

“Yes,” your lip curled up in distaste. “God he was so annoying! Like we could get along, but I know he wants to make partner like I do and he’s good enough to take it from me.”

“Hmm,” Maja eyed you curiously. “Well, you just have to outdo him. If you want to be the best, you have to keep getting better.”

“You’re not fun when you’re giving real advice,” you scrunched your nose at her, but she was right. You were an ace and you could certainly still handle Jeonghan.

“Now let’s do some real work. The Yellech-Han divorce case is not going to settle itself.”

You sighed, pulling up that case file. After this one, you were going to tell Peter that you never wanted to handle a divorce case again. The level of pettiness was enough to drive you insane. Had you not been happily dating Flynn, you would’ve sworn yourself off dating as a preventative measure.

…

Jeonghan sat at his computer, brow furrowed at the screen. Unlike his firm, the Chae & A website did not share headshots and bios of their associates. Exhaling sharply, he tapped his pen to his notepad. Something about the name of the firm struck him as so familiar, but he couldn’t place it. Granted, he interacted with lawyers all over the city on a regular basis, but Chae & A seemed like a name that he’d heard more than just in passing.

“Jeonghan, we have that deposition in an hour. Ready?” Joshua’s head popped into the doorway.

“Yes,” Jeonghan nodded. “You don’t seem too concerned about the merger,” he remarked.

“I’m not,” Joshua shrugged easily. “Unlike you, I’m not brimming with ambition to make partner before thirty five. I’m happy being an associate for a while yet.”

“You could if you wanted to.”

“I know,” Joshua’s eyes creased with a smile. “But I enjoy having a life outside of work and a partner that I actually get to spend time with.”

“I’ll have time for a personal life after I make partner,” Jeonghan insisted.

“I’m very aware that this is your plan,” Joshua rolled his eyes. “Anyways, I am excited for the merger. I’ve heard that the building Chae & A is in is very nice and it’s closer to my place, so it's a shorter commute.”

Jeonghan laughed. He finished scribbling a few more notes before getting ready for deposition.

…

Maja’s watchful eyes surveyed the new associates from Zanden as they moved in. Neither of you had been directly impacted by the move, but the office next to yours was now awaiting its new occupant. You were curious about them, of course, but you also had work to do, so you saved the wondering for later.

Later that day Jeonghan greeted the receptionist at Chae & A and received brief instructions to his new office. It was basically a straight shot to the corner. A moving crew had already moved the furniture and files, so it was just up to him to unpack and arrange his things.

“We did it!” you wiggled excitedly as you walked with Maja back into the office.

After a painful few months of negotiating, re-negotiating, and then re-re-negotiating, the Yellech-Han divorce case had finally settled. You and Maja had gotten boba on the way back to the office to celebrate.

“God, that case made me want to be single forever. And I think Flynn and I have a relatively healthy relationship!” you exclaimed, rolling your eyes theatrically.

“They were insufferable, weren’t they?” Maja laughed until she noticed the new figure in the office. “Oh shit, I think they’re here! Your new neighbor!” she pointed.

“Oh! We should greet them,” you decided, leading the way. “Hello, welcome to the office!” you knocked on the doorframe as you spoke. “I hope we can be-,”

“Friends?” Jeonghan’s lips curled up into a smile before he turned to face you. “That was never our style, was it?”

“Jeonghan,” your face fell.

“YN,” he nodded at you before turning back around to place books on the shelves.

Maja eyed you curiously as you stuck your tongue out at his turned back before returning to your office. The last time you’d seen Jeonghan had been the alumni mock trial event that your alma mater hosted annually. You’d both participated as students throughout law school, so it had been a fun change to take on mentor roles. Due to COVID, you’d only been able to participate once and that had been over three years ago! Seeing Jeonghan again felt a little like being electrocuted.

Harris Zanden moved throughout the office, making a point to greet the associates and staff from Chae & A. There was bound to be anxiety on both sides about the merger and he wanted to do as much as he could to alleviate it. He slowly made his way towards Maja’s corner desk.

“Hello, I’m Harris. Just wanted to say hi,” he smiled affably.

“Oh hell-,” Maja’s greeting caught in her throat when she saw his face. Shit. “Hello. I’m Maja Sanderson.”

“Hi Maja,” Harris’s expression pinched and he coughed. “I look forward to working with you.”

“Shit. Shit shit shit!” Maja muttered to herself once he was out of earshot. She shuffled hurriedly into your office and shut the door behind her. “YN. Crisis!”

“What’s happening?” you stood up, alarmed.

“I-, um, god,” Maja brought her hands to her face. She inhaled deeply a few times, gathering herself. “The managing partner of Zanden?”

“Yeah, Harris? He just came and did intros. Did he talk to you?”

“Yes.” Maja’s expression was grim. “That’s not the first time I’ve met him.”

Your mouth hung ajar and your expression demanded more exposition.

“We-, I,” she floundered. “I had sex with that man…recently.”

“Oh my god!” you cried, deeply thankful that the offices had some soundproofing. “MAJA OH MY GOD!” you whisper-yelled when her words really sank in.

“I know!” she moaned into her hands.

“I don't…which one?” you filed through your mental rolodex of her escapades. “The most recent one? Handsome rich guy from the bar?”

Maja hung her head in shame. You screamed.

“What the hell is going on over there?” Jeonghan wondered to himself, watching you and Maja through the panes of glass.

From where he stood, it looked like you were reprimanding her sternly. It surprised him, if he was being honest. It didn’t fit with his memory of you, but that memory was also several years old. A bemused smile crossed his lips as he wondered about you now.

“What are you going to do?” you pressed your palm to your forehead, truly affected by the news that Maja had just dropped on you.

“We have to undo the merger!”

“Girl,” you snorted.

“I’m gonna pretend like nothing happened. And so are you!” she pointed a finger menacingly at you.

“How can I pretend that nothing happened?”

Jeonghan’s brow furrowed. He did not like the way your paralegal was pointing at you. He watched in surprise as you covered your face with your hands. This was behavior unbecoming of an aspiring partner. Later that day, after Maja had left, he approached you in your office. It was no surprise to him that you were still there.

“You’ll never make partner if you can’t command the respect of your subordinates.” he offered without explanation.

“What?” you squinted at him in confusion.

“I saw you arguing with your paralegal earlier. You shouldn’t let people talk to you like that,” he sank into the chair.

“Wha-, oh!” the dots suddenly connected. “Oh that. No…that wasn’t work related,” you shook your head furiously.

Jeonghan was intrigued. Whatever the conversation had been about seemed to fluster you just by thinking about it.

“I see. Well that’s good to hear. I would hate to learn that you’ve lost your edge over the years,” he smirked at you.

“Wouldn’t that be a good thing for you? Assuming you haven’t lost your ambition to make partner,” you jabbed right back.

He chuckled, eyes flitting to the diploma hanging on your wall. He smiled. His matching one was up on his wall now too.

“I sincerely hope you’re still as skilled as you were when we were in school. Things were always more interesting for me when you were around,” he stood from his chair, saluting you before he left.

Your eyes burned holes into the back of his jacket as he walked away. You were so focused on glaring at him that you jumped when your phone rang. It was Flynn.

“Hey babe!” you smiled when you picked up the phone. “Oh, you’re where? Yeah, I can meet you there in probably twenty. Ok great, see you soon!”

You wrapped things up quickly and packed your bag. Jeonghan’s eyes followed you all the way to the elevator.

…

“Hello, hello!” Peter tapped a fork against his glass, commanding everyone’s attention. “Hello and thanks everyone for attending our first Chae & Zander Law Associates happy hour!”

“Woohoo!” you clapped around your stemware as well as you could manage.

“Harris and I wanted to both show our appreciation for your support and patience as we’ve worked through details of the merger, so the tab’s on us tonight!”

Harris lifted his glass in a show of agreement.

“Have we worked out details of the new slogan?” a voice called out cheekily from the crowd.

“New slogan?” Harris’s brow furrowed with confusion.

“Slogan?” Peter looked equally confused before the memory struck him. “Oh, yes! Maja! Did you share your idea with Harris? It was funny.”

Maja’s eyes widened with panic and you held in a scream as Harris’s eyes moved to her.

“Oh no, it’s not…it wasn’t real,” she tried to wave it off, but all the attention brought a flush to her cheeks.

“No please,” Peter insisted.

“We’ve got you covered from Chae to Z,” Maja answered awkwardly. Harris let out a soft puff of laughter.

You turned away with secondhand embarrassment and were surprised to find your face nearly planted into someone’s arm. You jumped when you realized it was Jeonghan.

“Oops,” you laughed, stepping back from your now associate.

“You are acting so strange. Will you tell me what is happening?”

“I can’t,” you shook your head, “Believe me, I desperately want to tell someone about it. But it can’t be you.”

“Why?” he raised an eyebrow at you.

“It just can’t! And I can’t tell you why, but trust me I am bursting at the seams about it!” you whispered sharply at him.

“Hm. Well let’s talk about something else, then,” he suggested and you were grateful he hadn’t pushed anymore. “Did you get the email about the Alumni-Student Mock Trial? Looks like they’re putting it on again.”

“I did,” you nodded, “Are you going to participate?”

“I think so. I enjoyed it last time. You?”

“It was really fun,” you found yourself smiling fondly at the memory. “I’ll look forward to being your opposing counsel again,” you teased.

“I look forward to beating you again,” he laughed.

“You know our side of the case was far more difficult to argue than yours!” you protested emphatically. It really had been. So much of the evidence had been deemed inadmissible, which had really swept the legs out from under your prosecutorial arguments.

“If that’s what you need to tell yourself to sleep at night,” he chuckled. He agreed with you, of course, but he hadn’t kicked the habit of teasing you even after all these years.

“So what’s new with you these days?” you found yourself asking. “Do you have any fun interests or are you still all work and no play?”

“Actually,” Jeonghan took a sip of his beer, “I picked up snowboarding a few years back. Eating out, if that can be considered an interest. It’s more self preservation as I still have no interest in eating my own cooking,” he chuckled.

“I mean if you’re eating interesting foods, I suppose,” you contemplated briefly. “Snowboarding, huh? I can’t say I’ve tried. I prefer my bones intact, I suppose.”

“Maybe you’re the boring one now,” Jeonghan quipped.

You opened your mouth to reply, but were interrupted by Peter and Harris’ approach.

“Jeonghan, long, long time no see,” Peter greeted Jeonghan enthusiastically.

“It’s great to see you again, Peter.”

“Hi Harris,” you greeted your new managing partner with a firm handshake.

“Hi YN,” he smiled down at you, “It’s great to see you two getting along. You’re both top performers, we have high expectations for you.”

“Of course,” you smiled, leaning towards Jeonghan slightly. ‘Getting along’ was maybe a reach for you two, but Harris didn’t need to know that. You were still in the ‘building first impressions’ phase and if friendliness with Jeonghan was a plus, you could let him believe that.

“Harris, I’m not sure if you know this, but YN and Jeonghan were actually classmates. At my alma mater, in fact!”

“Aha! Okay so now I see that this merger was actually just a poaching activity,” Harris joked good naturedly.

“No comment,” Peter held his hands up in mock surrender. “You should see these two go up against each other. When I say gloves off, I mean gloves off.”

“YN’s been a royal pain in my ass more than a few times,” Jeonghan chuckled.

Harris’ eyebrows rose with interest. He had served as Jeonghan’s senior counsel enough to know that this was a high compliment. He was eager to see you work.

Maja’s eyes widened as she eavesdropped on this conversation. She had initially only been interested in ensuring that you didn’t act too weird around Harris, but she’d caught more conversation than she’d intended. On the surface it may have sounded like Jeonghan was insulting you, but she was quite certain that it was a compliment. Given Jeonghan’s position in Harris’ eyes as a top performer, this somehow conferred a level of competency to you. Associates usually leveraged time with managing partners to make digs at one another, not compliments!

“Maja,” you waved at her after the conversation dissolved.

“How goes the schmoozing?” she wrinkled her nose at you.

“Good, I think?” your eyes flickered to Harris again. “Though if you would accept my suggestion of blackmailing him into making me partner, things would go a lot quicker.”

“What the fuck about ‘nothing happened’ do you not understand?” Maja hissed at you, “For someone who graduated from a top law school, that brain doesn’t seem to work so good!”

“Relax, no one is even around,” you rolled your eyes at her. This was true.

“Are you staying all night?” she asked, watching Jeonghan out of the corner of her eye.

“No, I think I talked to everyone who is of interest to me,” you shook your head. “What do you think?”

“I think we’ve stayed the obligatory amount of time,” Maja chuckled. “Let’s go!”

You nodded and went to grab your things. You said a few brief goodbyes before looping your arm in hers and heading to the subway.

“Tell me more about Jeonghan,” Maja asked after you’d snagged some seats.

“Hmm, what do you want to know?” you furrowed your brow. “We weren’t super close.”

“But three years together, you must know some things.”

“He’s very annoying,” was the first thing that came to mind. “I don’t know that conniving is the right word to describe him…maybe clever? He was definitely one of the smartest students in class. We did law review together and moot court too. He always wanted to be the best and so did I, so we crossed paths often.”

“Sounds like you both worked hard, huh?” Maja hummed.

“Yes,” you nodded. You would never dispute hard work when it came to Jeonghan.

“Interesting. I look forward to getting to know him,” Maja nodded.

“Oh really?” you looked at her with surprise. “Interested like interested?”

“No, you dunce!” she looked like she wanted to thump you on the head. “If you’re both interested in making partner, I’m really curious to see how things go.”

“Yeah,” you huffed a sigh as the subway rounded Maja’s stop. You gave her a wave and reassured her that you knew it was your turn to bring coffee tomorrow.

…

You frowned at the pile of documents sitting on your desk. You felt overwhelmed. It was late, you’d had to cancel plans with Flynn again, and this case you were working on was being adjudicated by a judge that you swear had an agenda against you.

“Why are you still here?” a voice floated into your office.

“I’m in a bad mood,” you warned Jeonghan when he appeared in the doorway.

“Noted,” he nodded, taking a seat anyways. “What’s bugging you?”

You pursed your lips in thought. Perhaps Jeonghan could give you some helpful insight on Judge Bytheway.

“Have you tried cases before Bytheway before?”

“A couple, yeah,” he nodded.

“Is he an asshole to you too? Or just me?” you huffed. This wasn’t as eloquent as you would’ve liked to put it, but it got the point across.

“Oh he’s a sexist, big time,” Jeonghan nodded, his lip curling up in distaste.

“Great,” you rolled your eyes. “Well, fuck me I guess.”

Jeonghan’s lips twitched at your candid annoyance. He watched as you thought furiously, no doubt trying to brainstorm ways to combat the judge’s bias. Bytheway, unfortunately, didn’t seem to be the type to respond to any such strategy.

“What’s your caseload like?” you gave him a look. He could tell it was reluctant.

“Not too terrible, actually,” he shrugged.

This wasn’t totally true, but he was burning with curiosity to see whether you were actually going to ask him for help. You sighed deeply before you spoke again.

“...What do you think about serving as lead on this one?” you finally brought yourself to ask. “In name only!” you clarified vehemently.

Jeonghan’s grin almost made you take it back. You hated asking for help, but you also knew that representing your client by yourself would not be doing them justice.

“I could probably make time for that,” he finally nodded, “You’ll have to ask Harris and Peter though so they know it’s on my plate.”

“Yeah, I will,” you nodded. “You workin’ on anything interesting?”

“Not really,” Jeonghan’s face scrunched up. “A couple of appeals filed and working through the system. Hurry up and wait,” he chuckled.

“You love appeals though,” you wiggled your eyebrows at him sarcastically because you specifically knew he didn’t.

Throughout law school he had participated in moot court, an opportunity for students to practice the appellate court process, but just barely. Everyone knew that Jeonghan was most interested in and best suited for trial, but since you did moot court, he had to too.

“Hey, you don’t know me anymore. I could love appeals now,” Jeonghan laughed, squinting curiously at one of the figurines on your desk. His eyes lit up with curiosity when he realized it was a tiny, Lego Pokemon. “Venusaur?” he asked, picking it up gingerly.

“Mega-venusaur, thank you very much,” you rolled your eyes.

“Good lord, I’m so sorry,” Jeonghan coughed out a laugh. “Dang, you really like these, huh?”

“None of your business! I can spend my money how I like!” you felt oddly defensive as you watched him count your figurines.

To the common eye, it might seem excessive, but who in their right mind could have just Eevee without also getting the evolutions? You didn’t have them all quite yet, because you only bought them to celebrate major life milestones, but you were getting close.

“No, they’re cute,” he laughed. You were still indignant at this, but it was the best he could do.

“What do you spend your adult money on, if not tiny Pokemon?” you found yourself asking. Despite your best efforts, you were a little curious about what Jeonghan was like now. Had time eroded his sharper edges or had it honed them even further?

“Whiskeys. Travel. Books,” he answered.

“Ugh how pretentious!” you rolled your eyes, blowing a raspberry at him. “Rich lawyer loves luxurious things. Boo! Tomato!”

“I-,” he balked at your childish display.

“Update me when you get an interesting hobby,” you laughed, shooing him out of your office impatiently.

Jeonghan laughed and crossed the short distance to his own office. He watched as you jotted down a few notes before leaving to talk to Harris and Peter. It wasn’t too much longer before you shot him a thumbs up on the way back. Your first real case together.

…

“Can I please ask you about Harris?” you blurted out after a few drinks with Maja. The curiosity had truly been killing you this past week and you couldn’t bear it anymore.

“I-,” Maja sighed. She’d initially planned to take this secret to her grave, but recently she’d been wanting to discuss it with someone other than her own reflection in the mirror. “Yeah.”

“Have you talked to him? Or are you guys just pretending nothing happened? Do you want something else to happen? But like you kind of can’t because of the merger, right? But you report to Peter still. I-,” your mouth started rattling off the many, many questions that had been building up in your brain.

“Hold on, I can only answer so many things at once!” Maja held her hands up.

“Sorry,” you smiled sheepishly. Your mouth occasionally had a habit of running off like that when you were curious.

“I have not talked to him, so I guess we are kind of pretending that it didn’t happen,” she spoke slowly, contemplating the words thoroughly as she spoke them. “Candidly, I did have a really good time with him. We were…highly compatible. But I mean it was just a few times, it’s barely anything to get worked up about.”

“A few times?!” you almost shouted. “I was not aware of this!”

“I told you!” Maja insisted.

“Did you?!” your brow furrowed, “I don’t recall!”

“You have a notoriously bad memory! As your paralegal, I know this for a fact!”

You frowned. This was true. If you didn’t write things down, you simply wouldn’t remember them. It was the reason you’d taken such profuse notes all throughout school. It was one of the reasons you’d been so jealous of Jeonghan when you first met him.

‘Writing things down is for nerds!’ he’d proclaimed to you more than a few times.

‘That might be true, but only nerds make good lawyers!’ had been your retort. In hindsight this was a lukewarm burn at best.

“Would you talk to Peter about it?” you brought yourself back to the present.

“...I’m not sure,” Maja’s lips pursed.

“Oh! I can ask! Like just generally ask about his thoughts on a dating policy. We don't really have one now, right?”

“You don’t think that’ll come across weird?” Maja made a face at you.

“I don’t care about seeming weird,” you shrugged.

“I’m not totally for it, but I don’t think I’ll stop you either,” she laughed, which relieved you.

“We shall see where the wind takes me!”

“Hey I’m going to visit Grandma this weekend, do you want to come?” Maja asked, changing the subject.

“Of course, do you even have to ask?”

You absolutely adored Maja’s grandmother. She lived in a little seaside town a couple of hours away and you were always in the mood to visit.

…

“Yiayia!” Maja jumped excitedly as she approached her grandmother.

You smiled through the pain behind her as you unloaded the bags from the car.

“Packed so much for a weekend trip,” you grumbled as you dragged the suitcases towards the house.

You and Maja settled into the guest room before sitting down in the living room for tea and a quick snack. You had picked up a variety of baked goods before departing the city and you’d been thinking about the taro macarons for most of the drive up.

“Oh these look lovely,” Yiayia clapped her hands together, eyes scanning across the pastries.

“What kind of tea should we have?” you asked, opening the cupboard where you knew the teapot should be.

“How about a jasmine green?” Yiayia suggested. Nice and delicate to pair with these pastries.

You nodded, eyes searching the labeled canisters for jasmine. Maja and Yiayia caught up in the living room until you approached with the tea and tumblers on a tray.

“Thanks boo,” Maja smiled up at you.

“What were you two talking about?” you asked curiously.

“I was just asking if Maja had been able to meet the neighbors’ son.”

“Oh?” you raised an eyebrow. “Is he cute?”

“I think he’s quite a looker,” Yiayia raised her eyebrows pointedly. Apparently he lives in the city too, but he comes back to visit often because he’s a good boy.

“Did you meet him?” you asked.

“Not yet,” Maja shook her head.

“Don't worry,” Yiayia stuck a finger up in the air excitedly. “I made a tray of cookies for you to bring over once I see his car in the driveway.”

You cackled loudly. What fantastic matchmaking.

“Okay, then what do you need me to do while Maja’s gettin’ it on with potential future loverboy?” you asked.

Maja glared at you while Yiayia clicked her tongue, insisting that she didn’t need your help with anything. You shook your head, stubbornness definitely ran in their family.

…

You thought furiously as you wiped down the bookcase in the guest bedroom. At first you drafted, revised, and rehearsed the passionate case that you could make to Peter about a flexible dating policy for the firm. After that, your mind wandered to the land usage case that you’d just been assigned. You’d probably spend time reviewing case notes after finishing the task at hand.

As you tackled the last shelves and replaced the books, your thoughts turned to your last conversation with Jeonghan. Specifically, the Pokemon figurines. You had many of them, but your Eevee evolutions were most special to you. You had started buying them for yourself after you’d gotten into college. Each one signified an important milestone in your life: admission and graduation from undergrad, admission and completion of law school, being accepted into law review, and getting hired at Chae & Associates. There were eight evolutions in total, so you had two more to go: making partner and getting married.

“Maja?” you poked your head out into the hallway.

Walking into the kitchen, you noticed that the tray of cookies from earlier was gone. Yiayia must have sent her to call on the neighbor boy. Pressing your lips together, you decided to take a walk. You were nosy and simply needed to know just how handsome this man was!

With a nearly empty garbage bag in tow, you walked out of the house, peeking casually (creepily) through the hedges and shrubs, searching for the glimpse of a person. You ended up doing two, zig-zag laps around Yiayia’s house until you heard some conversation.

“I know we need to talk about it, I just…not sure I have anything coherent to say yet.”

You were shocked. That was Maja’s voice, but the words she was saying didn’t particularly make sense.

“I understand that,” came the reply. “Can I ask whether it’s because you still don’t know what you want? Or because you’ve decided and you don’t want to tell me?”

The silence was uncomfortable even for you.

“You said you needed time and I want you to have as much as you need. But at the same time it makes me a little crazy to see you at work all the time and not be able to talk to you.”

Your eyes were wide. That voice sounded painfully familiar so you pulled back a branch or two and almost dropped your bag of garbage when you saw Harris! What in the world? He was Yiayia’s neighbor’s son? You wished that there was someone else here that you could discuss this with. You quietly let the branches bend back in place and finally placed the bag in your hands into the bin outside. Yiayia seemed to still be napping, so you returned to your bedroom and continued reading.

…

You checked your appearance in the mirror again. Today was the first court appearance in front of Bytheway. You’d taken your time getting ready today, hopeful that taking on a hyperfeminine appearance and persona would work to your advantage. You would let Jeonghan take the lead and assist, as Bytheway undoubtedly expected. You flipped off the judge in your mind one more time before heading to your peer’s office.

“Ready?” you knocked on the doorframe as you entered.

“Ye-yeah,” Jeonghan looked up from his phone. He blinked before standing. “Let’s go, I’ll drive.”

“Yes, of course! And we must always walk behind the men, for they are our masters!”

Jeonghan rolled his eyes as you rambled sarcastically. He nodded pleasantly as he drove, listening to you go over the details and approach what you'd laid out for the case. It was solid, he felt confident.

“Ah! Attorney Yoon! It's great to see you,” Judge Bytheway greeted him amiably after entering the courtroom. It did not escape his notice that the judge failed to greet you.

“Your Honor,” he moved to introduce you, but you cut him off. Grabbing his hand behind the bench you shook your head slightly. “It's great to see you again,” he recovered smoothly.

“I told you to take lead, so take lead. That man doesn't want to hear from me so for all intents and purposes I'm your paralegal today.” you whispered out of the corner of your mouth as the judge greeted the opposing counsel.

Jeonghan nodded sharply.

Things proceeded quickly and smoothly. It was an initial hearing, so largely procedural and went according to plan. You scratched down notes every so often and slid them across the table, tapping his leg to get his attention, and he would fold them seamlessly into his arguments.

“I've never seen YN so quiet,” your client, Wade, teased affectionately as you left the courtroom.

“Peaceful, right?” Jeonghan laughed.

You pulled a face at both of them.

“I want you to know I appreciate it,” Wade continued. “I know you're whip smart and could've done that yourself, but that guy’s an asshole. I appreciate your prioritizing my needs as a client.”

Jeonghan snuck a glance at you and was surprised to see you were flustered.

“Ah it's nothing!” you laughed nervously, “That's my job!”

Wade smiled and said goodbye before heading to his car.

“Let me ask you something,” Jeonghan piped up as you walked towards the fleet car.

“Sure.”

“On a scale of one to ten, how physically painful was that for you?”

“Hmm,” you clicked your press-on nails together as you thought. “Seven?”

“Huh. If I’d asked you in school, you probably would've answered 20. How's that for growth?”

“Well if I'd asked you for help like this in school, you would've taken every opportunity to rub it in my face. So we've both grown, perhaps.”

Jeonghan chuckled, putting the car in reverse.

“You want celebratory bubble tea?”

“What? That's only for after cases have closed successfully!”

“Ah my mistake.”

It was just as well. Jeonghan was ready to put some distance between you two, but even later in the day the memory of your nails tapping lightly against his leg to get his attention lingered in his mind.

…

“Hey let me ask you something?” you popped your head into Jeonghan’s office.

“Sure,” he looked up from his computer.

You fully entered the room and closed the door softly behind you. Unusual.

“Did you have a dating policy at Zanden?”

“Dating policy?” You were serving up some strange questions today.

“Yes, like a policy around dating people within the firm?”

“Ah! I don't know,” Jeonghan shook his head and shrugged. “Why?” He wondered if there was someone you were interested in.

“Hm. Is he the type to be a stickler about that kind of stuff?”

“Hm…,” Jeonghan thought for a moment. Honestly he wasn't sure, but didn't think so. Harris was like Peter in a lot of ways. As long as things didn't hinder productivity or professionalism, he likely didn't care. “Probably not?”

“Interesting,” your eyes lit up as you pressed your fingertips into steeple fingers. “Okay, thank you!”

“Sure,” Jeonghan nodded, mind dwelling on the fact that you hadn't answered the question of why.

He flipped through his mental roster of associates and staff and frowned. There wasn't anyone at the firm that he felt really made sense for you.

“Hey Peter?” you knocked on the managing partner’s ajar door.

“Yes, come in!” his voice came through the crack.

“Hey can I ask you something? And don't be weird about it.”

Peter narrowed his eyes at that playfully and gestured for you to continue.

“Have you and Harris discussed a dating policy for the firm post merger?”

“Dating policy? No, I supposed we haven't!”

“Do you have thoughts on it?”

“I probably do,” Peter nodded and then paused for a moment to gather them. “On the one hand, we should have something to protect us from a legal standpoint, but on the other hand I love love, so I wouldn't be in favor of prohibiting internal dating.”

“That makes me very happy to hear,” you nodded excitedly.

“Are you interested in someone?” Peter’s eyes lit up with curiosity. “Tell me, tell me!”

“No!” you almost burst out laughing at the idea of dating someone at the firm. There was almost no one suitable.

“Maybe him?” Peter had gotten out of his chair and was peering out of his office through his blinds.

“Don't do that!” you pulled him away from the glass, “You look weird! They're gonna think you're planning layoffs or something!”

“Oh, ah, yea,” he scratched his head sheepishly. He sometimes forgot that the associates from Zanden still didn't know him very well and found his positional authority to be a bit intimidating.

“Thank you for your thoughts!” you beamed at him before leaving. The bounce in your step was obvious as you returned to your office. You couldn't wait to update Maja!

Jeonghan’s brow furrowed as he watched you float back into your office. You seemed damned pleased and he was surprised that it bothered him so. He had gone through the company directory and confirmed his initial thought that no one seemed fit to task. You were too much of a handful! Smart and competent with a goofy side, empathetic yet ruthless when necessary. Godspeed to whoever it was that you were interested in.

…

“Damn it, I'm running late,” you cursed when Jeonghan entered your office, ready to appear before Judge Bytheway again.

“We need to go now. What do I need to do to make that happen?”

“My bag. I'll get the rest.”

Jeonghan nodded, grabbing your leather crossbody bag. He looked on as you grabbed a small satchel and followed him out the door.

He looked over occasionally with intrigue as you fixed your makeup in the car. You placed highlight and blush strategically and when you were done, you looked somehow…brighter eyed and bushier tailed.

Like last time, Jeonghan presented all of the arguments while you sat there taking and making notes. Occasionally Wade would lean over and confer with you, which you would relay to Jeonghan in a scribble. It was very seamless.

“Hell yes,” you muttered under your breath when the judge rendered his ruling. You shot Wade a triumphant look.

“Excellent work again, Attorney Yoon,” the judge complimented Jeonghan. “Young lady,” his gaze shifted to you. “You have a lot to learn from this man!”

“Of course your honor! I could never even dream of filing his shoes,” you nodded demurely, placing a hand on his forearm.

If Jeonghan was surprised at the contact, he didn't show it. Bytheway nodded curtly before leaving the courtroom.

“Woohoo!” you jumped excitedly, pumping your first in the air at Wade. “We did it!”

“Yes you did,” he nodded, more than pleased.

Jeonghan had to agree. While he may have presented arguments, the logic and work behind it had been all yours. Aside from a few meetings to review your positions and go over precedential cases, it had required nearly no work on his end. In fact, it felt more like he was playing the role of a lawyer rather than being one.

“Now we get celebratory bubble tea, right?” Jeonghan laughed as he pulled the car out of the courthouse parking lot

“Oh! I wouldn’t be opposed, if you want to stop.”

“Sure. Add the stop on the navigation,” he pointed to his phone.

“What do you get?” you asked Jeonghan as your eyes ran over the menu.

“Honeydew milk tea with boba.”

You nodded. Somehow that made sense for him. You paid for three orders: him, yourself, and Maja. Jeonghan’s eyebrows raised in surprise at the treat and you explained that you owed him for the help with the case.

“You did all the work,” he shrugged, but placed his wallet back into his pocket.

“Yes, but it wouldn’t have had the same outcome if I had been the one doing delivery. Wade and I would be having consolation bubble teas instead.”

Jeonghan snorted at the idea of your heavily mustached client drinking bubble tea. You smiled brightly at him and a sudden memory triggered for Jeonghan.

“On the count of Second Degree Murder, the jury finds the defendant ‘Not Guilty’.”

Your eyes had widened in disbelief. You’d been so stressed about this mock trial because the evidence just seemed impossible to spin in the right direction. You two had spent way too many hours on this extracurricular, but you were both so stubborn and determined that you’d treated it as if it were a real murder case.

“We did it,” you murmured in disbelief. ��Jeonghan we did it!”

Jeonghan was surprised he could still recall the way your eyes had lit up at him that day. Today’s case was certainly no murder, but the win still seemed to trigger the same light of joy within you. He struggled to fight the infectious smile that crept onto his lips as you waited together for your tea.

…

“Oh oh oh!” you smacked the arm of the couch as you remembered something. “Shit! I totally forgot to tell you that I talked to Peter about the dating policy thing!”

“Oh!” Maja cocked her head at you.

“He said that he felt we should have a policy in place, but that he wouldn’t make it hard or prohibit people from dating internally! So that’s a good sign, right?”

“Hm, I suppose,” she pursed her lips.

“Have you decided what you want to do?”

“I would have kept seeing him had this merger not happened, but I feel so weird about dating the managing partner! Also I don’t want him to make an exception for me or write a lax policy because of our situation.”

You squinted at Maja. She was quite rigid when it came to principles and you weren’t sure if she was self sabotaging or what! It was rare for her to be interested in actually dating someone long term.

“Well could you just tell him that? Like exactly that. Cause I feel like you want to have a finalized solution to bring to him and I’m not sure that’s possible? This feels like a decision that you’ll have to make together.”

“You know I’m not very good at that,” she grumbled and you nodded. You did know that. “What about you? How are things with Flynn?”

You thought for a moment before answering. You’d been dating Flynn for almost half a year now and truth be told, things had been rocky for a couple of months. Since the merger, you’d been working longer hours and more cases in an effort to prove yourself to Harris. You’d always been married to your work, but prior to the merger, you’d known that partner was an inevitability.

Flynn was a dermatologist with very set office hours and a very ideal work-life balance. He didn’t really understand the difference in schedule demands of law and it had been a major source of friction lately. You wondered about compatibility for the future as you had no considerations of changing careers or tamping your ambition.

“Well that's not a good sign,” Maja’s eyes widened as you continued to be deep in thought for ten minutes.

“It could be better,” you admitted, “I’ve been working a lot lately.”

“Ah,” Maja nodded knowingly.

Throughout her time as a paralegal, she'd seen many relationships fall apart because of the workload demands. Being in a romantic relationship with a lawyer was not for everyone.

“What do you plan to do?” She was curious.

“Try harder?” you shrugged glibly.

Maja let out a sharp snort. That was always your solution.

“I don't know, to be honest,” you huffed, unsettling the hairs that framed your face.

“Really you should just marry your job. Or at least another lawyer. They're the only ones who really understand.”

“No thank you,” you answered tartly as you thought about the associates you knew well at Chae & A.

“Marry me then,” Maja joked. “We'll start our own law firm.”

“With blackjack! And hookers!” you answered before dissolving into a pile of giggles.

“I'd do it! Platonic marriage, I stan.”

“If we're still single at thirty five?” you suggested, sticking your pinky out to seal the deal.

“Deal!” Maja laughed, locking her finger in yours.

You were suddenly struck by a sense of deja vu. There was no way on earth, but you felt like you'd made this deal before.

back to index | chapter 2

#svthub #jeonghan fanfic #jeonghan x reader #jeonghan fluff #seventeen fanfic #seventeen fluff #seventeen x reader #seungkwansphd:writes #room for interpretation

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womanofwords · 2 months

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The Rightful Inheritors: Media Tour

Their faces were everywhere. Everybody was talking about the criminal syndicate known as The Rightful Inheritors. More accurately, everyone was talking about the list. Two things stuck out about it: that the school's name was at the top, and that one name had a black dot next to it. Jesse Bennington.

"Who's Jesse Bennington?" Detective Xena Holland asked. "What does that black dot mean? Is he your leader? Where is he hiding?"

Sonya laughed. "He's not our leader. He's the guy we rejected while scoping out recruits. The black dot was there to remind us not to go near him again. I don't know where he is, and I don't care."

In reality, Jesse Bennington was doing very well. He had hardly recognised his classmates from his days enrolled in Goldleaf Academy. "I had no idea that they had considered me for anything," he told a news reporter. "I didn't get noticed much by other students, except for when I got pitied or picked on. This is a shock."

"So, this happened behind your back?" the reporter asked.

"Yes. I had no knowledge of this gang and their plans until now," Jesse said. "I think my obliviousness saved my life. If I'd known, I'd be . . . I don't like to think about where I'd be."

Goldleaf Institute was having a terrible time. "The atrocities committed by Goldleaf alumni are wholeheartedly condemned by us at Goldleaf. Such ideologies are not taught or practiced at this school. We give our condolences to the victims of their heinous acts and their families."

In prison, the members of The Rightful Inheritors sat alone, split up from their comrades. Even in prison, they were unpopular; the other prisoners refusing to sit near them out of disgust. There was no network of friends, no family, no creature comforts, nothing.

They weren't going to be inheriting anything.

#creative writing #my writing #writing inspiration #writers #writing #writeblr #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #the rightful inheritors

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saltygilmores · 1 year

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Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls: Season 2, Episode 21, Lorelai's Graduation Day, Part 6

I may be something of a rank amateur as far as how many times I've watched Gilmore Girls (2 times through seasons 1-7, currently in the middle of my 2nd run of seasons 1-4 only) while some people have seen it dozens of times (how do you do it, I'm in awe of you, I love this show but it drains my life force). I may be a walking encylopedia of stupid knowledge about Luke and Jess (like how Luke actually serves Folgers coffee and Apartment Jess in season 4 has a Recycling On Tuesday sticky note on his fridge) but I've had to look up basic-bitch things about Rory and Lorelai like why there is so much bootleg merchandise that says "Copper Boom". My point is that with every viewing, I learn a lot. Right now I'm learning that my memory is a shady bitch. She's been tricking me into thinking many of the episodes I remembered as hunky dory "Comfort episodes" from beginning to end were not. The reality is this: the beginning of many episodes are innocent enough, the "favorite/comfort" is actually just some small portion in the middle, and the last 10-15 minutes are a shit tornado of epic proportions and almost without exception due to Lorelai and/or Dean’s fuckery (example: There's the Rub). MY POINT IS, I do have a vague memory of how this episode ends and I anticipate that while it won't be the worst Last 15 Minutes Shit Tornado I'm hoping it won't wash the sweet sweet taste of Literati StepCousin Wiener Tasting In The City out of my mouth right quick. EDIT after finishing the episode: It was not rage-inducing at all. It was fine. Lorelai barely even talked because Rory wouldn't let her get a word in edgewise. It was just ridiculous and went on too long. Read more at the end of the post. Due to it's lack of fuckery, one minute each of Dean and Christopher, and Lorelai's lack of interference, StepCousins In The City can hold it's trophy aloft and retain its standing as my favorite Gilmore Girls episode of all time.

That was pointless and disgusting and it goes on through the entire graduation. And yeah, that's the dude who voices all the characters on Family Guy, Seth MacFarlane. Pretty much just playing one of his characters. With his Brian Griffin voice which is really just his normal voice. Charming. Did you know Family Guy was one the first shows to be revived after it was canceled due to overwhelming demand from fans? The Network was like "if it'll shut ya'll up we'll bring the damn thing back." I was a biiiiiig Family Guy fan in the early 2000's, spent countless hours on FG message boards and added my momentum to the campaign. The network listened. They bought it back. It was horrible. I never watched it again. AHEM.

Thanks a lot, Family Guy. And I’m sorry that I took part in the first successful revival campaign for a canceled tv show. I could not know the domino effect it would have. Alright, my memory is failing me again. I cannot for the life of me recall how Rory ends up missing Lorelai's graduation. I don't think she got on the wrong bus (Jess would never let her). Does the bus break down? Oh, how I love playing Memory Roulette.

So there's one single road leading out of New York City into all surrounding states, and a single accident will prevent “all” busses from leaving the state? Thousands of people are being held hostage over one car crash? That won’t be pretty. I feel like her best option would be to take the train. A taxi would be too expensive, but Jess knows how to drive, so maybe Liz has a car. Steal her car. I just feel like there are alternatives than being held hostage in a stinky bus. Back at the graduation, Family Guy and his girlfriend continue yelling at each other to shut up and die and then they bully Lorelai for having wealthy parents. This is community college. I am an alumni of a county college myself. Many classes would be half empty by the end of the semester as people constantly dropped out (especially night classes). There were some bumps in the road so it took me 3 years to get my 2 year Associates degree, and I was proud of myself for finishing. I didn't pursue any more education after that; but the graduation ceremony was small because most people were transferring to a four year school and they didn't see the point, I guess, of bothering with a graduation ceremony halfway into their college career. Nobody lived at school so your personal connections to your classmates were loose at best. My point is no college adult would ever give a damn about some total stranger's parents to the point they're going to openly bully them AND their friends. I just wanted to graduate and be done with school forever. We’re adults, we all wanna go home. Family Guy is picking on Sookie and Jackson for their "expensive" clothes now. Joke's on you Family Guy, Lorelai runs the Independence Inn where all three of them are employed and she pays them both in beans.

This is what I say any time someone compliments my outfit. Lorelai's face is priceless.

Sometimes this show makes me feel old. This time, I feel young. Because I'm nearly 40, and still too young to know squat about pagers. I grew up in the same Gilmore Girls timeline where certain people (but not everyone) had primitive cellphones, but I don't remember anyone with a pager. I wasn't aware that pagers could get any sort of texts that communicated "I'm running late." . So I had to jump down another GoogleHole . The answer is yes, they were capable of sending and recieving alphanumeric messages, and since the mid 90's, to boot.

Ahhh, love to see her amongst the commoners.

She misses her cousin, okay? You don't have to remind her. Please do not talk to unaccompanied teenage girls on public transportation and tell them to smile, you pervert. He informs Rory that she got on a Local bus, which is why it's taking so long and making a lot of stops, while the bus she took into the city was an Express that doesn't make stops. Okay, you know what, I actually blame Jess for this. I literally just said "Jess would never let Rory get on the wrong bus." And what did he do? Screwed his cousin. Figuratively. It's not the wrong route, but given that he's aware she needed to be home on time to see Lorelai’s graduation, how important it was to Rory, and with him knowing that little miss "can I eat a hot dog on the subway" was under his supervision as a born and bred New Yorker to get on the correct bus to get home in time, well Jess, you fucked up. Jess Mariano's second fuck up is that Rory clearly has some way of communicating with Lorelai, and if Little Mister Walmart had a cellphone, she could have disembarked the bus, called or messaged him, and he could have directed her to the right bus or given her advice on alternate modes of transportation.

You should have, but it's still your cousin's fault. You're making lengthy conversation with strange men on the bus. You're too naive. You can't be trusted in a big city by yourself. She also listed two scenarios where if this were only a couple of years later, having a smartphone to check traffic and schedules would have changed the entire course of the episode. Because We're still on season 2, where you can't show someone drinking a beer and Rory goes to house parties thrown by popular kids where they only drink "imported sodas", this guy is using his beer can for his spit and not to drink. At least by the end of season 3 (KegMax) beer is finally a thing which exists and that wayward youth are seen indulging in.

Family Guy continues to bully Lorelai for being "rich" even moments before she gets her degree. This isn't funny and is in fact quite nauseating and awful.

Yayy. We spot Emily holding back tears during Lorelai's graduation, but afterwards she can only a muster up this ol chestnut: "Congratulations. Hope Raul got some pictures. Welp see ya tomorrow, we gotta go." Okay, okay, this is the worst graduation in history. Mr and Mrs Asshole Family Guy bully you the entire time, your daughter doesn't show up because she's dilly dallying all over New York City shoving wieners in her mouth with your punk future-nephew, you didn't want your parents to show up in the first place because you feel like you'd only disappoint them, but they show up anyway because their grand daughter went behind your back to invite them, then they make a spectacle only to tell you "congratulations" and then try to leave. And to break Lorelai's heart even further, in a few moments she'll find out that Dean Forrester's on his way to being moldy old Wonderbread to Rory and Jess is...the new fancy organic expensive bread from the good supermarket outside of Stars Hollow. Look, she's due for some pretty bad karma but maybe this is a skosh too much at once.

Put it towards therapy.

Certainly not stuck on the wrong bus because her chaperone couldn't be trusted.

Oh Rory you're SO BONED.

Back at home... L: Whatever kept you, whatever you were doing you should have gotten out of it just this once. Was it school? Was it Paris? Oh boy Lorelai I hope you're ready for a real doozy. Anyway, we're finally down to the last four minutes of the episode which is the entire length of Rory's rambling, over the top groveling/ apology.

Hey, that might be enough time to get Dean off your back. Tell her you went to see Jess. DO IT.

"After he called me last night, that phone call... it DID SOMETHING TO ME. I'm ill! I'm sick!" Girl, I feel you. I get it. I get it. Come here. Give me a hug. Rory's groveling is so desperate and pitiful that Lorelai looks utterly reasonable. She is just standing there shaking her head, because let's face it, she's already had one hell of a night so what's one more cherry on top of the shit sundae that was her graduation?

How could I resist? "I can't believe Icut school when finals are coming up to go see a guy who isn't my guy and end up missing my mother's graduation!" But you did it, you were brave, you followed your dear little heart, and I'm proud of you. And the groveling goes on on and on...the stinky bus...the guy with the spit can...she's so sorry...please ground her and make her wash the dishes for a year...she's so sorry...she's stupid and dumb and "girly" for being so impulsive...this isn't her...what a dumb selfish stupid non thinking freak she is...

Uh…

L: "Maybe you don't have a medical condition or a mental problem, maybe you're just falling for Jess." I love Jess, but making the decision to get involved with him DOES involve some level of mental problems, it's pretty much a requirement. The same goes for Rory, who is also deeply fucked up but just better at concealing it. Star crossed lovers, bound by fate, dirty hot dogs, the stars above, the marriage of his uncle to her mother, and loads of familial trauma. Rory-O and Jess-Iet.

Rory, you're a terrible liar. Work on that.

That's it! FOREVER! She adds. Said every 17 year old about some asshole pig boy they dated in high school. It's gonna last forever, Mom! But with the way he weaves in and out of her life for over five years, this is sadly closer to accurate than I like to think about. If Lorelai had a crystal ball or called Miss Cleo she could see into the future and rest easy knowing Jess and Rory only date for like 7 months. But she'd also find out she was going to marry into Jess' family and she would have to see Jess for the rest of her natural life and he would call her Aunt Lorelai at every chance he got just to get under her skin. The universe has a way of evening these things out.

Rory keeps up the pathetically transparent "I love Dean! Dean Dean Dean! Jess is gone. Evaporated. Jess? Jess who? I'm not in love with my cousin!" charade but Lorelai isn't buying it. Ladies and gentlemen, she's still going. And now she has a list. While she was on the Stinky Bus she wrote a list of all the ways she's going to make up for her transgression. She is now going to read the items on the list to Lorelai. One by one. This is surely not the most insufferable ending in gilmore girls history but it's one of those scenes that could have been cut down to half the time. Four minutes of Rory's incessant groveling felt like 30 minutes. Lorelai just looks at Rory as she goes off the deep end, not angry at her but sympathetic and bewildered as her daughter begs to be beaten and suffocated. Oh, and Rory left the Go Go's record she bought for Lorelai on the bus. The end.

#gilmore girls #gilmore girls season 2 #rory gilmore #literati #denise rewatches gilmore girls #lorelais graduation day

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cluelesssocialworker · 10 days

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Hoping, praying, wishing that you're still active.

I just got my first job as a social worker and am already on my deathbed. Fresh from uni and not a clue how to do the things they're asking me to do. I'll try though.

Working with seniors, I have to do outreach. We are distributing flyers and trying to make connections for our senior day program for seniors with dementia. I have already reached out to churches, hospitals and medical clinics, community centres, and libraries. But my manager wants me to expand on that list.

I really don't know who else to contact. Do you have any suggestions? And what was your greatest obstacle working your first SW job? ♥️♥️♥️

I'm not really active, but active enough to see this ask!

Oof, frontline social work jobs are tough. I'm assuming you're in the US (though I imagine this would probably be at least somewhat applicable to other countries), so here are some ideas:

First, search your area for social work/mental health worker networking groups. Most of them are on facebook, but some of them might be elsewhere. You can google "[City name/state/region] mental health worker networking group" and see what pops up. I say this both because you'll be able to do some outreach there, but also because you deserve to connect with other mental health workers for support for yourself. Also, try reaching out to your college and see if they have a group for alumni. Again, for outreach and networking opportunities, but also to connect with other social workers for support for yourself.

As for ideas for other places to reach out to: I mean, honestly, you've hit almost all the places I could think of! Try senior centers, if you haven't already. Try other nonprofits serving seniors in your area (try looking for Medicare/Medicaid-funded organizations), assisted living facilities, independent living facilities, and retirement communities, and see if you can find any individual therapists or group therapy practices that may serve seniors.

Also, don't be afraid to stand up and advocate for yourself in your job. If you're fresh out of ideas and your manager is still pushing for more, gently push back. Think along the lines of "I've already tried everything I can think of, including x, y, and z. I'm out of ideas at the moment. Do you have any ideas of other places I can try?" If they don't, and they just expect you to come up with... something, try, "I'm not sure what else to do. If you don't have any other ideas, I'm going to [insert idea of what you can do next that's tangentially related, like, 'follow-up with the places I've already reached out to so I can keep building those connections.'] But I'll talk with you during our next check-in/meeting to see if I come up with any other ideas."

Social work jobs are hard. They are so hard. I struggled with pushing myself too hard and not having the work-life boundaries I need to last long-term. Take your time off, take your sick leave. Turn your phone off (or at least mute work people) after hours. If you can keep from adding any work apps to your phone, do. If they try to give you more work than you can do in a reasonable work week, tell them that. "I'm not able to get x done with y and z, so I'm going to prioritize y and z unless you tell me you'd like me to do something else." And don't be afraid to look for a new job if this one is going to burn you out.

(also AskAManager.org is a great resource for finding ways to advocate for yourself in the workplace. Social workers deserve better than the field gives them. You don't have to put up with it.)

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ryuichirou · 10 months

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I’m a little late today, let’s see how many asks I’ll manage to answer OOPS-

Anonymous asked:

Who are the invited guests for Azudia's wedding?

Idia didn’t want to invite anyone other than Ortho (he didn’t even want to have a ceremony…), but in Azul’s mind, if they’re doing a proper wedding and all, might as well get all the benefits from it. So all of the more-or-less influential NRC alumni are going to be invited, as well as Idia’s family (OBVIOUSLY!!!!!!!!), his own family and people from his mom’s restaurant, anyone the Tweels might invite from their own family, anyone from STYX and Jupiter conglomerate that might want to congratulate the older son of the Shroud family (OBVIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Azul doesn’t expect all of them to come, but the simple fact of sending an invitation is already kind of like networking, so he used this opportunity to the fullest.

Oh, and of course Malleus is invited~

hipsterteller asked:

Hide your kids hide your wife!

This is the motto of the Leech house…

Anonymous asked:

tfw your marriage partner cheats on you with his robot brother XDDD poor Azul

In all honesty, this isn’t the worst possible outcome for him lol He knew that the Shrouds are a bit… unorthodox and super close to each other. As long as Ortho considers him to be a positive influence in Idia’s life and is open to cooperation, it’s all good~

It still does sting sometimes that he, Idia’s legal husband, will never be as close to him as Ortho. But he knows how to cope with this unfortunate thought lol

Anonymous asked:

So has Idia been jealous of Jamil for being close to Azul?

I replied to a similar question in an AzuIde Marriage AU setting (although please note that Azul wanting to marry Jamil isn’t a part of this AU’s canon, it’s just a scenario). In this particular AU, it would really suck for Idia to constantly remember that he is the second option, and he’ll never forget about it. Especially with Azul being kind of bad about being tactful about these things.

In general, I guess it depends on their level of closeness and on how it’s relevant in Idia’s life. If Azul has a fling with Jamil, but never talks to Idia about it, and it doesn’t affect their own quality time in their club, Idia would consider this to be none of his business and try not to think about it. But if Azul starts to miss their club time or talk about Jamil all the time, then Idia would get pissed off. He hangs out with him to play games and talk shit about people, not to listen about how much fun Azul is having with someone else.

He also might get jealous if Azul invites Jamil to play, since Jamil is also quite good at board games… apparently.

Anonymous asked:

That post is peak kalijami for me too. Although, to be fair, Jamil would think "Oh fuck, no..." after falling in love with pretty much anyone, no matter who they are. That's just the standard Jamil Viper reaction to any situation. It's not his fault that he is the only normal person in this school and also the smartest (he's delusional).

He really should listen to Najma and learn to take things less seriously sometimes... Oh well, i guess his stubborness is part of his charms.

(This is related to our post from the other day)

Thank you so much, Anon! <3

I completely agree with you, I don’t think there is any person in NRC that Jamil would be comfortable having a crush on. All of them are horrible, every single one. Najma doesn’t know shit about just how bad they are!! Plus, who needs love, it’s too energy-consuming and useless… (And yes, Jamil is completely delusional in his belief that he is the only sane guy in this school lol)

I guess this is exactly why someone like Kalim is perfect for him, even though all of Jamil’s sufferings are directly related to Kalim.

I think the only NRC guy Jamil genuinely wouldn’t mind hooking up with is Ruggie, but that’s a topic for another day wink wink.

#replies

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bbs-backlog-challenge · 5 months

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Fin or Bin: Orwell

Stop! If you have found this post because you are a fan of Orwell, stop reading this post (well, drop me a follow first) and go check out Subserial Network. There are similarities enough that I think you would really enjoy it. It's also got a similar vibe to pre-blog BBLC alumni Analogue: A Hate Story, and even a flavour of Hacknet.

Sorry, I'm talking a lot about other games I've played, but what I'm getting at is Orwell finds itself in good company. You are an Investigator (Analogue) using cutting edge zero-day technology (Hacknet) to investigate a group of people across webpages (Subserial), phone calls, and devices (Hacknet again).

Definitely-trustworthy advisor Symes is here to guide you through using the ultimate surveillance technology to investigate a group suspected to be behind a series of bombings, discover their motives, and take them down before they can cause any more harm. Let's not spoil too much, but things get complicated pretty quickly. After all, when two different sources disagree on the 'truth', which truth do you consider the correct truth? Lives are at stake, and more importantly, so is your job!

That's been a little bit of a sticking point, and does earn a slightly raised eyebrow. I have failed to prevent a tragedy twice, supposedly through pursuing the incorrect 'truth', but it does feel a little bit like I'm supposed to fail. This game is pretty overtly a political statement (they called it Orwell for goodness' sake) and it would be in fitting with the theme if I was doomed to failure- the point being that even with all this surveillance, we still didn't manage to achieve anything other than privacy invasion.

Of course, it's also entirely possible that I just suck at this.

Fin or Bin:

I do have a real taste for these investigative types of games, piecing together the relationships of a disparate group of people who all have their own secrets to hide. Orwell surprised me right from the off by somehow having my actual real face* preinstalled in the game- I appreciate that they went the extra step. I'm three episodes deep in a five-episode mystery and I haven't even Finished investigating these people for incriminating tweets yet, so I'm sure to find a lot more to chew on.

(Steam)

#*no not really #orwell: keeping an eye on you #orwell #video games #gaming #BBLC: Fin

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uncloseted · 4 months

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How do I make friends/relationships as a plus size girl in a small ish college town? I'm 24 and I graduated in december, but I feel like whenever I go anywhere on campus I'm too old for everyone there. I just lost my best girl friend and don't know what to do or where to find friends or even a romantic relationship. I see biker guys and sometimes they wave at me and that's the closest I get lol! I just want to develop friendships/relationships but I feel like my weight holds me back and being in a small town doesn't help... I have no idea where to start because whenever I go to book stores in town they're all empty. Where do people in their mid-twenties even hang out anymore???

I don’t know if this will make you feel better or worse, but I’m straight size and live in LA and I’ve been having the same problem. I think making new friends after graduating college is difficult at the best of times, and it’s even harder post-pandemic where people are feeling a little socially awkward and a lot of “third space” kind of activities have gone online-only.

If your college has a graduate school, you could try hanging around there or even sitting in on some of the classes if you have time. I was 23 when I started my grad program and I was the youngest person in my department by far. The average grad student is 33 (at least in the US), so you definitely won’t be too old. If your school has alumni events, open lectures on campus, or other events, those are pretty good places to meet people as well.

I would also look into joining clubs, classes, activities, teams, organisations, and anything else where you have a group of people that meet on a regular basis. Since you’re in a college town, there are probably at least a few of these. Maybe there’s a book club or rock climbing gym or a volunteer group or a pottery class or a Meetup group or something. It doesn’t really matter what the activity is just as long as the same people show up to it on a regular basis. The more you’re around the same people, the more likely it is that they’ll become familiar to you and you’ll start chatting.

On a similar note, if you start hanging out at the same coffee shop or bar, especially if you go at the same time every day, you’ll meet other people who are regulars. I have an aunt who’s been having breakfast with the same six friends every day for like thirty years just because they were regulars at the same cafe.

Other than that, apps are probably your best bet. Dating apps are an easy way to meet lots of people, and even if it doesn’t work out romantically, you might get a friend out of it. The friend apps are a little more hit or miss, but they’re also worth a shot, especially in a place like a college town where people are constantly moving there and then moving away.

The last thing I’ll say is that you really only need to make one friend organically. If you meet one person, then they’ll introduce you to their friends, and those friends will introduce you to their friends, and eventually you end up with a whole network of people that you know but that you didn’t have to seek out.

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twilightown · 5 months

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No matter the current situation versus potential situation, there are going to be parts of a move that suck and are stressful. Especially so if it involves moving states. But just because Some parts are going to inevitably suck doesn't mean all of it is doomed to. I'm not sure where your current residence is, but one good thing about moving somewhere that has regular heatwaves is that there are more resources available when it comes to dealing with them. IK that sounds kinda silly but I feel like it's the truth, ESP when it comes to moving somewhere that gets a lot of tourists. I don't want to be an old man "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" but as a native Floridian I can't help but stress that it's the truth xD.

Leaving a support system does sound very scary, but if it is around Orlando/Lake Buena Vista that you want to move to, at least it should be within reasonable distance of an airport when it comes to calling for help or needing to fly out for some reason. Traffic is going to suck, but like the heat it's something you will get used to. This is a move people make a lot, and while that doesn't make it any easier, I hope it helps it feel like it's not so dumb and impossible. Another thing I want to include in this word wall is this: You're smart and an adult and I'm sure you don't need to be told that you're probably not going to get the exact position you want right away. It might be something you have to work up towards or have just a 'getting by' job until you do get your foot in the door or on the path to the door you wanna go through. It's gonna be hard and there are gonna be days in your happy place that aren't as happy and there are probably times you're gonna feel like it sucks. But sucky days aren't going to completely eliminate the possibility of good days. I believe in you and have all of my fingers and toes crossed that this is something that works out in your favor with as few hiccups as possible. The chances of there being no hiccups at all is really slim, but, I am still hoping and praying that things swing in your favor as much as they can.

I needed to hear all this today, thank u 🥰

You’re right, I hadn’t thought of the various resources for heat they’ve got. My previous college program, they were able to move me to nights or early mornings which was nice! I really enjoyed working those. Opening was a joy tbh. Closing was a joy as well.

That is the area - like a 20 mile range from WDW lol. The traffic is something I’m not as worried about because I did it in my programs and lawd my hometown has it worse.

I’m coming from a gentrified medium city on the Eastern seaboard that’s gotten too many incoming tourists for our infrastructure to handle. It’s bumper to bumper from 4:30 to 6 at cross sections because there’s only one or two major routes. Maddening.

You’re right about the airport. My town flies direct to MCO so that’ll be easy. (Just gotta solve the pets for trips back and forth…)

Absolutely, I’m expecting to have to network and work my way up. I’m going to apply for everything when the time is right and see what sticks. My husband will be able to find a job, EZPZ. I’ve got a nice resume and I’m planning to really make my LinkedIn page nice? Try to network on Disney’s alumni website too. See if I can find any work that’s $20+ with them. 🤷🏼‍♀️ If not, I’ll go executive assistant route or try the other theme park or teach. (In Florida? It’s lowest on my list.) Disney has multiple roles for me to use my education degree. Just, like you said, got to get my foot in the door

Thank u kind stranger. This is a large move. And it’s not impossible… But it is life changing. It’s not just me involved. Thinking about how much I love my current job (at the moment) is making me hesitate too. Idk, next years’s students may have me packing my bags.

Our plan is to move at the new year. Professional internships will have started if I need to go that route. I’ll have stayed a semester at my school, we’ll have Christmas goodbyes and enough money saved to pay everything we need to for the move. Just feels right.

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cartoonfangirl1218 · 1 year

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Hey, remember when I had a whiny self pity party a few months ago about my grad school.

It’s back.

You see, I had thought I reached a calm state of acceptance about it. Yes, it wasn’t what I wanted but it was still a good school. Its well known for writing for a reason, it will be fine.

Then orientation happened. And nothing really bad came from it, the teachers all seemed nice and enthusiastic but I just left feeling worse I guess somehow.

The writing workshops seem fine but just the other classes about publishing, it just feels like I’m playing pretend I guess. It’s more essays and more group projects that are supposed to prepare for the actual job and that’s the whole point of education I know.

But god, the other program had you actually tour publishing houses. And there was a whole semester project where you got to work personally one on one with an editor to develop your novel and another semester with an agent to try to sell it to the publishing houses.

You got to work, I want to work so badly instead of having these vague classes where homework is the stand-in for an actual chance inside the publishing world.

And don’t even get me started on the internships. How this school is all about networking and we’ll get you connections and whenever I ask about job, the answer is always the goddam same. It’s always go to the career center.

I did go to the career center in college and all the career center does is help you with your resume. Which is fine but I would like to actually add a job to my goddam resume instead of polishing up the nothing I already have. Because I know the problem is I having nothing on my resume because no one will fucking hire me since I have no experience like the worst circular dumpster fire.

And no one is going to recommend me because I have to be an adult and do it myself, take initiative. I know that but god, everyone says you have to have connections or know someone so why can’t the teacher help me get in something. And I don’t mean the school literary magazine. I read that and I understood nothing of that pretentious poetry nonsense. Nothing!

But maybe I’m wrong, supposedly the alumni in the career center message boards always reply back. Maybe they’ll help. Or maybe it will be like the last time when I talked to three editors from Disney-Hyperion and Simon and Schuster (how’s that for initiative)That they’ll keep me in mind but you just to have keep working at it and maybe find local journals. And I’ll smile and say thanks, and they’ll smile and say they’ll remember but let’s face it, they probably won’t.

And those local journals don’t even have the decency to reply with an automated rejection email because apparently that’s not a thing anymore. They just don’t answer at all. And I’m too polite to send a snarky email saying maybe they’ll hire me to rejection emails for them cuz they need it. Not that they’d reply to that anyone.

And the ones that do answer and give me an interview then they cancel the interview because they don’t need anymore hires. Do they not fucking communicate?!?! How do they not know that the position isn’t filled when they offer someone an interview? Why do they have the internship sign still up! And this has happened to me three times. Three, what the hell.

And the others, cuz only one had the decency to reject me outright told me they needed more personality. Omg this is internship, I’m probably just getting you coffee and checking emails. Do you really need my personality? My personality is whatever you want me to be because I just want to get hired. I mean I guess I could talk about how I like books but I really think you should have guessed that from the fact that I’m applying for your journal and that whole cover letter where I talk about my book blig, my library experience, and all that. But nooo that’s just my accomplishments, they want personality.

Well my personality is in the middle of a meltdown between crying ion the toilet and punching someone in the face repeatedly. Thank you very very much!

And my regular job search isn’t going much better with the aforementioned no rejection email thing. Or just not replying to emails. Or they want a high school student. Or it only goes to the Princeton Uni ones because they’re so special. Which will be ironic since the only job that I’m going to get is at the University store. Yes, maybe it’s a shitty temporary job, but I guess that’s a rite of passage and I want money.

Yet it’s so so depressing at the same time because I know what my friends are doing. Ones in foreign exchange in Uruguay at a clinic. Ones working at a hospital. Ones in law school. They get to work, they get to be in the fields while I’m stuck in this online program in theoretical publishing land instead of the real thing.

And I know I shouldn’t compare but it’s hard and then I have to talk to them and literally have nothing to say when they ask what’s new. Nothing is new. It’s read a little and depend on the day, do laundry or go food shopping. Or when I get the store job, I can add fold t shirts, stack t shirts, ring up t shirts, find my atrophied brain among the t shirts. Basically the same thing I’ve done all summer.

Because how can I build a social life in an asynchronous program. Seriously? So many people yet the most superficial interactions. It’s not like real life and it’s not like fandom life where you already have a jumping off point and I must admit I suck at group situations. I need one on one but again, it’s all async so ffuuuuck. And don’t get me on local adult classes. They use to be $75, now they’re $210 for Beginner’s French, what sort of capitalist greed nonsense is this

And let’s not even get to my love life, that will go down a depressing spiral just the same. And I have tried and maybe it’s the guys I’ve texted with but they suck at texting. I’m always initiating and it’s always one word in return and I cannot be the one initiating, I just feel I’m bothering you. And since I’ve stopped, it’s been months with nothing so clearly that’s a dead end too.

I mean, people always go on in the internet age it’s so easy to communicate and noooo it’s not true! It’s not true! It’s not true!

The only thing I’m excited about is doing a paralegal degree online. I’m not even interested in law! But at least it will feel like an accomplishment compared to this program.

Because maybe I’m not cut out for this. Maybe I’m not as good of a writer as I think I am. And I’m trying to be realistic that maybe I can be an editor but apparently getting into it is even harder than being a writer. Apparently just getting in that field is just hard and it sucks. And I could be a librarian but that involves learning math, it’s been three years since I did math, I can’t get back into, I can’t. The GRE has spoken.

So I’ll be a paralegal and I just die a little inside. And my friends are all like why are you giving up on my dream and come on, you think I want to?

I don’t! I know I would be good at it. I read 100 pages per hour, I’ve done interviews with authors, I wrote 100 posts for my book blog in 18 days and once did a 100 day streak of one post a day. Basically, initiative and I’m disciplined and bit obsessive which I would think they want. I’ve edited others work, I think I write pretty good emotional scenes with angst and humor, I’ve written in the voice of other authors, I’ve planned detail book series which is exactly in the job skills of a story editor. I would kill in this!

Maybe, I mean I don’t even know. Maybe it is harder than I think and I should try for something else but I don’t know because I’m not in that world, just theoretical land of school papers and essays, wasting my time when I could have learned to accept that dreams die long long ago.

And yes, this is all very self pitying when I could transfer but what’s the point? What’s the point of sticking it out for a year and transferring. I should just suck it up and do the two years I’m paying for. Transferring wouldn’t solve the fact that Boston is too expensive to live in. That’s why my parents told me to accept this one, to stay home and save the money on rent and transportation. And take care of my grandfather and dogs. It was a sign they said,

And I know it’s selfish to want otherwise. I mean I love my grandfather and I don’t want to be too far away if he, god forbids, dies but it hurts. It feels like I’m stuck in this false grown up world where I’m pretending that I’m going to actually earn something out of this vague program of busywork that will “prepare” me while everyone is out there doing things with their jobs full of purpose and fulfillment and life and cute guys and culture.

And yeah, I just needed to scream it out there in the void of the internet where it can’t get back to my family. Then they’d just feel guilty (which maybe they should have thought about before undermining my decision but whatever, I’m trying to get over the resentment). But there’s some good stuff, like seeing my family and having my dogs. And I have the car so I can go to the library and movies and. . . Yeah that’s it. But my first Zoom class is today so maybe it’ll be better. Please be less empty than I think. At least I got this all out in words instead of swirling in my head every time I go food shopping strangely enough.

#random musings #personal

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khalixascorner · 2 years

Text

Lost Without You

Summary: Tony is at a MIT speed networking gig with Rhodey when he meets Peter, a brilliant but clearly struggling sentinel who he soon realizes is also Spider-Man. The kid is getting himself into murky water with his latest research so Tony offers a different solution to his problems. Fill for Blind Date.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Sentinels & Guides, Sentinel Peter Parker, Guide Tony Stark, Both are still heroes, Peter hides his abilities, so does tony, Later chapters include sugar daddy Tony, College Student Peter Parker, Age Difference, Sentinel/Guide Bonding, Sugar Baby Peter Parker

Read on AO3 Here

Tony sat at the bar passing the time as he tried to ignore the press of people against his mental shields. Rhodey had dragged him here as a plus one for the annual MIT alumni speed networking. His friend had claimed that it was good for Tony to connect to young minds, but frankly none of the kids here were worth the headache being around so many people caused. SI had headhunters that would find the good ones after they had matured a little. And until then, he would hide in the corner and try to shore up his shields while drinking virgin mixed drinks.

“Excuse me Mr. Stark?” a timid voice said next to him.

“Look kid, I’m not here for autographs tonight,” Tony said, not even looking up from his drink. The voice’s owner barely pinged his shields, which made it even easier.

“Oh, ah, I know sir, it’s just, you see, Colonel Rhodes said I should talk to you sir,” the kid stuttered out. “But I can just, ah, go. Sorry sir.”

“Hold on kid, you said platypus sent you over?” Tony said, actually looking at the kid. At first glance, he didn’t look like much. While he had a cute set of curls on him and a pretty face, he took the starving college student look a bit far if the skinny frame and just this edge of gaunt cheekbones were anything to go by. He also barely had a presence to his guide senses, which was a blessing. Briefly Tony wondered if Rhodey had sent him over because he was in clear near of a sugar daddy and it wouldn’t be the first time Tony had put a twink through school unofficially.

“Yes sir,” the kid said and Tony gestured to the stool next to him.

“Take a seat then kid,” Tony said. “Tell me a bit about the person that got Honey Bear’s attention. Must have been impressive because he knows I like a brain to go with my pretty faces.”

The kid flushed bright red, and stammered out something unintelligible before falling quiet again. Tony briefly wondered if the kid was a sentinel, albeit a weak one.

“So? Don’t keep me waiting, kid,” Tony said, startling the kid, and confirming Tony’s suspicions. A lot of younger sentinels had a tendency to appear lost in thought when their surroundings were too much.

“Ah, sorry sir. I’m Peter. Parker. Peter Parker,” the kid said, glancing up at him shyly. “I’m in the Biochem program with a minor in engineering.”

“Ah, called it. Knew you’d be a smart one,” Tony said, gesturing for the bartender to get him another drink. “Can I get you anything?”

“A coke would be nice sir, if it’s not too much trouble,” Peter replied, and Tony grinned.

He could already imagine the sort of fun he was going to have with this kid. Sentinels were always so sensitive and the shy innocent ones always responded so well to learning new things.

“So what were you talking to Platypus about that got his attention?” Tony asked once they had their drinks. “Must have been something special.”

“Um, I mean, I didn’t think so?” Peter started hesitantly before falling into full on rambling. “I was asking about how you guys handled the interfacing on the suit UIs for your armors because I’ve been trying to get my program to interface with a physical apparatus, but I can’t get it to talk to it properly and I wasn’t sure if it was a coding language error or if you guys needed specific hardware to handle the software.”

“Oh? What are you trying to make, kid?” Tony asked, curious why this would be a sticking point. “Plenty of programs interface with physical apparatuses.”

“Um, well, you see, I’m trying to create a medical assistant of sorts, I guess. Kinda like Baymax, only like, wearable?” the kid said, then hurried to add, “But not, like, full armor or anything. Just like a watch or bracer and headset? Something to help people with different kids of medical conditions that’s smart enough to react as needed based on the situation.”

Tony froze. Visions of ULTRON flashed in his head followed swiftly by the guilt over JARVIS’s demise. The kid tensed next to him and Tony realized he’d let his shields slip. He slammed them back into place and took a drink to cover the misstep. He needed to do damage control here, not scare the kid off.

“Seems like an interesting concept kid,” Tony said, hoping his face was pleasant enough to not give him away. “I can’t really troubleshoot it without seeing the setup and system though. How about we head back to your lab and I’ll take a look?”

“Really Mr. Stark? You wouldn’t mind?” the kid asked, tension fading away as he practically vibrated with excitement. Tony paid his tab and shot Rhodey a text before responding.

“Not at all. Gotta nurture the next generation and all that jazz so lead the way,” Tony said.

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

Peter had been nervous about attending the MIT Alumni speed networking night. Since the bite, his latent sentinel traits had suddenly been not-so-latent and his introverted nature became a necessity for his sanity. His Spider-man suit served to insulate him from the world when he was out helping people, but even then it could be too much.

This could be a game changer, though. With Mr. Stark’s help, he might be able to finally create an artificial guide or at least something close enough that could help people like him. While Peter’s case was extreme, his research had shown how so many sentinels that had been given a low sensitivity grade were often prevented from getting help. Guides, especially strong ones, were so in demand for the sentinels that “needed” them, after all.

Without a second thought, Peter led Mr. Stark outside and started to order an Uber.

“What are you doing kid?” Mr. Stark asked, causing Peter to jump. He blinked, not realizing he had started to zone a bit while staring at his phone.

“Sorry sir, I just live kinda far to just walk, so I was going to call us an Uber,” Peter explained hurriedly, trying to cover the lapse. He couldn’t afford to fuck this up now, even if his senses were still on edge from the gathering.

“I have a car, just give me the address,” Mr. Stark said, already tapping on his own phone. Peter quickly rattled his address off, and flushed a little when Mr. Stark gave him an unimpressed look.

“Sorry sir,” Peter mumbled, playing with the hem of his shirt absently. The texture was soothing against his skin, and helped ground him. “My scholarship didn’t cover room and board, and I couldn’t afford anything closer.”

“Just make sure we don’t get mugged,” Mr. Stark said with a huff, and Peter swore he could feel edgy irritation worry pulses of emotion from the other man before suddenly it was gone again. It was odd because only guides could do that, and Mr. Stark definitely wasn’t one. Right?

He shook off the train of thought and realized he hadn’t responded out loud again, leaving the older man staring at him with an odd blend of concern and impatience on his face.

“Yes sir, don’t worry I’ll protect you sir,” Peter said with the biggest smile he could manage. He was Spider-man after all, he could definitely do that.

“Yeah no, on second thought, if something happens, just get behind me and stay quiet,” Mr. Stark ordered. “Pretty sure a strong wind could knock you over, let alone a determined mugger. Don’t need those headlines.”

Peter winced but held his tongue. He knew he didn’t look like much after all, and he wasn’t quite ready to admit to being Spider-man. If the older man even believed him.

Luckily it didn’t come to that, and they made it to Peter’s apartment with no problems beyond Peter struggling to keep his body from trying to zone in the car. It was frustrating, as he normally had better control, but every since he had gotten close to Mr. Stark, his mind had started wandering more. Thankfully he was ready when they arrived.

“This way, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, leading the other man into the building and up the stairs. “Sorry, the elevator is broken again, but it's only a few flights.”

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

Tony almost wished Rhodes had just sent the kid to him for a supplemental scholarship. Clearly he needed it. The kid’s apartment was much like everything else about him, everything in it having seen better days. Even the kid’s computer that housed his precious work was held together by duct tape and hope as far as Tony could tell.

There were also strange parts of what appeared to be wearable tech laying around the room. For a second Tony wondered if the kid was a cosplayer or into larping. But then he saw it: the crumpled blue and red fabric sticking out from under a pile of dirty clothes. Tony looked at Peter, still apologizing for his slow computer, then looked back at the mechanical gadgets on the floor. Gadgets that he was 95% sure shot the synthetic webbing used by one slightly infamous friendly neighborhood web slinger. A web slinger that had been seen a lot less in Queens lately.

It was a strange feeling to realize that the elusive Spider-man was just a kid, and the mental math involved made his chest so tight with worry that he was sure it was leaking through his shields. The kid had been doing this since he was a teenager, and he was wearing this shitty gear while doing it.

“Sorry again about the delay sir,” the kid said, embarrassed. “It takes a bit to boot up.”

“It’s fine, kid,” Tony said, waving it away. He used the time to examine Peter more closely, feeling startled when he realized how much stronger the kid’s presence was now that they were away from the crowd. The press of a sentinel’s presence was growing stronger against his shields. It wasn’t forceful though, so much as just there, calling to his own abilities instead.

“I know everyone probably says this, but I really am a huge fan of your work. I’ve read your papers on robotics and AIs so many times,” Peter said suddenly, drawing Tony from his thoughts.

“Yeah? For this project of yours I assume?” Tony asked, all the while having FRIDAY discreetly gather everything she could on Peter Parker. “Tell me more about it.”

“Well, like I said, it's for a medical assistant. For sentinels that don’t have their guide available or who haven’t been partnered yet specifically, though I think it could have a lot more applications with just a little tweaking,” Peter said hesitantly. “There’s a wrist band and headset that monitor vitals to tell if a sentinel is in danger of zoning. Then, if they start to slide, I’m hoping I can program the assistant to help pull them out of it, or at least alert help so it doesn’t get worse.”

“It’s an admirable goal, kid, but I’m not sure you’ll get anyone to back it,” Tony said carefully, reading between the lines as he did. Clearly the kid didn’t have a guide and was concerned enough to try to build this in response. “At least not for the reasons you want them to. The military will snap the idea up but they’ll use it for more than just helping sentinels not zone in the unlikely event they don’t have a guide handy.”

Tony watched as Peter frowned, then blanched as his brain finally made the connections that Tony had from the beginning.

“I’m not trying to do that,” Peter rushed to say. “I don’t want crazy robots or, or things to hurt people. I swear Mr. Stark, I just, I want to help.”

“I know, kid, but that’s not how these things work when you need funding,” Tony said, his heart going out to the kid as he remembered the days of being told he had to make weapons because it was the Stark way. Even after finally deciding to stop and being told he couldn’t for a million and one reasons. He didn’t want to hurt people either, he just wanted to protect them. “Let me take a look, maybe we can figure out an alternative that can’t be twisted into something you didn’t intend.”

The computer had finally booted up and Tony waited a moment before turning to see why the kid hadn’t unlocked it, only to find him frozen. No, not frozen, zoned .

“ Shit,” Tony swore as his eyes darted around the room, his brain unhelpfully pointing out random things. “Kid? Kid! Can you hear me?”

Peter started to tremble and then collapsed. Tony darted forward, managing to cradle the kid so he could lower him gently to the ground. As he did, their skin touched and Tony sucked in a breath at the sudden wave of input that managed to slip past his shields.

He fought through it, not wanting to drop the poor kid, and got them settled on the ground as he leaned against a wall, Peter in his lap.

“Alright kid, confession time, I have no training beyond managing my own shields but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say your attempts at an artificial guide mean you don’t have anyone to trust this with,” Tony said with a sigh. “Honestly, kinda in the same boat, so you keep my secret and I’ll keep yours.”

Peter didn't respond, not that Tony expected him to, but he kinda wished the kid would have. He’s seen it done before of course. Everyone sees the movies and in health class, but he’d never actually tried to pull a sentinel back.

Following his instincts, Tony reached , feeling for the sentinel’s presence against his shields. Ever so carefully, he lowered his shields, only to be assaulted by input which caused him to bring them back up again. Honestly if that was what sentinels felt, it was not wonder they got overstimulated, Tony retorted mentally, trying to use the quiet his shields bought him to think.

Then it struck him. If his shields protected him, why not just wrap Peter in them too? With a grounding breath, Tony lowered his shields just enough to have a firm sense of Peter’s presence. Then he reached and extended his shields around that feeling at the same time. Guide bullshit had always seemed so arbitrary and so against science but in this case it worked for him. By will alone he cocooned Peter in his shields, and he felt the body in his arms relax in response.

“Mr. Stark?” Peter’s voice was soft with awe. “What’s going on? It’s so quiet.”

“Just helping you out a bit, that’s all kid,” Tony said with a sigh. “I think we need to have a talk though, don’t you, Spiderling?”

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

“What, I, uh-” Peter started to flail, only to stop at Mr. Stark’s unimpressed look. It probably didn’t help that he could feel the older man’s emotions more easily, and the guide wasn’t exactly hiding his disdain at Peter’s stuttered responses. “Um, I guess so, sir.”

“Look, kid, I’m not going to rat you out to the Accords folks or anything, but you need a guide,” Mr. Stark said, irritation disdain bitterness flavoring the conversation when he mentioned the accords.

“When I got bit, everything changed, sir,” Peter said softly. “I had already been tested and was just a null with latent sentinel abilities that barely registered on the scale. But after the bite, it was like everything was constantly dialed up to 11. And I couldn’t just get retested because what would I tell them? Oh, by the way, I got bit by an experimental spider while on a field trip to Oscorp.”

Mr. Stark snorted at that, and Peter flashed him a wry grin.

“Yeah, trust me, after the whole fiasco a few years back, it makes me wonder who ever thought they were a good place to take kids, but it was a bit too late for me then,” Peter said, remembering the huge explosion and the lizard person that had attacked the city. Then his face turned more serious. “Even now I don’t know what I’d do or say, sir. I don’t want to end up locked away in some government facility while they run tests on me so that they can intentionally engineer super sentinels. That’s why I need this AI.”

“No, you need a guide. An AI like this is dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing, and it’s not going to fix your problem,” Mr. Stark point out. Peter could taste the fear concern panic that coated Mr. Stark’s thoughts.

“I know that there have been issues before,” Peter started hesitantly, and Mr. Stark snorted again. “Ok, fine, one nearly destroyed the world, but I can’t get a guide sir. Even if I was able to tell someone, what if I hurt them? I’m Spider-man. Who could I possibly trust to stop me if something happened?”

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

Tony wanted to argue, but it was hard to. The kid had a point, though the swirl of sorrow pain loneliness rolling off of him was a bit much.

“Alright, kid, I see your point, but I’m telling you this AI is not the answer, so I have a different suggestion,” Tony said, already hoping he wouldn’t regret this. “I’ll help you out, provide the support a guide does.”

“In return for what?” Peter asked, looking at him suspiciously.

“You’ll be my plus one to all of the boring functions I have to go to, and you have to come to me in New York,” Tony said, already thinking of how he could play off Peter being around to where people wouldn’t be suspicious. Sentinel/guide pairs needed lots of contact and time around each other, or at least that was what they were led to believe, so he was going to need a cover that would work.

“I can’t afford that,” Peter spluttered but Tony was quick to wave him away.

“Billionaire, remember? I’ll have a plane waiting for you after your last classes of the week, you’ll come to New York for the weekend, stay with me, be my plus one, and be back to school by Monday,” Tony said, grabbing his phone and starting to make arrangements.

“But I don’t have the clothes or anything, either!” Peter argued. “And what if something comes up?”

“I’ll take care of it, kid,” Tony assured him, not even looking up as he felt Peter’s resistance being chipped away beneath the onslaught of Tony’s will. “Look, kid, you need this, and you’re right that we can’t trust just anyone. So I’m asking you to trust me, ok?”

At that, Peter’s fight collapsed and he just nodded. Tony felt the acceptance but also tentative joy that was budding in the little spiderling, and couldn’t help but pat his head.

“Good boy. Now get some rest, enjoy the quiet while I work. We don’t have long before I have to get back but I’ll have the arrangements made and see you next weekend,” Tony said. Peter obeyed, eyes slipping shut as the boy finally relaxed. And if Tony made a few other arrangements, including grocery deliveries for his little spider, well, no one would know but him anyway.

#khalixa writes #starker #tony stark/peter parker #sentinel guide AU #currently ff #sfsummerbingo22 #mind the tags

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