#sometimes he takes a smoothie as payment

[reigningmax]

Max/Daniel fic recs (1/?)

Here are some amazing fics I’ve read and loved over the past few months. Thank you always to the fic writers, they are the backbones of society (fandom).

* Favorites, ** Smut, // ABO

***bees and butterflies by @toastandvegemite Daniel asks Max if he’d like to top. Max says no. It turns into a whole thing.

*i need a map of your head (translated into english) by toastandvegemite  Sometimes it feels like Daniel and Max are speaking different languages.

***let me know if I'm reading this right by toastandvegemite Sometimes it feels like Daniel and Max are speaking different languages.

[Honestly, Danni’s fics can take up 80% of my recs. Go read every single fic she’s written, but especially Maxiel. No one does them the way she does]

//*so happy i was invited by blinkiesays "I just wanna drive a fucking race car," Daniel says, after he's let the moment go too long to keep the joke up in the air. "That's all I want to do, is drive a fucking race car." The smile drops off Michael's face. "Yeah, I get it," he says, not getting it at all.

**steal the air out of my lungs (make me feel it) by nacho3  “Hey,” Daniel says, sauntering into a work room balancing a green smoothie and two large coffees from the caf. He puts one in front of Max. “You ready to save lives, Maxy?”

***make a wish that weighs a ton by rickybobby What they had was akin to a circumstantial partnership. There were few people in the world that could understand the things Daniel worried about on a daily basis, even less so the people who were willing to stick around to hear it. Through nothing other than convenience and circumstance, Max fulfilled the basic requirements of Daniel’s social needs, along with the perks: available, attractive, attentive.

***careful fear and dead devotion by hardlythewiser (sequinedfairy)  Daniel's already having a rough year; then Max dumps him.

**like ribbons by heroics  Here they are now, over halfway through the season, and at least one of them’s gotten off after almost every race.

**throw the keys back to me by thermocline But Daniel gets texts from Max more and more often. Links to TikToks. Selfies from the paddock. Snapchat memories of Daniel under the rumpled blankets of Max’s hotel bed in Melbourne, hickies blooming over his chest, at which point Daniel thinks: maybe it’s time for them to try again.

***house fires by tobabylon @geluksalig  Max gets a new performance coach. His name is Daniel.

***my kind’s your kind (series) by hardlythewiser (sequinedfairy) It’s the fourth time: Daniel shouldn’t pretend that he doesn’t know exactly how many times it’s been, that these nights in Monaco haven’t become the way he tracks time, replacing his ten years of living by the F1 calendar. There’s days when he doesn’t know what race is next, but he always knows exactly how many weeks it’s been since he’s done this. The chair is closer to the bed now. Daniel had made Max move it, asked him how he expected to learn anything if he was all the way over there, did he even want to learn.

***all over you (and me) by TheNorthRemembers Or: Max starts lactating and dealing with it turns out to be both more and less fun than thought.

***comeon, star boy by @yekoc Daniel’s just slinging his bag over his shoulder to head out to the parking lot when there’s a noise behind him, the hollow metallic echo of a locker door slamming. Turning, he sees that kid. Max. The running back who always fumbles.

***chemical highs and clear blue skies by yekoc “Did he offer you enough,” Daniel says. Max looks over at him, sharp and surprised. “For whatever it is you need,” Daniel says. “Your car payment this month. First and last, for rent.” He thinks about the kid’s odd accent, the slight awkwardness to his words. “A plane ticket home.” Max shrugs. He kicks at the white t-shirt that’s on the ground near his foot.

***heaviness when I move (everything belongs to you) by Aurelia (Lily_rizzy) Or: Max has many feelings about Daniel with babies and about him and Daniel having a baby.

***second soul by @screwstyles The morning of the last day of the season, Max asks his assistant to book him a one-way ticket to Bali.

***with the sun in our eyes (series) by screwstyles A fake dating AU set in 2025: It’s bad enough that Max is outed by an ex in the middle of racing season, and then his team suggests he pretend to date Daniel to soften the blow. It’s as bad an idea as it sounds.

***//Hart to breathe inside my ocean by screwstyles Realistically, Daniel knows he’s aging, and he’s not in denial about that, but processing three separate incidents in the space of four weeks where his age has come up has made him think about it more than usual.

[Honestly, everything by screwstyles is golden]

***anything to get to the rush by kingsguarding  Every year, the World Champion gets to choose another driver to … celebrate with. It’s an old tradition, apparently. As old as the sport itself. Part of the prize of winning, part of your reward.

***figure me sweetly by @love-leah Daniel had just been thinking he’d tell Max "good season," "next year I’ll be the one fucking beating you, mate." Maybe, "but seriously, I’m proud of you," if Max's vibe was really desperate. Instead, he ended up standing out in the open, in front of the Haas garage and probably Mick’s poor fucking virgin eyes, tilting the champagne bottle up for Max, and watching the muscles of his throat as he swallowed a long, clean pour of it.

***//hold it to the sun by love-leah When they get home, Max strips his shirt off right away, the fabric of it harsh against his nipples. Daniel drops their bags inside the door and looks at him, hungry and exhausted, and says, “I don’t want to think about racing ever again,” and Max’s whole body feels cold and sore, like after a crash, even while Daniel’s hands press into his waist and he leans in to kiss Max’s chest.

*Cupid by eefiplier Max and Daniel making loooove

**lions in the wild by anaesthetist  He drops his face into Max’s hair, nosing at it, inhaling the putrid-sweet smell of Red Bull, champagne, and dry sweat. He didn’t shower before he came, tired and sticky with Martin in tow, turning up at Daniel’s hotel room with nothing more than an insolent you promised.

***kissed her, now you’re seeing double by @ricstappen​ It’s Max and Dan. Dan and Max. But very occasionally, it’s Max and Dan and Carlos.

**MV33 by Whippasnappa Daniel finds out Max is on Grindr. He's curious. He's just going to download the app, just to see. Just to look at Max's profile. He's curious how Max picks up men, curious if Max puts his real face out there. He's definitely not going to message Max. He's definitely not going to do that. He messages Max.

***all your days by @goldenhourhimbo​​ They’re in love. That’s it, that’s the plot.

***for you, my sacrifice is too by highyellowleaves @blamemma  One of those private booths at Cirque Le Soir. That’s where the boys wanted to go. Was booked ages ago. Daniel rolls his eyes. It’s one of the last places he wants to go. Influencers in heels pretending their interested in who he is and what he does. Prying eyes everywhere, paparazzi at the front door. McLaren’s afterparty options aren’t much better. They’re all heading to Tape, where a commercial DJ will be playing some dodgy remixes, and he’ll have similar problems as Max. It’s not how he wants to celebrate. But he knows he has to show face. To thank the engineers and the strategists and the media team for all they’ve done so far. He’ll show face. I’m heading to Tape. Keep in touch tho? We can head somewhere else. It’s normal for him and Max to find each other. They’ve stumbled into this pattern of locating one another, finding excuses to leave their other friends, enjoying each other’s company, being responsible for one another, ending up in the same hotel, same room, same bed.

[wooahaes]

red carnations

pairing: non-idol!jun x gn!reader

prompt: ... your muse from here

word count: 0.9k~

warnings: n/a

daisy’s notes: written + scheduled during the birthday posts.

“I don’t want to just be your muse anymore.”

Junhui had a... bit of a complex relationship with you. Minghao had introduced him to you, one of his fellow photography students, when you expressed the need for a model for your assignments. At first, he only said yes because you were offering a decent payment. You just needed someone you could depend on for your assignments for the rest of the class since the last person you had ended up dropping out for personal reasons; which was something that Minghao had said with an eye roll, telling Jun that it wasn’t serious and that he was still pissed on your behalf. When he asked you, you had merely said that things weren’t working out and they needed to get out despite giving you no prior warnings. At first, Jun had wondered if it was something about you that Minghao wasn’t aware of. But you were nice. You invited him out for coffee or lunch or the occasional dinner because you valued having a good relationship with the people you worked with.

“If you’re going to be my muse, then I want to know you better,” you had said that first coffee date, smiling at him over your smoothie.

Maybe that had been when he started feeling something: that cute smile you had given him, eyes glimmering with joy that he had agreed to help you--even if it was just for the payment. You were a good photographer, despite only being a student who got into it later than others did. Better late than never, you’d always chirp. You had a stable job that he knew about, but it wasn’t your passion. This was, and he could tell from how hard you worked that it was. Despite having work early the next morning, he’d watch you set everything up yourself. He’d stayed with you in your apartment/studio (everything was so makeshift with you, he couldn’t help but admire your tenacity) plenty of nights, having dinner while you worked on editing pictures late into the night because you needed to get the assignment done on time. He knew you had work early the next morning, so he’d stay there just to make sure you rested at least a little beforehand. He had his own responsibilities to attend to, sure, but he could make do with a nap on your couch. He had plenty of times over the past few months where you’d tell him just to lock up when he left for work and to take care of himself.

You had raised a brow when he told you not to pay him anymore. He said he didn’t need the payment, that you should save it for your photography work. For the better camera you always talked about getting one day, when you saved up enough. You pushed back on that: if he was working for you, he deserved compensation.

He didn’t tell you that spending time with you was worth more than anything else. “I just want to help you,” he had said instead. “So don’t worry about paying me from now on.”

It had been Minghao who told him to tell you already. Jun had already made a plan, actually: there was this shop the two of you had shot in once, with permission of the owner. You liked the way he looked among the carnations, and he was going to buy you a pretty bouquet of the red ones and tell you how he felt.

Which left him to when he finally told you he didn’t want to be your muse anymore. You had stared at him, brows furrowed together in panic. Maybe that wasn’t the best wording, but he was positive he had said he didn’t want to be just your muse.

“Is it the payment?” You said, shaking your head, “Jun, I told you I’d keep paying you--”

He shook his head, waving a hand to stop you. “No, it’s not that--I just want to be more than your muse.” When you gave him a confused look, he continued on, “I think I’m in love with you. Please let me take you on a real date sometime.”

You grew flustered, averting your gaze as you hid a smile behind your hand. “Oh.”

“If you don’t want me to--”

“No!” You looked back at him, “No, I’d--I’d really, really like that.” You felt the head rising to your cheeks. “You make me feel cared for. I... I like that about you.”

He couldn’t help but smile. “Good,” he said. “I care about you a lot. You always work so hard...” He held out the flowers, watching you take them. “From the shoot--”

“I know,” you said, cradling them like they would break if you were any less gentle. “Can I kiss you?”

The question surprised him, but he answered you by leaning in. He felt your lips gently capture his, just for a moment, before you pulled away. When he  looked back at you, you were smiling at him, this cute flustered look back on your face. If it meant he could see that cute look on your face every day, he’d kiss you as any times as you wanted him to. But he was happy with knowing that he could stand with you as you chased your passion. Whether that was as your muse or as your boyfriend (or, ideally, both--you deserved a handsome face in your pictures, he’d tease you later), he was happy.

[dreamboundedstar]

My Updated Belcher Kids, Zeke, and Jimmy Jr. Job Headcanons

After "What About Job" I became inspired to update the job headcanons. I know Bob is one of the most unreliable narrators in the show, but it's still the closest thing to canon I'm going to get for now so I'm going to tweak my headcanon a bit to slightly fit what Bob hypothetically thinks might happen. Tina: She went to get a degree in literature at community college. I still think she'll be an author of trashy romance novels, but now I like to think she'll also own a small, (sometimes) peaceful farm by the beach. It just has plants to start out with but it will have horses eventually too (sorry Tina, no going big XD). Bob comes by to help Tina with her plants every now and then. They both enjoy the bonding experience. I also didn't say who she married in the original job headcanon post because I thought it would be better if I left it up to interpretation. Screw ambiguity though, Tina is married to Zeke. He helps out when he can and he got some of his family to work at Tina's farm as well. Part of the plants she grows is for Bob's Burgers while the rest is for selling at the farmers' market. Gene: I'm going with he will become a traveling musician, but I still say he got his start by doing miscellaneous things on Bob's Burgers equivalent to YouTube like in the original post. He travels with Courtney and Alex I'm leaving their relationship up to interpretation because I'm fine either way I just think they are cute all together.

Louise: Has trouble finding herself at 18 but eventually decides to go to community college for chemistry. She started out just wanting to do a field that would help her make explosives. However, she later realized that cooking was just chemistry and she started specifically learning food chemistry. She knew in her heart she wanted to keep her family's business alive and used the knowledge she learned to help experiment on alternative burgers and other food they could sell. She's platonic friends and roommates with Rudy. Rudy works at Bob's Burgers as well, he provides the smoothies and suggestions for allergy-free options for the place. Zeke: He didn't have the means to afford college so he decided to join the navy for action, adventure, and money. They rejected him due to his ADHD though. To make matters worse his dad kicked him out at 18. So he offers to work at Bob's Burgers for a place to sleep as payment until he figures out what to do with himself. Zeke becomes part of the family really fast and Bob is happy to have him as his pupil in the upstairs kitchen. Zeke was still sad that he wouldn't be able to see the world like he hoped if he joined the navy. While he still couldn't join the navy, Teddy did offer to help Zeke at least get a captain's license through his connections. Zeke accepted the offer because it sounded cool to be an official captain if he ever actually had a chance at owning a boat. So during that time he balanced getting his captain's license, working at the restaurant, and earning whatever he could so he could go to culinary school. After he earned his captain's license, he is approached by Mr. Fishoeder (who was probably one of Teddy's connections in the first place) and he offers him a job to captain his booze cruise (which is also totally not used for smuggling anything illegal under the captain's nose, no sir!) at the sexy, adult, night hours on the Wonder Wharf. Not what Zeke had in mind when he got his license but he loved to party and thought it could be fun mixing drinks. Thinking of the chaotic memories that could be made sounded appealing as well. Zeke still works at Bob's Burgers when Louise takes over the restaurant. Louise, Rudy, and Zeke all workshop burgers and food ideas but Zeke is the final decision on if the food is worthy to be sold or not (Louise can never be trusted after the bubblegum burger incident even after studying food chemistry XD) So in the day, he works at Bob's Burgers and Tina's farm while at night he is the party animal captain of the Wonder Wharf booze cruise. Jimmy Jr.: Nothing has changed for him. I still say he's a dance teacher. I don't really have anybody I ship him specifically because none really stand out much. Douglas obviously has a thing for Josh so that's out, I don't want Becky Krespe to give JJ another chance, and while I think the concept of JocelynxJimmy Jr is hilarious, I don't think they would work out. So I'm flexible with whatever as long as it's legal.

Anyway, that's all. This all started because I couldn't brush off what Bob thought Zeke would end up doing. I figured I might as well update all of them after that. Yeah, I know the writers needed at least one person with a boat for the "Children of Men" parody but it's still funny out of all the characters he could have chosen, he picked Zeke.

[haik-choo]

waking up next to the karasuno second & third years

request: the waking up next to the first years hcs was the purest most adorable thing i’ve ever read 🥺🥺🥺could u do one with the second or third years too?

a/n: thank you so much for loving the first one i did! i’m sorry i haven’t been as active, i go in and out of a creative mindset and this quarantine isn’t really pushing me to stay creative. i just sleep most of the time LOL. here it is! :)

[WAKING UP NEXT TO THE KARASUNO SECOND AND THIRD YEARS] 

-nishinoya, tanaka, daichi, sugawara, asahi

nishinoya yuu.

waking up next to nishinoya yuu isn’t filled with excitement or him jumping off the walls, like you might expect it to be. i feel like the first ten minutesof waking up for him are really slow, like he’s just barely opening his eyes and looking at the ceiling.

for some reason i really feel like he wakes up before you. he goes to bed at like two am, but wakes up at eight am to practice or go on a little jog. 

but every time he wakes up, the first thing he looks at is you. your peaceful state, your slow-rising chest, the little breaths leaving your slightly parted lips. noya is a really emotional person, and I can bet you real money that he gets real giddy seeing you next to him.

you don’t usually sleep in his arms because he’s a wild sleeper and probably starfishes, so when he wakes up his limbs are sprawled out, some on you, some hanging off the bed. and he just barely turns his head at there you are in your morning glory. 

his heart literally swells five sizes bigger. he’ll shift over to be next to you and move your hair out of your face or just mess with the hair at the top of your head, basking in the love you cause him to feel.

after a few minutes of doing that, he’ll let out a big ol’ sigh and wrap his arms around you, squeezing tight to wake you up.

“mmm,,,,noya, what are you doing,,,” “i’m just feeling grateful :)” 

and you look up at him, and there’s a feeling of security that fills you. he may not be the biggest or strongest, but the light in his eyes and the warmth in his arms that he wraps around you make you feel safe. 

not to mention that his hair is down and sticking out everywhere. it’s a cute picture that only you’ll ever see

you return his gesture and wrap your arms around him, thinking about different ways to make him stay in bed instead of going out for a jog.

basically; the morning is filled with hugs and soft smiles, knowing looks and arms that evoke the feeling of being safe and being loved. his hair is wild, and his hands are tugging at your own strands. 

tanaka ryuunosuke.

you two almost always wake up in the same position, his arms spread out, your head resting on one of them, one of his legs propped up like a tent and the other flat on the bed, you curled up against his side. since he’s a touch-starved individual, he finds any excuse for you two to be as close as possible every second of every day. 

you both actually wake up a few minutes apart, whoever wakes up first is a coin toss. and when you wake up first, you get to see his face void of the tension is usually has, his mouth is a little open with small snores coming out, his fingers twitching every few seconds

tanaka’s body reacts before he does, so even if you try to get up, his arms just holds onto you and keep you attached to his side. he swears he doesn’t do it on purpose, and that his body just needs you :’) 

on days when he wakes up before you he stays as still as stone. no joke, he’s so afraid of waking you up and experiencing your wrath that he just. freezes

but as he’s frozen, he takes the time to just stare. no smile on his face, he just stares, drinking in your sleeping form. he occasionally takes a change and slowly turns, stretching out his arm for his phone on the side table. when he can reach it, you can bet he has 200+ new photos of your sleeping and he makes them his screen savers

the second he sees your stir awake lightly, he pounces on you an covers your face in little kithes and saves your lips for last. sometimes he’ll wait until you open your eyes and look at him, pouting like “where’s my real kisses :(” before he gives you a big boy smooch

you giggle and caress his chest with your hand, happy that he wakes you up like a queen everyday. trust me, he’s happy he gets to be the guy whose face you see first thing in the morning

he usually scrolls through his phone for like an hour before getting out of bed, and you just sit there and watch tik toks with him. you two my wake up at roughly the same time, but you get out of bed before him to make some morning smoothies (he totally asks for a protein shake AGAGA) 

basically; your mornings get started at the same time, and he loves to make sure you’re up by pelting you with kisses that you love. you scroll through tik tok while being smushed next to his chest before you get up to make breakfast. 

daichi sawamura.

not gonna lie, when he wakes up he spend like a minute or two in bed at MOST, he hates just staying in bed because he feels like he could so much more productive than lie around and do nothing. you, on the other hand, wouldn’t mind staying in bed for the entire day. 

so here’s the way it usually goes: he wakes up a minute before his alarm (7:00am) and just quickly sighs before reaching over you and turning it off so it doesn’t wake you up. then he kisses your forehead (his breath smells bad, so he’s not going to kiss your lips) before getting up and washing up. he gets ready to go on a jog, and he kisses your shoulder before he sets out on his journey.

but every once in a while, there’s something wonderful that happens. he doesn’t feel like working out. he wakes up at the same time, but he just doesn’t feel like doing anything. on those days, he completely indulges in your warmth.

he doesn’t care if he wakes you up and hoists you up so you’re completely laying on his body. of course you wake up, but you already know what’s going to happen, so you just softly groan. “so you don’t feel like getting up and decide to wake me up? really?” “yes, really” “...you’re lucky i love you” “im the luckiest man alive” 

you two actually talk during mornings like those, you love pressing an ear against his chest and hearing the vibrations his voice causes. it’s like calming background noise to you. 

“are,,,you even listening. we’ve got a lot to do today” “i’ve been ignoring everything after you said ‘getting up’“ “...of course you have”

you haveto convince him to stay even longer in bed, because he really hates staying in bed, like he just wants to make “eggs or fucking toast or an OMLETTE PLEASE I JUST WANT TO DO SOMETHING”

in order to persuade him to stay for a little longer, you usually just kiss him. normally he hates morning breath, but when it’s you kissing him so tenderly he can make an exception or two

ngl it usually leads to making out or morning sex, like i said he needs to do SOMETHING 

basically; you wake up like a married couple. normally he gets up right away, but every once in a while he;ll decide to spend some extra time with the love of his life, and that time is usually spent kissing and...doing other things ;) 

sugawara koushi.

instead of you waking up in his arms, he wakes up in your arms. like his face is pressed against your chest and your arms is haphazardly resting over his shoulder. his arms are undoubtedly around your waist, his lags entangled with yours

every morning, without fail, he wakes up first and somehow slip out of your position and into the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth before making two cups of coffee and coming back into the bedroom, setting them on the nightstand, and crawling back into bed with you

usually he sits up in bed and moves you to rest your head in his lap so he can reach over to sip at his drink. his hands comb through your hair and he trifles through his emails just incase some parent messages him about something

sometimes he’ll stop scrolling at look down at you, feeling happy and 100% sure that he has the greatest life; first he wakes up in your arms, spends time with you, spends time with kids, and them spends more time with you 

the school he teaches at starts at like twelve pm, so he likes to take his time waking up so he’s as happy as possible. and spending a lot of time with you is key to that.

can only wait for so long before he pokes your side until you wake up. the entire time he’s like “please wake up” “i’ve got work in like four hours! let’s do something!” “i’ll make breakfast if you give me sufficient payment ;)” 

literally the second you wake up he props you up and you look drunk as hell when you first wake up but he still thinks you’re beautiful <3 cute rat 

he rests your head on his shoulder and kisses you until you’re fully awake, you don’t always kiss back but that’s because you’re not fully there  and you’re just,,, “is there a bird pecking at me? what the hell - oh, it’s koushi” 

“can’t you wake me up like a normal person?” “no, i like kissing you awake. isn’t that cute? :)” “not when you kiss like a bird.” “so you have,,,,chosen death?”

when he’s feeling extra happy he has no issue putting you on his lap, facing him. he wraps your arms around him before doing the same to you and burying his face in your neck and humming a soft tune. he’s just such a calming presence that sometimes you fall back asleep in his lap :’)

basically; it’s a cute and happy morning as he rests you on his lap and peppers your lips with kisses to wake you up. playful banter is included, and so it coffee breath.  

asahi azumane.

he would love to wake up to you pressed to his side, but he gets hot really easily, so he cant hold you to sleep. he totally hugs a small pillow to sleep and you can old press up against his back, which he doesn’t mind. 

he’s the type to wake up at ten am naturally, and every morning he yawns and stretches out his arms, rolling back a little before yelping at the feeling of you getting quietly crushed beneath him

when he realizes that it’s just you, his heart beat stabilizes and he turns over, flipping the sheets off of him to he doesn’t overheat, and grabs you hands, lacing his fingers through with yours

you’ve been dating for a while, so he’s completely comfortable doing skinship with you. he’s not embarrassed at how much he loves you. he likes to gently caress your face with his hands, his thumbs brushing over your cheekbones and sometimes across your bottom lip

no lie, waking up with asahi is the softest thing ever. he gives you one single kiss on your cheek, letting it linger for a few seconds before pulling away to see your eyes cracked open

by this time he’s lightly hovering over you, and he just lets out a slightly bashful smiles and leans down, his forehead pressing against yours

you think that you must’ve saved a cat orphanage in your past life in order to get he delicious treat of waking up with asahi’s face in front of yours everyday 

“good morning to you, too, azumane” “morning :)” “did you have that weird dream again?” “the one where hinata grows to be eight foot three and dunks me in a basketball hoop and leaves me up there and becomes the ace?” “yeah” “yes. yes i did.thanks for reminding me.” 

sometimes asks for extra cuddles before getting up to take a shower, and when you say yes he just :):):) and envelops you in his warm embrace and rubs his beard goatee thing on your forehead as you grovel in pain because it’s in that in-between phase where it’s scratchy and long 

sometimesasksyoutoshowertogetherbutyouusuallyhavetodecipheritbecausehe’sallblushyandit’ssocuteyoucoulddie

honestly struggles to get up in the morning because he really loves just laying and existing with you, his mind not focused or worried about anything but the way your chest rises slightly out of sync with his, and sometimes he imagines your chest heaving beneath his,,,,but hat’s astory for antoher time

basically; waking up with him is like a fairy tale. his gently lips and even gentler arms wake you up like a queen, and he makes sure that you feel the same way he does. sometimes there’s extra cuddles, sometimes there’s some showering together. 

[bonebreaker-broker]

Work Notes (Note: This page is a work in progress and will be further filled out later.)

Common jobs Graham has been hired for:

finding information (Sometimes involves getting physical, including kidnapping a hostage & torture if necessary)

Hunting down missing persons

Hunting down Kidnappers

Selling information

Erasing history of information

Rewriting/Replacing information in personal records

Graham will take all sorts of jobs if the pay is good & the client isn't a pain in the ass.

Whatever you want him to dig up or change is, as far as he's concerned, none of his business outside of the job. Unless if it will directly affect him, he won't judge

as he doesn't care enough to.

"Odd Jobs" that he's done & would only do again for a high enough pay

Act as protection services for a weekend

Connections

Under the radar but professionally trained doctor. No known name, only "Doc."

Someone a town away who owns a pig farm. Tries to call upon his services as little as possible

An awkward & perfectly unassuming secretary at a somewhat local police station. Met because she sought him at for help & was one of his biggest jobs to date. Keeping in touch as a connection is both part of payment & if that problem ever arose again.

Frequent locations

Abandoned barn he's claimed as his own. Where he drags people for "interrogations"

Small smoothie bar in a not very populated spot. It's the only notable place he frequents. Small & harmless.

[stormspe]

The Battle Café

Summary: Café Partenaire is a modest little battle café run by the Kalos Pokédex holders. Their specialty? Giving customers a fun and exciting Multi Battle experience. Today, it's just business as usual at the café - but the first two Trainers who order battles are certainly going to make the routine a little more interesting.

Length: 5,159 words

Notes: This was written as part of a collab with Koi (@altevolantt​) and Aero (@pk-freezer-burnt​)! The two of them worked together to create the gorgeous art that accompanies this fic. And as it's still his birthday in my timezone, I'd like to wish X a very happy birthday!

If you’d prefer: [Read on Ao3] [Read on FFN]

Convincing X to start a battle café with her may have been one of the best decisions of Y’s life.

She’d come up with the idea after visiting one of Lumiose City’s famous battle cafés and being disappointed by the lack of enthusiasm the staff had for their craft. They were so focused on delivering the highest-quality food and a refined dining experience fitting of the number of “stars” their restaurant held that the battles themselves were stuffy and bland. Y wanted to give people a fun and exciting battle experience on top of delicious food, and who better to help her with that than her battle-savvy best friend?

Y loves running the café with X. They’ve got a good system going – X busses tables and prepares the food and drinks while Y does the waitressing. Emma helps X out in the kitchen and takes over as waitress while X and Y are battling customers. The café gets busy sometimes, but Y finds that busyness to be part of the fun. She challenges herself to get to know every one of their customers personally – everyone’s got their own story to tell, and Y loves to hear them.

X, on the other hand, isn’t a huge fan of the work or the people, but for him the battles more than make up for it. He enjoys getting to battle casual Trainers in low-stakes battles, where no one is watching him and judging his every move. He likes getting to learn from other Trainers, too. Everyone has their own unique battle style, and X looks for the interesting and effective elements of each opponent’s style and incorporates them into his own battling.

The café is located on the outskirts of Lumiose City, so they get a lot of tourist traffic – which means a wide variety of people for Y to meet and X to learn from. It’s always exciting to see people from all over the world grace their humble little battle café. There’s never a dull moment in a place where Kalosians are serving Kantonians, Hoennians, Unovans, and Galarians all under one roof.

“Hey, X, when you’ve got a minute, table 4 needs to be cleared,” Y calls as she picks up a round of smoothies from the order window. “And we’ve got one new order!”

“But still no battles?”

“Still no battles.” Y sighs. “Even I’m itching for a fight at this point. What a slow day.”

“If it were a slow day, I wouldn’t need you to tell me which tables are in need of bussing,” X grunts, appearing at the kitchen entrance with a washcloth and bin for dirty dishes. He heads for table 4 while Y brings her tray of smoothies to the customers at table 1.

Just then, the front doorbell jingles and a teenager around her age walks in. Y doesn’t recognize him and he just stops in the doorway, so he must be a new customer. “Hi, welcome!” she calls, waving at him with one hand while balancing the tray of drinks on the other. “Grab a menu off the podium there, have a seat, and I’ll be with you in a minute!”

The teen grins and gives her a little wave back. Y smiles and gets back to work, delivering the smoothies to table 1 and asking the group if they need anything else. When they decline, she heads back to the kitchen to drop off the empty tray. Then she’s off to the freshly cleared table 4, where the teen has taken a seat.

As she approaches the table, she pulls out a pen, her notepad, and an exuberant smile. “Welcome to Café Partenaire! First time here?”

The teen looks up from the menu and grins sheepishly. “Yeah. Was I that obvious?”

“I’ve got a good memory for my customers, and you didn’t look like you knew what you needed to do when you came in,” Y says. “Sounds like you’re not from around here, either. Galarian?”

“Spot on!” the teen exclaims, eyes widening. “You’re really good at this, mate!”

“Call me Y,” she says. “And I’ve had a lot of practice. Usually I can even distinguish between North and South Galarian accents, but…yours is a bit harder to pin down.”

The teen nods thoughtfully. “I’m from Postwick, in south Galar. But my big bro’s lived in Wyndon most my life, and I’ve got friends all over. So I don’t have a really strong South Galarian accent.”

“Oh, interesting,” Y says. “What’s your name, by the way?”

“I’m Hop!”

“Nice to meet you, Hop. What can I get for you?” she asks, readying her notepad.

“I’ll take the café special!” Hop declares, slapping his menu down on the table with a little more force than necessary.

Y’s smile grows, and she tucks her notepad back into her pocket. It’s about time. She collects payment up front, as usual, and informs Hop that the café special comes with a complimentary beverage. He orders a Soda Pop, and she tells him it’ll be right out.

“Soda Pop for table 4!” Y announces, striding into the kitchen.

X perks up at that; there’s a gleam in his eye when he turns away from the fryer. “Watch these,” he orders, pointing to the currently cooking basket of fries. Y nods. X grabs a bottle of Soda Pop from the refrigerator and heads out into the dining room.

Offering a complimentary beverage with the café special was one of X’s best ideas. Its purpose is threefold. One, it ensures that the customer is properly hydrated before their battle. (For the same reason, Y intends to make sure X drinks something when he gets back.) Two, it gives X the opportunity to meet the customer and get an idea of their skill level. Three, it gives the customer something to do while they wait for someone else to order the café special. They don’t want to make their customers wait too long for a battle, but it’s far more fun when two customers order the special around the same time.

The fries have cooked to a nice golden brown by the time X returns to the kitchen. “So? Your thoughts?” Y asks.

“He’s friendly,” X says. “Maybe a little too friendly. I asked him how long he’d been a Trainer, not for his whole life story.”

“Aw, I wanted to hear his whole life story. I bet it’s fascinating .”

“Really? I didn’t realize you had a thing for foreign boys. Or is it just Galarian ones?”

“Jealous, are we?” Y smirks. She throws her arms around X’s neck. “Don’t worry, you don’t have anything to fear from foreign boys like Hop.” She leans closer so she can whisper in his ear. “It’s only the cute ones that you need to worry about.”

“Please get a room.”

Y yelps and stumbles backwards, letting go of X. He grabs onto her arm to steady her. “Emma! How long have you been standing there?”

“Since I realized you had stopped paying attention to the fries and were letting them burn,” she says in her usual quiet, matter-of-fact way. “Don’t you have customers to be serving?”

“Oh, uh – right,” Y stammers. She turns back to X, gives him a quick peck on the cheek, and hurries back out to the dining room.

Hop and the triplets at table 1 are still right where she left them, but Selphy from table 2 and Kiri from table 3 have both finished their food and headed out. In addition, there’s a new customer standing at the entrance, flipping disinterestedly through a menu. Like Hop, he’s a teenage boy who appears to be around her age. Unlike Hop, he has rather guarded body language and a serious expression on his face.

“Hi there! Sorry for the wait,” Y says, rushing over to table 2. “Let me clear off this table for you–”

“I’m here for a battle,” the teen interrupts, looking up from the menu.

Y blinks. No one’s ordered the café special all day, and now they have two requests for it in a row? She’s not complaining, but it’s an odd coincidence. “Excellent! I’ll finish clearing off this table so you can have a seat, and–”

“I don’t need a seat,” he says, leveling a glare at her. “I’m not here to eat. I just want a battle.”

Y takes a deep breath in and lets it out. They get these kinds of customers from time to time – the ones who are either too impatient or too arrogant to listen to her and follow the standard procedure for battling. They get on her nerves every time, but in the interest of professionalism, she tries not to let it show.

“Here at Café Partenaire, we provide full sit-down service to our customers,” she says. “If you’d like to order the café special, you’ll need to have a seat first.”

“That’s stupid! You can’t fight a battle sitting down.”

Y grits her teeth. “You won’t be sitting down for the battle. But there’s things that have to be done before you can battle–”

“Skip those, then. I want to get to the battle.”

“–including payment ,” Y says forcefully. “We don’t offer battles for free, you know.”

The teen at least has the decency to look a little abashed at that.

“Just sit down, mate!” Hop yells. “The longer you argue with her, the longer it’s gonna take for you to get your battle.”

The teen side-eyes Hop, but with an exaggerated huff, relents. Y finishes clearing off the table, he has a seat, and she gets his payment and drink order.

She doesn’t immediately take the order back to the kitchen, though. “I’m sorry,” she says. “I know we didn’t start off on the right foot, but I do like to get to know all my customers. My name is Y. What’s yours?”

He glances at her, glare still on his face. On closer inspection, though, she realizes that there doesn’t seem to be any real heat behind the look; maybe that intense gaze is just a neutral expression for him.

“Hugh,” he says.

“Where are you from, Hugh?” she asks. She can tell by his accent that he’s from Unova, but Unovan accents vary even more than Galarian ones, and her Unovan geography is a little rusty.

“Aspertia City. Unova,” he says. Her lack of recognition must be evident on her face, because he adds without prompting, “Southwest Unova.”

“Ooh, I see. I’m from Vaniville Town, right here in Central Kalos,” Y says. “It’s nice to meet you! My partner will be back with your drink in a moment.”

Y heads back to the kitchen and finds X and Emma engrossed in a game of pick-up sticks using burnt fries. “Lemonade for table 2!” she declares. “Also, X, table 3 needs bussing. C’mon, pick up the slack!”

“Another special already?” X says, straightening up. “That was fast.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s great!” Y grins. “Now hurry up and bring the new customer his drink so we can get to the battle!”

After X leaves, Emma starts tallying up her and X’s scores. Y leaves her to it, pouring a new basket of fries and putting them in the fryer. But Emma quickly takes over that, shooing Y back out to the dining room. That’s fair; Emma doesn’t need a new set of pick-up sticks to play with.

Speaking of which – “Who won the game?”

“I did.”

“Good for you!”

When Y returns to the dining room, she’s disappointed to find that the triplets have left, killing her chances of catching up on the latest news from Striaton City. However, that’s made up for by the fact that Trevor has dropped by the café on his lunch break. She greets him with a big hug and listens as he emphatically describes the new experiment that he and Professor Sycamore are conducting. Once she notices X has returned to the kitchen, though, she has to end the conversation and get back to work.

“So, battle meister, what’s your final assessment?” Y asks as soon as she enters the kitchen.

“They’re both experienced Trainers,” X reports. “Hugh’s been battling longer, but Hop has more competitive battling experience. They’ll both make interesting opponents.”

“Awesome!” Y exclaims. “Feels like it’s been ages since we last had a tough opponent. This is gonna be so much fun!”

~

Once Hugh and Hop have both finished their drinks, it’s finally time for the battle. Y volunteers to escort Hop up to the battlefield, which leaves X to escort Hugh.

“Hey, sorry about the wait!” Y says as she approaches table 4.

Hop’s eyes sparkle with excitement. “Is it time for the battle?”

“You bet! Follow me!”

She leads Hop to the staircase on the side of the café. “Oh, so the battlefield is on the second floor?” he asks.

“Even better!” Y replies.

She opens the door at the top of the staircase and walks out onto the roof. Hop gasps behind her. “Welcome to the official battlefield of Café Partenaire!” she exclaims, spreading her arms.

The battlefield itself isn’t terribly impressive, just a bunch of white lines painted on the concrete roof. However, the view from up here of Parterre Way’s gardens and perfectly trimmed hedge mazes with Lumiose City in the distance is gorgeous.

“Um, isn’t it a little dangerous to be battling on top of a roof with no guardrails or anything?” Hop asks.

Y laughs. “And Pokémon battles aren’t dangerous? Don’t worry,” she says, patting him on the shoulder. “The battlefield’s nowhere near the edge of the roof, so we’re not in any danger of falling off!”

“Right,” Hop says, but he still doesn’t look convinced. “So…where’s my opponent?”

“He’ll be up in a minute,” Y says.

A few moments later, X emerges onto the roof with Hugh following close behind. Hugh doesn’t spend much time observing the battlefield, instead staring immediately at Y and Hop. He narrows his eyes as they approach. “I have to fight him ?” he asks.

“Nope!” Y responds cheerfully, clapping Hop on the shoulder and pushing him closer to Hugh. “He’s your partner!”

“Partner!?” both boys exclaim simultaneously.

“Y’see, the thing about Café Partenaire that makes it a little different from the battle cafés you’ll find in Lumiose is that we specialize in Multi Battles,” Y explains with a wink. “When two Trainers both order the café special, they’ll have to work together to defeat our staff if they want to earn the special prize!”

“So who do we have to fight?” Hugh demands.

Y grins, taking a few steps back from the customers. She glances to her right, where X has moved to stand next to her. He gives her a curt nod, and she nods back. Then, moving in sync, they both untie their aprons from their waists and fling them aside.

“You’ll be battling us!”

Y always loves seeing the look of shock on customers’ faces when they realize they’re going to be battling the people who were just serving them moments before. Hugh’s eyes only widen for a moment before returning to their usual intense stare, but Hop gapes at them like a Magikarp out of water.

“You – you’re serious? You guys are the super-tough opponents that we’re supposed to battle?” Hop exclaims.

“Never judge a Trainer’s skill by their appearance,” Hugh says. He folds his arms and looks Hop up and down. “You don’t look like you’re all that yourself, but you must be a strong Trainer or you wouldn’t be here.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? You think I look weak!?” Hop shouts, intruding in Hugh’s personal space. He’s only a few inches taller, but standing that close to Hugh makes it look like Hop towers over the other boy.

“I’m not saying you look strong,” Hugh says coldly, glaring up at him.

Y glances at X with a hint of concern. Throwing strangers into a battle together is a little risky because they don’t always get along, but they don’t usually get this openly hostile towards each other before the battle’s even started. She definitely didn’t expect this much hostility from Hop – he’d been so friendly and nice with her. If they clash this much outside of battle, she can already tell that the battle itself will be a disaster. “Should we do something?” she whispers.

X shrugs. “If they really want to battle us, they’ll figure it out.”

Hop finally leans back and folds his hands behind his head. “Well, it doesn’t matter whose accomplishments as a Trainer are better or whatever,” he says. “We’re not fighting each other. So you’ll see just how skilled I am when we’re fighting them” – he points at X and Y – “on the battlefield.”

“The best place to evaluate a Trainer’s skill,” Hugh agrees with a curt nod of the head.

“Then let’s do this together and win that special prize!” Hop declares, holding out his hand. “The name’s Hop, by the way.”

“Hugh,” Hugh says, shaking it.

“Sounds like you’re ready to battle!” Y says with a relieved smile. “Let’s get in position, shall we?”

The four Trainers take their places on the battlefield – Hop and Hugh on the side closest to the stairs, X and Y on the far side. Once everyone’s in position, Y explains the rules: a two-on-two Multi Battle, with each Trainer only being allowed a single Pokémon. Whichever team manages to knock out both of the opposing team’s Pokémon is declared the winner.

“I’m counting on you, Veevee!”

“Let’s do this, Kanga.”

“Go, Flygon!”

“Corviknight, let’s go!”

Y quickly assesses the type matchups in her head. Veevee has the advantage against Flygon but the disadvantage against Corviknight. Kanga’s at a type disadvantage against Corviknight as well, but she has moves that’ll allow her to hit both Pokémon super effectively. That still makes Corviknight the bigger threat.

“Double team Corviknight?” she mutters under her breath.

X shakes his head almost imperceptibly. “Support me. See what they can do.”

Y dips her head, pretending to adjust her necktie. “You guys ready?” she calls across the battlefield. Hop gives her a thumbs-up. “Then let’s get this battle started! Veevee, Misty Terrain!”

Veevee closes her eyes and lifts her head. A cloud of pink mist begins to emanate from her body, swirling around her and Kanga’s legs. It quickly spreads across the whole battlefield, but Corviknight and Flygon hover just above the mist.

Hugh scowls. “That was a waste of a move. Misty Terrain won’t affect our Pokémon!”

“Their Pokémon can still benefit from it,” Hop points out. “But let’s not give ’em a reason to! Corviknight, Steel Wing on Sylveon!”

“Flygon, use Rock Slide!” Hugh commands.

“Whoa, whoa, wait!” Hop cries, but Flygon is already executing the order.

“Dodge it!” X and Y command simultaneously.

“Corviknight, fall back!” Hop exclaims. Corviknight pulls its head back to stop its charge just before it reaches the torrent of boulders that Flygon is raining down on Kanga and Veevee.

Veevee is nimble enough to dodge most of them, but Kanga isn’t so lucky, taking a decent amount of damage. “Shake it off, Kanga,” X says. “We’re just getting started.”

“What the heck was that, mate?” Hop shouts, glaring at Hugh. “Are you trying to sabotage me!?”

“Sabotage!? I was doing us a favor by attacking both our opponents at once!” Hugh snaps.

“You nearly took Corviknight out with that Rock Slide!”

“I figured you were capable of making sure your Pokemon didn’t get hit by the attack. Which you were. So I don’t see what the big deal is!”

“The big deal is that Corviknight couldn’t attack at all because you decided you wanted to attack both of them at once!”

While they continue arguing, Y glances at X. “Should we, uh, let them finish, or…?”

“Let’s get their attention back here,” X says. “Kanga, use Thunderbolt on Corviknight.”

“Works for me,” Y grins. “Veevee, Moonblast on Flygon!”

Kanga’s body begins to crackle with electricity while Veevee glows with bluish-pink energy. They launch their attacks simultaneously, knocking both Flygon and Corviknight to the ground. That’s finally enough to catch Hugh and Hop’s attention.

“Flygon, are you alright?” Hugh asks. His Pokemon picks itself up and flaps its wings a couple of times to prove that it’s still full of energy. He nods with satisfaction and then levels a glare at Hop. “Look what you’ve done. If you hadn’t started that argument–”

“I wouldn’t have started it if you hadn’t given me a reason to!” Hop shoots back. Then he shakes his head. “Look, we can’t keep arguing like this if we want to win this battle. We’re s’posed to be fighting them , not each other. So let’s each focus on one opponent so we don’t keep getting in each other’s way. Fair?”

“Alright,” Hugh says, turning his intense stare back to X and Y. “I’ll take Kangaskhan, you take Sylveon.”

Hop grins. “I can work with that.”

“Flygon, use Superpower!”

“Corviknight, Steel Wing on Sylveon, let’s go!”

Corviknight and Flygon flap their wings and shoot across the battlefield. They’re both on the opposite side from their intended targets, though, and their trajectories put them directly on a collision course with each other. Fortunately for them, a quick command from Hugh to slightly adjust Flygon’s direction saves them from colliding.

But Y’s not just going to roll over and let them get in a free attack just because they finally figured out that they need to cooperate. “Veevee, Baby-Doll Eyes!” she commands.

Veevee bats her eyes cutely at Corviknight. It slows down a bit but doesn’t stop completely, so it’s still able to land a solid hit. Veevee stumbles back a few paces but remains standing. “Way to hang in there, Veevee! Retaliate with Draining Kiss!”

As Veevee kisses away some of Corviknight’s vitality, Y chances a look over at X and Kanga. Flygon landed a direct hit on Kanga, but now that it’s at close range, she’s grabbed onto its arms to hold it in place.

“Use Outrage!” X orders. Kanga glows with a faint red aura and punches Flygon in the stomach, then flings it away. Y winces.

“Hey! Your opponent’s over here!” Hop calls, waving and grinning cheekily. “Corviknight, keep up the Steel Wings!”

“Dodge it, Veevee!” Y shouts. Veevee does her best to avoid the strikes from Corviknight’s wings, but she’s slowly being pushed into the corner of the battlefield and once she’s there, she’ll have nowhere to go. If only there was some way they could get past Corviknight without giving it time to land a hit…

Flygon and Kanga are still locked in close-quarters combat in the center of the field, and suddenly Y has an idea. “Veevee, use Quick Attack! Aim for Flygon!”

Veevee twists in midair to avoid Corviknight’s wings and lands on the ground in a crouch. It only takes her a moment to pinpoint Flygon’s location. She darts forward. Corviknight can’t move fast enough. Veevee slips under its wings easily, racing towards Flygon. But she realizes at the same time as Y that she won’t be able to attack Flygon without risking hitting Kanga as well, so she stops once she’s gotten a safe distance away from Corviknight.

“Good work, Veevee! Now, give Corviknight a Moonblast!”

Corviknight only has time to turn around before Veevee’s Moonblast is hitting it head-on. But when the dust settles, it shakes its head, barely fazed by the attack. “Nice move,” Hop says to Y. “But it’ll take a lot more than that to defeat a Pokemon with a type advantage!”

“Don’t get too confident! We’re just getting started!” Y replies with a smirk.

“ What!? ”

Hugh’s indignant cry draws Y’s attention back to Flygon and Kanga. Kanga is a little hunched over and breathing heavily, but she still looks much better off than Flygon; it’s lying on the ground, fainted.

“How could Outrage have done that much damage!? Dragon-type moves have their power halved on Misty Terrain!” Hugh exclaims.

“Yes, but Misty Terrain only affects Pokémon that are on the ground,” X says. “Since Flygon has Levitate, it’s not protected by the mist. Dragon-type moves used on it don’t have their power reduced, while Dragon-type moves used by it do – as long as the Pokémon it’s attacking is grounded, like Kanga.”

“ That’s how Misty Terrain works?” Hugh folds his arms, a contemplative look on his face. “But the other terrains boost the power of the user’s moves…”

“Yeah, so Misty Terrain protects Pokémon on the field instead of powering them up,” Hop says. “You really didn’t know that, mate? What happened to that whole ‘graduating at the top of your class’ thing that you were bragging about earlier?”

“Terrain was just being introduced to battles when I was in school,” Hugh says defensively. “They didn’t teach us about it. I had to learn about it from my own research and battles.”

“Well, there’s the trick. You shouldn’t learn just from the battles that you take part in. You can learn a lot by watching other people battle, too. Keep that up, and you’ll be practically unbeatable!” Hop grins.

Hugh looks at Hop for a moment as if studying him. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he says. He returns Flygon and sticks his hands in his pockets. “You’re on your own now. Don’t screw this up.”

“Right…no pressure,” Hop says with a nervous chuckle. He closes his eyes and slaps his hands on his cheeks twice before opening them, a new determination blazing in his eyes. “Let’s do this, Corviknight!”

Corviknight spreads its wings and raises its head high, letting out a shrill cry. Sunlight glints off its metal feathers. Its large wingspan makes it look twice as big as normal – a massive, menacing black figure that towers over Y even though she’s standing several feet away. It flaps its wings to take off, blowing a gust of air strong enough to dislodge the hair tucked behind Y’s ears. Even injured, Corviknight exudes a dominating aura. They can’t let their guard down if they want to defeat it.

As Corviknight moves back to Hop’s side of the battlefield, Y glances over at X. “Looks like we’re gonna get to double team Corviknight after all,” she says with a grin.

“Looks like it,” he agrees.

“Veevee, Draining Kiss!”

“Kanga, Mega Punch!”

As the two Pokemon charge at Corviknight together, Hop commands, “Corviknight, fly as low to the ground as possible and meet them with Steel Wing!”

Corviknight flaps its wings, gaining some height, and then dives down to the ground. It pulls out of the dive just before it hits the ground, letting its momentum propel it towards Kanga and Veevee.

“Veevee, jump over it!” Y shouts.

Veevee leaps into the air just before Corviknight reaches her so it passes right underneath her. Kanga, on the other hand, is far less agile. Corviknight’s wing slams into Kanga’s legs, stopping their motion while her upper body continues to move forward. She slams into the ground while Corviknight slows to a halt in front of X and Y, completely unscathed.

“Quick, before it gets up – Drill Peck on Kangaskhan!” Hop orders.

Corviknight turns around and flies at Kanga again, this time tucking its wings close to its body and rotating itself like a drill. Kanga is struggling to her feet, but she’s not going to have time to get up and move out of Corviknight’s way.

“Now, Veevee, Quick Attack!”

Veevee darts at Corviknight and rams into it. She’s thrown to the ground by the rotation of Corviknight’s body, but the force is enough to knock Corviknight off course. Instead of hitting Kanga, Corviknight crashes into the ground. Meanwhile, Kanga gets to her feet, ready to attack.

“Let’s finish this off,” X says.

“Sounds good to me!”

“Thunderbolt!”

“Moonblast!”

Corviknight barely has time to pick itself up off the ground before it’s being hit by the combined force of Kanga and Veevee’s attacks. It collapses, wings splayed out, unmoving.

“Looks like Corviknight can’t battle anymore,” Y says. “Which means…me and X win!” She turns to X, and they share a quick kiss. “Lovely battling with you, as always.”

“Same to you,” he says, smiling softly. “You fought well.”

She and X return their Pokémon and jog to the other side of the field, where Hop has returned his Corviknight and stands facing Hugh.

Hop lowers his head. “I’m sorry. You were counting on Corviknight and I to win the battle, and we couldn’t do it. It’s my fault we lost…”

Hugh sighs. “You wouldn’t have been in that situation if Flygon hadn’t gotten knocked out first. I should’ve been stronger.”

“No,” X interrupts. “You’re missing the root of the problem. The reason you lost isn’t because either of you were too weak – it’s obvious you’re both skilled Trainers. But you weren’t working as a team, and teamwork is crucial to winning a Multi Battle.”

Hop and Hugh stare at X and then look at each other. Hop sighs and folds his hands behind his head. “You’re right about that, mate. We weren’t working together at all. I was so focused on proving my own strength that I didn’t think about anything other than my Pokémon.”

“I did the same thing,” Hugh admits. He pulls his hands out of his pockets and glances at Hop. “You did pretty well taking on both of them by yourself, though. Having Corviknight fly close to the ground like that to trip them up was clever.”

“You think?” Hop grins, his cheeks tinged a faint pink. “Uh, I can’t really take credit for it. It’s a trick I picked up from my bro.”

Hugh turns to face Hop fully now, an inquisitive look on his face. “You have a brother? Older or younger?”

“Older,” Hop says with a chuckle. “By quite a bit.”

“Oh. I’ve got a younger sister,” Hugh says by way of explanation. “She’s a Trainer, too, but…she’s never had much interest in battling.”

“Really? I can’t imagine what that’s like. I think I inherited my love of battling from my brother,” Hop says, grinning widely.

“Must be nice, having a sibling who actually wants to battle with you.”

“Oh, I wish. By the time I became a Trainer, Lee was already leagues better than me, and he was hardly ever around anyways…”

The two boys head to the stairs, chatting about their siblings like old friends catching up after a long time. Hop pauses to wave goodbye and thank them for the battle. Then the pair head downstairs together, leaving X and Y alone on the roof.

X picks up the aprons off the ground and hands Y hers. She takes it with a smile and ties it back around her waist. Of all the things she loves about running the battle café, this has to be her favorite – getting to bring other Trainers closer together.

Note: This is a work of fiction. The opinions on the cuteness of certain rival characters expressed in this fic are wholly Y’s and do not reflect the views of the creator.

[gettinbarbecued]

𝕌ℕℂ𝕆ℕ𝕍𝔼ℕ𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ𝔸𝕃   𝕄𝕀𝕃𝔼𝕊𝕋𝕆ℕ𝔼𝕊  | ᴘᴀʀᴛ ᴛᴡᴏ

DATE: october 16, 2021 LOCATION: bedford-stuyvesant ( bedstuy ), brooklyn, new york. CAST: alejandro, fagin, daniela. 

author’s note: hey besties, here’s part two. part one can be found with that link if you’re up for it ♡ note that this one gets a little dark in theme for a minute, so if you’re not in the space to read it but want a quick recap just lmk and i’ll water it down in a sentence or two ily | piece once again involves addiction as well as parental death. {2/2}

         ALEJANDRO HADN’T BEEN TO BEDSTUY for  any  length  of  time  since  he  had  met  his  family  five  years  ago  -  the  second  anniversary  attached  to  that  day  making  it  hard  to  forget  and  even  harder  to  go  back.  one  of  the  many  reasons  why  he  was  so  grateful  to  fagin  and  to  his  siblings.  they  pulled  him  out  of  a  place  that  he  physically  and  mentally  didn’t  want  to  be  in  and  transplanted  him  to  manhattan  to  clean  his  shit  up. that  day ,  he  told  fagin  he’d  never  step  foot  in  half  of  brooklyn  again ,  every  block  a  reminder  of  a  time  he  never  wanted  to  visit  again.

         but  time  changed  things ,  one  could  say ,  because  fast  forward  half  of  a  decade  and  alejandro  was  walking  into  the  mr.  kiwi  by  the  old  apartment  he  used  to  live  in.  as  a  kid  he’d  take  his  sister  to  get  a  smoothie  and  a  banana  every  morning  before  school.  she  always  wanted  peach ,  pineapple ,  and  strawberry.  and  while  it  was  nowhere  near  his  favorite  flavor  combination ,  it  was  what  he  got.  he  threw  a  five  dollar  bill  on  the  counter  and  walked  out  without  collecting  the  change.

         working  with  orion  at  snake  eyes  casino  had  put  more  money  in  alejandro’s  pockets  than  a  poor  man  knew  what  to  do  with.  that  was  the  thing  about  coming  into  any  amount  of  money  when  you  were  used  to  getting  by  with  crumbs.  it  made  him  remember  the  mission ,  why  they  were  all  in  elias  to  begin  with ,  even  if  that  had  somehow  gotten  lost  along  the  way.  payments  to  fagin ,  while  consistent ,  were  far  less  in  amount than  the  man  was  comfortable  leaving  him  with  after  everything  he  had  done.  it  only  made  sense  this  extra  cash  would  be  streamlined  straight  to  him  to  cut  out  this  fucking  debt  to  sykes.

         because  his  siblings  didn’t  know  the  extent  of  it.  the  amount  in  everyone’s  head  was  stressful  as  it  was ,  and  sometimes  it  felt  like  it  only  scratched  the  surface.  thousands  of  dollars  he  owed  to  this  man  -  and  while  alejandro  was  always  curious  why ,  he  didn’t  ask.  common  sense  told  him  it  wasn’t  his  business  and  blind  loyalty  made  reasoning  obsolete ,  anyway.  so  when  fagin  told  alejandro  exactly  how  much  trouble he  was  in  and  asked  him  not  to  repeat  it ,  he  didn’t.  he  wouldn’t.  the  amount  of  secrets  fagin  kept  for  al  over  time  meant  he’d  take  every  single  one  of  his  to  the  grave.

         and  that  was  what  these  trips  were.  working  so  often  allowed  for  him  to  disappear  for  a  few  days  at  a  time  without  question ,  so  it  had  been  easy  so  far  to  do.  it  was  at  the  request  of  the  old  man ,  of  course  -  alejandro  argued  constantly  that  sykes  would  be  paid  off  faster  if  he  wasn’t  buying  fucking  plane  tickets.  but  it  turned  out  these  trips  weren’t  just  for  fagin.  these  secrets  weren’t  just  for  his  benefit.

         the  last  time  alejandro  was  in  new  york ,  fagin  dropped  a  bomb  on  him ,  and  then  another ,  that   he  still  hadn’t  quite  processed .  the  time  away  from  bedstuy  left  holes  in  an  already  fragile  vessel  of  memories  -  maybe  on  purpose.  but  when  the  name amalia  left  the  man’s  lips ,  most  of  it  came  flooding  back.  ❛❛  she  passed  away  last  spring,  ❞  were  words  that  pushed  him  into  a  corner  much  too  dangerous  for  him  to  be  in .  a  mourning  period  he  couldn’t  bring  himself  to  face  head  on.  he  didn’t  even  want  to  talk  about  it  -  but  after  silently  mulling  over  those  words  and  holding  up  his  hand  to  announce  he  wasn’t  going  to  speak  on  it ,  the  following  sentence  turned  his  most  prominent  tactic  of  staying  clean  -  staying  the  fuck  out  of  the  scene  of  the  crime  -  something  he  couldn’t  do  anymore.  ❛❛  she  left  a  child  behind,   alejandro.  one  who  i  think  could  use  her  dad  right  now.  ❞

          that  was  why  he  was  back  in  bedstuy  now ,  sipping  on  a  smoothie  and  walking  down  lafayette  with  teddy  bear  in  his  other  hand.  it  was  probably  corny  as  hell ,  but  walking  in  empty  handed  almost  fel t rude.  nervousness  was  overwhelming  and  alejandro  wasn’t  quite  sure  what  to  do  with  it.  while  it  had  been  a  few  weeks  since  he  found  out  he  was  a  father ,  it  only  just  seemed  to  hit  him  as  he  walked  up  to  the  door  of  the  appropriate  apartment  building  and  pressed  the  button  marked  5j.  now ,  there  was  no  turning  back,

          he  didn’t  expect  daniela  to  be  the  one  to  open  the  door,   clad  in  a  lacy  blue  dress  and  curly  hair  tied  in  pigtails.  for  a  moment  he  thought ,  i  wouldn’t  let  a  kid  open  a  door  like  that  alone ,  but  who  was  he  to  nitpick  right now ?  and  how  would  he  know  what  he  would  and  wouldn’t  do  as  a  parent ? 

          ❛❛  are  you  a  stranger ?  ❞   she  asked  him  curiously.   ❛❛  nana  said  i’m  not  supposed  to  talk  to  strangers.  ❞   al  laughed  -  what  a  loaded  question  that  was.  how  was  he  meant  to  explain  that ,  yeah ,  he  definitely  was  a  stranger  -  but  he  shouldn’t  be.  he  liked  to  think  he  wouldn’t  be  in  any  other  situation.  at  her  question ,  alejandro  crouched  down ,  and  in  attempt  to  make  her  think  about  the  answer  on  her  own ,  he  replied ,   ❛❛  i  don’t  know ,  man.  you  tell  me  -  have  you  met  me  before ?  ❞

          daniela  thought  for  a  moment ,  lips  pursed  as  she  tapped  her  cheek  and  examined  his  face  closely.   ❛❛  i  don’t  think  so ,  ❞  she  admitted. 

          ❛❛  yeah ,  i  don’t  think  so  either.  guess  that  makes  me  a  stranger ,  huh ?  ❞  standing  back  up ,  he  took  a  deep  breath.  he  could  say  goodbye  and  walk  away  right  now  with  the  knowledge  that  she  was  safe.  she  was  cared  for.  a  perfect  little  girl  in  perfectly  capable  hands.  but  he  couldn’t  possibly  walk  away  that  easily  -  not  without  letting  the  castillos  know  he  was  there.

          ❛❛  hey ,  why  don’t  you  go  get  nana ?  ❞  he  finally  asked  her  with  a  shrug  of  his  shoulders.  she  had  to  follow  the  rules ,  right ?  don’t  wanna  teach  her  to  talk  to  strange  men  who  knock  on  her  door  without  her  grandmother’s  permission.   ❛❛   i’m  hoping  maybe  she’ll  let  you  talk  to  me ,  anyway.   ❞

[oftenderweapons]

Where, when and how - maknae line

Pairing: maknae line member x reader 

Wordcount: 1.0k words

Genre: smut, fluff, (Taehyung’s contains a fair bit of angst)

Rating: 18+

Hello lovelies! Since quarantine is separating many lovers all around the world I thought about how the boys would handle being away from their girlfriend. It’s obviously smutty. Every piece is about 1000 words each.

Trigger warning: swearing; smut, hinted and sometimes pretty descriptive, really it depends. LOADS OF SEX TOYS (it was supposed to be a sex-toy themed thingy because yay!self-love and yes, you can use them together with your significant other too), some mild bdsm here and there, praise kink (you know where it comes from), swearing and alcohol (nothing extreme, just tipsy), masturbation and that should be pretty much everything. Also, nipple piercing? Tae is frustrated, Jimin is the bratties brat to ever brat (takes one to know one LOL) and Koo is a switch (and by switch I mean he’s shy but nasty, and I still don’t know what’s his trigger).

You can find the hyung line here

Pssst--- here is my masterlist---

Jimin

You loved listening to Jimin, especially when he came home in the evening and told you about his day. You loved chitchatting while preparing dinner, you loved having his head on your lap, his fingers intertwined with yours, your free hand caressing his scalp and handcombing his hair. You loved his tenderness, his voice growing sleepy as it got late. You loved climbing in bed and feeling his hand snake around your waist from behind you, naturally and innocently palming your breast as he fell asleep.

You were listening to his voice through the speakers of your phone, video calling each other as you made dinner and he had a brunch together with the boys in Paris. Last night it had been their last concert of the European Tour and soon they would be heading back to Seoul, even though their schedule included a couple weeks in the US before actually returning to their motherland. He wasn’t yet allowed to tell you their plans but supposedly they had to meet a coreographer and visit a couple studios.

It was extraordinarily hilarious to watch him talk as he filled his mouth with continental breakfast, sickeningly sweet apple juice and pain brioche and bacon endlessly flowing around him. Every now and then he interrupted himself to reply to the boys, who sometimes appeared behind him, sleepy, a bit groggy and absolutely exhausted. Suga was propped on his elbows against the countertop, his eyes closing again as he waited for coffee, Namjoon, with a disgusted expression hugged the sugar bowl to his chest and poured a worrying amount of sweetener in his oversized cup of coffee. JK, his shirt sweaty, was drinking a smoothie after his morning workout. Taehyung was nowhere to be seen, but knowing him, he was probably still sleeping.

“Jin hyung yesterday had a flimsy shirt. I think we have never seen that much skin of him! It was so windy!!!” Jimin said, imitating the shirt lifting, his teasing voice all out while his eyes disappeared in a big smile.

You had held on pretty fairly for the whole tour, always taking twenty minutes to have a chat almost every day. You had visited him mid-tour in New York for a couple days, but otherwise you had endured the distance with a tight-lipped smile.

But right now you felt your heart chipping slightly, tears coming to your eyes. You promptly swiped them away.

Jimin, always so attuned to your emotions, noticed it right away. “Baby, are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s the onions!” You smiled and quickly went back to your cooking. But he knew. Seventeen more days until he could see you again. And hold you. And lose himself in you again. He wasn’t bold enough for steamy video calls like Tae. And it’s not like those could provide the kind of emotional support that made him crave for intimacy and reassured him after it. But still, he wanted you to know.

So that night, after making his suitcase, he entered a website he had been tiptoeing around for a while and started exploring, sometimes with shame tinting his cheeks, sometimes with curiosity capturing his stare, sometimes with desire warming his loins. After a thorough analysis of every single category, he checked the basket and proceeded to shipping and payment.

A couple days later you awoke to pictures flooding your twitter feed, your beautiful boyfriend and his six band mates walking out of the LAX airport, Jimin wearing a flowing, quite see-through sky blue shirt embroidered in lilies, his delirious ballerina legs clad in his usual skinny black jeans. Blonde and gracious, lips pouty and pink, sunglasses on, he waved at the crowd and disappeared inside a grey van with a flirty grin. You barely held in a moan. And the long time without any kind of intimacy was most definitely getting to your head. Your fingers toyed with the edge of your panties, almost ready to give up on your intention of waiting for Jimin to come back and get you wild. But right in that moment your doorbell rang and you quickly donned a robe to answer the door. As you saw the delivery boy from the security cam, your first thought was that you had not ordered anything and out of suspicion you properly got dressed. But when he got to your apartment’s door he mentioned the name of the sender and everything made sense, though you hadn’t quite expected a surprise. You thanked him and got inside, package in hand, straight to the kitchen where you grabbed a knife and tore the seal. It was quite heavy and big, and the tag name was not recognisable. With increased curiosity, you opened the lid and saw a small envelope. It had been typed but it seemed to be signed under Jimin’s safe name, Your angel fairy.

“There are things you promised me and things I promised you for when I come back. But there is just one thing we both promised to each other for eternity. And that is Love. Every single object in here is only aimed at that. For a loving heartfelt and gentle as a cherry. For a loving playful and childlike like tickles. For a loving sparkling like twin falling stars. For a loving loyal and enthralling like chains of gold. For a loving sturdy and stinging as wood and leather. For a loving precious like a gem. And finally for a loving eternal as the darkness of the night. To my beloved,

From your angel fairy.”

He had really splurged on this.

You bit your lip in anticipation and tried to guess who was who. Because for those seven types of loving there were seven corresponding items. The first one had to be the massage candles. You once had told him you wanted to try and massage him with those and probably cherries were his fragrance of choice.

The second must have been the tickler, the delicate white feathers perfectly matching Jimin’s personality and taste. Twin falling stars was a bit trickier but at the bottom of the box you found a smaller elegant box containing a delicate chain with two star-shaped, sparkly nipple clamps, which you absolutely adored.

The chains of gold must have been the fine jewellery harness designed to wrap around your neck, snake down between your breasts and loosely hang around your waist in multiple strings.

The wood and leather must have been the double sided paddle, one softened with some padding and leather, the other nothing but unforgiving hardwood. A corner of your mind went back to that time he had brought your large wooden hair-brush on top of your bed and asked you if you wanted to try it on him, you remembered how you had curled a hand around his cheek, comforting and reassuring him, praising him, showing that there was nothing to be ashamed or afraid of. The bright red colour of his behind the morning after, your worried expression and his face hiding in your neck when he told you not to worry because he had enjoyed every second of it.

That loving, precious like a gem, could be nothing but the buttplug, which you had confessed you wanted to try on yourself during your last escapade in New York. You looked forward to that.

And finally the darkness of the night - the blindfold. Black and silken.

“A little bird told me you received a package... How do you like it?” There it was, Jimin’s text. You couldn’t wait for that little brat to come back home.

Taehyung

Brazil was beautiful. A beautiful hot mess. He felt sweat in his every nook and cranny, the humidity sticking to his skin even though it was almost midnight. As he got out of the shower he looked at himself in the mirror. He still felt messy.

He also felt like calling you. Right then and there.

He felt like being at home and walking in your shared room naked and getting head from you. With the windows open and some night breeze flowing in.

“Thinking about you.” He simply texted.

“Just out of a meeting. Can’t wait to head home.” You replied. “But I still have a lot to do.”

“I miss you in my bed.”

“Do you, now?” You were half walking half texting, waiting to get your lunch.

“I need you to get rid of some steam...”

“Tonight, promise.” As your order was ready, you quickly proceeded to eat.

Taehyung didn’t reply. He was tired and you were busy.

He collapsed in bed shortly after putting down his phone.

His sleep was troubled, he woke up tangled in the sheets, his leg thrown over a mountain of pillows and his hips were agonisingly pressing against the humid white cotton. Again, he felt sweaty. And turned on. He felt compressed. Like a clown inside a box that jumps out when you open it. He wondered what it would take for his box to be opened.

When he woke up he saw your “good morning” text, replied quickly before rinsing his face and hitting the gym in the hotel. He overworked himself in hope it could get the thought of you out of his head. Instead, every exercise had him thinking about new ways to fuck you, a stronger, healthier body meaning nothing but much more force and more experimental and effective angles. Jungkook and Jimin obviously noticed, while Namjoon and Jin kept obliviously running on the treadmill.

“You think he’s angry?” Asked Jungkook.

“Just repressed. We should tell the girls to warn his girlfriend. Maybe we should have her come meet him.”

“The trip is long and she’s gonna be jet-lagged out of her mind. Let’s just tell the girls and have the two of them figure it out.”

Jungkook told his girlfriend through text: “Can you tell Tae’s girlfriend to call him? He’s getting sour.”

“Told her. She said she on it. Luv you. Later.” Jungkook blushed thinking about his plans for later that night and then moved on with his exercises.

Taehyung kept bench pressing like he wanted to lift the whole world with his two bare shouders.

At around four pm, his phone far away from him to keep him from doing something stupid, Taehyung was stage rehearsing, his voice rougher and angrier than ever, his whole body craving for release and intimacy. At this point Yoongi too had noticed, giving a small side glance to Jimin, who shook his shoulders in hopelessness.

As he grew more and more insufferable, Namjoon saw it was almost six pm and called for a break, immediately nearing Taehyung and taking him aside for a while.

“What’s wrong.” Namjoon didn’t approach the matter softly.

Taehyung took a pause. Namjoon was almost tempted to call Jimin. Maybe he knew how to deal with this. Maybe he was too rough, too direct or too logical rather than emotional, he could —

“I miss her, hyung.” Taehyung said. Namjoon exhaled heavily. He knew how that felt. “I miss her and we call each other every day, we text, but it’s so bad. I miss everything about her. I thought it was a crush and that it would be easy. After all we’ve been dating for a couple months and...” Namjoon waited, his eyes fixed on Tae. “But I think I’m in love. It’s like, here.” He pressed his fist between his ribs and his stomach. “And I’m so tense, all the time. At night it’s even worse. I haven’t been sleeping much.”

Namjoon waited as if to let him speak, but apparently he was done. “Do you want to call her? Take the rest of the day off and we go on without you?”

“She’s sleeping right now. Fucking time zones. And if I call her, it will get worse.”

Namjoon knew. The wanting, the longing. It just intensifies.

Namjoon checked his phone. “Okay. Rehearsal’s almost over anyways. You just need to survive a couple more songs, then we’re gonna take a night just the seven of us, yeah?”

Taehyung nodded.

“Also, schedule a video call. We’ll be in London in four days and time difference will be easier.” He patted his shoulder. “And please, get laid. Or you can take it out on the stage tomorrow. Army will go feral if they see you like this.”

Taehyung chuckled.

“Do we have anything scheduled tomorrow morning?”

“Concert tomorrow night so no schedule until 11. Jin, JK and I are hitting the gym at nine, if you wanna join.”

“We‘ll see.” Tae smiled. He felt better.

Rehearsal ended up okay after that, Taehyung in a more playful mood. As soon as he got to his phone he saw one of your texts, he was tempted opening it right away, but he waited when he saw it was a lengthy voice note.

He arrived in his hotel room and hit the shower straight away. He was supposed to meet the others in half an hour, and he knew if he laid down and listened to your text he would get distracted and call you. As he got out of the shower he got dressed and sat on the bed, his phone tempting him. Damn it. He opened the text.

“Taehyung-“ A heavy breath. “I’ve been missing you.” Your voice was soft and delicate, almost sleepy. “It’s five am and I can’t sleep.” A raspy moan followed and he had to rewind the text and turn up the volume. Moan confirmed. “I can’t stop thinking about you. Your hands on me, everywhere. The way you kissed me before you left.” This time the moaning was clearer and louder. “Every time I touch myself I feel like my fingers aren’t long or strong enough compared to yours.” Tae felt that comment in his bones. He would be late to dinner anyway. From his phone you emitted a small whimper. “Good, the way you went down on me. I’ve tried toys that could possibly substitute you as long as you’re away but no toy could ever look at me like you did that night, with your mouth latched on my clit and your hand grasping my thighs.” He could almost taste you. God, that night had been indecent to say the least. “I can’t wait to have you back. I’m gonna have you laid out in bed, spread wide on top of the sheets and I’m gonna ride you until I can‘t even remember how much I missed you.”

Now Taehyung moaned himself. He texted you. It was nine am in Seoul, that meant you were at work, that meant you’d be worked up all day long.

“I’m free tomorrow morning. That is tonight, to you. I wanna see that nasty shit you’ve been up to with my wanna-be substitute. Maybe if you’re good enough I’m gonna send you a little something too. But you’ll have to earn it.”

He was already going to send you a golden necklace with a vibrating pendant anyway.

Jungkook

He didn’t let himself think about you much. Just ten minutes in the shower. Sometimes eight were enough, it just depended on how turned on he was. Even though your trip to Australia was making things difficult, you still managed to see each other every day or so. Sometimes you just had dinner with a screen in front of each other, chatting about your day. Sometimes you called after dinner, a glass of wine, some laughter, the boys coming in every now and then to say hi and ask how you were doing. Other times it was strictly the two of you, your soft voice reassuring him as he confessed how he was feeling. This distance had seriously improved your communication, especially since there was no way to use body language to express feelings and emotions. You reminded him daily that you love him, always telling him before you closed the call. He told you daily about what was going on and how he felt about it. He really hoped you would keep being so talkative when you came back. Most importantly, he hoped you would keep praising him. Sometimes he did exactly what you wanted so that you would praise him. He realised that the more he expressed how he felt, the more loving and praising you grew.

Your stay in Australia was supposed to last a little more than five weeks. Three weeks had gone by quickly, always busy with paperwork or work appointments. However, lately you had started missing Jungkook a little bit too severely. You knew he was shy and you would never press him into doing anything he didn’t hint at you. So when one night, after a glass of wine too many, he started talking about how much he missed your body, you replied encouragingly, leading him on.

“What do you miss about it?”

“You know. Waking up beside you. Feeling you next to me early in the morning.”

“I miss that too. Starting the day without you in the shower is difficult,” you teased, pushing it a little.

He blushed a little. “Do you miss that too?”

“I miss all of that. Do you?” You filled your glass once more. Maybe it would help you loosen up a little.

“You know I do.” He mirrored your gesture and took a sip.

“It feels good when you say it,” you answered, undoing a button of your blouse.

“I miss your body a lot. Even though I don’t usually think about it. It gets worse,” he said, eyes were glued to your fingers.

“I’m happy that you told me. It makes me feel like I’m not alone in this.”

“You are not alone. But I wish I was there.” He was going to evaporate.

You took a deep breath.

“What would you do if you were here?”

“Kiss you. Straight away. I’d hold you so tight I’d almost suffocate you.” He didn’t hesitate one second before answering your question. But then he took a long pause. “I would pick you up, wrap your legs around my waist. Lay you down on the bed. Kiss you harder.”

You licked your lips. “Have you been hitting the gym more often lately?”

He was a little bit confused by your question but he nodded.

“It shows. You look stronger. Makes me wonder how good it will be when we do it again.”

His mouth hung open. “I—“

“Use your words, sweetie.”

His situation got even worse as he blushed for the nickname. And then his whole demeanour did a 180. “Forget the bed. I think I’m gonna slam you against the wall. You’d be wearing a skirt and it would be so easy to slip inside you.”

You worded the next sentence carefully. If you pushed it too much, he would emotionally ball up like a hedgehog and shut you out. “Would you have me against the wall?”

“Fuck you standing? Yes, babe.” He pressed his tongue against his cheek, then clenched his jaw. His hand was laying on his thigh, slipping slowly to his crotch. Nothing you were going to notice since his camera was on his face and part of his chest.

“But you know I’m heavy, right?”

“You’re not that heavy. I can pick you up if I want to. And lately you’ve been looking thinner. I hope you’re eating. I love feeling you up,” he purred.

“I’ve been working out too. I have to get you out of my head.”

“What do you need to get out of your head?”

“All the things I want from you.” You needed him to push you a little.

“What do you want?”

“I want you inside me.”

“Yeah, and? Come on, babe, use your words.” His smile was borderline sadistic as he used your own words against you.

“Messy, sweaty. I don’t care if it hurts. I want you to fuck me so hard I’ll be feeling it for days afterwards.”

He moaned a little at that. How tight you would feel around him... He realised it was the right moment to tell you. “I got us something.”

“What?”

“It’s supposed to arrive by the time you’re here.”

“Really? What is it?”

He took a deep breath and then he started spitting out words at an alarming rate.

“The other day at the gym there was this couple doing something like couple yoga or something, and she was hanging from a hammock of sort and I couldn’t help but think about how intimate it was and how much I wanted to do that with you and I got us a swing.”

“You what?” You brought the glass to your lips again. Smiling.

“I got us a swing.”

“What kind of swing, baby?”

“That kind of swing. I saw it in a... video, sometime ago, and I remembered it and I wanna use it with you. If you want to, I mean, we don’t have to—” He babbled adorably.

“What if I want to?”

He inhaled and took a sip of wine.

“I can’t wait to use it with you. I keep imagining the sound of you slamming against me. I’ll moan for you so loud and lovely that everyone will know you’re loving me nice and good. You’re amazing, Koo.”

He basked in your compliment. “Come back home soon. Otherwise I’ll have to come and get you. Cuff you to my own wrist and bring you back to my side, where you belong.”

“Can’t wait to put my hands on you. My mouth,” you murmured, one more button coming undone.

“You can’t right now, but if you take off your shirt maybe you might convince me to take the first plane to Sydney.” 

His hand had already undone his belt and he was almost going to undo the button of his jeans when you said, “do you think I could convince you if I told you I’m not wearing a bra right now?”

He looked shocked. “You should show me.”

You quickly undid your blouse and let it hang open. That’s when he noticed something glittering.

“Is it...”

“I thought I could use the time away to get it done, so it can properly heal.”

Right there, on your right nipple you let the small piercing show.

“You’re so getting fucked when you come back. First I’ll get my tongue on that and you know exactly where it’s gonna go next.”

You grinned devilishly. “Good, because it’s all I’ve been thinking of.”

[sparklingichigo]

Human World Adventures

Part 4

Previously in Part 3

Satan: Sort off, but it'll be okay. You're here now^^

Beel: What-

Ichigo: Eh?

Asmo: EH?!

Ichigo: Well, I guess that's a good thing then. At least I can help to cheer you up^^

Satan: It does, much much thank you for that

Ichigo: No pro- [feels the hold getting tighter] ?? What's wrong hon?

Beel: It's fine.

Beel: Ah, the mark is fading [sees Ichigo's hickey starts to fade]

Ichigo: Well it's been days so I guess it did fade away slowly [nervous laugh]

Satan: Mark? What mark?

Ichigo: Oh it's nothing^^ well, Beel and I are getting drinks. Let's go, hon!

Beel: Yeah, let's go^^

Satan: can you get me some pineapple juice while you're at it?

Ichigo: Sure! My treat ^^

Satan: Thanks.

Once Ichigo and Beel leave, Asmo gets in and asks him about what happened.

Asmo: What was that?!

Satan: What was what?

Asmo: Are you seriously flirting with her? Of all people?

Satan: Me? Flirting? Absolutely not.

Asmo: Don't lie to me. Since when do you even like her?

Satan: I'm not! I don't like her like that, stop assuming things, Asmodeus!

Asmo: Heh, don't pull this game on me. I can smell love or lust from far away. Sure I understand your lust heightens because of her swimsuit, it even heightens Beel's, it's probably off-charts and they're probably banging but if I see you trying to steal her from Beel I won't standstill. Beel is our precious little brother, hurting him would mean you don't truly love him.

Satan: I'm not flirting with her!

Asmo: You better not. I'm watching you, Satan. [gets out of the pool] bEstIeS!! Wait for me!! [catches up with Ichigo and Beel]

Satan of course decides to just chill at the pool until he feels a presence of a suspicious sorcerer.

Solomon: I see you've taken a liking to her as well.

Satan: I'm not! Stop assuming I did!

Solomon: Hmm I see the way you look at her. It's as if you found your only one~

Satan: Tsk. Deal with your own business, Solomon!

Meanwhile, Asmo yet again witnesses the couple. Of course, he notices Beel is acting more possessive, it was quite obvious and this man isn't being subtle either.

Ichigo: Alright, so what do you want Asmo?

Asmo: Hmm, I'll just get the strawberry smoothie

Ichigo: As always huh, choosing everything pink^^

Asmo: Yeah, what about you, lil bro?

Beel: Oh, I've chosen my drink^^ I chose Melon juice

Asmo: Ooh, nice choice! What about you, darling? What did you choose?

Ichigo: Mango, as always^^

Ichigo: Oh, can you pack the pineapple one? We're taking those away [to the cashier]

Cashier: Of course^^

Ichigo: Thanks, miss!

Cashier: No problem. Are they your lovers? [randomly]

Ichigo: Uh well... [sweat drops] This one is my gay best friend and this one is my lover- ^^

Cashier: Ooh, no wonder he chose our pink drink. Here's your strawberry smoothie, sir. Melon juice for you and your mango juice, miss^^

Ichigo: Thank you. Here's the payment, have a nice day miss^^

With their drinks, they return to the pool. Suddenly they see Satan coming out of the pool looking unusually good. Ichigo blanks a bit because well damn, it's been a while since she gets such a view after Beel.

Beel: Sugar?

Ichigo: Y-yeah? ^^

Beel: You okay?

Ichigo: Absolutely! Hey Satan, here's your drink!!

Satan: Oh thanks, finally some good old pineapple juice!

Behind them, Asmo rolls his eyes in annoyance and so did Beel.

Asmo: Are you gonna do something against this?

Beel: Probably not anytime soon.

Asmo: Oh? You're unusually quiet today. Not that I'm surprised.

Beel: No one plans a murder out loud, Asmo.

Asmo: You're not killing him right?

Beel: Not literally at least.

Now back to Satan and Ichigo. The two end up talking about things. Satan told her that he succeeds in moving on which is good.

Ichigo: Well that's great then! You've finally moved on and things are going well for you, right?

Satan: It is. I probably have found my one.

Ichigo: Oh? After all this time you've finally found someone? That's great!

Satan: Yeah, I somehow find someone I truly love but unfortunately they're taken :(

Ichigo: Oh no...that's too bad :((

Satan: Yeah, it was unfortunate

Suddenly Ichigo feels Beel carrying her up causing her to squeal in shock.

Ichigo: Hon? What's wrong? Oh my goodness! My drink!

Asmo: I got you bestie- [holding her drink for her]

Ichigo: Thanks Asmo... But...Honey, where are we going?!

Beel: Somewhere.

Ichigo: Somewhere....? Oh my God! Beel no!! Can't we just wait for marriage before that!!

Beel: Oh not to worry, we're not doing that. I'm just getting you away from him.

Ichigo: What's wrong with him...?

Beel: He's suspicious.

Ichigo: Suspicious.... [glances at Satan confusedly] Is he one of the people you can't trust being around me?

Beel: Yeah, unfortunately not [finally lets Ichigo down on their bench]

Ichigo: Is it because I'm being nice to everyone?

Beel: I don't mind you being nice to everyone because you're always kind. It's just that, you need to remember that we're pure demons and sometimes... our desires can get ahead of us.

Ichigo: I see...

Beel: Being this kind and being this cute, no wonder many people want to steal you away from me [caresses her cheek]

Ichigo: You know I won't acknowledge them right? You know I only truly love you, right?

Beel: I know, but I doubt they'd give up, considering the third one happens to be Satan and he has an ace card against me.

Ichigo: Ace card?

Beel: Lucifer. He has Lucifer on his side.

Ichigo: Why would Lucifer be on his side? He knows we've been dating for almost 1 year and I'm sure he understands that Satan shouldn't steal me away from you.

Beel: I hope for that too.

Mammon: Hey you two! We're done with swimming, aren't you gonna change?

Ichigo: Oh? We're done?

Mammon: Yeah, we've been here for hours and it's almost lunch. Hurry up and change!

Ichigo: Got it!

So Ichigo changes out into her casual clothes and so did the others. Haruka of course is still confused as to why Satan is keeping a distance besides being always near her 90% of the time, now he's keeping a distance?

Haruka: Hey, Ichigo, do you have any idea why Satan keeps a distance from me?

Ichigo: I don't know. He did tell me he finally moved on though. You know how he gets when he dislikes someone or you're not that close to him.

Haruka: Ah back to Mr. ice prince huh? He's unusually friendly with you though.

Ichigo: Well, I think it's because we're friends^^

Haruka: That makes more sense. Did you bring your things? You're staying here tonight right?

Ichigo: Yeah, well I only brought pajamas dan more clothing, even toiletries. Other than that I don't see a reason I should bring one.

Haruka: True. Oh well, let's get lunch! [currently holding hands with Simeon]

Ichigo: You two seem to be happier than ever^^

Haruka: We are! He does make me happy

Simeon: Well, I'm sure you're happy with Beel as well^^

Ichigo: I am actually- [feels someone hold her from behind]

Simeon: Oh Beel! Didn't see you there^^

Ichigo: Aww hello honey^^ [pats Beel's head who's leaning on her shoulder] He's unusually clingy today, don't mind him^^

Simeon: considering your situation, I understand.

Beel: You notice as well?

Simeon: I do. Satan seems to change his target to her. I'm not sure how it happens but it just happened. I hope we're just seeing things.

Beel: I hope so too.

Suddenly they hear Michael and Lucifer calling for them.

Michael: Simeon! Come on, let's go!!

Simeon: Coming!!

Lucifer: Beel, everyone is already going! Let's go!

Beel: Right behind you! Let's go, Sugar^^

Ichigo: Yeah, let's go~

Finally, everyone has gathered to get their food. Throughout the ride, Ichigo is now in the most confusing situation in her whole life. Haruka is of course in the other car with the angels and some of the other brothers who can't fit. It was unfortunate for them to get separated but that's not why she's confused, it's because she's now between Satan and Beel.

Of course, Satan is busy with his e-book while Beel eats some kind of candy or gum to calm his hunger down. This leaves Ichigo in an awkward situation because she feels horrible tension. I'm sure you're wondering how this happens, don't you?

Diavolo: Well we have two cars because there are lots of us^^

Haruka: Wow! A van! Awesome! But how do we seat? Is there an arrangement for it?

Diavolo: I don't think there's an arrangement at least. Let's just divide the group into two. Eight people per car. Who's coming with me?

Barbatos: Of course, it goes without saying. I'll be by your side, M'lord.

Diavolo: Well we need six more.

Simeon: We'll go then. Haruka and I. Luke too!

Mammon: I'll go in your car then, Lord Diavolo!

Diavolo: We need two more, anyone else? ^^

Michael: Rosaria and Me ^^

Diavolo: Well, this leaves the others to be in Lucifer's van.

Lucifer: Hope you guys don't create chaos inside the car. I'm watching you. Especially you, Asmodeus.

Asmo: Me? Why me?

Lucifer: Who knows what you'd do in that car with Solomon. But oh well, everyone let's get in. Mammon, behave

Mammon: Of course, I will!

Now here we are back to Ichigo's awkward situation. She can feel the tension between Beel and Satan the moment she sat beside Beel then Satan joins in beside her.

Asmo: Oh wow, I feel so bad for Ichigo...

Solomon: Same... I'd never survived such an awkward situation like that.

Levi: Hey, Ichigo! Wanna borrow my switch? You seem really bored.

Ichigo: You're okay with that?

Levi: Yeah, I have my phone to game. Here^^

Ichigo: Aww thanks a lot, Levi^^

Now let's see how everything goes down in Diavolo's car. Since 90% of the members there are angels, it's all peaceful. Of course, Haruka is leaning peacefully to Simeon's shoulder as Simeon looks at the scenery.

Michael: So Diavolo, where are we going exactly?

Diavolo: Oh I'm actually thinking of going Japanese this time. What do you think of Sushi?

Michael: Ah sushi, what a coincidence! My wife loves them a lot^^

Haruka: Wait, we're getting sushi?!

Barbatos: We are^^ It's M'lord's decision to treat us sushi.

Haruka: Ooh! I love sushi!

Luke: Sushi...raw fish?

Simeon: What's wrong, Luke?

Luke: I don't know... I....just don't like it much

Rosaria: Aww not to worry, dear^^ There are sushis that are fried and some of the fish are cooked.

Luke: Ooh fried sushi sounds nice!

Haruka: They are! Especially the mentai one! Oh my God, I'm hungry now~ Simeooon what do we do~

Simeon: Just be patient okay. [pats Haruka] We're getting there soon, right?

Diavolo: We are^^ Probably around 15 minutes based on the GPS Barb set up for me

Haruka: Yay! it's been a while since I ate sushi!

Simeon: Well, today's your lucky day, little lamb^^

The same thing happens in Lucifer's car, everyone is asking where they're going to eat, considering they're following Diavolo's car.

Lucifer: Diavolo told me that he's going Japanese today, he didn't specify which food we're going for though.

Belphie: Sushi perhaps?

Asmo: Sushi? Ooh, you're quite lucky today, Belphie!

Belphie: Heh, it's been a while since I ate them despite it being my favorite food.

Ichigo: That's great then! You get to eat your favorite food

Satan: Sushi huh, quite a unique choice.

Ichigo: It's a common food in the human world. I'm sure Beel knows more since he has lots and lots of taste trips~

Beel: I do, I'm just not fond of it...

Ichigo: Oh, why so?

Beel: It's just not my taste but I'm fine with it^^

Belphie: It's actually good though. If you dislike raw fish you can get the cooked ones.

Beel: Oh yeah, I've tasted those as well. They do taste better.

Ichigo: Hey, Solomon, you're unusually quiet today~

Asmo: Sssh, he's asleep [laughs slightly]

Ichigo: Oooh, whoops- [tones down her voice]

Minutes later, they finally arrived at the sushi restaurant. Diavolo luckily already reserve the table for them so they don't need to wait in line.

Waitress: This way, sir

The waitress leads them to a VIP table with an awesome view. Everyone is impressed with the awesome view and enjoys the cool summer breeze coming from the open view.

Haruka: That is such a beautiful view!

Barbatos: M'lord does have a good taste in picking places.

Diavolo: Oh, Barb, you're just exaggerating!

Barbatos: Of course not, it was genuine.

Despite the place and the awesome view, Lucifer is now concern about Diavolo's wallet considering Beel is here and he has a big portion in eating but Diavolo, as if reading his mind calms him down.

Diavolo: It's okay, I can pay. I promise to treat you guys food so here we are^^

Lucifer: Are you sure, Diavolo?

Diavolo: Certainly, just choose what you like, I'm fine with anything.

Barbatos: Are you sure, M'lord?

Diavolo: Of course! Just choose what you like.

With that everyone chooses their sushi. Of course Haruka and Ichigo both discuss and they end up with Mentai sushi and lots and lots of other sushis. Of course, they also need to order the cooked sushi because Beel and Luke isn't that fond of raw fish.

Haruka: The tempura sushi looks good!

Luke: I think so too! Can we get that, Simeon?

Simeon: Of course, Luke!

Ichigo: Oh yeah, what about drinks?

Haruka: Perhaps settling with ocha? Since it's a sushi restaurant.

Luke: I'll settle with water...

Simeon: That's okay, Luke^^ You can have that.

With that everyone finally places their orders to the waitress. After a few minutes, the food finally arrived. There are lots of sushi but there's a catch, a certain stupid demon never learned his lesson.

Satan: What kind of crazy idea is this?

Mammon: What?

Levi: Are you seriously sipping milkshake....?

Haruka: [sigh] He'll never learn

Lucifer: Indeed.

Mammon: It's good, okay!!

Beel: I don't think that's wise....

Ichigo: Yeah... you're gonna puke again. Be careful.

Now that's not why we're here, we're here for some good ol romance. Haruka is trying to lovey-dovey with Simeon. She offers to feed Simeon but the angel rejects her.

Simeon: There's a lot of people though

Haruka: Ah...

Simeon: I'll feed you instead!

Haruka: O-oh! Okay!

Rosaria: Ah, young love~

Michael: Do you want me to do that as well?

Rosaria: Oh no no, it's fine. We're too old for this.

Michael: But I want to-

Rosaria: Just once^^

The others notice how sweet the two couples there. The singles are feeling more lonely.

Mammon: Man.... when am I gonna get a lover...

Levi: I have ruri... real people sucks.

Satan: Same, there are fictional girls from a book anyways-

Beel internally: Then why go for Ichigo??

Belphie: [chewing his sushi] ????

Ichigo: Here! The tempura sushi you ordered!

Beel: Yay! We finally got our sushi, Luke!

Luke: Finally;-; I almost finished my water.

Simeon: Don't worry, you brought your water bottle right?

Luke: Oh yeah!

Overall everyone is enjoying themselves during lunch until Ichigo feels someone staring at her. Ichigo looks back and sees Satan staring at her. Solomon and Asmo luckily come to rescue and just shields Ichigo away from him.

Solomon: Just focus on your sushi, don't mind him [turns Ichigo's head to the food]

Beel also notices this and sees what's happening. Asmo just gives him an "X" telling him not to do anything reckless. Lucky for him, Beel notices the code and decides to chew on more sushi. Ichigo really feels the tension, luckily Haruka helps her and ask for the waiter to come with a bell. Everyone's attention is back at Haruka who's ordering some sashimi for dessert.

Levi: You're ordering another one?

Haruka: Yeah^^

Mammon: I didn't notice we got a bell here-

Lucifer: That red button beside you

Mammon: Oh :o

Everyone: Mammon no!!

Too late everyone, Mammon presses the button to try it. Lucifer sigh as the waitress comes up to Mammon, asking what he needs.

Mammon: Uh... Can I see the menu?

Waitress: Of course, here you go^^

Mammon reads the menu and he seems to be too full so he ask the others if they want anything.

Beel: Are there any desserts?

Haruka: There's mochi and ice cream, which one do you want?

Beel:...

Mammon: Betting 50 Grimm for both.

Ichigo: 20 Grimm for him choosing one of them.

Lucifer: Can you not do bets in the middle of the table?!

The two of them quiet down until Satan decides to stupidly join in.

Satan: How about 30 Grimm that he chose both but with more portion.

Ichigo: That's oddly specific-

Beel: I'll take ice cream, sugar, do you want anything?

Ichigo: too full... no thanks

Beel: Well, get me one strawberry ice cream then^^

Mammon: Dang it-

Ichigo: Come on, you two~ 20 grimm~

The twins, yes Lucifer and Michael both facepalm at this. Wow, the audacity to do bets in the middle of lunch. Diavolo and Barbatos are enjoying every second of this. Rosaria just focuses on eating more sushi because it's been a while since she ate human food.

Rosaria: By the way, this is really odd-looking sushi.... What's this?

Haruka: ...who ordered that?

Levi: Don't look at me! I didn't order that!

Belphie: Me, that was supposed to be my sushi. But you can eat them if you want. It's octopus sushi ma'am, it's really good.

Rosaria: I see^^ well first time for everything

Her husband of course stares in confusion as Rosaria eats the octopus sushi with no problem.

Rosaria: You are right, Belphegor! It's really good!

Suddenly Luke asks for ice cream to Haruka causing confusion to her since Luke was this close to puke but here he is asking for ice cream.

Luke: Can I get ice cream too??

Beel: Which flavor do you want Luke? I'll order them for you.

Luke: Uh.... I don't know;-;

Ichigo: I think Vanilla works fine for you. The other flavors are too unique.

Luke: Oh! Okay then, order me the vanilla ice cream, Beel!!

Beel: Then I'll settle with the charcoal one, it seems interesting^^

Ichigo: Just don't forget to brush your teeth after^^

Beel: Of course I won't! :(

With that, the additional order finished and everyone enjoys the sashimi and their ice cream. Now it is time to go home, Ichigo instantly goes with Haruka without any of the demon brothers knowing. This causes havoc in the bus.

Lucifer: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.... Seven?!

Levi: ....Where did Ichigo go?

Beel: She told me she's going to the toilet...

Satan: Then why don't we just wait for her.

Belphie: Well yeah, no sht! We can't leave her here! Use your 200 IQ!

Suddenly Lucifer's phone starts to ring, turns out Michael is calling him. Of course, Lucifer answers him,

Lucifer: Yes?

Michael: Ichigo is in our van. She's okay, don't worry. If you can hear her at least, talking loudly as always.

Lucifer: Ah I see... she did inform me she's staying with you angels. Did she bring her stuff with her?

Michael: Oh she did, it's in Haruka's room actually.

Lucifer: I see, that's good to hear. Thanks for informing me, Michael.

As soon as Lucifer hangs up, the brothers are shocked.

Satan: Why didn't she told us?!

Lucifer: Why would she?

Beel: ...Not even me...

Lucifer: Knowing you, you'd drag her back to our mansion. No wonder.

Solomon: and bang her for running away.

Asmo: That's not what he meant!! Wait... is it?

Lucifer: [sigh] Let's just go home. It's getting late.

Suddenly Diavolo's Van comes passing by them with Luke opening the window and mocking them.

Luke: Byeeeeee!!! See yall tomorrow!!!

Mammon: Haha sucks to be you guys!!! Ichigo's here!! Hahaha!!

Lucifer: Mammooon!!!

Belphie: Wtf-

Solomon: Why?

Satan: GET BACK HERE YOU SCUM OF A DEMON!!

Beel: Ooh! Have a safe trip, you guys!!

Asmo: Can't yall just shut up? So noisy....

Levi: normies... ckckckc

As soon as Satan finishes shouting, they all stare at him confusedly.

Lucifer: Why are you...so...worked up?

Levi: You good? Period?

Satan: I'm a male-

Belphie: Okay... I'm starting to get a hint. Goodluck, twin brother [pats Beel's shoulder]

Levi: wait wait wait- are you telling me- What?! Why?!

Satan: What do you mean why?!

Lucifer: ...Oh my Lord. Just get in!

Asmo: This is gonna be a long day

Solomon: Same.... you need to be more subtle before anyone finds out anytime soon.

Levi: Watch Mammon finding out and scolding the sht out of you.

Asmo: Nah, no need to go that far. Watch his dad finds out.

Lucifer: Let's just go home.

Back at the van, Mammon and Luke somehow high-fived at their mocking towards the other brothers.

Mammon: That was fun!

Luke: Right?! You gotta see their faces!

Mammon: Heh, riling up Satan does has its perks.

Luke: Hm? I thought we're just teasing them...?

Mammon: Oh child, you'll never know.

Simeon: Luke, don't listen to him. You know how demons are.

Mammon: Hey! :(

Simeon: Let's not do anything more reckless. Doing this can just cause more chaos, Mammon.

One the driver's seat, Diavolo and Barbatos hear this. Barbatos just smirks and nods, noting it in his head.

Barbatos: So my predictions are correct.

Diavolo: Hm? What are you talking about, Barb?

Barbatos: It's nothing, M'lord^^ Oh! We're getting near

Diavolo: Ah, you are correct. We're here, Angels!

Rosaria: Honey, wake up!! We're here!!

Michael: Oh? We are? [wakes up]

Diavolo: Yes we are^^

Michael: Oh... thanks a lot for the ride, Diavolo^^

Diavolo: Don't mention it. I'm just being a good friend.

So the angels, Haruka and Ichigo get down. As soon as they did, Diavolo's vans drive away as Mammon waves them goodbye. Of course, this goes without saying that Ichigo is staying with the angels.

Now let's watch what happened in the mansion. Diavolo and Barbatos entered the mansion normally but suddenly he feels the tension between Beel and Satan.

Diavolo: ....What's going on?

Lucifer: Good question, I've been asking that since we got home. [facepalms]

Asmo: They've been having that aura ever since we got home.

Solomon: Help ;-; I'm scared for lyfe- [clings to Asmo]

Asmo: Let's just go to our room and let them settle this-

Solomon: Yeah let's go-

Barbatos: [sigh] As I expected. It's about Ichigo, isn't it?

Lucifer: Ichigo?

Barbatos: Yes, your son seems to take a liking towards her.

Lucifer: w h a t?!

Diavolo: He does?

Barbatos: I've expected this ever since we land in the human world. It's true Satan did stare at Haruka most of the time, but his feelings start to actually blossom when Ichigo took care of him on his heartbreak.

Levi:... Is this an anime?! What even are you two doing?! Just break it up!!! [trying to separate them]

Satan: Shut up, Levi! Deal with your own business!!

Levi: Beel, come on! You're the most mature out of all of us besides Lucifer! Can you just let this go?!

Beel: He has gone too far!

Levi: What do you mean?!

Mammon: Okay you two! Break it up! Levi, hold Beel, I'll hold Satan back!

Levi: On it!

But despite Levi and Mammon holding them back, they're still arguing.

Beel: Can't you just back off?! Ichigo is mine and we've been dating for one year!

Satan: Well why don't you back off?! I'm pretty sure she prefers me anyway!!

Levi: Beel! Don't get triggered! He's just saying that, I'm sure he doesn't mean it!!

Mammon: Come on, you two! There's no need for this! Satan, can't you just love yourself or something?! Staying single ain't gonna kill ya!

Satan: Deal with your own business, Mammon!!

Mammon: I can't! You're my brother and your feelings for her are hindering our brotherhood!

Lucifer has finally had enough and decides to step in, it's so much he even turns into his demon form.

Lucifer: ENOUGH!!

The two of them quiet down and stares at Lucifer in shock.

Lucifer: Are you two seriously arguing over a girl?! Right now?! And you, Satan, what's happening to you? Since when are you this reckless? Think about it! You're about to steal someone who's dating your brother! You know how it feels to get your lover got stolen but here you are trying to steal someone else's lover!

Satan: Deal with your own business, Lucifer! You know well feelings are natural and can't be forced.

Lucifer: But you can resist it. Are you sure you want to risk your brother for your feelings for a girl?

Satan: ....

Lucifer: And you, Beel. Calm down, okay. I'm sure there's a way out. You don't need to use violence against everything. Do you want me to call Ichigo back here?

Beel: ....please....

Lucifer: Alright, I'll call her here or we'll go there. Levi, Mammon, you are in charge.

Mammon: Wait right now?

Lucifer: Yes. Come on, Beel.

Diavolo: So...all of this because of feelings for someone....

Barbatos: Indeed m'lord. Love can either be beautiful or dangerous. There's no in-between.

[anoceaninthesun]

Needs Improvement

Thanks largely to a brilliant suggestion by @shineejeya the Home Improvement AU continues with this ficlet (mini-series ??). This time the renovating teams tackle their toughest assignment yet. If only it was all about the house and not the feisty, beautiful client.

Summary: When Yamanaka Ino meddles in her best friend’s love life quest to DIY renovate her new fixer-upper, Haruno Sakura finds herself caught up in a home improvement competition between four handsome, creative questionably qualified renovators.  

(Home Improvement AU, Modern AU, Slice-of-Life AU)

Pairings: FoundersxSaku (IzuSaku, TobiSaku, MadaSaku, HashiSaku), ShikaIno, other background pairs

Rating: T

Genre(s): Romance, Comedy, General

Warnings: none really—except maybe swearing, atrocious flirting skills and the Founders being renovating crackheads (not literally, but almost)

Pt. 1, Pt.2 

Sakura had her doubts about Ino’s intentions from the moment she showed up dressed so...expensively. The season’s latest denim cut off jacket, glittering top, a perfectly pleated skirt she’d seen in an upscale boutique they went to together, and boots easily worth someone’s paycheck. Granted, her friend had been a fashionista and trendsetter since they were kids.

 But, when Ino called the night before claiming it had been too long since they’d hung out and she wanted to do a quiet, girl’s-day-in, she’d agreed. So maybe the pinkette had brought whatever was coming onto herself. She hadn’t thought much of it when the blonde said she’d swing by.

 It wasn’t really done, boxes barely unpacked and some rooms still without fresh coats of paint, but it was slowly coming along. Buying her first home at only twenty-two was a big deal, all the years of frugal spending and careful saving, of building credit and working hard culminating in such a huge achievement. 

She was so proud of herself, and determined to turn the house into the home of her dreams, one weekend at a time. “Do you want a soda or water?” she called from the kitchen. 

She could see Ino on her couch with her thumbs flying over her phone screen, not paying any attention to the movie playing. “Smoothie.” she responded, absently. 

“That’s not even one of the choices I just offered!” Sakura huffed. 

“Don’t be an ungracious hostess, Sakura.” Ino laughed.

The doorbell chimed, and Sakura went to the fridge and fished out two bottles of water. She raised a suspicious brow when Ino ran to get it before she could so much as ask. Sakura knew she wasn’t expecting anyone else over, but her friends sometimes popped up when they knew she was free (which was sadly less than ever as of late). 

Taking the water and setting the two bottles down on the coffee table, Sakura wandered into the mudroom, peering out the window. She took a startled step back, blinking at the cars parked in her driveway and on the other side of the street. Was that...a camera crew? “What the hell?” she whispered. “Ino!” She stomped to the front door, only to find her friend bouncing around, happy sounds leaving her mouth as four incredibly attractive men stepped into her home. And yes, a flood of people with cameras coming in too. 

“Hi!” Ino waved with both hands. “Thank you so much for choosing this house! I can’t believe you’re here,” she tucked a loose lock of hair behind one ear and then moved forward to shake the first man’s hand. 

Sakura caught herself doing a double take. He looked so much like her childhood friend Sasuke it wasn’t even funny. More like Sasuke than his own older brother did, and she had always thought that their resemblance was pretty strong.

 The only real noticeable differences she could spot was his longer hair (hair which stuck up messily the same way Sasuke’s tended to) hanging down his back when he turned.

 His lips also looked fuller, and she and Naruto had always reluctantly agreed Sasuke had lips to die for. Their eyes met from over Ino’s shoulder and Sakura felt her heart seize up for half a beat, averting her eyes. He smiled politely, stepping back from Ino so she could continue conversing with the strange group of people. 

“So this is the house?” A white-haired man rumbled, his sharp, red eyes drinking in every detail. His unyielding facial expression made it hard to determine whatever thoughts were running to his head. Until his head bobbed once, evidently satisfied. “It’s got good bones.” 

Good bones. Sakura had thought the same thing when she’d seen it, and that’s what had prompted her to put a considerable amount of her savings into buying it. That, and maybe a tiny splash of idealism. The location, the rooms, the cute (if not somewhat overgrown) backyard...

“You’re Yamanaka Ino, right? The friend who wrote in?” The next man who spoke brought her right out of her idyllic visions. He was huge, with a beautifully bronzed skin tone, a voice that exuded warmth, and a flannel shirt stretched over a broad chest. He shook Ino’s hand, her whole arm bouncing with his strength, “Is the home owner around?” 

“Sure is! She’s right,” Ino half turned and her eyes immediately found Sakura, who had been frozen there the entire time. “Right there!”

Just like that, any illusion of invisibility she had was ripped away, and Sakura stood exposed. The cameras were zooming in, taking in her wide eyes, ghostly pallor and everyday clothes. 

“Haruno Sakura?” The man approaching her had a voice that felt like it punched the wind from her lungs, knocking her sideways. He shifted some of his long hair aside and smirked slightly, catching her reaction. She took the hand he offered and shook it, because she wasn’t really sure what else she could do. “I assume you know why we’re here?”

“Bad assumption,” she croaked. “This wasn’t what...I don’t know why...have I seen you somewhere before?” 

The role reversal was abrupt. His cocky grin melted into a thin line as his brow arched and he retracted his hand. “You...You haven’t seen the show?”

“No.” Sakura responded, almost challengingly.

The Sasuke-Look-Alike approached with a softer expression, but it did nothing for her nerves. He was just as overwhelming up close as the man she shook hands with.

“We were contacted to renovate a home, your home. As part of a new episode of our show, From House to Home. I’m Uchiha Izuna, and that’s my charming brother—”

“Madara.” Madara introduced himself with pride, as if he had the title of royalty attached to his name. They really were Sasuke’s relatives! Ones she’d never met, and she thought she had met a good deal of his extended family.

Apparently not wanting to be left out, the man with the large presence and abundance of energy came over, his eyes merry even before the genuine grin pulled his mouth up. “I’m Senju Hashirama, and I’m excited to work with you. We’ll get your dream home complete in no time.” Tugging the solemn man to his side and placing an arm around his shoulders, he waited.

“Senju Tobirama.” he said, his tone no more ‘excited’ than his face.

Sakura blinked once, wondering why a brain that could memorize the names for all the bones in a human body with ease had so much difficulty processing this. “Nice to meet you all.” she said slowly. Her eyes darted back to the camera crew still filming. She worried her face was going to look clammy on film. Would they edit out the awkward parts at least?

“So, Ino-san’s told us a little bit, but it’d be great if we could go over what you’re looking for.” Izuna urged.

Figuring it was too late to turn back (although she owed Ino one hell of a scolding for blindsiding her), Sakura nodded. “I’ll show you around.”

______________________________________________________________

Ino flitted around like a dragonfly that couldn’t decide where to land. Sakura did her best not to break into a sweat over the pack of handsome men following her around from room to room. She had plenty of male friends.

Attractive male friends, even. But there was a hot flame at the back of her neck from the gazes tracking her that just wasn’t there when she was around her boys. The crush she’d once had on Sasuke for that awkward period when they were younger, notwithstanding.

“A more open kitchen?” Hashirama repeated. He pulled out a tablet and began fumbling with it, biting his lip briefly. Sighing loudly, Tobirama yanked it from his hand, pointedly turning it so it was no longer upside down, and began tapping.

Sakura smiled slightly. Though they were apparently something like celebrities in the world of home improvement, they gave off a very difference impression in real life. On the other hand, exactly how competent were these men?

“It’d be nice if she could have a bigger island bar. You know, for get togethers with our friends.” Ino put in, standing at one corner of the room.

For all the helpful advice she had, the renovators probably thought Ino lived with her.

“We’ve definitely done some very fun island bars before.” The older Senju said. “Remember the project with the tropical fish tank built in?” He nudged at his brother, who grimaced.

“Your ideas are somehow always even bigger than the clients.” Tobirama grumbled.

Madara wondered over to her humble stove area, examining it. Then her second-hand fridge and microwave. “These appliances are outdated. Anything new we put in would clash.” Sakura took offense to his disdainful expression. It wasn’t easy to afford a house on her budget and spring for brand new kitchenware and appliances.

“It works fine.” Sakura explained, teeth grinding. Who did this man, who probably drove around in a car the same price as the down payment on her house, think he was? To demonstrate, she brushed by his taller frame and turned on one of the eyelets of the stove. A flame sputtered to life. “Plus,” she added, putting on her syrupiest voice, “I know seasoned renovators like yourselves can work around any minor inconveniences the house has.” Madara stared at it, then her, saying nothing else.

Sakura happened to catch the shrewd carmine eyes of Tobirama, noticing how they were lit with mild amusement.

“Without a doubt!” Hashirama agreed, “So Madara, you’ll take responsibility for the kitchen area?”

Crossing his arms, the older Uchiha made a noise reminiscent of reluctant agreeance. Sakura had been friends with Sasuke for a long enough period to decode most vague noises and gestures in an Uchiha’s standard repertoire.

That was without a doubt, “challenge accepted.” ______________________________________________________________

So far, the job ahead didn’t make him feel as miserable as Tobirama had been expecting. Despite the strange newness of the situation, Haruno Sakura didn’t seem like an unreasonable client. They were currently surveying her unfenced backyard, no one more eager to talk about plans for it than Hashirama. “The great thing about how unstructured this space is right now, is that you could do almost anything with it and not worry about taking anything out first. A fence is a definite, but how do you feel about a greenstone garden?”

Sakura contemplated, a slow smile curling her lips as her best friend barely contained a squeal. “Well, I did say whenever I got my own place I’d try my hand at something like that.” 

Happy that she was on board, she and Hashirama began to talk shop, with Ino interjecting, apparently a gardening fanatic herself. Tobirama let them chat, busy watching Madara scope out the yard, presumably to see how he’d implement his own project. When he wasn’t doing that, he was boring holes into the side of the client’s head. She had to feel it. 

It was starting to agitate him a little, and he wasn’t even the focus of the man’s gaze. Ever since the little display of sass in the kitchen – something Tobirama thoroughly appreciated since quite a few clients were too busy fawning to put Madara in his place–it was hard to tell if the older of the Uchiha brothers wanted to one up them or impress Sakura. More than likely both.

“I don’t think I’d want to splurge on anything like a pool,” Sakura was shaking her head. “But it’d be nice to have something entertaining...”

“A firepit.” Izuna said instantly. “We can do one right off the patio if you want.” He took out his own tablet and showed her a three dimensional construct of what it would look like. 

Sakura leaned in, her face approving. “Oh!” Without even seeming to realize it, she gently tugged it from his hands and tapped. “Are these the different designs? I really like this one.” 

The camera shifted to show what her choice had been. Though Tobirama found the Uchiha’s penchant for firepits entirely unoriginal from a design perspective, the one Sakura liked would unfortunately be very nice surrounded by Hashirama’s horticultural touches.

 Izuna was certainly proud of himself for suggesting it, much less openly smug than his brother. But...too pleased nonetheless. In fact, he had been stealing interested looks at Sakura nearly as often as Madara. 

As they moved back into the house, Hashirama and the women in front, the younger Senju traded a very loaded look with the dark-haired brothers.That probably wasn’t going to make the final cut. The show liked to capitalize on a “friendly” if not overly-competitive rivalry, but the venomous sneers they gifted each other were far past it. 

They were all supposed to be alright with a collaboration for the sake of Sakura’s dream reno. He just had the niggling suspicion that wasn’t the only thing on their minds. Deny all they wanted, the Uchiha Team tended to shine best when the client was young, female and single. Sakura was at least two out of three things thus far. 

At the very least, she wasn’t acting besotted. That was a welcome change. She also seemed financially conscious, which was something else Tobirama appreciated after so long doing budgeting on these projects. A lot of clients didn’t truly understand how that portion of project management worked.

 Though, with how surprised she was by the whole affair, he wondered if she even knew an anonymous source had put up a very generous amount to cover the renovation.

 Sakura could have two identical houses and triple the square footage if she really wanted it. And it wasn’t beneath Madara to use that knowledge and some sex appeal to coerce someone in the pinkette’s position to let him take control of a project like this one.   

Tobirama wasn’t about to let the opposing team break ahead. The time would come shortly for him to speak with Sakura, and when they had that meeting of the minds, he would convince her that an economical reno was the way to go.  

______________________________________________________________

It took a lot longer than anticipated but here’s part two. The beginning of the SakuraxFounders interactions! I usually do slow burn, but at the same time this isn’t going to be super long, so romance may happen quicker than usual. I think this is looking more and more like it may become a mini-series (a handful of these little chapters probably), which I have never done on tumblr. Fingers crossed I figure it out. If you’re looking for more FounderxSakura fun from me, and there’s a chance you haven’t seen my oversaturated advertisement for it, you can check out: A Stitch in Time.

[whipped-for-kpop-fics]

Just One Day

Pairing: Yoongi x Gender Neutral Character Genre: Fluffy Non Idol AU  Word count: 600 A/N: This is my very first gender neutral fic, if you like it please let me know and if you dont also let me know lol I need feedback regardless.

“A medium Chocobanana please.” Royal says as they order their usual at Manhattan Factory. They took their time ordering today because every Friday, the handsome guy in the nice suit came around at this time.

“That’ll be $5.47.”

They reach for their wallet and pretend they can’t find it for a few seconds, “Here you go.”

As soon as they are done paying, the handsome guy walks through the door looking at his phone sort of annoyed. Nervously, they move out of the way and watch as he orders the same thing he does every Friday.

“Large Chocobanana please.” He mutters with a flustered look on his face.

“Annoying clients today??” The cashier questions as he takes his order and waits for payment.

“Not today,” His face softens as he answers, “My mom didn’t water my plant while I was gone so some of the leaves have turned yellow.”

Royal smiles to themself. That’s so cute. He’s so cute. From the first time they heard his voice, they had wanted to ask him out on a date but always punked out when push came to shove.

As the man turns around, he bumps into them rattling them from their thoughts.

“Excuse me.” He says touching his shoulder gently. “Did I mess up your train of thought??”

“N- No! I was just waiting for my smoothie, daydreaming as usual.” They laugh from the embarrassment.

“Hey, haven’t I seen you here before??” The blonde haired man says pulling off his jacket and exposing his 3 piece business suit underneath.

Their cheeks begin to feel warm, “Yeah, I usually come here after I work out. The smoothie makes me feel better about the pain.”

“That makes sense.”

“You always order the same thing as me, just in a larger size.”

“Nice observation! Are you watching me??” He says shifting his eyebrows and revealing a soft gummy grin.

“It’s just...It’s just I noticed that—“ they start fumbling with the keychain on their phone.

“RELAX! I was only kidding.”

“Royal??” The cashier yells, placing the smoothie on the counter and ringing the bell.

“That’s me.” They say as they begin to walk to the counter.

While there, the cashier calls the businessman as well, “Yoongi??”

Yoongi. What a nice name. At least now with the name part out of the way they could continue the conversation without being awkward. Both parties grab their respective smoothies and take a satisfying drink.

Intent on continuing the conversation they move to the side and inquire, “So…where do you work Yoongi??”

“I work at that office down the street.” Yoongi replies shyly as he motions them to the door.

"Oh! I pass by there all the time. Do you love it??"

He smirks, "I do, sometimes."

“Yoongi??” Royal says fidgeting with their straw.

“Yeah??” He gazes at them warmly.

“Uh…Do you maybe…want to…do this again?? With me??“ They manage to stumble out. Yoongi giggles to himself at the utter cuteness of the entire situation. “Or not..I mean I understand if you’re busy or have a partner or whatever…” They look down at their feet.

“I would love to go out with you sometime.” he grins as he pulls out his phone to take their number.

They exchange warm looks as numbers are exchanged and names are saved as "Daydreamer Royal" and "Angel Min Yoongi".

As they part ways, Royal silently pats themself on the back at their proud accomplishment, “I did it.”

-Admin Dee

[buckysrighthanddoll]

Feel

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Enhanced!Reader

Warnings: angst, fluff, mentions of past trauma, flashbacks, PTSD, the reader is a dick

Relationships were important to you. You were the type of person who tried to be friends with everybody and make them feel welcomed. This was no different when you were introduced to the Avengers.

Steve was the first Avenger that you met. He would come into your smoothie shop nearly every day, and he just knew that you weren’t quite like the other baristas there. It took around a month for him to ask you about it, which shocked you. You had thought you were doing an amazing job of not being suspicious.

You told him that you had the powers of emotional manipulation and superstrength. It was a struggle for you, especially since you had no idea how to control it. Sometimes you would be so depressed that people around you would cry without reason, other times you felt such elation that it leaked into the store patrons. The strength was rather easy to control in comparison.

He invited you to get some lunch a couple of times a week after that. It was nothing romantic; he simply wanted to get to know you better. After three weeks of getting to know each other, he asked Tony to train and recruit you. He just knew that you would make a wonderful addition to the team and that you would be welcomed and bring light to the dark days that the team would often experience. Steve also thought that you could break Bucky out of his shell a bit, seeing as you went through childhood trauma and were a survivor.

Tony absolutely adored you. He admired your charisma and humor and bright smile, and he thought that with some training, you would be a perfect fit for the team. The others agreed, so you were quickly recruited and given a bedroom to stay in (money was very tight and you could barely afford both rent and a car payment most months).

You met Bucky Barnes in the gym. You worked out for fun because even though you had super strength, you had to keep those muscles strong. Tony wanted you to learn how to fight, so he asked Barnes to teach you (if you call begging and coaxing “asking”).

You weren’t intimidated in the slightest. He was tall, had a metal arm, and was built like a Greek god, but other than that, you knew the Bucky that Steve told you about, and if any of it was true, then James Buchanan Barnes was a giant teddy bear.

“(Y/N)!” Tony called as he walked into the gym with Bucky not too far behind him. You dropped the bar you were deadlifting that had 500 pounds on it and looked over to the two men. “He’s training you to fight. Have fun, don’t kill each other,” Tony said over his shoulder as he left.

“Let’s get started,” Bucky mumbled, going over to the mat. You skipped behind him, your mood unbelievably high. He turns to look at you, all sunshine and smiles, and his heart nearly drops. You are the most beautiful woman he has ever seen in his entire life. “You’re (Y/N) I hear? I’m--”

“James Buchanan Barnes, but you go by Bucky,” You say, smiling lightly. “Steve told me all about you.”

“Ditto,” He smiles. “Okay, so the first thing we’re going to do is have a small fight. I’ll go easy on you and give you pointers, okay?” You nod your head and get ready. It was times like these when you were grateful that your mom signed you up for self-defense classes when you were fifteen. You took them for three years until you were an adult and couldn’t afford to take them on your own. Bucky takes a fast swing at you, which you catch. You twist his arm and then use it as leverage to hop onto his shoulders. He slams back, nailing you to the ground with his head.

“Well, that wasn’t very nice,” You laughed as he got up, springing up. He swings again, this time you ducked down and kicked your leg to the side, knocking him off balance. He pushes you back, pinning you to the mat with your wrists by your head. “For an old man, you sure fight well.”

“Aren’t you scared in the slightest?” Bucky asked you.

You laugh, a sound that Bucky wants to hear again and again. “Oh, James, I’m not scared at all.”

“You’re not?” He asked in disbelief.

You shook your head. “Being scared is a weakness, and I am not weak,” You said, all smiles despite the intrusive memories. It reminded you of when you were a child before all of these powers had come into play. You used to be scared shitless every single day because your drunken father would beat you senseless. Your mother had taught you that being scared was not okay. It was kin to hope, and hope led to being disappointed, and there was nothing your mother hated more than disappointment.

Which was probably why you despised being called a disappointment--it reminded you of her.

You shook your head quickly, then you lifted your arms off of the ground. They moved easily despite him putting his all into keeping you on the mat. He looked at you in shock as you both stood up. “How did you--”

“Did Tony not tell you about me?” You asked, twisting your head to the side innocently. You were the picture of innocence until people got to know you.

“No, he just told me to come in here and train you.”

“Oh, well that’s a shame,” You said, frowning a little.

“I think we should call it now. You’ve got the basics of fighting down.”

You smiled and walked with him to the kitchen.

The two of you grew very close. You talked to him every single day, and you often spent until two in the morning in his bedroom. He was easy to talk to and he loved how inviting and kind you were. You sparred three days a week to get you ready to take on many opponents of his build, which were the majority of the enemies. Natasha trained you two days a week to get used to being more nimble, flexible, and unpredictable with your strikes. You soon became an amazing fighter who was both super strong and sly.

You and Bucky were in the tower’s cinema one late night, watching some 80’s movie that you had insisted on. You just got back from a rather rough mission in which you liberated multiple children from two abusers-- men that reminded you too much of your father. Once you were back on the quinjet, the entire mood was dark and sad despite the victory that you, Wanda, and Tony had. Your memories got the best of you, and suddenly you were sad and the emotion leaked into the others, and anybody who was near you.

Including Bucky.

He wiped a tear from his face subtly, trying not to let it show that he was crying. Your head rested on his shoulder, eyes shut as you listened to the surroundings. Half of the movie played with the two of you sitting in silence, but eventually, he couldn’t take being so sad. He excused himself, stepping out of the cinema and retreating to his bedroom. You sighed and turned off the movie, deciding to try to sleep.

The exhaustion from the mission did little to help your mind slip into unconsciousness, but it got there eventually with the help of medication.

You moped around the next day, as well. The PTSD flared through the entire day, making everybody around you uneasy. Normally, you were all sunshine and smiles, a walking lollipop, entirely too happy and optimistic. The team had never seen you so down or irritable.

“Could you hand me the butter knife?” You asked Natasha impatiently. When she didn’t react quick enough, likely due to her being in a conversation with Steve, you angrily stomped over and grabbed it yourself. You didn’t understand how you were being so grumpy right now, but you were.

You finished the sandwich and gripped it tightly as you walked back to your room, ignoring all of the glances the team was giving you. Training was in an hour, but you wanted to get to the gym as soon as possible.

“Hey, (Y/N)--”

“Not a good time, Barnes,” You said, slamming your door shut behind you. Bucky furrowed his eyebrows. Not once had you ever called him by his last name. You always called him Bucky, or sometimes James when you were being particularly silly, but never Barnes.

You scarfed down your food quicker than normal, changing into workout clothes and heading down to the gym. You swung and punched the bag until it split open down the center. And even then, you kept swinging.

“Take it easy there, girly,” Sam laughed, coming up behind the bag and holding on to it. You rolled your eyes and kept swinging, knocking the air out of him. “(Y/N), can you please talk to one of us? We’re worried.”

“Why? I’m perfectly fine,” you said irritably.

Sam rolled his eyes at you as he stepped in front of the bag, blocking you from swinging again. His tone gets serious as he gives you a soft look. “We know that you’re not. We just want to see you happy, that’s all.”

“Listen, Wilson, I’ll be fine.” The rest of the team streams in, eyeing you and Sam down cautiously. “Let’s just get this done and over with.”

You sparred Steve first. Taking him down was easy given today’s anger level. You pinned him down in two minutes flat, shocking even him.

Next was Sam. He was an easy fight since you had super strength and he didn’t have a fighting advantage. Thirty seconds was all it took.

Natasha and you fought next. She nearly got you, but you pulled one of her moves and pinned her beneath you, winning the match in a minute or so.

Bucky was last. All of your built-up anger was leaking into the rest of the team, but him more so. Bucky was always more sensitive to your emotions. He put up a hell of a fight and was currently winning. You had your thighs wrapped around his neck one second, and the next you were slammed against the mat with a hand around your throat. Before you could react, a flashback filled your mind.

All you could think of was your father. The man who tormented and abused you. The man who was supposed to love you unconditionally, but instead shattered everything that you were.

“Please don’t hurt me,” You softly cried out. Tears pooled to the surface, all of your anger subsiding as it was replaced with fear. You saw Bucky’s face shift into your father’s, and it petrified you. “Not again; it’s been years.”

Bucky caught on to what was going on. He knew PTSD very well, and he saw how you looked at him as if he were the most intimidating thing on this planet. It was like you were seeing a ghost.

He releases his hold around you, allowing you to sit up. “Take her back to her room,” Tony said, his eyebrows furrowed in worry. “Take care of her.”

Bucky didn’t have to be told twice as he picked you up. You were nearly frozen in shock, your eyes closed tight as you thought of some of the things that your father had done to you.

Getting up to your room, Bucky sets you on the bed. You willed yourself to open your eyes, looking at Bucky. His eyes were warm and kind and the opposite of the man you were just thinking about.

“Please, darlin’, talk to me,” Bucky said. “You haven’t been yourself.”

You let out a choked sob. “My father used to abuse me. Almost every single day. My mom was too scared to leave him, so she did nothing. We lived in constant fear of him coming home each day. And on the last mission, those men reminded me so much of him. I’ve tried being fearless, because being scared is weak, and I am not weak,” You gritted out. “And it normally works. But then shit like this happens and I’m sent right back to my childhood home and I get scared and I hate it and--”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Bucky said, reaching out and stroking your hair. “He isn’t here anymore. We’ve got you, okay? We’ll always have you.”

You nodded your head, taking some deep breaths in an attempt to contain your emotions. “I’m lucky to have you all.”

“We’re lucky to have you.”

“No, really. You guys are the family that I never had. And I’m so fucking thankful that I have you in my life. Buck, you mean everything to me.” He smiled lightly at the statement. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t, I promise.”

“Please don’t promise me anything,” You laughed drily. “There has never been a promise that has been kept in my life.”

“What if I promised to love you with every breath given to me?” Bucky asked quietly.

“What?” You asked in disbelief. You had fallen hard for the man in front of you, but you never wanted to push anything too far. It was shocking that he harbored any feelings for you at all.

“I mean it, (Y/N). I promise to make you feel cherished and loved, because you deserve it, because you are amazing in every way; because I’m falling for you.”

He leaned in slowly, glancing at your lips as he caressed your face. You melted into his touch, and when your lips met, you lost yourself entirely. There was no telling where you were, and that’s because mentally, you were sure that you had just transcended time and space. It was a small, lingering kiss, but it made you feel so intensely that Bucky could feel it, as well.

You broke away first, looking into his eyes as you processed what just happened. “Please tell me that was real,” You whispered.

“I promise you that it was,” Bucky laughed--music to your ears.

[tell-me-when-ur-ready]

This Thing Called Love (part three)

Summary: When Shawn meets dancer Kellie in Toronto, he falls for her—hard. But Kellie has an invisible disability and thinks it’s impossible that someone could really love her the way she is.

Author’s note: I have multiple chronic illnesses that are similar to Kellie’s, but I don’t have the same exact health conditions she does. I’ve done lots of research, but I apologize if I get anything wrong!

Warnings: tiny bit of language

Word count: 1,600

Shawn’s texts didn’t stop when Kellie went home to Atlanta, a second-place win under her belt. A week after she’d gotten settled back in the small apartment she shared with two roommates, both dance majors at a local university, he texted her again.

It was early in the morning, 8 AM, but Kellie could already tell she wouldn’t be getting out of bed that day. The remnants of a migraine plus three days of barely eating anything due to nausea had her down for the count, in bed with Netflix and her roommate’s cat.

When her phone dinged, she expected it to be her boss; outside of teaching dance, Kellie nannied for a family with two kids, and she’d just texted the mom to tell her she couldn’t make it today. I’m not feeling well, Kellie had said—an understatement, considering she could barely stand the light from her computer screen and she was so weak she didn’t know if she could walk to the kitchen and make herself food.

But the display said Shawn Mendes (something that would’ve made Kellie pinch herself, if she’d had the energy—she would definitely win a game of “who’s the most famous person in your phone”). Swiping the screen revealed the full text, which was just three words: Check your email.

Curious, Kellie opened her email and waited for it to load. At the top of her inbox was an official invitation to be part of Shawn’s music video for his new song. She scrolled slowly through the email; it detailed payment, location, timeframe, costume, the vision for the choreography, and everything else she needed to know. With every word, Kellie felt herself getting more excited. This was what she’d always wanted, what she desperately needed—a chance to prove herself, to become a professional dancer and begin earning real money doing what she loved.

 And then she shook herself back into reality. She was disabled. She had complications from Celiac disease. She had chronic migraines. This was the third day in a row she’d spent right here, in bed, not feeling well enough to do literally anything else. How did she think she could commit to filming a whole freaking music video—something where she had to show up in top form, ready to dance for hours under someone else’s schedule and direction? Her body didn’t work that way; Kellie needed to make her own schedule, to go at her own pace, to be free to rest when her body needed to rest. And up until now, she’d been fortunate to find jobs that were willing to accommodate her disability.

 But the real world didn’t work that way.

 Kellie locked her phone and slid back under the covers.

 ***

 Kellie didn’t tell anyone about Shawn until well over a week after she got home. When she’d arrived back in Atlanta, her roommates and friends had asked her how the dance competition was and what she did in Toronto, and she’d said she won second place in her division (dancing to Shawn’s song, not that that was relevant) and explored the city’s coffee shops when she was feeling well enough. Which was all true. She’d just omitted one tiny, enormous detail. Kellie didn’t really know why she hadn’t told anyone about Shawn; she’d half expected paparazzi photos to appear the next morning and do the job for her. But they didn’t, and then she was busy navigating her feelings—not that she had feelings, because it was just a professional relationship, or it was until he’d started texting her so often—and somehow she’d just never gotten around to it.

 But now she needed advice. And now, her roommates were going to kill her.

 The following Monday morning, finally recovered from her latest migraine and feeling decent, Kellie was in the apartment kitchen making a smoothie to take to work. It was early June now and today was the kickoff for weeks of summer dance camp at the studio where she worked, six hours a day of more or less just babysitting a dozen eight-year-olds in tutus.

 Her roommates Mackenzie and Shelby walked into the kitchen at the same time, Mackenzie dressed for a summer dance intensive and Shelby on her way to work at the local Gap.

 “I have something to tell you,” Kellie said, shutting off the blender and turning to face them before she lost her nerve.

 Mackenzie’s eyes immediately opened wide. “Oh my God. You’re moving out. You got a new diagnosis. You’re pregnant?!”

 “Pretty sure you have to actually look at a boy to get pregnant,” Shelby said, and Kellie snapped a dishtowel at her.

 “Stop it. This is serious; I need advice. But first, you have to promise not to tell anyone. Okay?”

  “Oka-a-ay,” Mackenzie said, wrinkling her forehead. “Are you sure you’re not pregnant?”

 Kellie ignored her and plowed ahead. “Okay, so when I was in Toronto, well, I didn’t tell you everything that actually happened there. I have an opportunity to be in a music video, but I’m not sure if I should do it.”

 “But that’s so cool!” Shelby exclaimed. “That’s what you’ve been wanting! A chance to dance professionally. I mean, if it’s for a real singer and not just some low-budget thing?”

 “It is,” Kellie said. She knew what Shelby meant; she’d definitely gotten lots of offers in the past to dance in a music video being produced in someone’s garage. It would be great “exposure,” she’d been told. Maybe, but exposure didn’t pay her rent or her medical bills.

 Mackenzie leaned on her elbows on the island. “So, why would you not do it then?”

 “You know,” Kellie said, slumping back against the counter. “My health. Sometimes I just don’t know if being a professional dancer is actually a reality for me. I can’t sign a contract saying I’ll dance and then not show up the day of the shoot because I’m in bed with a migraine.”

 “Would you have to fly to Toronto to do it?” Mackenzie asked, and Kellie nodded. Travel—long restless days with lots of noise and people and unfamiliar food—made her health problems flare up.

 Shelby had been quietly moving around the kitchen as they spoke, putting a bagel in the toaster oven, taking it out, buttering it with a knife.

 “I think you should try,” she said finally. “I mean, yes, your health will probably be an issue. But it’s probably always going to be an issue, yanno? So why wait? Just explain things to them and maybe they’ll work with you.”

 Kellie shrugged, fidgeting with the frayed edge of the dishtowel in her hand.

 “Is the singer anybody I would have heard of?” Shelby asked casually, and Kellie cringed. This was the part where they were going to kill her.

 “Um… yeah,” Kellie said, and Shelby raised her eyebrows, waiting. “Um—it’s Shawn Mendes.”

 There was a loud bang as Mackenzie slapped both palms on the island. “Shawn freaking Mendes?” she shrieked. “No way! You got invited to be in his music video? That’s amazing! Did someone on his team see your In My Blood dance at the competition? That’s how they found you?”

 Kellie let out a whoosh of breath. “Um, actually, I ran into him. And he just asked me. And then, he kept texting me… and we went to lunch… and a couple of days ago he sent me the official email about the video.”

 “HOLD up,” Mackenzie practically shouted. “You went to LUNCH? With SHAWN MENDES?! SHAWN FUCKING MENDES? Have you SEEN his Calvin Klein ad?”

 Shelby was giggling, seeming much more unbothered about Kellie’s revelation. “Only you, Kellie, would go to Toronto and go out to dinner with Shawn Mendes,” she said.

 “What’s that supposed to mean?” Kellie said, as Mackenzie continued her conniptions. “My life is boring. I don’t know why he asked me to lunch, and I wasn’t even going to go, but I did. I don’t know why I went or—”

 “I’ll show you why,” Mackenzie shouted from the other side of the kitchen. Kellie tuned her out.

 “So,” she said to Shelby. “You think I should try?”

 Shelby took the dishtowel from Kellie’s hands and held it up. The edge she’d been fiddling with was completely frayed now, hanging down in strings.

 “Yes. I think you should,” she said firmly. “And I think you should stop worrying so much.”

 Mackenzie was crossing the kitchen in purposeful strides, shoving her phone in Kellie’s face. “THAT’S why,” she shouted, and Kellie raised her eyebrows at the image of Shawn in his Calvins, abs on full view with that one little curl hanging over his forehead, practically smoldering at the camera.

 “Okay, okay,” Kellie said, pushing the phone away. “I know what he looks like. After all—” She paused, unable to resist a little teasing. “I went to lunch with him,” she finished with a smirk.

 Mackenzie threw up her hands. “Ho-ly crap, we are living in the future. What did you guys even talk about? Was it literally just the two of you? Where did you eat? Did he pay?”

 “Hey,” Shelby said suddenly, “we’re running late. We have to go. But tonight you’re going to tell us every word he said!”

 “Can I have his phone number?” Mackenzie cried, but then Shelby was shoving her out the door and they were gone.

 Laughing to herself, Kellie leaned back against the counter and picked up her phone, opening her email inbox. And then she opened the email from Shawn’s team and hit “reply.”

Taglist: @rosiemercy @learning-howto-be-myselfx3 

[cecilspeaks]

142 - Ufo Sighting Reports

As abpve, so below. As for the middle, Well, who knows.

Welcome to Night Vale.

We start today, as we often do, with the latest UFO sighting reports in the community.

Friday, 5:20 AM. The staff of the Desert Spring Tuberculosis Research center and Medication Retreat reported a luminous object out over the neighborhood across the highway. The object resembled a straw hat and had an apparent speed of 150 miles per hour, and apparent altitude of 2,000 feet. The staff recalled that the object illuminated the ground brightly, as they could see Leah Shapiro at the window of her house, receiving a phone call and then collapsing to her living room floor with a hand over her mouth. This was perfectly visible despite the sun not having yet risen.

Friday, 5:28 AM. Leann Hart, editor of the Night Vale Daily Journal, was preparing for a day of hard-hitting journalism. She does this using a dummy that she has set up in the back yard and labeled with a sign saying “Pivot to video”. She was just about to launch into her usual routine of hacking at this dummy for two and a half hours with a pair of hatchets made from pure silver, while screaming in fury, when she was stopped by a sight in the sky. An object the size and shape of a bus, and also having all other characteristic of a bus, was soaring over her. It flew at an apparent altitude of 500 feet, making no sound at all, and Leann tracked it for several minutes before losing sight of it. She said that she reacted like anyone would: by flinging a hatchet at it and shouting: “You’re not welcome here.”

Friday, 5:34 AM. My niece Janice was up early, because it was finally time to take the pre-SAT, and she didn’t want to feel hurried. She had been with herself long enough to know that feeling hurried kills any sense of momentum or order for the rest of the day, and makes her feel like she’s trying and failing to catch up with herself. Better to force herself out of bed into the cold of a winter desert morning than to feel behind herself later on. She had gone out into the front yard to get a bit of fresh air, and had waved to Leah Shapiro who was rushing out of her house and did not seem to notice the greeting, when Janice saw the craft. A red ellipsoidal object rose from behind the line of houses. At first, Janice thought it might just be a particularly quick sunrise, but soon realized the object was only the size of a small table and was right above her. Remembering what Tamika had taught her during team militia camp, Janice grabbed a heavy stone from the yard, but the object was already withdrawing. Janice yelled to ask if Leah had seen it too, but Leah was driving away. So Janice went back inside and made herself a smoothie. She feels she did pretty good on the pre-SAT.

Friday, 5:41 AM. Dana Cardinal, no longer mayor, who carries with her what she has done, but now also carries the possibility of what she could do next, was driving around the city. She does this sometimes, an aimless circle of a town that once had been her responsibility, but now is not and never will be again. The town wihout a mayor. This is a problem, but it is not her problem. She had just been passed by Leah Shapiro, who was going some 20 miles over the speed limit, when Dana spotted three sparkling objects in an equilateral formation, approximately 20 feet from each other at an apparent altitude of 100 feet. She shrugged and turned back to her aimless driving. This was no longer her problem.

Friday, 5:53 AM. Sarah Sultan, who is the president of the Night Vale Community College and also a smooth, fist-sized river rock, was driving to work. She had to get in early because of an all-department meeting to address the lingering effects of the rabbit infestation the college suffered five years ago. And she was still fuming from yesterday when the DMV had threatened to take away her license on the ground that no one understood how a smooth, fist-sized river rock was even capable of operating a car. She had had to take the driving test all over again, and while she got a perfect score and retained her license, that had been time robbed from her that she would never get back. Leah Shapiro, ahead of her in the lane, slowed down to turn into the Night Vale Community Hospital parking lot, and Sarah swerved around her, unwilling to wait for the turn to complete. As she did that, she saw a spherical body in the sky at an elevation of about 1,000 feet. It was a dozen centimeters across in apparent size and whirled around in a small circle of 30 feet in apparent diameter before rising up into the clouds.

Friday, 8:09 AM. Nilanjana Sikdar stood just outside of the hospital. She was there for a minor procedure, but it didn’t feel minor to her. She didn’t like hospitals, didn’t like the implications of what might happen there, didn’t like the doctors that appear and disappear randomly from room to room, and didn’t like thinking about all that can misfire and misalign in her own body. She sighed, looked up at the building, and saw through the window Leah Shapiro with tears rolling down her face. She was holding the hand of someone in a hospital bed, and she was telling the patient a story, it seemed. Perhaps reminiscing about some shared event from much earlier in both of their lives. More importantly, Nilanjana saw two flying objects in the reflection of the glass. She turned to see them fly west by north to north by east, radiant blue in the center and red around the edges. Then, knowing that not even UFOs could save her from necessary medical treatment, she turned to the building and trudged inside.

Friday, 11:15 AM. High school senior Josh Crayton was in the Ralphs parking lot showing off to his friends by turning himself into any tree they named. “Oak,” they shouted and he was an oak. “Spruce,” another shouted. “Too easy,” he told them. “Reginald,” one said and Josh took the form of Reginald from the nearby Whispering Forest. When he was in that tree form, he could see all the way over the roof of the Ralphs, and he saw a luminous flying object that’s upper half was covered in a curling mist or smoke. It was 40 degrees in elevation above the horizon and approximately the brightness of a new moon on a cloudless night. “Whoa,” said Josh. “Man,” said one of his friends. “It’s so weird to see a tree talk like that.”

Friday, 12:02 PM. Lorelei Alvarez had been called into work. It was never good news when she was called into work. No one ever rang her phone and said, “Hello, is this Lorelei Alvarez, Night Vale coroner? We’re super happy to need your help!” No. It is always the same hushed tones and hushed pain, tight and business like. She was thinking all of this as she had her coffee and steeled herself for what she would have to go do, when she saw an object in the midday sky. It left a multicolored trail as it moved, going to the west slowly and finally disappearing. “That doesn’t help me at all,” she said and poured the rest of her coffee down the sink.

Friday, 12:10 PM. Tamika Flynn was on her way to the hospital to check in on 14-year-old Gerald Sanders who had been injured at teen militia camp while practicing evasive maneuvers, which is what they call dodgeball. He had badly twisted his ankle and even though Tamika knew it wasn’t her fault, she felt guilt all the same, and then felt guilt over her guilt, as she knew she should not feel guilt over things that were not her fault. As she entered the hospital, she looked across the lot back where Leah Shapiro was standing, tears covering her face. Leah was standing at the parking payment machine, her lips moving soundlessly, her eyes staring blankly at the screen in front of her, and her hands frozen at her side. More importantly, behind Leah, a silver star shining conspicuously in the day-lit sky, moving from east to west, passing in and out of clouds, and changing altitude constantly.

Friday, 1:20 PM. Deb, the sentient patch of haze, was on her way out of a meeting with her representation. She was unhappy with the advertising gjobs they had been securing for her, finding that nothing they were sending her out on caused enough harm to humanity. “Get me out there selling the really toxic and dangerous stuff, something with side effects or at least some carcinogens,” she told them as she pounded the table with her fists and stormed out. An action that was difficult due to her ethereal and fistless nature. As she left, she saw a cylindrical UFO, a greenish bronze with a three to one ratio of length to thickness. “Oh buzz off, buster,” she told it.

Friday, 2:27 PM. Amber Akinye was taking a break from her job at the Diego and Diego and Diego and Diego and Diego funeral home. The one that was opened recently on Araburus Road by those very nice quintuplets. Amber was exhausted after talking Leah Shapiro through all the options. The funeral would happen in just two days, and there was so much to do and to decide. Amber thought that Leah was holding on pretty well, but still, it was a lot for both of them. Maybe Amber was too empathetic to work a job like this. She hated to think of empathy as weakness, but she only had so much energy to give. As she was thinking this, she saw a golden colored oblong at a high altitude in the sky above, moving at a steady speed in a five-degree upward climb. “I just got this job,” Amber thought, “I should give it more. I’ll give it more time.”

Fridya, 5:15 PM. Lieutenant Regis of Unit 7 of the Local National Guard Station and KFC Combo Store was standing guard as usual, and witnessed an (anchor) shaped ring of light to the southwest, and at apparent altitude of 200 feet. He waved. “Enjoy the weekend!” he shouted. “See ya on Monday!”

Friday, 8:09 PM. Janice Rio from down the street was having dinner at the Moonlite All-Nite Diner. She had ordered a Greek salad with chicken on it and was feeling comfortably superior to Leah Shapiro in the next booth over, who was on her second plate of fries. As she sat with this great sense of self, Janice glanced outside and saw a yellow ball of light with a diameter of more than 20 inches hanging in the sky. It hung silently for two minutes and then disappeared. “Good riddance,” Janice muttered and returned to her salad.

We pause briefly from our UFO sighting reports to take in something far stranger: The weather report.

[“Color TV” by Answering Machine, https://answeringmachine.bandcamp.com/]

Saturday, 12:01 AM. Leah Shapiro parked in front of her house, but she didn’t find the will to go in. What was there for her but the echo of a daily routine that would see no more days? So instead she drove out to the scrublands. It was chilly, but that felt good to her. It felt like she had been uncomfortably warm for a long while, and this was the first time that the temperature had been right. (-) bit at her ankles, she didn’t have the right shoes for this kind of walk, but here she was, walking. The night was completely clear. The moon was a careful situation. As she walked, Leah tried her best to sort through her feelings. It was obvious to her which feeling she should have in this moment. Mourning, a wild grief, a sadness that would never be cured by however many decades of slow forgetting she had left. This was what others had assumed she was feeling and so those were the emotions they managed. “This must be quite difficult,” the doctor had said professionally. “I’m so sorry for your loss. I’m sure you loved her very much,” the woman at the funeral home had said empathetically. “Oh my god, you poor thing, you must be bereft!” said Laura at the Moonlite All-Nite Diner with a deep sincerity, and then she had taken Leah’s order of us many French fries as can fit on a plate. Laura had brought two plates.

But the truth is that Leah did not feel mourning, grief, or sadness. She supposed that those feelings would not come, she hoped they did, because she didn’t know what it would mean for herself if they did not. However, emotions are not domestic creatures that can be summoned with a whistle. They are wild and they move as they please. So try as she might to access her sadness, Leah couldn’t. What she could find, to her horror and shame, was relief. She felt so relieved, and she felt free. She felt absolutely free and completely relieved, and she felt that she must be the worst person in the world for feeling those things. “What is wrong with me?” she said, and nothing that heard her answered except a lone coyote, who started and fled to a warm groove in the earth, where he felt safe from predators. There was nothing wrong with Leah. She was free, and she felt relieved. Later she would feel sadness, sadness that’s vast shape would hardly be conveyed by such a simple word, but not now. Now she walked until she couldn’t see her car, until the lights of Night Vale disappeared behind the hill, until it seemed possible that no other person lived on the Earth. As she stood there, a silver craft descended from the sky. It rotated above her, brilliant, multicolored lights coming from windows on all sides. She watched it hover, and then watched as it rose back up into the sky, until it was indistinguishable from all the other wandering stars. “Huh,” she said, and began the long walk back to her car.

This has been UFO sighting reports.

Good night, Night Vale, Good night.

Today’s proverb: In Europe, instead of cell phone, they say mobile. Instead of arugula, they say rocket. Instead of letting you die because of lack of health insurance, they take care of you when you’re sick. It’s a weird place.

[surveyjunkie]

Is there a bus stop near your house?: I’m not sure, I don’t take the bus anywhere

Do you prefer red wine or white wine?: White wine for sure

What’s the last airport you were at? Why were you there?: I was at CVG because I was coming back from vacation

Who do you live with?: My boyfriend and his brother

Do you read Reddit? If so, how often and what subreddits do you like?: No. I think I’ve been on there like four times and I never understood the appeal. The layout is so messy and confusing, but maybe that’s the point, Idk. < Yeah, I’ve been on there a few times too but I agree, the layout is really messy and old-school. < same

Have you recently broken up with a significant other or even just a friend?: no

What’s the weather like today? Is it nice enough to go outside?: it’s hot and sunny. it’s nice enough to go outside but not stay outside for too long unless you plan on going to the pool.

Do you know anyone who’s had a baby recently?: my coworker’s daughter just had a baby, if that counts?

Have you used a pen or pencil today? What did you write down?: i used a pen to write down events in my brand new PLANNER

What does your last text message say and who is it from?: “i love you :)” - josh

Can you count how many times you’ve seen your favorite film?: i have a few favorites, i’ve seen them all at least 30 times each

When was the last time you ate marshmallows?: probably the last time i made hot chocolate...so back in April?

Do you listen to any podcasts? How do you listen to them?: sometimes! i listen on my phone but also sometimes on my computer

How old will you be in the year 2030?: 38....vomit

How often does the kettle in your house get used?: we don’t even have a kettle, if we want tea we just boil or microwave water

Does your skin bruise easily? Do you have any bruises right now? What from?: i do, but i’m not sure if i have any right now or where they are

What was the last thing you spent $150 or more on?: a car payment

Do you prefer yes or no questions or more open-ended questions?: open-ended

What brand of toilet paper do you usually buy?: the cheapest brand, but never the store brand bc it sucks.

If I knocked on your door right now, would you be acceptably dressed?: i’m at work...so go right ahead.

Why did you leave your last job?: they weren’t giving me any hours after i got a second job, so it made more sense to just go full time at the second place and quit the first. also, i was kind of sick of retail.

What color were the last socks you wore?: black.

Are you studying currently? What level of education and what do you study?: in the fall i’m starting my 1st year of grad school in health informatics (aka bio-statistics) so i can finally start making some real money

Have you ever eaten at a restaurant and left without paying?: no

What was the last thing that made you laugh out loud?: there was a funny situation that just happened at work

What’s your favorite scent of air freshener?: i have one in my car right now that i really like called bay breeze or something like that. it’s just one of those little tree air fresheners.

How many weddings have you ever been to?: 7 i think??

Do you know anyone named Nora?: yes, that’s Josh’s grandma’s name

Are your hands and feet in good condition or could you do with a mani-pedi? I just painted my nails but I need to go over them again, and my toes need painted.

Have you ever been to a festival for beer or other types of alcohol?: many times

Do you own a record player and/or vinyl?: no

When was the last time you went out for drinks?: unless you count grabbing beers with dinner, a few weeks ago is the last time i went out to a “real” bar. Have you ever been to a strip club?: i’ve only gone twice in my whole life

What’s your favorite kind of smoothie?: mango or strawberry banana

Do you know anyone with a ‘virtue name’? (Google it): yep

Would you ever wear real authentic leather?: nah

Have you taken out the trash today?: no but thanks for reminding me bc it’s being picked up tomorrow lmao How often do you wear make-up?: like, once a week if that

What’s your opinion on The Simpsons?: it’s not really for me, i’ve watched a few episodes with Josh and found them funny but i probably wouldn’t watch it on my own time

Do you prefer horizontal or vertical stripes?: horizontal

What’s your favorite brand of deodorant/antiperspirant?: i just found a new one i love but i forget the name, it comes in a green matte container

Do you know anyone who has been through a divorce?: yes

If you had the money, would you take taxis everywhere instead of driving?: i live in a small town so there’s no need for taxis, but if i lived in the city then maybe

Have you ever done a juice cleanse?: no

Do you have any friends who you can’t decide if they’re attractive or not?: honestly, yes Is the inside of your fridge clean right now or does it need a cleanout?: it could do with a cleanout

When was the last time you washed the dishes?: Josh takes care of that, he washed them all on Saturday but we’ve been eating out since then. 

Are there any magazines that you read on a regular basis?: sometimes i read Game Informer but that’s literally it

Do you have to pay for parking in most places in the town/city you live in?: nope.

What’s the first thing you tend to do when you have a headache?: lay down or take an ibuprofen, drink lots of water

Tell me about your responsibilities at work: i’m a patient registrar at a doctor’s office, i check people in, verify their information/insurance, collect payments, scan orders, all that good stuff.

Can you hear lots of traffic from your house? Does it bother you?: no, it’s really quiet where i live. Have you ever had proper Canadian poutine with the squeaky cheese?: i’ve had poutine, but i don’t know what squeaky cheese is so i guess it wasn’t proper Canadian?

Do your parents know how to operate smartphones and/or computers?: yes

How old are your parents, anyway?: my dad is 56 and my mom is 57

Are you allergic to anything? What do you have to do to prevent them?: mosquitos, i don’t do anything

What song is stuck in your head at the moment?: shooting stars by....i forget the artist. 

Do you hate it when people try really hard or do you kinda like it?: it bothers me a bit

What’s your boss’ first name? Do you call him/her by that name?: amy. yes.

When was the last time you wore a uniform of any kind? What color was it? i’m wearing one right now, it’s a blue long-sleeved sporty looking collared shirt. 

Do you complete a survey before taking this one? Will you take one after?: nah this is my first. it got really slow at work and i needed something to do. Have you ever lost enough weight to drop a dress size?: yep. my weight fluctuates really bad. i go back and forth between a size 4 and a size 8 depending on the type of job i have. right now, i have a desk job so i’m chunky again. 

What’s your favorite kind of bread?: french

When was the last time you got pizza? What toppings did you get?: i can’t remember

Do you own Monopoly? Is it the original or a special version?: no

What was the last thing you said out loud?: bless you, cause someone sneezed

You have to choose one: cats or dogs?: dogs

Would someone being either a cat or dog person affect you dating them?: no, i love both cats and dogs. i’m just biased towards dogs right now.

How do you travel to and from work?: car

Do you primarily use cash or card for your purchases? Why?: card

Have you ever been to a stadium concert?: yuuup

[anothergirlrecovering]

Dietician day four

The dietitian was super sweet as usual. I got there and was sitting down studying with my index cards and she came out and got me a few minutes early. She had me put my stuff down and was like perfect you brought your breakfast so she told me to put my stuff down and we would get a quick weight. So I went in the other room and she weighed me and asked how my week was and I said I was good and I asked how hers was and she said that she was good but she was having weird Texas stuff with emails where stripe which is what she uses for her notes and payment I guess was sending her things about not having the right tax ID so I said she should probably just check the IRS website and make sure they actually have it because she was like I don’t know if it’s legitimate or what so she said she was going to forward it to her husband and probably call the IRS like I suggested. I said yeah tax stuff is never fun I’m going to have to do that soon also. When we were done we had it back in the room and she asked me how I thought maybe eating and I said I think it had gone better than the last week and she agreed but she said that I lost weight again and we talked a little bit about the scale and if I’m weighing and she was like so you already know this and I said yeah and she asked about what my scale is reading or something and I said this morning it was 119 without clothes on and she said well then that makes sense because I had 120 and she said you’ve increased your food but you have continued to drop weight. I explained how seeing the 118 over the weekend was not exactly like scaring me and to get better but at the same time like a little sobering and thinking about how if I still feel fat at 1:18 then I am probably not seeing myself right because there’s just no way that at my height that would be a fat weight and so maybe I really do you have body dysmorphia like she had said last time. We talked about riding the wave Of the uncomfortable feelings around feeling too full and sick and avoiding purging when that happens. She asked me about the fall feeling and what about it makes it feel so uncomfortable and I said I just hate that feeling of being fat and she was like fat is not a feeling and I was like I mean sort of and she was like well what is the feeling underneath the fat and when I tried to think about it like honestly it was hard to do I really don’t know what that feeling would be and I was like he only thing I can think of is like maybe there’s a subconscious connection with all of my past memories in times where I saw kids get bullied for being fat or how my best friend Had come outside crying in fourth grade saying that her mom really wanted me and not her because I was good at school and sports and played the violin and really skinny and so I think there’s also that component of rejection that goes with it but then also there’s this sense of doing things the right way which I think it comes from my parents and I explained the memory with the milk in the pancake scenario and Peggy was super nice about it all explaining and saying how all these adults around he did things wrong and there was nothing wrong with me or my body or my hunger cues even though they made it seem that way. She said so you aren’t feeling fat you’re feeling bad about yourself. She asked me if I was hearing her and I was like yes I said I don’t always process things immediately but I often ruminate on them later and I said how do you know last week I really thought a lot about how she said it was a relapse and that honestly stressed me out a lot and she was like well part of my job is to be honest with you and I was like yeah and I mean I think that’s helpful because when Lynn says things like that I’m just like oh she doesn’t know eating disorder she has no reason to be worried because I feel like I’m close enough to a healthy weight which Peggy shook her head andI was like no definitely not and I was like but when you said I know that you know what you’re talking about and otherwise it’s just easy to minimize it and say that it’s just a lapse and she was like well it’s a very ongoing lapse which means it’s a relapse and I just Kinda didn’t say anything. She mentioned me sitting and eating disorder specialist is a part of my care and I was like basically now but I was like I just feel like they are going to just tell me to challenge the irrational thoughts which I know to do and I already know what CBT is it’s just a matter of applying and doing it anyway and she was like well sometimes they can help you understand a little bit more about where those feelings are coming from and addressing them and I didn’t say anything because I was thinking in my head that I already know where the stupid thoughts are coming from but it is what it is. She mentioned talking to Lynn about things and I was like I mean Lynne definitely asks if I’m eating and what not and she was like OK will that’s good but I explained that Lynne doesn’t really Know about eating disorders and where I was like you know how I said that you’re really nice and Peggy was like yeah and I was like well Lynn is caring but she’s definitely a bit more like a blunt kind of prove me wrong and eat something kind of person and she was like was that helpful and I was like no not at all because that just makes me want to shut down and not be motivated and not talk about it anymore and she was like oh OK yeah that works for some people but not others and I was like yeah so she’s helpful with other things but with food talk it just doesn’t really go over very well. She talked about how my believes around food or just messages from old memories that we can’t change but we can change our beliefs about those foods now and so for homework she wants me to write my mom a letter that I won’t actually give to her that will basically explore how she made me feel and how I would like her to treat me now and how I’m going to take care of myself despite what happened in the past and what steps I am taking to stay in recovery now. It sounds like a very challenging task but that is my homework. She wants me to continue following my meal plan and she talked about how I can’t just be increasing my fruits and vegetables I have to actually increase my carbohydrates to and that really I just need to be eating a lot more because I need to be gaining weight. She talked about Treatment and I was like yeah I know that’s not going to be an option and she was like well what do you mean that’s not an option and I was like like it’s not something that I’m going to do and she was like well I wouldn’t say never you know because if you don’t start putting on some weight it’s an option that we need to start discussing and she said that she believes that if I’m willing to do the work and sit through the uncomfortable feelings and increase my intake that I won’t have to go that route, but she was like it’s going to suck and it’s going to feel uncomfortable but it needs to happen and you know that and I know that and I was like yeah. She asked about times this week when I felt like I had done well and I said honestly with packing my lunch that one time because it was very much prepared and I had put in a lot of thought the night before to it. I told her about how I think that I realized just how difficult things have gone with flexibility around food and I explained how over the weekend I had prepared and I had to have those zucchini muffins with the perfect bar and strawberries but that after they didn’t have it at Walmart I freaked out and drove to Publix and they didn’t have it there and then I freaked out more and drove to food city and when I didn’t have it I started crying in the store and then had a huge meltdown and cried in the car. I told her a little bit about how my husband and my conversation went around food and what he asked about and what he knows. She asked about what I think I can do this week to help increase my meal intake and I asked her if I could actually have a blank copy of the meal plan exchanges so that the night before I could actually go through and plan when I’m eating and make sure that I’m meeting my exchanges and she was like well that’s actually a great idea and I was like thank you and she was like I can actually make you one for every day for this week and I said that would be great so that I don’t have to make copies at work. She said I need to be adding in those snacks and I was like oh my God but I already feel full from this breakfast that we just ate and she was like well you don’t have to eat it right this second but at 10 o’clock or 1030 and I was just thinking I will be with Lynn during that time so what the heck but I said that I would stop at Trader Joe’s And she said that was fine I could grab a bar or something which I ended up grabbing a stupid protein shake that wasn’t even good but it’s fine and she was like you know if you’re also struggling with actually eating you could also just add in some and sure or boost and I was like um no That actually stresses me out so much because I feel like it’s just filled with a bunch of chemicals and she was like that’s fine you can actually make your own if that feels better and I was like is it basically just almond milk remix and like protein powder then and she was like pretty much but you can add in nut butters and things like that and she said that I can Google how to make my own version and she was like I saw you made a smoothie the other day and I was like yeah but honestly it was just fruit and spinach and with ice cubes and water and she was like OK yeah I know that’s not the kind that I’m talking about because we need to be giving you a lot more than fruits and vegetables at this point. I said that I needed a very structured thing like the meal exchanges right now because I think if I’m just sort of left to figuring it out then I will just end up not really doing anything he said that was good that I was aware of that and willing to make that happen and she was like obviously that’s not our long-term goal but if for right now that’s what we need to do to get your way back up to healthy that’s fine. When I had mentioned about my husband being upset over me admitting that I having anxiety about eating and a lot of things are you and thinking about being above 132 she was like one day at a time let’s not be thinking about that because that’s a long way off from where you are right now and currently my goal is just to get you up to that 132 area because even that would be great we just need to see you get some nourishment back. I said OK. She said that she knows that I’m going to feel so much better when I’m actually eating again and wait restored and I was kind of just like ha ha maybe but I was like yeah honestly I know that I’m going to sleep a lot better because in recent weeks honestly it’s been harder to sleep and she was like how come and I was like I mean aside from food dreams just my knees I can’t sleep on my side anymore without putting a pillow between my knees because otherwise it hurts and then my hip bones hurt from laying on my side. She said she thinks in general as a whole everything’s gonna feel a lot better once I’m eating.She asked a series of questions about whether or not I was abusing laxatives diet pills chewing and spitting exercising all of the little things and then she asked about the scale and weighing myself in if that’s helpful or harmful and I said I think over the weekend it was helpful because it made me recognize that things are actually bad and honestly there when I think about gaining weight I’m not sure that it will be helpful to be weighing and seeing the number going up. She asked me to try to weigh once a week and I was like I mean I’m not going to commit to something that I know that I want to you and I know that I won’t just weigh myself once this week and she was like what about twice and I was like no and she was like three times and I was like I can try and she said OK andshe said something about eating as much as I need to because she was like if those hunger cues come up in your body wants more go for it and I was like so you me and then I can have more than 1 tablespoon of peanut butter in the morning and she was like are you kidding me absolutely and I was like OK good because honestly I was freaking out so bad about this breakfast and I only did the 1 tablespoon of peanut butter because the paper said one protein and two fat and she was like give me your paper back and she wrote th she asked a series of questions about whether or not I was abusing laxatives diet pills chewing and spitting exercising all of the little things and then she said something about eating as much as I need to because she was like if those hunger cues come up in your body wants more go for it and I was like so you me and then I can have more than 1 tablespoon of peanut butter in the morning and she was like are you kidding me absolutely and I was like OK good because honestly I was freaking out so bad about this breakfast and I only did the 1 tablespoon of peanut butter because the paper said one protein and two fat and she was like give me your paperback and she wrote 3 Proteins with breakfast and was like seriously eat as many proteins or as many starches or as much food as your body is wanting. She was like you’re going to be hungry and your body is going to want to eat a lot to make up for what it is missing and to repeat it self so you should be hungry. I think I just kind of awkwardly smiled and she was like OK I believe in you and you can do this and she was just super nice and pro recovery and I said OK and thanked her.