#spending time at the internship is okay because i share a room with really nice and funny people plus my tasks are often interesting

[szczekaczz]

graduating really didn't make me feel anything huh

[russellsppttemplates]

It's just the beggining (Oscar Piastri)

Oscar hasn't done or said anything, so you're taking matters into your own hands

Note: english is not my first language. It's my first Oscar piece and I'm nervous posting this, but hopefully you enjoy it! 🫶

Thank you so much to everyone who likes and reblogs, your feedback is appreciated 🤍 and I'm taking requests so if you have any ideas or concepts you want to share, feel free to do so as I'll try to get to them the best I can!

my masterlist

Cw: mentions reader's grandparents' health issues, mentions the situation with McLaren and Daniel, insomnia

Tag list: @myloverjk-blog

"Hey, Y/N!", James called you once he saw you walk by his classroom, "hey", you greeted back, adjusting your books on your arms.

"There is a new kid, I'm sure you know, Oscar Piastri his name is, and apparently he's staying the long weekend too, like you", he trailed off, not knowing if he was stepping further than he should.

"Yes, I am staying, it's okay to talk about it", you gave him tight lipped smile, "well, I was hoping you'd keep him company - he's a bit shy, but he's very fun to be around and the teacher also thought it would be good since you're both staying", he reasoned as you nodded.

You had to stay back because your grandparents didn't live in England, and because of their old age and problems that naturally arose with that, your parents had to fly out and spend sometime with them, meaning you didn't have anyone back home, so you stayed. As for Oscar, you found out that he was staying back because his family was in Melbourne.

"At first, I just had online schooling, but it got trickier to manage and my dad needed to go back to work so I had to stay back", he explained when you asked him why he was there, "and I hope I can focus on racing, but you already know that", he scoffed softly.

"I don't think I do, I'm sorry", you narrowed your eyes, genuinely unaware of what he was talking about.

After he told you all about his career until that moment, as well as his hopes and dreams, he chuckled, "you really didn't know?", he wondered.

"I didn't! The girls said something about you moving here but I didn't listen much, I'm not that into gossip and my memory is like Dory's, I can never keep up with the latest who likes who and who flirted with what's his face", you earnestly replied.

For the first time since he arrived at the school, he felt like he could really trust someone and he could hope for new friendships on this side of the world.

You were there for his final race in F4, clapping at him on the podium, and even F3 and F2 despite your university deadlines, always making sure you could support him in every way you could.

"Hey, Osc", you said over the phone, setting your pen down the desk and swivelling in the chair. You wanted to get as much knowledge and experience as possible, so you applied to do a internship in a physiotherapy clinic near your apartment during the summer.

"Hey, Y/N, how are you doing?", he asked as you could notice the antsyness on his voice.

"I'm good, it's a bit of a slow day here, my supervisor said I could read up on a few articles", you mused, "is everything okay?", you asked.

"I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner tonight", he began, "you can come to my flat if that's okay, I'll order something in since I can't be trusted in the kitchen", he suggested.

"Fine by me, I'd like that, sounds really nice", you smiled, "I'll see you soon, then", you added, not wanting to dwell much on the fact that he didn't answer your question.

When you left the clinic, you walked to Oscar's place since the sun had graced you for the day and it was still nice to be out. Knocking on the door, you waited for him to open it, "I'm still in my scrubs as I didn't see the need to change", you said as you walked inside, hugging Oscar after dropping your backpack on the floor.

"Hey, you look nice, don't worry about it", he smiled as he led you to the living room, "I had to go and get the take out myself, but it's still warm", he said as you sat at the dining table.

"Now can you tell me if there's something wrong?", you wondered as you poured some of the wine he kept for you at his place on your glass.

"I have something to tell you actually", he played with his glass while he fought the smile on his lips, "this weekend I finally had some conversations with McLaren", he began.

"McLaren?", you asked as you served yourself of the food in front of you, taking some bimi brocoli and then some of the warm noodles.

"Yes, McLaren. We finally spoke about contracts and, this morning, I signed the official driver contract for next season", he stated as if he was saying that the sun had been out today.

"You did what? Since when has this been in the works?", you gasped, dropping the kitchen utensils and looking at him intently, "you're driving for McLaren next season?", he nodded, "like, driving on track? Oh my Goodness, Oscar! That's amazing!", you got up and hugged him, "why didn't you lead with that?", you pinched the nape of his neck playfully as you kept the tears from falling from your eyes. This was his dream and he was getting to live it as early as the end of the year when pre season preparations began.

"I didn't want to tell you over the phone", he shrugged his shoulders.

"But how? This is huge, Oscar!", you smiled, your teeth showing and eyes squinting with how high your cheeks rose.

"There were a lot of conversations about it, specially the last few weeks", Oscar explained, "they still want to keep it quiet", he warned.

"So you're driving alongside Lando?", you wondered. You only followed motorsport and the Formula series because of your bestfriend, so the assumption you made was based on what you had seen and read.

"Yes, hence why they want to keep it quiet, I've only told you and my family", he mentioned, "my manager knows that, obviously, but I really need you to keep quiet about it", he smiled.

"Absolutely, don't worry!", you assured, "this is so amazing Oscar! You're going to drive in Formula One! Aren't you amazed?", you beamed.

"I put in the work too, you know?", he dramatically feigned offense as you hugged him tighter, "this is your dream, Osc", you cooed, letting the tears fall freely down your cheeks as you swayed you both around, "I'm so proud of you", you hiccuped, holding his head close to your lips so you could kiss his forehead.

"Let's eat, this is getting cold", your best friend urged as the situation for more intimate and brought you closer and closer to the thing he had been avoiding for nearly a year.

The feelings he had been arbouring for you weren't just friendship. How could he keep himself from being in love with you? You had been there with him and for him when he was alone in a new country, being the other shy kid that spent the long weekend im boarding school, and since then you had been attached by the hip. You were kind, caring, intelligent, beautiful inside and outside and anyone would be a fool to not see why Oscar felt the way he did about you.

.

"I'm just going to a training camp, Y/N, I do these every year!", Oscar reasoned as you groaned.

"Who am I going to complain to about university? Or how noisy my neighbours are? I'm going to die of boredom", you stated, "when you come back, I will have ceased to exist because of boredom and lack of attention", you exaggeratedly threw yourself on your sofa.

"You won't, silly", he chuckled, pulling you up since his trainer was picking him up soon, "you're going to go out and enjoy yourself, okay? You'll barely notice I'm gone", he tried as you helped him with his suitcases down to the door.

"I'll miss you", you muttered as you hugged him, "enjoy your training camp!", you smiled as you pulled away, waving at him before you made your way to your place.

Getting on with the project you had to hand in at the end of the week, you got it all through to the end, leaving time to proofread later.

You clicked on the folder where you kept your photos and videos, looking through them and reliving all of the memories you had in there.

Most of them had Oscar somehow, wether it was a screen grab from one of your FaceTime calls when he was at races, picnics in the park and lazy days at your place.

You had to admit it, for your sake and Oscar's sake as your friendship was on the line. At first you thought it was just the fact that a boy seemed to want to spend time with you, so you put it to that. Recently, however, things changed perspective and you felt stronger feelings and emotions when you thought about him.

You loved spending time with him and cherished every single hour he chose to spend with you whenever he didn't have racing related duties. Every time he hugged you, you clung just a little longer to feel hia body against yours and his arms enveloping you.

Whenever someone approached you in the rare times you went out clubbing with your friends, "I have a boyfriend" became more a wish and a need rather than some made up excuse to get guys to leave you alone.

So, to sum it up, you either had an honest conversation with him or continued to dwell on feelings you couldn't keep to yourself.

.

"Y/N just sent me a picture of her notes, can you believe they ask them to know all of that?", he showed his trainer Kim while they had lunch after a strenuous workout.

"I had to learn most of that, too", he said nonchalantly, not necessarily diminishing your competences and intelligence but letting Oscar know that maybe his infatuation with you had a source elsewhere.

"Y/N is very smart, I'm sure she'll do really well - oh, she sent me a picture, she's all dressed up!", he said as he inspected the mirror picture. He assumed it was a requirement for your presentation, as you usually preferred comfy attire, since you had a pair of trousers and a shirt, some small heels on your feet and your bright smile that left him feeling butterflies in his stomach every single time, "she looks gorgeous", he said as he texted you the same words along with wishes of good luck.

"Something you'd like to say?", Oscar quesioned when he felt Kim's eyes on him as he put the phone back on the table, screen down.

"I'm just here wondering why you're not together", the trainer offered simply after he wiped his mouth on the napkin.

"No, we are not together, at least not yet", he mused. The thought had crossed his mind, admitting how he felt about you before the season began. If everything went belly up and you didn't feel the same and didn't see him that way, he would occupy his time and channel all of his energy into racing; if you did feel the same, he would have been worrying for nothing and would have a extra spring up his step for his first season in Formula One.

"Good to know you're working on it", Kim waved his fork at Oscar, "now we need to finish this and we'll do some recovery stretches", he announced as Oscar groaned, prolonging his meal as long as he could.

.

Today, Oscar was coming back from Lanzarote and you couldn't wait to speak to him. Lately, it all dawned on you.

It happened a couple of nights ago, a slight insomnia episode keeping you up when you thought about what things would be like from now on. Oscar would travel a lot more, and he would be in a much public role compared to his previous one. It would seem stupid to other people, but a lot more people would know him, and you were sure they would fall in love with him. How could they not? Hence why you wanted to quit those thoughts while you were ahead of them.

I'm on the cab to your place, it should take another 10 minutes and Can't wait to see you, Oscar texted you just as you finished tidying your living room.

You missed him dearly, so when you threw yourself into his arms, you didn't let go as he kicked his suitcases into your apartment while still holding close to him, "I kind of need to get my backpack off my back, and I can't do that if I don't set you somewhere - only for a bit at the very least", Oscar suggested after trying to balance you against his body with one arm but he didn't feel safe enough to let you go without you falling.

Reluctantly, you got back down, feet back on the floor as he discarded his backpack before he tapped your hip twice, "up again, I want a proper hug", he mumbled as you jumped back, his hands protectively holding your thighs up as he nuzzled his face on your neck, "I need you so, so much", he sighed.

"I missed you too", you replied back, "and I don't ever want to miss you like this when I don't know how to feel about you", you forwarded. Now or never, you thought as you jumped out of his hold and faced him.

"I missed you like I have never missed you before, not even when you go a visit your family or when you went away for triple headers - and I've been trying to understand why and I finally realised what it was. I like you, more than friends like eachother - for Goodness' sake, I'm in love with you", you chuckled nervously as you admitted it out loud to him, "and everyone else will love you too - I just know it -, so soon enough you won't be my Osc anymore and I couldn't not tell you. People - and these gorgeous girls all over the world - are going to like you so much and I won't be able to compete with them, so I'm just telling you how I feel. You can leave if you want or we'll just stay here in silence of that works too, but I needed to admit my feelings", you let out in one go.

Oscar smiled, a big teeth and gums showing smile as his eyes crinkled at your words, "I'm not leaving, and we are not going to be silent - at least immediately - because I want to tell you how I feel", he began, "I'm in love with you too; I have been for about two years and only realised it a year ago, and I don't want to pretend anymore. I want to be able to kiss you, to hug you, to take you with me wherever possible, to sleep next to you, to argue with you, I want all of it. With you", he said, hand cupping your cheek as his eyes asked for consent to kiss your lips.

It was as you dreamed it would be, soft, gentle and caring, lips moving in sync as you held him by his waist, pulling him closer to you.

"I thought I was loosing you to the whole F1 fandom", you chuckled, looking up at him once you pulled away.

"Of course you won't, you're my best girl", he winked, "this is just the beggining for us", he added as he pulled you to cuddle on the sofa, sharing his stories of the past days as you revelled in the feeling of being in his arms.

[tsukishimas-shortcake]

your date doesn’t go as planned

↦ Character(s): Bakugou Katsuki X fem!reader

↦ Warnings: Some insecure Bakugou because your date doesn’t go as he planned it.

↦ Word Count: 1.3k

↦ Your Momo’s Receipt: Hello! This is my first post on this blog! I hope you guys enjoy it and give feedback! Feel free to make a request!

- Is the type to plan out dates, I don’t mean just picking a place to go and a time to be home by either

- When I say plans I mean basically a minute by minute schedule

- You never just do one thing on dates either so he gets really invested in it

- Checks the weather, picks out three outfits and gets the Bakusquad to vote on them, if you go eat then he searches the menu so he can pretend to ‘recommend you something’, has a time to leave and get back home by and plans to be there and everything on the dot

- But he’s not uptight about it though don’t worry, he just wants everything to go smoothly its not like he’ll throw a major fit if something goes a bit different than planned

- He does get a bit frustrated though and when he does he gets a bit sulky instead of portraying anger

- Expect him to be looking down and frowning more than usual if that’s the case

- Oh and don’t forget the sighing, the slouching as he walks, and the repeated “tsk” that you hear

- The reason he gets frustrated and portrays it the way he does is because he blames it on himself

- Definitely has the “I should’ve planned more dammit” mentality, like boy... you can’t control the weather

⸻

“I’m sorry... I didn’t know the restaurant would be closed today,” Bakugou said as he looked down, his face covered as he dug his face down into his scarf. You looked over a bit confused, normally when his plans go wrong he just denies that that was the plan to begin with. “That’s fine, I don’t mind going somewhere else” You said softly before you look over again, his hands in his coat pockets and his feet sort of dragging on the ground in defeat.

The silence between the two of you began to grow again, luckily it was a comfortable one that you were used to. Your ears perk up a bit when you hear a few “tsk” noises coming from the boy beside you. At this point a few thoughts as to why Bakugou would be so frustrated begin to form in your mind, the most likely being that this was one of the only days Bakugou had off from his internship that matched up with yours, in fact it was the first day in almost a month that you two had the opportunity to go on a ‘real’ date as he would say.

You reached your hand over without fully thinking, slipping it into his coat pocket and tangling your fingers with his. The shock on his face was almost funny, before you hear another “tsk” and he turns his head away from you. A small pout formed on your lips before you lean over just a bit in order to see him, you realized the light blush that dusted the tips of his ears. The both of you stop quickly as you feel cold water hitting your heads, of course it would rain at a moment like this. It quickly went from thin droplets to heavy rain that almost seemed like it was just pouring from the sky, the both of you quickly pick up your speed and try to find some shelter.

Finding refuge under a ledge outside of a closed store Bakugou shakes off his hair slightly, sighing louder than normal before groaning and getting out his phone. You hit the sides of your coat in order to get some of the water off of it before getting closer to him, it was freezing outside and now you’re both almost soaked from the rain so of course you’re cold. “What are you looking for?” You asked softly trying to peak over at his phone “A taxi...” He said softly and shut his phone off before placing it back in his pocket and leaned against the wall

“and of course, my luck, the two services that are open at this time of night don’t come out this way...” he said and just shook his head. “Then lets not look for a taxi” You said as you took out your phone before looking up a few things. He stared over at you, watching your fingers swipe across the screen and tapping a few times before you looked around, up and down the seemingly empty street. You smiled before putting your phone away and grabbing his hand and walking quickly in what to him was a random direction.

“What are you doing?!” He said barely below a yell, obviously confused as to why you had pulled him back out into the rain, which thankfully was much lighter than earlier. “Let’s go!” was all you said before you grabbed his hand with the both of yours and began to pull him harder in the direction you were going. You both get into a slight jog before you get to a building, you open the door and start heading up the stairs. “What are we doing here?” He asked, his voice laced with annoyance that he was soaked again, but now less frustrated since you were both inside somewhere that was warm. “We’re going to eat.” You said as you continued to walk up the flight of stairs that led to a small restaurant. You both took off your coats, leaving them at the door since they were soaked, and knocked your shoes on the side as to not get the floor wet.

While Bakugou was still taking off his coat you went and asked one of the servers about a table. You smiled before waving him over and Bakugou headed to the table, following a bit behind you. You both sat down, him next to you since the table was against the wall, resembling a bar. “I’ve actually wanted to try this place for a while, they stay open later at night because their main customer base is made up of college students, so if we have to we can wait out the rain until another taxi service opens.” You said softly as you looked through the menu, Bakugou just looked at you, his stare while it was obviously warm it was also holding a hint of guilt.

“Okay Sparky, what is wrong?” You said as you shut the menu and turned to face him, his vibe ever since you found out that the restaurant he wanted to go to was close has been gloomy and you were getting frustrated since he normally opens up about small inconveniences immediately. “Don’t call me that.” He said in his normal tone with a slight snap, before he turned towards you, he placed his hand on his leg, his palm up before looking back at the wall. You took it as an invitation to hold his hand, when you grabbed it he just looked at you before looking down at your hands.

“I planned our date today...” He said as he began to play with your fingers, you hummed in response, trying to drag out more from him “...The restaurant was nice, normally you have to make reservations but every few weeks they’ll take walk in customers...” He said softly and slouched even more in his seat “I thought it would be open but it turns out the owners were going out of town so they closed early today. I also planned on going to this little cafe after... they have nice desserts there, but since we didn’t even eat dinner I didn’t want to go... and then it just had to fucking rain.” He said with a scowl as he rolled his eyes.

“Baby you can’t control the weather it’s okay.” You said softly as you began to play with his fingers too “I know but... we haven’t been able to meet up recently and, I don’t know I just wanted it to be nice you know?” He said softly, almost showing that he was actually upset. You grabbed his face in both of your hands and made him look at you.

“Here’s what’s going to happen blast boy, the date isn’t ruined and neither of us have to study or work until late tomorrow anyway.” You said before making him look at you, moving to be in his sight as he tries to look away rather than move his whole head “We’re going to eat here, then we’ll hope that the rain dies down and even if it doesn’t we’re going to sprint to the nearest subway station, catch a ride to the stop closest to home, we’ll stop by the convenience store on the way home and buy some of that ice cream we like, and then we’ll head home and I’ll just spend the night in your room and we can watch movies or something.” You said softly, before smiling wide “Dinner, dessert, and I even added in me sleeping over” You said and he smirked slightly before just turning to look through the menu his hand never leaving yours.

“I guess that doesn’t sound too bad...” He mumbled, the small smirk staying on his lips for the rest of the night.

⸻

© This writing is owned by tsukishimas-shortcake. Do not share on other sites without permission and do not plagiarize!

[the-modernmary]

my best habit || aaron hotchner x reader (ch. 5)

Chapter summary: Aaron and the rest of the BAU finally make an arrest on their case, and you spend the weekend at Aaron’s.

Warnings: SMUT, oral (f receiving), multiple orgasms

prev. chapter || masterlist || read on ao3

I had a few, got drunk on you, and now I’m wasted

And when I sleep I’m gonna dream of how you tasted

- Harry Styles, “Medicine”

 ~~~~~~~

The investigation was slow going, and every day when you got off the metro to get to your internship, you would see the undercover van that you knew had BAU members cramped inside, sitting and waiting for somebody, anybody , to slip up and say something incriminating. 

  It was weird being at work knowing that it was bugged, but it did wonders for your productivity. Whenever Chris or another one of your friends at the office started to ask you about your personal life, you were able to deflect it with a quick “Sorry, I’m in the zone right now, and I’ve really got to focus!” Usually, you had no problem sharing, but you really didn’t want the FBI to have audio evidence of your retelling of you double fisting vodka Sprites the night before until you passed out in your bathtub. 

  You also hadn’t seen Aaron since that first night together, which was almost a week ago now. The two of you had been texting back and forth pretty consistently, but you quickly found that there was a variable that wasn’t there two years ago - Jack.

You should have realized that, of course , Jack would be living with Aaron now, but it never crossed your mind. Jack used to live with Haley, and Aaron rarely brought him up to you. Now that Jack lived with Aaron, it made things a little more complicated. It also meant that you couldn’t just show up at Aaron’s doorstep whenever you were feeling lonely, or vice versa. After a long and awkward phone call, Aaron and you had both agreed that it was best that Jack just didn’t meet you, just in case he got attached.

  “For now, at least,” Aaron had added at the end, and holy shit, you did not have the time to unpack whatever the fuck that meant.

  Especially not with Chris throwing a crumpled piece of paper at you like the two of you were in middle school and passing notes.

  You held up the ball of paper with a raised eyebrow. “Seriously? You have the desk across from me, you could have just said my name.”

  “What are you doing tonight?” he asked you, pointedly ignoring your question. “Nina just got the Catan expansion pack and she wants us all to come over.”

  You pursed your lips as you thought about the offer. You did love game nights with your friends, but it was Friday night and you were still holding out on the possibility of Aaron maybe being free and inviting you over. It was almost pitiful how touch starved you were after just a few days of not being with Aaron.

  “I’m not sure whether or not I’m busy tonight,” you admitted, maybe speaking a little too loudly in the direction of the listening devices, just in case Aaron was listening in. 

  Chris gave you a knowing smirk. “Oh, are you waiting to hear from your secret lover?”

  “Okay, don’t use the word ‘lover’ again,” you groaned. “And what makes you think that it was anything more than a one night stand?”

  “Because when you’re not actively texting, you’ve been checking your phone every 20 minutes.”

  Your face turned red as you sunk into your seat, trying and failing to hide yourself. Maybe if you willed it hard enough, the ground would open up and swallow you whole, just to save you from the embarrassment. You hadn’t realized you were checking your phone so often, but you also didn’t doubt it. 

  “Fine,” you grumbled, deciding that coming clean to your friends was going to be much easier than having to deal with them bringing it up at every moment possible. Besides, you didn’t have to give them all the details. “I will tell everybody all about him, but later . Not now.”

  Chris smirked as he leaned back in his chair, obviously proud of himself. You turned back to your work, mindlessly doing edits as you came up with a cover story in your head.

  Ran into an old friend, you could say. We got drinks, and then one thing led to another. That could work, except you came to the realization that you didn’t have any photos of Aaron, which would be suspicious if he was an old friend. You would have to look him up, which you were sure would just lead to a slew of FBI ID photos and news articles, which would mean that they’d just do some major googling of their own. You had avoided looking up Aaron, maybe in fear of what fucked up cases he had been involved in, but your friends would not hesitate.

  You could come up with something so ridiculous that they would just laugh about it. Yeah, I got a sugar daddy and he made me sign a nondisclosure agreement, sorry! You giggled to yourself just thinking about it. Aaron would probably be mortified at the thought. Although, he did wear a Rolex, so you guessed that anything was possible.

  “Holy shit, Y/N,” Chris mumbled, and you just gave a lazy hum as a reply, not really paying attention. “The FBI is here.”

  Your head snapped up at that . You whipped your head around so that you could face the entrance, and sure enough, the entire BAU team was walking in like they owned the place, with Aaron in the lead. They all had their FBI vests on, a sight which was way more attractive than it should have been. JJ and Reid stayed at the entrance to make sure nobody got out.

  “Everybody, please stay calm,” JJ called out, putting her hands up non threateningly. “Everything is okay, but we need you all to stay sitting exactly where you are.”

  A commotion came from the conference room and against your better judgment, you turned your head to watch what was going on. It wasn’t just one person getting arrested, it was every partner. You watched as Aaron spun Julian DuPont around by the wrist and pushed his face down on the conference table and oh, the FBI vest was nothing compared to watching Aaron arrest somebody.

  If anybody asked you if you got turned on during an FBI raid, you would vehemently deny it, but watching Aaron take out his handcuffs made your mind flash back to all those times you were in that same position, cuffed and bent over, completely at Aaron’s mercy. 

  Just as quickly as they came in, the BAU made their arrests and made their way back out. As Aaron passed your desk, his eyes met yours for a brief second and the corner of his mouth quirked up smugly. It was so subtle and quick that even you barely caught it, but you knew that look.

  At least you weren’t the only one in this situation with your mind in the gutter.

  Once the rest of the BAU was out of the building, JJ and Reid started the process of getting everybody else out of the office so that CSI could come in and finish looking around. When you passed by them, both agents greeted you with a warm smile, like the three of you were old friends.

  “Y/N, we’re going to need to get your statement before you go home,” Reid told you as you walked by, and you just nodded in confirmation.

  Once you got outside, you were immediately greeted by some agent named Anderson. He needed to get your statement on the work you did with the team, and you quickly gave him the PG version of the story. Your mind, however, was more focused on finding Aaron, who you knew had to be somewhere in the crowd. God, how long did it take to write down a simple statement?

  “I’ll take it from here, Anderson. Thank you.” 

  Aaron’s voice sent shivers down your spine and you spun around to look at him. You brought your bottom lip in between your teeth. “Nice arrest, although I’m surprised. Mr. DuPont doesn’t even drive himself to work, I can’t imagine him waiting out to kill somebody.”

  “That’s because he hired hitmen,” Aaron explained. “The victims were all bribing judges to get their cases dismissed, and all of those dismissed cases looked really bad for his prosecuting record.”

  You shrugged, placing your hands on his hips. “Probably not as bad as prison, though.”

  That actually got a laugh out of Aaron, but he quickly composed himself as another agent walked past the two of you. “Yeah, he’s not going to be practicing law ever again.” 

  You opened your mouth to say something - maybe to invite him over? You weren’t totally sure - when one of the CSI’s came over to ask Aaron something.

  Aaron waved him off, telling him that he would be there in a moment, before turning back to you. “My house will be empty all weekend,” he whispered, looking around to make sure nobody was watching. “Pack a bag, come over.”

  Before you could even answer him, Aaron had already taken off. You made your way towards the metro so that you could run home before heading to Aaron’s. You had to fight the smile that was growing on your face when Aaron mentioned packing a bag. Not only was it an unspoken promise of a weekend full of sex, it also meant that he was planning on making room for you to keep some of your stuff at his house. The two of you were quickly falling back into your old routines, and it was weirdly comforting.

  When you got to your house, you made a split second decision to change out of your work clothes into a more casual outfit, although it didn’t matter much what you were wearing. It’s not like it was going to stay on for very long. As you packed your bag, you ordered an Uber, knowing it would get you to Aaron’s place faster than the metro. 

  Sure, you were a little impatient, but it had been so long since you had spent the night at Aaron’s place. It always intrigued you how different it was at his house than it was at yours. You were just staying in a shoebox apartment while you were in college - something liveable and temporary until after you graduated and got a job where you could put actual roots down. Your decor was fairly minimum, an assortment of knick-knacks and photos of your friends.

  Aaron’s place was different. It was a certifiable, adult house with framed art and random decorative bowls scattered around. All of his kitchenware was a part of a matching set and his living room looked like all the pieces were picked out by an interior designer. In a weird way, being at Aaron’s house gave you a glimpse of the life you could have in just a few years. Sometimes, it was easy to imagine that you were a part of his world.

  You couldn’t think like that, though. Especially not when he greeted you at his door with an eager kiss, pulling you in so that you were pressed against him.

  “I’m going to use this entire weekend,” Aaron mumbled against your lips in between kisses. His hands slid up your sides, pulling your shirt off almost immediately. “To thoroughly and completely ruin you, until you can only say my name.” 

  Your fingers tangled in his hair as you smiled into the kiss, your fingers already working on the buttons of his shirt. A soft moan escaped your lips, which only encouraged him to deepen the kiss.

  The two of you stumbled towards Aaron’s bedroom, only detaching your lips when absolutely necessary and leaving a trail of clothes behind you. You needed to be naked, to feel your bare skin pressed against his. His hands were impossibly everywhere all at once - running up your thighs, cupping your breasts, and gripping your hips so hard that it was bound to leave bruises. Your body burned everywhere he touched and soon all you could think about was him and how badly you wanted him to touch you where it mattered.

  Once you got to his bedroom, Aaron pressed you against the wall. You tried to grind against him, but he moved one of his hands onto your hips so that he could hold you in place. His lips moved from your mouth to your neck, sucking just enough to make your back arch. “You have no idea how often I thought of you this week. How hard it was to listen to you and not think about how you sound when you’re begging for me. How badly I needed you.”

  Your nail scratched down his back lightly, just enough to elicit a soft hiss from him. “Desperation is unbecoming on you, Aaron,” you teased, knowing that would get a reaction out of him.

  It worked. One of his hands stayed on your hip, pressing you firmly against the wall, while his other hand tangled itself in your hair, pulling your head back so that your face was lifted up towards him. He kept you at an arm's distance as his eyes raked your body up and down hungrily.

  “I’m desperate?” he said scornfully. “Coming from the girl who is so needy that she couldn’t stay away from her phone for more than a few minutes, just waiting for me to want you. I could have called you at any time, and you would have dropped everything just to let me use you, isn’t that right? You’d let me do anything to you, just like the filthy slut you are.”

  You visibility gulped at his statement but you nodded obediently, which earned you a sharp tug of your hair.

  “Yes, Aaron, fuck ,” you gasped out. “I would have let you do anything at any time, just please…”

  Aaron gave you a predatory grin as the hand on your hip slowly made its way up your stomach until it cupped your right breast, thumbing lightly over your nipple. It wasn’t enough to get any real pleasure, but it made you moan all the same.

   “You did such a good job this week,” he murmured, looking at you almost worshipfully like he wanted to commit you to memory.  “I was going to give you whatever you wanted tonight. But maybe that would make me too desperate .”

  You tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but it was no use. “I- I-” you stuttered out. You couldn’t think straight.

  “I- I-,” Aaron mocked. “I thought you were a lot more intelligent than that. Come on, Y/N, whatever you want. Use your words. Unless pleasure’s turned you into a stupid whore.” He punctuated the last word with a light spank to your clit, which made you cry out and your legs instinctively try to close.

  “I want you to use your mouth,” you begged, arching your back in a pitiful attempt to create some form of contact. Your shoulders pressed against the wall was the only thing keeping you upright.

  “Where?” he asked all too casually.

  Your breathing was still shaky at best, but you forced yourself to make eye contact with Aaron. He looked back at you expectantly, waiting patiently for your answer.

  You slowly raised your hand to point to your left breast, which so far had been woefully ignored. “Here,” you said hesitantly, not sure whether or not he was going to tease you. While Aaron always gave you what you asked for eventually, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t make you beg for it first.

  To his credit, however, Aaron immediately bent down and attached his mouth to your nipple, his teeth gently scraping over the sensitive flesh. His eyes never left yours, he wanted to watch your reaction. 

  Feeling more confident, you cupped the sides of his face and pulled him off you, and the sound it made was obscene. “I want you to eat me out,” you whispered, blushing as you said it. “I want to feel myself cum on your face, please .”

  Aaron smirked as he slid down to his knees, kissing all the way down your stomach. “Good girl, you asked so nicely,” he mumbled against your skin and it sent shivers up your spine. He hooked one of your legs over his shoulder, giving him a perfect few of your pussy, slick with your arousal. “Look at you, dripping down your thighs before I’ve even started. Desperation is unbecoming on you, Y/N,” he mocked. He was using your words against you, and you didn’t even care. You just wanted him to do something, anything.

  Aaron ran a finger through your folds, ghosting over your clit. You hips bucked, desperate for more contact, but his finger was already gone. “Look at me,” he ordered, and as soon as you did, you were greeted with the image of Aaron admiring the wetness that was covering his finger. Then he stuck the finger in his mouth, smirking as he did, and you moaned out at the sight. “You taste so good, Y/N.”

  “Please, Aaron, I need you to- oh! ” you begged, but you were cut off by Aaron licking a strip up your center, still avoiding your clit.

  His hands came around and grabbed onto your ass as he got to work, lapping through your folds. You tangled your hands in his hair, rocking your hips against his mouth, craving more . His tongue teased at your clit, humming every once in a while in a way that sent vibrations throughout you. Without warning, he pushed two fingers into you curling them in just the right spot.

  As Aaron’s fingers pumped in and out of you, his lips focused solely on your clit. He flicked it once with his tongue before sucking, relishing in the way you moaned out his name. You tightened your grip in Aaron’s hair as your first orgasm hit you, your whole body shaking and a string of expletives leaving your mouth. But that didn’t stop Aaron.

  He added a third finger and replaced his mouth with his thumb on your clit. “You’re going to give me another one,” he practically growled. “And then I’m going to fuck you until you’re a whining mess. This is what you asked for isn’t it?”

  When you didn’t answer right away, he turned his head to the side and bit down on the sensitive flesh of your inner thigh, causing you to cry out. He sucked on that same spot for a little before dragging his tongue over the newly formed bruise.

  “Yes, I want that, Aaron,” you cried out. “I want you .”

  He reattached his lips to your folds with newfound vigor, making tight circles around your clit. His free hand snaked up your sides to your breast, pinching and twisting at your nipple. You continued to beg, although you weren’t sure what you were begging for exactly. All you knew was that you were so full of want , want for your second orgasm, and want for Aaron.

  Aaron fucked you with his fingers with ease, as if he had all the time in the world. You ground down on him again, chasing your orgasm the best you could. Your eyes were squeezed shut in pleasure, but you needed more. You opened your eyes, only to be met with Aaron’s blown pupils, eyes full of desire. You could almost feel his smirk as he wrapped his lips around your clit and pulled .

  The heel of your foot dug into his back as you cried out, your second orgasm twice as intense as your first one. Aaron’s fingers kept pumping into you lazily, and even your panting couldn’t cover the filthy sounds it was making. You could feel yourself dripping down your thighs.

  Aaron slowly removed his fingers from you and lightly swiped them over your clit once more as he stood up, which almost made you completely lose your balance, a sob tearing from your mouth.

  He held his glistening fingers in front of your mouth and you opened obediently, moaning as you tasted yourself on him. Your tongue swirled around his fingers, making sure to clean every trace of you off him.

  Aaron removed his fingers from your mouth. “Do you have one more in you?” he asked, and it was softer than you were used to. “It’s okay if you don’t. We have all weekend.”

  “I need your dick in me,” you said in lieu of an answer. “Please, please fuck me.”

  Aaron pulled you to his bed and you all but collapsed onto your back, your legs still shaking from your back to back orgasms. Aaron crawled on top of you, leaving a trail of kisses in his wake, all the way from your stomach to your mouth.

  “You’re so beautiful when you come for me,” he whispered, teasing your entrance with the head of his cock. All of his movements were gentle, bordering on caring. “Yelling out my name so that everybody can hear that you’re mine .”

  He pressed into you slowly, his first few thrusts shallow, and you could see that it was taking all of his willpower to keep teasing you like this. You dragged your nails down his back, not caring if it left marks on him.

  “Aaron,” you whimpered, bucking your hips to try and get more movement. “Please fuck me. I need more.”

  Aaron was always good at giving you what you wanted.

  His hips snapped into you harshly, and you had to attach your lips to his shoulder to keep from screaming out. Aaron thrusted into you hard and fast, wanting to feel every inch of you. He stretched you in all the best ways and your back arched off the bed. You were holding on to Aaron like a lifeline, and all he could do was grunt out your name over and over, repeating it like a prayer. 

  Your third orgasm came fast, spreading through your body like a wildfire, and you could feel the tears prick at the corners of your eyes at the overstimulation. Aaron’s thrusts became more desperate and harsher as he felt you squeeze around him. He dropped his head to your shoulder, his breathing ragged and you could tell that he was so close-

  “Cum for me… Fill me up,” you purred into Aaron’s ear, and that’s all it took for him to finish, holding himself deep inside you as his warmth filled you. The two of you stayed like that for a moment, both trying to catch your breath. You brought your head up to kiss Aaron, slowly and deliberately and filled with… something . You couldn’t figure out what it was yet.

  Aaron pulled out of you slowly and flopped onto the bed next to you, but he reached over and held your hand. The two of you laid like that for several moments, giving yourselves time to come back down to reality. Finally, Aaron rolled on his side to check on you. You admired the flush on his body, especially as it rose to his cheeks and made him look like he was practically glowing.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, his thumb rubbing lazy circles on your hand. “Can I do anything?” 

  You turned your head to smile at him, giving his hand a squeeze, before sitting up. Aaron was always so careful about aftercare, which you were immensely appreciative of. “Oh, I’m fine, I’m just going to go to the bathroom. A UTI might ruin the mood,” you joked.

  When you returned, Aaron was already in a pair of pajama pants and sitting in bed. He had also laid out one of his shirts for you, which caused your stomach to do flips. Despite the fact that you actually did pack pajamas, you chose to wear his shirt. You could feel his eyes watching your every movement as you made your way back into bed, leaning back against the headboard.

  Aaron placed an arm around your shoulders and you leaned into him, catching his lips in another kiss, this one soft and sensual. You placed your hand on his bare chest as the kiss deepened, and Aaron’s fingers ghosting over your skin sent shivers down your spine.

  “So,” you murmured against his lips. “What are your plans for me this weekend?” It was partially a joke, but you wanted to be as prepared as possible for just how sore you were going to be on Monday after an entire three days of being thoroughly wrecked by Aaron.

  Aaron’s lips curved up into a smile as he dropped a kiss on the top of your head, letting his lips linger for just a second too long. “Hm, we can play it by ear. Although, I was thinking Indian for dinner tomorrow night?”

  You were too old to get butterflies, but there was something so soft and so sincere in his reply that it made your stomach do flips. Aaron yawned, probably not even giving a second thought to his reply, and pulled you in closer to him. 

  “Yeah,” you conceded, closing your eyes. “Indian sounds good.” You could deal with the butterflies later.

[jasminejc4525]

It’s never too late

A little fic that I decided to put out after keeping it in my drafts for a year :) thank you @cygnetofthesea for your help and inspiration!

Nadia giggled as Guzman kissed her neck ever so slowly. They were supposed to be making breakfast, but instead Nadia was sitting on the countertop with Guzman in between her legs kissing her with his whole heart.        

“I like being with you like this,” Guzman said with the biggest smile. He and Nadia had officially been dating for 3 years. They enjoyed most of their time in their little apartment or in Central Park where Nadia would read materials for her classes and Guzman would look up at her and play with her hair. They also liked to enjoy late night slices of pizza.

“I’m glad you waited for me,” Nadia said looking deeply into Guzman’s eyes. She knew that when she made her promise to him she wasn’t going to break it. Long distance was going to be hard, so they decided to stay close friends while figuring themselves out for a year. After Guzman graduated from Las Encinas, he went to NYU for a business degree and that’s when he and Nadia reconnected their romantic relationship.

“It was worth it mi amor,” Guzman said as he got from between her legs and opened the cabinet to look for some ingredients. Nadia liked Guzman’s breakfast but she was the best at cooking dinner. “Do you ever miss it?” Nadia asked “Las Encinas?” Guzman asked and Nadia nodded her head. “Well there are a lot of traumatizing memories, but there are also amazing ones...like meeting the love of my life.” Nadia smiled and got up from the counter. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I am so grateful.” She said wrapping her arms around Guzman’s neck. As they were about to kiss, they heard a knock on the door. “I’ll go get it.” Nadia said before giving her boyfriend a quick peck. Nadia opened the door to see her sister May standing before her. Nadia wasn’t sure how to react when May wrapped Nadia in a hug. “Hi Nadia, I’ve missed you so much!” May said as she stepped back from their hug. “May what are you doing here?” Nadia said still shocked. “Well I heard you were in the city from Omar and I decided it was time to reconnect with my family.” Nadia took a deep breath, “It’s a lot to process but I think that would be great” Nadia relaxed and said “Come in.” May stepped into the beautiful apartment that Nadia and Guzman called their home. “This place is amazing.” “Thank you. Guzman and I have been here for a year after we got tired of the college dorms.” Nadia smiled as she thought of a nervous Guzman asking her if she wanted to move in with him. He didn’t want to feel like they were rushing the relationship but Nadia gladly accepted because she was tired of being interrupted by Lu or Guzman’s roommate when they would have those private moments. Guzman parents helped him out with the rent along with his new job. He insisted that Nadia didn’t work so she could focus on school because her major was very hard. May gave Nadia a confused look, ”Guzman?” Nadia smiled, “My boyfriend. We’ve been together for 3 years but we’ve known each other since I started school at Las Encinas.” “Las Encinas? Like the school for the richest kids in Spain? How did you get to go there?” May asked Nadia with wide eyes. Nadia laughed, “It’s a long story, but I’ll explain later.” They walked into the kitchen to find Guzman starting some eggs. “Guzman I would like to introduce you to my sister May.” He looked just as surprised as Nadia did when he first saw her. “Hi nice to meet you, I’m Guzman.” May smiled and was a little shocked because she never thought her little sister would date a white guy. They all sat down and started eating. Nadia looked at her sister and said, “May what happened after you left home?” May took a deep breath and said, “A lot. After I left, I went with some friends to Barcelona and from there I got a job at a bar even though I was underage. I lived there for some time until I met a guy and he broke my heart so I decided I should try to reconnect with the people that really mattered to me.” She looked at Nadia who had a small smile on her face. “I’m really sorry by the way Nadia. I should have never left like that. And I didn’t even try to stay in touch. I’ve missed so much in your life.” Nadia took her sister’s hand from across the table and said, “It’s okay, I understand why you did.” Nadia paused and looked at Guzman, “If you hadn’t, I would have never been with Guzman.” May smiled at the two love birds and asked about their history, “So how did you two meet?” Nadia said, “Well the school I had been going to collapsed and since I was the top student in my class, I was given a scholarship.” Guzman interrupted and said, “Paid for by my father because he was the executive of the company that built her school. He made shortcuts while building it, so when it collapsed, he knew it was his responsibility to pay for their scholarships.” Nadia nodded and continued, “I initially saw Guzman when he got out the pool and I thought he was so hot.” Guzman smiled and said, “ I thought she was really pretty in her hijab and couldn’t stop staring at her as I got out the pool.” “Even though he had a girlfriend,” Nadia said laughing. “Yea well Lu was never really my girlfriend until she helped me after my sister died.” Nadia rubbed his back as he recalled the memory. He gave her a reassuring look and continued, “But when we got back to school for senior year, I knew I wasn’t over Nadia.” Nadia said, “Junior year we were friends and we started developing feelings for each other but decided not to explore it because Baba was gonna take me out of Las Encinas. He thought I was changing too much.” Guzman looked at May and said, “So I made a deal with your father and said I wouldn’t speak to Nadia if he would let her return to school the next year.” May smiled, “Wow, you really did that for her?” “Yea, for the summer at least. It was horrible not being able to talk to her on how I was doing with my sister being dead and all. But when I saw her on the first day of school, I knew I couldn’t keep ignoring her.” Nadia and Guzman told May about everything that happened in senior year. How they kissed and slept together while Guzman was still with Lu and even how they had sex in the locker room. May’s eyes were wide as she looked at them and asked, “What were you guys thinking?That was so risky.” “Yea we didn’t care at the time and I was really horny, but it was all messed up when someone recorded us and shared it to the whole school.” Nadia said. May looked concerned, “That must have been awful Nadia” “Yea it messed up a lot. Guzman and I were going to try a relationship but that video scared me away. But it also messed with me getting scholarships until I earned a scholarship to Columbia.” They continued to talk and Nadia felt completely comfortable being with her sister.

***

They decided to go shopping and spend some one on one time together. May smiled at Nadia and said, “So Guzman huh?” Nadia laughed and asked, “Yea so what? “I don’t know, I never thought you would date while in college, especially a white guy. And you gave me a lot of flack when we were younger for the boys I liked.” Nadia smiled, “Well Guzman was different. He knocked down all the walls I put up to guard my heart. I didn’t need to be scared of loving him. I knew I could trust him with my heart and he wouldn’t destroy it. Yes there have been ups and downs but we’ve always found our way back to each other.” She paused and turned to May, “ And I’m sorry I was so judgmental of you when we were younger. I was just trying to be the perfect daughter for Baba, but that wasn’t truly who I was. I should’ve tried to be there for you more.” May hugged her sister and said, “It’s okay we all make mistakes, I’m just glad those mistakes lead us to here.” Nadia wiped away the tears in her eyes and asked May about her life now. “I’m working on opening my own Palestinian restaurant in New York.” “Wow that’s amazing” Nadia said with the biggest smile. “Have you reached out to Mama and Baba?” “Yes, I talked to them last week and they weren’t mad...I’m very excited to be talking to my family again.” They started walking again and May asked, “So what are you up to now?” “I’m in my last year at Columbia and I’ve started working on certain internships.” May nodded and asked, “Are you happy?” Nadia responded, “Yes, very happy...and you?” May looked at her sister who she loved so much and said, “Now I am.”

[charismaandcashmere]

In the modern world, it often seems like it’s harder than ever to accomplish your goals.

It seems like everyone has already done the thing you want to do — that your idea is already out there, that your niche is beyond saturated.

Want to start a blog? You’re up against a million rivals. Thinking about starting a podcast? So is everyone else and their mom. Hoping to write a book? With the advent of self-publishing, you’re not only up against authors approved by major publishing houses, but anyone, anywhere, with a laptop. Want to become a YouTube star? Better hope you get noticed next to the thousands of other folks uploading new videos every day.

There’s seemingly a million graphic designers, a million wannabe filmmakers, a million other, probably more qualified candidates gunning for the same job you want.

And that’s just in the marketplace. In your personal life, the competition can feel equally fierce. In the days of yore, you were just competing against people in your college or church to win the attention of a lady. Now you’re up against every Tom, Dick, and Harry on Tinder. The dating marketplace hypothetically stretches beyond your community to encompass your whole state, maybe even the whole country.

Yes, in both economic and personal spheres, demand seems high, and resources seem scarce. It’s enough to make you decide to give up and not try in the first place.

Yet this feeling of scarcity is just an illusion, a myth.

In truth, there’s never been a more opportune time to live. Not only because it’s never been cheaper and easier to write a book, share your art, or start a business, but because the average person’s ability to execute on the basics has never been in such short supply.

While opportunities to achieve your goals aren’t as scarce as you think, there are areas where true scarcity does exist: in common sense, in social skills, in manners, in reliability. There’s a dearth of people who know, or have the will, to do the stupidly easy stuff to be charming and successful.

Let me give you just one example. Both off the air and on, guests of my podcast will tell me, “I can tell you actually read my book before this interview and I really appreciate that. It’s so rare.” I don’t bring this up to toot my own horn, but rather to point out how ridiculous it is that this might even be something worthy of mention! An interviewer reading someone’s work before asking them questions about it would seem like the barest of bare minimum job requirements — a prerequisite rather than something above and beyond. And yet the majority of podcasters aren’t even taking care of this most basic of basics.

There are tons of people doing what you want to do, but how are they executing? In 90% of cases, not as well as they could be.

That’s your opening. And such openings are absolutely everywhere.

To take advantage of opportunities, people typically concentrate on stuff like building up their resume — going to the best school or getting the right internship. And certainly, these things can help.

But what’s missed is that it’s often doing stupidly easy stuff that’s going to allow you to make friends and land your dream job. It’s doing the stupidly easy stuff that almost no one else is doing that can most readily set you apart from the pack, and up for success.

What is some of that stupidly easy stuff? Below you’ll find a (non-exhaustive) list of the things it’s hard to believe people don’t do more often, and which have a huge ROI because most people can’t be bothered.

1. Send a thank you text when you get home from a nice party/date. In my opinion, this is the #1 easiest and best way to be a more charming texter. Yet almost no one does it. When someone has you over for dinner, or you take someone out on a date, once you part ways, they typically worry a bit as to whether or not you had a good time. And a party host wants to know their effort to throw the shindig was appreciated. So even if you thank your date/host in person at the end of the evening, once you get home, shoot them a confirming text saying, “Thanks again for the delicious dinner. We had such a good time!” Trust me on this, it’s stupidly, stupidly charming.

2. Write handwritten thank you notes, always and often. When an occasion was especially nice, instead of sending a text, write the person a handwritten thank you note and stick it in the mail. And send handwritten thank you notes for anything and everything else. Received a gift? Thank you note. Job interview? Thank you note. Someone helped you move? Thank you note. Someone went to bat for you at work? Thank you note.

Thank you note writing has become such a lost art, and receiving snail mail is so delightful, that sending handwritten appreciation has become one of the most effective ways to set yourself apart from the pack.

3. Edit your emails/texts before sending. No one ever catches all of the spelling and grammatical mistakes contained within their communications, but giving your texts and emails a couple reads before you hit send will tighten things up. These “clean” missives significantly contribute to making a winning digital impression.

4. Know how to make small talk. We spend so much time behind screens, that when we finally meet people face-to-face, our conversation can often be awkward and stilted. But being comfortable with small talk opens a tremendous amount of doors; sure, it starts out with the superficial, but it’s the on-ramp to deeper discussions — the pathway to relationships with potential lovers, new friends, and future employers. Fortunately, once you know the simple methodology that makes small talk flow, it’s easy to master.

5. Don’t be a conversational narcissist. Related to the above. The only kind of talk many people know how to make these days, is about themselves. Someone who knows how to listen and ask good questions comes off as stupidly charming.

6. Don’t look at your phone during a conversation. In an age of scattered attention, a person who can concentrate their attention on you, and fight the urge to look at their phone while you eat or talk — someone who can make you feel like the most important person in the room — is a charmer par excellence.

Can’t seem to pry yourself away? Check out our complete guide to breaking your smartphone habit.

7. Dress well for a job interview. You don’t have to show up to a job interview in a three-piece suit (unless the position calls for it); overdressing can make as poor a first impression as under-dressing. But showing up dressed just one notch above what current employees at the company wear will immediately set you apart from many other candidates. Well-shined shoes, a pressed shirt, and good hygiene will help too.

8. Come to a job interview prepared to ask questions of the interviewer. Whenever we post this article on “10 Questions to Ask in a Job Interview,” HR folks always weigh in with how “amazed” they are at the number of candidates who stare blankly when asked at the end of an interview, “Do you have any questions for us?” Know some questions to ask going in.

9. Take a woman on a real date. In a landscape of “What’s up”? texts and non-committal hang outs, taking a lady on a real date puts you head and shoulders above other suitors. What constitutes a real date? Watch this video and remember the 3 P’s: Planned, Paired Off, and Paid For.

10. Offer a sincere apology when you mess up. My generation seems to struggle with saying “I’m sorry” when they make a mistake. Numerous times I’ve had my order messed up at a restaurant, and when I bring it to the attention of the waiter or manager, they just shrug, say “Okay,” and fix it, without saying, “I’m sorry about that.” Then the other day an order of mine got messed up, and the manager took a totally different tack — comping my whole meal and bringing me a free dessert. That kind of treatment is so rare, it was unbelievably winning. I even found the manager after my meal to tell her so, and let her know I would specifically make an effort to return because of her gesture.

As it goes in the restaurant biz, so it goes with everything else. Most of your fellow employees will just say “Okay” when an error is brought to their attention. Offering a sincere apology that demonstrates you take responsibility and understand where you messed up and how it affects the company, will easily set you apart (so will immediately trying to make it right and preventing it from happening again).

And in your personal life, apologizing when you stumble is stupidly endearing. You’ll probably mess up again, and often with the same issue, but even when you can’t completely overcome your flaws, showing you’re at least completely aware of them goes a long, long way.

11. Follow through. I get a lot of emails from guys who want to do something with the Art of Manliness, like write a guest article or strike up a business partnership. They are excited! They are passionate! They are…MIA. They never follow-up or follow-through on their idea. I’ve often wondered what happens between their excited initial email, and their descent into silence. But whatever it is, it can easily be avoided by those committed to following through.

12. Be reliable. No quality today can more readily set you apart from your peers than reliability. Doing the follow-through just mentioned. Showing up on time (and just plain showing up). Meeting deadlines. Managing expectations and not overpromising. Promptly responding to emails. Keeping your word.

Are freelance graphic designers, artists, video/audio editors, app developers, programmers, contractors, etc. a dime a dozen? Surely. But a reliable creative professional or handyman? A pink unicorn. If you couple talent and skill with reliability, it’s stupidly easy to dominate your competition and your niche.

When you survey the economic and dating markets, they can seem incredibly oversaturated. Demand seems high and resources seem scarce. But when you take a closer look, you’ll find that while there are plenty of people all grasping after the same thing, there are only a few executing well on the attempt. Setting yourself apart isn’t complicated or hard; it often involves simply doing the stupidly easy stuff that everyone else overlooks.

Their obtusity is your gain; see through the myth of scarcity, take care of the basics, and the world is your oyster.

[marisfavoritedcandvertigostuff]

Aight, so these are some fun experiences I've had. Doesn't matter if ya'll don't believe me; I know what happened. But I thought I'd share. After all, the universe works in weird ways, and Lord knows the weirdness increases ten-fold whenever John Constantine is involved.

Back in November of 2020, I was working toward my 2nd BA and working an unpaid internship a few days a week. It was a little before this time that I got into Hellblazer and I started consuming as much Constantine related comics as I could. I started out with a bit of Swamp Thing, some early Hellblazer, and some more recent works to get a feel for the character before getting really serious. After all, reading the entirety of Hellblazer is a bit of a feat. I had to make sure it was something I really wanted to commit to doing. So, I was working in the linguistics room cleaning up and sorting audio from a word elicitation session. Us linguists shared a room with the IT department because it was the quietest room in the building. The head of IT, a guy not much older than me, had a few playlists and would sometimes have music playing quietly in the background as we worked. Thanks to the industrial strength headphones I had, for the most part, I didn't hear it unless I was giving my head a break and took the headphones off (those headphones HURT). One day I was reading the very cursed first issue of  Hellblazer: Rise and Fall (God I hate that series) before my internship started and there is a small part where John and a friend are trying really hard to drunkenly sing Tiny Dancer by Elton John (gave me something to do on the bus). After about an hour, I took off my headphones so I could take a pee break, and what I heard made me freeze in place; Tiny Dancer was playing. I turned to the head of IT and said "wow, nice playlist". His response? "Oh, this isn't my playlist. This is a random one I found on youtube. It's got a good mix of modern and classic." At that moment I just shook my head. It felt, in that moment, like a crazy coincidence.

Months later, in 2021, I was at the local book retailer trying to find a planner to use for my new job. Must have been about 7 months ago (at the time of writing this). I found a planner that was exactly what I was looking for, but it was much more expensive than I hoped it would be. Still, I had to get it. I decided to torture myself by looking in the comic section. Looking in the H section of the DC shelf, it didn't appear that there was any Hellblazer in stock.This was lucky, in a way, since I couldn’t really buy anything more and still say I was being responsible with my money. On a whim, I decided to look at the Marvel shelf behind me and, wouldn't you know it, John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 1: Marks of Woe was on the bottom shelf beneath some books of Spiderman. I was super tempted, but I was already spending more money than I had planned. Standing there, thumbing through the book, a song came on over the radio in the store; Heroes by David Bowie. I had never actually heard the song before (no one in my family was into Bowie, and I have honestly never been interested. Never seen Labyrinth. I know this is sacrilege), but I recognized it immediately. The day before I had been reading issue #11 of Hellblazer. At the beginning of the issue, a friend of John's is blasting that very song on the radio, so the lyrics are written out. I felt like I had just experienced a crazy plot twist in a movie. You know what I mean, yeah? I was frozen in place and just felt like ‘woah’. It felt almost too crazy to be a coincidence. Regardless, I shook my head, said "okay John, you win" and bought the book. Spent way too much money that day, but it was worth it.

I was thinking about all this again because of an incident that happened yesterday. I had a truly terrible weekend. I ended up in a book store again, trying really hard to hold back tears and keep it together. I looked in the comic book section with the goal of spending an unhealthy amount of money on comics in order to help distract me. Unfortunately, the only Hellblazer they had was Hellblazer: Rise and Fall (which, as previously stated, I haaaaaate) so I started to wonder around. I finally ended up in the back by the study aids. Alone, I started to cry. I felt my ability to keep it together begin to crumble. But before I could really start to sob it happened again; Tiny Dancer came on over the store radio. In that moment, rather than stunned, I almost felt like I was being encouraged. Like a pat on the shoulder. It was so weird, and maybe it was due to the shock of it, but I actually felt better. I was able to pull myself together. It was strange, but somehow I felt comforted.

Now, I have no delusions about all this. John is not communicating me from beyond. No matter what some Hellblazer writers have said/seen, and although it is kind of fun to think that John is real in some way, I know that isn't what's happening here. But, supposing that there is any merit to the theory of synchronicity, then I'd like to think that these things are connected. That somehow the universe it trying to give me a hand, or something to help me feel a bit better that day. Coincidence, weirdness, placebo, etc. Take your pick. It was still nice.

Anyway, that shit was weird. I relived all this a little while writing it, which is nice considering that today sucks just as bad as the weekend lmao

[mistymazzello]

Illicit Affairs | chapter three

Joe Mazzello x Reader

summary- Y/N, a failing actress in New York City, is offered an internship as Joe Mazzello’s assistant on the set of a movie. Her seemingly small crush on her boss could get her into trouble, but what does she have to lose?

warnings-cussing

word count- 3.5k

based on illicit affairs by taylor swift

There was one day left until shooting started, so you suspected it would be the busiest day that you had had yet. That was saying a lot, considering you had been there for more than 12 hours before.

You decided that your phone was being unusually quiet, especially for a day this important. Joe definitely should have texted you and Beck by now, if not more than once. You reached in your jacket pocket, only to realize that your phone wasn’t there. Your heart dropped and you hurriedly felt around all of your pockets for it, even though you had already remembered that you left it at your apartment.

This shouldn’t be that big of a deal, but you’re busy, people contact you on that phone, and you couldn’t go home to get it. You slapped your hand to your forehead as you slowly continued to walk.

You saw Beck ahead, standing at the copier, looking very focused on the papers he was scanning. 

“Hey Beck!” You jogged up to him. 

He turned towards you with a clenched jaw. “What?”

“Has Joe texted us about anything yet?” You asked, setting your hands on your hips.

He turned back to the copier. “Yes.”

“What’d he say? I left my phone at home by accident.” You breathed, leaning against the copy machine.

He glanced at the spot you were leaning on and then at you, his eyebrow quirked. “That’s not my problem.”

“Beck.” You breathed out.

He paid no mind to you, picking up his papers and walking off, leaving you leaning against the copier.

You let out a deep sigh, but really paying no mind to how Beck had treated you. You weren’t surprised. Julia looking at you with a sympathetic look, she had over heard the whole thing. You handed her the coffe you had brought her and gave a her a look back. She patted your shoulder as you walked off, heading towards Joe’s office. You walked in to see Beck standing in front of Joe’s desk, while Joe sat, leaned back in his chair, his eyebrows furrowed. They both looked at you, not saying anything.

“Hi.” You said, awkwardly, shedding your jacket to hang it on the back of the door.

“I’ll talk to her.” Joe said softly, nodding to Beck, who swiftly walked out, glaring at you as he did.

Joe gestured for you to sit down and you did so, scooting the chair closer to his desk so you could set your elbows on it.

“I feel like I’m in trouble.” You said.

“You’re not.” Joe said, leaning back in his chair to look out of the window that led to the rest of the office. “Okay, he’s gone.” Joe sighed. “What’s his fucking problem?”

You sighed in relief. “I don’t know. He hates me.”

“He’s in here fucking snitching on you like a fucking 2nd grader for leaving your phone at home. For leaving your fucking phone at home! Who the fuck cares!”

Joe was mad, you could tell. In the month that you had worked with him, you had never seen him like this. “What’d he say?” You asked.

“He came in here and was so serious, and he said he needed to talk to me about you, and I thought there was like, a real problem, but then he gives me some shit about you asking him about what I had texted you because you left your phone at home. Like I give a shit!” He threw his arms in the air. “He said you were unprofessional and that you didn’t take this job seriously.”

You shrunk in your chair. “I take it seriously.” You said softly.

“No no no, I know you do. You’re doing great, I just don’t know why he thinks that.” He said, setting his elbows on the desk.

You shrugged. “Remember he even said something about it on our first day.”

“Yes I remember. I should just fire his ass.” He said, shaking his head.

“That’s a little harsh.” You said, tilting your head.

He laughed. “I know. It just makes me mad. I just don’t understand how anyone could hate you.”

You chuckled lightly. “Well, I’ve had my fair share of people who do.”

“How? You literally don’t do anything wrong. Ever.” He said matter-of-factly.

“Well, this is New York City. Everyone here is mean.”

“Well not you. You’re to sweet for a city like this.” He said, shaking his head while he sifted through papers on his desk.

You smiled and looked at your lap, feeling your cheeks heat up at the small compliment. Trying to steer the conversation away from your reddening face, you looked up. “Do you want some coffee?”

“Yeah, sure.” He said.

You would think that since today was busy, you probably should be getting things done. You should probably be working hard and running around.

But there you sat on the edge of Joe’s desk, coffee in hand, laughing at Joe’s impression of one of the writers as he paced back and forth around his office.

“I mean, he’s a total jackass, but he’s so good at writing that he has to be around all the time.” He said.

“He is a jackass.” You agreed. “He told Julia that he’s surprised she got hired for this.”

Joe gasped. “No he fucking didn’t.” He said with wide eyes.

“Yes he did. Julia got so pissed and she got up and walked out.”

“Oh, god love her.” He said, setting his palm over his eyes.

There was a knock on the door, bringing both of you out of your little reality where work didn’t exist. You hopped down from the desk as Joe called, “Come in.”

It was Julia. Speak of the devil.

“Hey, Y/N, there’s a girl named Ivy here to see you. She’s up front.” She said, peeking her head into the office.

You furrowed your eyebrows and looked at Joe, who was already looking at you. You thanked Julia and stepped out of his office, heading towards the front.

She was standing at the front desk, looking at the ground.

“Hey, Ivy.” You said, confused. Although she was one of your roommates, you weren’t close. Not close enough for her to come and visit you at work like this. You hardly even talked to her much.

She looked up. “Hey.” She smiled, reaching in her back pocket. “You left this on the table.” She held out your phone to you.

You looked at her in disbelief. “Oh my god, thank you so much.” You cried. “I was so stressed about that.”

She smiled. “I don’t have class for another hour, so I thought I could take it to you. I know how important this job is to you, and I thought you definitely needed your phone.”

Your expression softened. “It takes like, 20 minutes to get here, you really didn’t have to-”

“It’s not a big deal.” She reasoned. “I have to go, though. I’ll see you at home, okay?” She began to slowly walk away.

“Okay, thank you.” You said softly.

You almost felt bad that she brought you your phone. You spend so much time with Cam and Jess that you hardly ever pay any mind to Ivy, and you seemed to have underestimated how nice she was.

That night when you got home, you had intended on saying something to her about how she’s a lifesaver, but when you stepped in the front door, you saw Cameron sitting on the couch, crying.

“Oh my god, what’s wrong?” You asked quickly, dropping your stuff to rush over to her.

She sniffed and looked up at you. “Okay so you know the off broadway show I was supposed to do next month, the one with-”

“Yeah I know the one, Cam.” You said softly, sitting down next to her. 

“Well they replaced me. They just called me and told me that they can’t offer me the role anymore.” She sobbed. Jess was on the other side of her, rubbing her back.

“It’s okay, Cam.” She said softly. Jessica is the best about dealing with emotions, especially Cameron’s wild mood swings.

“No it’s not!” She shouted. Not only was she sad, she was angry. Nobody ever said no to Cameron, and she had been too spoiled in this industry to be able to deal with rejection like this.

“There’ll be other jobs, Cam. They don’t know what they’re missing.” You offered weakly. You, on the other hand, were not the best with dealing with emotions. Specifically your own.

“That’s the thing.” She sniffed. “I want the internship.”

You blinked. “What?” 

“I didn’t take that internship, the one I offered you, because I was doing this show. Now that I’m not doing it anymore, I want it back.” She set the pillow she was holding to the side and looked at you, her eyes watery but her face expectant.

“Cam… Shooting starts tomorrow. I’m already really far into the job.” You said. Leaving the job was not an option. 

“I know, but I’m sure if you ask nicely, they’ll let me replace you.” She reasoned. You weren’t surprised that Cameron didn’t see what was wrong with what she was asking, or maybe she did, and she just didn’t care that she was asking the world of you.

You breathed out, thinking of the best way to word this. “I’m sorry, Cam, but I want to keep this job.”

She looked at you in disbelief. “Are you really saying no right now?” She scoffed.

You looked at her, stunned. “Yeah.”

“They originally wanted me for it!” She snapped. “You only have that internship because of me!”

“Calm down, Cameron.” You said. You looked at Jess for backup, but she stared at the ground.

“No!” She stood up. “I gave you that internship, and now I want it back! You’re gonna go in tomorrow and tell the director that I’m taking your spot!” She sounded like a 3 year old throwing a tantrum, and although this wasn’t the first tantrum you’ve seen from her, it was the one that hurt you the most.

“No I’m not!” You raised your voice, standing up.

“Why, because you’re daddy’s cutting you off soon?” She mocked.

“Cameron, they probably wouldn’t even let you take my spot.” You reasoned, ignoring how she had just insulted you.

“Well you could at least ask.” She said, tears steadily streaming down her cheeks.

You sighed. “I mean, I’ll ask, but I can’t promise you anything.” You said.

“Good.” She breathed out.

You picked your bag that you had dropped off of the ground and stormed off to your room, shutting the door. In complete disbelief, your hands shook as you unlocked your phone. It wasn’t late, so you figured you would get this over with now.

You called Joe and put the phone to your ear.

“Hey, kid, I was just about to text you! You ready for tomorrow?” He asked excitedly.

You put your forehead in your palm. “Yeah…” You sighed.

“What’s wrong?” He asked immediately, his voice dropping with concern. On the other end of the phone, Joe was still at the office, making all the last minute preparations before shooting. It was all important work, but not more important than why you’re upset.

“Nothing, I just… Do you remember Cameron? She’s my roommate, she recommended me for this internship.” You explained.

“Yeah, vaguely.” He said. He was lying, he didn’t vaguely remember her, he remembered her fully. She was an incredibly impressive actor, but she was very bossy off camera. Joe thought she was bitchy. “Why?”

“She just got dropped from a cast, and now she’s asking for my internship.” you said.

“Oh.” He answered. “Yeah, no. I like you too much to let you quit. And you’re under a contract. You couldn’t leave even if you wanted to.” He said bluntly.

You sighed. “Okay, good.”

“Was she seriously asking you to give your spot to her?” He asked. 

“Yeah, she really wanted me to ask if it was possible.” You said.

“Why would anyone in their right mind think that’s possible. That’s not how jobs work.” He lilted. 

“I don’t know.” You said. You wished that Cameron could hear this whole conversation so she could understand that even the director thinks she’s stupid for asking that.

You and Joe ended up talking way longer than the end of that conversation. He put you on speaker while he worked on his computer, listening to you ramble while he typed away on his laptop. You changed into pajamas while talking to him about your hometown, and you switched the lights off and climbed into bed while listening to him tell a story from high school. He tried to bring up the topic of your parents, but you steered the conversation away from that. He didn’t need to know that your single dad was funding your whole lifestyle. He stayed on the phone with you while he rode the subway home, nearing midnight. It was the longest conversation the two of you had ever had. 

“You sound tired.” He said, walking down the street to his apartment.

“I am.” You laughed, your eyes closed as your phone laid next to you on your pillow.

“Then you need to go to sleep.” He suggested softly. “You have to be up early tomorrow.”

You sighed. “I know. I just like talking to you.” You slapped your hand over your mouth the moment you said that, shutting your eyes tightly. It didn’t sound weird in your head, but once it came out, you realized how clingy you sounded. He’s your boss.

He chuckled. “I know, kid. I like talking to you, too. But you need sleep.”

“Okay.” You said, almost whispering. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, kid.” He said.

The phone call left the both of you giddy, yet ridiculously frustrated. This is not how bosses were supposed to treat interns. You had never had an internship before, but you could assume that they didn’t talk on the phone like best friends for 2 hours. This was a mess.

Once shooting started, your life became 100x more exhausting. 45 minute commute to and from work, night shoots, Beck being an ass, it was all very tiring.

But, now a month into the internship, you were finally starting to understand that that’s how show business is. And yet, you never once disliked a thing about it. Sure, you could go without Beck being a total douche to you at all times, but you were able to deal with it.

And besides, you were more than happy to be out of the apartment. Things hadn’t gone over well when you told Cameron that Joe had said no. Even though it wasn’t your fault, she seemed insanely mad at you for it. The tension was high between the two of you for the past week, and things just seemed awkward now that she was the one out of a job.

It was nearing 9 pm, and you had just gotten to set. You knew that Joe was working with the cameras and you probably wouldn’t see him much tonight. As you were on your way to where they were shooting, you felt a drop of rain on your hair. “Shit.” You said.

Rain was the last thing the set needed right now, there was a big night of filming ahead. One drop turned into a few drops, and by the time you had reached the filming location, it was pouring. You ran under one of the tents, where they were quickly moving the cameras to temporarily protect them from the rain. Right away, you saw Joe, who was visibly upset.

You knew it wasn’t your place to try and cheer him up, but you couldn’t help it. You walked over to him, his hands on his head in frustration. 

“Yikes.” You said causing him to turn and look at you. He grinned slightly.

“Where’ve you been all night?” He asked immediately.

“Doing my job?” You giggled. “Why?”

“I don’t know, everyone was getting on my nerves, and you’re usually the one person who doesn’t.” He shrugged.

You nodded and looked at the ground. “This kinda sucks, huh.”

He chuckled lightly, shaking his head. “Of course, the one day we’re shooting outside, this happens.”

“How long are we delayed for?” You asked.

He took his hands down from his head. “I guess until it stops.” He shrugged.

Joe told everyone to go to their trailers and that he’d let them know when they’d start back up again. The only problem was that you didn’t have a trailer. You’re an intern. Knowing that Julia would let you hang out in hers for a while, you headed in that direction.

Just as you started walking, your phone began to ring. It was Joe.

“Hey Joe.” You answered.

“You know what I just thought of?” He asked.

“What?” You said, unintentionally smiling.

“You still haven��t watched Can’t Buy Me Love.” He said.

You groaned. “Joe…”

“No, I don’t want to hear it. I’m your boss and I’m saying that you’re coming to my trailer and we’re watching it. It’s gonna rain for like, 2 hours, this is the perfect time to do it.” He protested.

You sighed. “So I guess I have no choice?”

“None at all.” He smiled.

“Fine. I’m on my way. I’m gonna be mad if it’s a bad movie.”

“You won’t be disappointed.”

By the time you reached Joe’s trailer, it was raining so hard that your hair was dripping. You stepped inside and he was sitting on his couch, smiling. “There she is.” He grinned. “You excited to see one of the best movies ever made?”

“I guess.” You sighed, taking your jacket off and setting it over one of the chairs. He had the movie pulled up on his tv and you sat down on the couch.

Just as he was about to press play your phone began ringing. You both saw that it was your dad calling, and even though you didn’t want to or intend on answering, Joe said, “You can take it.”

You hesitantly picked up the phone, knowing that Joe would be able to hear everything that was about to be said. “Hello?”

“Hey, how are you?” He asked.

“Um, pretty good.” You said picking at a string on your jeans. “I’m at work.”

“Oh,” He said, “how’s that going?” he asked.

“It’s good. I really like it.” Your eyes flashed up to Joe’s, whose arm was draped across the back of the couch as he looked back at you.

“How much are you making? I hope it’s enough so that by January you’ll be able to-”

“I’m not 100% sure.” You cut him off. “I’ll let you know, though, okay?”

“You don’t know? Y/N, I told you that by January you had to be independent and-”

“Dad, I’ll let you know. Now I’m at work, and I’m busy, so I’ll talk to you later, okay?” You screwed your eyes shut, embarrassed, as you hung up the phone.

“Sorry.” You sighed, putting your phone away.

“No, it’s okay.” Joe said, shifting in his seat.

“You probably heard all of that, didn’t you?” You asked, finally looking at him.

“A little bit. Was that your dad?”

“Yeah, he um… he pays for me to live in New York, and he’s cutting the money off in January, so I guess he’s a little worried about me having enough by then.” You mumbled. 

“Oh.” Joe said awkwardly. He felt bad for you. He had never experienced anything like that, he had been famous since he was a kid.

“Yeah.” You replied.

A beat passed and you both remembered why you were here. He picked up the remote. “Okay, you ready?”

“Mhm.” You nodded, desperate for anything to get you out of that conversation.

The movie played, but you could hardly pay attention. Joe’s fingertips kept brushing your back, making you have to hold back a shiver, and it seemed that as the movie went on, the closer you got to him. 

Joe was, more often than not, watching you to see your reaction to his favorite parts. The dim lighting in the trailer allowed the light from the tv reflect off of your face, making you look impossibly more beautiful.

Not much was said throughout the movie, just shared glances and Joe telling you that every other scene was his favorite scene. You tried to explain that you can’t have more than one favorite scene, but he didn’t want to hear it. Lighting would periodically light up the room from outside, followed by thunder making you flinch.

By the time the credits began, your legs were tucked underneath you and you were almost, almost leaning into him. “Well?” Joe asked, his eyebrows raised. 

“It was… good.” You shrugged.

“Good? Good? Are you serious?” He scoffed.

“It was a little tacky, but I liked it!” You defended.

“It’s not tacky!” He disagreed. “It’s ahead of its time!”

“That’s a stretch.” You chided. “But, really, I’m serious, I thought it was cute. I completely understand why you would name a cat after it.”

He breathed out. “Good.”

You finally looked up at him, and you realized how your shoulder was almost touching his, your faces closer than they needed to be. Lighting lit up the room for a split second, but neither of you flinched, holding each others gazes.

Without missing a beat, he said, “Can I ask you something?”

Your heart dropped with nervousness. What could he possibly need to ask? “Yeah, of course.” You replied softly, still looking up at him.

“I’m gonna sound crazy if I’m wrong, but did we meet a few months ago on the subway? Before you started working for me?”

Your heart sank to your stomach, and yet, you still found it in you to laugh, mostly out of pure embarrassment. “Yeah, we did.” You nodded. “I was hoping you’d forget about that.” You had completely let that whole situation slip your mind after the first month, because you assumed he wasn’t going to bring it up.

“I knew it.” He said. “I wanted to say something but I was scared it wasn’t you.” In reality, Joe never questioned if it was you or not. He could never forget you.

“Yeah, me too. I didn’t want to bring it up.” You tried to laugh.

Quiet settled over the room, Joe finally let his hand fall lightly on your shoulder, hardly even touching it. His thumb stroked softly across the fabric of your shirt, brushing your hair slightly.

You fought back a shiver, your stomach erupting with butterflies. “Do you want your jacket back?”

He shook his head. “Keep it.”

-

taglist- @im-an-adult-ish @almightygwil @draconiiian @roveyrove @drummah-in-a-rocknroll-band @lizgarxo @queenmylovely @lelifesaver @ghosttofcalum @freakibanana

[argyle-s]

Hello,

My name is Molly Bragg. I’m a bi trans gender author who has writing for almost three decades. I’m passionate about creating the kind of content I enjoy, which means stories that center around queer women, I’ve recently completed a original queer genre romance novel and I’m looking for help covering the cost of having it professionally edited.

To give you a preview of what you would be supporting, here’s Chapter 1:

***

Beth watched the buildings pass as the air cab carried her over Los Angeles taking in the changes the last ten years had wrought on the city.  Most of the low-income areas had been bulldozed, and those areas were now filled with alien arcologies.  Massive buildings that stretched kilometers into the sky, each one a city unto itself, and in their shadows, the skyscrapers that had once been incredible achievements of human architecture and engineering.  The buildings which had been hubs of human industry and centers of financial empires were now reduced to little more than playhouses for the backwards primitives who had the misfortune to be born natives of the Galactic Hegemony’s latest colony world. If they’d had another century or two things might have been different.  Humanity had been advancing quickly.  They wouldn’t have been on par with the technology of the Hegemony by any stretch, but they might have been able to dictate better terms.  The Gatekeepers hadn’t cared.  The gate had drifted into a stable orbit in the outer system, and the Gatekeepers had announced that, like it or not, the Sol system was being added to their vast network of space fold gates.  The first ships from the Hegemony had arrived just a month later, and ever since, Earth had been on the road to becoming the galactic equivalent of a banana republic. So far, her job and her savings had let her avoid the worst of what was happening, but unemployment was at a record high as alien automation systems replaced human labor in almost every sector.  The company she worked for had shifted gears from research and development to reverse engineering alien tech and had seen a short windfall in profits, but that was starting to vanish as the inevitable inflation drove prices up and the people they had been selling reverse engineered tech could no longer afford it. Beth wasn’t really that worried for herself.  She’d been poor before, and however much she might hate the idea she could survive being poor again.  What brought her to LA today was Sam.  Sam was getting close to graduation, and she had acceptance letters from every college that could afford postage.  A 4.0 unweighted GPA, high SAT scores, and a couple of impressive summer internships meant that schools were falling all over themselves to offer her full rides.  Ten years ago, that would have all but ensured her a bright future.  These days a PhD from Harvard, Yale, or MIT wasn’t worth the cost of paper to print the degree. People still made noise about human exceptionalism and about taking humanity’s place in the larger galactic community, but Beth had spent a lot of time over the last decade studying the history of colonization on Earth, and it never once ended well for the people being colonized.Regardless of what  happened to the colonized peoples as a whole, there were always individual exceptions...  people who avoided the fate of their brethren.  It was her determination to ensure her daughter’s future that brought her to LA today.   While billionaires had started buying their kids spots in alien schools the moment they were  allowed out of the Sol System, Beth didn’t have that option.  She was well off enough that she and Sam weren’t feeling the effects of the colonization yet, but nowhere near rich enough to buy a ticket off-world for Sam, much less pay for an off-world education.  Instead, she’d spent years looking into other options.  So far, none of her work had paid off, but she hadn’t given up hope.   She was headed to a meeting with a broker who helped place kids into programs that offered grants, scholarships and all expenses paid exchange programs.  She was going to find a way to offer her daughter a better future than most of Earth’s children could look forward to.  No matter what it took. *** “Ms. Murray, it’s so nice to meet you,” the man said as he held out his hand.  Beth took it and gave it a quick shake while trying her best not to let on that he reminded her of a used car salesman.  She needed his help, and it wouldn’t do to offend him. “Nice to meet you too, Mr. Cooper.” “Please, call me Owen,” he said.  “Right this way.” He led her out of the small, brightly decorated waiting room and into a small, neat office.  He gestured to a chair in front of his desk as he walked around behind it and took his seat. “So, I just want to make sure we’re on the same page here Ms. Murray.  You are looking for an opportunity for your daughter to continue her education off-world, is that correct?” “Yes,” Beth said. “Okay.  I just wanted to make sure that we’re both looking for the same outcome.  Now, I’ve gone through Samantha’s records.  Academically, she’s in great shape, and the extra-curriculars are good too.  I’ve been able to find at least twenty different programs that will accept her.” “That’s great,” Beth said, though she didn’t believe it.  She’d heard the exact same thing from more than a dozen other brokers, and she suspected she wasn’t going to hear anything new.  “What are the terms?” “It varies from program to program.  All of them require a period of indenture, but some are as low as eight years.” Beth tried to hide her disappointment.  She wanted to give her daughter a better future, not sell her into virtual slavery for almost a decade. “Owen, I’m looking for a program without any period of indenture.  I know they exist, but you’re the fifteenth broker I’ve talked to and none of them have offered even an application to an indenture free program.” “They do exist, but Ms. Murray, you must understand.  There are a lot of people who want their children to receive an off-world education, and slots which don’t require a period of indentured service are in especially high demand.” “I understand that, but I haven’t gotten high demand, I’ve gotten completely unavailable.  I’d like to know why no one will even consider letting her apply.” Owen looked at her for almost a minute, not saying anything, before he finally leaned back in his chair and let out a weary sigh. “Honestly, Ms. Murray?” “Please.” “Those slots go to the kids of billionaires, presidents, CEO’s, ambassadors, kings and other high level government types.  Each year, a handful will go to some poor kids from the ghetto so that they can parade them around as part of a puff piece about how generous the aliens are, but that’s just window dressing.  The truth is, your daughter is neither rich enough, nor poor enough to ever get one of those slots.” Beth had to bite her tongue to keep from swearing.  She wasn’t surprised at all, but she was angry and frustrated.  She’d half suspected something like that was going on, but hearing it spelled out so clearly was still enough to make her blood boil. “Isn’t there anything, any way that I can get her off-world without selling her into slavery?” “Ms. Murray, Indentured Service is hardly slavery.” “It’s close enough.” Owen stared at her for a moment, and then shook his head. “What?” “It’s nothing.” “It’s something,” she said.  “Please.” He sighed.  “It’s not something I would normally offer to someone of your background.” “What does that mean?” “It means that some aliens have cultural practices that people of Western European descent find unpalatable, while those from other cultures would find those practices perfectly normal.” “I’m not sure I follow.” “Ms. Murray, you are aware that, much to the surprise of every biologist on the planet, there are a number of species with whom humanity shares a degree of reproductive compatibility?” “I am,” she said. “Well, there is a species called the Sionnach.  They’re native to a planet called Talamh in the Grian system, and they bear a rather striking resemblance to humans.  There are differences of course, but the basic morphology is the same.  The reason I bring this up is that about eighty years ago, Talamh suffered an environmental catastrophe that wiped out nearly ninety-five percent of their population in the span of a few weeks.  Because of their reproductive practices prior to the incident, the Sionnach found themselves facing a sort of genetic bottleneck, and they decided that the best way to alleviate this was to seek an outside infusion of genetic material.” “They’re looking for breeding stock,” Beth said. “Yes.” “You can’t be serious.” “And this is why I don’t offer this option to white people,” Owen said.  “Ms. Murray, I’m not suggesting you sell your daughter off as some kind of brood mare.  The Sionnach take selection of their mates very, very seriously.  They gather applications from a number of candidates, and the Sionnach in question reviews them, and selects the ones they like.  Then, their family reviews their choices, and select a candidate.  The candidate is then brought to the house of their prospective spouse, and they spend a period of time together.  Roughly five hours.  During that time they talk, get to know each other, and decide if they want to proceed.  If both parties agree, they enter a five year engagement.  During those five years, the candidate is treated as a member of the house.  They are given a stipend, they’re educated, they’re housed, fed, provided with medical care, and they undergo medical procedures which allow them to survive on Talamh without special equipment.” “What sort of medical procedures?” “Talamh is a high gravity world with a higher-than-normal concentration of heavy metals in the environment.  Your daughter would need procedures to be able to stand up to the local gravity, and to be able to filter out metals she would not normally be able to purge from her system.  She would also undergo a type of gene therapy which would make her more resistant to radiation and give her the ability to see parts of the infrared spectrum and hear sounds normally outside of the range of human hearing.” “That sounds dangerous.” “The Sionnach are one of the founding species of the Hegemony.  Their technology is thousands of years more advanced than ours, and they’ve been doing these procedures since before humans built their first cities.” Beth shook her head.  “An arranged marriage…  I don’t know.” “If I’m honest, it’s a long shot.  You would have to take your daughter for a screening.  She’d have to pass the screening for any sort of genetic issues that would eliminate her, then she would have to be selected by one of the Sionnach.  If that happens, you and your family would have to travel to Talamh at the expense of the Sionnach house that selected her, and your daughter would have to get through the initial interview.  But if she does, she would get the education you want for her.” “And what happens at the end of the five years if she decides she doesn’t want to marry the person who selected her.” “Then she’s free to walk away.  She’d be given a small amount of money, and passage to anywhere within the Hegemony, but she’d be free to do what she wants.” “No indenture?  No repayment of expenses?” Beth asked. “No,” Owen said.  “But again, it’s a long shot, and I take my normal fee just to put you through the application process, whether she gets selected or not.” “How many humans get selected?” Beth asked. “She’d be the first,” Owen said. “What’s your fee?” Beth asked. “Five hundred Hegemony credits.” Beth winced.  Given current exchange rates, that was almost ten thousand dollars. “How quickly would we know?” Beth asked. Owen turned and woke up his computer.  She watched as he pulled up a page and scrolled through before clicking on a link. “There’s only one family looking right now.  Applications are due by the end of next week.  You’d know in a month, tops.” Beth thought about it for a moment.  It was a longshot, and she wasn’t entirely sure it was a good idea, but it was better than an indenture, so she reached for her credit card. *** Sam looked up from her homework at the sound of a light knock on her bedroom door.  The door was wide open, and her mother was standing there looking at her.  Sam couldn’t quite place the expression on her face but given the appointment she had earlier, Sam didn’t have any doubt about what it meant. “No luck, huh?” she asked, trying not to let the relief she felt creep into her voice.  She knew an off-world education would open a lot of doors for her and give her opportunities that she wouldn’t have otherwise, and she really did want to go off-world, travel in space and see other planets someday, but the idea of living on another planet for four or more years was both frightening and overwhelming. “Not much,” her mom said.  “He did have one program you could apply for that doesn’t include an indenture period.  I emailed you the link to the application.  I need you to fill it out today, because I made an appointment for tomorrow for you to go for the physical and psych scan that’s required.” “Tomorrow?  Mom, tomorrow’s Jenny’s birthday party.” “I know, sweetie, and I’m sorry.  I know you were looking forward to the party, but you might have to miss it.  I’ve already got us portal tokens, and tomorrow is the only day we can go before the deadline without you missing school.  I made the appointment for as early as I could, so you should get home in time to go.” Sam wanted to argue, but she already knew it was useless.  She hadn’t missed a day of school since halfway through the eighth grade, and she knew her mom wasn’t going to let her start less than a month before graduation.  She also knew her mom wasn’t going to let her pass up a chance at an off-world scholarship just to go to a birthday party.  Even if the birthday girl was her best friend who she’d been crushing on since Kindergarten.  Of course, her mom didn’t exactly know that last part because she hadn’t told her she liked girls.  She’d considered telling her a few times, but she’d always changed her mind at the last minute, because if her mom knew she liked girls, she might decide that Jenny was a distraction that Sam didn’t need in her life and that wasn’t a battle she wanted to fight. “Fine,” she said, reaching for her laptop.  “I’ll do the application now.” “Thank you.  And Sam, I love you.” “I love you too, mom,” she said. Her mom left and Sam opened up the email link, which took her to a form that asked her for an invite code.  She checked the email and sure enough, there was a code for her.  She copied it and pasted it into the form, and when she did, it took her to the next page, and a lot of the information was prepopulated, including her latest ID card photo, name and age, along with her school transcripts and medical records.  The stuff that was left for her to fill out read more like a dating profile than a college application. The first section was hobbies and interests and activities.  She thought about it for a minute and decided to just be honest instead of going through all the BS she usually did for the college apps.  She put down soccer, swimming, surfing, electronics, robotics, reading, martial arts, camping and motocross.  She attached pictures of herself in her soccer uniform, along with a couple of video clips from some of the team’s games, then she added a few videos of her swim meets, and a couple of pictures and some videos of her surfing.  She pulled up her YouTube folder and attached a few build videos for some of her robotics projects, along with the parts lists, schematics, models for the 3D printed parts, and the source code for the micro-controllers she’d written.  She added a picture of her holding two trophies from a local Karate tournament where she’d placed second in sparring, and third in bo staff, and added a few videos of her matches.  She also added a few pictures from her camping trips and a picture of her sitting on a dirt bike, along with a video Jenny had taken of her running one of the beginner courses, then pulled up her ebook library and dumped the list of all her books, listed her favorite movies and attached all her playlists from her music library. The next section was a little weird.  It asked about what sort of foods she liked, so she gave a list.  Then is asked whether she enjoyed various activities.  Most of them were fairly common things.  Theater, music, art.  A couple she had to check the cultural database link.  She was surprised and excited when she found out that whoever was sponsoring this program apparently considered dragon racing important enough to put on the questionnaire. All in all, she spent about two hours filling out the application, and once she was done, she hit submit, and then pulled out her cell phone and opened up her text messages with Jenny. Sam:  ‘Bad news.  I might miss your party.’ Jenny:  ‘What?!!!’ Sam:  ‘Mom’s dragging me to New York in the morning for a physical and a psych scan for a scholarship.’ Jenny:  ‘She’s still on that off-world college kick?’ Sam:  ‘Yeah.’ Jenny:  ‘Girl, you don’t want to go to college with ET’s’ Sam:  ‘I’ve got to get accepted before I have to worry about it.’ Jenny:  ‘Come by my place when you’re done.  Even if you miss the party, I want to see you.’ Sam:  ‘Will do.  See you tomorrow.’ Jenny;  ‘Night.’ Sam sat down her phone and looked at her homework.  She’d wanted to finish before dinner, but there was no way that was happening now.  She grabbed it anyway and went back to work, trying to get as much done as possible before her mom called her downstairs. 

***

End Chapter 1

***

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[heretherebedork]

Hiya there! I finally got some creative juices and decided to base off a premise on that one childhood legend that if you blow a dandelion, a wish will come true!

Premise: High school setting with 2 childhood best friends that shared a ritual of blowing dandelions to wish for magical solutions to anything that upset them. When they eventually had 1 flower left, they ended up having an argument and separating. Both end up attending the same high school years later with lots of conflicted feelings.

Ooo, nice one! I didn't know this one as a kid but I do love dandelions. They're just so nice and bright and cheerful! Onto the prompt!

Okay, so we've got ML and Dandelion (obviously) who were childhood friends turned enemies. They would get the start of every episode, a scene before the theme song every time that went backwards, showing them from the last fight all the way back to their first meeting in reflection of the story of them going from enemies back to friends.

Basically, they met as kindergartners over finding dandelions in school field and Dandelion tells ML about the legend of the wishes. They both blow, make their wishes and then a pinky promise to always be friends. Their wishes continue, from friendship to good grades to winning a contest... and then they get to around 12 years old and they're fighting over their sports and their academics (ML has higher grades but Dandelion made it onto the better team) and they end up fighting so much that they shake the seeds off the dandelion before they can blow or make a wish and they blame each other and stalk off angrily.

Dandelion moves at the end of the year without resolving anything and ML stays upset... but he's honestly almost more upset that Dandelion left without a word.

And four years later ML is the top student at a top high school far from where he grew up. He lives in a dorm and currently has it entirely to himself.

Until he's pulled aside one morning and told that a sports scholarship roommate. ML isn't overly worried. It'll be fine, he's sure, the sports scholarship guys are always busy and he can just... avoid them. He's been avoiding sports guys ever since Dandelion.

And then Dandelion is unpacking in his room when he goes back and it's like getting slapped in the face. ML sees his back but hears his voice and then the moment Dandelion turns around... ML leaves. He rushes over to the dean and begs for a room change. But there's nothing, no other rooms are at partial occupancy and so he's stuck with Dandelion until further notice.

ML returns to his room to Dandelion sitting on the bed and staring at the door. He stumbles to his feet and rushes over, greeting ML excitedly. It's obvious that he had long forgotten their fight. He's all smiles and excited to see an old friend and it's like a dagger in ML's heart. Because he's been carrying all this anger and this hurt and it turns out that... no one cared.

So he gives Dandelion the cold shoulder. Pushes him aside, ignores him completely, refuses to acknowledge that they ever knew each other and basically just rudely ignores him. Dandelion is hurt and confused and keeps asking what's going on and is increasingly ignored.

He finally gives up when ML puts in earplugs and settles in to go to sleep. Dandelion quietly shuffles to his bed and sadly turns off the light as ML curls up on his side and muffles years of pain into his pillow in the darkness.

The next month or so is horribly uncomfortable. ML refuses to acknowledge Dandelion at all beyond what's required to live in the same room. He throws out garbage, sweeps, so on. But never speaks to him. Never says his name. Never makes eye contact.

After a month, Dandelion corners ML in the room one evening and just demands to know what's going on. He knows ML, he knows ML knows him so... why are they ignoring each other? Dandelion might be a little drunk when he does this.

ML explodes. All that anger, all that hurt, comes out as he loudly explains how Dandelion abandoned him after their fight, never spoke to him again, never said good-bye, never apologized, nothing. By the end ML is sobbing and gasping and the more-than-a-little drunk Dandelion has tears on his cheeks as he stumbles out of the room.

The morning brings a very subdued Dandelion back into the room. He steps in, looks at the red-eyed ML... and apologizes.

He'd truly forgotten about leaving without saying good-bye and the fighting. He'd moved to a new country and had struggled to make friends and had ended up idealizing his friendship with ML in his memory. He'd really forgotten the bad moments in a desperate bid to remember a time when he'd been happy and had a close friend.

ML... is surprised to say the least. Because Dandelion was always more popular than him. But he's still hurt... at least until Dandelion apologizes again. More specifically. For leaving him, for not saying good-bye. He hadn't been given a lot of warning and they hadn't talked for months and he'd lost ML's phone number when they'd last fought. Dandelion remembered how hard he'd tried to get in touch with ML but had completely failed.

And ML finally decides to forgive him. At least enough to live with him more civilly. He's still upset and hurt but that's more because he'd been nursing that ache for so long that it's hard to let go.

Slowly, they start to rebuild a friendship. It's a bit colder, there's still distance ML won't let go of. Dandelion, though, has nothing but joy. He's so happy and he's all over ML, constantly, hugging and bringing him food and gifts... he's like an overager puppy now that he has his friend back.

ML struggles with maintaining the distance and finds himself falling face first into a huge crush on his old-new friend. The food, the touches, the gifts, the constant attention... what else is he supposed to do? They spend all their time together, just like old times.

One morning, walking into class, ML spots some dandelions. And he pulls them out, handing one to Dandelion to blow for the wishes, just like they used to do... and realizes that his wish is to be loved by Dandelion. And that's like an arrow through the heart. This is the same boy that abandoned him all those years ago.

ML shuts it down again. He doesn't go as cold but he goes back to civil rather than friends. And Dandelion is obviously heartbroken. The gifts and the food increase, the care increases. Their dorm is spotless, there's always food in the fridge, everything is perfect as Dandelion tries to show ML that their friendship isn't a mistake.

It takes about a week before Dandelion's constant asking about what's wrong wears ML down. And, late at night, when a drunk and sad Dandelion drags himself in and crawls into the bed to snuggle ML and beg forgiveness again... he admits that he's in love. And that he can't bear to lose Dandelion again.

ML doesn't think Dandelion remembers.

He's wrong.

The next day, Dandelion starts a new plan. He shows ML everything he can have with him. He cooks and he cleans and he WOOS ML and ML is already lost... but now he just has to work up the courage to say yes.

It takes just over a month, just to the point that Dandelion starts to give up hope, right when Dandelion sits on the edge of the bed and tells ML it's okay if he doesn't love him anymore but he has to say something, anything, to let Dandelion know what's going on...

And then ML breaks down. Admits his love and his fears and Dandelion gathers him up in his arms with promises and love.

There's a follow-up episode of them together for several months when Dandelion has to go to his internship and ML panics over it but they get to reassure each other and their friends get dragged in but, in the end, ML realizes that he has to trust Dandelion and that he does and sends him off with a flower crown he made of silk flowers that will never blow away.

[futurewriter2000]

Girls play Games, Women don’t. - pt.10 - final part

A/N: Okay, so here we are. I still haven’t started to write it, so this is just before part and after I finish and I’ll see if I’m going to make a epilogue? Or is it a prologue? Damn. I gotta google. - It’s epilogue.  I knew that, I just had to be sure. --- Finished. So freaking long but it was all just as I imagined. Even better tbh. I think we all deserve a good epilogue out of this.

XX

It was managable. It wasn’t perfect but you were a Slytherin and Slytherins are definetly known for their resourcefulness.

You were in your most comfortable sweatpants. They weren’t yours, they were Sirius’ and he didn’t mind sharing... to your knowledge. It was steamingly hot and you could barely breathe in the T-shirt, also Sirius’. Everything was from Sirius’ because you really hadn’t had a chance going back to your parents’ house to gather your things and leave peacfully.

You had just finished with all the exams Dumbledore was kind to give you so late in July but after the results, you are sure you will graduate and have your Hogwarts’ diploma.

Lately, after the exams you had done nothing but sit around this old, disintegrating apartment as Sirius just started his internship job in Auror’s office. He was usually late home and gone before you woke up. You two barely spent any time together but when you did he was always filling up the paperwork. He kept appologizing to you and saying he will make it up to you, which you didn’t mind but still missed him dearly when he left.

Now, you waited for the results. When you get results, you get your diploma and when you get your diploma, you can get yourself a job.

Until then, you have to deal with this apartment.

So you did.

You took the television from the unpacked box and with some hard effort moved it closer to the electrical socket. Since the cabel was short, you had to push the big box closer and was finally abel to turn it on. When you did, you skipped programe from programe on the buttons under the TV screen- you had no idea where the remote was- until you found the music programe.

Smiling to some background music, you stood back up and looked at the piles of unapacked boxes. “Let’s do this.” you smiled and started with the living room.

---

Sirius was climbing up the stairs, panting and looking up at the pile of stairs that awaited him. He was exhausted from today’s work so much, he was afraid of apparating. His brain was drained as if the Ministry squeezed every bit of them until they’re dry like the desert. He just wanted to provide for you. He wanted you to have everything you want, not this apartment he had to rent and ask James for some money to lent. It wasn’t fair but he had to. For you.

He finally managed to get to the door, putting the key in and opening them.

He heard a music playing and he immediately sobered up. He was not tired as before since his ear felt something so relaxing and familiar to his ears.

‘ I know your eyes in the morning sun I feel you touch me in the pouring rain And the moment that you wander far from me I want to feel you in my arms again...  ‘

He smiled at the song. Bee Gees? He didn’t think you would know them.

He walked into the living room, finding sofa cleaner than before, a coffee table in front sinking into a furry rug he had no idea where it came from. The coffee table was glass and it had an adorable little cloth in the middle with a candle and two remote controls. He looked to his left and found the TV sitting on a small chest with two drawers.

That chest was broken? How did you make it stand up like that?

It was at that question his nostrills sense a nice scent of roasted chicken, leading him into the kitchen.

He walked to find you standing behind the counter, cutting the paprika fairly quickly with the sharp knife, your fingers carefully hidden under your joints. Your hair were up in a bun with a few strands sticking out and a headband around your head. You jumped your head to the song, singing softly.

‘ How deep is your love, how deep is your love How deep is your love? I really mean to learn 'Cause we're living in a world of fools Breaking us down when they all should let us be We belong to you and me.’

He let you continue without knowing he was standing behind you. He was afraid that if he says anything, you might jump and cut yourself with the knife.

The song changed to Brandy by Looking Glass and you started gently thursting your hips left and right, catching Sirius’ attention. You wore his sweatpants that fell so perfectly down your wide hips, hugging your curves just in the right places. Seemingly, you cut his shirt into a crop top, showing your lacy bra that peeked under the shirt.

Sirius couldn’t help himself to grin. Especially when the song changed again: Cheryl by Yung Gravy.

You put the knife down and grabbed the wooden spoon, sliding to the pot but not for stirring. “ Juice, sauce, little bit of dressing (Ooh) Ice, wrist, little bit of flexing..” you opened the lid and finally stirred the sauce, shimmying your shoulders as you did and making Sirius laugh behind you.

You jumped at the sound of his chuckle, looking at him with wide eyes and blushing completely red into your cheeks.

“You’re home!?” you exclaimed, touching your messy hair and looking down at your outfit, knowing you cut his shirt in half. “I- uh- it was really hot and uh-” he started to approach you with opened arms, grinning cheekily. “I meant to change before you came- uh- you’re-” he was holding you in his and kissing you softly on your lips. “- early.” you smiled as he pulled away, putting his hand on your cheek and brushing his thumb across it.

The song changed again:  George Harrison - My Sweet Lord

“Sweet Lord indeed.” he looked you up and down and started to kiss you again and as much as that pleased you, your sauce might got overcooked.

Giggling to yourself, you pushed him away a bit, still holding him around the hips as both of you swayed to the pot. “Oh, Lover as much as you want to, the sauce is dearly important.” you gave him a peck and stirred again, turning off the stove and moving the pot on the other side, letting it cool of.

“You did all of this in one day?” he asked, looking around the kitchen and how brightly it shined.

You looked over your shoulder, catching his eye and winking at him. “I had nothing better to do anyway.” you grabbed the apple cider and olive oil, mixing the salad.

“Can you just put the plates and cutlery?” you glanced at the drawers to the side and he didn’t think twice to argue. If he was honest, he was hungry just as he was exhausted.

“Don’t mind if I do.” he quickly set up the table as you turned to leave the kitchen.

“Okay, I’ll just go get dressed-”

“Dressed?” he quickly took your hand and pulled you back. “I prefer you in my clothes.”

It was your time to smile cheekily at him, tapping his cheek with your finger and matching his grin. “No, you don’t.” you gently removed his hands from your waist and left to your bedroom.

Surprised, he kept staring after you, wanting to go see but objecting himself. “I’m marrying this woman.” he kept smiling and hearing something tumble in the bedroom.

It didn’t take you longer than 15 minutes when you walked back into the living room, finding him in the balcony, leaning over the fence and smoking his cigar. As much as you hated him smoking, you knew it was the only thing that kept him awake enough to spend some time with you.

You followed as quietly as you could, placing your hands over his eyes and kissing his ear gently. You could feel him smile just by feeling his cheeks touch the edges of your hand. He put his hands over yours and turned around slowly.

When he opened his eyes, he found you wearing a silk, red dress, which hugged your hips, your breast and your thighs. The edge was a few inches above the knee, your hair pinned back and some curls nicely loose in front of you. They were still a bit messy but you did think you had more time before he came home. With no foundation, the cream made your skin glow in the light just perfectly, an eyeshadow gorgeously done yet never seen on you before, mascara outlining your eyelashes and black underline exposing your twinkling eyes he adored so deeply.

“Wow.” he marveled, taking your hands in his and putting them behind his neck. “I wonder what would happen if I was late?”

“You’d probably faint.” you joked and he let out a laugh.

He kept looking at you, his hands on your hips, then on your face to your hair to everywhere they could touch. “You look absolutely stunning.” he kept looking and touching, as if you weren’t even real.

“Thank you.” you blushed again, giving him a soft peck on the lips and causing his stomach to burst from all the butterflies.

He felt his hands clammy, his heartbeat rise up as the next tought entered his mind.

You noticed his uncomfort a bit and pulled yourself away. Insecurity entered your mind and you quickly felt too much exposed to him. “Is something wrong?” you asked and he shot his head up to you, finding you just as confused as he was when he heard you listen to Bee Gees.

“No, no, no, no. Nothing is- well-” he cut himself off, looking up at the ceiling and contemplating. “There is something missing with the whole outfit.” he grinned and you felt a bit angered by the comment.

You crossed your arms over your chest, giving him the intimidated, furious look you gave to most of the people that tried to control what you should wear yet there was something in the way his eyes avoided you and his mouth kept twitching into a smirk that let your retorts keep themselves in your mind and not on your mouth.

He reached his hand in his pocket, shaking it as he struggled to get it out but when he did, it appeared to paralyze you completely.

It was a small, velvet box and it didn’t take an great aritmanist to figure out what was inside. You slapped your hands over your mouth, preventing any odd noises to come out as he went on one knee and opened the books. He smiled at the ring but smiled brighter and wider when his eyes met yours.

“I’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to introduce the two of you but as patient I thought I was, tonight made me realize that I will definetly marry you... if you will have me.” he smiled as your eyes started to tear up. You tried to stay calm, tried your best to wait for the next few lines and as you did, he took a deep breath and asked: “(y/n)(y/l/n), will you marry me?”

You started nodding franatically, tears of joy escaping your eyes as he put the rind on and stood up. You jumped into his arms, kissing him and looking at him as he did the same. “Yes! Yes I will!”

“Thank God!” He breahted out, causing you to laugh.

“I told you before I would, didn’t I?” you pulled away, framing his head as he continued to beam at you.

“I wasn’t sure if that was you or the adrenalin back then.”

You started laughing again. “It was me, silly.” you started to kiss him again. He deepened the kisses as time passed, letting his hands roam your body until they found themselves carrying into the bedroom, completely forgetting about the cooked dinner in the kitchen....

---

He continued to kiss your bare shoulder after. His hand travelled up and down your hip and thigh, then finally up your arm and to your hand. “You’re so much more flexible than I thought.” he growled into your ear, nibbling on it.

“And that’s after renovating the whole apartment.” you started to tease, interlacing your fingers with his. “Imagine what I would do to you if I’ve done nothihng but wait for you.” you turned your head to him only sligthly as he burried his nose into your neck.

“Oh, woman. You’re going to make me go crazy with that talk.” he kept nuzzling closer, making you laugh.

You turned around, removing his head from your shoulder and cupping it in your hands. He kept looking at you with that grey storm of his, softly calming down into a calm ocean water. His front curls fell on his forehead and his lips kept kissing your palms. He took your right hand into his and kept kissing it until his lips got stuck on the diamond ring. He kissed it gently and looked back up at you.

“Now, you’re really stuck with me.” he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close.

“Or you’re the one stuck with me.” you raised an eyebrow.

“We’re stuck with each other.” he continued.

“Oh, what a shame.” you smiled as he kissed you again and again, never getting enough.

All until something fell from the other room.

Both of you stopped to look at the door, glancing at each other and hearing another object- plate- shatter on the floor.

He got up the bed quickly, grabbing his underwear and pants as you did the same, grabbing the sweatpants you wore before and a larger shirt to cover most of your body. He gabbed his wand first, then passed down yours. Before he opened the door, he looked back at you and already found you more prepared than him.

“Do you-”

“No. You open, I go first.” you cut him off, tightening the grip around your wand and waiting for Sirius to open the door.

He smiled at your fierceness and prepared himself as well. That’s what he trains for- he opened the door and you stormed out and into the kitchen, pointing your wand at the dark figure sitting on the chair and eating the dinner you prepared for your fiance.

Sirius quickly followed, standing next to you with his wand pointed at the man as well.

“The chicken is done nicely... yet I see it missing something.” he grabbed the napkin and patted his lips as he stood up. “Curry maybe?”

“What are you doing here?” you growled, focusing your wand at him and going through all sorts of spells in your head.

His eyes glanced at your ring finger yet no reaction was readable enough to tell you what he thought. For you, it wasn’t needed to see a reaction. You already know what he felt; fury and betrayal.

“Congratulate you.” his voice spoke monotone and his lips curved into a smirk. “When’s the wedding?”

“Why are you here?” you persisted, trying to stay as calm as possible.

“Who’s the dramatic one now?” he gestured his hand to your wand as you rolled your eyes at him, scoffing.

“Must take after you.”

“So you still imply me as your father?”

“Do you still imply me as your daughter?”

“Heavily but yes...” he sat back down, leaning back and crossing his fingers. “Disappointed... but yes.” he quirked an eyebrow than glanced at Sirius, who only glared at him. “You’re training to be an Auror yet she’s the one in charge here?”

“Yes.” Sirius replied through his teeth, seething at him.

He looked back at you, placing his locked hands on the table. “I would have gotten you a stronger man than him. Someone who could take charge in your marriage... someone-”

“I don’t want a dominant partner. I want an equal.” you cut him off as he fell back in surprise. “He knows what I want and I want to know what the hell are you doing in our home?” 

He stood back up, rubbing his chin and leaning against the chair. His eyes were now narrowed, filled with something much more darker than before. “You know what I want.”

“No.”

His mouth twitched. 

“I am not opening the stupid box for you, especially if it’s really filled with so much more dark magic as it is rumored to be.”

He let out a chuckle, a wicked one indeed. He stared at you for one minute than the next he was already gone and holding Sirius with the tip of his wand pointing at his head. 

“NO!” you screamed but he only laughed.

“Hey, Sirius.” he whispered, tighting his grip around Sirius’ neck. “Maybe you should say hi to Devon McKingley for me.”

At the mention of that name, you lost it. You completely lost it, disarming your father immediately and stupefying him the next. He fell against the wall next to the television and the next thing you knew, you were using the crucifying curse on him, causing him to laugh and scream at the same time. 

Sirius behind you was gasping for air and strugling to get up as you approached your father, tears falling down your cheeks. “You think you can kill another man in my life, just because YOU DON’T LIKE IT!!” you bellowed, making his laugh turn into pain with the strenght of the curse. 

You stopped, letting him breathe a bit. 

“You don’t control me anymore.” you squeezed his cheeks together. “You don’t intimidate me, nor scare me.” you growled and pushed his head away, right into the wall so the sight spun in front of him. “You think I’m still your little girl trying to play your stupid little games, daddy?” you cooed the last word, provoking him a bit and earning a spiteful glare. “Girls play games. Women don’t.” you walked away, back to Sirius who took a hold of you, looking into your eyes as the Ministry popped into your apartment, due to the underage use of magic that was tracked from your apartment. 

It didn’t take you any effort to explain. People knew, all the wizards in the world knew what your father has done. Dumbledore went public with all the cases months ago. Your father was wanted for a long time but now? Now he was taken to Azkaban where he will rot till his death.

[tbehartoo]

Dungeons, Dragons, and Dating

A Present for @justknitstuff my giftee for the @lukanette-exchange. This sort of turned into a beast of a chapter and they haven’t even got to the game yet! I promise to get chapter two out as soon as I can.

Summary: Luka knows it’s hard to make new friends when all you do is work and study. He can’t believe it, but Rose and Juleka have finally convinced him to come to the university’s gaming club with them. There he meets some unique characters, and he’s not talking about the ones they create for their Dungeons & Dragons game. Hopefully among this room of strangers he can find some good friends for these hard times.

Author’s note: Set in a post pandemic world. After multiple plagues have swept the world, some daily things will have changed, but there are other things, such as the need for connections to each other, that haven’t.

Beta’ed by:  @soloraven​ and @platypan Thank you both for your amazing help! They did their best, any mistakes are mine alone.

First Club Meeting

The first meeting of the University’s Gaming Club of the fall semester was full of nothing but the sound of rolling dice, the muttering of voices and the flipping of papers when Luka followed his sister and her girlfriend through the door. One of the lounge rooms off the cafeteria had several round tables with various people spread thinly around them. The room’s HEPA filters were humming quietly in the corners, a sound so common that it barely registered but comfortingly underlying the feel of the room.

A man hurried towards them while they stowed their masks in their packs. Luka thought the black eyebrows on the man’s head looked more like wings than brows. They were excellent at drawing attention from the guy’s balding head but couldn’t disguise how short the man actually was.

“Welcome, Rose! Welcome, Juleka!” he called as he passed out papers to the newcomers while they each took turns to put their hands under the automatic hand sanitizer dispenser. “It’s nice to see you back again this semester. Hope the summer break treated you well.”

“Oh, it was busy for sure,” Rose said as she smiled at the professor. “I did an internship at the library and Jules was able to pick up some work for local commercials.”

“Wonderful, girls! Wonderful!” He looked at Luka and picked up another bundle of papers. “And is this a friend of yours?”

“This is my brother Luka,” Juleka said as she took a packet from the man. He was practically vibrating with energy. “Rose has finally convinced him that he needs to come with us to the game club.”

“I’m Professor Damocles, the faculty advisor for the game club, and my pronouns are he/him,” he said nodding at Luka. “I ask you to please fill that packet out tonight. It goes over the club’s rules and by-laws as well as our expectations for following the university’s current pandemic procedure plans. The last page is for you to sign agreeing to abide by our rules and give us an email to contact you. You can use your school email or a personal one.  Later, when we’ve got it processed, you’ll get your own invitation to our Discord channel and be able to look over what games the club has, as well as respond with your interest in each game. Go ahead and review the papers while we wait for the meeting to start.”

“It looks like you’ve already started,” Rose said and waved at a girl with black hair sporting bright blue streaks in her ponytail sitting a couple of tables over. Luka saw Juleka wave as well so she must be a friend of both of them.

“Oh, well not yet,” Professor Damocles said as he cleared his throat. “Our club president from last semester isn’t here to open the meeting and start the vote for club leadership. She said she had to stop off for something, but she should be here soon. In the meantime, I’ll have the vice-president-” he turned back to the room, “- ah, Adrien?” A blond young man looked up at the name. “Do you think you could get these three set up at a table while we wait for Marinette to get here?”

“Sure thing,” Adrien said as he came over, giving the three of them a small nod of acknowledgement. He scanned the tables before beaming at the girl Rose had waved to before. He nodded at the young man sitting a chair away from her. The guy wearing the baseball cap nodded and Adrien moved in their direction.

Those two don’t seem to be dating, Luka thought. Though they do seem pretty comfortable with each other, he noted they were both writing on something between them. 

“Have any of you played Dungeons and Dragons?” Adrien asked as they wove through the tables.

“I have,” Rose answered, “But Jules and Luka refused to come to my game group with me.”

“It’s your time to be with your friends,” Juleka said with a chuckle. “We both have time away from each other,” she poked her girlfriend in her shoulder, “And you like to spend that time with them.”

“Her group always wants to meet while I’m at work,” Luka added on. He looked at Rose and smiled. “I’ve met them all as they seem to order from my pizza place only when I’m working and always request me as their driver.” He rolled his eyes, “I can’t even recall all the weird scenes I’ve walked into during  their game nights, but I’ve never had a chance to play.”

Rose scoffed, but Juleka nodded to strengthen Luka’s claim.

“Well, last semester the club decided to try out twice monthly D&D games,” Adrien told them. “That way we can get a campaign going but still play our game closet every other week. Those who have played are helping the newbies roll up characters. Rose, if I put you with Kagami and Nino, do you think you can help Juleka and,” he paused before continuing both his eyebrows raised, “Luka?”

Luka nodded.

Adrien’s shoulders relaxed. “Yeah, uh, Luka, to roll up characters?”

“Sure thing, Adrien,” Rose said as she sat down at the table leaving two chairs between her and Kagami. 

Juleka sat next to Rose while Luka claimed the seat next to Juleka.

“It’s good to see you again, Gami,” Juleka said, peering closely at the stacks of paper in the middle of the table.

“You, too Jules, Rose,” Kagami greeted the girls with a nod of her head. She raised a questioning brow at Luka.

“Oh, this is Luka, my brother,” Juleka said then tacked on, “-we all share an apartment off campus.”

"Ah, that's why you're not observing the mandatory one seat apart rule,” Kagami replied.

“Well it doesn’t apply to us as we share living quarters,” Juleka said with a small sigh.

“This is Nino,” Kagami said, indicating their other tablemate with a tilt of her head. “He’s Adrien’s brother from another mother and soon to be best man.”

Rose squealed and clapped. Juleka’s face broke out into a big smile.

“So who asked first, you or Adrien?” Rose demanded.

Nino barked with laughter. 

“They had the audacity to ask at the same time,” he informed the beaming listeners. “So all bets have been cancelled.”

“Alix must be in a mood about that,” Juleka said with a grin.

Nino nodded. “She wouldn’t talk to either of them for a month. But now she’s working a couple of bets on swimming challenges between Kim and Ondine if you want in on that action.” He used his head to point out a girl at the next table. She was kind of short, wore clothes that Luka associated with skaters, and sported hair in a pink Mohawk with short cropped sides.

The whole group had a small laugh before Kagami’s face grew serious.

“Okay, I’m sure you’re familiar with the game, but here’s the short, short explanation just so we’re all on the same page. D&D is a group storytelling game. Every person has a character who has both strengths and weaknesses based on things like what fantasy race you’re from, like troll or elf, as well as what level you are in a certain job known as a class, like a fighter or sorcerer. 

“You know, like my tenth level high elf pirate, Mistress Delores Myra Woodfield-Dee,” Rose said.

“We’re familiar with her,” Luka said nodding his head.

“Very familiar,” Juleka murmured.

“The Captain was so flattered when you made your character, well, her,” Luka grinned.

“Yeah, mom wouldn’t stop asking about her and suggesting things for Mistress Dee to do next,”  Juleka informed Kagami.

“Mom didn’t understand that I had to listen to the directions from the DM,” Rose sighed. “She thought I could just take my pirate crew anywhere I wanted.”

“The DM is the one in charge, right?” Nino asked Rose.

“Yeah. The DM, a.k.a. the Dungeon Master, is the one that leads the story and settles disputes,” Rose said.

“It’s not an easy job, even though Adrien makes it look like it is,” Kagami said. “He’s been playing for years and DMing almost as long. He’s learned a few tricks to make things flow easily and he’s so nice that he rarely has people rules lawyering at him.”

“Rules lawyering?” Luka asked as he looked at Kagami then turned to his housemate, “I haven’t heard Rose say that before.”

“That’s because Skylar, my DM, doesn’t let James play anymore,” Rose grumbled. “He would argue over every little thing and try to pull out the rule book after nearly every play. It got so bad that Claire and Gia refused to play any more and the others in our group started to dread going.” She huffed and put a hand on Luka’s forearm. “If you really have a question about what happened or why something turned out the way it did, then, yeah you should ask the DM for clarification, but in a nice way.” Luka nodded at her as she continued, “Don’t be an ass about it.”

“I usually try not to be one in my day-to-day life. Why would I change that because of a game?” Luka asked.

Kagami shuddered, “Because when people really get into character and the game gets intense then you can have the sweetest, kindest person you know,” she looked directly at Rose, “Turn into a blood lusting, amoral, beast that makes you worried to try the cookies she brought.”

Rose’s jaw dropped. “Those cookies were from T&S! How could you question their fitness for consumption?”

“Because you set fire to the orphanage with the orphans sleeping inside it, for one,” Kagami said “And then you rolled a boulder through the school house while classes were in session!”

“Surti Snan was a chaotic evil Kobold!” Rose said defensively. “You cannot hold him to human standards of behavior.”

“I most certainly can and will,” Kagami replied with a smirk on her face.

“Besides,” Rose almost pouted, “My plan to lure out the mindflayer worked.”

“Only after you decimated three-quarters of the town we were sent to save!” Kagami pointed out.

The two stared at each other for a moment and Luka worried that they might need to figure out a way to deescalate the situation when the two girls broke out into laughter.

“We were fortunate that Marc was the DM that night as they were the one to get everyone to cool down after the orphanage incident,” Rose said with a grin. “I didn’t end up banned from the table or the game.”  

“And that is why you need a good DM,” Kagami said. “They have to keep everyone working together and keep emotions from overpowering the game. They’re also responsible for adding in all the little things like descriptions of people and places and being all the NPCs.”

“Non-player characters,” Rose said as she saw the furrowed brows of Luka, Nino, and Juleka, “are like the shopkeepers or the townsfolk that you meet along the way, but aren’t permanent members of the party like our characters will be.”

“Oooh, Adrien told me that Damocles is going to pop in as some of the NPCs for our game this semester,” Kagami told the table.

Rose squealed, happiness showing clearly on her face, “He’s going to be the funnest little blacksmith!”

“I don’t think funnest is a word Rose,” Juleka said with a smile.

“I can totally see him as a blacksmith, too,” Kagami said. “He’s got all the in-depth history of historical weapons. I bet armor shopping with him would end up being a small comparative history lesson on why a Japanese Do would be better than a French cuirass for a specific race or class.”

“No one told me there’d be actual lessons involved with this,” Nino said with a scoff. The effect was ruined by the huge grin he was throwing in Kagami’s direction.

“Well you’d better get practicing your math facts before we start,” Kagami said as she pulled the visor down on his cap. “There’s a lot of adding and subtracting once the dice start rolling.”

“What are we using the dice for?” Juleka asked.

“Pretty much everything,” Rose said as she leaned into Juleka’s side. “They add chaos and luck into the game so it’s not just a match where you look to see who has the highest AC-” noting the confused looks of the uninitiated she added, “armor class.” Juleka still looked confused. “Dice are used for movement during confrontations to see if your actions hit and how much damage is done. But another important thing the DM uses the dice for is when we roll initiative before there’s a fight to figure out what order people go in, including the bad guys.”

“Does that even matter?” Luka asked skeptically.

“Yes, yes it matters a lot,” Kagami answered quickly. “If you have a party of five brawlers going up against two archers, and the archers go first, they can have the brawlers down on the ground before they ever get close enough to lay a finger on them.”

“But if the brawlers go first, they can get to the archers and overpower them while their bows become useless because the archers don’t have the distance any more,” Rose tacked on.

“And it can get real tricky and dicey, no pun intended, when they’re mixed up,” Kagami said.

“So is it better to be an archer or a brawler?” Nino asked.

“Yes,” Rose answered with a grin and Nino just groaned.

“Well, every character has strengths and weaknesses,” Kagami replied slowly. “It keeps the game more balanced and keeps even the gods from being too OP. So the answer to your question really is that it just depends. That’s why we’re hoping that not everyone will chose to be an Orc Barbarian or the only thing we’ll be able to do is be murder hobos.”

“Murder hobos?” Juleka asked with a wince.

“That’s when the group’s answer to every problem is to stab, club, or smite it and hope that makes it go away,” Kagami answered.

“It gets kind of boring when fights are all you do,” Rose said.

“But Rose,” Juleka said with a frown on her face, “every character you’ve ever talked about was a fighter of some kind. Your pirate, your kobold, the chef from the insane asylum,” she was ticking them off on her fingers, “there are a lot of others that you’ve made, and they’re all fighters.”

Rose blushed a little before answering. “Well, yes, I do like to play fighters more than say clerics or warlocks, but that’s because I use my characters to get out all the aggression I can’t use in real life. It’s just not appropriate to hit the library patron over the head with the book he keeps requesting, but then says it’s the wrong book every week.”

Everyone at the table chuckled.

“So if we’re not just getting into fights, what else is there to do?” Luka asked.

“There can be riddles, murder mysteries, royal court intrigue, puzzles, and, well, it is called Dungeons and Dragons,” Kagami said while shrugging, “so besides slaying dragons or raiding their hoards, there are also dungeons or other structures to explore. Some, well okay, all of them have traps of some kind or they might also have monsters in them.”

“One time Marc did a dungeon crawl where you had to come up with a rhyming couplet to get out of the rooms using the name of the treasure found in it,” Rose said thoughtfully. “We spent so much time trying to figure out a rhyme for the handy haversack,” she murmured.

“What did you rhyme it with?” Luka wanted to know. He was already creating a list in his head.

“We, ah, put it in the middle of the line and just rhymed floor and door,” she admitted. “Then we did that with the rest of the rooms and pretty much made Marc cry that night.”

Kagami was nodding along with Rose’s story. She looked at the three sitting at the table. “One thing you should always keep in mind,” she said to them, “is that the party always ruins the DM’s plans. The DMs know this and they try to be ready for it, but sometimes they just have to call a break or end a session because the group has gone off on a tangent even they didn’t predict.” She smiled at them. “It’s kind of fun, but it’s not something you want to make a habit of or the DMs don’t want to play.”

“What I’m hearing,” Luka said to Kagami, “is that we all just need to play nice with each other and the game will be fun.”

“That pretty much sums it up,” Kagami smiled back at him.

“So how do we get started making our character?” Juleka asked.

Kagami pointed to the piles of paper in the middle of the table. “If you haven’t played before, there’s a few races and classes to choose from on the papers. The more experienced players can bring in other races or classes if the DMs approve. Our DMs are Adrien,” she pointed at the young man they’d met answering a question for a girl in glasses with hair that started a rich brown but changed gradually into a deep red color, “and Marc” she pointed to another person sitting at the adjoining table with short black hair and some killer eye liner. Marc was helping someone with long, bright red hair pulled back into a bun that helped their mask stay in place. She gestured back to their table. “The pink papers have races on them and the details that you should know for that race. The green papers have classes on them. So you can either choose two papers at random or you can look through them to see what sounds interesting. To make things easy on all of us, we’re all starting at level one.” 

“This all sounds pretty easy,” Luka said.

Kagami’s face lost all expression.

 “That’s what I said to Adrien when he first introduced me to the game,” she shook her head. “You might want to get out now-- while you can.”

Rose reached a closed hand over to gently nudge Kagami’s arm. “You don’t mean that,” she said.

One side of Kagami’s mouth quirked up. “No, I don’t. It’s a wonderful game, but it can be kind of overwhelming, especially when you’re new at it.” She slid the stacks of paper towards the little group along with the bottle of hand sanitizer. “As Adrien’s one of the DMs, he asked Nino to play a paladin for story reasons so he just had to choose a race. These are free for you to look at.”

Rose took the sanitizer and squeezed some into her palm before passing it down the line. Luka knew that her time in the library made her very careful to clean her hands before handling something others might also have to touch. She took the pink stack while Juleka looked at the green. Luka said he was going to do the random thing so he started filling out the club rule packet.

A few moments later, a young woman burst through the door carrying a large box of what turned out to be individually wrapped treats from T&S. Tom and Sabine, the proprietors of the bakery, always greeted everyone with warm smiles and tasty samples. T&S was a favorite with students for having delicious pastries, as well as simple sandwiches on freshly baked bread, at prices even those struggling with their finances could afford. 

Luka heard the girl apologizing to Damocles for being late, but she’d had to wait for her order to get finished- at this point she nearly dropped the box as she tripped over something by her rushing feet, but Adrien was there to catch both the box and the girl. He didn’t even hesitate to wrap an arm around her shoulders as he moved them over to a table at the front of the room.

They can’t be dating, Luka thought to himself. Adrien and Kagami just got engaged. And neither of the girls asked Kagami about how her or Adrien’s girlfriend was taking the news so they probably aren’t in a poly relationship together. They certainly don’t look like siblings, but I know well enough that siblings don’t have to be little carbon copies of each other. Maybe they’re roommates? Quick, be cool Luka, they’re coming this way.

Adrien walked the girl over to their table where she sank into the chair next to Nino and Luka felt his heart drop to the floor. 

She must be dating Nino, who is Adrien’s best friend, so they’ve probably been around each other a lot. Which is why she’s sitting next to Nino and why Adrien felt comfortable enough with catching her, Luka reasoned.

Adrien put one hand on Nino’s shoulder as he leaned across the chair between him and Kagami to give his fiancee a quick kiss. He straightened up and gave Nino’s shoulder a squeeze before removing his hand.

“How are you so late?” Nino asked the girl with a teasing tone. “You left the house with an hour and a half’s head start.”

The girl blushed before she started talking. “When I got to the bakery, Felix was there,” she began. Luka noticed that Nino, Adrien, and even Kagami suddenly tensed up and Nino’s lips formed into a line. “He thought that just because I couldn’t be the club president this semester that I’d stop coming, even though I told him I still had to come tonight to open the meeting and to take nominations for the new president. He-”

“He just went all Felix on you didn’t he?” Nino said followed by a short huff.

She nodded.

“I know he’s my cousin,” Adrien said to her, “but sometimes I really wish he wasn’t related and could have gone to a different school instead of our family’s Alma Mater.” He reached around Nino and gave her a couple of pats on her shoulder before leaning back toward Kagami and grasping her hand. “Then you’d never have met him and all our lives would have been easier.”

This Felix guy must be, what, pestering her? They don’t seem to be worried about her safety, so he’s probably not stalking her. I guess everyone has that one friend you just have to limit time with, Luka thought.

She gave Adrien a strained smile. 

“But then I never would have met you or Kagami,” she said. “You would have just been that one weird guy that Nino was in a bromance with in his Roman history class. The one who has an unnatural affinity for Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood,” she added scrunching her nose up.

Adrien’s laugh was loud and free. Kagami, Nino, and the girl all relaxed at the sound and smiled at one another. 

“Okay, you got me there,” Adrien said. “But don’t knock the bromance.” He batted his eyes at Nino. “The feelings of the bros are true, pure, and noble.”

At that, Nino pretended to swoon as he murmured, “Bro, don’t do this to me in public, bro.” He looked up at Adrien, his eyes open wide and a pout on his lips. “You know I can’t handle it when you declare your love for me.”

Both of the men tried to hold onto their awkward posing, but Kagami poked Adrien’s side and the girl leaned into Nino. They started sniggering immediately.

“If you’re really that taken with him,” Kagami said to Adrien with a grin, “I could always give him the engagement ring.”

“You’d do that for me? For us?” Adrien cried melodramatically. 

Luka could see why Adrien would make a good DM if he was always this theatrical. Kagami and Nino also seemed able to drop into a performance easily. Even as a stranger, Luka could tell this was all in good fun and that Adrien seemed quite devoted to the girl whose hand he’d yet to let go of.

“Don’t worry Kagami,” Nino said to her solemnly. “I would never want to be the one to ruin you and Adrien’s happiness.”

Kagami pinned the boy with her stare. “You are the only one who ever could come between us, Nino,” Her tone icy, almost menacing. “ You know the terms: Sabers at dawn.”

Nino sat back quickly holding up his hands in surrender, clearly dropping out of the scene they’d been playing.

“Unh-uh! No way!” He made an ‘x’ with his arms. “I have seen you with your saber and I want no part of that,” he declared.

Kagami and Adrien both smiled fondly at Nino as they chuckled.

“A wise decision,” Adrien remarked. “Oh excuse me, it looks like Alya has another question.”

He pecked Kagami’s cheek before hurrying back over to glasses girl.

When Luka looked back at the table, after watching Adrien go over to the girl who must be Alya, it was to see Nino with his arm around his seatmate’s shoulder.

“Are you sure you’re alright, Marinette?” he’d asked quietly. “I know how Felix can get when he’s...disappointed.”

Luka was pretty sure that the only reason he heard the question was because he was seated on the girl’s other side.

Marinette took a deep breath in and let it out before nodding her head. 

“I’m good Nin,” she’d replied.

The look on Nino’s face seemed to sport a trace of disbelief, but it was gone so quickly that Luka wasn’t sure that’s what he’d seen. Before he could think about it more, Professor Damocles stood at the front of the room to call for attention.

After introducing himself to the group and welcoming everyone to the club, he turned the meeting over to Marinette as club president. She called for nominations for a new president and the club officially got under way. 

Soon enough Adrien, as the new club president, addressed the gathering.

“Well, as your new president, I’d like to welcome everyone here. I hope that we can all have a great time getting to know one another and having some fun playing games.” He grinned as his eyes scanned the crowd. Luka was sure he wasn’t the only one to notice the wink he threw at Kagami. 

“Our good friends over at the Crazy Squirrel,” he gestured to a table covered in dice, velvet bags, trays, books, and brightly covered boxes with two smiling people seated behind it, “have brought a small selection of what they have on offer at their game store. You can look over the merch at any time tonight and be assured, they take all forms of legal tender. If you don’t find what you need, they’re willing to give student discounts all next week as long as you show a valid student I.D. Who knew those cards were good for anything, right? If you aren’t going to use an app for your dice rolls, you will need to make sure you also purchase a tray.” The smile dropped from his face. “We can’t have stray dice roaming the tables.” At this statement, there were various murmurs of assent.

“Marc and I will be DMing this semester,” he pointed to the student Kagami had indicated earlier, “so if you have any questions please feel free to ask us, but we’ve made sure there are two or three people at each table that can help you make a character if you’ve not done that before.” He smiled at the group. “We have a lot of plans for our game but tonight is going to be dedicated to creating your character and getting familiar with the mechanics of how things work. There’ll be several links to videos up on the server so that you can watch the pros in action, but please don’t expect that level of ability of your DMs.” 

“You’re no Matt Mercer, but you’ll do,” a young man with brown skin, dark glasses, and blond dreadlocks pulled into a top knot said to the president who returned his smile.

The crowd broke into snickering.

“We know we’re not Max,” Marc replied from his table, “but then again you’re no Taliesin Jaffe or Travis Willingham either,” an ‘oooooooooooo’ ran through the room, “but you don’t see Adrien and I complaining.” Marc grinned at Max.

That got another round of chuckles from the group.

Adrien hastily added, “We’ll all just have to do our best.”

Professor Damocles stood up and Adrien ceded the floor to him.

“Alright everyone, back to your characters,” the professor said with enthusiasm. “Make them unique and special. Try new classes. Find out where your character came from, even if it’s a roll of the dice by the fates, and then prepare them to go out adventuring!” He practically vibrated with excitement.

“I am way too sober for this,” Alix mumbled into her travel mug before taking a long drink.

“One more thing,” Damocles said after Marc whispered something into his ear. “This is meant to be a friendly game, but permanent character death can happen.”

“You don’t say,” a female voice carried through the quiet room.

“Let’s have a moment of silence for Kagami’s weak ass tabaxi bard,” the pink hair girl called to the room. Everyone chuckled, but a few bowed their heads in Kagami’s direction. While a voice chided with a hissed, “Alix!”

Professor Damocles continued as if nothing had been said, “So, you might want to make a backup-” he looked directly at the source of the voice, “-or two-- Kagami.” He beamed at the room. “Let’s get busy!”

Kagami and Nino immediately put their heads back down to the paper they’d been working on. Kagami pointed to something and Nino’s phone sounded out the rolling of dice. Rose and Juleka each chose a paper from their stacks and then switched colors. Luka looked at Marinette for a moment. She seemed to notice his stare and turned to him.

The first thing he noticed was how very blue her eyes seemed. They were eyes he felt he could gladly get lost in. The second thing he noticed was how expressive her face really seemed to be. The expression right now was curiosity bordering on concern.

“Um,” he had to clear his throat before he could continue. “Doyou- haveyou-” he took a short breath to slow his words down, “Have you already made a character before?” he asked hesitantly.

“Oh yeah,” she answered. “I showed Adrien my character last week when he was over for Brotherhood night.” 

“Oh, well, could you-” he tried not to look as pathetic as he felt, “could you help me?” He had to look away as soon as he’d asked.

He heard her giggle before she shifted over to be only a chair away from him, carefully observing the university seating policy, while still showing her willingness to help him out.

“I’d be glad to help you with your character,” she said and grinned.

Luka tried to get his face to move from its stunned expression, but all he felt was a bit of heat forming in his cheeks.

“Thanks,” he croaked out. 

Juleka was quick to nudge him with her elbow while muttering, “Stop acting like a weirdo, ya weirdo.”

Rose giggled at his behavior, but issued a soft, “Jules, leave him be,” in his defense.

“I’m Marinette,” the girl in question said as she smiled at him again. “Nino and I rent a house close to campus-”

“Because you just have to have your craft room,” he mumbled without looking up from his phone.

Okay, they’ve got to be dating if they aren’t already married, Luka told himself. They’re living together and they’re close friends with Kagami and Adrien who just got engaged. Statistics show that you tend to mirror the actions of your peer group so why wouldn’t they be married? It’s so weird to think of people my age as being married. Why does it even matter? You’re here to make new friends and get away from work and school. This isn’t a dating service, Luka. And now you missed what she was saying.

“-but we’ve lived in each other’s house since forever. Nino’s dad and my dad have been friends since kindergarten,” she threw a smile in his direction. “I grew up calling Nino’s parents Uncle Sami and Auntie Halima and wondering why he had aunts and uncles I never saw at our family reunions, but never questioning that we were related,” she laughed a little at herself. “What about you?”

“Well, um, Juleka and I grew up on a houseboat with our mom. And Rose started coming over a lot when she and Jules were what, twelve? thirteen?” He looked over at his sister who nodded and then smiled at Rose. “She kind of joined the crew when her dad proved to be less than ideal as a parent.” He scowled remembering the night that a tear soaked Rose showed up on the boat and he had to hold Juleka back from killing a man while the Captain held the sobbing girl that was to become a second daughter to her. “It was obviously his loss, but certainly our gain. Mom keeps asking Jules when she’s going to make Rose official,” he stopped when he heard Juleka groan.

“She preaches free love and that marriage is just a piece of paper then goes and asks about ‘the wedding’ and ‘how soon am I gonna to get some grandbabies’,” Juleka grumbled.

“The Captain is a woman of many moods and an example of the most conservative rebel you’ll ever meet,” Luka confirmed to the half of the table that was looking at him with stunned expressions.

“Well she certainly sounds like an interesting character,” Marinette said.

At that, the rest of the table broke up into laughter.

“What did I say that was so funny?” she asked the group.

“Rose is way ahead of you on that one, Nettie,” Nino replied.

She looked at Rose. “Is she--Mistress Dee?” she asked with delight.

Rose just nodded.

“Oh. well then, I stand by what I said- Quite the character.” 

Luka merely grinned at this assessment of his mother while the others returned to their own character creation.

“So,” Marinette said as the table got back to work, “Are you ready to make your fighter?”

“Does it have to be a fighter?” he whined, then the dumbest line that he’s ever heard slips off his tongue as he leaned directly into their shared space, “I’m more a lover than a fighter.” He grinned at her as he winked, then proceeded to blow her a kiss.

She stared at him dumbstruck as he saw Juleka facepalm out of the corner of his eye. Marinette hastily moved back a chair. She seemed to be almost terrified of him and he felt his gut clench in worry that he’d somehow offended or intimidated her.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me,” he apologized as he sat back with his hands up trying to make himself seem less of a threat. 

“You’re doing your flirty delivery persona,” Rose said through clenched teeth, not even looking over at him. “It might get you more tips at work, but Marinette has a-” she paused and Luka was worried to find out what the next words out of Rose’s mouth would be, “-protective boyfriend so you’d best stop,” her voice had dropped to a dangerous whisper.

Luka looked anxiously over to Nino whose lips had flattened out from what had seemed like a permanent grin, as he put an arm around Marinette. He gave a short nod in Luka’s direction to confirm Rose’s statement. 

“He’s not here Nette,” Nino murmured as he patted her shoulder. “He can’t give you crap over Luka’s fake flirt.”

“But he’ll know, Nin,” the shaken girl whispered. “He always knows.”

Nino just shook his head and sighed as he tried to get Marinette to breathe slowly and tell him everything she was going to do to the plain wooden box she’d picked up at the craft store.

Great, I’ve already insulted Marinette and made Nino distrust me. A wonderful way to go about making new friends, Luka, he mentally chided himself. You went overboard on the flirting. Just because they play along with Adrien and Kagami doesn’t mean they’d let me play the same way. How many times have I said that to the kids?

Luka’s head dropped to his chest in defeat. “Rose is right and, again, I am-- so sorry. I can see that I’ve caused you a lot of distress and that was never my intention. Please believe me when I say, it will never happen again.” He hadn’t even looked over at Rose as his whole focus was on Marinette. “I understand if you don’t want to help me with this after... that, but I do want you to know that I would never want you to feel unsafe around me.”

Marinette was still taking deep breaths and holding them before letting them out slowly. A nervous giggle escaped her.

She grinned timidly at Luka. “It’s not your fault,” her voice had a faint tremor. “You don’t know Felix or that we’re dating,” she said as her voice started to lose it’s warble. She looked at Nino for help.

“Felix... is mostly all bark and no bite,” Nino tells him sincerely. “The only problem is that no one has fitted him with a shock collar to keep him from barking all day and all night.”

“Nino, he’s not that bad,” Marinette protested.

Nino just gave her a flat look. “Do you not live in the same house I do?” he asked incredulously. “I’ve known him to call at 3 am to ask where you are and who you’re with,” his eyes dared her to dispute the fact. “And then there’s the morning and evening check-ins.”

“It’s nice to get texts first thing in the morning,” Marinette argued.

“No doubt about that, but he blows your phone up until you respond, and while I know you can sleep through a tsunami I cannot tell you how much I hate your phone’s notification sound.”

Rose laughed at that. “Oh man I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to tell these two off for leaving their phones on the charger and then not answering them when they’re getting notifications.”

Both Luka and Juleka looked sheepish.

Marinette looked back and forth between Luka, Juleka, and Rose and grinned.

“I see Rose is the one who rules the roost,” she teased. 

Luka nodded and Juleka mirrored the action.

“Do not get Rose mad,” Luka whispered to the whole table. “You wouldn’t like it when Rose’s mad.”

Everyone including Kagami and Nino laughed and the tension round the table seemed to ease. Luka couldn’t help but notice the look that passed between Marinette and Nino.

“Sounds familiar,” Nino said as he grinned at Marinette and waggled his eyebrows.

“Shut it,” Marinette said, her confidence returning to her a little, as she stuck her tongue out at him.

“Make me,” he taunted back.

“Careful, Lahiffe, I know where you sleep and also where you keep your gear.”

At Nino’s gasp and look of mock horror, Luka asked, “Your gear?”

“Yeah, I’m an EMT and also in the nursing program. I have a lot of emergency supplies,” he looked back at Marinette, “Which you promised to never touch again unless I ask you to.”

“You have a tape emergency one time-” she grumbled. “Besides you just asked me to shut you up. Sounds like asking to get in your kit to me.” She singsonged at him. “I could probably tape you to the bed without you knowing, you sleep so deeply once you get off shift.”

“How many times must I say it?” Nino said as he rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Don’t use expensive, high-quality medical tape for something that duct tape can do better.”

Marinette smiled as she bumped into his side. “I know where we keep the duct tape, too.”

The entire table had a laugh at their antics before getting back to their characters.

They really are a cute couple, Luka thought as he watched them. Nino seems like he’d be a better match than this Felix. At least, I don’t think Nino would be setting off a panic attack if some goon flirted badly with her. Luka couldn’t help the frown that crossed his face as he tried to puzzle out the two.

“And now we see who runs the place at your house,” Rose said with a giggle before instructing Juleka to grab one of the white character sheets so they could start rolling up her tiefling fighter.

After a moment of awkward silence between the two, Marinette began with, “So?” 

“So?” Luka repeated, not understanding what she was asking. 

“Are you ready to make your fighter?” She shifted to be a chair closer again. 

This time, Luka thought of the space between them as a vast wall to keep her safe from his own apparent foolishness.

“Oh, um, Kagami said I could just pick one from each pile to make my character,” he said mostly to the table in front of him. He looked up and saw the scowl that Marinette shot the mentioned girl. “Isn’t that okay?”

Marinette’s lips pressed into a thin line. “It’s true that that is one way to create a character, but it makes you less invested in your player and by association into the game.” She huffed in Kagami’s direction, “Just because she’s gone through so many characters that she no longer cares-”

A muffled protest “Hey, you try to care about your fiftieth character your boyfriend has killed off this campaign alone,” came from across the table. “I can’t find anything he won’t take out. And I don’t mean on a date!”

“- that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t at least look and see what’s out there. This way, even if you don’t choose that race or class you’ll still have some idea of what’ll probably show up in our game,” Marinette supplied. “Though personally, when I have time, I do like to get deeply into creating my characters, especially their backstories.”

Nino snorted. “Please tell them about the time you created a complete novella of your dwarven mage only to have him k.o.’ed by the first henchman your party crossed,” he laughed again, “and you hadn’t even got to tell them your name yet!”

“They buried her with a headstone reading ’To the unknown dwarf. Gone and now forgotten.’,” Kagami added with a grin.

Marinette shook her head. “All that dwarven lore and history gone before it could be shared.” She looked at Luka, “I spent three nights typing up Thomyll Tharrgrisson’s clan affiliation, genealogy, home life, general education, apprenticeship, and mage studies.”  She smiled and sighed as she seemed to drift off into another world. “If I’d had another night, I would have gone into his courtship, marriage, and widowhood as well as his daughter’s apprenticeship as a baker and his sons’ work in the war forges of their people. Thomyll and his family always felt most at home around a fire.”

Kagami snickered and the sound brought Marinette back to the table. “That’s what makes his death so epically ironic,” the laughing girl told Luka. “It was a freaking first level fireball that took him out.”

Nino joined in her laughter, but Marinette just rolled her eyes and turned her back to them.

“I was down to a single hit point,” she grumbled. “We’ll just ignore them,” she instructed Luka. “Nino is barely starting and Kagami hasn’t yet learned the importance of,” she changed her voice to be pitched lower and more nasally as she said, “Backstory! Backstory! Backstory!”

“Too bad you’re stuck with me and not Perry the platypus then,” Luka said with a small grin as he’d recognized the voice she’d been trying to imitate. Her thumbs up made him hope that maybe he hadn’t ruined everything.

“And when do you ever have time to write something that epic?” Juleka teased.

“Probably not much this semester,” Marinette answered her with a wry grin. “There’s already a student showcase to be prepping for this year. Fortunately they’ve all been told they can only use the black blocks we have as their sets and most of the student directors are doing one act plays that are set in modern times so their casts are using their own clothes.”

“Marinette’s a drama major and is into major drama,” Nino confided to Luka with a grin.

“Ugh, Nin that line is getting so old,” she said with a small eye roll. Nino didn’t look put out in the least. She thought for a moment. “I think they’re not going to be allowed to request any backdrops for the showcase either, so I just have to get all their props. Which is good since we only have one stagecraft class and they’ll be responsible for the main play this semester.”

“Oh is it that Voltaire play you were so excited about doing costumes for?” Rose asked.

Marinette nodded, “That’s the one.”

Rose’s eyes widened considerably. “Are you going to have to make dresses and suits for the whole cast?”

Marinette burst out laughing. “No, I won’t be making everything from scratch. Thankfully our costume storage has a lot of pieces that can be altered to fit our needs as well as our actors. It’ll still keep me plenty busy.” 

“Well we know you’re really good at altering a situation for the best,” Nino said out the corner of his mouth, not really looking up from something Kagami wanted him to re-do.

Marinette reddened around the ears, but looked at Juleka. “Are you going to try out for this one?”

Juleka shook her head. “Madame Haprèle made me the lead make up designer.” She smiled a huge smile. “I get to design or approve designs of all the cast’s make-up and then I’m responsible for making sure everyone in the costume/make-up class knows how to read their sheet and apply the design to their actors.” 

Marinette’s smile broke across her face and Luka could clearly read just how happy she was for his sister.

“That’s excellent, Jules!” She seemed to dance in her seat. “That’ll look really good on your résumé and it’ll be some sweet, sweet make-up.”

Juleka hid her face in Rose’s shoulder. It was a familiar action Luka knew she did when she was a little overwhelmed by any intense emotion.

“Thank’s Nette,” she said muffled by Rose's sweater.

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” Marinette said quietly as she tried to dial down her excitement. “But you should know I only spoke the truth.”

“She’s right and she should say it,” Luka said as he nudged Juleka’s shoulder with his.

“Don’t you meme me boy,” Juleka said as she pushed back at him. “You may be older, but I’m trending.”

Luka laughed a little too loud at this. “You’ve got me there,” he conceded. He looked back over to Marinette. “Anything else that you’re doing this semester that’ll stand in the way of developing your character’s backstory?”

She thought for a moment. “I know that they were thinking about adding a comedy at the end of the semester to try and help the rest of the student body keep their spirit’s up before the winter break, but I haven’t heard back about it.”

“Didn’t you tell me the dance program was doing something from the Nutcracker?” Kagami asked. “You wanted to borrow my saber for it.”

Marinette facepalmed. “How could I forget that I’ll be trying to get about twenty bon-bon costumes made or borrowed?”

“What? Why?” Luka asked.

“She’s the headmistress of the costume department,” Nino told him. “Only the dean has higher authority about what goes on stage. So when the dance department tries to do some kind of cross study with local dance studios to keep the littles doing ballet--” he pulled a face at Marinette and she shakes her head at him, “--to keep them dancing until they’re in college, it’s Marinette’s responsibility to make sure everyone from Sugarland is dressed as cupcakes or whatever.”

“I keep telling you there aren’t any cupcakes in the Land of Sweets,” Marinette grumbles at him.

“Then how can it truly be magical?” Nino demanded. “You know your parents would never approve of a magical land of every good dessert if it didn’t include cupcakes and pain au chocolat.” 

“Why not?” Luka asked.

“You know T&S?” Marinette asked in reply. At his nod, she went on, “Well Tom and Sabine are my parents.”

“Oh, well, yeah,” Luka said as he smiled at Nino, “You’re right about that. No magical world would be complete without T&S pain au chocolat.”

“I knew you were a man of good taste,” Nino said. Behind Marinette’s back, Luka saw Nino point at him and then her and flutter his eyelashes.

Luka’s face began heating up. Okay Nino was turning out to have a good sense of humor, even if it was at Luka’s expense.

“Any way,” Marinette said thoughtfully, “I think that’s everything big going on stage this semester.” She thought some more then mumbled more to herself than to anyone in particular, “Of course we still have to do preproduction for the spring musical…”

Luka was just staring at her while Juleka and Rose were nodding along. “You have all that on top of classes?” he asked with a low whistle. “And I thought doing a double major and part-time work kept me too busy.”

“Oh Nettie never stops moving,” Nino said. “In her spare time,” he said the phrase dripping with sarcasm, “she’ll work on crafting things like some of the dice boxes over there,” he pointed at the table from the Crazy Squirrel.

“Nin, I don’t make the boxes! I just, like, add to them,” Marinette protested.

“And Michelangelo just added to the Sistine chapel’s ceiling,” Nino retorted. “As well as fighting the Foot Clan’s ninjas at night.”

Luka laughed, but Marinette glared at her housemate.

“Wow,” Luka said  as he squinted over at the table with the boxes as Marinette seemed to shrink in on herself. “That’s seriously impressive.”

“It’s not that big-” she began only to be interrupted by Nino again.

“It is,” Nino said looking directly into her eyes.

“Nino, stop,” Marinette whined. “Go back to plotting with your co-conspirator. Help me out here, Gami.”

“Sure,” she said. Kagami looked Luka directly in the eyes and said with the most deadpan expression he’d ever seen, “Marinette is an angel come down from heaven. She does what no mere mortal can and her sweetness and kindness knows no bounds. She has been cursed to suffer us unworthy mortals as she is forced to live amongst the most idiotic and stubborn of humans.”

“Hey, no need to tear me down as you build Marinette up,” Nino offered in mock protest.

Kagami flashed him a smirk, “I didn’t mention you by name but if you feel the description fits...”

Nino and Kagami chuckled and the others grinned at their shenanigans.

“Hey Luka I just had a thought,” Marinette said as she looked determinedly away from Nino and Kagami. “Rose and Juleka need time to roll up their characters and you’ll probably want a set of dice even if you do eventually just use an app. Why don’t we go over to the vendor table and let these people work? You can even see my embellishments, up close.” 

“You’re just going to avoid us now?” Nino asked with a grin.

“Yes,” Marinette said as she got up. 

Luka was quick to follow her lead. They didn’t say anything until Luka was looking at the display of the different sets of dice and dice trays.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked her quietly. “You seem a little-- distressed.”

Marinette bit one corner of her bottom lip, but shook her head. 

“It’s an old argument,” she said. “Nino thinks I should speak up more about my job titles and accomplishments, but that seems so much like bragging and I hate people that do that. Like, my accomplishments should speak for themselves, you know?”

Luka hummed for a moment before replying, “I see where you’re coming from, but the problem is that you can’t let your accomplishments speak for themselves if you don’t let people know you’ve accomplished them.”

“And am I supposed to go around telling people that I’ve eaten all of my sandwich as well as my chips today?” she asked without any heat.

“Do you have problems actually eating your lunch?” he asked with a grin.

She looked away, but quickly looked back. “Maaaaaaayyyyyybe,” she slowly admitted.

He laughed at her sheepish expression, “Well then maybe you do need to tell people, but only if they ask. Or if you’ve done something hard that you are proud of and a good friend would be happy for you, uh, for.” He smiled at her. “If Nino hadn’t jumped in, would you have told me about being in charge of so much?”

“I might’ve,” she replied truthfully. “If you’d asked about it. But why go over all of that if it isn’t your jam? If you’re not into theater then giving you my titles will only be confusing and lead to misunderstandings,” she did an involuntary shudder at some memory. “But if you are into theater than me saying that I work in props and costumes lets you either ask more or tells you that we have some common interests we can discuss later. Right?”

He nodded as he picked up a set of teal dice that were transparent like glass and started looking at the trays. Most were plain boxes, some also had velvet lining.

“These aren’t the fanciest boxes to choose from,” Marinette said as she looked over the selection with him. She looked at the dice he’d chosen. “With the white numbering you’re probably going to want a mid to dark color inside to help make reading them easier, but something like black might make it harder to find your dice in the tray.”

“Well they only seem to have the plain wood or the black velvet,” Luka murmured.

“I bet Marinette could help fix up a tray for you that would be perfect,” the woman behind the table said. “She’s done almost all of these, but I know she has an Etsy where she sells the real fancy ones that most of our clients just can’t afford.”

“Thanks Ms. Watson,” Marinette said with a grin. “You know I offer you a first chance at the more ornate ones.”

“Don’t you be tempting me with any more of your magic boxes,” the woman said with a smile. “I’ve already bought more than my husband realizes. I’m just fortunate that he keeps putting off making the display for them or he’d realize how much the pile’s grown,” she mock whispered.

The man helping Max with his purchases couldn’t help but turning his head and saying, “Oh I know that it’s grown, but it’s so big she doesn’t realize how many I’ve snuck onto the pile.”

“And this is why it’s dangerous for two pack rats to own a game shop,” she said to Luka. “You know Marinette, if he buys one of the plain boxes you can probably fix it up for him in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”

Marinette paused for a moment then grinned at Luka.

“I think I have some gray velvet at home that would be perfect for your needs,” she closed her eyes and seemed to be scanning something with her forefinger. She brightened up before saying, “I even know where it is. If you buy one of the plain boxes, I can fix it up before our next meeting.”

“But you just said how busy you were going to be?” Luka objected.

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Those things all have their timelines and we’re at the beginning of the semester.” He didn’t look as if he believed her so she continued on, “You know what classes are like the first week. They'll only be going over the syllabus and discussing which books you must have, which books are extra reading suggestions, and which ones are only required because they were written by a member of the faculty but you can totally not go to this specific web address to get the text in question. Hint. hint. So it’s not like they’re even assigning homework this week. Or not on the first day.” 

She grinned at him and he nodded, having had several of those classes previously. “If you suggested this project two weeks before winter break, I’d probably have a break with reality as I tried to be several places at once including my house working on it but-” she shrugged her shoulders “- like she said, I have an Etsy where I do stuff like this all the time. It brings in a little extra income and gives my hands something to do while I listen to lecture notes or my e-reader.”

“How much would you ask for a project like this?” Luka wanted to know.

“Well, you’re already going to be providing the box so it’s just parts and labor you’re paying for,” she said. “If you just want the velvet, which I already have, it’ll take me about ten minutes to cut and use spray adhesive on it-- then I’d say about five bucks. If you want me to give it a bit of a stain for some color then add another five?”

“You’d be getting a good deal,” the vendor said. “Our prices are pretty low this week because we remember what it’s like to be in school and want all the cool stuff, but don’t want to have to survive on ramen. However, we can’t sell them this cheap forever. And even though the box will only cost you ten dollars, once Marinette’s done with it, it’ll look like a million bucks!”

Luka picked up a basic pine box that had a small compartment for carrying his dice and the rest was an open tray. “So for twenty bucks, I can have this turned into that?” He pointed at a similar box that had a royal purple stain and black velvet lining.

Marinette smiled before saying, “Sure if you want purple, I could do that or something else if you’d prefer.”

“And it won’t be a problem for you?” he asked with real concern. “It won’t be stressing you out?”

She shook her head. “I promise, it won’t stress me out.”

“Okay, it’s a deal,” he said to both the women. Luka used his card to pay before asking Marinette, “So do you take Paypal, Venmo,” he paused before asking, “maybe cash?”

They started walking back to their table.

Marinette shook her head. “I try not to deal with cash if I can help it, but I do have Paypal set up with my Etsy or you could Venmo me.”

“Well, what’s going to make you more comfortable?” Luka asked as he sat back down next to Juleka.

“Oh,” Marinette brightened as she pulled out her purse. “I have a business card. Do you want to grab a pic of that? It has all the needed information on it”

Luka smiled as he pulled out his phone. “That would be perfect.”

He snapped a picture of the card before grabbing shots of the people at their table and then the rest of the room. After he played with the screen, Juleka and Rose’s phones both pinged. A few seconds later Marinette felt her phone buzz, too.

“Did you just send us pics of ourselves?” Juleka asked.

“Yup,” he grinned, “Sent them to the family chat. You know how the Captain is- Pics or it didn’t happen.”

Rose smiled back at him while Juleka rolled her eyes.

“Did you get the payment?” he asked Marinette. “Let me know if it didn’t go through and I’ll cancel that one to make sure you get paid.”

“What are you paying her for?” Juleka demanded.

“For your information I have just commissioned, uh, an angel from heaven I believe were the words, right, Kagami-” he lifted a brow in her direction and she nodded, “-to take this drab little box,” he held up the plastic bag containing his purchase, “and change it into the ultimate dice throwing experience.” He shrugged, “Well as ultimate as $20 can buy, anyway.”

The table laughed as he passed the bag over to Marinette after first wiping it down. She put it next to her purse and then grabbed a blank character sheet and the rejected pink and green sheets from Rose. 

Marinette rifled through the class sheets while asking, “Do you really not want to be a fighter? I think there are a couple of other things in here like, um,” she pulled out one paper, “No, that’s Barbarian which is the opposite of not a fighter. Here’s wizard,” she lifted a few other pages, “-or there’s a bard.” She pulled out another paper, “or sorcerer.” She seemed to deflate. “That’s it for the less stabby, stabby occupations, unless you want to be a cleric or paladin which are more like holy fighters.”

Rose snickered. 

“You should totally be a bard,” she said. She wiggled her eyebrows at Kagami who also broke out into snickers.

“Yes,” she agreed with Rose. “A bard would be perfect for you.”

Nino’s eyebrows contracted as he looked at Luka. “I don’t know if he’s got it in him to be a bard. His first attempt at barding was pretty lame and I don’t think he should be barding all over Marinette.”

Luka looked at his sniggering tablemates and then at Marinette who had some pink in her cheeks as she facepalmed.

“Okay, what’s up with the bard?” he asked everyone in general.

Marinette whispered, “Stop it Nino,” threateningly in his direction before answering Luka.

“Bards have a bit of a reputation for being highly charismatic, or thinking they are highly charismatic, and then trying to sleep with everything that moves and even some of the furniture.”

The table erupted into laughter.

“Oh,” was all he said even as he processed the earlier tittering. “I thought Rose was suggesting bard because I can play several instruments.”

“That never even entered my mind,” Rose said unhelpfully.

“You do?” Marinette asked. “What do you play?”

“Well, pretty much anything with strings but mostly guitar. Then I play percussion, some piano, clarinet, and sax and occasionally I play the bagpipes, badly.”

“I keep telling you,” Juleka piped up, “no one actually plays the bagpipes well. Otherwise they wouldn’t sound like that.”

The whole table broke into laughter.

“Are you in a band, dude?” Nino asked.

“Not right now, but I still sit in with a couple of guys I played with in high school. I don’t have much time with my job and trying to fit a double major into a single major time frame.”

“Oooh. What are you majoring in?” Kagami asked as she leaned over to hear his answer.

“Well music, obviously, but my other one is psych. I’m hoping to be able to do music therapy with children. Especially in lower income schools as they have kids that have high stress situations but low avenues for expression.”

Nino whistled. “That’s so cool man. What types of music do you even play?”

“Oh, I like folk, rock, pop, and metal, but I’ve also tried to branch out into punk and rap. I want to be familiar with the forms that the kids are used to and then help them express themselves through that music. It’s going to be tough though.”

“Why’s that?” Marinette asked.

“Because the school I was doing training in last semester has lots of kids whose families are from Mexico, Laos, and Pakistan and I just don’t know enough about traditional music for any of those groups. Not that they only listen to traditional at home, but those can be familiar to riff off. I mean I’ve heard of Mariachi music before, but it’s not the only traditional Mexican music.”

“Dude, you can’t be expected to know everyone’s music. You should probably let the kids show you what they like,” Nino said even as he motioned for Luka to continue.

I know that it’s not the only music they’d be exposed to or familiar with, but I only know about four phrases in Spanish-’ Mas, por favor, tortilla, and sí’. I don’t know any Hmong or Laotian words, and I’d like to think my little Pakistani friend wouldn’t try to teach me bad words, but I’m afraid to use what I learned from him in front of his mother. I’ve seen My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding!”

The group laughed again

“You certainly have your work cut out for you,” Marinette said.

Luka nodded then looked away. Seeing Kagami, he said, “Kagami you’re the only one here I haven’t really heard about majors or working. So, what do you want to be when you grow up?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Kagami said with a grimace. “I’m a math major because I love it and a science minor because chemistry is just amazing, but I’m not sure what I plan on doing with either of those things.”

“It’s okay not to know what you plan to do yet,” Luka said gently.

“Doesn’t Adrien want to be a professor of History?” Rose asked, with a sly smile.

“Yes, what about it?” Kagami asked, raising an eyebrow at the grinning girl.

“Think about it, Gami,” Rose said with a sigh. “You and Adrien could be that cute professor couple that all the students ship! You could teach chemistry, because you seriously were the only one that got me through that class last semester, and Adrien could teach ancient Mediterranean history. And you could sneak into each other’s offices for lunch dates. I bet you could even keep the students guessing if you’re in a relationship or not for years. It would be perfect!”

Kagami smiled at her friend. “I don’t know if it works that way, but it might be something to look into,” she said to the girl who looked like she was actually making heart eyes at the prospect.

“Okay Luka,” Marinette said. “Grab a white paper and we can start creating your bard.”

The genuine smile on her face was something Luka couldn’t help remembering even after they left the club for the evening. He carried home his new dice and the hope that he’d actually found some new friends.

Two nights later, Luka was pulling up to an unfamiliar house with a very familiar person standing out front. He secured his mask and the pizza carrier before walking up the steps to the landing. Nino’s expression was a mixture of embarrassed and pissed, and when Luka heard the discussion coming through an open window he understood why.

Nino spoke up quietly while Luka was climbing the stairs, pausing at the top step.

“Um, sorry about this, but I kind of walked out without my mask or my wallet,” he apologized. “It’s just that whenever she’s talking to Felix, I end up wanting to punch a hole in the wall and we can’t afford to lose our deposit.” He smiled, but the joke attempt fell flat. “Can you just hang here for a bit? They’ve almost got to the end and then I can go get your money.”

“How do you know they’re almost done?” Luka asked.

Nino glanced over his shoulder and grimaced. “I’ve heard it enough times.”

In the awkward silence that hung between the two of them, Luka heard Marinette’s voice.

“I can’t afford to break my lease and leave Nino in the lurch for the rest of the semester as well as contributing to your rent.” There was a silence before she continued, “Because he’s my very good friend and you don’t do that to friends and then get to keep them afterward.” Her voice rose in volume, “No, I can’t just move in with you and have your parents pay for me, Felix. I’m not going to sponge off of your parents or have them telling me I owe them for this for the rest of our lives.” Her voice suddenly sounded tired. “There’s nothing wrong with where I work. I like it. No, it doesn’t pay as much as where we were, but it’s not as stressful.” And now she sounded just done. “I’m not having this argument again Felix.” 

Nino just sighed heavily, “She says that every time, yet here we are.”

Luka tried not to make eye contact with Nino or eavesdrop, but, well, there wasn’t much else he could do unless he wanted to pay for the pizza himself and then leave.

“I can’t come right now, I just ordered food and it’s on the way.” Her voice had lost all it’s color and vibrancy. “Nino’s not in. I can’t ask him to get it.”

Luka couldn’t help glancing at Nino when she said it. He had the decency to look away. Her next statements sent up red flags for Luka.

“No, I’m not meeting someone.” Her tone got higher, a little more insistent. “No, I’m not cheating on you with the delivery driver! Nino’s on his way home. He’s probably going to be pulling up just as the food gets here.” 

This time Nino watched him as he looked away. He knew there was nothing going on between himself and Marinette, but still he felt the blush as the accusation fell from her lips. 

Her voice got low, she was pleading with him now. “Felix, I’m going to eat my dinner and finish my homework so that tomorrow I won’t have anything hanging over my head when we go on our date.” 

Another pause before, “You’ll have me all to yourself, just the way you like.”

“Please, Felix, I can’t.” Each sentence was more full of begging for understanding. “Not tonight.” She got quieter. “Don’t be mad.” She started to sound like she was talking in a fake, cutsie  voice- more childlike and with less adult authority. “Okay, you’re not mad.” 

“Don’t be upset, Fe,” her tone was wheedling for his favor.

“Yes, of course, I want to see you!” 

 “Yes, I’m being good for you.” 

They do this all the time? he thought. Luka was finding it hard to keep his chill and looking at Nino’s drawn brows and thin mouth the other man wasn’t liking what he was hearing either.

“You’re the only one for me,” her tone cowed and sweet. 

“Bye now sweet-” apparently Felix already hung up as they could now hear Marinette taking in great gulps of air.

Nino took that as his cue to hurry into the house calling, “Pizza’s here!” In a few moments Nino returned with his mask on and wallet in hand.

The sound of ragged breaths was the only thing they heard as Nino rummaged in his wallet for his card to tap on the card reader Luka held out for him. Luka couldn’t help the incredulous look he gave Nino as he slid the box out of the carrier onto Nino’s waiting hands.

“Yeah, I know,” Nino said to the silent accusation. “I’ve tried to talk to her about it, but she insists that she loves him.”

Luka nodded as he closed the carrier.

“It sure doesn’t sound like love on this end of the line.”

Nino’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah, I know.”

Luka nodded to him and hurried to his car.  As he started up the engine, he pulled out his phone and made sure his ear piece was on. He was pulling away from the curb when his call was answered.

“Jules, I’m screwed,” were his first words to his sister. “It’s Marinette. She’s a princess in distress and I want to save her from her a-hole boyfriend because, as we well know, I have a savior complex.” 

He listened to her talk him through a grounding exercise before they continued their conversation. 

“I know. I’m not responsible for saving anyone. We all have to save ourselves,” he sighed. “All I could ever hope to be is support. She has to want to get out of the situation and from the sound of it, she’s in it for the long haul.” 

Juleka’s anxious voice mumbled the name Brinley. Luka laughed mirthlessly. “I’ve learned my lesson--no white knighting for me.” 

He thought back to the overheard conversation. “But if I ever meet the guy in person, I’m going to deck him. I swear I’ll... I’ll give him concrete shoes and drop him over the side of mom’s boat at midnight. What do you mean what for?” he asked in surprise at Juleka’s question. “For making her feel bad for wanting to keep her friends, her independence, and her mental balance.” 

Luka laughed at Juleka’s squawk and her subsequent expletive filled threat for Felix. 

“No way, Jules! Rose’ll only have enough to bail one of us out and we both know she’ll choose you.”

Juleka’s bright laughter rang through the ear piece. 

“Thanks, Jules,” he said quietly. “Yeah, I’ll bring home a Julerose special.” He smiled, grateful for the friendship of his sister. “I should be done in about an hour, yeah. Love ya!”

As he drove back to the pizza parlor, he couldn’t help but recall the quiet sobs at the end of Marinette’s call. His heart went out to her. He’d been there before, and it well and truly sucked. He determined that he’d try to be the best support he could for his new friend.

[akira-emberheart]

songs I'd like to assign to the glee kids (part I)

Note: I'm pretty well known for making playlists and more playlists, and ever since seeing this post by @cracktastic about assigning, for the 100th episode, the least expected song to the least expected character, I've found myself craving to hear specific characters sing specific songs.

(I've also started another separate list to add on to that post I mentioned, but that will be a post for another day)

So after going through my music library, I came up with a small list of songs for each character that I would love to hear them sing, for various reasons, which i'll do my best to explain.

This got really long really fast, because I like to get into meta and over analyze - I'm also just very passionate about music. For that reason, I'll do 5 songs at a time for a specific character, and I'll be putting a read more.

Also, please be gentle with me - I've watched Glee a year ago, and it's entirely possible I may be missing or confusing scenes and storylines in my head. If I do, let me know!

If you read this and find yourself thinking of songs and scenarios as well, do share them with me! I'm working on actual Spotify Playlists as well.

So let's get into it -

for Kurt Hummel

> Re: Stacks by Bon Iver

"This is not the sound of a new man

or crispy realization

It's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away

Your love will be

Safe with me"

This is probably one of my favorite songs ever, and I first thought about it for Kurt after realising how beautiful his voice would sound in it, because of its crystal clear and poised quality. (I liked it so much I included it in a scene on my fanfic too).

If you don't know Bon Iver, or the history of this song, it's the last track in an album full of more..."depressing" songs. It's also the one that has a throughout tone of hope, of recovery after a hard ordeal, of taking some first steps to a better place.

I imagine it would be a good song for him around the time he meets Blaine - when the Karovsky situation is nearly over, and he starts looking back on his school year - Burt's heart attack, the bullying - and, now with Blaine in his life, and a renewed self confidence, he's finally able to confidently step into a better phase of his life and heal from all he went through.

I see this one being sung in a quiet moment of reflection, when he's alone. Maybe in the choir room, or even outdoors in a nice garden. In my fanfic I wrote it in a different context, in Blaine's room at night, so I guess that works in my head too.

***

> Enchanted by Taylor Swift

"I'm wonderstruck

Blushing all the way home

I'll spend forever wondering if you knew

I was enchanted to meet you"

I'm very fascinated with Kurt's whole storyline in S2 - things start off so rough for him, but when Blaine comes along, and when Kurt is able to grow and shift more and assuming the person he really is, things start looking up. I chose this song for what it promises, and also because I can imagine it in Kurts lower singing register and it seems like a good one for him. Also, yes, I was a kid who owned Speak Now. Sue me.

This song is about first meeting someone very special, and that happens to be the beginning of Klaine. With the almost whispered lyrics, the slowly crescent ambiance and rhythm, it really encapsulates the feeling of everything stopping when you lay eyes in that one special person, and the flooding rush of emotions that happens right after.

Kurt had no idea how much an unsuspecting visit to a rival show coir school would change his life, even less in the midst of the situation he was in. It also seems fitting for Kurt and his early relationship with Blaine because of some specific lyrics ("This is me praying now / This was the very first page / Not where the storyline ends"). Enchanted tells the story of a special first meeting, and hints at something special to come, from the perspective of someone who is awestruck for someone.

Like the one above, this one would fit in early S2, possibly in EP6, after Kurt and Blaine's meeting at Dalton Academy. When he's back home, alone in his room, daydreaming, or when he's back at McKinley in that same afternoon.

***

> Gonna Get Over You by Sara Bareilles

"Oooh, how am I gonna get over you? I'll be alright, just not tonight But someday. Hey, I wish you'd want me to stay I'll be alright, just not tonight"

My main reason for choosing this one is because I think it fits very very well with Kurt's voice, and musical taste - its a very vibrant and poppy song, despite the more depressing theme - a post breakup promise of getting over it.

I first thought of it for S4, soon after the Breakup™, but paying close attention to the lyrics (I do tend to get stuck on just the melody sometimes), it makes more sense to place this on during the S6 Breakup - when Kurt finds out about Blaine dating Karovsky, after deciding he wants Blaine back.

So it's a hard situation for him, as we see from his breakdown in the bathroom (poor Kurt!), and he really has to come to terms with the mistakes he made (and the mistakes they both made as a couple), pick himself up, and move on.

I imagine this one being sung during an outing with Rachel, when she's trying to cheer him up and lift him up a little from his depression. My brain readily produces an image of a sunny street or a shopping mall that the two of them walk through, Kurt with some nice vivid colored clothes, finally being able to smile and ready to perhaps start moving on, or at least ready to start considering he will be okay.

***

> Killer Queen by Queen

"She keeps her Moet et Chandon

In her pretty cabinet

"Let them eat cake", she says

Just like Marie Antoinette"

This song just reminds me of Kurt. It's one of my all time favorites from Queen, and ever since watching Glee, these two are just connected in my mind. Voice wise, Kurt could definitely handle it.

It's apparently about a "high class prostitute"(? Freddie's word's, not mine), but still paints a pretty and dainty picture, and you can almost picture a porcelain faced lady in her best clothes, delicately smoking a cigarette. It also contains words that probably only Kurt can pronounce out of everyone in the glee club.

Many Queen songs were sung on Glee, but I don't think there was ever a Queen episode. For this one, I suggest a headcanon scenario, maybe during S3, when Mr. Shuester decides to have a Queen week - and Kurt isn't known for going with the obvious choices. He wants to be classy, edgy and impressive, and he sings in front of everyone, half in the choir room, half in the auditorium, perhaps with some fancy decoration and dancers behind him.

***

> The Answer by Kodaline

"You might think you found the one

Until your heart gets ripped and torn

Yeah, I used to feel bad, I used to feel like that

I still feel a bit like that"

This is another one that I picked immediately solely based on Kurt's voice - I really do like his voice with just a quiet, discrete instrumental. Looking into it further, I decided it could really work for Kurt's character.

I didn't go very deep into the intended meaning of the song, because it definitely has space for different interpretations. I choose to go with the breakup one. These lyrics here reminded me a little of the S4 breakup storyline - "We all fall down from the highest clouds / to the lowest ground" - makes me think how well Kurt's life was going once he arrived in New York, with the internship, his apartment situation with Rachel, a new and exciting place where he could freely be himself... and then he's completely blindsided by Blaine's cheating. He goes from being ecstatic and excited at Blaine's appearance, looking forward to share with him all the great things he just discovered, when Blaine's confession sends him to a well of despair, doubt and loneliness. The lyrics "You might think you found the one / until your heart gets ripped and torn" - reinforce the whole situation.

I can see him singing this not long after the breakup, on one more sleepless night, maybe walking alone through the streets of New York, or maybe in a montage of his busy daily routine, while he just gets through the day with a whole lot of emptiness weighing on his chest.

[pitubea1910]

Venice

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Words: 7k

Warnings: -

Tags: -

Request: -

Notes: I didn’t review this so I apologise for any mistake! I hope you like it and, please, leave some feedback so I know if you do :)

MASTERLIST

Venice.

Paris.

Summer.

Friends.

Peter.

That was going to be the first weeks of your holidays. A summer school trip around Europe. What else could you ask for? It was the perfect plan for what it promised to be the perfect summer.

Excited?, Peter’s text said the night before your departure.

You smiled at the screen while you brushed your teeth. Holding the toothbrush with your mouth, you texted him back:

Very! Its gonna be awesome.

You put your phone down and finished washing your teeth before going to your room where you still had some more packing to do. Your mum had been obsessed with this trip and had made like three to-do lists. She was driving you crazy. But you knew she was just worried. It was your first time out of the country and out of New York, so she was kind of losing it.

But you couldn’t be more excited. And you were a bit shy to admit that a big part of that excitement was because of the thought of spending some more time with Peter away from everything.

Peter and you weren’t dating, although it really felt that way. You used to spend most of the time out of school together, he would come over your house -or you would to his- almost every weekend for movie night and you could always fall asleep on his chest. It would be his aunt or your mum finding you cuddled up in the middle of the night with an already finished movie playing on TV. He would take every chance he got to touch you in any way possible: a lose strand of hair, something on your cheek, anything. And you loved his contact, you loved hugging him, feeling his arms around you.

You knew you liked him and you were 98% sure he liked you too, but neither of you had had the courage to take that last step that had you on the ‘friends’ stage. Maybe this trip around Europe could fix that.

Next morning, your mum dropped you off at the airport before going to work. She tried to hide it, but you could the tears on the corner of her eyes when she hugged you goodbye.

“Mum, I’m going to be okay”, you chuckled squeezing her hand. “It will be just three weeks.”

“I know, I know”, she nodded. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. “Just be careful, text me as soon as you land and never leave the group alone, alright?”

“Don’t worry, Miss Jones”, Peter’s sudden appearance startled you so much that you were about to hit him, which made him laugh when he caught your wrist just in time. “I’ll keep a close eye on her the whole”, he finished his sentence looking at your mum without letting go of your wrist.

“I trust you, Pete”, your mum said, smiling at him.

“You trust him but you don’t trust myself?” You asked fake offended. You knew how much your mum liked Peter.

“It’s been proved several times that you can’t really be trusted”, Peter teased you with a smile.

“I can’t with you two when you decided to collude against me”, you huffed and looked at your mum. “Aren’t you late for work or something?”

“Yes and now I can go. I know you’re in good hands”, she said with a teasing smile.

Peter let go of your hand so you could hug your mum once again. You took your luggage and looked at Peter with your eyes narrowed, but all he did was smile innocently as you as you made your way into the airport, where you soon saw the rest of your classmates and the teachers that would be coming with you.

“Do you have your passport?” Peter asked.

“Of course I have my passport”, you said, but you checked your bag anyway, making him laugh. “See? Here it is.”

“You didn’t even know if you had it”, he laughed.

“And do you?” You said raising both eyebrows.

“Of course”, he smirked and put his hand into his back pocket, his face suddenly turning white and his eyes widening. “Shit…”, he mumbled.

“Not funny, Peter”, you said crossing your arms.

“I’m not joking”, he said opening his bag pack.

“Peter!”

You both looked to your side to see Aunt May running into the airport holding Peter’s passport in her hand. A huge smirk spread on your lips as she handed it to him.

“You’re a mess”, May said when Peter took it, his eyes burning red. “It fell on the car floor. I told you not to put things into your back pocket.”

“Thanks, May”, he said.

“I gotta go, be careful and call me, alright?” She said giving both of you a quick hug. When she left, you looked at Peter.

“Not a word”, he said, turning to walk towards the class.

“You’re not going to hear the end of this, Parker”, you smiled widely. “Hey, MJ”, you said.

“Hi guys”, she smiled at both of you. “You’re late.”

“Peter forgot his passport”, you were quick to say.

“It was in the car!”, He defended himself.

“Peter forgot his passport in the car”, you said, smiling even more when he glared at you.

“You two are cute”, was all MJ said before turning her attention to the teachers, who were giving the instructions for the boarding of the plane.

You looked at him after MJ said that at the same time he looked at you with a small smile. His hand went to your back where he rubbed small circles like he did so many times. You took a small step closer to him, so your arm was touching his side, and sighed now paying attention to your teachers.

Your dad had warned you about how long the flight was going to be. He was perfectly aware of it since he had to travel to Europe twice a year for his job. But you never thought it would actually be so damn long. And even confusing. By the time you landed in Italy, it was 9 p.m. in New York but it was 3 in the morning in Italy.

The first thing you did was going to your room, which you shared with MJ, to leave your luggage. It was probably the shittiest hotel you had ever seen, but you knew how cheap your school was so you were just glad to have an actual roof over your heads and semi-decent beds.

“How are we supposed to sleep now?” You asked when you took a seat on your bed. “It’s 9 p.m. in New York, I don’t go to sleep for another three hours and we’re supposed to be up in five?”

“Jet lag will hit us hard”, MJ nodded. “I’m not tired either.”

You whined and opened your suitcase to take out your pyjamas. At least you had to give it a try or you would be a mess next morning. You saw MJ doing the same. With a sigh, you got up to take off your jeans when there was a knock on the door.

“Yes?” You asked after seeing that MJ was already without her jeans.

“It’s Peter”, his voice said on the other side of the door.

MJ looked at you and then kept on changing her clothes, but you could see the tiny smirk she had on her face. You pulled your jeans back up and went to the door, opening just a little so MJ wouldn’t be visible.

“What is it?” You asked.

“I can’t sleep”, he shrugged.

“Did you even try?”

“No, actually”, he admitted. “But I’m not tired at all. I thought we could sneak out and go for a walk or something?”

You bite your lip to suppress your smile and looked at MJ for a moment, he nodded eagerly, making you laugh quietly.

“I’m going to grab a jacket”, you said.

“I brought one spare”, he quickly said before you closed the door.

Another thing you loved was wearing his clothes and Peter loved seeing you in them, Plus, your smell would stay afterwards, which he loved even more.

“Okay, give me a second”, you said.

Without even closing the door, you walked back to your bed to take the phone and put it into your back pocket -a small smile appeared on your face when you remembered May scolding Peter for doing just that-.

“Cover for me, please?” You asked MJ, who had taken a book from her suitcase.

“No problem”, she said. “Have fun.”

You winked at her and hurried out of the room, closing the door silently behind you. Peter was waiting for you, leaned against the wall and looking at his phone. When he heard you, he locked the device and put it in his pocket with a smile.

“Where to?” You asked when he handed you his hoodie.

“Given my deep knowledge of Venice”, he said as you two started walking down the stairs, “I suggest we go left.”

“Then we better go right”, you said. “I can’t take any advice from someone who forgets his passport before a trip”, you added.

“I didn’t forget it!” He exclaimed when you walked out of the hostel.

“Shut up”, you laughed covering his mouth with your hand, laughing quietly. “This place has the thinnest walls I’ve ever seen”, you added when he looked at you confused.

Smiling under your hand, he took it and gave it a small kiss that made you blush before pulling it away from his mouth. Yet, he didn’t let go of it. Instead, he entwinned his fingers with yours and started walking to the right of the hostel, leaving the canal to your other side.

“Where are we exactly?” You asked.

“Calle de le Ballote, according to Google Maps”, he said. “If we follow this canal all the way down, we will get to the Grand Canal.”

“I didn’t know we were that close”, you said, getting a bit closer to him when you shivered. “It’s a bit chilly.”

“I know”, he said and let go of your hand to wrap his arm around you, trying to keep you warm.

The street was completely empty, probably because it was almost 4 in the morning of a Tuesday night, but it still was surprising. Since Venice was such a touristic city, you assumed it would be crowded the whole time. Not like you complained. It was really nice to enjoy a walk like that with Peter and tourists coming up and down would only hinder you.

“You know”, Peter said after walking in silent for a few minutes, “I was really excited about this trip.”

“Me too”, you agreed. “It’s the first time I’ve left the States.”

“Me too”, he nodded.

“Liar”, you laughed and he looked at you confused. “You went to Germany a couple of years ago, remember? Stark Internship stuff?”

“Oh, right…”, he nodded. “It was really nice of him to invite me.”

You bite your lip, immediately regretting bringing that up. You knew how much the dead of Stark had affected him. Peter had always looked up to him, even before getting that internship. Now you barely talked about him or anything related to Tony Stark, Iron Man or anything about the last five years. Both of you had been gone, which had made everything so confusing around you. At least, nothing had happened with your relationship. If something, it had only brought you closer.

“Sorry”, you sighed. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No, it’s okay”, he said giving you a little squeeze. “Don’t worry about it.”

But you did worry. You worried about him so much.

“What are you most excited to see?” He asked, changing the topic immediately.

“In Venice?” You asked and he nodded. “San Marco”, you shrugged. “But I’m not going to lie. I would’ve loved to come during the acqua alta.”

“That’s what you told me about the whole place flooded?” You nodded. “It would be a bit annoying, I think.”

“But we would have seen something unique”, you shrugged.

“I guess”, he laughed. “I want to see Il Ponte dei Sospiri. The Bridge of Sighs”, he said.

“What’s that?” You asked.

“Actually, the story is a bit sad”, he said. “The bridge connects an old Inquisition prison with the Ducal Palace, and that bridge was the last walk the prisoners made, sighing, before they died”, he explained.

“Creepy”, you chuckled a little.

“I know”, he nodded. “But the vaulted of the bridge caused the sighs to be heard and the story says that those were the prisoner’s prayers to be reunited with their beloved once they died. Today, couple go under that bridge because the legends says that if you sigh with your beloved, you will be together for eternity.”

“That’s… actually kind of romantic?” You chuckled. “How do you know that? You’ve never too much of a history nerd.”

“I did some research last night to find some place for us to go”, he shrugged.

You couldn’t help but smile and looked up at him, stopping just when you reached the Grand Canal, although you didn’t even pay attention to it.

“What?” He asked looking down at you.

“For us to go?” You repeated. He smiled and took some hair out of your face.

“One of the reasons I was so excited about this trip is because I would get to spend more time with you. And I’m not planning on doing that guided by our teachers.”

“Peter Parker…”, you said, stopping every single impulse that was telling you to kiss him. “Are you willing to break the rules to visit some old creepy romantic bridge with me?”

“Always Jones”, he said, mirroring your smile.

Your eyes went down to his smile and then back to his eyes just to realise that his eyes were doing the same. You have thought about kissing him so many times, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to do it. It was too risky and you were afraid of mis-reading the signals. Maybe he just was really affectionate with you.

However, when he rubbed his cheek and leaned down just a bit, like he was testing you, you really thought it was going to happen. Your hands went to his chest, feeling butterflies not only in your stomach but all over your body. You could feel the warmth of his mouth hovering over yours, just inches away. And suddenly it was over.

His phone started buzzing, startling both of you and making you pull away, your faces completely blushed and your hearts racing faster than ever.

“Sorry”, he mumbled taking out his phone.

“Don’t worry”, you said in the same tone and looked away.

You hadn’t even realised that you had reached the Grand Canal. How could have you been so focused on him not to realise that? Even if it was a bit more crowded than the street where you came from, it still was pretty empty. And yet, it was one of the most beautiful sights you had ever seen.

“Shall we go back?” Peter asked and you looked at him. He was still all flustered and nervous, but you couldn’t blame him, You felt the same. “It’s 4.15 and we have to be up in a few hours.”

“Yeah, sure”, you nodded. “Let’s go.”

Once again, although a bit hesitantly, he wrapped an arm around your shoulder and kept it that way all the way back to the hostel. This time, you walked in complete silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable at all, but you couldn’t stop thinking about how close his lips had been to yours and how much you had wanted that kiss.

“Who called you, by the way?” You asked when you were at the door of the hostel.

“Unknown number”, he shrugged. “I didn’t pick up.”

“Oh”, you nodded and walked inside.

Silently, he walked you to the door of your room where he stood awkwardly, with his hands in his pockets as he waited for you to get the key.

“Here, your hoodie”, you said in a whisper when you had finally opened the door. It was dark inside so MJ had probably fallen asleep.

“Keep it”, he said before you could take it off. “You can give it back tomorrow, don’t worry”, he smiled.

“Thanks”, you smiled back. You loved wearing his clothes. “Thanks for the…walk.”

“You too”, he nodded. “It was great”, he chuckled.

“I hope the next one can be even better?” You said, feeling your cheeks hotter by the second.

“I really hope so”, he nodded with a shy smile. He took a step closer to you and wrapped his arms around you. “Sleep well”, he said in your ear.

“You too”, you said back before kissing his cheek. “See you tomorrow.”

Peter nodded and waited outside until you closed the door and locked it. Only then, he breathed out slowly, closing his eyes and leaning against the wall in front of your door. He couldn’t believe he almost kissed you. He had been waiting so long to do it that he felt like he could kill Nick Fury. Of course he knew it was him who had called him, just like he had been calling for the last few days. But he wasn’t going to let him ruin his trip. He needed this.

***

Just like you knew when you fell asleep, the next morning you were a sleepy mess. You had slept around four hours or even less, so when you went downstairs already dressed to get some breakfast before you left the place to do some tourism you felt like you could fell asleep while walking.

Fortunately, it looks like everybody felt that way. Most eyes were half closed, the conversation was almost non existent and all you could hear were the cups of coffee being left on the wooden table of the dining room the hostel provided.

“How did you sleep?” Peter asked when you took a seat next to him.

“Good I guess”, you sighed pouring some coffee in your mug. “Although it feels like I haven’t slept at all”, you added.

“Same”, he nodded, giving you one of the toasts he had already covered with butter.

“Thanks”, you said.

Ten minutes later, Harrington got up, way too excited, and told you all that it was time to get going. You had a lot to see and no time to waste. You looked at Peter, who looked at you and smiled before kissing your cheek swiftly.

“Let’s go”, he said getting up.

“Can’t I just go back to bed?” You whined when you walked out of the hostel and the sun hit you in the face.

“We’re in Venice, c’mon! Let me see some excitement”, Peter said taking your hand. You fake smiled at him, which made him laugh.

“Hey, Peter! Check this out!” Ned called him.

Peter gave your hand a squeeze before hurrying over to Ned, who was looking at something at the canal. You took out your sunglasses from the small bag you were carrying and put them on.

“I didn’t hear you coming in last night”, MJ said, appearing by your side, as silently as usual.

“I tried not to wake you”, you said. “But it was late”, you added.

“I imagined. Look at your face”, she shrugged.

“Thanks”, you laughed.

You remembered when you first met MJ. She seemed like a weird girl with no many friends. And you had been right. At first, you didn’t want to get too close to her because she didn’t even look like a nice person, but when you got paired up to do a Geography you realised that you two had more in common that what it seemed. It couldn’t be said that you were close, because MJ didn’t get close to people, but you considered her a friend and you had ended up loving her harsh honesty.

A boat big enough for all of you was waiting next to the hostel and, after the teacher exchanged a few words with the driver, you all started to get in. Just like the hostel, it looked like it was going to break into pieces, but it turned out to be more stable than what it seemed.

“Where are we going?” Flash asked with his phone right into his face. You rolled your eyes at that.

“San Marcos”, Harrington said.

With a smile, you turned to look at Peter, who was with Ned at the end of the boat. He was already looking at you and sent you a little wink when your eyes crossed. It wasn’t long before the boat got to the Grand Canal and then it started to go faster, so you had to hold onto the edges so you wouldn’t fall since you were sitting on the edge.

Just like you had imagined, the famous Pizza was crowded with tourists, but you still couldn’t miss the beauty of it all. When you got off the boat and looked around, you were amazed by the white marble that surrounded everything, including the big famous church. Since it was early, you knew the place wasn’t opened to tourists yet, but it was still breath taking.

“Okay guys!” Harrington said, making you take your attention off the façade. “You have an hour to go around as much as you want and then we will go inside the church, alright? Don’t go to far and we will meet at the door in an hour.”

Immediately, everyone started to scatter. You looked around until you spotted Peter who was already walking away with Ned. So you looked for MJ who was taking a photo of the church. When you noticed you next to her, she turned around and took a photo of you, which took you by surprise.

The hour went by way faster than you would have wanted. MJ and you walked around the Piazza taking photos, feeding the pigeons and enjoying some gelato that a very nice man offered you.

“We should go to the church. It’s almost time”, MJ said checking her watch.

“Let’s go then”, you nodded.

“(Y/N)! Wait!” You spotted Peter running towards. It looked like he was coming from the church itself. “I want to show you something”, he said when you two were closed enough.

“We have to be at the church in five minutes, Pete”, you said and looked at MJ who just shrugged.

“C’mon! What if it’s the only time we get to be alone?”

“Besides last night, you mean?” MJ said. Both of you looked at her with an eyebrow raised. “I’m gonna go.”

You chuckled when she walked away towards the church and looked back at Peter, who had such a hopeful look that it was hard to say no.

“I don’t want to get in trouble”, you sighed.

“Please? Mr. Harrington won’t even notice we’re gone”, he said, giving you those damn puppy eyes that always managed to make you do anything.

“Okay, fine”, you finally said, making him smile widely. “But if we get caught, you’re taking the blame.”

“Absolutely”, he nodded before taking your hand and dragging you to where he had come from.

Since you had to walk near the church, you did it walking behind the marble columns that surrounded the whole place. It wasn’t until you had left behind the door of the church that you allowed yourself to slow down and take a breath.

“So where are we going?” You finally asked when Peter leaded you into a small street.

“You’ll see”, he said with a smile not letting go of the hand he was holding.

As it used to happen in Venice, you ended up getting to one of the many rivers that were around the city. Your first thought, was that Peter had got lost, but soon a gondola approached you. You took a step back thinking the man was just going to stop there, but then Peter started talking to the man in English.

“C’mon”, he said after a few moments.

“We… we’re going up?” You asked surprised.

Peter smiled widely and was the first to get into the gondola. Once he had set down his backpack, he turned around again and offered his hand to help you, which you took. The gondolier immediately took his place at the end of the embarkation and started rowing the moment you two were seated.

“I can’t believe this”, you said when Peter placed an arm around your shoulders. “You really arranged this?”

“Ned helped me a little”, he shrugged.

“I’ll thank Ned, then”, you teased. He laughed and pinched your side softly. “Thank you.”

The smile he sent you brought you right back to last night, to the moment you shared just next to the Grand Canal. You felt your cheeks getting warmer when you remembered the shadow of his lips over yours. The fact that you wanted his kiss so bad was even surprising.

“Look”, he said pointing at some point in front of you.

It wasn’t until then that you realised you had been staring at him, taking in every inch of his face like he was a picture you wanted to remember. Blushing even more, you looked in front of you to see a bridge that connected two buildings. It was the strangest bridge you had ever seen. It didn’t start on the ground, its beginning was on a building and the end was on the other one. Just like every other monument you had seen so far, it was also covered in old white marble.

If it wasn’t because of the story Peter had told you last night, you would have never imagined what was so special about it.

“Ponte dei Sospiri?” You asked.

“Exactly”, he nodded looking at the bridge for a moment and then at you. “I want to go under it with you.”

If you sigh with your beloved, you will be together for all eternity.

You looked at him as you remembered what he had told you the previous night. He was looking down at you with that smile he had only for you and those bright eyes in which you could get lost to every time.

“Do I have to sigh?” You said as you got closer to the bridge.

“If you want to be with your beloved…” he said quietly.

Was he asking if you wanted to be with him? Of course you wanted to. But what if he didn’t sigh? What if you were just confusing everything? You looked away from him to find that you were almost underneath the bridge. It was stupid. It was just a sigh, it didn’t have to mean anything… but what if it did?

You took a deep breath and closed your eyes, letting it go in a small sigh just when the gondola was under the bridge. At first, you thought it had been only you, but then you felt Peter sighing against your head and your heart skipped a beat.

It wasn’t until the bridge was already behind you that you opened your eyes again. Biting your lip, you looked at Peter, who was looking at you with a smile as well. He had sighed. You had heard it.

“It…”, you tried to say something but what were you supposed to say? “I liked it.”

“Yeah, me too”, he nodded, his eyes travelling down your face to your lips.

You turned your body slightly and placed a hand on his cheek. You would literally go crazy if you didn’t kiss him right there, at that moment. Peter’s free hand went to your waist, to pull you a bit closer, and was willing to kiss you once and for all when there was a strange movement of water underneath the gondola that distracted both of you.

“What was that?” You asked looking around.

“Waves?” Peter said, but you could see he was actually concerned.

“There are no waves in the canal, Peter”, you said and looked back at the gondolier, who was looking around with a frown as well.

“I think we should get down”, Peter finally said and you nodded in agreement, internally screaming for the interruption. What was wrong with the universe?

Peter asked the gondolier to stop the gondola a few feet further, just next the Ponte della Paglia, so you could get down. Just like before, he got off it first and helped you later. He stopped for a while to pay the gondolier before he took your hand and started walking towards San Marcos again.

“What’s wrong?” You asked when you felt the urgency in his footsteps.

“Nothing”, he quickly said. “I just want to get to the rest.”

Even if you didn’t believe him, you said nothing and followed him. It looked like you weren’t the one who had a bad feeling about what had just happened in the water. Maybe it had been nothing and you were just being paranoid but you hadn’t liked it. When you reached the Piazza again, you spotted your class walking out of the church.

“Just in time I guess”, you said pointing at them.

“Yeah”, he nodded and started walking towards them.

However, you didn’t make it far. You weren’t even halfway there when a loud noise startled you and screams started around you. You turned around and the sigh made you froze in place. A huge wave of water was coming out of Canal, with such strength it destroyed some of the façade around the Piazza.

“What…”, you tried to say.

“Run!” Peter exclaimed. Holding your hand tighter, he started running towards the class, although they were already running in the opposite direction. “Go and hide!” He exclaimed.

“What? Where are you going?” You asked, stopping, when he let go of your hand.

“I’ll catch up! Go!”

“Peter!”

Before you could say anything else, someone grabbed you by your arm and made you run away. It wasn’t until you forced yourself to take your eyes off Peter that you saw it had been Ned the one making you run from Peter.

“Ned we can’t leave him!” You said.

“He’s coming, just run!” He said not letting go of your hand.

With your heart beating faster than ever, you looked back once again, but you were shocked not to see Peter anywhere. It was like he had vanished and you had no other choice but keep on running and trust he was okay.

But what the hell?

***

It had been hours since it all happened.

Luckily, you all had been able to get to the hotel without any injury or any casualty. Everyone except Peter, who you hadn’t seen since he had disappeared in San Marcos. You had tried calling him over a dozen times but his phone was off the whole time. It was driving you crazy not knowing where he was, if he was okay and, specially, why had he left you alone in such a moment to do who knows what.

“I’m sure he’s okay”, MJ, who was sitting on the stairs next to you, said.

“How do you know?” You asked and she shrugged. Really helpful.

“I’m fine, May, I promise”, you looked at the door the moment you heard Peter’s voice.

The moment he walked into the hotel you got up from your spot, but stopped when you saw him completely soaked from head to toe. Except for that tiny detail, he looked completely fine.

“Yeah, okay, okay”, he said and his eyes met yours, a small smile appearing.

But it was the fact that he was perfectly fine that angered you. It wasn’t like you wanted to get hurt, not at all, but the thought of him abandoning you for no reason and then showing up like nothing had happened, made your blood boil.

A couple of minutes later, he hung up the phone and slide it into his back pocket before walking towards you.

“You okay?” He asked, taking your hand in his and looking you up and down.

“Not thanks to you”, you said.

Peter clenched his jaw and looked up at you, since you were still standing on the stairs. It wasn’t the first time he had been forced to run towards the danger since he was Spiderman, but it was the first time someone was angry at him about it. The worst part was the he didn’t think he could blame you. If you knew he was Spiderman, you would probably understand why he had to leave you, but since you didn’t know… it just looked like he had left you.

“Where were you?” You asked.

Peter looked at Ned and then at MJ, both of them shrugged before leaving the room to give you some space.

“I… I got lost in the crowd. It was crazy out there”, he said.

“I noticed. That’s why we all came together to the hostel. You just let go and ran in the opposite direction”, you said. “And you left me alone.”

“You weren’t alone”, he pointed out.

“Are you really going to start with the technicalities?” You asked, pulling your hands away from his and crossing your arms over your chest.

“C’mon, (Y/N)…” he sighed, trying to take your hand again but you wouldn’t give in.

You huffed and turned around to go upstairs, you weren’t even in the mood to talk to him. You were waiting for him to explain himself or at least to apologise, but you got nothing. You just got a couple of stupid excuses that meant nothing and had covered himself with the fact that you weren’t really alone.

But the truth was that he had left you alone and he hadn’t even hesitated. And you didn’t even know why.

***

Peter wanted to follow you the moment you went upstairs, but he knew you well enough to know that it wasn’t a clever move to do. You were angry and needed time to cool off. So he went upstairs as well, but went to his and Ned’s room instead. Once inside, he found his friend sitting on the bed, probably waiting for him to tell him what had happened.

“And now she’s mad at me and I can’t even explain myself”, Peter said when he had finished telling the Elemental story to Ned.

“Maybe you could tell her”, Ned suggested.

“Tell her what?”

“That you’re Spiderman.”

“No”, Peter said immediately. “I can’t do that. I can’t put her in danger like that.”

“I think she’s in more danger not knowing”, Ned said.

“Ned, I can’t tell her”, Peter said getting to take his toothbrush. It was late and he just wanted to go to bed. He was exhausted. “She will probably get even angrier because-“

A thud noise shut him up. He turned around and his eyes opened widely the moment he saw Ned lying on his bed, with a dart stuck on his neck and his eyes closed.

“He will be fine”, a deep voice said from the door.

Peter turned around and his toothbrush felt from his hand.

Nick Fury was at his door.

***

When Peter was allowed to go back to the hostel, it was almost 2 p.m. He felt bad for rejecting the assignment that Nick Fury had tried to give him, but he didn’t feel like being Spideman. He just wanted to enjoy the trip with his friends and spend more time with you. Although, it order to do that, he first needed your forgiveness.  

But how could he do that?

Maybe Ned was right and the only way to actually get you to forgive him was to come completely clean, but how could he tell you such a secret? Would you even be okay with that? He knew you were a big fan of Spiderman, but maybe it all changed if you found out that he was Spiderman. What if you stopped having feelings for him? What if you never had them and you didn’t even care that he was Spiderman?

“Damn it”, he sighed when he walked into the hostel. His head was spinning from everything that had happened that day.

“Now you’re into night lonely walks around the Canal?”

Your voice startled him. He hadn’t noticed you sitting at the breakfast table. You had your phone on your hand and you were looking straight at him.

The only reason you were there is because your mum had been texting you non-stop ever since you arrived back at the hostel. The first thing you had done was calling her to assure her that you were alright, but it didn’t look like it was enough. She was freaking out. So when MJ said she was going to bed, you decided to go back downstairs to call your mum and try to calm her down. Of course, the last thing you expected was for Peter to walk in the hostel just when you hung up the phone.

“Damn, (Y/N)”, he said, a hand to his chest. “You scared me.”

“I didn’t mean to”, you shrugged and looked back at your phone. There was already another text from your mum. You sighed and typed a quick reply.

“Are you okay?” Peter asked, taking a few steps towards you but he stopped, not knowing if you wanted him close.

“Like you cared”, was all you said. He frowned when your words felt like a stab into his heart.

“That’s not fair”, he said.

“Oh, it’s not?” You asked looking at him with fire in your eyes. “Then what’s fair, Peter? You disappearing today? You obviously keeping secrets from me? That’s fair?”

“No…” he said, knowing you had a big point.

“Don’t come at me with what’s fair, alright? You have no right”, you said getting up. Maybe it was time to go to sleep.

“I’m sorry, okay?” He said when you walked by his side, towards the stairs. “I shouldn’t have left you alone. It was a mistake. I thought…”

“You thought what? That I wouldn’t care? Why did you do it?” You asked, crossing your arms over your chest.

Peter bite his lip, looking at you with worried eyes. There wasn’t much he could say. He could tell you the truth or make up some excuse and lie to you again. But the truth was that there was no valid excuse. He had literally let go of your hand and turned around, it was obvious that he hadn’t got lost, that it hadn’t been an accident.

“I can’t tell you”, he said after a few moments. You scoffed and nodded.

“Goodnight, Peter”, you said.

“No, wait!” He exclaimed when you started to walk towards the stairs again.

He had the feeling that if he let you go, he could risk loosing you and the thought of that was even worse than telling the truth.

“I’ll only stay if you tell me the truth, Peter”, you said.

“The truth is not easy to say”, he said.

“What is it? That you have no feelings for me? And that’s why you left me?” You asked angry, even if the thought of that being true was too painful to handle.

“No, of course not”, he frowned. “It’s the opposite. I had to protect you.”

“To protect me?” You laughed. “Peter, you’re 16, what were you going to do?”

“I’m…” he gulped and looked around. What if someone heard? “Can we go out? I need some air.”

You took a deep breath and nodded before walking out of the hostel. You stopped at the door, but Peter took your hand and walked down the street until you were a bit far from the hostel. He couldn’t risk anyone hearing what he had decided to say.

“Okay…”, he covered his face and then looked up at the sky, thinking of the best way to say this. “This is not easy for me to say, alright? The only people who know about me, found it out on accident.”

“What are you talking about?” You asked frowning, now more confused than angry.

“The reason I left you, all of you, to protect you is because I knew I could protect you somehow”, he tried to explain.

“Peter you did nothing. That random Mysterio guy did”, you said.

“I know”, he nodded. “Okay, remember the Stark Internship?” You nodded, even more confused. “It wasn’t exactly an Internship.”

“Oh, so you lied about that too? What else, Peter?” You asked frowning.

“Listen to me, please”, he sighed. “It’s true that I was somehow allied with Tony but not in the way everyone thinks I was. The truth is…”, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, the words on the tip of his tongue and yet, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“Drop it, Peter”, you sighed. When he opened his eyes, he saw you shaking your head. “It’s obvious that you don’t want to tell me whatever big secret you’re keeping and I won’t force it out of you.”

“But-“

“I thought we trusted each other enough to be completely honest with each other, but obviously you didn’t feel the same way. It actually looks like you’ve been lying for a very long time”, you said. “Goodnight, Peter.”

Peter frowned as you started walking away. He couldn’t let you go, not like that, not ever. His feelings for you were too strong to do it or to ruin everything because of a stupid secret. He had already allowed Spiderman to come in-between so many aspects of his life, but he wasn’t going to let it come between you two.

“Stop!” He exclaimed, following you, but you didn’t stop, which frustrated him even more.

With a sigh, he hurried to grab you by your arm and turn you around, surprised to see tears running down your face. You pulled your arm from his grasp and tried to keep on your way, but he wasn’t going to have it. Once again, he made you turn around but this time, he pulled you closer and placed a hand on the back of your head before pressing his lips against yours.

Everything disappeared from your mind the moment his lips touched yours. Your stomach turned around and your heart started beating faster than ever when he let go of your arm and slipped his hand around your waist. Peter was kissing you and you were kissing him back and it was perfect. Like the two missing pieces of a puzzle that finally came together. You could just het lost in that moment forever and you would be perfectly happy with everything. However, reality soon came back when you forced yourself to pull away.

“Peter…”, you mumbled.

“I love you”, he said out of nowhere, leaving you speechless. “I’ve known it for a while, but I had never been able to say it. And it is because I love you that I can’t let this secret break us apart.”

You wanted to say something, ask what he was talking about, but all coherent phrase had left your mind and all you could was look at him, waiting.

“I’m Spiderman”, he finally said after a few seconds.

The new piece of information took a while to get to your brain and, when it did, you took a tiny step back, looking at the guy you had loved for months now in a whole new light.

“What?” You asked.

“I’m Spiderman”, he repeated. “I’ve been for a while now and the Stark Internship was just…that. I was in Germany with the Avengers when the Cap and Tony fought, I was in space when Thanos snapped his fingers and I… and I tried to save you all today because of who I am.”

“You…” you frowned.

You were going to say that it was impossible, that he couldn’t be Spiderman, but then the pieces started to fall together and it all started to make sense. His sudden disappearances, how it looked like he and Spiderman were always in the same place at the same time, how he had never been with you when you had seen the superhero and how he suddenly had some family in Germany you had never heard about. And why he was so extremely upset about Tony Stark’s dead.

“You’re Spiderman”, you said in awe. “How… Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was afraid you wouldn’t see me the same way, I guess”, he said with fear in his eyes.

“How could I not?” You asked.

“I don’t know”, he chuckled. “I guess you’re so important to me that I was scared that this thing could ruin everything for us. And it turns out that not telling you was what almost ruined everything.”

“I don’t know what to say”, you chuckled, still a bit confused. “I don’t care that you’re Spiderman. I fell for Peter Parker”, you shrugged. “The fact that he’s also a superhero only makes me love him even more.”

“You love me?” He asked, the hear in his eyes turning into hope.

“Of course I do, you idiot”, you chuckled. “Do you think I have that much interest in the Star Wars saga?”

“Hey! Those are classics!” He frowned, making you laugh this time.

“I love you, Peter”, you said before he could protest anymore. “I’ve loved you for a very long time now.”

“And do you forgive me? For…today and for keeping this from you?” He asked, a bit insecure all over again.

“As long as you promise me that no more lying between us”, you said, taking a step towards him.

Peter’s smile came back to his face slowly, feeling how a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders after so long.

“I promise”, he nodded.

With a smile, you placed your hands on his hips and pressed your lips together once again, this time actually enjoying one of the many kisses that you were planning on sharing with him. His hands cupped your face, kissing you back, relieved and happy that he had come clean, that he could be honest with you and that he had actually managed to get the girl of his dreams after loving her for so long.

[storiesbymads]

ONE WEEK DOWN, A LIFETIME TO GO ² ( the internship . )

Y/N just got an internship at her childhood best friend’s brother’s company. The same brother who has no idea they’ve even met before. 

general warnings: smut, age gap (8 years), angst

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Friday could not have rolled around any sooner. Despite your first day being somewhat slow, this internship was kicking your ass. It was almost embarrassing the amount of times you’d forced JJ to sit down and watch New Girl with you--it was your only stress reliever save for a nice warm cup of chamomile tea. The two of you had managed to surge through more than a season and a half since the week started. JJ’d even gotten good about brewing you a cup of tea before you walked through the door. 

“Last day until freedom,” you said quietly to yourself as you made your way out of the apartment, careful not to wake JJ. Even if he had been waking up earlier recently you knew he would give you hell when you got home if you woke him up before 10. 

The highway had, thankfully, been mostly empty on your way to the office so you ended up at the office a good few minutes earlier than usual. Jesse seemed to be the only other person in the building. 

“Morning, Mr. Maybank,” you said as you shuffled into his office, ready to take whatever assignments he had laid out for the day. He nodded as a response, grabbing a stack of files from the corner of his desk like he’d done the days prior and handing them over. 

“Morning, Miss Y/L/N. I sent everything else you need to your computer,” he said. You noticed how he’d failed to make eye contact with you since you stepped in the room. That couldn’t be a good sign. 

“Great! Thank you!” you said. You hoped you sounded peppy enough but it was 5:30 in the morning and you’d yet to have a single sip of caffeine. Another nod from his end sent you on your way. You dropped off the files at your desk before making your way to the small kitchen a few doors over. 

You still remembered how Jesse’s hand felt pressed up against your waist. The contact only lasted for maybe a second but it’d sent your mind reeling. It was the only thing you could think about when you came to get coffee every morning. You always subconsciously checked to see if your garter belt was showing, too. Even if you were wearing pants. 

Just a few more hours, you reminded yourself. Just a few more hours and then you’d be able to forget all about Jesse Maybank for two whole days. 

The other interns came into the office about ten minutes after you sat down. A guy named Lance was the last to file into your designated room, shutting the door behind him. Surprisingly, you’d been pretty good about remembering the other interns' names. At least the ones you shared an office with. 

Scout, the one who’d brought you coffee on Monday, went to college out in California but flew out here every summer just for this internship. She’d even invested in a condo ten minutes away from the office for her to stay in during the summer. She was probably the only one that made an effort to talk to you out of the group. You were just glad you had someone to gossip with at lunch. 

Lance, the entirely too cocky fraternity boy who sat next to you, went to college somewhere in Alabama and stayed with his parents here during the summers for this internship. You think he mentioned something about a place called Mobile? Either way, he was probably the one you’d conversed the least with. 

The last person crammed into the tiny office was a quiet girl named Marcie who you swore you had never heard speak before. The only reason you even knew her name was because of Scout. And even she didn’t know that much about her after working with her for two years. 

There were two other offices just like yours crammed with three or four interns each. Scout claimed she knew each and every one of them but you knew you’d never seen any of them leave their respective rooms save for lunch hour or to grab a coffee. You’re not even sure you could identify any of them as someone you slightly recognized. 

You hadn’t even realized that the rest of the interns in your office had left until you scooted your tiny roller chair back to stretch out your back. You faintly recalled glancing at the door as Lance stepped out but you figured he was just going to grab something out of the kitchen. Glancing at the bottom right hand corner of your desktop, you noticed the black 7:13pm staring back at you. Had you really managed to stay two hours late without noticing? Looks like you missed lunch too. Jesus, you really should not have pushed off all your work for the last day. 

A knock on the frosted glass door pulled you out of your thoughts before you saw the door creak open slowly. You saw Jesse standing there with a bag that looked to be filled with some sort of takeout. You suddenly became hyper aware of how little food was in your system. He offered a smile through the partially open door. At least he was making eye contact with you now. 

“I noticed that you were still here before I went out to get dinner,” he said. “I figured you’d be hungry.”

“Thank you! I am. I actually just realized I skipped lunch,” you said with a nervous laugh as he moved further into the office to set the bag of food down. He pulled up a chair from one of the other desks so that he was sitting next to you at yours. You hoped he couldn’t pick up on how incredibly fast your heart was beating. 

“You’re gonna eat in here?” you asked him. Part of you was happy he chose to spend any time with you at all. This was probably the longest amount of time you’d spent in the same room since you were in elementary school--save for Monday of course. Another part of you was terrified. You’d already been embarrassed enough at the beginning at the week. 

“Yeah, why?” he asked, pulling various cartons of chinese food out of the bag. 

“Just curious…” you trailed off, grabbing a random box as well as one of the sets of chopsticks. The two of you ate in silence for a while--horribly awkward silence that made you want to rip your hair out--until you noticed you had emptied your box of vegetables while you’d been staring at the wall. This really took the cake for the most uncomfortable meal of your life. 

“Rough day?” he asked, still poking at whatever he’d chosen as he watched you dump your empty box back into the white takeout bag. He noticed you wince slightly as you lifted your arm. He was right. It had been a rough day. 

“You would know,” you let out a dry laugh. “You’re the one that assigned me all the work.”

“I apologize about that,” he said. You could see the amusement that danced behind his eyes. 

“No, no. It’s fine,” you sputtered out. “I’m the one that applied to be here.”

“Still,” he started. “It’s only your first week. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you staying later than everyone else. You work later every day but it seems like you’re gonna be here for a while.”

“I mean, it’s whatever,” you said trying to force down the heat that rose to your cheeks. 

“It’s not whatever. I’ve been very happy with all the work you’ve done so far. How about I repay you for your time?” he said, gesturing for you to stand up. Hesitantly, you stood up from the chair only for him to move it out of the way, standing in its place. 

“Trust me,” he whispered into your ear as he brushed all of your hair over your opposite shoulder. The cold air hitting your exposed neck forced a chill down your spine. Well, that and Jesse’s breath fanning over the small patch of skin. 

“Okay,” you muttered as you felt him place his hands on your shoulders. When you walked into work this morning, a massage from your boss really was the last thing you were expecting. It wasn’t like you were complaining, though. You’d be lying if you said you hadn’t dreamt of his hands on your body once or twice since Monday. 

His thick fingers worked wonders on your shoulders. You mumbled out some joke about him going into the wrong career field, which earned a short laugh from him, before you felt his thumb apply the perfect amount of pressure to a spot on your shoulder blade. The moan you let out sounded almost pornographic and you would’ve been flustered had his hands not felt so good. 

You ended up having to grab the table with your right hand to steady yourself as he dug his fingers into the various knots and tension in your back. It was a struggle keeping your moans at bay when his hands hit the right spots. The whole thing felt inherently innocent until you felt one of his hands slip lower and lower so that it was resting on your lower back. 

Jesse felt his cock twitch in his slacks when he noticed how tightly you were gripping the table. Surely you had to be as turned on from this as he was. He could practically feel it. But he couldn’t let it escalate any further. He was your boss. 

“Tell me to stop,” he whispered, lips centimeters away from the nape of your neck. His hand shifted from the small of your back so that it was lightly digging into the skin of your hip. 

“Don’t stop,” you said, tilting your head back to rest on his shoulder as his other hand quickly moved to hike up your skirt. He let out a small groan when he noticed you had on another garter belt--this one was white and attached to a sheer pair of matching stockings. His cock was straining against his briefs at this point. Leaning you forward, he had you partially bent over the desk so that he could bunch the skirt fully up at your waist. You silently thanked JJ for not doing the laundry when you asked him to. The only pair of panties you had left were the extremely lacy lingerie he’d gifted you as a gag gift when you both graduated high school. 

“These are nice,” he hummed, more to himself than to you, the tip of his finger running along the hemline. The thin fabric was probably soaked through at that point and it took everything in your power to not clench your thighs around the knee he’d placed between your legs to keep you spread. 

“Please,” you said after a few minutes of him tracing the various hems and lines of your undergarments. He’d spent entirely too much time fiddling with the tops of your stockings for your taste. It was driving you insane. 

“What do you want?” he tutted, leaning forward so that his chest was pressed up against your back. You were incredibly thankful he’d shut the door on this way in, even if you were the last two in the building. A soft gasp fell from your lips when you felt him cup your cunt with a full palm. 

“Touch me,” you breathed. The feeling of having him so close, surrounding you, was sending your mind into a haze. You felt like you were floating. 

“Mmm, is that what you want?” he asked. “You want me to touch you?”

“More than anything,” you admitted. He used two fingers to circle your clit through your panties. His breath was hot against your neck and the hand that wasn’t on your pussy was wrapped around your midriff to keep you pressed against him. 

“You gonna be a good girl for me?” he asked. You nodded. “There’s no one else here. You can be as loud as you want. Can you do that for me? Can you let me hear how good I’m making you feel?”

“Fuck,” you whimpered as you felt him pull away from you. The loss of contact on the throbbing bundle of nerves left you feeling empty. You felt the cold air hit your slick before you even registered the fact that he’d tugged your underwear halfway down your legs. Goosebumps rose under his touch as he dragged his index finger up your leg until it was resting just under your entrance. 

“Are you sure you want this?” he asked, voice shaky. You thought you’d made it obscenely clear you wanted him in any possible fashion but apparently not. 

“Please,” the urge to call him Jesse was on the tip of your tongue but you didn’t want to push your luck. “Sir.”

He delved his index finger into you first, testing the waters. After a few short pumps, he pushed his middle finger in as well. The further he stuffed his fingers in, the more desperate you were to clench your thighs around him. He clicked his tongue each time you did, lightly tapping your bare ass with his free hand. 

“Stop fidgeting. You’ll take what I give you,” he tutted, curling the two fingers that were inside of you as he wrapped his right hand back around your midsection. 

“Oh,” you whined as you felt him roll your clit between his thumb and forefinger, his other hand still rapidly moving in and out of your hole. You could already feel your orgasm approaching. Fast. 

“You gonna cum? I can feel it,” he said. “I can feel you clenching around my fingers.” 

The noise that left your mouth as your orgasm washed over you sounded almost inhuman. He cooed softly in your ear as he helped you ride everything out. A small string of curses fell from your lips when he pulled his fingers out of you, stepping back so that you could turn around and face him. He tapped the two fingers that had been inside you twice on your bottom lip. 

“Open,” he said. You complied, allowing him to slip both digits into your mouth. “Good girl.”

It took everything in Jesse’s power to not force you to your knees right then and there. He was salivating at the thought of your tongue circling around his cock the way it was going around his fingers. But he knew he couldn’t do that. Not today at least. 

“I should let you get back to work,” Jesse said as you slipped your panties back up, smoothing your skirt down over them. The sudden shift in atmosphere shouldn’t have surprised you. What was supposed to happen when you let your boss finger you over your desk?

“Right,” you said, grabbing your chair that had been pushed across the room so you could get settled back at your desk again. You didn’t have anything left to do today but you were gonna make sure he was out of sight before you left the building. 

“Right,” he repeated, drying his fingers off on his dress pants before stepping out of the small office. 

tags: @ptersparkers​ @digniteas​ @kiarascarreras​ @letsgofullkook​ @kirikaelak​ @haute-shawn​ @obx-baby​ @httpstarkey​ @x-lulu​ @obbx-tings​ @poguestyleskye​ @erraaxh​ @sunwardsss​ @katrynec​ @moldisgoodforyou​ @iamaunicorn4704​ @kaelankaekul​ @queenofthebees003​ @waywardbabie​ @pankowstyle​ @wondergal21​ @outerbongs​ @scandalousfemale​

[atiny-orbit1219]

I Am Not Spiderman

*Pairing: Spiderman Mark lee

*Genre: Fluff

*Plot idea: (This master piece was inspired by my friend @sharklee127​‘s imagine about Spiderman Mark and I wanted to make it into a longer fic!) Mark lived a painfully boring life. Nothing special ever happened to him, he even resorted to joining Yearbook club so he could at least observe more interesting lives. But all of that changed when the new girl shows up and Mark gets lost during his tour of Osborn Laboratories. 

*Word count: 3,600

*Warnings: Cussing, cute baby Mark

━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━

 You first met Mark in the crowded hallways of your high school. You had just moved from your small town home in Upstate New York all the way to Queens because your father had received a once in a lifetime position at Osborn Laboratories. You were hesitant about moving and leaving all of your friends and your old school behind but like the supportive daughter you were you transferred to Midtown High “school in Forest Hill, Queens with a smile on your face. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that you were also given an internship at Osborn Laboratories and that would look excellent on your college applications, whatever it was you soon found yourself in one of the largest schools you have ever seen. Thousands of students must have to attend here which made you slightly nervous, how were you going to make friends when there are so many people to get to know at once? Internship… remember the internship. So you walked into the building with your head held high and your earbuds pushed snugly in your ears as you used your music to drown out the unfamiliar sound of hundreds of kids screaming at each other. 

    You got a few looks from the people who realized they’ve never seen you before but the majority looked right through you, and one boy even tried to walk right through you. “Oh my god, I am so sorry!” The stranger rushed out as you fell to the floor. His books in hand followed in suit, the hardcovers making an obnoxiously loud sound. “It’s okay.” You muttered, letting out a soft sigh before leaning forward to help the clumsy boy pick up the textbooks. “Are you okay?” He asked, extending a hand for you to take, which you did; you had to make friends somehow. You just nod at his question, handing him the books with a small smile. “Oh, Thanks… Are you new here? I’ve never seen you before.” You look up at the lanky boy, his hair was so fluffy you had to restrain yourself from reaching out and seeing if it’s as soft as it looks. He wore thick black-framed glasses that had their fair share of tape holding them together, so he was always this clumsy. “How could you tell? There’s like a million kids here.” You exaggerate, your smile growing. He was kind of cute. 

    “Try a little over three-thousand. And when you walk the same halls for three years you start to pick up on faces, even the people you’ve never talked to. Plus it does help that I work with the yearbook.” He was shy when he spoke, his voice quiet and he avoided any form of eye contact, he had the habit of scratching behind his neck every few seconds but yet you were still intrigued. “A little over three-thousand is a lot compared to the school I used to go to.” you joke with a small smile. “I’m Y/N, I know its a bit sudden but you’re the first person I’ve talked to here, do you think you can show me around? I have my schedule but it makes absolutely zero sense.” You were hopeful, maybe you didn’t have to be the new girl who got lost on her first day. “I’m Mark! And despite the fact that I talk too much sometimes and I fall a lot, I’m a pretty damn good tour guide.” You let out a small laugh and hand him your schedule. “Then lead the way Mark.” 

    “Looks like you and I have Chemistry together first period!” The boy said with an excited smile, “And we’re in the same lunch block! You can sit with me if you’d like, I’m sure Ned won’t mind.” Mark rambled and you just listened, nodding your head along. You found the nerdy boy quite amusing, and really, really cute. “Sure! Sitting with you sounds a lot more appealing than sitting by myself.” You reply, giving the dark-haired boy a smile, which he returned. “And we have arrived! This is the Chemistry lab.” He opened the door to the lab and led you into the room, “We do experiments Tuesday Thursday, and lectures Monday Wednesday, and a free workday on Friday.” Mark brings you to one of the many lab tables and takes a seat, you follow, sitting on the stool next to his. “Oh, cool! I like chemistry.. And just science in general.” You confide, excited to see what experiments you would be doing in this class. “Really!? Me too!” There it is… another one of his perfect smiles. You admire it while it lasts but his attention is diverted from you to the teacher walking in. 

~

    Lunchtime has finally rolled around. You didn’t know exactly where the cafeteria was, but your plan was to just follow everyone else after the bell rang. But it turned out you didn’t have to do that because as soon as you walk out the door of your AP Calculus class you are met with Mark leaning against the lockers. “Figured you didn’t know where the lunchroom is.” He said simply. Just the small action sent the long-dormant butterflies in your stomach into a frenzy. “How’d you guess?” You teased, falling into step with the taller boy as you two walked down the crowded halls together once more. “Just a gut feeling.” he teased back, and you couldn’t help but laugh. 

    “So how are your other classes? Probably not as interesting without me right?” You playfully roll your eyes as you sit down at the lunch table in the far back, the previous mentioned Ned was not there yet so it was just you and Mark. “Oh of course, without Mark Lee my life is just dim hues of grey.” You say dramatically. Mark chuckled and rolled his eyes back. “Maybe you should drop the whole science thing and become a theater major… Drama queen.” You scoff but before you could give your snarky reply someone joined the two. “Oh Hey! Ned this is Y/N, Y/N this is Ned, my best friend.” You smile up at the new addition to the table, giving him a small wave. “Nice to meet you!” you say sweetly before reaching into your bag and pulling out your lunchbox. It was only your first day and you made two new friends… Success. 

~

     “Dad I think you’re more nervous than me.” Today was your first day for your internship at Osborn Laboratories and your dad was driving you to the large building. “What? No! I’m just excited! You and I are working together, it’s like every day is bring your daughter to work day.” You smile at his enthusiasm, humming along to the soft music coming from the radio. 

      You two approached the company and you couldn’t lie, you were just excited as your father, this was the opportunity of a lifetime. The selection process for this internship is tough, hundreds of teens apply but only five make it in, and you just happened to be one of those five and so did… “Mark??” Even from behind you could tell that it was your new friend. After a week of following him around the school, you’ve become accustomed to the messy bedhead and bad posture. The boy turned around in surprise, following the sound of his name. “Y/N?! What are you doing here?” He asked, an automatic smile appearing once he saw you. He jogged over to where you were walking and took his normal spot next to you. “I’m here for the internship! Today is the first day.” You explain, ignoring your father’s questioning eyes for now. “No way! Me too!” you look up at him with shock, what were the odds. Even if you didn’t meet at school you two were destined to cross paths at some point. You only smile widely, bumping into the other’s shoulder playfully, “Guess we’ll be spending even more time together.” You say with a raised eyebrow and Mark only smiled. “Guess so.” He replied.

        You two joined the other three interns once you walked through the large glass doors, the intro tour was starting soon but Mark had left after a few seconds to go to the bathroom before the important information was given. You pitied your friend, the directions he got to the bathroom were even more confusing than the school hallways you were still learning. When the tour started and Mark wasn’t back yet you started to grow nervous, the guide’s voice going in one ear out the other as you look around for the lanky boy. Did he really get lost? You were too scared to pull out your phone, knowing it would look disrespectful, so you just try to forget about Mark for now and focus on the guide, you can just give the boy a recap once you see him again. Which wasn’t until the end of the tour. The skinny boy came rushing towards you from some random doorway and you let out a breath of relief. “Mark Lee where the Hell have you been?” You whispered angrily as he got close enough to be in earshot. “To be honest, I don’t really know, I got lost like majorly lost, I don’t wanna talk about it.” You tilted your head curiously, wondering why your friend was gripping the back of his neck, he stopped doing that as often as you two got closer so it was weird to see. You just shrugged and turned away. “Can you catch me up on everything?” He asked, leaning over so his head rested on your shoulder from behind you. “What are friends for?” 

~

    Its officially been one month since you transferred to this new school and met Mark, and you can safely say there hasn’t been one boring day. After your first day as interns Mark started acting a bit weird. He no longer wore his glasses but he excused that with his new love of contacts. He was stronger and his body was not as lanky as before and overall just gave off a new aura. He didn’t feel like your normal nerdy Mark. You weren’t complaining, of course, That boy needed some confidence you were just curious about its sudden appearance. 

     “Have you guys heard of that Spiderman dude?” You ask nonchalantly at the lunch table, you lift your head from your phone and look over at Mark, his eyes met yours and it was hard to hide the blush that appeared. Shy or confidant Mark, it didn’t matter, as time went on you fell head over heels for the fluffy-haired boy. He shakes his head quickly, “N-No! Spiderman? What stupid name is that?” He rushed out. “God you’re so weird Mark Lee, I was just asking. I saw a video of him on Twitter last night and he looks pretty cool, the suit could use some work though.” You shrug before taking a quick sip of your chocolate milk. “What’s wrong with the suit?!” Mark asked defensively, Ned glared at his friend and punched his arm from under the table, but you didn’t miss the way Mark flinched. He cleared his throat, letting out a nervous laugh, “Uh... I mean.. From what you’re saying, he’s a new hero right? He’s probably still working on the suit and other minor things.” Mark covered up poorly. You look over at the flustered boy before turning your head to Ned. “I guess..?” You replied simply. 

      The rest of the day was uneventful, Mark was still being his weird self but you were getting used to it. He had yearbook club today after school and you stayed with him since you guys carpooled together to Osborn. He knew you found yearbooking extremely boring though so he excused you and you left to wander the halls, it was rare to see them so empty and you took advantage of the quiet. You hummed softly to yourself as you scrolled through your phone, more and more videos of this Spiderman guy popping up on your feed. After a few minutes of silence, you were brought back to reality by the sounds of yelling and lockers rattling. Being the curious person you were you followed the noise. 

      “Mark?!” You were not expecting to see the boy you have a crush on, on top of the high school football star, both were throwing punches left and right. Mark had blood dripping from his lip while the other had a busted nose. You run-up to the nearest bystander, “What the Hell Happened?” You ask. You were too shocked to do anything, you thought you’d never live to see the day where Mark Lee got in a fight and was winning. “I don’t know! Levi was talking his normal shit talk and yearbook boy wasn’t having it, he just lunged at him.” Holy shit, the Mark you knew would never do anything like that. Just as you finally move to step forward and do your best to convince your friend to stop, the booming voice of the principal echoed throughout the halls. “What is going on?!” Just at the sound, everyone started running, including you. You ran towards Mark, grabbing his hand and pulling him up quickly. “Come on dumbass, if you get expelled you’ll lose the internship.” Levi apparently had the same idea as he also got up and bolted. 

    You and Mark ran hand in hand all the to his car and while you were completely out of breath, he was doing just fine, well except for the cut on his lip. As you two rushed into the car you couldn’t hold back anymore. “What the fuck were you thinking??” You almost yell, disappointment seeping through your voice. This bastard had the audacity to laugh. He was laughing! “Should I drive? You don’t seem mentally stable.” You only half-joke. “No no no I’m okay, I’m okay. Honestly, I’ve never been better! Do you know how long I’ve been wanting to do that? Since Freshman year.” You just watch Mark as he speaks. His hair was messy, his lip was bleeding, he had a bruise forming on his cheek, yet this was the happiest you have ever seen him. “I’m used to him making fun of me.. But he said something about you and I don’t know what came over me… all I know is that it felt good, really good.” Mark explained as he drove the familiar path to the lab. “What did he say?” You ask curiously, he did it for you..? “Something about taking you away from me, that you were too good to hang out with Ned and I… in his words you are too ‘hot’ to be associated with us… I hated it, I hated the way he talked about you. He doesn’t know how smart you are, how clever, you’re a genius and all he sees is how pretty you are.” Mark was in one of his many rants but with each word, your face grew redder and redder. Mark soon realizes his mistake and he shuts up too, a blush of his own growing. “You are though… You’re really pretty.”

     Once you two reach the lab you walk over to Mark’s side of the car and as soon as he got out you grabbed his hand. He didn’t argue and allowed you to lead him to the break room for the interns. “Sit down.” You said softly, pointing to one of the many chairs. For the first time, the air was awkward around you two and you hated it, no you despised it. You took what you needed from the first-aid kit before walking back over to your friend. You pulled another chair in front of Mark’s and when you sat down your knees were pressed against his. You both gulped nervously from the closeness but you just continued, leaning in slowly, using the edge of a cotton swab to clean the cut on the boy’s bottom lip. Your eyes were trained on the wound you didn’t even know Mark’s eyes were focused on the same thing. He couldn’t stop himself from training his gaze on your lips. He meant it earlier, he found you absolutely stunning, which was why he attacked Levi the way he did… because a part of Mark believed that the other boy was right. You were too good for him. “Y/N?” The boy whispered. “Hm?” you reply, not really paying attention to his words. “Can I kiss you?” That caught your attention. You looked up at Mark in surprise, your eyes wide. Did he just say what you thought he just said? “What?” You ask although you heard the question but your brain refused to process the words. “Can I kiss you? I’ve been wanting to kiss you since I met you but something happened to me recently that changed how I view the world and I just don’t want to live with regrets an-” Mark’s rant was cut off as you place your hand on the back of his neck, pulling him close so your lips met in a soft kiss. The first thing you noticed was how warm he felt against you, you felt safe and comfortable, kissing Mark was like sitting by a campfire during a freezing night, it was an escape, and you were afraid that with this one taste you would grow addicted. Mark was quick to act, his hands pulling you closer so you were literally on the edge of your seat. He also couldn’t believe this was happening, he’s liked you since he met you and he never thought the day would come where he would be kissing you and it felt so much better than what he imagined. After a few more seconds the both of you pulled away, your foreheads resting against each other as you let out a soft laugh.

~

    It’s been a few weeks since Mark and your’s first kiss, and you two have had plenty more since then. You couldn’t believe that you settled in so quickly to this new school. You had a group of friends and even a really cute boyfriend. But you couldn’t get the thought out of your head that Mark was hiding something from you. He would disappear randomly for hours at a time and give you pisspoor excuses as to why. Sure you were nervous and curious… but every time you asked about it he would just change the topic. You tried to ignore these thoughts though, just wanting to enjoy the date in Central Park with your boyfriend. “I think I figured out why you disappear all the time.” You muse with a teasing smile. “You’re Spiderman! Just think about it, I’ve never seen you and Spiderman in the same room, and every time you’re gone Spiderman is off saving the city.” You were teasing of course. Your hand was laced with his, the light from the buildings and the smog in the air hid most of the stars except for the brightest but the night breeze was very much appreciated. Autumn was coming to an end, the colorful leaves that once hung from the trees covered the ground. The street lights lit their path as the couple enjoyed the hot chocolate they bought a few minutes ago. Everything was perfect.

   “Hahaha very funny. I’m not Spiderman.” Mark said, giving you a playful look. You didn’t notice the way he tensed up when you brought up the idea. “I don’t know, you and the spidey boy have similar bodies.” You continue to joke, meeting Mark’s eyes. “First of all don’t call him spidey boy, and second of all, I. Am. Not. Spiderman.” Mark replied, not liking this conversation one bit. “I think you’re Spiderman.” You say with a simple shrug, you, on the other hand, found this game very fun. Mark stopped you two from walking before moving in front of you. He bent down slightly and cupped your face with his free hand. “Y/N.” He said sternly. He leaned in and placed a quick peck on your lips. “I.” Another peck. “Am.” A longer kiss this time. “Not.” Another peck. “Spiderman. What do I have to do for you to believe me?” You smiled up at Mark, your cheeks pink from the affection. “Hmmm.” You pretended to think before grinning, “Kiss me again… and again… and again..” Mark just laughed and pulled you closer, wrapping his arms around you tightly. “Okay.. I will kiss you as much as you want.” He answered before leaning in once more, his lips immediately meeting yours. You gripped his jacket as he moves to deepen the kiss, swiping his tongue over your bottom lip. But before that could happen Mark ripped away from you and turned around, following the sound of an explosion.

    You watched in shock as one of the tallest buildings in the city erupted into flames. “Oh my god.” You mumble the fire reflecting in your eyes as the screams filled the air. The shock didn’t end there, you saw Mark take his coat off in the corner of your eye, the rest of his clothes following to reveal the familiar red and blue suit. Before he pulled on the mask he looked over to you with a shy smile. “I will explain everything later.” was all he said before placing one last sweet kiss on your lips then raising one of his arms, webs shooting from his wrist to the nearest building. Mark swung out of sight, leaving you on one of the many sidewalks of Central Park, wide-eyed with your heart racing a mile a minute. All you could think of at the moment was one word, and it brought a smile to your face. 

“Liar.”   

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