#storytime threads

[enchantingepics]

Story Prompt 49

In a quaint little neighborhood, nestled among the trees and chirping birds, there lived a curious soul. This person, hidden behind curtains and peeking through blinds, found solace in observing the lives of others. Every day, they would watch from their window, unnoticed by the world outside.

One sunny afternoon, the mysterious observer spotted something unusual. Across the street, in a house bathed in sunlight, a couple engaged in an animated conversation. Their gestures were lively, their laughter infectious. But something about their interaction seemed off. It wasn't the typical banter of lovers or friends; it was tense, almost strained.

As the days passed, the observer became increasingly intrigued by the couple's peculiar behavior. They watched as arguments erupted and reconciliations followed. They witnessed tears shed and smiles shared, all from the safety of their hidden vantage point.

One evening, as dusk painted the sky in hues of orange and pink, the observer noticed a change in the couple's routine. They began to spend more time apart, their once animated conversations replaced by silence. It was as if an invisible wall had been erected between them, dividing their once harmonious relationship.

Unable to resist the urge to delve deeper into the mystery unfolding before them, the observer decided to take matters into their own hands. They ventured out into the twilight, their footsteps silent against the pavement.

Approaching the couple's house, the observer hesitated for a moment before ringing the doorbell. To their surprise, the door swung open, revealing the couple standing on the threshold.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked, her voice tinged with suspicion.

The observer hesitated, unsure of how to explain their presence. "I-I'm sorry, I couldn't help but notice… I mean, I've been watching… from across the street," they stammered.

The man exchanged a knowing glance with the woman before stepping forward. "You've been watching us?" he asked, his tone laced with curiosity.

The observer nodded, feeling a surge of embarrassment wash over them. "I know it sounds strange, but I couldn't help but notice… things seemed different between you two."

The woman's expression softened, and she exchanged a glance with her partner. "Come inside," she said, gesturing for the observer to follow.

[rara-avis-fr]

HO THERE, FRIEND! Are you a swashbuckling young dragon looking for adventure? Or a would-be explorer tired of visiting the same old tourist traps day in and day out? Want to see the sights in places no tour guide will ever point out? Well, why not hitch a ride with CAPTAIN AMELIA AND THE CREW OF THE AIRSHIP HUMMINGBIRD! With years of travelling experience, the captain and her crew will take you on a journey of your wildest dreams, to exotic locales never marked on any map! See the hidden relics of the Southern Icefield, or trek deep into the Tangled Wood! Tour the sunny beaches of the Sea of a Thousand Currents, or brave the fetid pits of the Scarred Wasteland! On the Hummingbird, the world is yours to explore! 150g per dragon per night. Provisions not included.

Flyer seen pinned up across multiple Lanternlea Port taverns, bulletin boards, lampposts, and front doors

[takami-takami]

V LORE DROP (trauma dump on main, fuck it, tired of being quiet about my stupid fucking family). Obviously, extremely untagged and triggering. Press Da Like button if you read.

Fun things my dad did to me:

Forced me to put my forehead against the wall after it was smeared with cockroach remains

During an argument, threatened to pass me around to his work friends at "the back of a club" and "show me a good time" so that I wouldn't be trans anymore (I was in high school. Had just turned 18 two months prior.)

Forced me to pick which of my siblings he would beat to break me psychologically

Dragged me down the hall by my hair and threw me into a door for asking to be walked to the bathroom because I was 9 and scared of the dark

Bought me alcohol to bribe me to talk to him again after he threatened to kill himself and blame it on me (I was an alcoholic at the time)

Asked me if I wanted my pet rabbit to be killed and have his blood smeared across my face and that I was going to bring back "Dr. [Redacted]" (a reference to the crimes he has committed in the past, possibly as a child)

Kept me and my siblings in an attic for years and didn't allow us to go outside except for rare grocery store runs (we were also "homeschooled" so there was no school or extracurriculars. It was just the attic. Also we weren't even taught anything because my mom had serious mental illness.)

Threatened to rape me and threatened to force me to s/a others

A million other things

[quincyhorst]

Twitter for FFI: Coaches & Budgeting

Inspired by (And in a way, dedicated to) u/Thunderousclaps and his Ina-Twitter series back on the Ina11 subreddit; specially his 2022 World Cup arc. One of my biggest inspirations for FFI content.

"Lo siento querida" = "Sorry darling..."

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"Ah, forgot to add something to the list. Apologies. Mechanical Bull: €2500"

J: "What do you mean with 'help', Naval!? Shouldn't it be cool we also have a bull to train with here? Feels like home!"

Q: "There's a huge difference between a living bull and a cog-powered machine, Coach. That 'bull' wants us all dead."

J: "Well, you guys are the Red Matadors. It should be easy to fend off that thing."

[thejournaluser]

there's this cat in my school who just appeared out of nowhere

[noblehcart]

@fasciinating SC u didn't ask and idc ur getting one

"You know, I wish, I had a little more of your courage." Was the quiet musing as the two sat nursing their respective drinks in a rare quiet moment of the shop. Forest green eyes shimmered faintly in mirth as she continued on, fingers reaching out to move a chess piece (Pawn to E3) across the board in front of them . "I could never get in front of a crowd of people and speak on something like you do."

[chaneajoyyy]

That's insane!!!

I think about British Airways Flight 5390 a lot

[yourstorythreads]

Question of the Week

how did you bring yourself out of the lowest point in your life?

[toadmancer]

no longer nakey 🎉

[hrrtshape]

EMMA±??±?±?±?±??!?!?!?!OMGORMGOGMG????? STORYTIME HELLOW WHERE DID U EVEN SHIFT TO

i spent 15 days in the upper east side and now i have an existential crisis about my real life (but in a hawt way)

unlike my previous shifts, where i’d spend 10 minutes, maybe 20, dipping my toes into a life so much better than this one, i spent fifteen whole days in my better cr. fifteen days ago, i woke up in my king-sized bed with 1000-thread-count sheets and realised i had, in fact, won in life.

i had done it. no brief glimpse, no fleeting moment before snapping back to my real-world peasantry. fifteen days. enough time for a full socialite saga and to meet my beau!?!?!??! enough time to wake up in pyjamas which might as well been the most comfortable thing i've ever worn, hear the distant clatter of someone else in the other rooms, and stretch luxuriously as if i were in a renaissance painting. i could smell money in the air FOLKS!?!?!!!! not new money, but old money, the kind that sits heavy in the walls (!??!?!?), the kind that makes people say your last name like it means something. and this was my life. MY LIFE. at last. took it long enough.

the first morning, and you have to understand my main character syndrome for this, i stepped out onto the balcony, the manhattan skyline.....mhmhmhmhmhm....mhm. mhm. mhmm. stretching before me like a personal prophecy, and i felt it in my bones!!!!!!: this was home. MY HOME. okay. so. then i went around, you know, exploring my little room (not little...) and girl the moment i stepped in front of a mirror.......WHO'S THIS BABE???? yea. yea. i even had a cat !!!!

then i went to school. sorry, went, i mean DRIVE. now, here’s the dealio. i had scripted myself into this effortlessly put-together, socially untouchable, well-adjusted manhattan teen heiress life. but there were gaps in my logic. big ones. like, for example: i couldn't drive. i didn't know how to drive !!!

and yet, there i was in the morning in my super super super sSUPPPERRR cutesie school uniform, keys in hand, standing in front of a car (a Porsche, people, a porsche!!!) that looked like it cost more than my entire life back in my cr. so, i acted like i totally knew what i was doing. slid into the driver’s seat with the confidence of someone who had done this a thousand times before, adjusted the mirrors like i had a clue, and started the car.

and then? i picked up lily-rose depp.

(she's not an actress in this dr, by the way. just my best friend. which is infinitely cooler.)

she didn't even question everything. just said i looked really hawt today. i was blessed. seriously. like i'm typing this and also screaming i want to go back.

somehow. miraculously. i got us to school in one piece. st. lazarus international college. it looked like a cathedraland felt like a warzone. we pulled up alongside a line of obnoxiously expensive cars (not a single honda in sight!?!?!?!?), and i barely had time to breathe before stepping out onto the pavement, uniform pristine, COACH. MOTHAUFCKING COACH TOTE bag slung over my shoulder like i was about to solve world hunger instead of sit through calculus (that shi fucking sucked btw !!!! but my school's classrooms were drop dead gorgeous).

anyways. i now have to brush upon something that made me almost let out a humongous squeal when i saw him. CORIOLANUS. yes. yes. yes. yes. yes,ewfygweuvbuihweiusvbgiweu`rs. i saw him. yep. yep. i had to slap myself. metaphorically.

SO. i had scripted that on my first day, i would give coriolanus snow a nosebleed.

and !?!??!?!?!!?! IT SUCCEEDED. when i first saw him, he was leaning against a row of lockers like he owned the place and i swear to god i almost moaned. crisp white shirt, tie loose, cheekbones sharp enough to wound, eyes narrowed. pray.

HO. HE WINKED AT ME. and then i walked past him with my bfffffff lily-rose and. and. and. nosebleed. bro. bro. bro. BROSKI. the way he blinked..........the way his breath hitched just a little as the first drop of blood slid over his cupid’s bow. the WAY he tilted his head back, tongue darting out briefly over his lip. oh my god. i was actively fighting to not go and jump on him and like do vile disgusting things.

i had won the war, but at what cost?

because he was so hot.

SO FUCKING HAWT.

uh. so. yeah. that was just the first two hours of my better cr, and it was already putting my entire existence to shame. like, objectively, scientifically, undeniably better than anything i have ever done in my cr.

ssssoooooo. IF ANYONE WANTS TO HEAR MORE…do let me know. because, hands clasped, eyes glistening, heart on the verge of combustion, i am being so serious. this was the peak of my human experience. i have tasted divinity PEOPLE. i have lived too well. i fear i must go back, or else i will experience genuine withdrawals from the lack of my paramour’s face in my daily visuals.

so yeah. if you’re curious… hit me up. (evil, knowing laughter echoing into the abyss)

OH AND. whenever i'd go to sleep there i'd like cry out of fear that i'd wake up in my cr but whenever i'd wake up just...there...i'd literally pray to god. BECCAUSE EIJISEJFEWUSHFIHEJI. i'm there.

anyway, i am so not okay about this. i keep coming back to edit, rewrite, relive. but okay. listen. if you ever had even a sliver of doubt about shifting, i am kneeling right now, hands clasped, eyes wide with conviction, telling you!!!!!!!

SHIFTING IS SO FUCKING REAL.

it’s real in a way that defies logic, in a way that makes the air feel electric, in a way that rewires your entire understanding of existence. so real. so unimaginably real.

[bravewolfvesperia]

Just going to the store was a normal occurrence for Yuri back then, but since he was a child, it was almost never alone. They needed more hands to carry the bags so it often resulted in the boys going in a group. Other than that, going outside the Lower Quarter for anything they needed always meant at least a couple of them wanted the emotional support. Karol had grown up relatively alone in that sense, as far as Yuri knew... but Yuri usually went to the stores with at least someone in tow.

"Yeah... I never knew my mother. I was told she died basically right after I was born. Never saw or heard anything from a father, so I can only assume he left my mother during the pregnancy." Part of him hated whatever father he might still have out there for that. Leaving someone from the Lower Quarter was probably not unheard of by itself, but leaving a pregnant woman to fend for herself in the Lower Quarter? It didn't matter what his reasons were. Yuri wasn't sure he could forgive him for abandoning them like that, even if Yuri wasn't born yet.

For all Yuri knew, he might have been the cause of it. It wasn't like he'd never thought about it when he got older. How for all he knew, he might have been an accident that caused his parents to split. Given how expensive it would be to care for a child in the Lower Quarter, it wasn't impossible. For all he knew, he might have been the result of a single night and his father wasn't banking on any kids.

Whether or not anyone from the Lower Quarter itself knew the truth he didn't know, because they had never told him. At least, anything Jiri knew died with her and Hanks still hadn't said anything to him. He was plenty old enough to know any hard truths by now, so... he could only assume Hanks simply didn't know.

"But I grew up in a sort of... community home. Me and the other boys were basically just put into one house and we called it an orphanage until there actually kinda really was one. The adults didn't live with us and lived nearby when we were younger than you are now, so it was mostly just a spare house the orphan boys were all put into so we had a roof over our heads."

And really? That was the best anyone could do for them. Shove all the boys in a house and leave them to hopefully get along and teach each other how to act when Jiri wasn't around for them. Like most human groups, they all just... ended up looking to Yuri for guidance because he had the most confidence. "At some point they took to me like I was in charge of them, and... I guess I never lost that side of me that always felt urged to look out for the other kids. Like you, and going off alone to the store. I'd be worried if I found out any of them did that too."

It was just a habit now that he hadn't lost. Karol was plenty responsible, but sometimes he would think about the other boys he knew. Any of them going off to the store alone in the Citizen's Quarter, frightened at the looks and words. "If we had to leave the Lower Quarter to go to a store, we got nasty looks at best. The same way I worry about you getting bullied along the way to or back because of your past, my foster brothers would be bullied too. We all were, it was just... easier to handle as a group. We were almost always together though, so... when I see you going off alone, I guess that worry still sticks in the back of my mind after how some of those men treated you when we first got to Dahngrest."

Upon hearing that the medicine was working and that Yuri was already feeling the effects of it was a good sign that left Karol sighing in relief as if he had been holding his breath. Finally getting himself to relax, he sinks into the couch a bit as he stares up at the ceiling. Yuri was going to be okay. Good. He definitely didn’t want to think of the alternative of the medicine not working.

“If you can feel it working right away like that, then that means you should be okay. If you feel like you’re feeling worse though, let me know.” Even if Yuri was against it, the next step would be to get a doctor. Even if they needed to save the money, none of that would matter if Yuri died from poison. But he shouldn’t keep stressing himself out thinking of ‘what if’s. Yuri would be okay.

The apology, however, seemed to catch Karol off guard. He wasn’t really expecting an apology over something like that. It was a little true though. Sometimes it seemed like Yuri treated him like an adult, same as he would Rita and Judith. But then some days, he would treat him like he was just a small little kid who needed protecting and… Karol wasn’t used to things like that. He had always been on his own. No one really coddled him for being a kid so he just kind of… tried to grow up as fast as possible.

Dahngrest was a lot different from the Empire though, that much was certain.

“It’s okay…” Karol says slowly, moving to sit up. “I mean… needing supervision to go to the store is a little much but I get it. I think? It is a little weird though. No one’s ever really bothered to worry so much about where I’m going, what I’m doing or anything like that. It’s a weird transition going from a place where no one really cared to know what I was doing to a place where someone does.”

Karol kicked his legs from where he sat on the couch, leaning back against the cushions of the couch casually. It wasn’t the most comfortable couch in the world since they bought it on a discount but it worked well enough for now.

“Were things different where you grew up, Yuri? You always seem a little surprised when you hear about how I grew up. But…” Karol paused, a little hesitant. “...you were uh… you were like me, right? …An orphan? Was it not like this where you grew up?”

[ofmd-ann]

Ed is hanging up this sign in the inn

[Davids storytime thread]

[peachiejeongin]

Sleepless Storytimes | Jeongin

Day 5 of the 12 Days of Staymas!

Synopsis: Jeongin cannot sleep on Christmas Eve, so you read him a bedtime story to help him doze off.

Pairing: bf!Jeongin x reader

Genre: Fluff!

Warnings: None!

Notice: Hello, darlings! Welcome to day 5! Enjoy this cozy story, and make sure to go check out the other fictions!

Snow fell softly outside, blanketing the darkened world in a layer of stillness that could have lulled anyone to sleep. Yet, Jeongin was not just anyone - not tonight, at least. He sat curled up against the headboard, his legs tucked under the red-and-white plaid blanket. He had a faint pout plastered upon his lips, which was illuminated by the overhead light of the ceiling-fan.

He traced patterns onto his pajama pants absentmindedly, his fingers moving as if they had no other place to reside. The weariness in his eyes contrasted the playful grin he had beamed all day as he helped decorate the Christmass tree, snuck cookies from the kitchen, and hummed Christmas carols under his breath.

You stood in the doorway, watching him for a moment. He did not notice you; he was too caught up in his silent battle against insomnia.

"Innie?" you called softly, breaking the silence. His head snapped up, his dark, tired eyes meeting yours.

"Oh," he replied, his voice just above a whisper. "Hey." You stepped inside of the room, the wooden floor chilled under your socks; you gently glided to the bed.

"Still can't sleep?"

Jeongin shook his head, his hair falling messily over his forehead. He looked almost younger like this, as if he was a vulnerable, innocent child.

"I don't know why," he admitted, the pout in his voice matching the output of his lips.

"Well, you'll never fall asleep just sitting there," you teased, perching on the edge of the bed. "Scoot over."

"What are you-"

"Just scoot!" you insisted, grabbing a book from the nearby shelf as Jeongin reluctantly made room for you. You slid under the blanket beside him, the warmth immediately seeping into your skin. The two of you fit snugly together, and the faint scent of Jeongin's shampoo drifted towards you; it was fresh and soft, like pine needles dusted with snow.

"What are you doing?" He looked at you with a mixture of amusement and curiosity.

"Hopping into bed with you," you responded innocently, cracking open the book. The cover gleamed faintly in the fluorescence: 'The Night Before Christmas.'

"You think a story will help?" Jeongin quirked an eyebrow.

"Absolutely," you retaliated, settling into the covers. "Now, hush. I'm doing this for your sake."

Jeongin huffed, but leaned against you nevertheless, his head resting on your shoulder. As you began to read, your voice soft and steady, his body relaxed bit by bit. The story wove a cozy spell around you both, every word painting vivid pictures of sleigh bells, snowy rooftops, and a quiet household.

At some point, Jeongin had shifted, draping an arm lazily across your lap.

"You're warm," he mumbled, his tone heavy with drowsiness.

"You're clingy," you teased playfully, though you did not pull away. His cheek pressed against your chest as he turned, and your heart stuttered at the feeling of his breath ghosting over your collarbone.

"Not like you care," he murmured, a faint smile washing over his lips.

You sighed, threading your fingers through his hair without thinking. It was softer than it looked, and you could feel the tension melting out of him with every pass. The weight of him against you was comforting, grounding, as if he was anchoring you in this silent moment.

The story continued, your voice filling the silence, but you were not sure he was even listening anymore. His breaths were slower now, his body was slack against yours, and his lashes were resting against his cheeks. His expression was so peaceful, and it made your heart speed up.

"Baby?" you whispered, not wanting to wake him but feeling an urge to check. He hummed in response, his arms tightening slightly around your waist.

"Don't stop reading," he uttered, half-asleep.

"You're already asleep." A soft laugh escaped you.

"Mm-mm," he protested weakly, nuzzling impossibly closer to you. "Almost, though."

It was impossible not to smile as you fixed the comforter overtop the both of you, tucking it around his shoulders. The lights cast a halo around his face, highlighting the soft curve of his lips and the faint flush on his cheeks. You traced an imaginary pattern along his back, marveling at how perfectly he fit there, curled up against you like a missing puzzle piece.

Outside, the snow continued to fall, muffling the world in a peaceful hush. It felt like nothing else mattered - not time, not the place - just the two of you cocooned together in warmth and solitude.

As Jeongin's breathing finally evened out, you leaned down to press a feather-light kiss to his temple.

"Merry Christmas, Innie," you whispered gently, caressing his cheek softly.

His lips curled into the faintest smile, and though he did not reply, the way he held onto you said everything he could not.

You stayed like that for the rest of the night as the comfort of darkness wrapped you both in its embrace. You glanced down at Jeongin once more before you yourself fell into dreamland.

He was silent, perfect, and entirely yours.

[twistedisciple]

Whatever animosity the cat spat at him, Griss ignored it, or simply didn't notice. When everyone talked to you more or less the same way, it just becomes the norm and from the Hound's point of view, the this one's barely showing its teeth. Attention swivels back under knitted brow and an irreverent: "Who?"

'Sophia' didn't ring a bell, but he makes a mental note that they must be pretty important to this kid. And that's all he has the time for before the other guy's outburst. Griss smirks at him.

"Weird knight? The guy dressed head to toe in black armor?" He'd seen him around, from a distance, because who couldn't miss a getup like that. "Hahaha! How'd you let someone like that swipe your goods? If you didn't see 'em, you'd at least hear 'em before he got very far. If you ask me, you got what you deserved."

If that guy did indeed take the candy, anyway.

It takes a moment, but Griss eventually quiets. That shit-eating smile stays put though. He's feeling confident here. If there's anything he's good at, it's collecting stuff. Or at least not losing what he's got unless it's on his terms.

"Me 'n a scaredy cat of a ghost got lucky at one house, but you know what works even better than just askin' for candy? Scaring the hell outta everyone. There's this guy wandering around with a real messed up face, like he's been cursed or something. Then you got me with him, playin' like the thing he's just killed, and pretty much anyone's gonna cough up the candy just to get away in one piece."

Good times, his expression seems to say, and for a moment that seems like the end of his story. Suddenly he blinks and perks up again. Right, there'd been a third one, too.

"Oh, yeah, and ol' Randy. Or, uh, young Randy. We managed to get our hands on some candy, too."

Next: @lycianlynx

mind spike // griss + hugh + chad

[sequinsmile-x]

Where You Go - Chapter 1

She isn’t sure what does it, whether it’s the condescending tone in her mother’s voice, or how she can hear her aunt laughing in the background, but she’s lying before she can stop herself.

“Actually, I am seeing someone."

AKA - the one where Emily asks Aaron, her best friend (who she happens to be hopelessly in love with) to pose as her boyfriend at her cousin's wedding, and things change between them forever.

-x-

Hi friends!

It is once again July, which is not only my birthday month, but the birthday month of a LOT of people in this fandom - so I thought I'd write something to mark the occasion. I love you alls very much and you bring me so much joy with your kudos, comments and reblogs.

I was thinking about what to do, and I know y'all love getting together fics, and I almost never write them when they are not a one-shot. And I've also never done the fake dating trope with these two...so this seems like a perfect opportunity.

Chapters will be weekly throughout July :)

As ever, please let me know what you think <3

-x-

Warnings: full list of tags can be found on the masterlist

Words: 3.1k

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

Emily sighs contentedly as she sinks onto the couch, a glass of wine in one hand and a pack of peanut butter cups in the other. She’s reaching for the remote, ready to skip through the movie channels until she finds a suitably terrible Sci-Fi flick, when her phone chimes in her pocket. 

She puts down her wine glass and shifts to pull her phone out of her sweatpants and smiles when she sees Aaron’s name on the screen. Her smile turns into a laugh when she sees a selfie of him and Jack attached to his message. They have matching, over the top, frowns on their faces and Jack’s favourite book pressed between them. 

Apparently, my storytime skills aren’t anywhere near as good as yours. 

She presses her lips together to try to stop her smile from getting any bigger, her finger briefly hovering over the image of their faces before she types out her reply. 

What can I say, if you’ve got it - you’ve got it.

She’d always loved Jack. She’d been taken by him the very first time Haley had brought him to the office, way back when she and Aaron were still together and he was just Emily’s boss who didn’t quite trust her. Haley had seemed a little on edge, her frustration clear when Emily told her Aaron was on a call, her eyes flicking to Aaron’s office as she muttered she’d go talk to him regardless. At the time, Emily hadn’t known that their relationship was hanging on by a thread, that Aaron’s dedication to his job was fraying it even further, all she’d seen was an irritated wife whose mood was passing over to her son, a baby Jack wriggling and fussing in her arms. 

Emily had offered to take him without really thinking about it, her hands held out to take the baby from Haley’s arms before her brain caught up with her. Haley had simply smiled gratefully and passed Jack over to her before she’d walked up the stairs towards Aaron’s office with purpose. She’d huffed out a breath, only really aware that she was holding her boss's son when she turned to look at Jack, his face pinched together in a small frown that she was all too familiar with being on the receiving end of from his father. She’d turned his mood around quickly, singing softly to him and sitting him on her lap, smiling and pretending to chew on his fists when he kept trying to grab at trinkets on her desk. 

She’d ignored the curious looks from her teammates and waved off Haley’s gratitude when she walked back down to the bullpen, her shoulders somehow tenser than they had been when she’d walked in, something that was only slightly dissipated when she had her son back in her arms. Aaron had watched the exchange from the gangway, his hands on the handrail as he looked down at them all. Emily hadn’t missed the way he smiled, a quick flash of a thing across his face she was sure he hadn’t meant to show, when he saw how content Jack was in her lap. When she looked back on it, she liked to think that was when Aaron first started to trust her more, the obvious trust his infant son had in her the first shake of the foundations of his mistrust in her. 

Her phone vibrates again and she smiles softly at the response from Aaron, love that felt dangerous to feel blooming in her chest, the flowers of it crowding her lungs. 

We missed you tonight. 

She blows out a shaky breath and closes her eyes, swallowing thickly to push back down the same love her chest was stuffed full of, forever on the brink of letting it all spill out. 

She’d known that she was in love with him for a long time. A feeling she’d had since the start that she’d never dared to name suddenly obvious in the wake of him being missing after Foyet attacked him. Pre-emptive grief and fear that she’d known was more than just friendship rolling in her gut the moment she saw the blood on his living room floor. There was never a good time to do anything about it, never a perfect chance to see if the fleeting moments she thought he might feel the same way too could come to anything. 

By the time his life had settled down as much as it could, when his smile seemed real again and he was coming back out of the shadows Foyet had forced him and his son into, she was dead to almost everyone but him. She’d been so mad at first, stuck in Paris away from everything she’d built around herself, and it was easier to be mad at him than it was to be mad at herself. To pretend she was furious at him for making the decision that had saved her life. As time went on, as her weeks in Paris melting away into months, she realised she was angry at herself, sure that she’d lost her only chance to be happy with him. A crossroads in her life that she’d blindly walked by, sure there would be another turn to it further down the path. 

His, albeit short, relationship with Beth when Emily returned home only confirmed for her that her feelings were one-sided. When he introduced her to them at his recent triathlon it had felt like a kick in the gut, her rolling stomach no longer to do with just her raging hangover. 

He’d recently mentioned in passing that he and Beth had broken up, his smile tight when Emily expressed her sympathy, hoping beyond anything that he wouldn’t see the happiness that lingered beneath. 

Aaron had been an excellent friend to her since her return, and he’d slowly become the person she’d go to first about anything - even over JJ and Penelope. He was the only person who didn’t want her to be who she used to be, who didn’t expect her to fit back into a box that felt nothing short of the wrong fit. He’d started to invite her over to spend time with him and Jack, which is where her supposed superior storytelling skills had come into play. Jack always asked for her to put him to bed if she was there, and she couldn’t say no to him. She could barely say no to Aaron. She loved spending time with them, but sometimes it hurt. Like she was playing house with the people who, in another life, could have been her family. An echo of different choices. A reminder of what could have been. 

It was why she was home tonight even though Aaron had invited her over. She needed some time to re-group, to remind herself that it was okay if he didn’t feel the same way about her, because she’d rather have him as her friend, her best friend, than not at all. She’d told him that she was tired, that she was going to head to bed early, and he, thankfully hadn’t questioned it. 

I miss you both too. Next weekend. 

She’s barely sent her response when the phone starts to ring in her hand, her smile dissolving into a groan when she sees her mother calling her. She blows out a breath and shakes her head, flopping back against the couch as she hits answer. 

“Hi, Mother.” 

“Emily, I’m here with your Aunt Charlotte, and we’re talking about Tiffany’s wedding.” 

Emily rolls her eyes at the mention of her cousin’s wedding and reaches for her glass of wine, “Oh I’m fine, Mom. How are you?” 

Elizabeth scoffs and Emily can just imagine the look on her face. It makes her smile as she sips her wine, “We’re going over the guest list, and it says here you’ve been put down for a plus one.”

She curses herself and sinks into the couch. She hadn’t really thought about it when she filled out the RSVP. She’d ticked the plus one box and idly thought that she’d find a date closer to the time, but now it was a week away and she hadn’t found anyone. Work had been busy, back-to-back cases leaving her with very little time to herself, and there was the small issue of being head over heels in love with her best friend making it difficult to even want to find someone to take as a date. 

“About that-”

“I was just telling Charlotte that you’re not dating, that you haven’t dated in a long time, and I wanted to make sure we weren’t wasting a space. This whole weekend is costing your aunt and uncle a small fortune.” 

She isn’t sure what does it, whether it’s the condescending tone in her mother’s voice, or how she can hear her aunt laughing in the background, but she’s lying before she can stop herself, “Actually, I am seeing someone,” she says, “We’ve been dating for a while and I’m bringing him.” 

“Oh really?” Elizabeth asks, her disbelief clear, “And what is this mystery man’s name?” 

She curses herself again and looks around her apartment as if that would help her create a man out of nowhere, and her eyes land on a picture that Penelope had taken at the triathlon. It was just of her, Jack and Aaron, a photo that was originally just supposed to be father and son but the little boy had insisted Emily join them. Jack had given the framed picture to her recently as a gift, matching smiles on his and Aaron’s faces as they told her she needed more personal touches at her place, the show home feel still lingering in every corner, most of her boxes still unpacked. She sucks in a breath and makes the decision in an instant. 

“Aaron,” she says, clearing her throat, “I’m dating Aaron Hotchner.”

___

She was pacing outside of his office. 

Every now and again he’d look up to see her on the other side of the window, her nervousness clear even through the glass and the closed door. He knew that she’d talk to him about whatever she was getting her head around, but he also knew he couldn’t rush her, that she needed to come to him on her own terms. 

He pretends to focus on paperwork, worst-case scenarios about what could have her so worked up swimming in his head, mixing in with her insistence on spending last night alone and making him anxious. 

It almost feels like a relief when he hears the knock on the door, his answer immediate, “Come in.” 

“Hi,” she says, popping her head around the door, “Do you have a minute?” 

He nods and she smiles gratefully, making sure that the door is closed behind her as she steps into his office. She stares at him, her lips pressed together as she looks down at her feet, a tension in her shoulders that doesn’t make him feel any less worried. 

“You can talk to me about anything, Em,” he says, letting the nickname he only usually used out of work slip free since it was just the two of them, “You know that.” 

She nods, her teeth sinking into her lower lip as she steps back to sit on the couch in his office, “I know.” 

She falls back into silence and he slips out of his seat, stepping around his desk to join her on the couch, “Emily,” he says, smiling softly when she looks up at him, “You’re worrying me.” 

She huffs out a breath and shakes her head at herself, “Sorry, it’s not anything major or life-changing,” she says, smiling self deprecatingly, “No more secret pasts as a spy, I promise.” 

He chuckles, some of the tension in his chest easing at her joke, “Good,” he replies, smiling wryly at her, “Although, if it was that I’d be impressed that you found the time to do it more than anything else.” 

She laughs and nods, looking down at her clasped hands in her lap, “It’s my cousin’s wedding in Connecticut next weekend. It’s going to last all weekend.”

He nods, his eyebrows knitting together curiously, “I know,” he replies, “You told me. And you blocked the weekend out as unavailable to work months ago.” 

She presses her lips together, “I…my mother called last night and asked if I still needed a plus one. But she’s her,” she says laughing bitterly, “So of course she didn’t just ask normally she asked whilst also insulting my life. I could hear my Aunt Charlotte laughing in the background-”

“Em,” he says, reaching out and touching her arm, squeezing gently, “You’re spiralling,” he says, well aware that only her mother could bring this out of her, “What’s going on?” 

She clears her throat, “I lied and told her I had a boyfriend and that he’s coming with me to the wedding.” 

“Oh,” he replies, the mere thought of her dating someone else forcing his heart to skip a beat. She rolls her eyes at him, clearly frustrated that he wasn’t understanding what she was saying.

“I told her it was you.” 

His eyes go wide, a reaction he’s unable to stop, and he momentarily forgets to breathe.

He’d been in love with her for years. He’d only known thats what it was when he stood over a grave that he knew was empty, guilt for not saving her, for having to send her away, burning him from the inside out. He lied to himself and said when she came back he’d tell her, that he’d try and find a way to let her know, but he never did. At first, it was because he could see how unsteady she was, how uneven her footing was every day she tried to find her place in her new life. Eventually, even as she spent more and more time with him and Jack, he still didn’t say anything, concern for her morphing into concern that she didn’t feel the same way back and that he didn’t want to ruin their friendship. 

He knew that she could do better than him anyway, that she deserved someone with less baggage of his own making. 

He’d tried to make it work with Beth. She was nice, and pretty and made him laugh but she wasn’t Emily. He called things off after a couple of months because he knew it wasn’t fair on either of them to carry on, her irritation at his and Jack’s closeness with Emily, something he wasn’t going to give up, becoming more obvious as time went on. 

He clears his throat, everything he wants to say stuck in it, “Oh.” 

“I know it’s a lot to ask,” she says, “But…I was thinking maybe you could come with me?” 

“Oh.” He says again, still staring at her and she blows out a breath, her pink cheeks puffed out with it.

“You’re saying that a lot,” she says, and the anxious tone in her voice knocks him out of the trance he’s fallen into. 

“Okay.” 

“It’s just it will be the first time I saw any of my family, apart from Mother, since I went into hiding,” she says, as if she hasn’t heard him, “And they are a lot at the best of times, so it might be nice having someone on my side for-”

“Emily,” he says, squeezing her arm again, his smile slightly teasing when she looks back at him, “I said okay.” 

Her eyes go wide, “Okay?” 

He nods, “Okay.” 

She blows out a breath, her shoulders sagging with relief, “Okay.”

He winks at her, “You’re saying that a lot.” 

She rolls her eyes and hits his shoulder lightly, “Stop making fun of your fake girlfriend.” Her comment weighs heavily in the air around them, taking away all the levity of the last few moments and she sighs, “Are you sure?” She asks, “Because I can always just suck it up and talk to her.”

Even though she’s offering him an out he doesn’t even consider taking it, already shaking his head before she finishes talking, “What kind of best friend would I be if I let you face them by yourself.” 

She nods, something he can’t name flashing in her eyes, “Well, I’m sure when Dave was your best friend you never had to pose as a date at a wedding.” 

“No,” he says, laughing, “But I did go to two of his, and at one of them I was best man.” 

She smiles and leans forward, pulling him into a hug, her arms tight around him, “Thank you so much.” 

He takes a second to react, and hugs her back. They rarely touched each other beyond a squeeze of an arm or a shoulder. She hugged Jack all the time, the little boy constantly pressed up against Emily’s side when she was at their apartment, and Aaron was embarrassed to admit it made him jealous of his own son. He takes a moment to appreciate the weight of her against his chest, the smell of her perfume and her shampoo filling his senses, and he closes his eyes, allowing himself to sink into it.

“You’re welcome.” 

The hug lasts a second longer than he thinks it should, and she must come to the same realisation because she pulls away, her smile shy as she stands up, “Well, I should get back to my paperwork. My boss is a bit of a hardass.”

He laughs and stands up too, “I heard you’re his favourite though, so I’m sure you’ll get away with it,” he says, his heart ballooning in his chest when she smiles widely, her dimples carved out in her cheeks, almost daring him to press his thumbs against them, “You’ll send me all the information for the wedding?”

She nods, “Of course,” she says, pausing in the doorway, her hand on the handle as she looks at him again, “Thanks again, Aaron. It…it means a lot.” 

He smiles softly as he walks back over to his desk, “No problem, Emily,” he says, holding his smile as she walks out of his office, her stride lighter than it had been when she’d walked in, as if he’d physically lifted a weight off of her shoulders. The door closes behind her and he’s alone again, the rest of his sentence free to escape now she was no longer in earshot, “I’d do anything for you.” 

It wouldn’t be easy, acting like they were everything he wanted them to be for a couple of days before going back to normal, a strange type of personal torture he was putting himself through simply because she’d asked, but he’d do it. 

He’d do anything for the woman he loved, even if she never loved him back in the way he wanted. 

-x-

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[abgcomics]

Storytime:

Reposting some text from a thread on my Bluesky:

when i was in, like, second or third grade ('02-'03), i found this awesome picture of Sonic doing a roll on DeviantArt. Looked like this, but ya know, finished. He had the SA2 Soaps, which rule.

I had it printed and I took it to school with me and I looked and studied it and started being able to copy it "freehand." And so many people were impressed with how I drew Sonic, but I needed new (and original) material. So I started drawing Sonic in other poses I made up, and they were good!

Copying this one drawing of Sonic ended up teaching me a lot, and I was able to break away from it and draw better on my own. Which compounded over time into me becoming a professional artist. Would I have gone down this path if not for this Sonic? Probably. But still, whoever made this picture of Sonic sorta changed my life forever. The weirdest thing to think about is that it's totally possible I've been that artist for someone and I may never know!

How difficult it would be to track this down? I mean, searching "Sonic" on DeviantArt? Even if I can limit the time frame, it'd be like finding a needle in a haystack, right?

I suppose I ought to wrap this up with some wisdom about art-making….

uhhh. Every piece of art you make and share can be seen by ANYONE, which means you may never even know the impact it'll have. Even a some silly little fanart of Sonic. Art begets inspiration begets art. That good?