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#successfully scare my coworkers but they succeed in scaring me
deityofhearts · 1 month
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happy 4th birthday to the most batshit ask I’ve ever received on this webbed site!!
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silviakundera · 3 months
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Ok, upon request my thoughts on Bad Buddy, a good queer romance drama that doesn't get much if any international exposure outside the circle of Thai BL fans. Full spoilers.
after consuming literally dozens of BB videos, the best trailer to the drama imo is actually the talented samyvids' "Just My Type" songvid. Perfectly captures the setup.
youtube
* the hook: 2 boys raised by their feuding families to be rivals end up attending a university that has a childish Jets vs Sharksesque historic rivalry between the science/engineering vs artistic/architecture majors. Despite these 2 barriers, the boys stumble into a secret bromance and then into love. Secondary couple here is f/f, though it's basically just soft girls meet cute then getting together (no conflict).
* Comedic and light-hearted drama that doesn't take itself too seriously, while also swerving into the appropriate amount of angst for its set up.
* This '20-something bros in love' dynamic reminds me vividly of what a lot of SPN J2 RPF and Hockey RPF has tried to capture. The 2 leads feel like your prototypical good natured university bros and falling in love never changes that. Friends AND Lovers is a challenging dynamic to capture imo but Bad Buddy succeeds
* It helps the Bros In Love vibes that the actors look less primped & polished than many other asian BL productions. They seem like guys you could have actually had in your classes in uni.
* If you welcome the drama's tone and just vibe with it, I think it successfully executes 4 popular romance tropes:
- rivals to friends to lovers
- forbidden (hidden) love
- fall first vs fall harder
- golden retriever bounding around paw cleaning cat
* If you are going to sell me on a modern day romeo & juliet esque queer rom-com, without the bloodshed, then you BETTER put your money where you mouth is and make their love actually forbidden.
* Thankfully, Bad Buddy understood the assignment. It's not just a misunderstanding. Their parents truly do have a feud and they truly are forbidden to even be friends, forget a romantic relationship. 2 kids obligated to be enemies since birth, bound by this twisted shared experience that no one else understands.
* Pran falling first, with enough time to comprehend how cruelly impossible they are. Pat falling late, fast, and hard - too impulsive to consider the consequences and wearing his heart on his sleeve.
* Both characters won me over quickly:  cautious & restrained Pran who likes order, chaotic Pat who craves his attention
* Love that the dramatic tension & hiding in all the early episodes isn't revealed to be pointless. If there was no consequence, then it removes the poignancy of its classic rooftop kiss scene. Prans' fears must be justified in order for the angst to stand up in a rewatch. Pran's friends DO reject him at first. Their parents DO refuse to accept the relationship, including his mom considering this a personal betrayal.
* Prans' fears are painfully rational and everything he is scared of does have to be confronted. But that also gives romantic weight to his decision to give in to the feelings and accept the consequences.
* In the way that scifi authors will try to explore sociopolitical topics through allusions & metaphor, and that Hunger Games author keeps writing dystopian YA whenever she gets heated about politics, Bad Buddy does a good job imo of using the feuding families setup to address the reality of existing in a homophobic and transphobic society while being queer -- demonstrating it in a way that straight cis people can relate to. And approaching from this angle allows the production to tell that story with a certain emotional distance for queer viewers who have experienced such struggles.
* The bittersweet ending sells me completely on this drama. Closeted but not. Open but not entirely. Accepting that you can't change the world and make all your family & friends & coworkers accept your truth... but refusing to abandon them OR your truth. It's a decision so many queer people have made over the years, in different countries and decades. And it's tinged with hope.
* Let's acknowledge that indeed there is tons of product placement in this series. Sometimes to hilarious ends. But frankly, without this sponsorship the series would not exist. So I'm very grateful to suffer through the marketing that helped fund it.
* Available streaming in multiple places, including YouTube.
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congradulations · 1 year
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adhd at work
Being employed is something I have feared for a WHILE! Not just because the prospect of selling myself to capitalism until I’m 60 sounds like a nightmare. But because I have GNARLY ADHD, too. It’s god awful (AKA severe). And it’s the combined type; inattentive and hyperactive. 
I am completely reliant on ADHD meds to be successfully productive. If I want my brain to work, I’ve gotta take my meds, and this has been the case since 8th grade when I was finally diagnosed. 
Without my meds, sometimes, I literally cannot read. Without meds, sometimes, trying to understand a concept makes me physically nauseous and sweaty. I hate that I was born with (or traumatized into having) this broken brain of mine. 
I look at my coworkers… observing them and all their brilliance. They just wake up and are able to do their jobs. Able to read. Able to think. Able to sit still. Able to remain concentrated. Able to work, and work quickly. They’re like superheroes to me. 
I’m so deeply jealous of my coworkers. I’m deeply jealous of their brains. 
Thinking about it makes me cry. I’m sort of tearing up right now. And not just because my record player is playing my favorite aria from my favorite opera. 
I really am at such a disadvantage. And I’m scared I won’t be able to succeed at a full-time job. 
I managed to materialize two 4.0s in college and grad school, but that was because I absolutely tortured myself. And could also make my own schedule. I wasn’t sitting down, rushing through everything, from 9-6 every single day. Once my internship ends and job starts, those are the hours I’ll be working, and I just don’t know if I can do it.
First of all, I don’t know if I’ll be able to work fast enough. I’ve had extra time in school since first grade, way before my ADHD diagnosis, because my mental slowness was so apparent. But there are no extra time accommodations at work. I fear everyday will be a mad dash to get everything done, which will do wonders for my already cortisol-packed nervous system, I’m sure. I’m also afraid my brain will just short-circuit working 9 hours a day. That by the end of the day, my brain literally will not work. 
Monday last week, I had a particularly stressful assignment with a particularly stressful deadline. On my commute home, I was a zombie. A zombie who was crying. A zombie who would then be thrown into a week of digestive issues due to the stress of one seemingly normal day at the office. And ABRIDGED one, at that. I’m not even full-time yet.
Is this what awaits me? 
I feel particularly alone in this struggle. If anyone happens to be reading this, and understands, message me. 
Regardless, I’m just going to do my best, I guess. What else can I do? Yayyyyy. The end. 
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tobesolonely · 4 years
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kindergarten teachers
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summary: teacher!harry and coworker y/n have a hard time coming to terms with their feelings for each other
a/n: ahhh she’s finally done! i’ve been working on this fic for sooo long and i hope u all like it! big thanks to @queencharry​ for helping me when i got stuck and beta reading, and @behindthatbabyface​ for beta reading as well and giving me feedback!! i appreciate u both <3 enjoy ~11.3k words of some mutual pining and teacher!h interacting with lil kindergarteners 🥺also i am sorry if theres any major grammar mistakes (as always) or crazy typos, i always miss some things when i go back and proofread that im sure i’ll catch later! thank u
warnings: smut, mentions of alcohol 
talk to me about harry and y/n! let me know your thoughts!!
my ko-fi! thank you :)
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From the time you were very young, you knew you wanted to be a teacher. One of your earliest childhood memories was going to school dressed up as one for career day. Your usually untamed hair was pulled back into a sleek bun (courtesy of your mother), and you donned a funky baby-pink sweater. For bottoms, you wore the closest thing to a pencil skirt you had in your five-year-old wardrobe. When you look back on the photographs your mother took of you that day, you did not resemble a teacher in any way. You were sure if you had not done your Career Day presentation in front of the whole class, no one would have even known who you were dressed up as.
Once you moved onto college and declared Education as a major, that was when people really started to let you hear their opinions on the career path you wanted to pursue. It seemed like whenever you went home for a holiday, relatives were always in your ear saying, “You know teachers don’t make a lot of money, right? Have you ever considered something in the sciences?”. You always responded, “I know, but what would the world do without teachers?”.
Eventually, you finished your undergraduate career, successfully completed student teaching with the highest praise from your superiors and colleagues, obtained your teaching credentials, and even went back to school to get your Master’s degree. So, it was much to everyone’s surprise when you settled on being a Kindergarten teacher. People assumed that because you completed so much schooling, you wanted to be a university professor. However, the thought never even crossed your mind. You always thought Kindergarten teachers were the most impressionable people out there and knew you wanted to be one.
To you, there was no greater responsibility than that of a Kindergarten teacher. It was your responsibility to teach your students reading, writing, art, and music at the most basic level. You showed them how to play with others, how to be kind, and give them the tools necessary to succeed once they leave your classroom. You were the first teacher your students ever had, so you needed to make them fall in love with school instead of hate it, considering they’d have to stick to it until they were at least eighteen. 
You’ve been a credentialed Kindergarten teacher for the last three years, and you’ve loved every moment of it. You were one of the younger teachers at school, but you never felt left out. Your colleagues were amazing people who often shared tips and tricks they wish they knew when they first started teaching.
Now, you were groggily unlocking the door to your classroom, feeling those first-day-of-school jitters you always felt. You knew kindergarteners weren’t there to harshly critique you. Still, you wanted them to go home and tell their parents about how excited they were to have you as a teacher, not run home in tears. That never happened, of course, but you didn’t want to take any chances. You drop your keys and mutter a quiet, “Shit!” setting your travel mug filled with coffee on the ground and readjust the box of donuts you had for your kids on your hip. As you reach for your keys, you hear a deep voice ask if you need help. You quickly turn around, eyes wide from being startled.
“Oh! You scared me,” you place your free hand over your chest. “But yeah, actually, that’d be great. I’m struggling to get my door open.” The man nods, his own keys he wore around his neck jangling as he retrieves first your keys, then your coffee mug.
“I’m Harry– Mr. Styles, if you want,” he holds your keys out for you to take, your coffee mug still in his large hands. “Uh, I’m the new Kindergarten teacher.” You give him a confused look and trade the box of donuts in your arms for your keys, opening the door. “The last one, Mrs. Brown, I think it was, I guess she decided a few weeks back that she wanted to retire.” You get your door open and walk inside your classroom, turning on the lights. It was a little stuffy, considering you hadn’t been there to open any windows in about a month.
“Oh, that’s right! Welcome,” you give him a warm smile. “I’m Y/N– Miss Y/L/N if you want.” A slight blush appears on his cheeks. “We’re gonna be working together then, it seems. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Mrs. Brown, but it’ll be nice to collaborate with someone closer to my age, you know?” Harry nods, and you realize he still had your coffee mug and box of donuts in his hands. “You can just set that on my desk, thanks for helping out. Would you like a donut?”
“Um, I- it’s okay,” he stammers, setting the items down. “Sorry, it’s just that I’ll probably crash if I have a donut first thing in the mornin’.” You smile at him and move to open all your windows and the back door, wanting the stuffy classroom to air out a bit before the children got here. 
“I totally get that,” you giggle, walking back over to your desk. “Are you excited about the first day? I always get a little nervous. I also talk a lot when I’m nervous, I’m sure you caught onto that.” 
For the first time that morning, Harry laughs. “Yeah, I’m nervous, too. ’ve never taught in the States before, so this is a bit new to me.” He’s playing with the keys hanging from his lanyard. 
“I noticed you had an accent, but I didn’t know if it was weird to ask about it. What brings you to California?” You open the box of donuts and take one out, wanting to eat it before it gets cold, and the glaze hardens.
“Uh, I went to University here, but when I graduated, I decided to go back home and teach for a couple of years. I really missed being here though and wanted to come back, so I got my credentials, and uh, here I am,” he tells you with a grin, and you notice he has deep dimples. 
“Well, we’re glad you’re here,” you tell him earnestly. “The kids are just gonna love your accent, too!” you joke and Harry laughs for the second time that day. 
“If all else fails, ’m hopin’ to charm everyone over with my accent,” he stares at you for a moment before speaking again. “Well, I better finish getting situated. It’s fifteen til, and I reckon the children will be arriving soon, yeah?” He asks. You nod. 
“Best to be waiting at parent drop-off too, there are always a few parents that are just as nervous as their babies, if not more, and could use a quick pep talk.”
“Thanks for lettin’ me know. I was thinking about standing out there anyway, just to make a good first impression.” You take another bite of your donut, giving him a thumbs up. 
“You’ve got this, Harry. I know you’re not completely clueless since you’ve taught before, but I know the first day can be a little intimidating. You know where I am if you need anything.” He gives you a grateful smile, quietly thanking you before turning to walk out the door. You’re left thinking about your new coworker, only being pulled from your thoughts of him when the first bell rings.
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“Good morning everyone, my name is Miss Y/L/N. Are you all excited to get this school year started?” A chorus of high-pitched yeses fills the room, and you smile warmly at your class. “I’m so excited that you’re all here! I have a little surprise for each of you!” You grab the box of donuts and walk back to the rug in the center of the room that the children usually sat on for storytime. Little gasps fill your ears, and they all say, “Donuts!” and “Yummy!”. You smile at the kids again, already feeling overwhelmed with how adorable they were. 
“We all get a donut?” one little girl asks, her eyes wide. You nod at her.
“Of course! Everyone will get a donut, sweetie.” You move to get the plastic food gloves you kept so you can safely hand out a donut to everyone. “Okay guys, I’m going to pass a stack of napkins around the room. Take one and pass the stack to the person sitting next to you. Does that make sense?” All the students nod their heads in confirmation, so you grab a stack and hand them to the child sitting closest to you. “Once the last person has their napkin, let me know, and then it’ll be donut time!” You say this over-enthusiastically, and the children squirm in their seats in excitement.
As you go around handing out donuts to each of your students, you learn their names and ask them to tell you one fun fact about them. Most children say things like, “I have a brother/sister!” or “I can run really fast!”, and you find it absolutely adorable. One thing you loved the most about teaching five-year-olds was their ability to think everything was cool. It was comforting to know that no matter what you did, they’d find you cool, and your first-day jitters quickly dissipated. As the children eat their donuts, you read them a story, putting on different voices for all the various characters. You show them how to raise their hand when they have something they’d like to share and remind them to use their “listening ears” when you or one of their classmates are speaking.
When it’s time for recess, you show them how to line up quietly at the door, and assign a line leader and a hall monitor. You remind the children that they will all get a turn at these tasks eventually because it’ll switch every week, and not to worry. As you’re walking down the hall backward (one of your teachers walks that you’d finally perfected), you hear Harry’s voice.
“Okay Room Ten, we’re gonna go out to the playground now, where you all will get to play every recess and lunch. That sounds like fun, doesn’t it?” He asks them, and you hear little voices chattering out to him in excitement. You can’t help but peek into his classroom as you walked by, as his door was open. He didn’t see you because he was busy organizing his class into a straight line, so you keep going. Your class, who, much to your surprise, was walking very quietly, got loud once they saw the Kindergarten play area had a slide and monkey bars.
“We get to play on this?” one of your students, Destiny, questions. 
“Yup! This is a pretty cool play area, isn’t it?” They nod and stare at you, waiting for direction. “Oh, you can all go play and run around, get some of that energy out. When the bell rings, though, I want you to listen to the yard teachers because they’re gonna help get you all lined back up so we can go back inside. Deal?” The children give you nods and thumbs up, and you grin at them, telling them to have fun and be nice to one another. As you’re turning to go to the teacher’s lounge to refill your mug of coffee, you see Harry walking down the hallway with his class, and decide to wait for him. He gives his class the same spiel you gave yours and tells them to “Treat each other with kindness” before noticing you waiting for him.
“Hey,” he gives you a grin, looking far more relaxed than he did when you saw him earlier that morning. “How’s it going so far?”
“It’s great,” you reply, leading him in the direction of the teacher’s lounge. “They’re all adorable.”
“Yeah, don’t know what I was so nervous fo’. They’re great. Also, you’re right,” Harry has an amused look on his face. “The first thirty minutes of ’em bein’ there was just them askin’ me to say things because they think I sound funny.” 
“I told you!” you exclaim, laughing at him. “A British accent is definitely not something we hear every day, not here at least.”
“I figured,” he replies, and silence falls between you. “Where are we going, by the way?”
You stop in front of a blue door and sift through the keys on your lanyard, finally finding the one you were looking for. “Teacher’s lounge. Have you had the chance to check it out yet?” He shakes his head, and you pull open the door after having unlocked it. “After you.” He shakes his head and steps back, signaling you go ahead of him. You quirk an eyebrow at him, and he gives you a defensive look.
“What? ‘M a gentleman. Ladies first,” he insists, holding the door open. You walk inside the room, trying to refrain from rolling your eyes. There aren’t many teachers in the lounge. You figure they all must be in their classrooms, trying to do some last-minute organization and lesson planning amidst the first day of school chaos. However, a few colleagues that you’re rather fond of are in the room, so you take it upon yourself to introduce them to Harry.
“Hello everyone, I hope you’re all having a relaxing morning!” They chuckle lightly at your sarcasm. “I’d like you all to meet Mr. Harry Styles. He’s the new Kindergarten teacher that took Mrs. Brown’s place.” A look of realization washes over all three teachers’ faces, and they warmly greet him. Harry goes around, shaking each of their hands, voice dripping with charm.
“Lovely to meet you all. Looking forward to collaborating,” he tells them quietly. They begin engaging in polite conversation, so you leave Harry’s side, walking over to the coffee station to get what you came for before recess was over. He joins you shortly after, grabbing a disposable cup. “They were a nice bunch.” He mutters, pouring the steaming coffee into his cup. You hum in agreement.
“Everyone here is nice. The lounge is usually much more crowded than this. Everyone else must be in their rooms,” you flick your wrist up to check the time. “We got some time to sit down and breathe for a bit if you’d like? Unless you wanted to get back to your room.”
“‘M in no rush, trust me,” he tells you, flashing you a small smile. “Let’s take a seat.” Harry walks over to an unoccupied couch and sits down slowly, taking care not to spill his coffee. 
“You didn’t want a lid?” you question when you see him struggling. He shrugs.
“Not necessary. Jus’ some extra plastic,” you hum and look down at your lap. You were quickly learning that Harry was not a big talker, and he liked to get his point across in as few words as possible. Him being a Kindergarten teacher contradicted heavily with his rather bashful demeanor, but that just made him all the more endearing to you.
“Do you live nearby, or is your commute long?” you ask him after a few moments of silence. As soon as you ask the question, you internally cringe, feeling like it was too invasive. If Harry thought the question was weird, he doesn’t show it.
“I live in town. I actually walked here today, believe it or not,” he tells you with a chuckle. “Was such a beautiful morning that I figured I should.” Every time you think Harry can’t possibly get any more captivating, he does, and you find yourself biting back a smile.
“How long is your walk?” You cross your legs and then uncross them, a nervous habit that you had. Harry takes a sip of coffee, mulling your question over.
“I’d say it took me about twenty minutes. I was walkin’ at a pretty leisurely pace, though,” Harry shrugs. “How about you? Do you live nearby?”
“I also live in town, but I’m way too lazy to walk, so props to you,” you smile. “The best thing about living around here is seeing your kids out in public. It’s the cutest thing.” Harry smiles, not saying anything else. A silence falls over the two of you again but instead of feeling the need to fill it, you just sit beside him, drinking your coffee. Your mind wanders off to what you were going to do for the rest of the school day, if you had enough groceries in your apartment for dinner or if you should go grocery shopping after work, and if you remembered to pay your bills on time. The bell rings to signify the end of recess, and you jump slightly.
“Ready to go back?” Harry asks, standing up and walking back over to the coffee station. “Think’m gonna get a bit more.” You go to stand by the door, waiting for him to pour another cup of coffee. He quickly rejoins you, and the coffee sloshes a bit, some getting on his hand, but he doesn’t seem to notice. “Hope those lil’ buggers got some of their energy out.”
“Right! Mine was even more hyper than they probably would’ve been ’cause I gave them those donuts this morning,” you laugh. “So, for my sake, I hope so too.” When you and Harry arrive back at the Kindergarten play area, your classes are already lined up quietly awaiting instruction, thanks to the yard teachers. You and Harry both thank them and move to stand in front of your kids. 
“Miss Y/L/N,” one of your children calls out from the back of the line. “Can we get more donuts when we go back inside?” You see Harry smile out of the corner of your eye as he’s giving instruction to his class.
“There are no more donuts, you guys ate them all! I have something even cooler than donuts planned for us, though, okay? Now, remember what I told you all about walking quietly, right? Mr. Line Leader, how does your line look? Do you think we’re all set to go back inside?” The child you appointed line leader turns around to look at everyone, occasionally shushing some people. After a few moments, he turns back to you, giving you a thumbs up. 
Harry moves to stand beside you, leaning down to whisper in your ear. “Wanna eat lunch together and do some planning? I feel like it would be a good idea for us to be teachin’ the same things, more or less.” Your body feels warm all over, and you just look at him and nod, not trusting yourself to speak. Harry smiles and places a hand on your shoulder. At a normal volume, he says, “See you then, Miss Y/L/N.” 
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Upon entering Harry’s room, you’re immediately met with the scent of vanilla and the loud hum of the air conditioning. It was bright, adorably decorated, and surprisingly decluttered. It was the polar opposite of your room, and you found it very welcoming and comforting. “Nice set-up you’ve got going on in here,” you tell him. He jumps in his seat at his desk, not having heard you come in.
“Fucks sake,” he mumbles, face going red. “You scared me. Thanks, though. My sister helped me decorate, I don’t really have an eye for this type of stuff.” He rubs the back of his neck, sheepishly. 
“Well, if you ever need any help decorating for back to school and your sister isn’t around, I’d be more than happy to help.” Harry smiles and suddenly gets up from his chair, offering it to you.
“Please, take my seat. I’ll just sit in one of the kids’ chairs,” he rolls it towards you, and you shake your head, about to object, but he interrupts you. “It’s okay, Y/N. Their chairs aren’t that bad.” You take the seat Harry was just in, mumbling a quiet thank you. He hums and pulls a tiny chair up beside you, legs scraping loudly across the floor. When he sits down in it, you can’t but burst out laughing.
“Harry, that chair is so tiny! Are you sure you don’t want me to sit there instead? You look so uncomfortable,” you tell him in between laughs. “This is your classroom, after all, I’m just a guest.” Harry shakes his head, cheeks flushed.
“It’s okay, Y/N, really. ‘M perfectly comfortable in this lil’ miniature chair,” he looks at the lunch bag you sat on his desk. “What’s for lunch?” You reach for your sack and unzip it, pulling out a pre-packaged salad from Trader Joe’s.
“I’m very lazy when it comes to packing my lunches,” you admit sheepishly, pulling out a fork. “How about you? Did you eat already?”
“Oh yeah, I had a green smoothie. Not a big lunch guy,” he replies calmly. “Wanna get started with planning? I think we only have about thirty minutes left.” He looks down at his watch to confirm the time. Harry opens his planner, and you see pages filled with his neat, blocky scrawl. He jumps right into talking about the ideas he had in mind, excitement filling his voice that you haven’t yet heard. 
The passion and enthusiasm he has for teaching are evident through the way he tells you about the activities he has planned, new materials and teaching methods he wants to try implementing, and things he’s tried before that didn’t work out the way he wanted them to. He asks you for your advice and listens intently when you speak, jotting down notes.
You find yourself having to mentally remind yourself not to stare at him. He was a handsome man– there was no denying that. He had curly brown hair, soft and wild-looking, the most beautiful green eyes you’d ever seen, and arms covered in tattoos. You also noticed he had the tiniest cross on his left hand. You wanted to ask him about it, but you figured that was a conversation for another time. 
“Y/N? Did you hear what I just said,” Harry asks, giving you a concerned look. “Are you alright? I think you just zoned out for a couple minutes or somethin’.” You nod quickly, feeling your palms growing sweaty.
“Oh yeah, sorry, I was just thinking about something I have to do later. What did you just say?” You play off how you were just wholly drooling over your new coworker, feeling scrutinized under his piercing gaze.
“Jus’ got an email from the principal. Said we have a faculty meetin’ after school at three. Wanna go together?” He asks. You know Harry’s asking you to accompany him primarily because you’re the only person he really knows so far. However, it still makes you feel warm and special. “He said we’re gonna go over some planning for the Fall Festival. What’s that?”
“Oh, it’s just the back-to-school festival. It’s adorable,” you explain. “It’s like a mini carnival that we have right here on the playground. Every year they have teachers host booths. It’s a great way to get to meet your kids’ parents and bond with the other faculty.” Harry nods, standing up from the tiny chair right as the bell signifying the end of lunch rings.
“That sounds lovely,” he chirps, smiling down at you. “We’re gonna have the best booth out of everyone Y/N, trust me.” He jokes, the corner of his eyes crinkling. This was the most Harry had talked since you met him that morning and you were enjoying witnessing him open up to you more and more with each conversation shared.
“It is,” you stand up as well, gathering your trash and empty lunch pail. “Thanks for having me, Harry. Next time we can meet in my room. I wouldn’t mind making this a daily thing.” As soon as the words came out of your mouth, you physically wince, figuring Harry had to think you were obsessed with him at this point. He looks down, the corners of his mouth upturned when he makes eye contact with you again.
“I’d like that, Y/N. I’ll actually start bringin’ a proper lunch, so you’re not the only one eating,” you smile. “I’ll meet you in your room after school?” You nod in confirmation, walking out the door in front of him. 
“See ya later.”
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“Did everyone have a good day today?” You ask your class, walking backward to the dismissal gate. You’re met with a chorus of cheerful sounding ‘yeses,’ and you place your hand over your heart in a dramatic fashion. “That makes me so happy, everyone! You’re all incredible little people, and I think we’re gonna have a fantastic year. What do you guys think?” The children chatter excitedly, glad to have made it through their first day of school and see their parents on the other side of the gate eagerly awaiting them, cell phones snapping pictures. 
Harry’s already at the gate, waiting for the bell to ring so he can dismiss his class. He’s walking down the line asking each of the children if they see who they’re supposed to go home with, crouching down to their height so they can point them out to him. Some children in his class look a little upset because they don’t see their parents yet. Harry quickly consoles them, telling them they can all play a fun game together while they wait for their ‘Mummies and Daddies.’
You do the same with your kids, and by the time the bell rings and you finish dismissing the ones who saw someone there to pick them up, there was one child from your class who was still waiting and two from Harry’s. He walks over to you, one of their tiny hands in each of his. The boy looks unbothered, but the girl was beginning to cry.
“Hey, Ava, should we ask Miss Y/L/N and her friend if they want to play iSpy with us? The more, the merrier, isn’t that right?” He looks down at her, and she nods, looking down. You figure she’s one of his more shy students he was telling you about earlier.
“Hi, sweetie! I’m Miss Y/L/N, are you waiting for your mom or dad?” She nods, biting her lip. You turn and gesture to your one student who was waiting as well. “Well, so is she! Don’t worry, they’ll be here.”
“I’m Matthew,” the little boy holding Harry’s other hand informs you, shifting from foot to foot. You give him a big smile.
“Hello, Matthew! I love your Spiderman shirt; he’s just the coolest. Jade, do you want to introduce yourself to Mr. Styles, Ava, and Matthew? Remember when we learned about introductions today in class? When you got to introduce yourself to all your classmates?”
Jade nods, a big, toothy grin on her face. “Hi! My name is Jade, and I am five-years-old but my birthday is September 19th, so I’m actually almost six-years-old,” she tells them matter-of-factly. “It’s very nice to meet you!” She adds, remembering the script you gave them earlier. Harry looks down at her, an impressed look on his face.
“Well, it is very lovely to meet you too, Jade! Do we all know how to play iSpy?” Jade and Matthew shout in excitement, but Ava just grips tighter onto Harry’s hand. He looks down at her again. “Do y’ want Miss Y/L/N and I to show you how to play, Ava?” His voice is very quiet, slow, and soothing. She nods, letting go of his hand.
“Well Ava,” you say, looking around for something to start the game out with. “I would say, “I spy with my little eye something green. Then you, Mr. Styles, Matthew, and Jade, would have to look around and name out everything that’s green. If you name something and it’s not it, then I will tell you nope, and you can try again, but if you figure it out, then you’re the winner! Does that make sense?”
She nods, and you see a gleam of excitement in her eyes. “Can I go first?” She asks quietly. You tell her, yes, and she looks around quickly, trying to find something to say. “I spy with my little eye something blue!” She has a triumphant smile on her face, and even though you immediately know she’s talking about the sky and you’re sure Harry does too, you both decide to take a step back and let the children take the game into their own hands.
“Y’know, that lil’ introduction Jade gave was really somethin’. I didn’t even think about teachin’ my kids that. Think I’ll try that out tomorrow,” Harry whispers, craning his neck slightly to be at your ear. You shiver at the feeling of his warm breath against your skin. 
“Yeah, I feel like that’s always a good first day of school activity for them to do. A lot of them have never really been exposed to people outside of their immediate family, so they’re not too sure how to talk to others.” Harry hums, standing back up straight.
“Mr. Styles,” Matthew calls, running over to Harry. “My mommy is here. Can I go now?” Harry nods, telling Matthew to wait for him so he can say hi to his mother. You watch as he walks away, overhearing as he tells the boy’s mother what a great job he did today and how he’s so excited to go through this school year with him in his class. Ten minutes later, Jade and Ava are gone as well, and Harry locks the dismissal gate. 
“I forgot how exhausting the first day could be,” he tells you, letting out a quiet sigh. “Ready to go to that meeting, though? It’s just about three.” You check your watch and see the time read at 2:57 PM.
“Yeah, just let me grab my bag, and we can head over there. I’m really hoping this won’t take too long; I was planning on going grocery shopping after this,” you walk down the hall towards your classroom and feel Harry’s gaze on you.
“Where do you like to go grocery shopping?” he asks after a few moments of silence. “I need to pick up some groceries this week, too. ’ve been eatin’ takeout for the past week, and I’m starting to feel like shit.” You laugh, unlocking your door. Harry stands outside, holding it open while you grab your purse and lunch bag.
“Honestly, I don’t have a preference. I switch it up a lot,” you shrug, making sure all the windows are closed before walking out. “Was there something, in particular, you were looking for?”
“Uh,” Harry scratches the back of his head. “No? Maybe you could text me a list of all your favorite stores, though. Jus’ so I won’t forget.”
You quirk an eyebrow at him, ignoring how fast your heart was beating. “Are you asking for my number, Mr. Styles?”
“I guess I am,” he replies nonchalantly. “We’re gonna be workin’ together a lot. Might as well have your number– if that’s okay, I mean.” He looks down at you.
“Yeah, remind me after the meeting,” you tell him, trying your hardest to play it cool. “Don’t let me forget.”
“Trust me, I won’t.”
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“So Y/N and Harry, you two will be in charge of the pumpkin decorating booth? Is that right?” The principal looks down at his notes and then shifts his gaze between the both of you. You both nod.
“Yeah, I’m excited! I think it’ll be a lot of fun,” you reply excitedly. “We can go to the craft store and get a bunch of paints, but where do you think the best place to get the pumpkins would be?” You pull out your planner, ready to jot down any suggestions.
“You two could try going to a pumpkin patch? They’re starting to pop-up around town,” one teacher suggests. “I’m sure if you purchased a bunch and told them it was for a school event, we could get some kind of deal.” The rest of the faculty buzzes in agreement.
“Y/N and Harry, could you get to a pumpkin patch sometimes this week and see if they can give us an estimate of how much it would cost? Then I could let the PTA know.” You and Harry confirm that it will be possible to do sometime this week, and the meeting continues on.
By the time you’re finally free to leave the meeting, it’s already growing dark outside. Harry’s hands are shoved in his pockets, and he’s looking down at his feet. “So–”
“Do you want–”
You both stop, laughing awkwardly. “You go first.” you tighten the grip on your purse.
“Uh, I was jus’ gonna ask if I could get your number now. Yanno, so we can plan when we’re gonna go get all the stuff for our booth? And you still gotta tell me what your favorite grocery stores are,” he has a playful look in his eyes. For the thousandth time that day, your hands become clammy. There was just something about every interaction you had with him that made you so nervous. 
“Oh yeah,” you answer coolly, digging in your purse for your phone. “Just text your number, so I have it.” You hand him his phone, and he stops dead in his tracks, a look of concentration on his face. 
“I can’t walk and be on the phone at the same time,” he mutters when he looks back up and realizes you were watching him the whole time. “I don’t know how people do it.” He hands you back your phone. “What were y’ gonna ask me?”
“I was just um, I was gonna ask if you wanted me to give you a ride home? I mean, since you walked to work today and it’ll be dark soon,” talking to Harry made you feel like a nervous school girl interacting with her first crush, and you hated that feeling.
“I couldn’t ask you to do that–”
“It’s no bother, really,” you cut him off, and you realize you sound a little eager, but at that point, you didn’t even care. “I’m sure we don’t live too far from each other.” Harry looks slightly unsure but nods, and you let out a breath you didn’t even know you were holding.
“If you’re sure, Y/N. I appreciate it, I owe you one,” he’s following behind you to the teacher parking lot. You silently pray your car isn’t messy inside like it usually is as you approach it. You decide to pick up your pace and walk ahead of him, telling yourself if the passenger side was messy, you’d just quickly throw everything in the back. “Heyyyy, why’re you walkin’ so fast? Are you sure you’ve got the time to take me home?” He takes a few big strides and quickly catches up with your hurried, tiny ones.
“Yeah, of course, I have time,” you respond, unlocking your car as you approach it. “If it’s messy, then just ignore it.” you preface, honestly not remembering the state in which you left your car this morning when you walked into work.
“Don’t worry about it. You should see mine,” Harry jokes, and it immediately puts you at ease. As you’re about to open your door, Harry quickly rushes to your side, opening it himself. “Let me.” 
His hand rests over yours, and you quickly pull it away, your body heating up. “Harry, I’m already right here. I can open my own car door.” 
“I know you can. But I’m a gentle—“ 
“You’re a gentleman, I know,” you playfully roll your eyes and take a step back, allowing Harry to open your car door all the way. You couldn’t lie and say you weren’t flattered and honestly a little bit turned on. He flashes you a smile as you situate yourself behind the wheel of the car and makes sure you’re all the way in before slamming it shut. You see him lightly jog around to the passenger side, and soon enough, he’s beside you, your car immediately starting to smell like his cologne. 
“What music do you like to listen to?” Harry asks, pulling his phone out of his pocket. 
“You ask me a lot of random questions, Harry,” you reply, looking behind you as you slowly back out. 
“Is it a crime to wanna get to know my new coworker?” you can hear a smile in his voice. “C’mon. What’s your favorite music to listen to?” 
You shrug, looking both ways before exiting the parking lot. “Where do you live?” 
“I don’t know my address yet. Just take a left at this light coming up. Favorite music?” Out of the corner of his eye, you see him scrolling through his music library. 
“You don’t know your address yet?” 
“No. I’ll play something random,” he says, tapping his hand on his knee. “You can take a right at that stop sign up there.” You put on your blinker and glance over your shoulder before switching lanes. Harry quickly pairs his phone with your Bluetooth, and a song you’re unfamiliar with blares through your speakers. Neither one of you says anything else, only speaking to each other when he’s giving you directions to his house, and you’re confirming what he said.
After two more songs, Harry says, “S’right up here.” He’s led you to a beautiful apartment complex— one you were looking at when you were moving out of your parent’s home but just couldn’t afford as a new graduate. You expertly parallel park and then turn the car off, a silence falling between the two of you.
“This is a nice complex,” you tell him after a moment. “Really close to school. I see why you opted to walk to work today.” 
“Mhm,” he hums. His seatbelt is still fastened. “I understand if you’re busy, but did you wanna come in?” You raise an eyebrow at him, and he quickly backtracks. “I mean— it’s just— remember the activity you taught your kids today? About introductions? Jus’ wanted to know if you could walk me through it, that’s all.” 
“Oh. Well yeah, I can hang out for a bit.” You unbuckle your seatbelt and reach in the backseat for your purse that you threw haphazardly over your shoulder earlier. 
“Will your boyfriend be okay with you coming in, though?” He’s chewing on the inside of his cheek.
“What makes you think I have a boyfriend?” You’re slightly taken aback and oddly flattered that he thought you were in a relationship.
“I dunno,” his face grows red. “You got all weird when I opened doors for ya. Figured you had a boyfriend.”
“I don’t.”
“Cool.” More silence falls, this time an awkward one.
“Should we go inside now?” you unlock the doors, quickly getting out of the car. Harry follows behind you and waits for you to walk onto the sidewalk before going up the walkway.
“How close do you live to me?” Harry asks, punching in his gate code. He pulls the gate open and gestures for you to go ahead of him. You decide not to comment on it this time.
“A couple blocks away. I could probably walk over here if I was in the mood to,” Harry shuts the gate behind you and walks over to the first set of stairs, taking them two at a time. “I was interested in this complex when I was moving out of my parents’ but I settled on something else.” He hums, stopping in front of the first door at the top of the stairs. There’s a brown ‘Welcome!’ mat outside his door, along with a few potted plants.
“Here we are,” he looks over his shoulder as if he’s checking if you’re still there. “Excuse the boxes. ‘M not done unpacking yet.” He pushes open the door and steps in, quickly turning on the light. You’re met with the same sweet scent of vanilla that’s in his classroom. Considering he was in the process of unpacking, his apartment was reasonably tidy.
“It looks good in here,” your heart felt like it was going to beat out of your chest. You were in your coworker’s house that you just met that day, and you could already feel yourself developing a crush on him. There was obviously no way you’d let this relationship progress past anything strictly professional, but that didn’t mean you weren’t allowed to admire his beauty.
“Thanks,” he gives you a smile, relief washing over his face. “You can set your bag down if you want. Take a seat, make yourself at home.” He leaves the room, and you hear him rattling around in the kitchen. “Can I get you anything to drink? Wine? Coffee? Tea?”
“Coffee sounds great,” you reply. You set your purse down on his coffee table and sit on the edge of his couch, inspecting his living room closer. There were two books on the table, both flipped upside down as a way to mark his page. There were a few more plants inside, similar to the ones in front of his door. There was a framed picture of him with two beautiful women you assumed to be his mother and sister. Harry comes back into the room a few minutes later, two steaming cups of black coffee in hand.
“Here you are, Miss Y/L/N,” he puts on an exaggerated posh accent, and you giggle.
“Why thank you, Mr. Styles,” you respond in the same voice. “Do you have cream and sugar?”
He wrinkles his nose. “I think I might have sugar. Is oat milk, okay? I don’t have cream.” He goes back to his kitchen to retrieve the items before you can tell him it’s okay, and you’ll just drink it black. You thank him, pouring the tiniest splash of oat milk into your coffee. You can feel his eyes on you as you add a bit of sugar, stir, taste, and then add some more.
“So,” you begin after your coffee is made to your liking. “What did you think about your first day? You can be honest since we’re not on campus anymore.” Harry laughs, looking down at his fingernails.
“Uh,” he starts. You notice he says, ‘uh’ a lot. “It was terrific. Not so sure I would’ve felt the same way if I didn’t have you to help me through it.” 
“We’re partners in crime now, Harry. We’re the two Kindergarten teachers, and you’re the only other person there my age? We’ve definitely gotta stick together,” you give him a big smile. He doesn’t smile back but looks a bit troubled instead. You wait for him to speak, coming to accept that long pauses were just a thing when having a conversation with Harry.
“Y’know how I assumed you had a boyfriend earlier? I thought after I’d said that–– rather I hoped after I said that you���d be like,” he clears his throat. “‘Why, no! I don’t have a boyfriend. Do you have a girlfriend?’” He put on the worst American accent you’d ever heard to imitate your voice, causing you to laugh. “To which I would’ve replied with a simple ‘no.’” 
Now it’s your turn to leave Harry wondering what you’re thinking for the first time all day. You can feel his eyes on you as you look at his couch cushions, noticing a bit of crumbs that you hadn’t seen before. “Are you flirting with me?”
“I think you’re beautiful.”
“You don’t even know me. We just met today.”
“Does that mean I can’t think you’re beautiful?”
You bite your lip, feeling yourself starting to grow a bit turned on by his forwardness. There was a part of you that would risk it all for just one night in bed with Harry because you just found him that attractive. The rational, adult side of you was screaming, ‘Don’t mix business with pleasure!’. By now, you had both moved closer on the couch to one another, knees nearly touching. “I think you’re beautiful, too.” He grins, setting his coffee cup down. You do the same.
“Would it be crazy of me to tell you that I really wanna kiss you right now?” His face is mere inches from yours, so close that you could smell the coffee on his breath. You shake your head.
“No. I really wanna kiss you too.”
“C’ mere, then.” 
Harry leans forward a bit more until his lips are ghosting over yours. You pull at the collar of his shirt, bringing his already close body even closer to yours. His lips are softer than they look, and he’s a better kisser than you thought he’d be, too. He brings his hands up to tangle them in your hair, and that’s when you abruptly pull away, not wanting things to go too far. “We shouldn’t…” He looks at you with sad eyes, but he nods, understanding what you mean.
“Probably not the best idea?” his response comes out as more of a question than a statement, but you nod in agreement anyway.
“Definitely not. I’m um–– I’m actually gonna go,” you stand up, slinging your purse over your shoulder. “Thanks for the coffee, Harry. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah, see––”
You’re out the door, rushing down the stairs before he can even finish his sentence.
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The rest of the school week goes on without either one of you mentioning it. It’s a little awkward for a couple of days, but by the time Friday rolls around, both of you decide the best course of action to take regarding the kiss would be to act like it never happened. 
You’re in your room at lunch hanging up your kids’ artwork they made during their ‘Free Time’ this morning, having declined Harry’s lunch invitation for the fourth time that week. You decided to pretend to be busy with work so you wouldn’t be too tempted to go into his room. To most people, you’re sure it looked like you were avoiding him–– and maybe you were. However, you were trying to get over this crush on him in the best way that you knew how.
“Need some help?”
You jump, nearly falling backward off the stepstool you were on. “Holy shit, Harry! You scared the hell out of me!” You feel your body getting warm, and you quickly look away, not wanting him to see how flustered you were.
“Sorry, you weren’t answering my texts, so I decided to come see what you were up to,” he walks over to where you were standing and hands you a piece of art, smiling at it before handing it to you. “You’ve got some artists in your class.”
“Mhm,” you hum, not looking him in the eyes. You hear him let out a quiet sigh.
“Still able to go see about getting those pumpkins ordered after work?”
You had completely forgotten that you and Harry decided today would be the day you’d go get the pumpkin situated figured out for your booth. For a second, you consider making an excuse to get out of it, but you decide against it. This was something that both of you were asked to do, not just him, and you didn’t want the fact that you let your attraction to him cloud your judgment getting in the way of your professional responsibilities.
“Yeah, that works.”
He doesn’t say anything, and even though you’re not looking at him, you can see the gears in his head turning. “Should we talk––” 
You’re quite literally saved by the bell, the end of lunch interrupting where you knew he was about to lead the conversation. “I’ll see you after school? Did you walk here again? I can drive.” Harry nods slowly.
“Uh, yeah. he replies. “I walked. Uh, ’m gonna go get my kids. See you after school then?”
“Yup!” you respond, fake enthusiasm in your voice. Harry gives you one more look before walking out of your room. You wait until he’s all the way down the hall before following behind him to bring your class back inside. You knew you were the one making things awkward between you and Harry. However, the realistic part of you knew getting involved with your coworker was one of the worst ideas you’d ever had in your life. For now, you’d just tell yourself that you were probably more into Harry than he was into you and pray that would be enough to make you get over your crush.
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“I haven’t been to a pumpkin patch since I was a kid.” Harry stuffs his hands farther into his pockets while yours are tightly hugging your chest. You hum, not saying anything. The car ride there was a little awkward, and you were glad it was so short. You could tell there was a lot Harry wanted to say, but you were glad he wasn’t saying it. You keep seeing him glance at you, but you pretend not to notice.
“What size pumpkins should we ask for? Small ones, huh?” Harry nods, looking around in childlike awe. There was a small petting zoo, booths selling warm drinks and kettle corn, and an obscene amount of children.
You walk around together for a moment before encountering a friendly-looking employee who looked like he could help you out. Harry takes over, explaining the situation, and why you need to order one hundred tiny pumpkins. While you’re waiting for the employee to ask the owner if that would even be possible, Harry turns to face you.
“Y/N? Can we talk about what happened on Monday?” you’re about to tell him that you’d rather not, but he continues. “I felt something during that kiss, Y/N. I’m not sure if you felt it too, but I don’t want things to be awkward between us. We have to get through an entire school year working side-by-side, and if you’re not interested, then I respect that one hundred percent, but I just want––”
“So the owner said that is possible!” The employee that was helping you out comes back with a form and clipboard in their hand. “Can you just fill out some information and let us know what time you need it tomorrow? The owner said he could get it delivered and give you guys a discount since you’re ordering so much.”
“That’s great!” you exclaim, taking the form from him. You were glad to have been saved from your conversation with Harry. You quickly go through and fill out everything you can, telling them they can bill your school’s PTA. 
The walk back to your car is silent. You’re replaying what Harry was saying to you over in your head, thinking about what he was going to say before he was interrupted. He opens your car door like he’s been doing, but he doesn’t make eye contact with you or say a word as he slides into the passenger seat.
“Y’can just drop me off,” Harry says quietly. He leans your seat back and closes his eyes. You wait to see if he’ll connect his phone, but he doesn’t, so you turn on the radio at a volume so low it almost can’t be heard. It takes everything in you not to speed back to his place. You just wanted him out of your car. You had such strong feelings for him that it physically hurt, and restraining yourself from telling him how you really felt was growing harder and harder.
“We’re here.” your voice is a little hoarse from not saying anything. Harry slowly opens his eyes and unbuckles his seatbelt, opening the door.
“Right. Thanks for the ride. What time do we need to be at school to set up our booth by?”
“Four. I can pick you up if you want?”
“Yeah. See you tomorrow, Y/N.” He closes the door and walks up to his gate without looking back at you once.
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“Hi Miss Y/L/N! Hi Mr. Styles!”
Groups of your students had been coming up to you excitedly all evening. It made you happy to see that the Kindergarten classes were no longer divided. They were starting to hang out with one another. Their parents tell you how their children thought it was just the coolest thing to be on school grounds on a Saturday, and how even though it was only a week into the school year, they were having the best time. It was comments like this that made you fall in love with your job all over again.
Things between you and Harry were going well. It wasn’t awkward, but you think it was because you were both too busy helping children paint their pumpkins. You were glad that Harry didn’t take the bit of downtime the two of you had when no one was at your booth trying to talk about the kiss and instead talked about other random things instead. You find out he loves baking (specifically, bread), he has an obsession with old music, and has about fifty tattoos. He talks to his mom on the phone every day, and he is extremely close to his sister. You tell him about your parents’, your undergraduate experience, your hobbies, and you finally tell him what music you like to listen to.
The festival quickly comes to an end, and you find yourself sad once you and Harry are done cleaning up your booth, knowing that you were just going to drop him off at his apartment and go back to yours to spend another Saturday night alone. You get to his complex almost too quickly, and you almost want to keep going and pretend you accidentally missed it just to be with him a bit longer. Instead, you park.
“D’ya wanna come inside?” He blurts out. Even in the darkness of your car, you can tell his face is flushed. “I mean if you haven’t got plans. I know it’s a Saturday night, so I understand if––”
“Nope, I don’t have plans. I’d love to.” Your hands are shaky as you unbuckle your seatbelt. He quickly gets out of your car and runs around to your side, opening the door for you before you can do it yourself. You almost don’t even notice since it was becoming such a habit.
“I picked up this new bottle of wine a couple days ago that’ve been wanting to pop open. Think we deserve a glass or two after such a long week, hmm?” You wordlessly nod, wholly mesmerized with just how good Harry looked after such a long day of work. His curls fell perfectly across his forehead, his eyes were sparkling and full of excitement. 
“A glass of wine sounds great,” you reply with a chuckle. “I’m ready to drink a whole bottle by the end of the week if I’m being honest.” Harry laughs, quickly punching in his gate code. You could see his hands shaking a little bit, but you decide not to comment on it. He takes the stairs up to his apartment two at a time like he did last time you were there, but this time there’s an urgency and clumsiness to his actions that you haven’t seen before. He jams the key in his lock, quickly shoving the door open.
His apartment is a little messier than it was when you were in it at the beginning of the week, but it’s nothing disgusting. He runs his fingers through his curls, moving aside papers that were scattered along the length of the couch. “Sorry, I was doin’ some planning. Make yourself comfortable.” He disappears to the kitchen, and moments later, you hear the pop of a wine cork and the smooth sound of him pouring the alcohol into glasses.
He emerges from his kitchen, handing you a generously poured glass of wine. “Thanks, Harry,” you tell him before taking a big sip. It was sweet, and while you usually preferred a more dry wine, it was still delicious. 
“Cheers to the end of a successful first week,” he holds up his glass, and you smile, clinking yours with his. “Thanks for helpin’ me get through it, Y/N. Couldn’t have done it without you.” You give him a timid smile.
“Stop, Harry. You’re a great teacher. I can see your kids love you already,” you take another sip of wine. “I kinda do too. I mean–– that came out wrong. I don’t love you, but I do think I like you.” You didn’t know what came over you at that moment, but something told you now was the time to lay it all out on the table with Harry. He sets his glass of wine down, the biggest smile on his face.
“Really? I thought you weren’t interested. Was kinda startin’ to feel like you hate me,” he sounds a little sad. You shake your head.
“Quite the opposite, actually. I’m really into you,” you didn’t even realize how you’d inched your way towards Harry. “I’ve been trying not to think about how we kissed because we shouldn’t, you know? We’re coworkers. I’ve been trying not to think about it all week, though, and I just can’t get you out of my mind.” He stares intensely into your eyes, chewing on the inside of his cheek like he usually does when he’s thinking.
“Can I kiss you, Y/N?” he finally asks. You’re in the same position as you were last time, being mere inches away from the other’s lips. Only this time, you smell the wine on his breath, not coffee. You nod quickly, and Harry cups your face in his hands, hungrily pressing his lips against yours.
“You can do more than kiss me, actually,” you tell him breathlessly. “You can do whatever you want with me.”
Harry raises an eyebrow, a shocked look on his face. “When you say anything…” he trails off.
“I want you to fuck me, Harry,” you tell him bluntly. “Please. Been wanting that all week.” He licks his lips, looking at you in a way he hasn’t yet before. 
“I can definitely do that,” he replies, resting his hand on your thigh. His large hand is dangerously close to your pussy, and you can already feel yourself growing wet. “Let’s get all these clothes off you then, huh?” 
You stand up and quickly start removing your clothes. First, your blouse comes off, and that’s quickly followed by your bra. Harry’s leaning back on the couch, arms resting behind his head. “Enjoying the show?” you ask, quickly pulling down your jeans and underwear. You’re completely naked in front of him in thirty seconds flat, and you reckon that’s the fastest you’ve ever undressed for anything. 
“Very much so,” he mumbles, palming himself over his khakis. “C’ mere, Y/N.” he pats his lap, and you move to sit in it, now straddling him. He softly presses his lips against yours, the hunger that was there just a moment ago completely dissipated. This was a much more hesitant kiss, more gentle and tender. “You’re really beautiful, Y/N.”
You giggle. “I know. You’ve told me that before.”
“I want you to know how much I mean it.”
“I know you do.”
Harry nods. “Can I have a taste of ya now?” you notice that his accent sounds a bit thicker than usual, voice a tad gruffer. You nod, swallowing thickly. Climbing off Harry, you lay back on the couch, situating yourself, so it’s a little more comfortable. He looks into your eyes, placing his hands on your knees. “Is this okay, Y/N?” You nod again, and he removes his hands.
“What’s wrong?” your voice has a hint of desperation in it, but after a week of extreme sexual tension, you wanted nothing more than to cum by the hands of this man.
“Wanna hear you tell me it’s okay. I don’t wanna do anything you don’t want,” he’s looking down at his hands.
“Harry, I wouldn’t have given you a striptease and laid back on this couch for you if I didn’t want it. I wholeheartedly give you permission to do whatever you want with me––”
That’s enough for him. He roughly pries your legs open, immediately licking a long stripe up your heat. You cry out, not expecting him to get right into it. You look down at him and groan when you see he’s making eye contact with you, a smug look on his face. “How’s tha’, love?” You nod, tangling your hands in his curls.
“Yeah Harry, please,” you moan. Harry sucks harshly at your clit, pulling off loudly, the sound echoing throughout his minimally furnished apartment.
“Please what, pet?” He’s looking you dead in the eyes, a devilish grin on his face while his index finger rubs small circles on your clit. Your chest is heaving up and down quickly as you try to calm your breathing down.
“Please make me cum on your tongue, Harry,” you try pushing his head back down to your cunt, but he doesn’t budge.
“Think I rather like hearin’ you beg like this fo’ me. Enjoyin’ watching you squirm like tha’, love.” Just as your about to beg for him some more to feed his inflated ego, he attaches his lips to your clit once more, this time adding his ring finger into your tight pussy. “You’re tight. Sure you’ll be able to take my cock?” His voice is muffled, and you just barely make out what he says.
You clench around his finger, and he laughs, the vibrations sending a new sensation across your clit. “Y’like thinkin’ about my cock, hmm?”
“Yeah, want you in me,” you beg, lifting your hips up. He grips onto your hips tightly, keeping you in place.
“Can feel yeh gettin’ ready for me, darlin’. Think you can take another one?” You nod, and Harry gently places kitten licks on your swollen clit while he slowly pushes his middle finger into you. You feel full in a way you haven’t felt in such a long time, and he only had two fingers in you. Once he pumps his fingers in and out of you a few times, he goes back to harshly sucking on his clit, moaning every so often so you can feel the vibrations against your cunt.
“Fuck,” you’re moaning loudly, and you pray Harry’s neighbors don’t hear you, knowing how thin apartment walls were.
“So fuckin’ wet for me, doll,” he mutters, adding another finger inside you. The burn feels amazing, and you place your hand on his wrist, urging him to go faster. “Gonna cum in my mouth, hmm? Gonna let me feel ya around m’ fingers?”
“Yes, please, Harry,” you feel yourself nearly there, your orgasm threatening to overtake you at any moment. 
“Give it to me then, Y/N. Cum for me,” he demands. As soon as he says those three words, you’re done for, your body going tense as waves of pleasure roll throughout your body. He doesn’t remove his digits from the your cunt until you’re coming down from your high, placing a kiss to your clit. He laughs as you shudder at the overstimulation. Harry places his three fingers that were just inside of you and his mouth and sucks on them, not once breaking eye contact with you. 
“That was really good,” you tell him, crawling on your knees towards him to place a kiss on the underside of his jaw—Harry’s beaming, a triumphant look on his face.
“Not yet. Gotta make y’ cum one more time. I’m a gentleman, after all.” You know he’s messing with you but also serious, so you lean back on the couch, opening your legs once again.
“Are you gonna take off your clothes too? Why am I the only one that’s naked?” Harry laughs, and you hear the clanking of his belt as he undoes it. 
“You’re impatient, aren’t ya?” you nod, and he pulls down his tenting khakis and tight boxers. His cock springs up, slightly touching his stomach, and he hisses at the feeling. “Hold on a sec.” He gets up quickly, and you hear him hurry to what you assume in the bathroom, rummaging around. He comes back a minute later with a box of condoms, making you laugh.
“Is that a new box of condoms? Have you been holding onto those all week, Mr. Styles?” Harry rolls his eyes and opens the box, ripping open a condom expertly with his teeth.
“Weren’t you just the one beggin’ for me, pet? I’d watch it if I were you,” he jokes, rolling the condom onto his hard length. He leans down to place wet, opened mouth kisses to your breasts. “So beautiful.”
“Are you gonna take off your shirt?” you ask quietly. “I kinda wanna see all your tattoos.” Harry raises an eyebrow at you but unbuttons his shirt nevertheless, throwing it into the mess of clothes scattered around the living room. You reach your hand up, shakily tracing the swallows on his chest, moving down to the butterfly across his stomach and finally to the ferns on his abdomen. Harry’s staring down at you, watching as you delicately touch his skin. “You have so many.” you finally say. He nods.
“Yeah. Some of them I just got for the hell of it. Felt like after I got that first tattoo, it was hard to stop.” He caresses the skin on your thighs, and you shudder again. “Gonna let me get inside that pretty lil’ cunt now?”
“Please.”
Harry aligns himself with your entrance and slowly pushes into you, sharply inhaling as you clench around his length. “Relax, Y/N.’ve got ya,” he tells you reassuringly. “Can’t get inside ya if you’re all tense like tha’.” You can tell Harry’s trying his hardest not to absolutely wreck you, the vein in his forehead very prominent from clenching his jaw so tightly. You grip tightly onto his bicep, biting your lip as you adjust to his size. You were so wet and indescribably turned on that you felt every vein his thick cock had to offer, and you knew you wouldn’t last long once he started moving. By the looks of it, Harry wouldn’t either.
“You can move,” you tell him, squeezing your eyes shut. Harry slowly pulls out of you and then ever so gently sinks back inside you, bottoming out. He lets out a breathy moan, moving one of his hands up to tweak your nipples. “Harder, Harry, fuck.” 
He immediately pulls out of you and slams back inside, the sounds of his balls slapping against your ass echoing in the room. You scream in pleasure, no longer caring if his neighbors hear what you two were doing. 
“Like tha’?” He asks cheekily, working up a steady rhythm. You nod, gripping your boobs to keep them from bouncing. Harry shakes his head, forcefully removing your hands. “Nope, none of that. Wanna see ’em.” He takes both of your hands in one of his, pinning them up over your head. His other hand reaches in between your bodies to rub at your clit, and before you have time to warn him, you’re cumming again, squirting all over his cock. 
Harry throws his head back in pleasure, his thrusts getting sloppy and frantic, and you know he’s seconds away from his own orgasm. You spur him on, telling him how badly you wanted him to come inside of you (even though he was wearing a condom). He stills moments later, shaking above you as he holds himself up with an arm, not wanting to collapse on top of you.
“Fuckin’ hell, Y/N. Why did we wait a whole week to do this again?”
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yuki-d-raizel-blog · 7 years
Text
Number 1333
Chapter 7/??
Summit: What happens if a mysterious prisoner joins the chaotic Cell 13? He is perfect for the Nanba Prison, his name is synonym of terror and cruelty; each time he was sent to a new prison, he broke out in less than an hour. Will the Nanba Prison succeed to keep him jailed or not…?
---
[Thanks for the waiting! The final event of the New Year's Tournament is about to begin!] Mitsuru's voice reaches even outside the arena, calling back the inmates, [Just like last year, it's a clash between Building 4 and Building 13! I'm looking forward to a heated battle again this year!]
Yamato decides to not wake Ayu up because he looked really tired, so he asks to Hajime to stay there a bit more. Not even Hitokoe's annoying voice could wake Number 33 up, he's sleeping deeply and little by little, his face starts to be more colorful and not that ghostly shade he had. Godai is a little curious about that inmate, he's known all around the globe, but he can't stand loud places and has a low stamina? That's shady, but the proofs are sit next to him, maybe he's sick? Wait, he has a very well-trained body, can he get sick so easily? It's because he felt the long travel from Norway to Japan?
Listening to the commentary, the last match is started, and everything seems going well. The time keeps his course, until Ayu suddenly wakes up scaring the life out of his guard.
<<W-what's wrong Number 33-kun?>> he asks catching his breath, that little guy really scared him.
<<Something bad is coming.>> Ayu looks at the arena and stands up, <<Let's go back.>> he runs but he almost fell on his butt because Yamato didn't move, "Eh? How strong is this guy?!" <<We need to go, now.>>
<<Hahahaha! Explain it to me first.>>
<<Listen, I don't want to use my strength to drag you along by force, so stand up and follow me.... p-please.>>
<<I got it.>>
During their way, Ayu unfortunately is pulled down by force many times because his guard walks in the wrong way, the chains of the handcuff aren't that long, so since Yamato is physically stronger, the poor Number 33 is losing his composure faster than he thought.
"I don't want to flip my switch on, that's gonna put me in a lot of troubles." thinks the inmate running, "And I don't want to lose the trust that my cellmates gave to me." they reach the bleachers, but that's not the right place, "Great, Yamato led us to the wrong wing." <<This way!>> Ayu begins to run again, <<Can't you go faster?>>
<<My apologies but this is my limit, Number 33-kun.>>
<<If you were an assassin, you would be dead on the first->> the arena shakes due to a strong impact, "What the f- Spontaneous human combustion?! Something really bad is coming!" <<Free me!>>
<<Now you're asking too much, Number 33-kun.>> says Yamato looking at the arena shocked, <<I can't free you, let's rejoin with the others.>>
<<There's no time! I don't want to put you in troubles because I run away, free me!>>
"I can clearly feel his feelings this time. Is he acting to be unchained?" the guard stares at the inmate, "In this chaos, I can't let him go." <<If I run faster, can we rejoin the others before the worst will happen?>>
<<If you reach my speed and let me fully lead you.>>
"It is bad for an officer to give so much trust to an inmate?" <<Go!>> as soon Yamato said that word, his body is dragged with so much power that it took him off guard, completely, "Is he so fast? Damn..." he struggles to follow his prisoner, he isn't surprised that no one could catch or chase him, but if he wants to avoid the worst, he must stick up with that, "I'll take it as a new training session."
In a bunch of minutes, they almost reach their destination, but the Number 33 doesn't look forward, his eyes are glued on the pile of ruins cut by something... and now a scary presence replaces the rocks.
"What.... What's going on?" he slows down when he rejoins with the others, but soon, a shocked expression takes over his face, "I've seen that form... Why Jyugo has his blade too? He knows my target?"
Jyugo walks out from the lay of dust and everyone stares at him scared. His shackles are gone, his arms turned into huge, sharp and black blades, his beautiful mismatched eyes turned into a vivid red, his neck and ankles are covered in a black material that looks really resistant....
<<Why do you want to find that man?>> asks Musashi amused that he forced his opponent to reveal himself, <<Is it to remove those shackles? Of course, it is. Once they see that form of yours, everyone will believe that you are monster.>>
"I won't forgive him..." Jyugo glares deadly at Musashi, he looks like a beast, "He bound me, took my freedom, and tampered with my body's structure.... I'm broken because of him!" <<It's all his fault!>> he raises his blade and slashes down strongly, tearing apart the ground and the arena in front of him.
[Emergency! All inmates must follow the guards' instructions and calmly evacuate!] even if Mitsuru said to stay calm, everyone runs in panic towards the exits, pushing each other, [Guess that's useless after they saw that attack.]
<<I'm alive...>> sighs relived Uno under Yamato's arm.
<<Are you all right?>> asks Godai, he saved everyone before the attack could hit them, Seitarou is safe too, and runs to help his coworkers in the evacuation, <<Be careful!>>
<<Hold on, where's Ayu?>> says Uno worried, <<Ayu! Ayu! A->>
<<There's no need to scream, I can hear you.>> he stares intensively at Jyugo and his rival, <<Yamato, give me a weapon, I'll stop them.>>
<<Are you crazy?! First of all, if you are behind us don't hide your presence, thank you very much!>> screams Uno scolding his friend, <<Second of all, the guards will take care of this->>
<<Shut up for a second, I'm thinking.>> his tone scared his cellmates, it's was a while since he didn't use that harsh and roaring voice, "Both of them are full of openings, I can take them down easily, the problems are the guards. If I want to stop Jyugo before he kills someone, the guards will stop me first, thinking that I'm going to kill them. What can I do?"
<<Apprehend those two!!>> the warder screams her orders and as Ayu predicted, all the guards are running towards Number 15 and Number 634, <<Their powers are beyond our comprehension! Capture them and reveal their identities!>>
The chaos is began, inside the ring there are the guards who tries to capture the inmates, while those two are fighting against each other and keep away the officers at the same time. Rock, Uno and Nico try to drag Ayu out, but the man doesn't move an inch from there; he keeps staring at the fight, as if he's planning to do something. Yamato encourages the inmates of the Cell 13 to evacuate because the fight is getting too heated, but they refuse to run away without helping Jyugo, and that feeling gets stronger after Yamato said that what both, Number 15 and Number 634 are doing, is going to be punished with a trial.
<<You should say that after you captured me, little dog!>> Musashi throws his fire ball creating a big wall of fire, <<I'm afraid I have no interest in weaklings->>
<<Then you don't have any problems with me, right?>> an oppressing voice sends a thrill of terror over the two inmates' back, that take distance from the origin of that voice, <<Don't make me use force, stop it right now.>>
<<Number 33, you bastard!!>> yells Hajime, <<Go back with the others!>> Number 634 sees shockingly that Gokuu and Kiji defended their coworkers successfully, <<I have enough of you!>>
<<Jyugo, if you stop now I'll tell you everything I know about the man that you're looking for.>> Number 15's eyes twitch at those words, <<There's no need to dirty your hands with blood. I will kill him for you.>>
<<Tell me what you know about him... Say it!!!>> Jyugo begins to cut everything again, but he can't hit Ayu not even once.
<<I attracted his attention, you better do your fucking job with the fire one.>> Ayu walks near the officers to leave the message and kicks the ground towards Jyugo to reduce the damages on the building.
The warden observes carefully everything and admits that Ayu's skills are divine, he doesn't receive the blade or block it, he just follows Jyugo's pace and guides his blades without the inmate notices it. But it gets harder because his cellmate won't listen to him and the guards are trying to capture him too.
<<Say it!! What do you know about him!!>>
"He's in berserk, should I knock him down now?" suddenly, Yozakura's whip grabs his neck and pulls him back, Hajime shoots to force him to follow that way, while Gokuu and Kiji keep watching over Musashi, <<What the hell are you doing? I'm helping you.>>
<<You're the most dangerous one, Number 1333!>> says Kenshiro with his deep voice, <<We won't let you do as you want!>>
<<Don't you see that I don't have wills to harm.>> Sugoroku aims to his arm and shoots without regrets, <<I hope you're kidding me...>> Ayu doesn't seem to feel the bullet that just hit him, <<Where are you aiming, you idiot. Oi woman, say something to your stupid dogs!>>
While the supervisor of the Building 4 is holding Ayu in place, Hajime starts to shoot an entire magazine to Number 15, but he easily cut the bullets.
<<Let me go, Yozakura Kenshiro.>> roars Number 33, <<If you care for your life, free me from this toy.>>
<<There are bits of anesthetic needles embedded in my whip. Even the most savage beast will be calmed for a time. You won't go anywhere, Silent Death.>>
"I'm getting pissed... Should I kill him? These people aren't at my level anyway." Ayu falls on his knees and thinks, "No, if I kill a guard, a trail will convict me to death as well, I need to meet that man before I die... After I end his life, I'll quit being an assassin and start a new life."
<<Oi, oi... Hajime is mercilessly...>> comments Rock watching the development of the event, <<He shot even at Ayu.>>
<<They're dead serious...>> adds Uno sweating for the pressure, "Ayu joined the fight and we couldn't stop him, he completely erased his presence and moved without any sound... The guards are ready to kill if the inmates don't want to listen... Now, not only Jyugo, but even Ayu is in danger..." <<Jyugo!!>> instinctually, Uno runs towards the center of the fight, ready to help his friends.
<<You guys! What the hell are you->> Hajime is hushed by Number 11's shout.
<<Rock! Go behind him on his left side and grab his right arm first!>> Number 69 obeys but his friends went completely crazy, so Nico hits him behind the neck to knock him down but it doesn't work, <<Jyugo... I know all your habits, since we have been together for a long time.>>
Ayu tries again to free himself without using too much power, but it's useless, <<Oi woman.>> that change of voice attires Momoko's attention right away, <<If you care for your subordinates' lives, order them to let me go. If not, this prison will become a pool of blood in a few minutes.>>
<<Rock! Nico!>> Number 11's scream moves Ayu's attention to him, Jyugo took Uno as his new target.
"Now I remember what this feeling is. Being powerless in front of a tragedy, someone is hurting the people that care for me as much as I do. That was the sensation of before... Fine, I'll do it. It's been a while since I flipped my switch on, but I must save Uno and the others..."
---Continue...
Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
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takerfoxx · 8 years
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“Fires of the Sun, Part 6″ Thoughts
I know this is coming late, but i had a busy weekend. Stupid million sport games and most of my coworkers calling out.
I'm going to skim over most of the opening scene, as there's little to add, and just comment on the bit where the Dragons accidentally barbecue the mob. I went back and forth on whether or not to go through with that, as I've been trying to pull away from grimdark plot twists. One possibility was to have them break up out of the ground when Yukari was exploring the ruins of Mugenkan and unknowingly attack her, and have Yuuka reform and go after her with the mordite blade when she was distracted. But in the end, I went with this direction because A, I needed to keep Yukari and co. busy for a little while longer so Rin could wrap things up with Sakuya, and B, Mima's plan needed to succeed in a major way. Thus far, only Patchouli ended up falling victim to her revenge scheme, and with Satori's rescue her dupes actually ended up netting something of a profit. So having her successfully rack up a huge amount of collateral damage and put it on Yukari's shoulders helped cement her as a dangerous antagonist and set up Yukari's attempts to take her down in the future.
Rin and Flandre's cute little celebration helped establish a few points. First, in a callback to her misunderstanding how handshakes work during her meeting with Utsuho, Flandre not getting high fives really is clueless about how to interact with people. Even going beyond her fits of destructive rage, she doesn't know about handshakes, doesn't know how high fives work, and just doesn't get how to function as a normal person. She's never had the opportunity to learn. I personally feel that, once you get past her psychotic episodes, she really is a sweet girl at heart. This is further emphasized by her and Rin's reactions to Yuuka's "death." Rin didn't feel bad one little bit, while Flandre immediately was hit by guilt. Not to say that Rin should have felt bad. Hell, I don't think anyone would claim that Yuuka was someone worth shedding tears over. Still, it does sort of show that, despite their similarities, they're sort of developing in opposite directions. Rin started off as meek and scared and really hesitant to hurt anyone, and now she's finally run out of fucks to give and gladly dishes out beatdowns when the situation calls for it. Flandre was violently unpredictable at best, far more prone to berserker rages before Rin unlocked the Adult personality, but now feels terrible for contributing to anyone's death, even a monster like Yuuka. I don't know if that's going to lead anywhere, but it's interesting to note.
Now, I'm not going to say all of Wriggle and Kogasa's frequent interactions are necessarily leading anywhere, but…well, okay. So maybe I'm just sort of testing the water with that one. Romance is something I've mostly avoided until now, and do sort of want to expand things in the future and try out different things, so…it's a possibility, let's just keep it at that.
Rumia's insomnia problems are interesting on a meta level. I introduced them mainly because of my own time with having chronic insomnia and how much that ended up affecting me. Now I've long gotten over them while Rumia still has them, poor kid. Obviously her problems are way greater than mine. I just messed myself up with unhealthy habits. With her, I think something is definitely screwed up in her brain. I was actually going to take it even further with her frequently hallucinating that she was still in Rin's mind like that one time by the river. This didn't end up happening mainly because when you got a lot of plotlines running around, sometimes interesting ideas just have to get cut.
Smug, incompetent Yukari got a lot of flak early on in this story's run, and admittedly deservingly so. I still feel she got a harsher rap than she should have, but that's just my opinion. I worked pretty hard to soften her up somewhere around the mid-point, and may have overcompensated at points, but here at the end I do feel she's finally settled into a nice groove as a take-charge commander. Hey, I like strong authority figures in my stories. Just don't insinuate anything of my sexual preferences from that.
And I don't know if Kotohime was taking a dump or not, I just hope she found time to wipe if she did.
In other news, I really should have paid more attention to Doremy Sweet's design, as I kept describing her as having a puffball tails instead of a cow tail until the very end. Another reason to go back and just fix all the mistakes. Though interesting to note, I was thinking of including Wriggle in that final climax with Yuuka, to have her attack her from behind with an army of insects and just call her out on all the shit Yuuka had done to her while kicking her in the head over and over. Unfortunately this got cut for the same reason everything else did: no room for it. Which is a shame, because she did deserve that closure. Rin apologizing to her for it was sort of to make up for not including it.
I do like Wriggle's constant concern for Elly, even after everything that had happened. I think the flashbacks to when they were friends were a major part of the decision to start portraying Elly in a more sympathetic light. I was actually kind of tempted to have Rin successfully kidnap Elly and bring her along for a sort of weird forced face turn. Alas, I needed her elsewhere, so instead she got paired off with Yuuka's super-burnt body instead.
While I'm pretty happy with how FotS came out as a whole, there are three parts that stand out in my mind as personal highlights. The first is Utsuho's speech to Rin from earlier. The second is that final mental confrontation between Rin, Flandre, and Yuuka. And the third is the faceoff between Sakuya and Rin, with Rumia's life and Flandre's freedom on the line. Something I've learned from wrestling and various other action-heavy series is that you don't need a bunch of flashy moves and big explosions to craft a memorable showdown. You just need two people with clear motivations who really don't like each other stuck in the same room with something very important on the line that neither of them can afford to lose. Though I actually had to rewrite a couple parts in post, as originally Rin was going to go straight from saving Rumia to threatening Sakuya with the knife without so much as checking up in Rumia. I've mentioned being on the autistic spectrum a couple times, and unfortunately that does mean I often overlook those sort of empathetic details. And no, that doesn't mean I don't have empathy; far from it. It just means that my way of expressing it is often a bit…off from everyone else, and I sometimes have to remember how most people express emotion when writing. So that whole bit had to get changed to have Rin express the emotions she ought be expressing, as well as that short confrontation between Rin and Flandre over Patchouli's death to make Rin more panicky over Rumia's peril. I like the way I am and wouldn't change it even if I could, but it does mean that I sometimes have to consciously remember to do things that most people just do naturally.
Anyway, this scene was also another example of foreseeing logical problems and countering them ahead of time to avoid fridge logic. Why wouldn't Sakuya just stop time to begin with? Well, she needed to force Rin to give up Flandre. Why wouldn't she do it when Flandre was released? Her hands were full and Rin would have killed her the second the pocketwatch appeared. The tricky one was why she wouldn't just stop time after Flandre was out and Rin was otherwise distracted. Thinking of this problem actually led to a pretty cool bit where she tried doing just that and Flandre seeing it and screaming out a warning. I was stumped at how Rin would get to her in time before she pressed down. I mean, she's really fast and all, but she's not that fast. Then I remembered that Flandre's power is instantaneous, and it would be a great symbolic moment to have her be the one to destroy the pocketwatch, followed be her getting defenestrated. Hey, I like Sakuya as much as the next guy, and totally get where she was coming from. But come on. From Rin's point of view, she totally deserved that.
Which was then followed by Mima trying to squish her with rocks (and boy, was it tough to arrange things so that would end up happening after all!) and Meiling comes in with the save! Nothing much to say about that except I thought it was rad. Yeah, I really liked these last couple of chapters.
Now, if anyone is curious, Yuuka's odd look and bizarre babbling are a parody of Broken Matt Hardy, a pro wrestler (and yes, my life does in fact revolve around pro wrestling. Deal with it), whose…unusual reinvention of himself was one of the most talked about stories in 2016. Suffice to say, it's weird, it's indescribable, and it's very, very entertaining. I love the character, and couldn't resist sticking in a little shoutout, mainly to see if anyone would notice. And someone actually did!
Though, on a side note, it was actually originally Sunshu that was supposed to take the hit from the mordite blade. That's why she showed up in that scene where Yukari slapped her and Orin down. I had an idea where she'd break free, storm into the mansion, and go after Yukari again only to get killed by Yuuka. But that was scrapped because I figured that the GPF knew their stuff and would be able to restrain even an oni, especially one that Yukari had already put down. Besides, Shinki taking the hit instead opens things up for some interesting future developments.
Other things that I got a kick out included the fact that the Dragon King's name is Frank. Okay, Francioux, whatever. It made me giggle. As did Rin pretty much lighting Sariel up like a Looney Tunes bomb explosion. BECAUSE I'M AN ADULT!
Another thing I haven't talked much about: Mima and Seiga's role in FotS. Here, they pretty much were the Greek chorus, watching and commenting on the action. With so many moving parts, it was useful to have a sort of outside perspective explaining the various characters motivations and why they would do some things, as well as set up the couple of times Mima interfered. In things like The Storm and The Curious Case of Rin Satsuki, Yuuka filled that role, but since Lady Meika already said that she was going to refrain from doing commentary that role was instead filled by a different set of assholes.
And no, I have no idea how Seiga and Futo got down there so quickly. Use your imaginations. Though I can already tell that Futo's speech patterns are going to be a pain in the ass until I get the hang of this old-timey talk.
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