#testing all of my limited Spanish with this one

[lavenderinmoonlight]

Episode three of Matador Gothic:

"How much of that did you hear?" "... Enough to say I hope we get married by the end of this story?"

[todayisafridaynight]

grabbing the ichi plush by the neck and death gripping it like 'good things are to come its all going to be ok good things are to come' like its a lucky amulet

[antiguagealach]

Thoughts about this relationship

First of all I am sorry for my English, but its not my first language. I will try to express myself the best I can. (If anyone wants the Spanish version, let me know.) 🥲

Before watching Rings of Power, I was already familiar with all the lore surrounding Elrond because he’s always been my favorite character. So, when the first season aired, I watched it with the idea that Elrond and Galadriel had this mother-in-law/son-in-law dynamic. That was a mistake on my part because I didn’t realize the show could take a different path as an adaptation. I should’ve kept an open mind to this new take instead of being stuck on the original lore. I think that’s why, up until episode 2x07, the relationship between Elrond and Galadriel felt a bit weird to me.

After that episode, I decided to rewatch the series from the start, but this time without any preconceived ideas, just enjoying the show for what it is, without thinking about what will happen or following any specific lore. And I think I’ve figured out what they’re trying to do:

By unifying several storylines that in the books take place over centuries into one timeline, they’ve limited the appearance of certain characters—like Celebrian, for example. I get that, for Galadriel's character development, she can't be a mother just yet. But considering I’m 99.9% sure the series will end with the War of the Last Alliance, there isn’t enough time for Celebrian to be born and for centuries to pass so it wouldn’t feel strange for her to marry Elrond. After all, that would take a thousand years, and Isildur and Elendil don’t have that kind of lifespan. Plus, if we stick to Elrond and Galadriel’s relationship as close friends, Elrond would basically become “Uncle Elrond,” which would feel pretty weird. I think if they had planned to include Celebrian from the start, the relationship between Elrond and Galadriel would have been portrayed differently.

That’s why I have the feeling the show is playing off some of Tolkien’s earlier notes, which hinted that these two characters could’ve been married. As I read recently, a Tolkien expert said this world was always evolving—so why shouldn’t the series took a diferent way too?

What I see is that the show has been testing the waters with this potential relationship since season one, probably to gauge the fans' reaction. What’s my evidence? The kiss scene. Not just the kiss itself, but the music. All the elements surrounding that moment suggest something beyond just a platonic relationship (and I know people who saw that scene and felt the same, even without knowing anything about the lore). Plus, throughout season two, we see Elrond rejecting the rings because they could be manipulated by Sauron, but in that final scene, we see the conflict on his face. He doesn’t want to use the rings, but he also wants to save Galadriel’s life. It’s an act of love where Elrond puts Galadriel’s life above his principles and the risk of using the rings, without hesitation.

I like to think they plan to keep developing this relationship (a friends-to-lovers), even if they do it subtly so that the purists don’t get too upset. And then, in the final episode, just confirm it all and not care about the backlash anymore.

But if it were up to me, they would confirm it in the next season. 😋

I hope they continue be brave.

[magicfootballstuff]

Please can we have a mapi leon ficlet?

You arrive at training one morning to find a bit of a commotion in the changing room. 

Having only lived in Barcelona for a few months, your Spanish is still at a fairly basic level and your Catalan is limited to just a few phrases, but this morning the girls are far too hysterical about something for you to be able to understand what’s going on at all. Whatever it is, it seems to be centring around Alexia and Patri, but you sit down in your usual spot next to Mapi, who is watching on with amusement, and ask her to explain. 

“What’s going on?”

“Alexia went to one of the millions of fancy events she gets to go to and met Patri’s celebrity crush,” Mapi fills you in on the situation.

“Who’s that?”

Mapi gives you a name, but it’s not somebody you’ve heard of and you tell her as much.

“I don’t know who that is?”

“She’s a famous singer here in Spain,” Mapi explains. She messes around with her phone for a few seconds, then tilts the screen towards you, showing you an Instagram post of Alexia dressed in a sparkling black gown standing next to the singer, equally glammed up. “What do you think? Worth the hype?”

Objectively, the singer is quite pretty. But what you say is, “I don’t know if she’s really my type.”

“Okay, but you have to admit she’s hot,” Mapi pushes you, an incredulous frown on her face.

“I … uh, I guess so,” you concede with a shrug.

“So, what is your type then?” Mapi asks, as conversationally as she would if she were asking you what you did on your day off.

You feel your cheeks start to heat up as you reply, “Um, well, historically men.”

“Oh,” Mapi says, her eyes widening in realisation. “Oh.”

“Is that a problem?” you ask.

“Not a problem, just a surprise,” Mapi answers, quickly recovering from her surprise. “I have a bad habit of assuming people are gay until they tell me otherwise. But it’s fine if you’re straight.”

The thing is, you’re probably not straight. In fact, you’re definitely not. But you’re also not quite sure what label applies to you yet, or if there even is a label at all. Even if there was, you’re not practised enough at coming out to be able to drop it into casual conversation without massively overthinking beforehand.

“Anyway, it’s okay to admit that a girl is hot,” Mapi teases you. “We’re not going to suddenly revoke your heterosexual membership card just because you find one woman attractive.”

You allow yourself to laugh.

“What?” Mapi asks, catching her tongue between her teeth as she grins at you. “Do the straights not have memberships? I’m pretty sure I’ve had my gay one since I was about fourteen.”

“Of course you have. Anyway, I don’t think either of those ‘memberships’ is for me.”

You hope Mapi picks up on the meaning behind your words. You don’t think you’re ready to spell it out explicitly yet, but you feel safe enough with Mapi to test the waters a little bit.

“That’s okay,” Mapi says, reaching out to squeeze your thigh in reassurance. “Labels are overrated anyway.”

You feel the relief wash over your body. Mapi is kind and open-minded and you knew she wouldn’t shun you from the team just because you’ve been having an identity crisis recently, but it doesn’t make the idea of admitting it aloud any less scary. But it feels really good to have said it, even if you implied it more than actually said the words yourself.

“You’re actually the first person I’ve admitted that to,” you say, almost laughing in relief, that’s how good it feels to get this off your chest. “That I might want to … you know.”

“Date people who aren’t men?” Mapi finished your sentence for you.

You nod.

“Yeah.”

Mapi reaches for your hand and gives your fingers a squeeze.

“Well I’m flattered to be the first.”

“So, what’s your type?” you ask Mapi.

Perhaps sensing that you want to move on quickly from the big revelation about your identity, Mapi answers straight away.

“Well the most important thing for me is passion,” Mapi tells you. “Passion about football, passion about food, passion about anything really. I love listening to a woman tell me about something that she loves. But also kindness, intelligence, somebody who isn’t afraid to stand up for what they believe in, even if it’s difficult. Integrity, you know? Somebody with strong values.”

“Wow,” you say, amazed that Mapi has given it so much thought, when your own type isn’t much more than the word ‘girls???’ in flickering lights at the front of your mind.

Mapi pushes off the bench, ready to follow the rest of the team, who seem to have calmed down slightly since the hysterics when you first arrived, out onto the pitch, but she turns and shoots you a wicked grin before she leaves, adding, “Oh, and someone with a great ass.”

[kittymeowmeows-stuff]

miguel o'hara x spiderwomen!reader

- 6.3k words

cw: (AFAB), porn w/semi plot , degradation, size kink, manhandling, rough sex, brat taming, fingering, mating press, breeding kink, restraining, bad spanish, just pure filth

- you really didn't know how to keep your mouth shut, even in front of him. always had something to say, you irritated him to know yet god how bad he wanted to put you in your place.. and i guess today was the day

you always had something to say, rather that had been a order, or just a simple task. you always had something that you needed to say.

miguel could feel his resolve slowly slipping. you mouth always something to say back too him, and no matter his authority you still talked back. the only reason you haven't been punished too bad is because you do a damn good job at your work.

if only your mouth could say the same.

miguel had sighed, he knew you were coming to his office, you always did when you came back from a task. it almost a routine, one that he was growing sick of.  he could feel the frustration building up, as he knew you were coming near.

he didn't hear your footsteps, but he could tell. you had that scent, a scent that had driven him crazy. he could feel a headache forming just thinking of it.

looking upward staring at the door, waiting for you.. waiting for you? now that was something that was new. why was he waiting for you? you had driven insane. maybe he was just thinking to much. looking back up he let out a sigh.

then there it was the door knob twisted, the door opened with a click, and there you were. with that damn grin.

"well well, it seems that you were waiting for.." you say walking up to miguel that was sitting behind his desk.

" didn't know you liked my company that much" you giggled. god you truly did drive him insane

" that's not.. what's you point in being here?" miguel says looking straight at you.  annoyance displayed on his face very clearly. you looked at him, feeling another grin being formed on your face

" so cold" you say dramatically, closing your eyes bringing your hand over your face. acting out a scene. slightly opening one eyes you looked at his facial expression. distain clearly written on his face. he features had hardened a bit, his brows knitted. his fingers pinched the bridge of his nose.

" oh you know you love me" you say with a grin finally looking at him straight forward. his face hardened even further, his features tightened.

" stop playing around [name] just give me the report.." he said with a sigh. you pouted a bit but quickly looked collected yourself

"you didn't tell me that you don't love me" you say with a grin

"[name]"

"yeah, yeah i know, it well everything went in place. no troubles this time." you said finally taking things seriously.

miguel just nodded his head, turning his head to face the other way.  he had so much stuff to do, miles had been making it even harder just to finish everything. why couldn't he just stick with the cannon event.

" you know, it's so rude of you to ignore me?" you said. you had made your way behind him. he body tensed up. he could feel your warmth near him.

"leave, i have stuff to do.." he groaned out, you being here wasn't helping. especially when your so near him.

"hmm, could it be the new guy .. what was his name... miles! is giving you such a hard time.." you say a teasing grin forming on your face, as you see his body tensing up.

"[name].. leave.." he stated, you really were testing his patience. he brows had been knitted tightly at this point. usually he wouldn't have felt like his patience slip so easily, yet with everything going on, you were really testing his limits.

you couldn't help but giggle, you really got him all twisted up, you knew that while you were away that a certain little kid was messing with miguel's plans. so with that knowledge you decided to tease him. you knew that he would have responded, yet this type of response was very well welcomed.

" it seems that i was right.. awe is miguel o'hara all worked up over a kid?" you said antagonizingly . you face twisting up it another one of your grins that you always gave him when you were teasing him.

miguel was slowly losing it, he has a whole universe to fix because of a kid, and dealing with your mouth right now it not helping

"Dios ayúdame.." miguel muttered underneath his breath, his native language always came out when he was angry or frustrated. his breath coming out heavy. he finally looked at you, his body turning around to face you.

your eyes had widen a bit, usually when he gets annoyed he just told you to go away.. but this time something had changed, this was new.

"oh wow, you really must be really stressed out from this new kid.." you say still rilling him up, knowing how every little word that falls from your lips always sent him mad. it gave you taste of satisfaction.

" i won't repeat this again.. leave.." he growled, his annoyance clearly displayed on his face. his fangs were popped outwards, your mouth was really getting to him. his fist were clenched tightly shut, in some type of restraint

" yeah yeah.. i'll go." you said, your grin had flattered a little. you turned you body around looking directly at the door, your feet finally moving. no sound was made, yet it was obvious that you were leaving.

miguel had finally unclenched his fist at noticing that you were leaving. he let out a sigh, but you would never leave without a few words. even if you were in serve trouble.

" i think i'll have to meet that miles kid.." you said underneath your breath, but you knew he heard it. you definitely knew when you heard the groan that left his lips. the deep growl that always sent shivers down you spine all the way to in between your legs. it always made your thighs to clenched together.

"That's it ....No more..I'm done.."

that was words that left his mouth before you we're quickly pulled down to ground by his webs.

your eyes widen, your arms were pulled upwards leaving you defenseless.

"miguel what the fuck?!" you spit out, sure you knew you were teasing him, testing his patience, but this wasn't the first time you've done this. yet this reaction was new.

yet for some reason you didn't mind as much as you probably should.

"Mira lo que causaste, mi querida.." miguel said in his native tongue, the growl coming out. his throat letting it vibrate deep in his chest. he was now walking up to you. his foot steps seeming so loud. you could basically hear your heart beating out of you chest.

sucking in a breath feeling the burn from in your lungs. god you were losing your breath. he looked so much bigger in this angle. looming over you. he was towing over, he's shadow covering you in darkness

" didn't i say to stop.." miguel said he's voice coming out a lot deeper, his annoyance clearly displayed on his face.

"uhh, yeah? but why am i pinned up like this.. oh don't tell me your into this.." you said. even in a situation like this you still had something to say. you mouth always fucking moving.

" esa boca tuya.. never knowing when to shut up.." miguel growled. he's features were now dark. he looked pissed. you started to think that maybe you should've have pushed him that far.

you felt yourself being pulled up by his webs, yanked upwards. you winced in pain at feeling your arms being stretched out.

"fuck.." you groaned in pain. you could feel your feet finally touching the ground, but your arms were still being held up by miguel's webs.

you looked upwards to stare at miguel, and let out some colorful words. yet before you could even speak, felt his rough hand gripping your chin, in a painfully way. you let a whine of pain. you tried to look the other way yet his grip was to fucking tight your chin

"you always have something to say, yet when you finally get called out. you turn your head act like nothing happened.." he spit out. he pulled you chin to stare into his eyes.

"and i'm sick of that mouth of yours.." he said he's words laced with venom. his fangs were very obvious because of his anger.

"y-yeah and why would i care.." you spit out  still staring at him. you wouldn't let him just speak to you without you saying something back

"and to see you still think you have so many fucking words in your mouth.." he said his grip becoming more painful. he yanked you once more. this time you could feel his breath upon your lips. he was so close to you.

"miedra.." he growled, then you felt it. his lips on yours. it so much, teeth clinked together. you eyes widen, you groaned into the kiss. his fangs nicked your lip. you could taste the metallic taste in your mouth, yet you couldn't speak not when his tongue was tangled with yours.

his tongue bullied it way into your mouth, the muscle basically stuffed down your throat. your tried to push it out with your tongue, yet it only seemed to make him to kiss you even harder. his hand that was once gripping chin was now on the other side of your cheek. his thumb pushed on the side of your lips that were already being stretched by kiss. he put pressure onto the conjugation of your lips.

making your mouth open even more. leaving so much room for him to stuff his tongue farther down your throat.

you yanked your head backwards, needing a breath. panting out loud you felt the burn from the lack of oxygen, and sting from inhaling so much. a string of saliva connected you guys. your lips glistening from so much saliva from his mouth and your mouth.

miguel's thumb swiped across yours gently wiping the strand off your lip. he stared intensely at your lips, the redness and sallowness that formed from his fangs that nicked your lip. he eyes trailed to the blood that seeped from it.

he leaned closer to your face once more, his tongue slipping across your lip, tasting the blood that was coming out.

your breath hitched at his action. you were quick to speak once more, you lips parting to get your words out. miguel was quick to shut you up.

"you still don't know how to shut up do you.." he speaks in a low tone. the rumble in his chest being very obvious.

you breathe quickened at his words. your thighs clenching together.  usually you would be able to bite back with your sharp tongue yet right now words couldn't even form. this was overwhelming.

" there, there no more words .." he spoke once more . the condescending tone of his voice, was sending you places that you didn't know you could go too.

he griped your chin once more, his breath hot your face. you could smell the scent of his cologne. the strong smell that always keep you awake at night.

" always having something to say.. irritating me to know end " he said he face leaning closer towards you. you to wanted to just grip his face bring him in for another heated kiss, but you couldn't do anything with the webs that held you upwards.

" but it seems that this worked.. i should've done this earlier if i knew it would work so well" he said with that smirk. he leaned closer his breath ghosting over your lips. you groaned.

"miguel.. you fucking tease.." you said with groan. you face flushed. you were so fucking pent up right now. not being able to move you arms.

he just sneered at your desperation, he licked his lips. his tongue swiping over his fangs. his eyes were darkened with a more carnal desire.  his hand came back up to grab you chin and pulled you to look upwards. your eyes meet his.

that same damn grin was plastered on his face.

"look at you finally understanding what position you are in.." he said. his hand moving your face around like a doll. you really wanted to talk about, say something.. yet nothing came out. like you were in some type of trance.

you glared at him. he saw the intensity that your stare was showing. he just smirked at it.

"y-you bastard.." you finally spit out, you were really getting tired of your arms being in such a awkward position for so long.

" release my god damn arms miguel.." you said you feeling the sting of pain becoming stronger because of the position of your arms.

"no, cariño.." he spoke, his hand finally moving to rest upon you waist. you eyes widen at his warm hands on your waist.

"what the fu-" you were quickly cut off by a tight squeeze on your waist causing a slight whimper to leave your lips

"watch your mouth.." he said his hand siding up down your waist yet never going more down then your hip.

"and why should i?" you spoke out, not wanting to give in , even though you felt the warmth building up down there. you refused to give in without a little fight, that wasn't your style.

his eyes darkened at your words, yet he laughed.

"of course you still have something to say.. esa maldita boca" he growled, his eyes darkening as one of his hands trailing more downwards. ghosting over your hip.

your eyes widen, you body involuntarily squirming in his grip. you pulled at the webs that still held you upright.

he face lean forward to the conjunction of your neck, he's teeth grazing over your neck. ready to bite and tear into your skin, as his tongue protrudes out from his teeth. he licked up towards you neck.

he's warm breath hitting the shell of your ear. sending shivers down your spine all the way to your heat.  you whimpered, you yanked once more on the webs trying to free your hands.

"stop.. fucking moving.." he growled. his hands griping your hips even harder. you winced at his grip. even though it was so rough it didn't help that you felt yourself becoming more hot. your face becoming flushed.

"see if only you behaved more like this.." his lips formed into smirk. his hands rubbing up and down your hips. finally trailing down your legs. he griped the flesh of your thighs before bringing your leg up to his hip. he's face nuzzled into your neck. his lips leaving soft kisses on the soft flesh. so tempting to bite.

you couldn't help let out a sigh of pleasure, the warmness from his mouth on your neck, the pleasure that it was causing making your squirm.

"stop moving.." he spoke in a deep voice, his words sending vibrations to on your skin. you felt your body listening to his words.

"mm.." a simple whine left your lips. you could feel miguel smirk against your skin. his mouth still trailing little kisses across your shoulders, towards your neck.

" see how easy it was to listen and be a good girl?" he spoke lifting his head from the crook of your neck. god you really wanted to just kiss away that smirk, go just cover his mouth with your lips. yet you couldn't do anything, not with your hands pinned upwards and his hand gripping your hip so tightly around. you swear you could feel bruises forming.

you shot him a glare, you wanted so bad to just pull on his hair and yank him into another kiss, but you couldn't move.

"hmm, it seems you want more? is that it." he said condescendingly. his fingers gripping your chin. you could feel his hot breath on your lips, it spread across your face.

"you act like such a brat, yet when i give you just a little attention you act like a fucking slut.. always ready to spread your legs.." he said, he was enjoying this. it was so satisfying to see you finally shut your mouth

" such a dirty slut.. it's laughable.." he said so fucking condescendingly, it was driving you mad, but god was it making you so fucking wet.

god you whimpered at his words. his words sending pleasure down your hot core.  you turned your head the other way, not being able to look at him anymore. you felt his claws swiping over your cheek causing blood to spill.

miguel growled at your disobedience. he was quick to grip your face again. your face being squished together. blood spilling out even more

" fuck cari��o, look what you've done." he growled. you couldn't help but still resist his hands that gripped your cheek.

the tight grip on your hip, tightened even more. you winced in pain. you finally stared at him, your eyes glaring at him.

" and you still don't listen.. maybe this might work" he said his grip on your hip finally releasing. you sighed in relief, the pounding on your hip now subsiding. you stared at him, not knowing what he meant.

his hand trailed down your hip. tracing across your lower abdominal. you sighed in pleasure. you couldn't help but shiver at his touch. his claws that were dangerously sharp, were causing you to feel more anticipation to build up. you couldn't stop but rub your thighs trying to relief some heat that had been building up from his touch.

you felt his fingers trail downwards, following down to your lower stomach. you whimpered softly. your mouth parting slightly. you sucked in some air, needing to feel the burn in your lungs. the desire building up. your core just aching for something.. it was aching for him.

"you know for someone who has such a dirty mouth, you have such a nice body." he said inhaling a deep breath as he continued.

" the same body, that keep me up all night. just imagining how soft your skin would feel underneath my finger tips..." he spoke his hand trailing even further downwards.

your eyes widened, you mouth opening to speak to get something, yet all that left was a sad excuse of his name, ending up like a moan

"fuck.." he growled his finger finally drawing down your core. his finger running up and down your clothed slit.

you whined , your legs slammed shut at his fingers rubbing up and down your sensitive spot. you could feel yourself becoming more and more wet.

"look at you so fucking wet, i could feel you soaking though the fabric.." miguel whispered into your ear. his hot breath hitting your ear sending shivers down your spine. your breathe hitched.

he moved his leg between your legs. opening them up to give him more space for his fingers

"keep them open..." he growled into your ear, his hands moving back to your clothes cunt. his fingers just moving up and down your slit never moving up to touch your clit, give you the stimulation that you desperately desired. your mouth couldn't stop but let out soft whimpers, with some quiet moans.

"fuck..." you whimpered out, you were getting even more frustrated that his fingers wouldn't touch your clit. it was driving you mad. god what you would do to just be able to just remove at least the clothes down there

" awe are you getting so frustrated? but your god damn pussy is dripping it's soaking my fingers though the fabric.." he said condescendingly.

" maybe i should remove this flimsy fabric, and maybe stick a finger in.. huh? you would like that wouldn't you?" he continued to mock you. he words making your drip with arousal. you grind against his fingers. you had become more and more desperate. not being able to move your arms. leaving you to the mercy of miguel who had you going places that you didn't know you could go.

miguel saw you pathetic attempt of trying to chase after your pleasure. it was cute, you thinking you would be able to get everything you want after all that back talk.

"hmm, it seems you want more huh?" he hummed, his breath becoming heavy on your neck. he felt him becoming more hot. he could feel the tightness of his suit. a bulge probably very obvious, yet he could care less about that right now. not when he finally has you on his fingers.

a daydream that he have dreamed many times while alone in the comfort of his own bed. you truly are something, he almost did give in for you, but you need to learn a lesson. you need to finally understand your place.

his rough hands continue to rub up and down your slit. his sharp claws so tantalizingly tracing over the fabric. just threatening to tear the fabric.

he placed open mouth kiss along your neck. his tongue running over the soft skin. savoring your sweet, soft skin. he breathed deeply though his nose. his mouth still moving across your skin. leaving sloppy sounds in the air. it being so intense in your ear.

he put more pressure on your core. you let out a yelp from the sudden pleasure. your face becoming more and more flushed. he really couldn't stop himself now. not after you made such a cute yelp.

his claws finally teared though the fabric. the cold breeze hitting your hot cunt, that was dripping in your arousal. you whimpered at the different temperatures that hit your cunt. you felt your clit twitch in desperation, needing something.

"is this what you wanted.." he cooed in your ear, his finger rubbing on your bare cunt. you could here the sloppy sounds that we're forming with ever rub in between your folds. you felt your core starting to drip out more of your arousal.

you let out a soft whimper as his fingers brushed against your clit, sending electric shocks to your core.

miguel saw your reaction, his index and middle finger, followed your folds to the hood. slowly moving upwards to rub against that small little bundle of nerves.

"fuck..." you whined feeling his finger's finally rub against the sensitive little thing, that you were craving. you legs once again squirmed against his finger. grinding down need more friction. you couldn't even form words when your pussy so desperately wanted

"so greedy, grinding on my hand like a slut.." he spit out, his eyes darkening as he felt the slick build up on his hand. the sloppy sounds becoming more apparent.

"i-i'm not a slut.." you tried to defend yourself, but it came out more like a whimper at his sudden fast pace on your clit. rubbing 8's on your clit. moving the little bud then pulling on it, causing you to let out a whine at the sharp pain and pleasure it caused.

"i wonder.." he said underneath his breath, his finger falling more downwards.  falling down to you've leaking hole. rubbing around the rim.

"how you would sound if i were to stick a finger in, into this sluttly little hole." he said his finger sliding in. your eyes widen . you pulled at the webs that still held your arm upwards. the stretch of his thick finger in your hole, causing a sting. you sucked in a sharp breath of air though your teeth.

you whined, his finger pushing even deeper. you mouth opened into a "O" shape. you could feel his finger sliding more inwards. your velvet inner walls sucking them in greedily, wanting more.  you could feel rough texture of his finger, adding more pleasure, the sting of pain that you once felt when he first added his finger into your pussy, now subsiding.

"fuck..." he mumbled, you stared intently at his finger moving deeper into your cunt. you heard him let a groan, just seeing his hand becoming wet because of the pleasure he caused.

he stared to curl his fingers, your walls tightening even more. you eyes shut close as his fingers rubbed against your walls. you let out a pathetic moan. you were enjoying this so much right now.

his finger continued to rub against your walls curling even more. he pushed even more in, the palm of his hand resting across your cunt. your let out a whine as you felt him grind the palm of his hand on your clit.

he groaned into your ear, sending shivers down your spine. this was so overwhelming, yet you wanted more. wanted so much.

his eyes trailed once more to your cunt that was being stretched by his finger. he let his other finger run through your folds before it found your hole, the one that was being stuffed.

he grinned slightly, his other finger going around your stretched hole.

"A ver si puedes, un dedo mas" he spoke in a low tone. his middle finger plugging into your tight hole. you shut your eyes closed at the sudden fullness, a silent moan leaving your lips.

"h-hah..fuck.." you whimpered, words not fully forming. you felt the muscles in your thighs start to flex from the sudden pressure.

you let out a whine when he started to move his fingers in and out your cunt. the sloppy and filthy sounds overwhelming your senses. it was so overwhelming, miguel was overwhelming all your sense. your mind all thinking of him, and the pleasure that he was creating.

"that feel good..i bet it does.." he groans into your ear. he continued at that pace, he fingers going in and out. the sloppy sounds of your cunt becoming louder because of how wet your pussy was becoming. your juices coving his hand.

you had shut your eyes, droplets of wet tears forming in the corner of your eyes. taking short and sharp breaths though your teeth. it was so surreal. the pleasure causing you to lose your own grip of reality.

you could feel yourself approaching that high really quickly. it was pathetic how you were so close to coming. you were tipping over the edge, and he could tell you were close.

your body was basically vibrating, your legs becoming tremblingly, you upper body squirm around. pulling at the webs that held you up.

"..don't move to much .." he whispered into your ear, his hot breath hitting the shell of your ear. sending shivers down your spine and pussy

you felt yourself clenching around him when he spoke.. and you knew that he knew at this point. you squeezed your eyes closed. moving your head the other way.

it was embarrassing, how close you were, how you were so turned on by him just speaking, and how he was stretching your pussy.

"..hmm you like that don't you.. fucking slut" he groaned into your ear. you whimpered at his words. you cunt clenching around his fingers once again.

you could feel him smirking, this man i swear. you would've tried to say something snarky yet you couldn't, not when his pumping his fingers in and out of your cunt so nicely.

the way he curled his fingers, and the way his palm rubbed against your clit. so overstimulating. you felt tears prickle in the corner of your eyes.

"..f-fuck-" you moaned out. his palm had rubbed once more your clit but this time you knew it was on purpose. he added more pressure and moved his palm of his hand up and down your clit, all while pumping in and out your pussy

"be a good girl..and cum" Miguel whispered into your ear, and that was it. the knot that had built up broke. you thighs flexed as you came.

your eyes rolling to the back of your head, you let out a broken moan of his name as you came. your juices soaking his hands , yet he didn't stop. he keep letting you ride the high, it was to much.

"h-hah...mm- no more.." you whined, your clit beginning to ache of pain from overstimulation. you felt miguel finger's finally stop. you were finally able to get a breathe of air.

your vision had gotten blurry from your orgasm. when you finally came to your senses, you saw miguel smirking over you.

"..w-what you smirking at..h-hah.." you snapped back.

"you and that mouth..." he spoke pushing his fingers in your mouth. your eyes widened tears pricking in your eyes as you gagged on his digits

"see isn't this much better?" he said condescendingly. his eyes stared intensely at your mouth as you choked down on his fingers. you could taste yourself.

he yanked his fingers out from your mouth. you let out a choked sound as you we're finally able to breath properly. as you were catching your breath miguel was quick to detach you from the webs that once held you up.

you let a sigh of relief, but a soon as that happened you were pushed against a desk. you looked up at him, opening your mouth to speak only to muffled by his tongue being stuff down your throat.

you let out another grunt, but you kissed him back your tongue tangling with his. your mouth moving in sync. you could feel his fangs just grazing over your lips and tongue. it was so overwhelming.

you felt his hands on your thighs, he gripped it tightly before pushing both your legs up to your chest. you let out a whine from the discomfort of your legs being pushed tightly against your chest

miguel eyes trailed downwards to your pretty little pussy.

"so fucking beautiful.." he said. he pushed himself against you. you felt more discomfort and the tightness of your chest from the pressure. his forearms rested against the desk right next to your face.

you took deep breaths as you looked at him with lusted filled eyes..even though your clit twitched in overstimulation. your cunt was wanting more, wanting something bigger. needed something bigger

"you ready..?" he spoke into your ear. you were gonna speak but before you could speak your felt the head of his cock rubbing up and down your folds.

you let out a pathetic whimper. he continued to rub the tip though your folds, collecting all your juices before he moved his cock to the entrance of your cunt.

you let out a whine. you felt so defenseless and vulnerable. you couldn't move anything, your whole body being held down just by his body. you couldn't wrap you legs around his waist and make him put it in. it was so antagonizing.

you looked down to see, his big cock just glistening in your juices . you were able to free your arms. you were quick to warp your arms around his neck. pull his face close to you. you were so needy at this point.

"watch yourself, mi cariño" he groaned into your ear. just the tip of his cock slightly pushing its way into your cunt

even though you knew you should watch your words..you couldn't you need him now.

"..please- hah i need you so bad..please full me up" you moaned into his ear, hoping he would just fuck you so hard that you would see the stars

miguel's face had changed at the words you spoke. his pupils becoming more dialaded. you heard him let out a groan.

then he put all in one thrust. you let out a high moan. your eyes rolling to the back of your head. tears pricking in your eyes. it felt painful at the stretch yet it felt so fucking good.

your walls clenched down on his cock like you were never gonna let hiknleave your insides.

miguel had let out a few grunts. his breathing becoming heavier. he let out a loud groan before he spoke

"f-fuck mi cariño, your so fucking tight." he said. he slammed his hands on the desk right to side of your head. he pulled back his hips just to slam back into your cunt and it sucked him back in like it was meant to be there.

he was so deep, your walls clamped down on him. you moaned like a dog in heat it was so pathetic but you didn't care not when he's cock was pounding your pussy like you were a toy

the loud sounds of skin slapping bouncing off the walls. your loud moans sending more blood to miguel's cock as he fucked you like a fucking toy.

his body pressed against yours that made you feel like you can't go anywhere. just simple a little cock sleeve for him to use with no regrets.

you felt so fucking good, squeezing down on his cock like a needy whore, and you we're finally shutting that mouth of yours. miguel continued to move his hips, his thrust being hard and so deep to the point he felt like he was in your womb.

your nails dig into the back, blood being drawn as you held on for dear life. the way miguel was fucking you made the whole desk shake, griping onto the miguel was the only thing that was stable. even you body was moving up with the way he was thrusting into your cunt.

the sounds of your wet cunt were so loud. even your moans coudnt cover the sound that your cunt was making.

miguel's looked down where his cock was pumping into you. he let groan, he slowed down his thurst as hd stared at how a white ring formed at the base of his cock. the way your juices were soaking his balls

he throw his back. fuck you really were gonna be the death of him.

with every thrust, you felt your cunt memorizing every detail of his cock. how his cock had a slight curve to it or how he had three big veins, two of them on the bottom near his balls while the other that ran upwards near the tip of cock. so overwhelmingly.

you could feel saliva leaking from your mouth. you were fucked out of your mind. nothing on your mind except him, and how his cock felt inside you.

"hmm, already fucked senseless huh?" he said condescendingly.  he let out another grunt as he felt your cunt squeeze around his cock. some swear words leaving his mouth.

he throw his head back, letting out grunts and groans, and the occasional growl. he bit his lip. his fangs digging into his lips, blood being spilled. all he wanted to do at this point was fill you up to brim with cum. all the way into your womb.

he felt his cock twitch at the thought, breeding..getting you pregnant so you would just be a obedient little housewife. fuck he was so close.

he felt your cunt squeeze once more around his cock this time a loud moan falling it. then he felt the way your pussy pulsed..fuck you came again.

his hands came to your legs that were once pressed against your chest. he moved them over his shoulders. you felt the stretch of your legs though the post-orgasm

you let out a whine. he didn't stop his brutal thrusts. your pussy so stretched out from his cock, he felt like he had spilt you in half.

"fuck..i'm gonna fill you up with so much cum.." he groaned into your ear. he trailed kisses down your neck.  you let out another pathetic moan at his words. you were so out of it, but you wanted to filled you needed to be.

"hmm.." miguel hummed, his thrusts becoming faster. your nails digging more into his shoulder blades. more blood being spilled, yet it didn't matter not when you pussy is just asking to filled

miguel press his body closer towards yours, pushing your legs even further, the uncomfortable sensation was soon turning into pleasure.

miguel leaned in for a kiss. the kiss was so sloppy. saliva being smeared everywhere. he nibbled on your lips before trailing his kisses down your neck. his kisses soon turning into sucking. his fangs grazing your neck.

miguel's thrusts became more sloppy. his groans and grunts becoming more and more louder.

he was so close, and he was gonna fill you up until your cunt was overflowing with his cum. he sallowed before he did one more deep thrust. you felt it hit that spot that sent you seeing stars.

you let out another choked moan, you came all around his cock. miguel let out a choked out grunt before you felt ropes of warm cum feeling your insides

your pussy pulsed around his dick miguel had throw his head back as he continued to send ropes and ropes of his white creamy cum filling your womb with his seed.

miguel finally catches his breath. you look down at we're you guys we're connected. he slowly pulled out. you let out a soft whimper as you felt his cock leave your cunt

miguel let out a soft groan as he stared at your cunt that was oozing out his cum. he rubbed the tip of his now soften cock up and down your slit before he pushed the tip back in.

your eyes widened when you felt him push his tip back in, though your post orgasm state you choked out a response

"..h-hah, no more..fuck i swear to got miguel" you spoke. you started at him with half lidded eyes. then you saw his face twist into a grin

" it's seems you still have some words left in you..i guess i'm just gonna have to fuck the rest out of you..mi cariño.."

[nxrdamp]

Miguel O'Hara x Fem! Assistant! Reader | Unmasked

TW: language, no use of y/n, some google translate Spanish because I do not speak Spanish.

Word Count: 2,228

| Your POV |

Miguel O'Hara.

I'd use only one word to describe a man like him.

Arrogant.

Extremely arrogant in fact, so arrogant he hired me. Why is that so arrogant, one might ask, well he's arrogant because his personal hobby is to make my life a living, breathing hell! Why is this? Only his big, arrogant, sadistic mind knows. How is he arrogant? Well...

"I thought I said no cream," Miguel said, his eyebrows furrowing for the 20th time today. It's 8:30 in the morning. He sighed and placed the coffee down on his desk hazardously as if everything doesn't have a price tag with a pretty penny attached to it. Miguel O'Hara, one of the leading scientists at Alchemax, what does he do? I don't really know to be honest, I tried to ask once but that made him even pissier, saying something along the lines of "the fate" of something and "confidential to civilians".

"That's what I ordered sir," I said, picking up the coffee cup that was almost tipped over due to his carelessness. God, can this day really test me anymore? It's only the beginning and I've already had to go back for coffee twice.

"I don't care what happened, make it work. I don't want cream and I don't want decaf, I just want plain, black coffee." Yeah, plain like your soul O'Hara. Whatever, this assistant gig pays extremely well since, shockingly, he can't seem to keep an assistant. I wonder why.

"Right away sir," I say, rolling my eyes as I threw away the second coffee cup. Poor coffee, never had the chance. Poor barista who made it, a waste of time. Ungrateful, O'Hara is, he's so stuck up being rich and all from his dumb job in his big stupid lab that he expects someone to just wipe his ass.

"Ah, you said that last time, look where we are." He tutted, sitting at his desk in his office. You heard me, his office, he has a personal lab and an office. What does this guy even do?!

"You have quite a humor." I sarcastically reply, which made him furrow his brows once more. He started to say something, probably along the lines of "I'm your boss" yada yada, before I shut the door to his office, walking back to the elevator to grab yet another coffee from the poor stand on the ground floor of the Alchemax building. The Alchemax building is huge, probably all designed for O'Hara since everyone just adores him here, but it's right next to this....odd building. It's about the same size as the Alchemax Center, they even own it, hell it's connected to our building, but it's off-limits to everyone. Ha, even O'Hara. I'm glad at least some things don't revolve around him.

"Hi again," I said to the barista while monologuing I arrived at the stand, "I need a plain black coffee, please, just please don't put anything in it."

"Um, okay," She said, with her signature snarky attitude. This barista always gets on my nerves. She always screws up Miguel's simple order multiple times a day. I think she has it out for me, honestly. I watch as she is about to pour cream into the cup, smirking like it's the funniest thing in the world.

"Hey." I said, making her jump a little, "I've been down here three times today, four yesterday, you know that I know that you know how to make a damn plain cup of coffee."

"Fine." She said, handing me the cup," free of charge if you don't tell my manager."

"Free of charge for a month, this happened all of last week too," I said, grabbing the cup from her.

"Ugh okay." She said, embarrassment rising to her cheeks as she sees other people in line watching the spectacle.

I give her a smile. before dropping a ten in the tip jar. What, I just haggled the poor teenager into giving me free coffee for a month, while she was being an asshole and I needed a win, she's still a kid. Well now I feel bad, but I don't think I'm going to feel as bad as I am when I walk through O'Hara's office doors.

"So, you learn how to order a plain coffee yet?" O'Hara snarled, his eyes glaring at me. God, this guy sucks. His reddish eyes are just asking to test him, begging even, he must be so dreadfully bored that he just wants me to stick it to him.

At this point, I'm too mentally exhausted to make a witty comeback and I defeatedly hand him his cup, sighing as I walk away. Honestly, I think this job might be too much. This is a calm day compared to last week, running back and forth for food, because everyone everywhere in this building screws up his order. This...is odd, because instead of doing paperwork, ha, paper, that's funny, thinking the word 'paper' makes me feel old, like I'm from the 2020s or something like that! But regardless, my job requirements when I got the job was mainly to fill out his busy work, but 99% of the time, I'm running his errands!! So weird now that I think about this, but anyways, it doesn't matter, at least I hope it doesn't.

| Miguel's POV |

I watch as my assistant leaves, seeing her defeated look as she walks away from my office to go to what I assume is the break room. Even if it isn't lunch, I don't care, I just need her away. I don't need a damn assistant. It's all for looks so these nosy scientists don't meddle in my business, so it looks like I'm still acting as a geneticist. Honestly, if there was one word I'd use to describe her, it's insufferable. So very insufferable.

I would say she messes up my orders on purpose just to spite me, but I know that isn't true. Why isn't that true? Well

"You're so rude Miguel." LYLA said, popping up beside him, "I know she can't know your real work, but that doesn't require you to pick on her!"

"LYLA, go away," I grunt, furrowing my brows once more, that must be the twenty-fifth time today.

"Well Miguel, you're needed in Spider-Society, Jess needs you to conduct that mission report." She said, tilting her little heart-shaped sunglasses.

"Do it yourself LYLA, I don't have time for this. If I keep leaving this building, those scientists are gonna keep harassing me on 'how do I get extra time off?' when I'm working much harder than they ever will, especially that Dr. Ohnn-"

"Save it for Spider-Therapist." LYLA said, "I'll see you in HQ". She disappeared before Miguel could argue further about excuses on why he shouldn't leave Alchemax today.

"Ugh!" He groans, furrowing his eyebrows yet again, it's really a wonder he hasn't developed wrinkles yet, well, more wrinkles than he already has.

| Your POV |

I walk back to Miguel's office, ready to stick it to him. Frankly, I don't care if he's my boss, he can't keep treating me like this. It's a toxic work environment and I'm this close to reporting him to HR.

As I walk closer and closer to his office, I see him speedily walking down the hallway, so, in a moment of stupidity I follow him. Staying silent as I see him walk further and further away from the department of whatever the hell he does, walking closer to the biology sector, by the spider section. Gross, I'd hate to work with a bunch of spiders all day, they give me the heebie-jeebies.

He keeps walking, past where anyone works, and by the......sky bridge. What the hell? He can't go in there! That building is strictly off limits for everyone, even arrogant bosses.

I watch as he turns the corner, looking around to see if anyone was watching him. I duck behind a potted plant, praying he doesn't see me, and unfortunately, he does.

"Are you going to explain why you're hiding behind a snake plant?" Miguel asks, walking over to peer down at me. He cocks his eyebrow, smirking as if he'd found a cat in an amusing position like those old internet videos from a hundred years ago.

"You gonna explain why you're walking into that creepy, off-limits, building?!" I said, popping up from behind the snake plant, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"That's none of your concern, why are you stalking me?"

"I'm not stalking you, I am observing your behavior for the greater good of Alchemax! That building doesn't belong to you, sir!" I said, crossing my arms. The nerve of this guy, he doesn't own all of Nueva York!

"¡Que maravilla! We have a little security guard here! Go back to your desk or I'm docking your pay." Miguel said, scowling. Actually, I don't think his face even changed into a scowl. I don't it's ever not a scowl.

"Ha, that's funny." I say, crossing my arms," You have no control over that! Alchemax controls my pay, not you douche-bag!"

"Watch it." He threatened before his watch device dinged, must be some top-of-the-line Mango device, he always gets new, expensive gadgets. He got the ePhone 80 the other day, it hasn't even come out yet!

"LYLA, I'm busy." He said, turning his back to me like he has something to hide on that dumb, orange holo-watch of his. It's rather bulky compared to other holo-watches. Strange

"Instead of hiding secrets how about we finish this conversation, Miguel?" I said walking around to get face-to-face with him. "What does that thing even do? It looks way too big just to be a holo-watch."

"None of your concern, go back to your desk." He said, trying to cover his watch device. Before he knew it, the picture of the lady from the holo watch started moving around. Damn, this guy and his state-of-the-art stuff.

"Hey there!" She said, moving around, "Im LYLA, an AI assistant. I handle all of the nitty-gritty files, documents, and about everything else for Miguel and the rest of Sp...Alchemax! LYLA stands for LYrate Lifeform Approximation. Pretty neat huh?"

"What the hell, Miguel!" I said, scowling, I guess I'm becoming like him. Ew, scratch that, never say that again. "You have a whole other assistant thing and you make me run around like a dog fetching your food, and magically everyone always gets it wrong!"

"Well that's because Miguel asks them to get it wrong" LYLA answered, leaving Miguel frozen for a split second.

"I'm gonna kill you, Miguel O'Hara. Why would you purposely ask people to make my orders for you wrong?! Is this some kind of sadistic game you get off to? Huh?!"

"No." He finally replied, turning LYLA off before she could make him look any worse, "It's to keep you busy and out of my files." Okay, maybe he didn't even need LYLA to make him look bad.

"Why?!" I asked, throwing my hands up in the air. Thank god this is by that other building where no one comes because we're causing quite a spectacle here.

"Because you can't know!" He barked, gritting his teeth. His teeth...does he have fangs? I squinted my eyes to get a better look, and yes, he has fangs, which are abnormally larger than just some sharp canines.

"Why can't I know?" I asked, my eyesight flicking from his teeth back up to his reddish...no red eyes. Why are they red? How are they red? What is even happening anymore?

"Because no one like you can know. You're not a part of the few who get to know and you better be glad you aren't. This isn't a little day job where you run around with screwed-up orders, this is life or death."

"Just tell me dammit," I said, "it's probably not even that serious. What is serious is if you don't 'fess up, I'm going to report the screwed-up food, the trespassing, the verbal assault, and many other things my wonderful boss has done to me to HR. Then, you'll be fired and no more sneaking around the mysterious building. Spill."

"You could never begin to understand..!"

"Miguel! What is it! Why can't I view your files? Why can't I do my job? Why are you going into that damn building?!"

Miguel taps a few buttons on his watch, sighing. He has to do this Whether he wants to or not, it isn't up to him anymore. He has to maintain access to that building. It's vitally important. Alchemax knows what that building is and why it's Miguel's. It's the only reason he can't sue them for making this monster. How else would a man on a worker's salary, even a good one, afford an entire skyscraper in Nueva York.

I watch as Miguel's entire body fizzles softly before being coated in something anyone who has ever watched the news knows. Anyone who isn't dead or living under a rock so huge they might as well be considered dead. The two red lines that represent eyes look back at me, halting any movement, even my words cannot stumble out of my mouth. For the first time ever it feels as if I didn't have a thought at all.

"I'm Spider-man."

{ Does anyone want a Part 2? }

Read this on A03 : here

Read this on Wattpad: here

[jlfletcher]

All I Really Want Is You

Pairing: Miguel O'Hara x fem!reader

Warnings: bullet wounds, mentions of potential death (no one dies, just a small injury during a mission). This is told in 3rd person limited POV (of Miguel, mostly?). One-sided kind of. Reader can speak Spanish (is that considered a warning?).

Summary: This is how it all began for Miguel. From mere coincidence to something more. (Fluff/Romance)

Excerpt: "He realizes something and it’s inarguable in his mind... Out of all the Spiders, you’re the anomaly."

A/N: This narrative is actually repurposed from my friend's spidersona story. It didn't have any romance in it originally but my version does and the more I wrote, the more it diverged from their initial story. They said they liked this version and gave me the go ahead to post it because they'll probably never share their's anyway.

Special thank you to my friend who edited this thing. I'm grateful that they were able to help me turn my messy notes and ramblings in a cohesive story.

I get really inspired by music. So, if I do continue to publish installments of this story, they'll most likely be written with songs included.

Also, I'm sorry if there are any mistakes. I've never had to format such a long post like this on here before.

Word Count: 13.9k (This is a slow burn)

Breakdown

I'm overworking 'til the sundown

Don't see the light inside my head now

There’s a faint buzzing sound that fills Miguel’s workspace. His eyes are a bit bloodshot and itchy from his lack of blinking. He’s grown irritated by now after hours of surveillance and Lyla badgering him to just take a break already. He keeps swatting her away with languid flicks of his wrist while sighing and rubbing his temple. There’s an ache in his head that’s dull yet ever-present but he feels like rest will not come to him anytime soon. He also remembered that he wanted to run diagnostics on a few of his lab’s systems that would ultimately take a while. The testing is usually run automatically but he’s disabled the scheduled maintenance cycle in order to have tasks to do when he's restless like now. Unfortunately for Miguel’s overactive mind, things have mellowed out in the multiverse for the time being. He's been trying to fill his time as he waits for something, anything to happen. It's caused him to grow a bit on edge as of late. Yes, there are still plenty of anomalies to be dealt with but he’s found the late hours to have grown more quiet. It seems that the uncharacteristic silence has planted an eerie feeling in him that he just can’t shake. What if the moment he steps away, something arises? Lyla calls him paranoid but truthfully, he can’t take the risk of complacency.

Eventually, he plops into his chair and prepares to stare at the monitors for another who knows how many hours. He glances over the society’s various CCTV displays in a sluggish attempt at monitoring the building. Yet, something catches his attention. His eyes zero in on a lone figure in the engineering lab. He blinks a bit slowly and scoots closer to take a better look while disregarding the buttons on the control panel in front of him that actually allows him to zoom in on the feed. The thought had completely escaped his foggy brain thanks to his chronic sleep deprivation. Languidly, his eyes flicker to the time and back up. 4:13 am.

I need to see you in my window

There’s not a doubt in Miguel’s mind about what or more accurately who it may be. It’s your form hunched over the workbench. Your signature pair of shoes gives you away entirely. Frankly, it’s not a surprise at this point. This may be the fourth or fifth time he's noticed your presence at such an unorthodox hour. You always tend to stay late at HQ because of your own odd sleeping schedule. He’s overheard you mention to Jess that your universe has a slight daytime shift compared to the others but he didn’t consider it to be by this much. This was nonetheless a preferred choice of company, albeit in an entirely different area of the building from him, because you're quiet and focus on your work. He's not entirely sure if the two of you have interacted for more than a single minute. Perhaps, that's why he prefers you over others. He's never actually spoken to you outside of very few mission assignments and reports. You've caught his eye before. At first, he noticed you were a bit too quiet. It initially caused suspicion to sew itself within his brain. However, after a brief investigation into you performed by Lyla, he concluded that it's simply the way you behave. Now, when you catch his eye he assumes it's due to how you carry yourself relative to others, professional and efficient. Despite the distance between you two, both figurative and literal in this moment, he finds himself watching you through one of the many floating windows before him. His fingers finally slither among the control panel to switch to a different camera in the lab. After flicking through a couple of feeds, the screen changes to an angle that shows your face. Perhaps he's a bit too tired in this instance because his hazy brain barely registers the way his breath hitches in his throat momentarily.

He's seen your bare face only once before and it summoned the same reaction from him. He's taken aback by how you look. It's a bit of a surprise in all honesty. You're so, for lack of a better term, different. And that's not claimed in some common colloquial way. You are literally different. Here at the society, a handful of faces are circulated between the Spiders. However, yours is unique and undoubtedly you. He's only ever come across one of you, the one that's sitting and tinkering in one of his labs. The last and only time he saw your bare face was a fleeting glance before you quickly shoved your mask back on. He assumes you're a bit shy because of it. However, now he can take his time to really analyze your features. He sees how your brows pinch in concentration and how your eyes look a bit red. Ah, it appears you haven't been blinking properly like him either. He sees how your tongue gently swipes out from your mouth before you nip at your bottom lip. Your hands work on repairing a circuit board with your eyes focused on the corrosion you wipe off. He watches you for a while as you work, finding intrigue in the way you do such mundane tasks as repairing a PCB and reassembling a gadget. Eventually, you sit up and stretch a bit, before rubbing your face in what he collects as either exhaustion or boredom. He understands the feeling, truly. Yet his eyes widen a bit as your eyes look at the camera and he finds himself perking up when he sees you smile. He then zooms out to see that you’re conversing with Lyla. Despite the quick misunderstanding, he finds himself enjoying the scene before him. You speak to her so calmly and casually. Do you often speak with her? Many thoughts start to pop up in his mind about you and your overall enigmatic behavior. Your smile triggers hyperactivity to blossom in his mind, his thoughts reeling at the way you look. Your lips pinch together softly as one side of your mouth curls a bit more than the other. Your brows raise as you speak with Lyla, your contentment is evident. He's caught up in the details of your face and it's nearly instinctual the way the corners of his lips twitch in a subconscious attempt to mirror yours.

And I whisper

All I really want is you

What would you do?

He has formed this habit of watching you in the late nights and early mornings. At first, it was mere coincidence when his eyes lingered on you, maybe even out of some sense of caution, but now he finds himself seeking you out after a month of noticing your constant presence. Lyla teased him about being a creep but he usually just replies with a grunt or the occasional snarky comment. Every night you’re working on something and his curiosity is piqued. However, it appears you work efficiently given how it seems to be a new project every few nights or so. His eyes flutter a bit as he sees Lyla appear next to you. Judging by the way you react to her arrival, it’s just for a chat. He notices how your hands rest over one another in front of you as you nod at what Lyla says, laughing and blinking softly at her. You’re polite when listening, putting down whatever you’re working on to give her your attention. The only assumption he's made from it being that you're simply kind. His eyes are attracted to the way your thumbs twiddle around one another absentmindedly. Do you often fidget like that? He tries to think back on the previous times he witnessed your hands when they were not busy, which is not a common occurrence. And as he watches you, he strokes the panel button under his own thumb subconsciously as if it were the back of your hand. He’s only managed to conclude one thing about them and it’s not about how you fidget.

He mutters to himself deeply in observation, “Pequeñas.”

He looks at your hands, pixelated by the monitor, and then down at his own much bigger ones. He ponders momentarily about just how small they truly are. He's certain that if he were to measure them, the entire length would barely reach 7 inches while his are well past 9, probably even past 10 in actuality. If you placed your palm against his, his hand would completely dwarf yours. If you placed your palm against his... what would it fit like? What would it feel like? What would you do if he held your hand? Wait… why is he thinking about that?

“But,” he mumbles softly as he watches you walk off with Lyla in tow, “I think…”

Laying in the rain with you

Middle of June

It’s been two months since he fully took notice of you that night with his full attention; the night he seen you truly as yourself for the first time. From what Lyla has mentioned, you’ve been here almost every night since you joined the society. It doesn’t bother him that he hadn’t noticed you for so long. To him, it made sense. He often found himself drowned in work. Things were hectic for a while, a long while, but luckily during these past few months, things have been relatively easy. Emergency missions in the middle of the night have been few and far between and usually required only one person to complete them which is why Miguel has been manning the fort all by his lonesome for some time now. However, the only other spider permitted to be at HQ during the overnight hours is you thanks to your completely reversed day-night schedule. The two of you have been on a handful of late night missions together throughout this time but he has yet to speak to you about anything not regarding work. It’s a bit strange if he’s being truthful. You may be the only spider that has never spoken to him casually, ever. Sure, he’s suspected you are antisocial but he hadn’t anticipated it to be by this much. You don’t stand out, you stay focused on your work, and you never talk to anyone. Well, that last one isn’t too unbelievable given the fact that you’re only ever here when everyone else isn’t. Miguel can’t help but wonder if you have ever spoken to anyone in the Society without the intention of completing your professional duties? The closest to such an instance was the one time he heard you speak to Jess which was also the first time he had ever seen you. Jess was going to introduce you to him but he was busy having an argument with Hobie. It never grew to be physical but his shouting certainly must have put you off considering he never saw you around again after that. It makes sense, truthfully, since that was your first impression of him. You must think he's always shouting, irritated, and highly intolerant of disobeying his instruction. That is what he was yelling about at the time after all. Well, that is until he noticed you lingering around the building at night. Honestly, you weren’t even a thought in his mind until Lyla sent him a debriefing of you just before Jess officially assigned you to the night shift. He was going to protest, citing that you have no meritorious experience to do so or something like that but he found out that you don’t actually bother him like everyone else. However, he’s grown very aware of your presence as of late thanks to his more unoccupied overnight schedule.

He even has time to just sit and think about anything other than the multiverse now. Usually, this spare time is occupied by observing you. He likes to sit back and watch all the tasks you do with no one around. He finds it relaxing in a way, which is something he’s grateful for. He’s discovered many things about you through this newfound hobby. You tilt your head with a small pout when you’re confused. You often have music stuck in your head which is made evident by the way you nod your head rhythmically. You rub your face with both hands when you’re tired and only one hand when you’re bored. You like to take power naps under the workbench specifically in the left corner of the lab, closest to the door. You usually wear civilian clothing around HQ at night but always wear the same shoes. You don’t like coffee. You drink tea but it has to be hot with steam billowing from the cup. You drink water more often than tea though, but only at room temperature. You crack your knuckles in 30-minute intervals when you type or tinker for long periods of time. You yawn frequently when the air-conditioner is pointed at you… The list could go on. Honestly, he’s a bit taken aback by how much knowledge he’s retained of your behavior and mannerisms. Why is that exactly? He can’t just claim outright boredom. Watching you is something he avidly chooses to do because he likes it. Bored certainly isn't the word he'd use to describe how observing you makes him feel.

“Why am I doing this?”, he mutters deeply as his eyes watch you type away on a computer. Maybe it’s like a child with an ant farm. It’s simply interesting. No, that doesn’t quite sound right. Even ‘interesting’ doesn’t truly capture how he feels watching you every night.

Soon a bright search window pops up in front of him, making him flinch aggressively. “Lyla!”, he shouts in annoyance as he rubs his stinging eyes; already knowing the culprit.

She pops up next to him with a shrug, “What? You asked a question and I’m answering it.”

He squints softly, his eyes focusing on the window presented to him. There are multiple articles listing words that make him furrow his brows. Intrigue, infatuation, sonder, escapism, comfort-watching. To Lyla’s surprise, he mulls them over but she chalks it up to his sleep deprivation. Some words stick out to him, finding himself unfamiliar with them.

“Comfort-watching.”, he states slowly as he selects the article. It explains what it is and what it stems from, denoting its connection to escapism. “The habitual diversion of the mind to purely imaginative activity or entertainment as an escape from reality or routine.”, he reads aloud, words muffled by his hand stroking his chin. Well, that didn’t make sense, watching you is his routine at this point.

He wouldn’t describe what you do as entertainment in theory and it’s certainly not imaginative. It’s just him watching how you do normal things. He softly chews his lip as he glosses over the other articles.

Lyla mimics his actions and strokes her chin, opening another article in front of her form. “Oh? This’ll be interesting.”, she thinks before speaking to Miguel, who’s now distracted by both the articles and his occasional glances at you. “Why do you like watching y/s/n?” [your spider name]

He replies with a sigh as he waves his hands around, positioning the articles around him, “That's what I’m trying to figure out, Lyla.”

“Just think for a moment. Off the top of your head, what’s one thing you like about doing this?”, she gestures to the monitor containing you. The two of them glance at you through one of the screens standing from your seat and stretching your whole body in an attempt to reduce your exhaustion.

Miguel’s inquisitive eyes soften a bit as he responds earnestly, “It’s familiar.” Lyla’s face flashes a bit in curiosity as she observes his expression. Before she can speak again, he continues, “This is calm and… warm.”

“Warm?”, Lyla asks curiously, her eyes fluttering over the chart in the article she opened. She's notated a couple of checkmarks now, in places she hadn't expected.

His eyes just can’t leave you as he thinks about what he’s said. It’s hard to put exactly into words, “I… appreciate her presence. She’s always there and it makes me feel comfortable.” There’s a strange feeling that stirs inside him upon hearing the words he formulates in response. You, a complete stranger, have somehow become a totem of routine in his eyes. Because after watching you nearly every night, you are always there working. Always. Despite the strange and unpredictable multiverse the two of you reside in, you sit in one of his labs, typing away on a computer. In a sense you’ve become the embodiment of normal.

Lyla repeats quietly but not lacking the casual tone she usually holds, “Her… Do you ever want to talk to y/s/n?”

He hums in thought before replying with an unsure shrug, “Honestly… I never even considered that. I don’t think I need to.”

Lyla glances back at the article and then back to Miguel, “But do you want to?”

His movements stall as her question hangs in the air. He takes a moment to apprehend what she’s asking. His eyes trail slowly from the articles floating around him to you on the CCTV display. You're crawling under that specific workbench in the left corner of the lab for what he knows is a power nap; he finds himself almost smiling at that. Does he want to talk to you? He ponders a situation in which he finds himself conversing with you casually. What would you talk about? He knows you like tea. Would you talk about your favorite kind? What is your favorite kind? How would you pronounce it? How do you pronounce certain words like caramel or aluminum? Maybe like aluminium? Maybe you say it differently than he does. He can imagine a light-hearted debate over phonetics, the two of you drowsy from the late night hours. Maybe you’ll tease him about the way he says it. How would you say… his name? You’ve spoken his name before on missions with a professional tone, always addressing him by his surname. It irks him a bit but he's never gotten around to informing you to just call him Miguel… How would you sound calling out to him in a tone that's amicable and familiar?

He’s broken out of his thoughts by Lyla waving her pixelated arms in front of him and a shout of his name, “Miguel!” He jolts at the sound of an alarm beeping around him. Bold words pop out in front of him, “ANOMALY DETECTED”. He hears his family name called out and straightens at the sound. That’s not Lyla's voice. He turns around to see you in your suit, tucking the hem of your mask into your collar as you trek to his platform. His hand waved behind him, minimizing the displays floating around him to hide the clues to his distraction with a single motion.

He hears you speak in a sober tone as you stand before him, “Lyla informed me that we’re both needed for this one. There’s an anomaly running around a metropolitan area on Earth-26. It travels quickly so we'll have to chase after it. Also, there doesn’t appear to be anyone to help.” He nods quickly, navigating through the multiversal map on his watch to open a portal. He nearly flinches as you gently grasp his forearm, looking up at him slowly.

“O'Hara,” you said calmly, which made him look at you curiously, “full stealth on this one. I’m uncertain how this universe would respond to… our kind.”

His lips nearly press into his natural pout under his mask as you address him by his family name but quickly absorbs what you're truly saying to him. He’s had a couple run-ins with a universe like this before and understands your concern entirely. He slowly pulls your hand from his forearm. The size difference doesn’t skip past him and makes something buzz in the back of his brain. Yet it’s subconscious, the way his fingers linger around yours before he releases them and states firmly, “Stay close to me.” You nod in understanding which he reciprocates before opening a portal. You flip open your watch and quickly calibrate your interface and send sync data to his watch to stay connected during the mission. It’s strange how ready you appear to be but it’s greatly appreciated. He hadn’t realized that he was staring before you turned towards him. You tilt your head softly and unbeknownst to you, he knows without a doubt that it’s out of curiosity. He gives you a nod, hoping it didn’t look as strange as he felt doing it. You step through the portal first and he’s quick to follow after as Lyla observes it all with an inquisitive squint.

All I really want is you

This was an uncommon feeling. You two chased after the anomaly, zipping through the sleeping city's skies quickly. Luckily, you both haven’t been spotted by anyone as you swing through the late-night drizzle. He started feeling a bit… he supposes ‘at ease’ is the best way to put it. He’s not foolish enough to grow complacent mid-mission but being on mission with you, working so seamlessly with him, made this feel easy. You’re professional, giving clear cues and staying on the same page. It’s as if you can hear what he’s thinking. Sure lego Spider-man is a good teammate but you’re a good partner.

The anomaly made its way to a rooftop with you right on its tail. You landed quickly with a soft roll before keeping low to the ground while Miguel landed behind you with a soft grunt. You crouched a bit as you tiptoed around gently, trying not to alarm the anomaly located somewhere nearby. He waits on standby, keeping a lookout for anyone who might see you two while you try to catch the small creature. You freeze as you see the silhouette of it, patting the ground with stubby limbs, seemingly ready to take flight again. That is until you squat down and pat the ground too. It looks at you and tilts its head, another action that you mimic before removing your mask. It slowly walks to its right and you gently shuffle to your left. You release a chuckle as you can see something that looks like a tail wagging. The noise meets Miguel’s ears and he turns to find you squatting and maskless. His eyes widen at the sight, fighting the hitch in his breath as he sees your h/c hair, it looks much softer in person. His eyes narrow is realization as he quickly replaces his intrigue with his usual pragmatism.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he speaks monotone, “What are you doing?”

You release a slow and soft, “Shhhh.” You then gently raise your hand, motioning him to approach you. His fingers twitch instinctively as he looks at your flopping hand and surprises himself by reaching out for it. However, his mellow emotions are doused in confusion as you tug him down quickly. He nearly falls on top of you, clearly not anticipating such sudden strength from you. Luckily, he manages to brace himself, kneeling behind you, and leaning a bit over your shoulder. He’s about to ask what the hell you’re doing when you point to the far corner of the rooftop. His eyes widen as he watches the dark creature slowly slink toward the two of you.

You breathe out quietly to Miguel, “Deactivate your mask.” He turns to you in shock despite you not looking at him. He’s about to protest before you whisper, “It needs to see your face.”

He acquiesces your command and slowly retracts his mask. The air nips at his warm face as he spies the creature tilting its head. You tilt your head too while whispering to him, “Mimic what it does.”

Miguel begins to protest but you quickly cut off his words, “Why-?”

“Just do it.” He nearly rolls his eyes at your sudden command but finds himself following suit as he tilts his head too. He watches curiously as the creature pats the ground with its left paw and you mirror it with your right hand. He grows a bit amused watching the two of you continue this little dance until it slowly crawls closer to you both. Miguel can hear your breath hitch as the creature steps into the light shining from over the door to the rooftop you all are on. It’s dark and covered with scales, with large blue eyes and bat-like wings. Your hand is still placed on the ground as the creature cautiously closes the distance between you. You cautiously turn your hand palm up, Miguel is confused by this but continues to watch nonetheless. The creature's eyes look up at you warily with tightly constricted pupils. You then turn your head, facing away from it and toward Miguel quickly. He barely manages to lean back enough to avoid you smacking your head into his shoulder.

He looks at you quizzically as you whisper to him, “Keep your eyes on me.” His brows furrow which indicates his clear confusion at your command. You respond cautiously yet softly, “Don’t look it in the eyes. It’s still scared.” Miguel slowly nods in understanding as his eyes stay on yours. 

There’s something that fizzles in his ears as he stares at you. Your eyes are oddly… calming. He’s never thought of looking at them before. At least not in an intentional way like this, unlike the usual polite eye contact you’re obligated to give someone you work with. It's so strange seeing you in person up close like this. He also has to fight the heat he feels making its way onto his cheeks at your close proximity. Your eyes sparkle a bit from the dim moonlight and there's drops of rain littered around your hair. You look so soft and inviting. There's not a sliver of malice anywhere across your features. He's sure this small anomaly is smart enough to come to you.

Soon he feels his lungs quiver in his chest as he watches your eyes crinkle as you smile. You’re chuckling. Why are you chuckling? His ears are roaring by the time you turn back toward the creature. His gaze lingers on the side of your face before looking down at the little one who’s currently licking and nuzzling into your hand, giving it playful nips. He smiles at that, grateful that this mission will end easier than expected.

The creature jumps on you and licks your face with a happy warble. Miguel tenses, worried that it may be attacking you until you release a giggle as you coo warmly, slowly standing with the creature wrapped in your arms. The sound tingles in Miguel's ears and he can’t help but watch you almost mesmerized as you carry the creature carefully before he stands back up next to you.

You comfort the creature with soft words as your nimble fingers quickly fashion a tracker to the little beast then click your watch. You speak calmly as you stare down at the baby creature with a smile, “Lyla, may you please check for any residual anomalies?” Lyla appears behind the creature and gives you a little salute before her visage flits around and scans the area. Miguel approaches to inspect the animal but leans back when it attempts to sniff at him which makes you chuckle at his stiffness. Then, you gently scratch between the animal’s horns as you walk closer to him to let it smell him properly. He stands awkwardly, watching its nostrils flare with each sniff of his arm.

You look around at the skyline behind him with a sigh, “What a view. Do you ever-”. Your voice fades off quickly as you squint, looking at something in the distance. Miguel notices as your hand stops moving and you cradle the creature protectively. Before he can even look at you, you shout while shoving him to the ground roughly, “Sniper!”. You yelp as something pierces your forearm violently, making your knees wobble. The creature jumps out of your hold, having sensed your body going limp before you slump into Miguel’s arms. The creature nuzzles into your dangling hand with a sad whine.

Miguel immediately enters high alert. He stays low as shots ring out above you, dragging you behind a structure to obstruct you all from whatever the hell is attacking. You're slumped against him as he shakes you softly with a tense voice, patting your face anxiously, “Y/s/n? Y/s/n wake up!” He sees the creature standing on its hind legs pawing at your thigh, looking up at him with scared eyes. Miguel shouts out into the air, “Lyla!” Immediately, a portal opens in front of you three.

Lyla speaks in a rushed tone, looking down at you worriedly, “I didn’t detect any more anomalies. Hurry.” Miguel scoops up both you and the anomaly, holding you tight as he jumps through the portal quickly.

What would you do?

Sleeping outside, the moon

Tripping with you

Miguel’s quick as he carries you to the med bay, the anomaly’s little legs trying to keep up with his long, wide strides. He places you on a bed and pulls up a med pod. He runs a full scan of your body and finds a bit of relief when it is concluded that you got dosed with a tranquilizer but he’s still tense. Usually a tranq doesn’t work that instantaneously; nor does it cause a strong shift in your blood pressure like this… It’s almost as if it’s thinned your blood. He sanitizes and gloves up quickly before grabbing some supplies to remove the projectile lodged in your arm. Fortunately, it doesn't take too long to remove all the pieces of the dart that broke apart. There's a bad feeling in his stomach as he does. He's never seen a tranq dart do such a thing. Why is it so fragile? Miguel has Lyla analyze the fragments while he cleans the wound.

He steals a glance at the little creature sitting in the doorway, its eyes watching you intently. He speaks evenly as he floods the wound with saline, gently patting it dry, “Don’t worry, she’s okay. She’s just sleeping.” He finishes wrapping your arm gingerly with a bandage and pulls the bed sheet over you, raising each of your arms to rest over the sheet. He stares at your hand in his for a moment. It’s warm. Your hands are warm and tiny compared to his. So, that’s how they feel… He blinks himself out of his thoughts and gently sets your hand down by your side to let you rest.

“You can come over. I’m done but she won’t be awake for a while.” Miguel says before looking over at the little beast. He’s almost surprised when it appears to understand what he’s said. After all, you did mention during the mission that it seemed highly intelligent relative to other wild animals. It stands, slowly trudging over before hopping onto the bed beside your leg. It looks at you and then turns to crawl on you cautiously as if it’s afraid of hurting you. After a few moments of hesitation, it pats the bed, circling a few times before settling down between your feet. Finally, it rests its chin on your leg, looking at you with large eyes while its tail curls around itself, and releases a soft bleat.

The display of how gentle it acts with you nearly makes him scoff in disbelief. It’s hard to believe that this is the same angry little beast that tried to claw at him earlier in the night. He's almost offended, truthfully. Why was it so mean to him? It seems to act like a cat, aggressive one moment then clingy the next. Miguel's eyes drift back up to look at you as he works around the room. He thinks for a moment to himself, "I guess between the two of us, I'd go to her too." He shakes the thoughts from his head. Miguel plops back onto the stool beside your bed with a sigh, having just finished cleaning up the soiled supplies. He yawns and scratches his jaw tiredly before he crosses his arms over his chest. The adrenaline that was once in his body is now long gone and his prior exhaustion floods him tenfold. However, he’s able to mutter with droopy eyes that watch your peaceful sleeping face, “What were you going to ask me?” He soon couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer, his body feeling heavy and slowly slumping over as he drifted off to sleep. 

Head down

Miguel groans as he feels something slimy on his forehead. He squints harshly at the light that penetrates his eyelids but before he can get up to stretch he freezes at what he hears.

"Hey, hey. Don't do that, little one. He needs to rest."

He's about to just sit up to explain that it's too late but your voice breaks through with a gentle coo. "Oh. Look what you did, honey. You messed it up…"

Before his mind can propel itself into countless thoughts of hearing you say the pet name in such an endearing way, he feels something gently card through his hair. There's something that erupts down his spine at the sensation and that faint fizzling in his ears returns. Especially when he can feel your fingers graze against his helix as you sweep some strands of his hair behind it. He feels his body melt at your ministrations.

Now, he chooses not to move or open his eyes. He pretends to be asleep on what he can blindly tell is the edge of the bed you’re resting in. He enjoys this, the sound of your voice as you comfort and hush the little anomaly the two of you caught. He hears sad warbling and feels the bed move a bit. He manages to cautiously crack an eye open to peek at you cradling the creature close as it sniffs and licks your bandage gently.

You speak softly to it, "Hey, shh-shh. It's okay, I'm okay. See?" You poke the bandage, not where the wound is but the edge of it, to prove that it's fine. You point at Miguel which causes him to shut his eyes quickly before you speak again, "He protected me and helped me get better. So, it's okay." He feels the bed shift as you quietly chuckle, "Ah, ah. Don’t do that, love. I don't want to wake him up, he was really tired." He can sense you stopping the creature from approaching him further as you stand.

There's a soft shuffle that can be heard around him before he feels something drape over his shoulders. You speak so delicately near his ear as you cover him, “Thank you for taking care of me. Sweet dreams.”

He hears the rustling of fabric and the soft plodding of your feet along the floor accompanied by your voice, "Okay, baby. Let's go." Miguel's eyes peek open to see you walking out of the infirmary with the little creature trotting next to you.

Once you’re gone he turns his head, pulling the fabric off his back. It's your cardigan. The one that you were wearing earlier before the mission. His eyes still feel heavy as he bunches up the fabric under him. His nose is flooded with a scent he's unused to. It smells warm and comfortable and soon he drifts off again with his arms wrapped securely around your cardigan below his head.

That’s what you are, he thinks. Warm and comfortable.

I don't know when to come up for air now

It's been a couple of days since your e-26 mission together and you haven't spoken since. Like usual, you spend the night in the lab and Miguel busies himself with some backlogged reports. However, his eyes still glance over to the monitor displaying you occasionally. He's noticed that you haven't worked as much as before. Sure, you’ve tinkered with a few things but you mostly just write in a notebook and slump over the workbench now. He pauses to inspect your face then switches to a camera angle that shows what you're writing. Oh. You're not writing, you're sketching something. He zooms in to see a picture of the anomaly you two sent back after Miguel woke up that morning. Just as he thought, you were depressed because your little friend had to go back home. That’s a lie, he hadn’t actually thought of that at all. Truthfully, he was starting to grow concerned that something was wrong with you… He watches as you add detail to the eyes, the tip of your pencil faintly tracing along the paper to simulate each streak across its irises. It's this that reminds him of when he stared into your eyes. They're much richer than expected, drowned in a color that is so… you. It's you because it's comforting and relaxing and deep. Comfortable and warm. He remembers the words with a soft hum.

He catches something bright appearing next to you. It's Lyla. He's found that you two converse almost every night. What do you two talk about? How many things have you discussed? There’s something unknown that bubbles in the pit of his stomach as these thoughts fill his head. Eventually, his curiosity gets the best of him and he switches on the audio feed. The thought of this being a violation of your privacy, completely slipping past him. He gently sits down as he listens to the two of you talk.

"Raon? What does it mean?", Lyla questions curiously.

You rest your chin on your hand as you lean against the table, looking up at Lyla with a warm smile as you reply, "It means joyful. He looks just like… ah, it’s nothing." You trailed softly but soon chuckled with a wave of your hand.

The scene before him makes Miguel smile softly to himself. It’s such a mundane conversation yet he finds enjoyment from it. Especially from the soft chuckle that comes from you. 

"Hey, did you ever get around to-" Lyla begins but is cut off by your quick response.

"Nope… sorry.", You apologize with a bow of your head, realizing you interrupted her, "I should probably soon, huh?"

"Uh, yeah. The window of validity is closing, bud.", Lyla conjures up a window beside her before shutting it slowly as she raises a brow at you.

You nod and sigh, standing from your seat before turning to leave, "You're right. Thanks for reminding me, Lyla."

She hums to you before disappearing off the screen. She soon pops up next to Miguel who’s watching the feed of you walking through a corridor. She leans over his shoulder and speaks near his ear, "Stalker much?"

Miguel jolts at that and quickly exits off the camera display. He grunts and pulls some reports in front of him in a feeble attempt to cover up what he was doing, "I'm not a stalker."

She smirks and sings with an almost smug tone, "Ah, c'mon. It's just a joke, Miguel. Don't pout."

He states evenly as his eyes glance over the files presented before him, “Not pouting.”

“You never answered my question, y’know?”

“What question?”

“Do you want to talk to y/s/n?” She emphasizes her words with raised brows as she slowly orbits around his head to face him.

He blinks in thought, recalling the recent mission. You’re unfinished words wading upon the surface of his mind and truthfully they have been in his thoughts ever since you first uttered them into the night air. It wasn’t in your usually professional tone. It sounded more casual and unfortunately, you were cut short before finishing your sentence. “Do you ever… Do I ever what?”, he muses as his fingers rub at the side of his chin. He nods slowly before mumbling, “Yes… I think I do.”

Lyla bends down to smirk smugly at him with her arms akimbo, “Good.”

He squints at her and voices his confusion, “What do you mean? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“O’Hara?”, he stiffened as his eyes went wide at the sound of your voice. He composes himself quickly with a low grunt before turning to you.

Unfortunately, you misunderstand this, “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

“You’re not interrupting me. I just remembered something. Did something happen?”

You absorb his fast-paced sentences, “No, I just wanted to talk to you.”

He’s shocked by this but his face doesn’t show it. If only you knew of the discussion you just interrupted by coming here.

“I wanted to formally thank you for taking care of me.”, you spoke calmly while looking up at him on his platform. He noticed your hand resting over your bandaged arm, confusion taking over his features. You noticed this and looked down at your arm too, nodding before your gaze returned to him. You subconsciously rub the bandage as you speak, “Ah, this. I don’t… heal as quickly as the rest of you.”

He mulls over your words, the rest of you. You speak in a way that alienates yourself from the Spiders. It’s a phrase he can understand due to him constantly being put in his own category relative to the other spider-people. Other… He supposes he speaks about himself the same as you. So that’s that sense of familiarity explained, albeit partially. He asks with his naturally stoic expression, “Why is that?” He watches with furrowed brows as you think of how to respond.

You softly shake your head with a shrug, “I just don’t.”

Before either of you can speak again, Lyla questions while pointing at you next to Miguel. There’s a small smirk on her face, “Hey, y/s/n? What’s that?” Miguel looks at her curiously before looking down at the box in your hands.

“Oh, this is just… This is for you, O’Hara.”, you take a step forward towards his platform. Miguel’s brows shoot up not only at what you say but at his now descending platform. He looks over to Lyla who smirks at him, clearly the cause. He clears his throat as his workspace reaches your level, “Is it something to sign off on?” He thinks that maybe you’re ready to beta-test new equipment that needs approval first.

You shake your head and hand the box to him with a small smile, “No. This is a thank you.”

He furrows his brows again as he slowly opens the box with his words trailing off, “A thank you?...” It’s… they’re empanadas. You just gave him a box of empanadas as a thank you? 

“I heard Jess mention you liked empanadas. Sorry, they’re not the ones from the cafeteria though.”

He stares at them for a few more seconds. They’re warm. Are they fresh? How? It’s almost 3 am. Did you pick them up from your universe? “You didn’t have to give me this. I didn’t really-”

“You saved my life.” His eyes widen a bit as they meet yours. Ah. So you found out…

Your hands wring together nervously as you speak, “Lyla showed me the analysis of the fragments you pulled from my arm. Etorphine is a strong agent as is but it was formulated into a high-dose soluble projectile. If you hadn’t helped me so quickly, it would have dissolved into my blood and…”

“Thank you.”, Miguel all but whispers with his head down.

“You don’t have to thank me for thanking yo-”

“You took that shot for me.”, he quickly cuts you off. His eyes slowly trailing up to meet yours with firm sincerity. “Why did you take that shot?”

You rub your nape as you avoid his gaze and reply in an almost soft voice, “Ah. I didn’t really think about it… my body just moved on its own.”

There’s a bit of an awkward silence that spreads between you two as you both avoid each other’s eyes. Miguel stares back down at the food before speaking, “You really didn’t have to give me these.”

You speak with gentle hand gestures, a trait he didn’t know you had until now, “No, no. Please take them. I made them to thank you. It’s how I show proper gratitude. Honestly, I don’t think it’s enough.”

He looks at you in thought before looking back down at them with raised brows and a gentle smirk, “You made them?”

You tense, eyes darting to Lyla but she only offers you a quiet snicker. You sigh before nodding slowly, “Yes, I did. I’m sorry if you think they taste bad.”

He’s amused at your word choice. You didn’t say if they taste bad, you said if he thinks they taste bad. So you cook. And it sounds like you cook well given how confidently you speak about what you make.

Before he speaks, Lyla asks you something and motions you toward the control panel, “Y/n/n, come take a look at this.” [your nickname]

You bow your head briefly at Miguel with a modest smile before making your way to the screen Lyla opens for you. That’s another habit of yours he wasn’t fully aware of. He stands back and watches as you point at the screen and discuss it with Lyla. Your arms cross as you stand before the monitors, your face morphed from your inquisitiveness as you inspect the blueprint Lyla shows you. This makes him calm again. Watching you always made him calm and relaxed. However, it feels a bit stronger when you’re standing just a meter or so away from him. With you here now, so close to him, he actually feels warm. There’s a heat that surrounds him that he just can’t really explain. He continues his musings before taking a bite of the empanada absentmindedly but his eyes shoot down at the food as he tastes it. These aren’t like the ones from the cafeteria, they’re far better. The cafeteria carries standard beef empanadas. Beef and seasoning, it’s hard to mess it up. But these? Is this stew? This is honestly the best thing he's eaten in a long time. His foot stutters as he prevents himself from stepping closer to you and swallows the delicious bite before mumbling, “Are these-”

“Salteñas, sí.” His eyes travel up to see you looking back at him with a warm smile and nod. The way you say it is so natural. It rolls off your tongue so smoothly. Do you speak Spanish?

“Wow, it eats!”, Lyla cheers sarcastically.

“Lyla!”, he groans in annoyance.

“What do you-”, you unfurl your arms and look at him with what he recognizes as concern, “Sir, are you not eating properly?” You turn to face him completely and approach him slowly when all he returns is silence.

Lyla floats over to you, her voice laced with a haughty tone as she tattles, “No. No, he is not.” He grunts and tries to snatch her holographic form. His hand just misses her as she teleports to your other side with a giggle.

“O’Hara,” you call to him in a tone that’s so soft while still holding firmness. That’s new. It’s not as casual as he imagined and you’re still addressing him by his surname but he’s still pleased with how it sounds coming from you in that tone. “How often do you eat?”

He tenses a bit and looks away from your eyes before he gets lost in more of his thoughts. “I eat.” His brows furrowed as he mentally berates himself for his obvious statement. Of course, he eats. Estúpido. His embarrassment quickly triggered his next words despite how unexpected they are, even to him, “What does it matter to you?”

He feels an odd sense of uneasiness as he notices your lack of reaction. He’s quick to attempt to amend his words, “It’s appreciated but it’s none of your concern when I do and don’t eat.” Then there is more silence. It weighs heavily in the air awkwardly. He realizes his words may seem a bit harsh given how tense his voice is. He’s unsure what to say now and for once the silence from you isn’t so comfortable.

“O’Hara.”, you say more sternly as you cross your arms. He can’t help the way he feels like a child being scolded by their teacher. What truly catches him off guard is how firm your tone is despite how gentle you look at him, “Stop deflecting.”

It all makes him feel a bit small despite him being the one looking down at you due to your apparent size difference. He’s never been fond of his height. It’s annoying and cumbersome but the way your body positions itself to stare at him makes him think that it’s not that bad. Your head has to tilt back for your eyes to meet his. Those rich eyes of yours… The e/c encompasses your pupils in such an inviting way [eye color]. And each time you blink he catches a glimpse of how your lashes flutter against your skin. His eyes slowly travel along your features. Your forehead creases softly as your brows raise. The action makes your eyes appear larger as you look up at him. Then he sees your lips moving slowly. They’re not shiny nor are they chapped. But they do look smooth as he sees the tip of your tongue softly curl behind your teeth as you speak. Your words slowly grow less foggy before he flinches at the feeling of your hand gently holding his forearm. There’s a slight ringing in his ears as your voice finally reaches him.

“Mr. O’Hara, are you okay? You’re flushed.”

“What?”, he breathes out in a rushed tone before his eyes focus out to see the entirety of your worried expression. He gently tugs at the collar of his suit uncomfortably. He actually feels the heat now, it’s more intense than before.

“You’re burning up. It’s warm in here too…”. You quickly grab the box of food from his hand and place it on a nearby tabletop before pulling him toward the entrance of his work area. “Here, come with me.”

You take my hand like there's a way out (way out)

And we're escaping through the window

Miguel isn’t sure how but he now finds himself in a rather unfamiliar situation. You’re dragging him around by the wrist. However, it’s apparent that he follows seamlessly behind you. It feels natural for him to just maintain your lead, especially when there’s very little energy within him to resist. He watches how you walk in front of him. You walk in a way that makes you look smaller than you actually are. It’s as if you’re trying to hide. Why is that? Your shoulders are slouched a bit forward as you guide him through the corridors. His eyes drift to the back of your head, watching the way your hair gently bounces with each one of your steps. You halt for a moment which causes him to nearly stumble into you. Your grip on his wrist falters briefly before sliding down to take him by the hand. The action completely slips past you as you decide where to walk next, but it surely does not get past him. He has to fight the urge to squeeze his hand around yours but utterly fails. He’s not too upset about this. Truthfully, most of his awareness was occupied by trying not to let his claws protrude from his fingertips. You turn back to look at him but he’s quick to avoid your eyes, oscillating his head mindlessly.

You must have taken this as a sign of his unwell state because soon you're tugging him through the cafeteria with a firm whisper, “Over there. You need fresh air.”

His red face and his lack of words must make him appear as though he won’t be able to last the trek to the infirmary. You gently squeeze his hand which makes his eyes snap back to you quickly. Making your way to the large terrace, you push the glass door open. The air sweeps past you both as you guide him to sit on one of the patio chairs scattered among the outdoor area. His eyes are dazed as he looks up at you standing in front of him but they haven’t left you for even a moment since you squeezed his hand. But now your hand is no longer in his. He’s surprised to find himself a bit annoyed at that. You’re moving too fast, he thinks. All your actions are slipping away from him thanks to his hazy mind and he doesn’t appreciate it. You pull a handkerchief out of your back pocket and pat his sweaty forehead. His eyes watch you as you do. Your lips press into a line as you gently bite your bottom lip. Your eyes are full of concern as they roam over the sight of his flushed face. You remove your hand from his space as you step back a bit, wanting to let him feel the light breeze.

He spies how your hands start to reach out but retract back to your side, settling on your hips instead. You speak evenly as you look at him, “Are you okay? Does that feel better?” It’s gradual as he breaks out of his cloudy stupor, the wind finally cooling him down. He nods slowly before something slithers out of his brain and past his lips.

And I whisper

“What?”, you tilt your head curiously.

“Miguel….”, he breathes out, “My name is Miguel.”

You blink at him and speak with a bit of concern, “I know tha-”

“I don’t like being called O’Hara or Sir or Mr. O’Hara. Call me Miguel.”

You nod softly as you take in his words before giving him a small smile, “Okay. From now on I’ll call you Miguel.”

He almost smiles at the sound of his name rolling off your tongue but catches himself before it’s too late. His brows furrowed in confusion as you gently extended your hand toward him. You smile softly as you gently grasp his hand and shake it with a kind tone, “My name is y/n. It’s only fair that you address me as such.”

His brain stalls for a few moments, absorbing your name. It’s so fitting in a previously unknown yet expectedly pleasant way. Of course, that’s your name. He looks up at you in thought as you gently pull your hand from his, “Y/n, huh? It’s… pretty.”

He tenses in realization for a moment before slowly speaking, ensuring that his own curiosity remains undetectable, “The other night on e-26, on the rooftop. What were you going to ask me?”

You’re taken aback and stand back up, your lip jutting out in a pout as you try to remember. Your eyes wander to the table beside the two of you in thought but Miguel’s eyes stay on you. He takes in the sight of your face morphed in contemplation. It’s the same look he’s seen countlessly through the late nights. Except this time, it’s not pixelated or blurry from his monitors. Now, he can see you up close. He can see clearly how your chin softly wrinkles as you purse your lips and the way your eyes crinkle at the outer corners. It’s almost comical how earnestly he takes in such ordinary features with the same scrupulousness as a lab experiment.

“Do you ever look out at the skyline… and feel at peace?” The words flow out of you softly as you move to sit on the patio table next to him. Your eyes glide up to look at the lights below that decorate the horizon.

Miguel finally tears his eyes from you to look at the skyline before you both. It’s hard to hear the vehicles from up here but he knows they’re there. He can see the lights flicker and wane in the distance as his body relaxes into the chair. He realizes how familiar he is with the scene and breathes out lowly, “Yes. I do.”

He can see you smile in his peripherals before your voice fills the space between you, “I’ve always found comfort in the horizon and the view of the land below. The sunrise and sunset. I think Raon would have been mesmerized by this view of the city lights.”

He turns to look at you curiously, “Raon?” Truthfully, he was a bit curious about the word you mentioned to Lyla earlier.

You nod with a hum, crossing your legs and propping your chin on your elbows as you get comfortable. “The baby creature from our mission. Raon.”

Miguel notices how the word our rattles around his brain but pushes that feeling aside. He attempts to overpower it with a wry remark, “Did you name the anomaly?”

You release a breathy chuckle and nod, “Kind of. There’s a story from my universe that had a baby dragon named Raon Miru in it. Looked exactly like him too, blue eyes and all.”

He finds relief now not just in observing you but in your close presence and words. He’s intrigued by what you say. He can’t quite place the origin of such a unique name. He knows Japanese but he’s unsure if that is its correct origin. He takes a moment to look at you in thought, certain that he wants to hear more, “That name, what does it mean?”

“It’s a bit on the nose, truthfully. It means ‘joyful dragon’.”

“Raon Miru.”, he repeats to himself as he turns back to look at the skyline with you. There’s a comfortable silence that swells between you both. It takes a few more moments before your voice slithers into the empty space.

“Do you truly not eat well?”

He turns to look at you again but immediately regrets it. Well, not really. Your eyes are full of concern as they meet his. He sighs and shakes his head, “No. I don’t.”

“Why?” You ask so simply as your eyes never leave him.

He bites the inside of his cheeks and contemplates whether he should brush this off and lie or just tell you the truth. He chooses the latter, citing that he genuinely enjoys your consideration. “I’m busy. I lose track of time and just forget.”

Lyla finally decides to pop up next to you, “Hey, y/s/n. You actually remember to eat stuff. Mind keeping Miguel in check for me?”

Miguel stiffens quickly shaking his head to protest but before he can, you respond. “Sure, I don’t see why not.”

“Cool.”, Lyla nods and disappears having completed her job as instigator.

His eyes travel to yours in question only for you to smile gently at him with a tilt of your head. “I need to make sure you’re properly taken care of.”

Need, you say. Not want. The way you say it so matter-of-factly makes his lungs quiver, just like that night. His mouth shuts as he slowly leans back in his chair. The way you look at him lets him know that there’s no room for debate. You nod with a smile as you watch him acquiesce your response. “Good. So, did you like the salteñas?”

He nods and speaks with a low hum, “Yes, they were good.”

You beam at that and lean toward him unconsciously, “Really? I was worried there for a second. By the way you heated up, I thought you had a bad reaction.” You straighten up as your features quickly morph in realization of something before speaking, “That reminds me. Lyla?”

“Yo.”, she appears in front of you like a pop-up ad.

“What’s the temperature in Miguel’s work area?”

She conjures up a thermostat and squints at it, “Yeesh, 85°F and climbing. At the time of reporting, it is approximately 20 degrees higher than average. Excessive heat appears to be emitting from a ground-level display console.”

“Oh, may you please-”

“Filtering and cooling as we speak, captain.”, her little hand bumping her forehead to salute you in assurance. “I’ve shut off the machine since it’s under minimal usage priority. Consider this a work order.”

You chuckle at her antics, “Thank you, dear. I’ll be sure to repair it asap. It also sounds like your active monitoring is on the fritz, I’ll check that too.” You then turn to Miguel, leaning in inquisitively to see if he’s cooled down enough.

He questions absentmindedly with an almost gravelly mumble, “Hablas español?” [Do you speak Spanish?]

You're taken aback but smile softly, “Sí, pero no lo hablo con fluidez.” [Yes, but I’m not fluent in it.]

He finds the corners of his mouth gently lifting at your words, “Me suenas fluido. Tu acento es natural.” [You sound fluent to me. Your accent is natural.]

Your smile seems to grow ever so gently as you nod, “Thank you. I grew up in a diverse place. Lots of people spoke languages other than English.”

Miguel found himself completely relaxed as he spoke with you about anything and everything. Like that, the conversation flowed between you for a long while.

All I really want is you

What would you do?

Your brows shoot up in shock before a small smile blooms on your face. “Good. Let’s meet out on the terrace at 3 am. You better not leave me hanging.”

He smirks at your warning in amusement, you said it in such a way that carries no real malice. He nods in understanding as you two walk side by side languidly, back to his work area. The conversation hasn’t stopped. Miguel thinks this is the longest he’s ever talked to someone, speaking more words in these last couple of hours with you than he has to anyone in months. It’s odd to him how easy it is to talk with you. It makes him feel like he’s conversing with an old friend.

He’s lost in content conversation with you as you two enter back into his lab and continues even after you begin to work. He leans against the main control panel on his platform as he watches you repair the display console that practically turned his work area into an oven. Miguel’s arms are crossed over his chest, somehow unsure of what to do with his hands. He speaks with a more calm tone, “So you’re the one who does repairs around here? You’d think I, of all people, would know that.”

“I actually did think you already knew that but I suppose me coming in here and working on your tech while you’re out during the day is a bit of a clue as to why you didn’t.” You calmly respond to him. Your voice is just a bit louder than normal in order to ensure he can hear you properly. After all, half of your body is inside a relatively large electronics console.

“So what’s the issue here then?”

"Just a basic issue. Overclocked GPUs and faulty heatsinks don't really mix well.", you sigh with a shrug after gently crawling out of the unit to drop some screws into a small tray beside you. You present a damaged PCB to him and point at a burnt section of it with the tip of your screwdriver, “See, a few of them have blown fuses.”

He’s tuned into what you say and nods in acknowledgment. He knows what you’re talking about and enjoys it because it’s not rushed and not frantic like during the day. It’s calm and comfortable.

"Although I told Pete to run manual diagnostics on this which he said he did. Liar." 

Miguel is amused by your annoyed grumble as you work. He’s a bit curious as to why you refer to Peter by nickname when you’ve only started calling him by his given name a couple hours ago but he figures it’s fine since Peter is the one who initially recruited you from what he can recall. 

Miguel leans a bit over to peek at the mess that is the internal hardware before you crawl back inside. "I'm going to guess that he didn't even look at this at all."

"Yeah, pretty safe to assume that. I should have known better than to ask him. He's been preoccupied lately.", you groan from inside the panel. You look a bit funny like this, with half your body inside the console.

“Why did you ask Peter to look at it then?”, Miguel asks a bit curiously.

“Um, my arm was still messed up, Sir. I couldn’t really pronate it without feeling uncomfortable.”

He hears how nonchalantly you say it and senses that you don’t want to bring up the injury again. He nods curtly to himself and continues while changing the subject, “Don't call me Sir. It makes me feel old.”

You smile softly to yourself as you respond, “Sorry, it’s a hard habit to shake. I mean, you are the boss. But you shouldn’t worry, you’re not old by a long shot. In fact, I’m your elder…”

Your last few words are muffled but he manages to pick them up. His brows raise in intrigue as he asks, “Is that so?”

The way you tense at what he says doesn’t slip past him but you soon answer in a calm voice, “My universe’s present year is several decades earlier than here. So despite being biologically younger than you, I am chronologically n/y years older than you.” [number of years]

Miguel turns to work on some reports as he says, “Well, you still look spry enough to handle the duties of a Spider.”

You nearly snort at his comment. You must have not expected it, judging by your reaction. You continue to work, your eyes focused on the components you inspect as you jest in a sardonic tone, “Thanks, jefe. I’m glad to know you think my body is still young enough to be thrown around on missions.”

He has to bite his lip to contain the chuckle that he feels vibrate in his chest. He didn’t expect you to respond so sarcastically but he’s glad that you did. If anything, it makes him want to continue talking with you, “So why haven’t I been formally notified of your work here?”

“Well, if something breaks or needs general maintenance, Lyla is informed and she then passes that information to me. She typically deals with software issues and I’m the hardware person. We don’t usually bother you with these things because you’re always so busy as it is.”, you offer with a shrug as you crawl out and sit on your heels, inspecting yet another PCB.

“It wouldn’t be a bother. I need to know about these things.”

You look up at him and chuckle quietly with a soft shake of your head, “There are reports on file of every single repair I’ve done but… the last thing you need to worry about is a coffee maker gone haywire or someone’s empty web cartridges.”

“Aren’t you busy too? You take missions yet you still pull the Society’s odd jobs. Why?”

“Not really. I’m active mostly at night or in the early morning hours. Even when there is an active mission, I’m D-team at best.”

“D-team? Why do you think that?”, Miguel is genuinely confused by what you say. After all, the two of you worked so well together during the missions you have been on with one another.

“I’m just not that capable when compared to the Spiders.”

There’s that phrasing of yours again. It paints a clear separation between you and the society. Why are you so unwilling to include yourself with them? What exactly makes you speak this way? Miguel then thinks back to your first mission together, when it was just the two of you. Although it felt foreign at first, you two completed it quickly and efficiently. He speaks in a tone that leaves no room for rebuttal, “You are very capable.”

“Yeah, you think so?”

“You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t.”

You sigh casually as you stand up, carrying a small tote against your hip of damaged hardware to be further inspected, “Well, I could just be pleasant to be around.”

He releases a breathy laugh at your arch remark with a shake of his head. If only you knew how important your presence has become to him over all these late nights.

You perked up at the sound as you placed the tote on a nearby desk, turning to him as you asked, “Did I just make you laugh?” 

He was about to groan in annoyance on instinct but caught the look in your eyes before he did. Your face didn’t show a single sign of ill intent. Rather, it carried what he identifies as wonder. His lips purse a bit as he looks away from you, trying to avoid your gaze to spare himself from how overactive he’s found his mind becomes when gazing upon your bare face.

“Oh, now you’re pouting.”

“Not pouting.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I am not.” 

Miguel’s brain stalls as his ears pick up a previously unknown yet gratifying sound. Gentle giggling slips from you and it makes that buzzing sensation in his ears return. But he's not upset because he knows you're not laughing at him. It’s that kind of laughter that isn’t rude nor teasing. It’s kind and full of joy. He can’t help the upturn of the corners of his mouth, finding your delight somewhat infectious.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s just too cute.”, you wave your hand softly as your other hand attempts to muffle your chortling before grabbing the tote of hardware to repair again. You turn to leave to your usual lab to work but your joyful sounds have yet to cease.

Miguel’s frozen by your comment. Cute? In reference to him? That’s not… that’s implausible and honestly, unprecedented. The more he speaks with you, the more he learns just how strange you are. You’re different in not only appearance but behavior as well. He's sure now that you are unique to the Society in such an eccentric way. He realizes something and it’s arguable in his mind. It makes sense why you exclude yourself from them all. Out of all the Spiders, you’re the anomaly.

Laying in the rain with you

Middle of June

“Miguel O’Hara! Get your butt out here now!”

He groans and rolls his eyes with a smirk as he looks at the time. 3 am, on the dot. It’s time.

The two have grown very well acquainted with each other over the past 8 months. There was a stint of anomalies surfacing during the early overnight hours. For a while, it seemed you and Miguel were dispatched nearly every night but now the instances have slowed to every week or so. You’ve learned a lot about each other and have acclimated well to each other’s presence. His hands swipe away the monitors floating around him as he calls over his shoulder, “Yeah, yeah. Just a second, needy.”

“Needy?! Puh-lease, you would waste away without me.”, you chuckle as your body swings around the entrance to his work area. You cross your arms and lean against the doorway, “Ven a comer.” [Come eat.]

“Sí, Mami.”, he mumbles amusedly, stroking his chin as he stares at the monitors in front of him. [Yes, Mom.]

You chuckle and walk over to him, “Don’t make me drag you out of here.”

He closes the floating screens around him with a flick of his wrist before turning to you with a smirk. His hands rest on his hips as his platform descends to meet you. The soft fizzling in his ears returns as you look up at him with a small, playful smile. The sensation is no longer foreign to him. It’s welcomed now. Warm and comfortable. “Yeah, uh-huh. And how do you suppose you’d do that?”

Your grin is almost mischievous as he finally stands in front of you, “I’d figure it out. I’m very resourceful, you know?”

He nods and begins to walk with you to complete your late-night ritual. “Oh, are you now?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.” You repeat the words he told you from your first night together. At this point, it’s more of an inside joke; a reference that often appears as you two converse.

“I thought you said it was because you were pleasant to be around.”, he hums amusedly.

“Well? Am I?”, you look up at him through your lashes. Your eyes gleam with warmth and he’s not sure if you truly know just how beguiling it is.

He mutters as he avoids your gaze, knowing damn well he wants to say yes, “Don’t fish for compliments.”

“But you would compliment me.”, you state in a way that’s laced with playfulness. You bend a bit at the waist to catch a glimpse of his face with your hands resting neatly upon your lower back.

He meets your teasing gaze for a moment before rolling his eyes, “What’s for dinner?”

He sees your lips curl up in his peripherals before you state nonchalantly, “It’s a surprise.”

“A surprise? What do you mean? What for?”

“What? Don’t you trust me?”, you chuckle in amusement after he rambles a bit. You managed to identify that habit of his despite his general seriousness after the many nights you've spent working together.

“I trust you as far as I can throw you.”, he replies collectedly, or so he hopes.

“Liar.”, you hum with an amused smile on your lips, “Nonetheless, I suppose it’s good that you’re an incredibly strong man that can throw me very, very far.”

You chuckle again as he groans beside you. You’re far too sharp for your own good, having seen right through his strategic word choice. You two enter the terrace and something feels different. The air is a bit warmer tonight. Miguel supposes it’s just that kind of summer night. One where the heat from the day lingers into the late night and rekindles the following morning. His eyes shut for a moment as he absorbs the scent floating around. It’s familiar, it’s… enticing. He blinks softly before turning to you, eyebrows lifting in surprise as he sees that setup you’ve made. Upon the ground is a large blanket with a couple of small pillows. There are a few containers of what he knows is your cooking placed in the center. It’s not extravagant but something does stir in his stomach as he sees you turn to him. You almost look coy as you gesture behind you but your eyes never lack that warmth he knows as yours. “Yeah, it’s a bit silly but… happy 50th successful mission, partner.”

He stiffens at your calm yet happy proclamation. The word partner rattles around his brain for a few moments before the gears in his brain turn again. 50 missions? Have you two truly been on 50 missions already? Oh, who is he kidding? Of course, he knows that already. The two of you have actually been on 58 missions to be exact but they can’t always be successes.

You walk over to pull him gently by the wrist to the blanket, “Come on already. Food’s getting cold.”

He rolls his eyes with a smirk as he indulges your command with reluctance, but only externally.

You let go of his hand and sit at one end of the blanket, “Mira, I made some of your favorites.” You remove the lids of the containers presenting a small variety of his preferred dishes. There’s a smile on your lips as you pull out the final container, presenting it to him with a kind tone of voice, “I even made Stobhach for you. And I’ll let you know I’ve perfected my recipe.”

He can’t help the small curl of his lips as he sits opposite of you. You seem so excited to show him all that you prepared for tonight. It all almost makes him blush. He’s learned fairly early on in your acquaintanceship-turned-friendship that you show affection through care. Especially, by giving someone a home cooked meal. He stares down at the food and hums, “Thank you.”

You return with a hum of your own. Besides the banter and wry humor, words aren’t really necessary between the two of you. You’ve learned to read each other well. Body language, quirks, and even the noises that rumble from each of your chests. It’s almost animalistic in its simplicity. Miguel has come to realize how truly perceptive you can be, similar to himself. You two actually share a lot of similarities like your inquisitive nature and reclusive behavior. And he’s come to the conclusion that that is why you two can exist so harmoniously together. It’s not hard to be around you. To him, your presence is easy.

All I really want is you

What would you do?

You two have been talking for a while, the food long gone and your bellies satiated. There’s a bubble around you two as you converse like you’re in your own little world. 

“Come on. Lay with me.”, you look up at him with warmth in your eyes as you pat the space next to you. He truly can’t find it within himself to deny such a gentle command. He moves to lie next to you and stares up at the few stars that manage to make it through the city’s light pollution. It’s times like these when he ponders upon his actions and realizes how easily he finds himself following your instruction. He’s not upset about it. He just finds it odd although certainly not unwelcome. Truthfully, he’s grateful that he can take your lead and not have to be in charge, even if only for a moment. But these moments fill his chest with something warm. Warm and comfortable are his two choice words to describe you in any situation. Whether it be as you two work in silence in one of the labs or when you patch each other up after rough missions.

Sleeping outside, the moon

Tripping with you

He hears a sweet sigh from your lips as you relax on the blanket next to him. You whisper into the night air with the same gentleness one speaks a secret, “This reminds me of one night when I was a teen. In my universe…”

Miguel’s ears perked a bit as you began. It was very rare for you to speak of yourself, your experiences, or your universe. Every time you did, he was sure to pay attention and commit each word to memory because if you ever spoke of it like this, earnestly and unprompted, it meant you were revealing a part of who you are. That you were trusting him with a part of your very essence. To keep it safe.

“California isn’t gone. There’s a coastal city there called San Francisco that my friends and I traveled to. We spent hours there. We watched the sunset on the bay and the evening fog that rolled in. And eventually, we laid back on the sand and looked up at the stars. Just like this.”

He didn't say anything or make a noise. He just stared up at the stars with you, listening intently.

“I felt so calm that night. I knew in that moment that nothing else mattered. And for the first time, I felt at peace. My whole life I didn’t do much. I stayed at home filling my time with random knowledge and tricks. I avoided people and kept to myself as best as I could because I had learned very young that people were not to be trusted.”

Miguel feels his chest tighten at your words but keeps silent. There’s a darkness that barely laces your voice but it is there. He picks up the sound of hurt in your tone and it grips him tightly. There’s a tumultuous feeling in his stomach. He’s eager to preserve the pieces of yourself that you delicately hand him but it doesn’t change the feeling of helplessness that floods him. Your honesty is encased in sadness, a build-up of fears and insecurity that he’s far too late to have prevented. So he listens because maybe, just maybe, something you reveal to him in these genuine passages of your lore can help him protect the parts of you he keeps.

“I learned that family was everything because family would never hurt you. It’s funny now… Now, I think I’m nothing but a memory yet to be forgotten by them.”

He turns to look at you curiously but the concern is unmistakable in his eyes. Of all the countless nights you’ve spent together, you’re finally revealing why you are the way you are. Why he feels like he knows you without words. Because loss and loneliness radiates off you like bittersweet perfume yet you contain it with walls built of sufferance and capability. He’s always held a certain affinity to you that he could never quite describe until now. Before his thoughts submerge his consciousness, he notices how your eyes are screwed shut and the way your fist is squeezed tightly around the strings of your hoodie. Your clenched fingers resting above your heart almost as if you're quelling pain into passivity.

You sigh quietly as if to prepare yourself for what to say. “Things happen. At one point you think you know where you are. Then you blink and wake up somewhere else entirely.”

There’s a brief pause before your next words. Your eyes slowly flutter open to look up at the stars with glossy eyes and a gentle yet certain voice, “I’m here now and I’m actually very grateful for all that has happened. I’ve learned things I never thought were possible, about reality and the world. About people and about myself.”

He’s a bit surprised as you speak to him with sincerity, “I know I’m strange, Miguel. I know I don't make sense and that I don’t really fit. But you make me feel understood. And you make me feel like I’m not really alone… Thank you.”

You turn to find him staring at you in surprise. Your smile is small but your usual warmth has returned, and truthfully, he thinks that it never left. “Sorry. That was a bit heavy, huh? Just forget I said anything.” You offer with a chuckle before laying back.

All I really want is you

Your eyes are closed as you bask in the moonlight and his eyes travel over you. He takes in the soft curl of your lips and the faint flush on your cheeks from the cool air and candid words. The temperature isn’t too bad but thanks to the extreme altitude of the building, it’s crisp yet foggy. It’s an odd feeling, the air is damp from the clouds rolling through the skyscraper but Miguel feels warm. So soothingly warm. Especially, with you laying so close to him. So earnest and so true. He finds it odd how comforting this feeling is despite it being foreign to him, or rather dormant. He’s astonished by your trust in him. It fills him with something that he wasn’t entirely sure he was missing. Suddenly it's apparent what exactly this feeling is. The same feeling that he's felt for months. And it finally sparks in his mind as you look at him with tired eyes and a warm smile.

I love you. 

All I really want is you

What would you do?

He can nearly taste the words on his tongue but he remains silent as your eyes stare into his. Suddenly he feels very awake as his own thoughts dawn on him. Managing to tear his gaze away from your familiar e/c eyes, he finally speaks as he closes his eyes with a coy smirk.

“Never.”

It’s you. Now, it’s something that’s as certain as fact in his mind. He feels the heat of your hand resting on the blanket between the two of you, right next to his. Right where you belong, he thinks. Right next to him.

All I really want is you

Is you, is you, is you

Appearing near you two and out of sight is Lyla. She watches you two and makes a final checkmark on the chart she pulled from an article months ago, when Miguel was initially questioning his interest in you. She smiles to herself as she looks over the chart then back at you two as you exist in your own little world. The words softly illuminated in the window beside her, Infatuation vs. Love, with all her markings under the latter.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who took the time to read this! Also, big thanks to everyone who voted on my poll regarding this fic. I am open to your opinions and questions! Please feel free to ask me anything!

[eddiediazismyhusband]

The Diaz Family Home

this is the house that my buddie sims currently live in with chris and their baby. i built it trying to bear in mind what kind of house buddie would realistically move into in the near future, and since los angeles loves the spanish bungalow, i decided to go for that style

Exterior:

like insaid before I wanted to still go for that spanish bungalow style that eddie’s house in the show has; i think a lot of the decor and furniture that eddie has in the show is suited to this style in almost a mismatch way so i wanted to maintain that throughout, even though in my game, buddie are engaged and have a baby so they would have bought new furniture/replaced things over time

Layout:

doing research to find inspiration for the floorplan/exterior showed that a lot of these homes in california follow a similar pattern with one side if the house dedicated to the bedrooms and the other to the living areas with a hallway splitting the middle. i had a lot of fun playing around with different layouts and i was very happy with how it turned out

Front Porch:

just a simple covered front porch that is common in this style of house.

Living Room:

i kept the vibe of eddie’s current house in the show, including a lot of the same furniture itsms i used for my re-creation of that house to show that while (in the story of my game) they’ve moved out of that house, they still kept some things while also adding new pieces/replacing some stuff. (note: some picture frames are empty bc i am going to be filling them with photos i take as i play the game)

Dining Room:

again i wanted to keep a similar vibe to eddie’s current house, but in my head, he and buck would probably have purchased a new dining room set when they moved- i also wanted to use green instead of the black that eddie currently has just for some more color

Kitchen:

once again, same vibe, but different colors and a slightly larger area for buck to cook (bc lets face it eddie would burn the house down trying to make grilled cheese)

The Nursery:

so i know we all love girl!dad buddie but when i started playing with these sims a while back, i had buck and eddie have a baby via surrogate (or as the game calls them a “science baby”) and it was a little boy w blonde hair and blue eyes so i named him Luke (i also named buck’s baby luke in my waitress au fic bc of this)

Luke’s Bathroom:

it’s just a basic bathroom but i think the wall decals are so fucking cute

Half Bathroom:

just a jack-and-jill style half bath that sits between the kitchen and the hallway

Chris’s Room:

so in my game chris is still a child sim, so i decorated his room as if he were still like 9 or 10… i again wanted to keep some of the same items i used in the recreation of the show house but changed the colors slightly to say that they “painted” it or smth but only bc i think the darker woods fit the color scheme of the room better

Chris’s Bathroom:

all the bathrooms in the house are the same layout, but i wanted to make chris’s a more ‘accessible’ bathroom. since we don’t have disabilities in the game chris’s sim doesn’t have CP, but i wanted to still decorate his bathroom with a shower unit so that he could access it better by himself, even if in the game he has no mobility limitations (i also had a makeshift shower chair in the shower at one point but it made the shower unusable so i had to delete it but the idea is still there yk)

Buck and Eddie’s Bedroom:

my thought process here was that when they bought this house to move in together, they bought a whole new bedroom set for themselves, so this room is almost completely original with no brought over pieces from eddie’s current house. i also have the in-game wedding certificate item hung in their room although technically they’re still only engaged at the moment in game

Buck and Eddie’s Bathroom:

just a basic en suite bathroom

Backyard:

I wanted to test out the new round pools that came with the latest update so they do have a pool. i also included a little kiddie pool for when luke ages up to a toddler, and i also have s swingset and a slide. on the back deck i gave buck a nice grill so they can host 118 barbecues after bathena’s house was barbecued (laugh at me i’m so funny)

Hallway:

i didn’t wanna just leave this hallway bare so i put a couple little clutter/storage items. the mirror table is something that in my head i went “maybe this was helena’s mother’s that eddie took when she passed away and they were cleaning out her house” or smth but it filled blank space so i used it

Laundry/Backdoor:

this is just a tiny space off the kitchen. nothing fancy or special about it, i just wanted to include it since the og house had a laundry room too.

[aradiyatoys]

🎉 [NEW PATTERN RELEASE] 🎉 Please welcome Kawaii Lotus 🪷 the first character from my NEW collection called “AradiyaToys Kawaii”! A few words about the “AradiyaToys Kawaii” collection. You may have seen many kawaii characters in my Mini sets. Every time I design a new pattern, I feel incredibly excited 😍 to create these adorable little kawaii toys. However, I’ve always been limited to including only one of them in my patterns, which means I couldn’t make as many kawaii toys as I wanted. That’s why I decided 💭 to start a new collection of easy, fast-to-create, and affordable crochet patterns that would cater to both beginners and skilled crocheters. This collection brings together everything I love about kawaii toys. They are cute, quick to finish, and can be completed in just a few hours, like on a Friday evening, just like today! 🤗 I, like many other girls, have always had a special affinity for flowers, and the Lotus has been one of my favorites since childhood. It has always appeared so magical to me, with its flower delicately resting on a leaf, floating in a tranquil 🧘🏼‍♀️ pond amidst other plants and frogs 🐸 The scene evokes a sense of peace and serenity. I am very happy to have the Lotus as the first character in the “AradiyaToys Kawaii” collection and I also incredibly excited to unveil the next characters I have prepared for you in the coming weeks! 🥰 Oh, yes, you can also use this toy as a keychain by easily attaching a keychain ring to the top of Kawaii Lotus! 😊 The pattern is already available in English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch and Ukrainian here -> https://etsy.me/3Cng1Zm 🤗 This pattern has been tested, proofread and translated by super talented girls: Celine, Isa, MJ, Clarissa, Sabrina, Roberta, Gwendoline, Sarah and Liubov! Thank you very much, dear friends! You all are amazing! 💛💙

[kalolasfantasyworld]

Thank you post #3

I think the tag limit is 5... so that's how many people I will tag.

Main post

all of these mentions are PH related

@vilandel

I'm honestly not sure if I told you this or not, but it was such a big moment I will repeat myself. When I got my first review from you I was studying for a big test, which I had the next day (Yes a test on Saturday... uni sucks). I got so emotional I told my colleague we need to take a break, because I'm too happy to think 😂. All of your reviews are so detailed and you go in depth with your analysis. You also have amazing theories about what may happen and I always need to stop myself to not confirm when you're right. Truly when I started getting your reviews it really felt like I was doing something right with the fic.

I'm so happy you asked me about tumblr in your comments and that you joined us here as well. It's been lovely getting to know you and now we also share the Vox Machina brainrot 😂.

@yellowgreendinno

I honestly don't even remember how we started interacting but we just did and it clicked. We laugh we joke and it makes me so proud that you adore my silly hispanic siblings. That video you made of BC characters, Styx and the siblings singing is still one of my favorite, such as your arts. You also leave comments under my illustrations or reblog them. I always love hearing your opinions on them 🥺 Be it fan girling about Helena or crying about whatever Nozel did. I'm also always honored when you include the Drazels in your quotes.

@hybridanafrost

We also talked quite early on and you were always so nice and sweet to me, supporting me in the OC environment in which I didn't feel confident. I remember when I asked you how would use affectionately call a mischievous child in Spanish and you said monita. That's how Helena calls her youngest sister Cecilia now.

Thanks for that 💕

@marune2

Marune you always support my art, PH and my little one shots here. You're so sweet and always have something nice to say. I can see how passionate you are about your stories here.

@artistic-endchamber

I want to talk here about that comment you left under PH and how meaningful it was to me. You said that I managed to show the cold, negative patterns that Nozel canonically displays and it was the biggest compliment I could get, because this was my point. To analyse his character, his behavior and make sense of it, explain the changes happening behind the scenes of BC.

And simply you saying that you love their story means so much 🥺

that's off PH, but I always love your posts, how excited and passionate you are 💕

[pablitogavii]

Same to you

Summary: read it ;)

Pairing: Pablo Gavira x Reader

Warnings: smutty!

It's been five months since you've ended your one year relationship with Pablo Gavira. Why? Till this day it felt like the stupidest decision you've ever made but it was the only thing you could do at that time.

He was focused on his career and you were overwhelmed from school work so you began taking frustration out on each other. It started with frequent arguments to shouting sessions (followed by the best angry sex btw) to complete silence.

"What have we become Pablo?" you said with tears spilling down your cheeks.

"I don't know amor...I don't know" he answered those being the last words he said to you before you travelled back to Valencia needing to be away from him.

You were back to Barcelona only for the big Spotify event in which your new boyfriend Luca, famous Spanish singer, performed.

He was a good and kind man, treated you right, but something was always missing...even in all that perfection you missed Pablo whenever you would try to go to sleep.

The last thing you expected is for Pablo to be at the very same event but then you learned that Spotify became one of biggest partners with Barça team.

"Alright, I have to go bebe. I'll search for you in the crowd" Luca said pecking your lips which made Pablo clench his jaw observing it from the corner of the room.

Truth be told, it's been the hardest five months of his life since you left...he couldn't even play football the same way, he was angry all the times, and seeing you with someone else made him want to punch something so badly right now!!

"Fancy seeing you here princesa..." Pablo approached behind you carrying that famous footballer confidence that always made your knees weak but you did your best to keep a cold exterior.

"How are you Pablo?" you say not turning to look at him knowing that seeing those eyes this close would only tempt you more.

"Shouldn't you be looking at me while talking? Or are you scared where that might lead, huh princesa?" he was confident like always and it started to get on your nerves. You wanted to show him that he doesn't own you anymore...although deep down he always will.

"I'm waiting for my boyfriend to get on stage" you answer bitterly highlighting on the title on purpose which made Pablo angrier.

"Can your boyfriend make you cum the way I can?" he whispered into your ear while his hand slowly snaked around your wast resting on your stomach and you felt a cold shiver move down your spine as craving started to build in the pit of your stomach.

Truth be told, you never came since the last time you were with Gavi...and he seemed to sense your deprivation...little devil!

You quickly pulled away turning around to face him and immediately you felt an urge to smash your lips onto his plum ones missing that familiar sweet taste but instead you walked away from the crowd and he followed after you.

"You're full of shit Gavira!" you spat angrily still walking away but when you came to the secluded corner he was quick to grab your wrist and push you up against nearby wall before hovering over your and trapping you in between his strong arms.

"You think I'm full of shit!?" he growled moving closer looking at your lips seductively.

"I do!" you spat feeling your heart beating fast against your chest at his proximity that familiar musk filling your nostrils.

"You think I'm full of shit!? Me?? Yeah!?" he repeated getting even closer and you stared him straight in the eyes which took him by surprise.

"I do!" you repeated trying to sound as confident as you could.

"And what about you huh!? What about you and Mr. signer?" he said angrily and you felt your panties getting wetter from Pablo's jealous side that made you curious to test his limits.

"What about it!?" you say

"What!? You want me to believe that that's real!? That you are happy!? That you are in love with him!?" he spat angrily and you smirked making up the biggest lie of your life.

"I am happy! And I am in love!" you yell and he smirks shaking his head and tucking a loose strand of your hair behind your ear.

"Oh come on princesa! I know you...and I know what it looks like when you're in love with someone....and when you are satisfied" he rested his forehead against yours and you just stood there for a few moments before his hands held your face and his lips were on yours giving you back all that was missing for months.

"Mmm you still taste the same..tell me...does he love like I do? Hm?" he pulled you into a secluded corned starting to kiss down your neck and you moved your head to the side to give him more access desperately needing more.

"Does he touch like I do? Does it feel the same to you?" he whispered marking up your skin feverishly and you finally let out a moan which made him pull back teasingly until he heard a response he was waiting from you.

"No.." you looked down but he raised your chin making you look into his eyes while your thighs were rubbing together in desperation.

"Tell me now.." Pablo was biting his lower lips while you blushed more knowing how much his ego was growing from hearing you admit this but you just wanted to feel something again...you wanted him back.

"No Pablo...he doesn't love like you do..he doesn't touch like you do...I need you..only you.." you spoke as his smirk grew and he took your hand quickly leaving the venue and taking the cab to his apartment.

The moment you walked into his apartment, your dress was on the floor and he was kissing your neck from behind taking off his suit and pulling you into his bedroom laying you gently on his kind sized bed.

"Eres tan sexy mi preciosa ... y toda mía!" Pablo smirked getting in between your thighs and kissing your lips passionately while you moaned his name desperately.

"Tell me...does he fill you up like me...make your back arch as you beg me to cum...hmmm...my poor princesa, could he even make you cum?" he was touching you enjoying the wetness of your folds before entering you in one swift motion.

"Noo.." you admitted and he pitted you while smirking proud to be the only one to make you cum..to make you crazy.

"Should I let you cum tho? Or should I punish you for leaving me? Do you know how miserable I was without you huh!? I was fucking lost!" Pablo was fucking you roughly letting out his anger in the best way possible and you were enjoying every moment of it.

"Ah..p..please..I'm sorry..so sorry papi.." you were desperate clenching around him knowing you needed his permission before finally releasing all the tension built up for five full months of abstinence.

"Aww my sweet princesa...tell papi you won't leave him again..tell him you can't live without him..beg me preciosa!" he was grunting getting close to his own high and you obeyed helplessly.

"I will never leave you again papi...I need you...I love only you..ahh..please" you menage to speak with occasional moans and he seemed satisfied capturing your lips before whispering "cum for me" and you did like never before feeling your thighs shake around him.

"Mierda! You are fucking perfect...and mine!" Pablo filled you up his sweaty forehead against yours before your lips met once more before you laid next to each other catching breaths.

You moved to lay your head on his sweaty chest happily and he hugged your protectively kissing your forehead before putting blanked over both of you.

You phone beeped continuously with numerous messages surely from your now long forgotten boyfriend and you reached to grab your phone but Pablo stopped you.

He moved you on top of him kissing your lips passionately before moving away with a big smirk on his face.

"He can fuck off! You are my girl anyways.." he said cockily and you chuckled kissing his lips again forgetting immediately about the phone as you both felt turned on once again...;)

[thesecrethistori-an]

Omg hii I saw you answering a bunch of peoples uni questions and you were so nice at answering- so here's mine too!!

How do you improve your social life in college, in just socially anxious and like I know all the generic advice but it's still tough

Like I have friends but it isn't like glamorised fun you know, we hang out- I like them but it's not "crazy" like I don't go to parties with them, or go out with anyone that often? Like is that weird? I feel like I want to change that but I don't know how to?

Hii!! Thanks for your question!! I love this because it has really forced me to think about how I relate to others and how I've struggled to find my people

It's genuinely hard to socialise in a way that isn't just checking the boxes but that actually is fulfilling. It took me years and it was sometimes exhausting (ironically the pandemic helped me solidify my friend group)(then I moved to a different country and distanced myself a lot from my Spanish friends, which is something I haven't fully resolved yet).

I'll just throw in some ideas:

You genuinely need to be interesting: do not fake a personality but reflect about your offline identity. You befriend people that you find cool/funny/intelligent. People that can hold a conversation. You cannot expect your friends to be just an entertainment. Friendship is exchange ;)

If there are student clubs in your uni, join one. It doesn't need to be the thing that interests you the most, it could be something you're curious about. There, if people hang out after their meetings... Join! And if they don't? Honestly, choose two of your favourite people, propose a fun hangout that is simple (board games bar if you like that, drinks, coffee, visiting a museum) and pitch it to the rest of the group. Chances are everyone is looking for an excuse to socialise!

You can try different clubs: first year I joined a feminist association, a photography club and an mun club... I ended up only staying in the mun club and some of my best friends rn (even after I moved out of the country) I met there!

Related to this: it is irrelevant how cringe your classmates/other people/friends from outside think a club is. It's not the point, the point is having fun! I know mun is extremely cringe and I couldn't care less... I learned so much thanks to it and I met so many wonderful people (and a bunch of assholes ofc)

If there are no student clubs: test the waters. When I moved from Spain to Czech rep I was super frustrated because the student life dle internationals was very poor, especially if you didn't want the usual Erasmus activities (nothing wrong with them, but I was looking for stable connections, not just friends that will leave in 6 months). Then a weird "club" opened applications and I just applied... And got selected! Basically it wasn't even a club yet, just a group of 3 girls who were in the same situation and had the brilliant idea of creating a student club fulfilling what they felt was missing! It is now a huge success and our activities really have improved the experience of other international students. Sometimes it's about taking action;)

It takes a lot of alone time to find your people. I made "friends", similarly to you, when I first moved here and 6 months in it was obvious we were not really tight. It's okay, some friends are for grabbing a coffee and that is also important, but we all crave real connection. The more people you meet, the more you force yourself to approach people, propose plans, invite them for a coffee, for a study session, for a new activity, the easier it will be to find a group you like!

Don't indulge in loneliness for too long. My friends here took months to invite me to join their group chat because they just thought I genuinely was okay with meeting them very casually (they thought because I was pretty chill I must have a real friend group elsewhere — I didn't and if I'd been less shy I'd been surrounded by this wonderful group months earlier).

Don't limit yourself to people from your degree, even from your uni. I love "mixed" student clubs because they allow you to meet the wonderful people that study around you and who you would never meet otherwise!

Be politically active: I believe this is something all of us should do. The current political climate calls for action and joining social movements will help you be part of a bigger community of people that share your values. Test the waters before you fully join (I didn't stay in the first feminist group I joined because a few meetings in I started to see red flags)

Conclusion: it's very hard and takes time and effort but there's always hope. Start small and be at peace with temporary loneliness. It gets better 🩷

[easternmind]

Last year in classic games

For motives I cannot expand on with much glee, I found a little more time than usual this year to reduce my seemingly endless backlog of classics. Despite all the fine new releases 2023 has greeted us with, I was able to finally dive into this eclectic handful of games I gathered over time. It is perhaps no coincidence that I reached out for more direct game experiences than story-driven ones. I find myself increasingly drawn to games designs that are mindful of the player's time as a commodity not to be carelessly squandered.

One note, if I may: I would like to inspire my readers to progressively discard the use of the word retro this year. We are all of advancing years and wisdom, I trust. The introduction of the term retro to the videogame vernacular was a gross mistake furthering the abhorrent notion that games were as ephemeral in their nature as fashion. It is a purely commercial designation by which to profitably repackage old software as a category of its own, originating from the same minds that considered games as mere novelty trinkets of limited marketable lifespan.

It is up to the player to individually decide on an older game's appeal, whether they may be discovering it for the first time or revisiting it for the umpteenth one. This is not only an appeal for those of you who write about games in any capacity, rather to anyone who takes videogames as a serious interest and communicates with others about this the object of their predilection. Thank you.

This loose cart came with a Famicom bundle auction I won in 2009, if memory serves. I turned on the Famicom and tested it merely to verify if it was still in working condition and found myself engrossed in that trademark Pajitnov/Pokhilko elegant approach to game design. As per the cassette's label, Hatris was originally a concept developed in collaboration with ParaGraph, a Russian studio that went on to develop specialized professional software, a year before the Bullet-Proof Software licensing deal. They produced a few games in the turn of the decade that were rather unusual and, some would say, even visionary. I recommend that you look up their story, if you're curious.

The only entry from the group that isn't of Japanese provenance - though it is a Japanese edition - I played it for purely nostalgic motives, perhaps a yearning for a certain pixel, palette and parallax that resoundingly evoke a time I was fortunate enough to experience, first-hand. If I may be honest, I purchased the game for the visual value of its unique cover art, which I deem superior to the US edition's. In saying that, I must highlight that the original Amiga game box art was quite accomplished.

In the Summer of 93 while on holiday at the beach, there was a French Nintendo magazine for sale whose purchase I could not resist. It was very common to find Spanish, English and French publications at the time in Portugal. This edition had a striking four page preview of this Jaleco gem, Ikari no Yōsai, or Operation Logic Bomb as it was named in the West. For years I searched the PAL version in vain, then ultimately decided to import it on account of - you'd never guess! - the superior box art. Playing it this year at long last, I was instantly reminded of an old Game Boy favourite, Fortified Zone, which I now know to be its prequel. Most top-down shooters are best played in co-op. Ikari no Yōsai is strictly and single-player affair and not once did I miss the absence of a friendly companion.

Keio Flying Squadron 2 first came to my attention via an infamous Saturn demo disc, which came into my hands through circumstances I have since forgotten about. I use the word infamous because the entire game code was available in the disc and the level select cheat code enabled me to unscrupulously play the entirety of the game for no additional expense - at only the cost of missing out on the colourful Studio Pierrot anime FMV interludes.

Having played the sequel first, I was somewhat disenchanted to learn the original game did not feature any platforming segments, it being a pure scrolling shooter in the same whimsical vein as Parodius or, say, an AirZonk. Still, a jolly good time with the old three buttons.

For reasons that will not be immediately apparent to younger reading audiences, I pride myself in having completed most Shinobi games, The Revenge Of and GG being my preferred ones. Shin Shinobi Den, or Shinobi X in Europe, was a game not readily available from my usual game dealers. I eventually borrowed the PAL version once, though not nearly long enough to master it. I finally saw it through this year, mere days before SEGA announced a new episode. While the live action clips looked a tad maladroit in the 1990s, they came to acquire that nice patina I now look for in classic games.

Omega Force was known to take the sporadic breather from producing some of KOEI's most cherished and profitable series. I distinctly remember enjoying Destrega quite a bit in its day, a game quite unlike any other. What their 1998 Enigma lacks in consistency and originality, it more than amply makes up for with its own bizarre concepts, extravagant characters and unexpected genre fusions. Of all the titles in this post, this was the one whose pace felt the most sluggish, and needlessly so.

Microsoft Game Studio Japan release schedule plans were not at all kind on this, their first production, Magatama. Earlier this year I praised this era for its highly inspired H&S action adventure titles and even spent a few days delighting myself with the likes of Blood Will Tell, Nightshade, Bujingai, or Chaos Legion. This most unusual creation, developed by the aptly-named Team Breakout - a group composed of many talented ex-Square employees - is one among the finest of the era. Sadly, it did not do enough to persuade players at the time that it was a better purchase than Otogi or its sequel. Playing it with my mind and heart set back in time to 2003, I can say that this misguided consideration may not have withstood a second thought.

I've long wanted to write an extensive article on Japanese firefighting games. In fact, I have the structure laid out for a Japanofiles entry gathering moss in my Tumblr drafts for over a decade now. For a brief period this year I convinced myself I could finally fulfil this aspiration and resumed Sakurazaka Shouboutai as research. Developed by Racdym - later Racjin - for Irem, it is every bit as good as Firefighter F.D.18 or Hard Luck, and in many ways more inventive from a conceptual standpoint. While Konami and Spike found a way to have their games released in the west, Sakurazaka's poor regional sales performance clearly accounts for Irem's reluctance to bear the cost of an overseas ticket.

[lantur]

end of year wrap up,

This time last year I felt so much dread. 2022 almost broke me. It challenged me in ways I didn't think were possible and pushed me to and past my emotional limits. This time last year, I felt debilitating anxiety, because I knew what 2023 had in store for me. My father was terminally ill and I knew he would die this year.

Everything I feared came to pass. My dad began hospice at the end of April and he died in early May. It was even worse pain than I thought and feared it would be. Looking back at it now, the grief was like an out of body experience. It changed me as a person and I will never be the same as I was. I lost whatever bit of "innocence" I had seeing what my dad went through at the end of life.

The first half of this year was awful. And yet so much of my year was suffused with love, surrounded by love, that protected me when I needed it the most and lifted me out of the darkest time. My friends coming over to my house and me going to theirs. Voice chats and video chats and texts with my long distance friends. Traveling with friends, being reminded that there was beauty and joy in the world, and the ability to let go of the daily pains and sorrows and fears and anxieties.

Every day, my husband and my cat made home a sanctuary, caring for me and comforting me.

This year, I effectively lost both of my parents, but I don't feel alone. I feel loved and supported by the family I chose.

I'm one year into a challenging new job that has tested me emotionally and mentally, and pushed me to grow professionally. I started and finished a novel. I turned 31.

In August, I got back into weightlifting. In November, I started learning Spanish. I'm excited to carry these goals into 2024 and see where they take me. My check-in point for measuring progress is going to be the end of Q1.

I'm entering 2024 without the terrible fear that I had last year. I know that the coming year will have some major personal and professional changes and challenges for me. These are changes that I choose, that I feel ready for - not things that are forced on me, that I have to deal with. That makes a difference.

I'm grateful that amidst all the challenges - and there have been many - I've had this safe space to share my struggles and my triumphs. I hope that 2024 brings all of you good things.

[rigelmejo]

some basic language learning thoughts (based on some common questions i see on reddit forums). as usual, if you don't like the suggestion, feel free to ignore and throw it out! what works best for you will be what works best for you - everyone is different. at the end of the day, if you continue studying (hours add up), study some new stuff (expand your knowledge), and practice/review some stuff you've studied (improve comprehension of what you know), then you'll improve. You can achieve that in a ton of different ways, and any way which motivates you to keep doing it is great.

What's the easiest language to learn? My thought on this question is... it doesn't matter as much as it might feel like it does. If any language is going to take hundreds or thousands of hours of study, you will probably want to have goals that motivate you to study for THAT long, for years. If Danish 'takes less hours to learn' than Thai, but you watch Thai shows everyday and follow thai webnovel writers and twitter, and don't have much interest in anything Danish (and no friends that speak the language), then Thai is going to be 'easier' because you have more reasons to USE it. If Spanish and French seem to take a similar amount of hours to learn, but you're planning to go to school in a French speaking country and get a job there? Well you have a more pressing Need to learn French, that will hopefully help motivate you. The 'easiest' language to learn is the language you have REASONS to learn. The language you will use, and keep using. If you have no pressing reason to learn any language, but want to learn a language? Find reasons. Make goals that require the language.

(Here's one from me - I wanted to learn Japanese, in theory I can mostly do anything I want by just reading/watching/playing translations, however I am the kind of person that really enjoys reading originals in their original form... so that's motivating. My recent kick to study more? A show I want to watch is untranslated, so I better get to studying so I can still watch it.) Your goal can be anything from: I want to visit X, I want to talk to X friend/family better, I want to blog in multiple languages, I want to watch untranslated media, I want to sing my favorite musicians songs easier, I want to work in a country that speaks it, I want access to more recipes in X language, I am into history and want to read a history book from X time period in X language, I want to play a video game before localization, really the sky is the limit on goals you can set. Your goals, and how much you want them, and how often you do the sub-goals (so if reading untranslated cnovels by an author you love is your goal, maybe along the way you read easier webnovels to motivate you and find more writers you like), is going to push you to keep studying. Even if your goal is 'pass language B2 test' if it has a deadline, and it's a goal connected to other goals (like going to work in a country with the language, translating work, writing better), that will keep you motivated. Motivation is what will make a language 'easier.' If you can't find the motivation, even the languages which should take the 'least amount of time' will feel hard.

All that said, I am now about to contradict myself. While I really think motivation is the biggest factor in if you'll keep studying and keep learning... there are languages which due to their similarity to languages you already know, will take less Total Study Hours to make progress. As an English speaker, it only took me 6 months of very lazy unorganized studying (half hour most days) to be able to start reading non-fiction French with only a handful of word lookups per page. A lot of that was because French (especially science words and proper nouns like places) has so many cognates with English. I basically 'had' thousands of words of French I already knew, just because I knew English. It took about a year to read fiction books in French only looking up a handful of words per page, for 'general main idea' comprehension. When studying Chinese, it took me also about 12 months to read fiction, look up a handful of words, and understand the 'general main idea.' But I was studying 2 hours a day. So I studied around 182.5 hours to read French fiction with word lookups, and 730 hours to read Chinese fiction with word lookups. And the Chinese also took longer to learn to read with NO word lookups, since there was no english-cognate carryover to sound-out and over rely on like with French. (Although at a wonderful certain point, you know enough Chinese hanzi that new words are built of mostly hanzi you know, and you can use that to guess the gist of a LOT of new words when extensively reading with no word lookups - that happened for me at about 2 years). My point is: Chinese DOES take more hours of study to reach language skill milestones as an english speaker, compared to French! It took me the same amount of months, because I studied Chinese more hours per day (to make up the difference - and I had a better study plan with Chinese). But if you are a total beginner, and unmotivated and KNOW you will study maybe 1 hour per day and probably not more, then learning a language that is more similar to one you already know WILL take less study hours total to reach skill milestones. And that will hopefully be motivating.

(Another example: I spent 3 months of 1-2 hours a day studying Spanish, and can read Spanish nonfiction - thanks to the similarities to French and English. I can read fiction too but it requires word lookups. Japanese, due to kanji, also got 'easier' to read once I had learned more Chinese hanzi. So if your goals include learning languages with some similarities, then once you learn some of those similarities it will make future learning 'faster.')

I spent a month once studying Esperanto (a constructed language). Do I ever use Esperanto? No. Did I find the experience helpful? Yes. Because Esperanto is designed to be fairly easy for european language native speakers, has no exceptions, it had 1. a lot of similar-words to english so I could practice 'guessing similar words' (a skill I'd use a lot with French and Spanish later), 2. practice guessing what word endings mean grammatically (since Esperanto has no exceptions the grammar patterns are much more obvious than say grammar patterns in French). 3. Practice recognizing spelling to sound connections. Those 3 skills are useful in learning any language, but natural languages will have more exceptions to the patterns.

After spending a month on Esperanto, I saw HUGE progress after studying a few hundred words, noticed a huge amount of grammar patterns and how to notice them, and just generally got the experience of 'this is what skill milestones feel like.' Later, when studying French, I used that experience to recognize French word endings and what they tend to indicate, word functions, patterns in pronunciation, guessing with cognates/similar words, and I knew what the first 'milestones' I was aiming for would be. In a similar pattern: French milestones took me a few months each to hit, so when I studied Chinese later and it was taking 2-3 times as much study time... I knew which milestone to expect myself to 'work toward' and achieve next, and knew what making progress should feel like (even if it felt like it was moving slower) so I didn't give up. I was aware that Chinese language skill milestones might 'take more hours' so I didn't panic when it was taking me almost a year of reading graded readers in Chinese to move on to simple webnovels, whereas in French I'd only been reading graded readers for half a year before I felt ready to move on. I knew the general process, because I'd done it before in a shorter timespan with French, with Esperanto.

Is Esperanto useful to you? Only you know that. I personally did not find it useful in general for me, and didn't continue to study it. But it did teach me 'how' to study a language, what progress to monitor, and gave me the confidence that I was capable of learning.

If you really feel you're incapable of learning any skill in a new language, then spending some time on a language more similar to what you already know (if possible - a language you have motivating goals with), may help you see you are capable and can learn. An addition to this: spend a LOT of hours studying as a beginner, if lack of progress demotivates you. Once you push past the beginner stage, you'll be able to do goal-related things in the language you study and that will keep you motivated. But in the beginning, progress feels slow and you feel very confused. So the more upfront studying you do, the quicker you will push through that hard-to-motivate stage.

Is learning a language that is more similar to ones you know going to take less hours of study? Probably. But either way, motivation over hundreds or thousands of hours, for years, is going to be needed. So the goals you wish to achieve will be more important in your success, rather than how many 'hours' it will take.

What do you do if you get demotivated that it's taking SO LONG to hit the next language skill milestone? Fair concern. I got demotivated OFTEN by how much longer it took to reach milestones in Japanese compared to in French. First: try to keep perspective. It's normal for it to take more hours to understand certain things, if the language is not very similar to ones you know. You have to build a bigger foundation of understanding for lots of totally new stuff. Second: you're going to hate me but I'd suggest upping the study hours per day (or week). Studying Chinese RARELY demotivated me, despite it taking more actual hours of study to hit milestones compared to French, and why? Because I increased my study time for Chinese so I was still REACHING milestones in a reasonable amount of months (very similar to the months it took to hit French milestones). 2 hours a day of Chinese study was more than 1/2 an hour of French study, but 2 hours was doable. And it meant I still got to watch shows and read within a few months, and watch/read without looking many words up (depending on difficulty) by the end of year 1. Once you are doing the goals or sub-goals you have, it becomes so much easier to stay motivated. Once I could watch cdramas before they got translated, or read any novel I wanted using Pleco or Readibu to help? It was very easy to stay motivated and do things I WANTED to do in chinese. From there it was just practice/learn using activities I had the goal of doing.

Finally, similar to the suggestions above, if you find yourself in a motivation rut what can you do? I personally try to do 'study sprints' when I'm getting demotivated and need to see significant progress. What I do is pick a small goal, then spend 1-2 months studying as much as I can to improve in that goal. Suggestions: A beginner may make the goal to study the alphabet, a pronunciation guide, and 300 common words and see how far they get by the end of the month. (If at the end of the month the pronunciation is easier to hear and alphabet is easier to read then they succeeded - and they likely will). Another beginner may make the goal to read graded readers 1 hour per day or more all month and see how much they can read. (If the first graded reader they read is easier to read at the conclusion of the month, such as less unknown words or faster reading speed, then they succeeded - and they likely will see progress). A beginner/intermediate learner into flashcards might try to study as many flashcards in Anki as they can for a month. An intermediate learner may pick an audiobook and try to listen to AS MANY chapters as they can in a month, or may pick a novel and look up every unknown word while reading for 1 hour per day or more, until the end of the month. The idea is to pick a goal where you KNOW you're current skill level, work HARD on studying to improve that skill for a month, and then try to do the skill again and see how much progress you've made. I find it very motivating. It can take months to broadly notice progress milestones like managing to improve in your overall reading skill to tackle more difficult novels. But it can take just A MONTH to learn a few hundred new words and make the current novel you're reading become much EASIER to read, or the current show you're watching to become much EASIER to follow, or for the listening skills you're struggling with to become much more instant and reliable.

Example: one of my most recent sprints was to improve my Chinese listening skills. So for a month, I listened to audio flashcards of chinese-english sentences audio, and audiobook chapters (re-listening to each chapter a few times). I saw progress in 1. The audiobook got easier to understand over time, and 2. I tried watching a cdrama I've watched before, only this time I watched it without any subtitles, and it is now much easier to quickly comprehend and follow the lines (even without chinese subs). A sprint I did after a 2 year funk with minimal japanese progress was to cram study 2000 words in memrise Nukemarine's LLJ decks (took 3 months) then try to play a japanese video game I'd tried playing before the sprint. Another japanese sprint I did was listen to japaneseaudiolessons.com free lessons for a month, to work on improving my listening comprehension and recognition of word-order faster, and it did really help with seeing an improvement in those things.

As a beginner, I think the sprints can help with staying focused on small achieveable goals and seeing your progress (like reading daily, watching a show daily, studying X new words daily, going through a chapter of a grammar book weekly, etc). And then as you get farther and can actually do some of your sub-goals, can help with pushing yourself to some significant improvement in a particular area. (Like if you reached a sub goal of reading easy webnovels, it might be a month where you read a webnovel with more unique words that's 'harder' and look all unknown words up, and by the end of the month you see that medium-difficulty webnovels now feel as easy as the 'easy' ones did at the start of the month).

And then... if you study like me, which tends to be periods of a LOT of study followed by lulls where I might watch/read/listen to the language but not do much active study, then the sprint goal months tend to help cram in 100 hours of study every so often. So that you'll still (on average through the year) have studied 1-2+ hours a day. I do not focus well, and sprint goal months along with more relaxed months where I just watch/read/listen to stuff when I feel like it, is the only way I can get myself to study regularly. If you can consistently study daily, then sprint goal months can help you make Significant progress in a very specific area if some slow-progress area has been demotivating you. (And you can turn the sprint goals into challenges with friends, or tests to see what study methods work great for you versus bore you).

[ai-luni]

So I read you Rorke headcanons and can I say how amazing they were??? I never thought I was a Rorke girl but after reading those I have a new crush!

I wanted to request more for him. You write him beautifully! You mentioned he always has the reader tied to a mattress or chair so I was wondering if you’d maybe write some headcanons about him overstimulating her to get information out of her? I think that would be hot as fuck! If not it’s okay though. 👀🔥 Thank you in advance!

Okay. So big disclaimer needed here. But first of all, thank you so much! Genuinely people saying they like my interpretation of a character feels like the best compliment ever fr.

A/N: Now, I have tried multiple times to write this and every time, I'd just think further and further into it and get uncomfortable and then leave it. Every time I get to the actual torture part, I just can't bring myself to write it. I've decided just to throw in the towel.

Here's what it looks like now, It's not at all finished, probably really sloppy and desperately needs a proof read but yea. I've got another post 2015 Rorke soon to be started however.

Thank you for the ask t, I'm not at all offended either. Please remember i've never been much of a writer before and I'm still discovering my own boundaries of what I do and don't feel comfortable writing about as well.

Warnings: Being chained, held hostage, being mocked, non con suggestive, flat out abuse.

They stuck you in a bare, empty, what looks like an old interrogation room. The beige paint peeling walls revealing concrete were stained in a tie dye of black and green. Mold and algae scratching the back of your nose to the pit of your stomach. And it was cold. Too damn cold for the middle of June, surely you were underground with this kind of shithole. 

There was a frosted, scratched mirror covering one wall of the room. You could barely see a reflection in it with the dull yellow lightbulb hanging in the middle of the room providing as little assistance as it possibly could. 

They’d have you cuffed to a chain hanging from a sketchy hole drilled in the wall. Under you is a gross mattress. I will not give a description of it, it will gross me out and then what. The distance of the chair gave you little to no room to move. You touch the side of the mattress with your feet but standing and further than right next to the wall is out of the picture. 

They captured you from Vegas, blindfolded you as you travelled for what felt like a day and a half, only pulling the cloth off once you reached this room. 

Since then, you hadn’t seen a single bare face, hadn’t heard a single word that wasn’t in spanish. Soldiers came in and out of the room, dropping off food or water but none had come close to you yet. That was until what you thought was your second day in the shithole. 

Two soldiers entered, one holding a tray of scraps and utter junk that you knew wouldn’t stay down for long. By now the soldiers were used to your yelling, you pulling at your chains  making a scene. They’d started jokingly yell back “bark for us, bitch” and from what you knew of spanish, you got the jist. 

These two soldiers dropped the tray, one pushing it to you with his boot. You ignored it, suddenly kicking the tray back. So they approached you and all hell let loose, your legs kicking and grabbing. One left with his helmet k wicked off, the other with a bite mark on his forearm. 

After that stunt, you had crowds of soldiers visiting you, testing your limit like it was a playground game. And then you got the visit from Rorke himself. 

“Ain’t you a sight for sore eyes.” He’d whistle as he walked in, two federation soldiers soon after. 

He’d pull a chair up to the edge of the mattress, caging you even more. Resting is arms on his knees, enjoying the way he shadowed you from the light

“Where are the ghost’s hiding?” His voice almost gentle, his eyes something cynical.

You did the only thing you could think of, you spat on him. And he chuckled. Then he roared and laughed. He had a smile on his face like he was hoping you would be uncooperative. 

You’d start kicking again, falling back on your instincts. His laughter would only get louder. The soldiers that followed him would now try to step in but Rorke would way them off.

“I want a crack at her.” 

Now off his chair, he would wrestle you to the ground. Your legs still frantically so much to the point that the chair slid across the room.

He’d ground you by the neck, sitting on your legs until you got tired. It took a good while, a lot longer than anyone would’ve initially thought. 

“You got a lot of fight in you, kid, I like that.” He had one palm around your neck, the other clenching your cheeks together, examining your features. “I like that a lot.”