#the meeting today was a bit surreal to be sat with a lot of the big bosses

[tetzoro]

was officially selected as a team lead for a company wide project :’)

[formulas-bitch]

Welcome to the family - Oscar Piastri x sister/reader

1.4k words

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the McLaren Technology Centre in a warm, amber glow, Oscar Piastri, dressed impeccably in a crisp white shirt and navy blue suit, stepped out of his sleek silver McLaren . His heart raced with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation as he approached the iconic McLaren logo etched into the pavement. This was it. The moment he had been dreading, yet had been eagerly anticipating for months. He was finally going to introduce his younger sister, Mia, to the team that he loved so dearly, the team that had become a second family to him.

As he walked up the steps to the main entrance, he couldn't help but feel a surge of pride swell within him. Mia, dressed in a stylish McLaren-branded dress and a pair of silver heels, looked every bit the part of a young, aspiring member of the team. Her dark hair, pulled back into a sleek ponytail, and her bright green eyes mirrored his own, and her infectious smile lit up the room as they entered the team's headquarters.

The reception area was buzzing with activity; mechanics busily working on cars, engineers huddled around computers, and designers poring over sketches. But as soon as they were spotted, all conversation ceased and all eyes turned towards them. It was a surreal moment for Oscar, one that he knew would be etched into his memory for years to come.

A smile spread across his face as he saw his sister's eyes widen in awe at the sight before her. She had always looked up to him, admired his dedication to the team, and now, he thought with a sense of pride, she was finally getting a taste of what it was like to be a part of this incredible family.

As they were ushered into the inner sanctum, past the gleaming trophies and historic race cars, Oscar couldn't help but feel a wave of nostalgia wash over him. He remembered his first day here, how nervous and intimidated he had been. But the team had taken him under their wing, made him feel welcome, and helped him grow into the driver and person he was today. He only hoped that Mia would have the same experience.

"Mia, meet Zac Brown , our Team Principal," Oscar said, gesturing towards the tall, silver-haired man standing nearby. Zac extended his hand, giving Mia a firm shake before turning to Oscar.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Oscar," he said, his British accent clipped and authoritative. "And congratulations on bringing such a lovely sister into the fold. I've heard a lot about you, Mia. You've certainly made quite an impression already."

Mia blushed, ducking her head shyly. "Thank you, sir," she managed, her voice barely above a whisper.

As they continued their tour, Oscar introduced Mia to the various team members, from the engineers and designers to the mechanics and support staff. Each person they met took the time to offer a warm welcome and share a story or two about their own experiences with the team. It was clear that everyone was eager to embrace Mia into the fold, just as they had with her brother.

there was just one person who was missing and that was Oscars team mate Lando norris.

As they made their way through the building, they finally arrived at the drivers' lounge, where Lando was sprawled out on a comfy leather sofa, flipping through channels on the massive TV. He looked up when they entered and grinned broadly when he saw Mia. "Hey, Oscar," he said, giving his friend a playful punch in the arm. "And who's this lovely lady I see you've brought along?"

Mia's cheeks flushed even deeper as Lando's piercing green eyes fixed on her. She felt simultaneously intimidated and flattered by his attention. "Hi, Lando," she managed to say, offering him a tentative smile.

Lando sat up straighter, gesturing for them to join him on the sofa. "So, Mia, what brings you to the team?" he asked, his voice low and inviting. As they sat down, he studied her face intently, as if trying to gauge her motivations.

Oscar, who had been watching this exchange with a mixture of amusement and pride, felt compelled to jump in. "Well, Lando, Mia's actually here because of me. She's my sister, you see, and she's always been a huge fan of the team. She's been wanting to get involved for years now, and I thought this would be a great opportunity for her as she is just finishing her PhD in engineering in a month or two"

Lando nodded, his expression turning more serious. "That's fantastic, Oscar. I'm glad you brought her along. And you're right, we could definitely use another set of sharp eyes and fresh perspectives around here. I'm sure she'll fit right in." He reached out and gave Mia's arm a reassuring pat. "You've got a lot to offer this team, Mia. We're lucky to have you."

As the conversation continued, Mia felt herself relaxing more and more. She couldn't believe how comfortable she was already feeling in this environment. The other team members, who had all taken the time to introduce themselves and share their stories with her, seemed genuinely excited to have her on board. It was a far cry from the stuffy academic setting she was used to.

Over the next few hours, they toured the rest of the facility, including the state-of-the-art wind tunnel and the machine shop where the latest racing technology was brought to life. Everywhere they went, Mia found herself soaking up new information and absorbing the unique culture of the team. She could tell that the teamwork and camaraderie here were unlike anything she had experienced before.

As they made their way back to the main garage, Mia felt a surge of excitement well up inside her. She knew that this was where she belonged, where her skills and passion would be put to good use. She glanced over at Oscar, who was chatting animatedly with one of the mechanics, and felt a sense of pride and gratitude welling up within her. She owed so much to her brother for bringing her into this amazing world.

As they continued to tour the garage, Mia found herself drawn to a particular group of engineers who were huddled around a workbench, poring over a set of blueprints. Intrigued, she approached them and introduced herself. They welcomed her with open arms, eager to share their work and solicit her opinion. For the next few hours, she lost herself in the technical details and design challenges, forgetting all about the outside world.

It wasn't until much later, as they were sitting down to dinner in the team's private dining room, that Mia finally got the chance to ask Lando about his own journey to the team. As he shared stories of his early racing days and his climb up the ranks, she found herself captivated by his charisma and his infectious passion for the sport. She couldn't help but feel a sense of kinship with him, even though they were from such different backgrounds.

Throughout the evening, the other team members chimed in with their own stories and experiences, creating a lively and engaging atmosphere. Mia felt like she was part of a family, and she knew that this was a feeling she had never experienced before. As they ate, drank, and laughed together, she couldn't help but feel grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such an incredible team.

As the dinner drew to a close, Lando leaned back in his chair and looked around the table, his eyes filled with pride. "You know, Mia," he said, "I'm glad you're here. Not just because you're Oscar's sister or because you're an incredibly talented engineer, but because you're a part of something bigger now. This team, this sport, it's not just about winning races or setting records. It's about the journey, the challenges we face together, the friendships we form along the way. And I think you're going to fit right in our little delusional family."

The room erupted in laughter, and Mia felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment. But as she looked around at the faces of the people who had welcomed her so warmly, she knew that Lando was right. She had found a home here, a place where she belonged. And for the first time in her life, she wasn't just content to watch from the sidelines. She was going to be a part of something truly special.

[bellaxgiornata]

Falling For the Devil [Part eighty-six: "The Moving Day"]

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader

Summary: The day you move in with Matt has finally arrived!

Or Some strange, nervous feeling eats at you all day and then keeps you up that night.

[Series of one-shots about Reader meeting, falling for, and dating Matt Murdock.]

Warnings: 18+ for this series; contains humor, fluff, romance, angst, smut (like...a lot of it later in the series), language, some violence

Word Count: 4.8k

a/n: Somehow light angst crept into this installment when I was writing it and it took me a few days to figure out why Reader was acting so strange on me and Matt, BUT I figured it out and left it in for some Sweet Matty at the end. Y'all know I love the shit out of him. So technically this is a light bit of angst with comfort at the end? Either way, I hope you enjoy Reader FINALY MOVING IN WITH MATT! Y'all that have been reading this series since back in February have been waiting months in real time just for this day to finally come!! Now it's finally here! And as always, feedback is always appreciated!

Tag List: @ninacotte @mattkinsella @stilldreaming666 @murdocksclient @madscamp02 @1988-fiend @lina-mar @pinkratts @schneeflocky @acharliecoxedfan @yarrystyleeza @theetherealbloom @danzer8705 @lionalsowrites @harperdoodle

The movers had already finished bringing all of your things up into Matt’s apartment–or rather, both of yours’ apartment as you’d often had to keep reminding yourself today–about twenty minutes ago. You knew Matt, Foggy, and Karen would be showing up from their half day at the office any minute, which was why you'd begun unpacking in the bedroom first. You didn’t particularly need your friends helping you put away your underwear and some of the other, more personal items which you had packed in your bedroom boxes. Though you certainly had a feeling Marci would only be all too happy to snoop when she showed up later after work.

Fortunately it hadn’t taken you long to put away your more private items before you’d moved on to hanging up more of your clothing in the left hand side of the closet where Matt had long ago made space for your things. On the far right neatly hung all of his suits with their braille tags on each of the hangers. Seeing more of your things hanging next to his still had you feeling inexplicably giddy, but ever since you’d left your apartment for the last time this morning and come to Matt’s, something else that you couldn’t quite place had slowly begun to take root in your mind. 

This whole situation felt surreal to you. You’d spent a long time wanting to be with Matt during your friendship after you had first met him. Through all of that time you never thought you would be good enough for him, never remotely the kind of woman who could possibly catch Matthew Murdock's attention. Not after you had seen all of the women he usually had been hit on by and those you’d seen him flirt with in return. And especially not with how charismatic, intelligent, and successful he was. You were just the awkward journalist that he’d always said made any situation highly amusing and uncomfortable in a matter of seconds. Yet here you were, hanging your skirts next to his dress slacks in the same closet. Your toothbrush sat next to his on the bathroom counter. And soon your coffee mugs and dishware would be mixed in along with his on the shelves in the kitchen. 

Because you were finally moving in with him. 

The full reality of the situation hadn’t completely hit you yet. Though you had a feeling it would later tonight, after all your friends had left and it was just you and Matt here afterwards, when all of your things were fully blended with his. Despite the excitement you felt at moving in with Matt, and with what that might mean for your relationship moving forward, there had been a nagging feeling in the back of your mind slowly growing louder as the day wore on. You knew you were going to be freaking out once the giddiness wore off and the reality settled in, but you’d tried to keep that pushed to the side as you unpacked. You didn’t have time to try to unpack that right now, too.

As you finished hanging one of your skirts on a hanger, you overheard the sound of the apartment door unlocking before it swung open. It was mere seconds before you heard Matt’s voice through the apartment.

“Sweetheart?” he called out.

Chewing your lip, your heart nervously sped up in your chest at the sound of his voice. You hung up the skirt you’d had in your hand in the closet before you turned and made your way out of the bedroom. As you maneuvered around the boxes, you could hear the loud scoff Foggy made all the way across the apartment. 

“Matt!” he complained. “You were supposed to shout ‘honey, I’m home’ when you came in!”

“Foggy, I told you I wasn't doing that,” Matt replied.

A small grin settled on your face as you listened to the three of them taking their shoes off in the entryway hall. You did your best to navigate through the messy living room where there were boxes piled everywhere as you listened to them. 

“Don’t ruin this for me, Matt!” Foggy snapped. “This is a big day for me!”

“For you?” Karen said with a laugh. “You’re not the one moving in!”

“No, but do you know how long I hoped for this day for Matt?” Foggy countered. “ Especially after learning about what he does in his free time outside of work? I never thought he’d find someone and settle down. I was afraid he’d be alone forever!”

“Thanks, Fog,” Matt said flatly.

Skirting around another stack of boxes, you heard Matt calling out your name. You laughed lightly as you overheard Karen and Foggy continuing the conversation Matt clearly wasn’t remotely interested in.

“I’m here, Matty,” you called back. “Just trying to make my way through the mess that has become your place.”

“Our place,” he immediately corrected.

“Right, yeah,” you agreed quickly. “That might take me a bit to get used to.”

You came to a stop beside the leather couch when Matt came into view at the end of the entryway hall. Grinning wide at the sight of him standing there smiling in your direction, you felt your cheeks heat. 

For some reason you felt unnecessarily nervous. You hadn’t seen Matt since yesterday morning, and because you’d spent most of this past week packing, you’d been unable to spend much time with him. You hadn’t seen him nearly as much this week as you often did, so now the sight of him was suddenly shaking loose all sorts of dormant butterflies in your stomach. Once again you were awkwardly gnawing on your bottom lip, unsure how to properly greet him in the moment–and then that was only making you further nervous.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Matt said, sliding his glasses off of his face.

Matt’s eyes lowered to your chest, a small smile playing across his lips. No doubt he was noticing the way your heart was nervously beating at the moment. You knew he always loved the way it reacted to him, but you also knew he was unaware of exactly why you were nervous this time. Granted, you weren’t entirely sure what was with your nerves, either, today.

“Hey, Matty,” you greeted back softly.

You continued to worry your bottom lip between your teeth, your hands fidgeting in front of yourself as you took in the sight of him. His suit coat was draped over one of his arms, leaving him in just his light blue dress shirt, the sleeves of which were rolled up already. He looked good–like he always did–just standing there smiling at you with so much warmth and love on his face.

“For fuck’s sake– kiss her already!” Foggy shouted.

“Foggy,” Karen sharply reprimanded him.

Your cheeks only flamed further as Matt’s smile widened. Wordlessly he crossed the room, easily stepping around a box as he made his way towards you. Breath catching in your throat, you watched as he tossed his suit coat onto the back of his couch in a fluid motion before he was standing before you. Without pause his hands reached up and cradled your face in both of his palms, tilting your mouth up towards his before he dove in for a sweet, lingering kiss. When he pulled back away, smiling down at you with that absolutely breathtaking smile of his, you were left stunned and speechless.

“It was lonely here without you this week,” he whispered.

You swore your heart skipped a beat in your chest. “Well I’m–I’m here now, Matty,” you murmured.

“Great!” Foggy exclaimed, clapping his hands loudly together and causing Matt and you to jump apart. “Now let’s get started unpacking so we can get to the pizza and beer part of the day!”

______

Changing out of the jeans and tee-shirt you’d been wearing all day, you gradually got ready for bed in the bedroom. Down the hall, you could hear Matt brushing his teeth in the bathroom. You both were worn out from the excitement of the day, and you were just ready for sleep already. Between overseeing the movers, unpacking all of your things into Matt’s space, and socializing with your friends, you felt exhausted. And for some unexplainable reason there was still something that just felt off with you. There was still some nervous energy you could feel lingering inside of you that you couldn’t quite place. It had only grown stronger ever since your friends had left and Matt and you had straightened up the apartment a bit before bed.

It made no sense why you felt this way, either. It wasn’t as if you hadn’t stayed the night at Matt’s apartment countless times over the past few months now. You’d spent many nights brushing your teeth and changing your clothes getting ready for bed here, plugging your phone into the very same charger on the nightstand by your side of the bed at least a hundred times now. You knew Matt wanted you here–hell, he’d told you that at least ten times today already.

So why were you feeling that nervous, queasy feeling in your stomach? Why was the prospect of staying here tonight–and every night from here on out–giving you butterflies of a different kind all of the sudden? Why was there that nagging little voice in the back of your head still growing louder and louder despite your inability to decipher its meaning? It didn’t make sense.

“You alright?” 

Startling at Matt’s voice, you spun on the spot and found him standing in the doorway of the bedroom. His brows were drawn together on his forehead as he eyed you curiously. 

“Yeah,” you said with a nod, turning and grabbing the pair of cotton sleep shorts you had laid out on the side of the bed. “I’m just tired. It was a long day.”

“You want me to get the light for you?” he asked.

“Sure, thanks,” you replied.

As you pulled your shorts up your legs, you noticed how Matt hesitated in the doorway, just silently focused on you. It wasn’t until you grabbed your shirt from the bed next that Matt finally turned off the light before you heard him gradually making his way through the bedroom and over towards his side of the bed. 

You knew he’d already undressed before brushing his teeth, currently wearing nothing but his usual black boxers as he pulled the sheets back on his side of the bed. Normally that would elicit a reaction from your body, because knowing he was almost naked and you were about to be in bed with him, even when you were too tired for sex, made you feel something . Because he looked like one of those Greek gods chiseled from marble under his clothes and your body always unconsciously reacted to him. But tonight all you felt was that ball of nerves sitting in the pit of your stomach. It didn’t help that you figured he was probably picking up on something being off with you, too. 

Drawing the sheets back, you climbed into the bed beside Matt. Nervously you rolled onto your side to face him, soon feeling his warm hands landing on your hips over the fabric of your clothes. Grabbing you tenderly, Matt pulled you in towards his body and until you were resting with your head on his chest. He gradually settled underneath you, one arm wrapped under your waist while the other draped over the top of it. Timidly your own hand reached out as you lightly slid it across his toned, warm chest. 

“Mmm, finally,” Matt contentedly hummed out. “I spent all week missing falling asleep with you, but now I’ll always have you here with me.”

For some reason his words only caused the nerves to twist in your stomach just a bit more. You hummed out an affirmative noise in response, unable to trust your voice as you smiled softly in the dark. Internally you were trying to understand what the hell was going on with you. You’d been so excited this morning at the prospect of finally moving in with him. Excited that this move meant Matt and you were so much closer to bigger things in your relationship–like a possible engagement. 

So what the hell was with this strange, nervous feeling?

You startled when you felt Matt’s fingers gently brushing some of your hair from your face, having been too deep in your thoughts to have noticed he’d moved. You knew he’d caught that little surprised jump instantly when his fingers paused along your temple.

"Are you sure you're alright, sweetheart?" Matt asked carefully. "You've seemed unusually nervous today. Your body still seems a bit tense."

“I uhm,” you began, your index finger lightly tracing a pattern along Matt’s bare chest, “I’m just a little nervous. You know me.”

You laughed briefly, trying to make light of the situation so he would drop it. You knew how excited Matt was for you to finally be here and how long he’d been waiting for this moment. And it certainly wasn’t like you hadn’t felt the same, but you didn’t want to ruin your first night here with these weird nerves you couldn’t begin to explain. Knowing Matt, he’d feel bad and think he’d done something wrong, or that your anxious feeling was somehow because you didn’t want this or him–which was not the case. You’d never been more sure of anyone before. You knew you loved Matt.

“Okay,” he said slowly, his fingers sliding down from where they’d lingered along your temple to lovingly stroke your cheek. “But if you want to talk, you know I’m always here. You can tell me anything, sweetheart.”

You forced the smile onto your face again as you gazed up at him from your place along his chest, the rough pads of his fingers still tracing your cheekbone gently. He was so good to you and that only made you feel worse about hiding something from him, no matter how stupid it seemed. 

“I’m just tired,” you told him. “It was a long day dealing with everything with the move. I’m sure I’ll be my normal, slightly less nervous self in the morning.”

“I’ll love you however you are in the morning,” he murmured, leaning forward to kiss your forehead. “Because I love you .”

A more genuine smile slipped onto your lips, your eyes closing. “I love you, too, Matty,” you whispered back.

Silence settled in the bedroom as you felt Matt’s body relax beneath you. No doubt he was exhausted from having worked late last night, helping you unpack your things today, and then trying to relearn where some things now were in the space that had been just his for so long. You knew he’d had a long day, too.

With your eyes closed, you tried to let yourself relax and drift off to sleep. You did your best to focus on the usual faint sounds of the city a few floors below the apartment in conjunction with the steady breaths you could just barely hear coming from Matt. Despite how toned and firm Matt’s body was, you’d always found lying with your head on his chest far more comfortable than using a pillow. You weren’t sure if it was really because Matt was that comfortable or if you just loved that level of closeness and intimacy with him, though for some reason tonight you were finding yourself unable to just fall asleep. 

Without a clock, you weren’t sure how long you’d laid there awake, curled up alongside Matt trying and failing to sleep. Though it had to have been awhile because you’d long since noticed Matt had fallen asleep, the steady and rhythmic rise and fall of his chest easily cluing you in. Yet still you just couldn’t shake that nervous feeling swirling uncomfortably inside of you. The longer you tried to force sleep to come, the more awake you steadily felt yourself becoming. 

Eyes flying back open, you laid there for a moment in the dark as they tried to adjust to the near blackness in the bedroom. Gradually your head rose and fell along with each of Matt’s even breaths, but you only found yourself growing more restless next to his peaceful form. Lifting your head slowly from him, you very carefully tried to disentangle yourself from the hold he had on you without waking him. Which truthfully was a near impossible feat to accomplish– except for when he’d recently fallen into a deep sleep. Like right now.

Moving slowly, you slid towards the edge of the bed, carefully pulling the sheets from yourself  before you climbed off of the mattress. A chill ran through you at the loss of Matt’s body heat, the cold air of the apartment in comparison drawing goosebumps along your bare arms. You pulled the sheets back up on the bed and turned, quietly making your way towards the bedroom door. Cautiously you slid it open, not fully closing it all the way behind yourself afterwards before you turned and focused on the space before you. 

Now that you were out of bed, you weren’t entirely sure what to do. As you stood there trying to figure it out, your arms wrapping around your chest, you watched the light from the billboard just outside the large windows wash the space in a glow of blues and greens. After a moment you figured you could get yourself a glass of water and that might help you relax.

Making your way through the living room towards the kitchen, you came to a stop just in front of the shelf filled with cups. Both your glass cups and Matt’s were perfectly lined up side by side. On the shelf beside it, your plates and bowls were stacked neatly on top of the few that Matt already had. For a minute you just found yourself staring at them, realizing how full Matt’s normally sparse shelves looked. Glancing back over your shoulder, you spotted your television stand now situated across from Matt’s leather couch, your television sitting on top of it. The two armchairs that had always been opposite the coffee table were both now to the left of the couch, still giving Matt plenty of room to navigate from the entry hall to the living room, and from the living room to the stairs that led to the roof access. It looked different though, despite the familiar light from the billboard swathing the furniture in a myriad of colors. 

As you stood there staring at the furniture, that nauseating, nervous feeling finally fully uncoiled inside of yourself. You suddenly understood what had been gnawing at you all day. 

It felt almost familiar here. It wasn’t quite Matt’s place that you’d grown accustomed to over the year the two of you had been together, but at the same time it still was the apartment you’d spent so much time at. But it just felt different. It certainly wasn’t your apartment and it wasn’t exactly his, either. It was something else entirely. And that was what had been nagging at you all day–the unfamiliarity of this space.

For some reason the longer you stared at the television and everything that looked different and changed, the more you felt the increasing sting of tears in your eyes. Why you were suddenly getting emotional was beyond you, though. Reaching up, you wiped a hand at your eyes, trying to force the tears back. Somehow that only had them watering more.

And that was precisely when you heard the bedroom door slide open all the way and you jumped in the kitchen at the sound. Your focus shifted from the television to Matt standing at the edge of the bedroom, clad in only his dark boxers. There was a small frown on his face as he focused on you, his head slightly tilted to the side.

“Sweetheart?” he called out. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

You nodded immediately, trying to smile despite the tears still welling up. “Yeah, Matty, I’m fine,” you answered.

His shoulders dropped at your words and you wondered if that had registered as a lie to his ears. Matt immediately began shuffling his way towards you through the living room, his bare feet gently padding along the floor as he moved. You saw his brows faintly pull together and noticed the frown was still on his face as he made his way towards you. His focus never left you as he maneuvered around the rearranged space, though. 

“Are you crying?” he asked softly, entering the kitchen.

“No, I–”

You stopped at the same time Matt came to stand just in front of you. A look of concern was etched on his face as he reached a hand up, his fingers gently grabbing onto your chin and tilting your face up towards him. His eyes worriedly scanned around your face, searching for answers as he quietly said your name.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I–I just–” you broke off, shaking your head as he still held your chin. “It just feels…different here. Not the same,” you finally admitted. 

“Is that what’s been bothering you all day today?” he asked.

Pressing your lips together, you nodded. Matt’s expression softened as he continued to gaze back at you, his thumb brushing along your chin.

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?” he asked.

“Because I didn’t want to upset you. And I didn’t know what I was feeling,” you confessed. “Not until I couldn’t sleep and I came out here and saw your furniture all rearranged and a television in your living room. And–”  you waved a hand at the shelves beside you, “– actual dishware on your kitchen shelves. And there’s a fruit bowl with actual fruit on your counter. I mean there’s–there’s actually food in the fridge here, not just beer and eggs,” you continued on, the words tumbling out of you. “All of my clothes are in your closet or your dresser now. There’s tampons in your bathroom, Matt!” you exclaimed, the little amused chuckle he made barely registering in your ears as the words continued to nervously spill out of you. “I have dirty clothes in your laundry bin and my skincare products in your medicine cabinet and a vibrator in the nighstand–”

“What’s that now?” Matt asked, quick to cut you off as his brows rose, a cheeky little smile pulling at his lips. “What’s in the nightstand?”

You shot Matt a pointed look, one hand lightly swatting at his bare chest. The cheeky smile grew into a grin as he released your chin, both of his hands landing on your hips as he took a step closer towards you, closing the bit of space there had been.

“It feels different to me, too,” Matt admitted. “Things aren’t where I’m used to them being. And your scent is vastly stronger now with all of your things here. Not to mention there’s now a light buzz from the television–”

“I’m sorry,” you immediately blurted.

He continued to grin, shaking his head. “Don’t apologize, I can tune it out. I don’t expect you to never relax and watch your shows again, sweetheart. Or to not keep tampons in the bathroom or food in the fridge. But do you know why it feels different?” he asked you.

“Because all of my shit is here cluttering up your space now?” you joked.

He silently shook his head, suddenly walking you backwards and guiding you with the hands he had on your hips. Your brows drew together as he led you a handful of steps back until you eventually bumped into the counter behind you. Before you knew what was happening, Matt’s hands had lifted you up and set you on the countertop behind you, that smile on his face never wavering as the billboard washed him in red. His hands slid your bare knees apart as he slotted himself between your legs, your faces almost eye level now as he focused along your mouth.

“Because it isn’t my place and it isn’t your place,” he whispered. “It’s our place. And it might feel a little different,” he continued, his hands making their way to behind your back as he clasped them together, his eyes still focused on you. “And maybe it’s a little overwhelming right now, too.” 

He leaned forward, lowering his face to press a kiss to your shoulder. Your eyelids dropped closed, a small smile playing along your lips at the sweet gesture. Arms raising up, you encircled them around Matt’s neck and held him to you.

“But this place is what we make it now,” he finished softly. “You and me. Because it’s ours . Like I’ve been saying all this time.”

Eyelids fluttering open, you saw Matt’s face was mere inches from yours now. A tender expression was etched along his features as he stared back at you, slowly lowering his forehead to yours. Leaning in towards him, you connected your mouth to his for a kiss that was full of emotion. His mouth moved so gentle and slow against yours, the feel of him reassuring and calming. You could feel all of your nerves slowly dissipating and leaving your body the longer he kissed you. Relaxing even further into him, your arms tightened around his neck as he deepened the kiss. 

The two of you stayed like that in the kitchen for a few minutes, entirely lost in the moment, before Matt gradually broke away. His nose lightly bumped against yours, a smile tugging his lips upwards. Biting your own lip, you couldn’t fight back the smile that was slowly spreading across your mouth in return.

“You know, I told you I bought mint ice cream in the event you needed some comfort tonight,” he reminded you. 

You rolled your eyes. “Matt, it’s late,” you pointed out. Removing your forehead from his, you glanced at the time on the oven behind him. “It’s almost three in the morning.”

“So?” he asked.

He unwound his arms from around your waist, in turn causing you to remove your arms from around his neck. He took a couple of steps to the right, opening the silverware drawer and pulling out two spoons. As he closed the drawer he glanced up at you, a small smirk pulling at his lips as he raised a dark brow at you. He held out one of the spoons.

“You want some?” he asked. “Or are you going to make me eat toothpaste flavored ice cream at almost three in the morning all by myself?”

Warmth flooded your chest as you stared back at Matt standing there, a spoon in each hand. The simple fact that he’d gotten you your favorite dessert–the one you’d told him about way back on your first date–to hopefully help you feel comfortable here only filled you with so much love and gratitude for him. Reaching out, you accepted the spoon from his outstretched hand, your heart hammering loudly in your ears. The smirk grew on Matt’s face before he turned, about to make his way to the freezer to grab the ice cream. Without a single thought, you leaned forward and reached out, latching onto his arm before he had taken two steps. Matt stopped in his tracks, glancing curiously over his shoulder at you with furrowed brows. 

Quickly you tugged him to your place on the countertop, Matt willingly allowing you to pull him back towards you. Without hesitation your hand reached up and grabbed his stubbled cheek, drawing him close before your lips abruptly crashed back onto his. Clearly taken by surprise, it took Matt a brief second before his mouth responded to yours. The moment his lips began to react, you could feel him easily matching the intensity and enthusiasm that you were displaying. You did your best to pour everything you felt for him into that kiss, hoping he understood exactly what you were trying to say in that moment. 

When you finally pulled away from him, breathless and with swollen lips, you smiled back at Matt’s grinning face. Just to make sure he fully understood the message, you held his face firmly in your hand, your eyes locked on his when you spoke.

“I love you, Matthew Michael Murdock,” you told him. “And I want you to know you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

His smile widened into something bright, lighting up his entire face along with the red light from the billboard across the street. You could see the glisten of unshed tears in his eyes as he gazed back at you with so much affection written plain across his face. There was only the briefest of moments after your declaration before Matt abruptly closed the distance between you both again, capturing your lips with his in a passionate kiss that had you forgetting about absolutely everything except you and Matt in that very moment.

[joekeeryswife]

Sweetness and anger - e.m & s.h

hello angels! i hope everyone is doing okay, here is a part two to my most recent steddie x reader fic. thank you to @caseyqdilla for the idea (i hope this was okay)! enjoy reading 🩷🩷

taglist (feel free to add yourselves 🩷) @eddieamoremio @loverboy-poems @ladyapplejackdnd @alexxavicry @lovurry @bibieddiesgf @plk-18 @m-rae23 @adaydreamaway08 @missabsey (if there’s a line through your name i can’t tag you x)

you had given birth to your sweet baby girl Penny just five days ago and it had been the most surreal experience. becoming a mum to this perfect little girl just changed your whole life and you couldn't be happier that she was finally here.

Steve and Eddie hadn't left your babies side since she was born. it was usually them who would wake up to change her in the night, or they would rush to calm her down if she wasn't hungry and they were the perfect dads any child could ask for.

you had decided today was the perfect day for you all to travel to Hawkins so everyone could meet your baby girl and the first stop was Wayne. Eddie had begged you and Steve to let Wayne be the first person from all of your families to meet her and you agreed. he had been the person all three of you could go to when you needed something and it meant a lot to Eddie.

"you girls okay back there?" Steve asked looking in his rear view mirror at you and Penny who were sat comfortably in the back. your eyes never left her sleeping body as you nodded and smiled. it was a little bit uncomfortable being sat in a car for a few hours but you knew that it would be good for you to get out of the house and see your family again, you also weren't to far away from the garage.

your finger was stroking Penny's cheek lightly as she slept in her car seat, her face scrunching slightly at the touch but her expression soon turned peaceful again. you were still in shock that you were actually a mum and it was crazy to think that you'd be looking after her for her whole life.

"Wayne called this morning, i've never heard him sound so excited" Eddie turned to look at you from the front making your focus shift from Penny to Eddie. "he's been excited to meet her since we told him, i bet he was getting impatient" Steve joked making Eddie slap his shoulder lightly.

"he's a very patient man Steve" you rolled your eyes as the two of them bickered back and forth, even with them becoming dads they still acted like kids. you looked down at Penny who was now awake and looking around the car. the boys had woken her up and you were surprised she wasn't crying.

"did you dads wake you up?" she had a frown on her face now. for a newborn she was really expressive and seeing them were just adorable even if she was trying to be mad. after the boys heard you speaking to your now awake baby they shut up and Eddie turned to look at you.

"shit, is she awake?" Steve glanced at you in the rear view mirror again as Eddie spoke to you. you nodded your finger stroking over her cheek again. "it's okay, it's not like she was going to sleep for the whole journey anyway, how far away are we from the garage?"

the only place Wayne could meet Penny was at the garage. he had tried to get in a few different members of staff to cover his shift so he could meet her at his trailer but was unsuccessful so you decided because you knew he was desperate to meet his granddaughter going to the garage was the next best thing.

"about five minutes, why what's wrong? do we need to stop" even before becoming a dad Steve was always making sure everyone was safe and would always ask if they needed anything. "no nothing, it's just i'm pretty sure she's hungry but we are almost there so we don't have to. i'll feed her when we get there"

Steve only nodded and drove around Hawkins to the garage. you were all nervous, Wayne would be the first person to meet Penny and this was huge. the first grandchild on all of your sides and it was a big thing. it was the newest generation and it was so surreal that only a few years ago you were all fighting monsters and had a crazy life, now you were parents.

you were now outside the garage still sat in the car feeding a hungry Penny. you had her and you covered with a nursing cloth making sure that no one could see you or Penny. breastfeeding was a very intimate and private experience and you wanted to feel comfortable without feeling watched so Eddie and Steve being the amazing partners they were kept watch outside the car to make sure no creeps were looking inside.

once Penny was fed and burped you put her back into her car seat and opened the car door. Eddie helped you out of the car whilst Steve got Penny out, holding the car seat tightly to be careful he didn't drop her (not like he would anyway he was just very cautious).

you walked into the garage arm linked around Eddie's with Steve walking a bit in front of the two of you. Wayne's head popped up out of a car and a huge smile took over his face. "oh my goodness" he threw a oily rag over his shoulder and walked over to the four of you.

you unlinked your arms from Eddie's knowing Wayne would go straight over to him. your thoughts were correct, he immediately pulled Eddie into a hug and patted him on the back. you felt a swell of love in your chest as you watched the small interaction, it was beautiful to see.

"congratulations" he said as he pulled away and looked at the small car seat on Steve's arm. again, Penny was sleeping, her peaceful expression showing of her prominent features that looked identical to yours except she plumper lips and deep brown eyes. her hair was brown and thick, now you knew why you had terrible heart burn.

"would you look at that, she's beautiful" Wayne teared up, he was a grandad now and he couldn't believe it. "i'll just go wash my hands, i'll be right back. Eddie you know where my office is" he left the three of you to go to the bathroom.

you all moved to Wayne's office and you sat down on the chair in front of the desk. you had a lot of pain after giving birth, you'd gotten a few stitches and it hurt a lot. Steve placed the car seat on top of the desk and unclipped Penny, gently pulling her out and placing her in his chest. he swayed slightly and placed a few kisses to her head.

"sorry for taking so long, Troy was being an asshole" Wayne sat down in his chair which was opposite to you and held his arms out. it had been years since he last held a baby but he was pretty sure he could remember how to. he had been reading a few (a lot) of books on babies just to figure out how to hold her (and found out a lot of other things just in case he ever had to babysit).

Steve placed Penny in Wayne's arms and he swore he'd never seen anything more beautiful in his entire life. his chin quivered and his eyes filled with tears as he looked at Penny who was still fast asleep. "i'll be right back" Eddie said placing a delicate kiss on your forehead before leaving Wayne's office.

"she's absolutely beautiful" Wayne sniffled but quickly composed himself "how was the birth y/n? i don't really know what happened, all i know is Eddie nearly missed it" you only nodded, still hurt from what happened only five days prior. "well the birth was okay because Eddie made it just in time but the boys never answered the phone. Steve had called them all day and no one picked up"

"i have no idea if they were pulling a prank or something but i called from like 9am to two hours before she was born and no one answered. i'm surprised Eddie even made it" Steve stood behind you, a hand rubbing your shoulder. "it was scary. i was so worried that he wasn't going to make it because those stupid people not answering the phone. Steve called all day" you were hurt deep down. you had all wanted to be together when you were in labour and he had gotten that opportunity taken away from him.

"i called from like 9am to two hours before she was born. i'm surprised Eddie even made it" Steve shook his head at the thought. Wayne turned his attention back to the sweet baby girl in his arms who was now fussing. "i'll take her" Steve said as he walked around the desk to take her. "you both do know that those boys are here today" after hearing that you felt anger surge through your body. you knew you shouldn't blow up like this but knowing the two of them were there meant you could give them some advice.

Eddie had gone to see Troy and Adam who were both in the office they had been five days prior. Adam was on the phone doing his job like he was supposed to do but Troy had his feet on the desk and was chucking a paper ball up into the air, he looked bored. once Adam noticed Eddie he quickly and politely ended the phone call and his face changed into sympathy.

however when Troy noticed Eddie standing in the doorway he smiled and shook his head. Adam spoke first "Eddie i am so sorry for what happened the other day, did you make it-" "i knew you were fucking with us. there's no baby here" Troy laughed obnoxiously, cutting Adam off but Eddie stood there shaking his head.

"there is a baby you asshole and you two are lucky that i'm here and my girlfriend isn't" Eddie scoffed and Adam looked down at his hands, he was shaking nervously. "i am truly sorry Eddie, i shouldn't of even followed through with what Troy said" Troy scoffed loudly and rolled his eyes.

"oh shut up you wuss. it's fine, jesus. it was a prank get over it" you saw Eddie standing in the doorway of an office and fast walked toward him, ignoring the pain in your body. "it's just a baby it's no big deal, you act like you're never going to have another one. your girlfriend will get over it anyway. if not she's a complete psycho and needs help" you were stood behind Eddie but after hearing that you squeezed in front of him.

"woah, who are you" Troy smirked, winking at you making you feel sick. he was disgusting. "i'm the girlfriend you just called a psycho you asshole" this made his smirk drop quickly. "you both are so stupid, do you have any idea what could of happened if Eddie didn't come in here when he did?" Adam just looked down again.

he felt stupid for even doing the stupid prank. "you need to grow up. you're somehow an adult which blows my mind because you act like a kid, it's embarrassing. what possessed you two to think not answering the phone was a good idea? it's your job for god sake and i'm surprised you're both even here" your face felt hot with anger as you looked between the two boys. you felt hot angry tears in your eyes, your hormones all over the place as you ripped into the two men in front of you.

you could tell by their different body language who was sorry and who wasn't. "i know it doesn't change it but i am sorry for not answering the phone. it was a one time thing and it was stupid" Adam said, his face was bright red with embarrassment as he realised what could of happened. he had thought about it for the last few days and every time he did think about it he felt sick, how stupid could he be?

“and if you think that we can just ‘have another baby’ it doesn’t work like that. you have no idea how many kids we want and of this was the only child we wanted then you robbed us from that special experience. yeah Eddie was there for the pregnancy and the birth but the labouring part is just as important and you ruined that. now you need to grow up, seriously.” a few tears ran down your face as you felt more anger inside of you.

your words were mainly directed at Troy who’s smug look had reappeared on his face. “one day you will realise, if you find someone stupid enough to even be with you, how special it is and how important it is for some people to have their partner there during labour. now i know you had no idea that i was going to give birth that day, none of us knew but pulling a stupid prank like that can be really dangerous. you could of left people stranded on the road. no more pranks, got it?”

you looked between the two boys, Troy was rolling his eyes but you knew of you carried on you wouldn’t stop but Adam nodded and apologised again you only nodded before turning back to Troy “you’re an asshole, you don’t come here for pranks you come here to work, that’s what you’re expected to do. now come on Eddie we have more people to see” with that you walked away from the three boys and wiped your tears as you left the room, Steve being outside the door with Penny in his chest with the car seat in his hand.

you and Steve walked to the car leaving Eddie still in the office. Troy now had his head down as he let your words sink in but he didn’t feel remorseful, only a little embarrassed but he tried to cover it. “Adam we accept your apology, i hope it won’t happen again” Adam promptly nodded and reassured Eddie he wouldn’t be influenced by Troy again.

“oh and Troy” Troy lifted his head to look at Eddie expecting the exact same thing to be said to him, his smirk had also reappeared “you’re fired” it was Eddie’s turn to smile at him but his was sarcastic and pissed Troy off. Eddie could hear you calling for him from the car “now if you excuse me i have to go see my sweet family and my lovely in laws, bye” Eddie left smiling, hearing the shouts of an annoyed Troy who most definitely deserved to be fired.

[lake-archive]

The Start Of Their Story

AO3 Link - CATZ Discography - A Shared Love Between Our Posse (Masterlist)

Fandom: Hypnosis Mic

Characters: Gentaro Yumeno, Ann Wolff (OC)

Summary: Gentaro manages to bump into Ann at the usual café. And needless to say they seem rather… Agitated if anything. And even then things lean into a little more than expected.

Tags: Yumeno Gentaro-centric, POV Yumeno Gentaro, Original Character(s), Major Original Character(s), Conversations, One Shot, Short One Shot, Series, No Spoilers, Canon Era, During Canon, Pre-Second Division Rap Battle (Hypnosis Mic), Post-First Division Rap Battle (Hypnosis Mic), POV Third Person, POV Third Person Limited

Words: 1,378

When someone leaves an impression it is hard to forget them… Gentaro should know by now, given that he had bumped into someone who was of said interest. An unusual writer, one who could outdo anyone in amount alone. Someone who had a never ending flow of inspiration, managing to put it all down on paper with no issues whatsoever, as if a writing machine. And yet the one behind it is not a machine but a human. Needless to say, anyone would be baffled, speechless and even terrified. He sure was, especially as a fellow writer. Was this even a reality or had he dreamed this up all along? He had been wondering and yet when seeing them a few times from afar it was less of a dream. They were not a fragment of their imagination, they were real. Very much so.  And it was always getting to him. Though he had slowly started to accept that fact as well as their existence. The more he had bumped into them, the less surreal it became and he managed for reality to settle in. He had finally gotten to accept it, even if it took a little while.

And yet, meeting a person who may as well be a writing factory was hard to accept. Not just that but also studying the field of literature… That alone had caught Gentaro’s attention. An unusual writer… That was what he remembered Ann for, at least for the time being. An eager writer but that might have been an understatement. 

He had encountered them a few more times and they were always eager to present him the progress or latest ideas they had… Which meant eyeing document after document, character sheet after character sheet. Or skimming through pages while listening through the thought out progress. Truly, this was a lot to take in each time. The potential was there and they would be doing this day in and out, even if for them it was a quick progress. He was at least slightly envious, watching them do all of this with ease. But all the same he wanted to get it out there, help them get out there. It would be a shame if their work got buried after all, would it not? And perhaps he might have already accepted defeat… 

In any case, he first had to wait for the opportunity to make such an offer. For his luck, the offer would be made earlier than expected. Because when he had sat inside the café one day he spotted the student in question, waving them over. It took them a bit to register yet they had turned to him soon enough. And once they did he could see how exhausted they looked which had him a little curious. This was an unusual sight. No, not unusual. The two were not that close nor had they known each other for that long. So rather it was a first sight for him, even if they tried to mask it. Even once sitting down.

“Hello Yumeno–Sensei. What a surprise.” They greeted him as they sat down on the chair, right across the table. “I did not expect to meet you here today.”

“I shall say the same for thee.” He responded calmly. “It is unusual for thou to show up at this time. Has something happened?”

He could see them flinch for a split second, then fumbling around in their seat. They hesitated to answer, telling him all he needed. They really needed to not say a word and he would know that something had happened… Something they probably wished to hide. And yet they were doing anything but that right now. Even the biggest of fools would be able to see right through them. And even then, they still tried to cover it up with a sudden smile while turning back to face him, shaking their head.

“No. Nothing happened at all.” It’s a lie.

“Really? Thank goodness.” Another lie. He had just decided to not ask them about it. And honestly, it was probably none of his business to begin with. After all, the two were not that close. 

“Although you suddenly called me here. Is there something you need from me?” 

Of course, he should have expected that question. After all, there always was a reason, wasn’t there? Or maybe there always had to be a reason for them. But it is not as if he had no reason to approach them. In fact, this was perfect timing… For him, he was not sure about them right now. “There is but… It can wait, if thou art not feeling—” 

“Nah, it’s fine. I’m here now, aren’t I? Fill me in!” They interrupted, almost insisting. For a moment Gentaro himself had doubt, if this was really the time. And yet…

“Art thou certain?”

“Yeah. So if you got something, tell me.” They nodded, trying to keep their body calm, making no sudden movements. And yet, they were gazing around all the same, sometimes towards the window nearby, as if looking for someone. They were agitated, to say the least. He could tell.

“Art thou certain?”

“Y… Yeah! Yes yes! Totally! Go on! Please!” 

And yet, he was reconsidering it in the end. Sure, he had an offer for them to make and yet… No, it would just be wrong, wouldn’t it? One had to be literally blind and or oblivious to notice that this was not the time. They wouldn’t listen to begin with, given that their mind seemed occupied with something else. The question was what exactly? He was curious… But alas, it would remain unanswered for some time.

“Nevermind. Thou art not concentrating.” He mentioned with a sigh, making their head turn to him in one swoop.

“Huh!? But I am! Don’t leave me hanging like this now!”

“I shouldn’t. Apologies. Maybe another time.”

“S… So I’ll have to live without figuring this out now?” 

No, that had not been– Hah, he’s not good at dealing with people sometimes, he had to admit. A chance ruined perhaps… But… “No, I intend to inform thee, when the time is right. Thou just seem… How shall I put this? Stressed.”

A quick flinch in their seat, almost at the brink of sweating. “W… Well… Uh… Maybe… Student life is getting to me… Haha…” A terrible liar. 

“Of course it would be stressful. Though I have little experience in that regard.” He said, a light chuckle to somewhat lighten the mood and keep up a polite appearance, raising no suspicion in any regard. They didn’t need to know that he was not believing a word coming out of their mouth. And yet, that had gotten him a little more interested… Just what was this normal student hiding from him? And besides, they were not the only one holding a secret here but this was a detail only he had been aware of at the time. “Perhaps we should hold this meeting at a different time, when thou feel less stressed maybe.”

“Huh? But I ju—”

“There is no rush. I do not mind waiting.” He interrupted. “Thou may contact me when it is most convenient for thee. I can make room.”

“Contact? Wait… Are you asking for my number or something?”

“No, I ask for thy homing pigeon.”

“Homing pigeon!? Hold on I don’t—”

“That was a lie.”

And a moment of silence. What a naive response. He thought that the joke here was more than obvious. And yet, it had left them speechless it seemed, at least a little. “R… Right… My number it is.” 

“Oh, if thou do not want to—”

“It’s fine! I don’t mind! I just… Never expected this to happen. After all, exchanging contacts with a well known author… Sounds surreal.”

“Oh please, we are both just people. There is nothing unusual about this.” Or there shouldn’t be. 

“M… Maybe, just… Ah, nevermind! Let’s just get this over with, alright? I… Will contact you once I have time then. Heh…”

An underwhelming ending for this chapter yet this is not the end of their shared story. No, far from it… Because Gentaro had a feeling that this story between them had just started taking shape.

[mariska]

hello world i am awake and have my first dose of daily medications in my system and thus have a lil bit of energy at the moment to just Type My Thoughts Out Into The Void On Here. so here is my non internet/social media life update for all of u today:

later in the day i am finally gonna be able to meet/hang out with one of my longest exclusively internet-based friends of mine after a little under 10 years of us being friends!! im so happy + excited for it but i still have some chores and last minute cleaning stuff i gotta do before he gets here, hopefully waking up a lot earlier than i usually do will give me whatever time i need to finish my part of the household preparations 😅 but yeah!!! he's a mutual friend of both me and Eli (obviously, would not otherwise just be like. hey Eli this person u dont know or hypothetically arent friends with actively is also staying at the house while ur here get used to it HFSGSHSCGSF) and we've been trying to put together some kind of non-internet hangout trip for years and it just didnt work out until this time around.

right before the first global shutdown covid wave back in early 2020 the three of us had been trying to plan a May hangout together that we called "superbirthday" (cus my birthday is may 6 and my friend Jon's, person who is coming here 2day, has a may 26 birthday, so the 20 days in between both our birthdays is 'superbirthday' celebration time 😌✌️) so im like. beyond excited that we've all actually been able to make it happen for real this time!!

i've met up irl now with quite a few of my good friends who were people i originally met online in some way but it's still so surreal in a happy way whenever that happens again. me and Jon originally became friends through the Gmod server "Gmod Towers" (which doesnt even exist anymore it has its own separate game that both me and Jon actually contributed to the fundraising campaign for the devs to develop yrs ago) in like. fall of 2014, if u never played on it back then, it was a really chill fun virtual hangout server world kinda similar to like....imvu/second life, that kinda thing, but on a much smaller scale than either of those and with most playable characters taken from like, the general Gmod Valve Game Character Model List. it was styled like a resort type hotel with different areas of the map having different activities u could do with friends or anyone else around, there was a mini games section and a big hotel lobby where a lot of people just sat in groups and talked with their mic headsets and a hotel room area that saved whatever interior decor u set up in ur room, u could watch youtube vids on a virtual tv and throw parties for the server to come join and be goofy at....Good Times.

ANYWAYS all of that to say, as awful as the general internet experience can be like all the time forever especially in more modern yrs, im really grateful that in my life i've been able to make such meaningful connections and friendships with people online, sometimes in niche lil corners of the internet with dedicated fan followings like Gmod Tower!! i say it irl all the time to ppl but the internet truly Was Not One Big Mistake despite the increasing chaos of the whole big picture concept, being someone who is disabled and had to drop out of school at 14 to quite literally keep myself alive and keep my body/brain from totally failing on me, i genuinely don't think i would have many friends if any at all if i hadn't been able to connect with people online, especially with my Agoraphobia making it very difficult to like. put myself out there in the world.

....yeah! so. thats what i am up to currently. and yes we WILL all be playing Kirby Air Ride for the Gamecube on my Pink Disney Princess TV as a Superbirthday™️ activity. for ur information.

[sebmorrison]

IN CHARACTER TASK 004: INTERROGATIONS

Mentioned:

Greer Morrison @n8-shaw​ @nataliavega​ @defavorise​

It was strange to be at College without Greer. In fact, it was weird to be anywhere without Greer. He missed her. It was especially hard when he had to sit in front of the police, concerned that they could turn on him at any minute, to help them find his sister. It felt like they’d got nowhere, like they were going round in circles, and he was tired, but he knew that it wasn’t going to end any time soon and he knew that maybe if he helped, they might be one step closer to getting answers.

Sebastian stepped into the room. If he was worried, he didn’t show it, in fact, he seemed calm, as he sat down, providing the agents with a soft smile, one that didn’t say I’m glad my sisters missing, but instead I miss my sister, but I’m keeping my head up. He knew there was still a lot to say after the last interview, he also knew how to charm and manipulate a room, a talent most Morrison’s had. He was certain that his parents had managed the same when they’d been interviewed, and if Greer was in the same situation as him, she’d be able to too. He couldn’t say the same for Sloane or his cousin.

“Thank you for coming in to talk to us today Sebastian, I’m Agent Choi, and this Agent Brown and Murray,” the man sat opposite Seb on the left spoke, gesturing towards the man sat next to him and then the woman at the back of the room. It all seemed a bit surreal, like a nightmare, there were FBI agents interviewing him about his sister’s disappearance, his sister who he was meant to know like the back of his hand, his sister who he trusted, and she was gone, and this was a bleak reminder.

He nodded a greeting to all of them, “I’m glad to have you here- as are my family I’m sure,” he told them. It would be strange to say that it was nice to meet them because it wasn’t really, but he knew that the case was now in the best hands.

“Do you want a drink or anything before we started?”

“I’ve just had a coffee, so I’m all set,” he replied, sitting forward in his chair, interested at what they were about to ask him.

“Great, let’s talk about your time capsule video, give us some context for the clip that was leaked.”

Sebastian knew how it might look. He knew that all of the videos had been edited to make the students look guilty or paint them in a bad light. He also thought his wasn’t the worst of it, and he could explain himself. “I’m sure you can understand that this semester hasn’t… well, it wasn’t what I envisioned for the start of my sophomore year. It’s been hard, and not knowing is the worst, and that… the video was about that fact that you never know when life is going to change, you’ve to make the most of the time you have with the people you love, because one second it could all… disappear,” he bowed his head, looking at his knuckles joined together on the table, before he looked back up at them.

“That’s understandable, and with what you’ve gone through, it makes sense that you approach the video like that, it’s good advice to give.” Sebastian appreciated the kind words, a bittersweet smile on his lips. “Were you aware that Greer had submitted a video at the end of last year?”

“I had no idea,” he shook his head. “It makes sense for Greer to have made a video. We were all expected to, and she stands out of the crowd at Ogden, if anyone were to give the future generations advice it should be her.” Though the topics in Greer’s video didn’t exactly shout role model, he knew that Greer was probably one of the first people approached about a video. He couldn’t say he expected to see her talking about her personal life. “I didn’t expect what she was talking about though, it sounds like she had a realisation. A lot of people wanted to be close to her, I can understand her frustration with people using her. I don’t want to make assumptions on her behalf though, but that’s my take.”

“Would you say her boyfriend was using her?”

“They seemed happy, at points, I’m sure they were, but you tell me. No one knew him and suddenly he was dating Greer?” he shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Had you ever heard anything regarding him using steroids?”

“No,” he answered immediately, a shake of his head following. “Surely, we would know- there’s signs for that. And Greer would’ve mentioned it… or maybe that explains everything.” He leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling for a moment processing the thought. He knew Greer would disapprove of a thing like that. “Is that why he was expelled, or can’t you say?”

Agent Choi shook his head.

“Of course. Well, he didn’t seem like the type- but then again, you never know.” The thought of the Naïve Newcomer using steroids came as a big shock to him, but if he’d learned anything from Greer’s disappearance it was that you couldn’t really trust anyone.  

“And did she bring up breaking up with him at any point?” Agent Choi followed on.

“Not to me. I’m sure she would’ve at some point.” The thought had been playing on his mind, why hadn’t she told him. What was she hiding? Why was he learning more about her now than he had when she was around? He hated the fact that everyone found out her secrets at the same time as him now.

“Did have any reason to believe that Greer would want to leave Ogden College?”

“No,” he shook his head. “Not at all. I thought she was happy here, but as that video suggests there’s a lot she wasn’t telling people.” Even him. He couldn’t help but feel sad at the thought that she’d stopped sharing things with him.

“Were you at the party on June 4th in the Hamptons that Greer is pictured attending on Riley Vanderford’s social media?”

“I left the Hamptons early actually, I had a party back home that I didn’t want to miss, so I wasn’t there,” he told them.

“What do you know a student named...Nathaniel Shaw?"

Seb leaned forward again, curious as to why they were asking him about Nate. “I know him,” he replied. They didn’t always see eye to eye, but deep-down Nate was a guy he got on with, at least when they were drunk. “We’ve hung out occasionally, but he’s not a best friend. We don’t always see eye to eye. He’s got different morals.”

"And his relationship with Greer?"

“I’ll be honest with you. Nate developed a disliking for us- I can’t pinpoint when, but he started disliking us because of our privileged upbringing, which of course I understand it’s hard to come from a family like his, but we tried to help him. We invited him out with us when we were in the Hamptons, and look, all he did was cause trouble. He had the potential to be more, but he just shoots himself in the foot- I… we feel sorry for him. To have hate for people that only want the best for you… it’s sad.” Seb finished. It wasn’t like he cared for Nate, they were friendly, but Nate would do the same to him. Throw him under the bus. It was just that often, Sebastian got there first.

"I see. How about Natalia Vega? Her relationship with Greer?”

Every question they asked made him wonder what their suspicions were about these people. He put it in the back of his mind to question them as soon as he could.

“She’s Sloane’s roommate,” he stated. “I don’t know her that well, but the few interactions I have had with her haven’t been entirely pleasant, and I’m certain that Greer didn’t get on with her either. I’m unsure why she has such a hostile attitude towards us, I haven’t done anything to her, but she seems to not like us for some reason… I couldn’t tell you why. I try to not think too much into people like her. She seems to want to cause drama every time I see her,” he shook his head. “Even now, after Greer… yeah… she’s not nice.”

“I think that’s all of our questions for today, thank you. I’m sure we’ll be in contact if we have anything else we’d like to ask of you, but you’ve been very helpful. I know this can be hard, but I promise we’re doing everything within our power.”

“I know, and again, we really appreciate it- all your time and efforts. I just hope I can help you in any way possible, I’d rather be honest and have Greer home,” he paused, letting out a sigh. “If only everyone else were that willing- but thank you.” He left them with one last smile, leaving the room.

As he rounded the corner, the cool façade still strong, not allowing himself to think about whether he’d said too much, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He took it out.

g: well, it looks like the cops sure trust you. let’s not get into the merits of whether or not they should, and instead let’s figure if i should. or if greer morrison should. g: was  your family ever aware of anything ...illegal? or concerning? g: that greer could be used for leverage for, perhaps? g: think about it. even try to figure it out. what you do with that info? well, i guess that’ll let us know if the cops were right for believing what you said.

Immediately the façade dropped, as did Sebastian’s smile. He felt his hand clasping around his phone, and as he tried to control his breathing, but before he knew it the phone had flown across the empty corridor smashing against the opposite wall. The sound woke him from his trance, as he rushed over to pick it up and escape from the scene of his outburst. It seemed that G knew a lot more than Sebastian had bargained for.

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (774): Tue 30th Apr 2024

Dad and his friend came over this morning to collect the motorbike as his friend knows someone who can repair it in order to be sold on. After I opened the door to the garageI emptied out all the shit from the side bags on the bike and Dad said to me "Anthony I thought you would have had that done already". It took me literally ten seconds to get them emptied but apparently when Dad comes to the end of he's life he's going to look back on this day with regret and think "If only my son had emptied those bags the night before. I could have done great things with those extra ten seconds" I love my Dad to death but sometimes his rants about the things I do take up more time than me doing those things. I helped Dad's friend load the bik onto the back of his trailer and then Dad asked me where the log book was. I gave him the book that I took with me to BDS every six months to get it serviced and Dad said "No the log book". I assumed that this was the log book because it's a BOOK where the company I bought the bike from LOG all the times they service and repair the bikes but according to Dad the log book is something different that you need to have when you sell on a bike. I told Dad I would look for it and bring it over later. As Dad and his friend climbed into the car and drove off I took one last luck at the bike that brought me so much joy when I first bought it and later brought me so much strife when I realised what a poorly made piece of shit it was. There aren't many experiences that match speeding down a long stretch of road on two wheels on a nice clear day though and that I will miss. Someday I may actually go through with getting the god damn motorcycle test (the proper one) passed once and for all and get myself an actual reliable motorcycle but for now I'm happy that my bike riding days are firmly in the rear view mirror. A few hours later I was rummaging through my drawers and found what Dad generously refered to as a log "book". It's actually a big piece of paper folded in two. If this is genuinely considered to be a "book" then since most of the blogs I've written over the years have more thn likely covered four pages I have written a shit ton of books in my time. I'll drive over to Dad's and give him this "book" tomorrow. Today was...sort of...the first beautiful day of 2024. The sun was shining brightly enough so I went into the back garden and performed my traditional ritual of listening to Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles and Here Comes The Summer by The Undertones hoping that the next six months will be bright and warm. I then sat down to read the rest of Philip K Dick's The Cosmic Puppets in the back garden. However the wind started up soon after and brought with it a chill so I couldn't focus entirely on the book. I didn't want to waste the nice day though so I went and read the remainder of the book in my car while listening to ambient music so that I could enjoy the sun without having to endure the wind. The climax of The Cosmic Puppets was briliantly surreal and featured two giant Gods in the sky battling over which of them was to have influence over the world while the protagonist of the book Ted battled to free his friends from a spell put on them by psychic little shithead kid named Peter. My favourite bit came right near the end where Ted has restored order and the town he grew up in has reverted to normal. He is now seemingly the only one aware of the fact that a malificent God altered the entire town. Another resident of the town, Christopher who helped Ted in his battle to restore the town meets him as he prepares to drive out of the town. His mind also now wiped of the conflict that just ensued smiles and tells Ted: "A lot of people come through here. Millgate's an expanding community" as Ted returns his smile before driving off. A beautiful conclusion to another great adventure courtesy of the great PKD.

[svtdarlingbby]

Dance the Night Away! HoshixTrainee!Reader

pairing: Hoshi x gender neutral Reader genre: angst in the beginning mostly fluff/humor no warnings! just Hoshi being the best boi word count: 1495 Ok guys this is my first fic on here! Hope you enjoy!

getting accepted into HYBE was your dream come true

just becoming a trainee under one of the biggest companies was surreal

it seems like your hard work was starting to pay off

however, things can't be 100% perfect

the loneliness was for sure getting to you

sure HYBE was a big company but you never had time to create meaningful friendships due to your workload

not to mention your homesickness

going from living with your family and seeing your friends often to being isolated in a new city with hardly anyone to talk to was rough

the effects of these feelings began to show through your performance

which brings us today to your dance coach snapping at you for not mastering the choreography as fast as you should have

"Y/N! How many times do we need to go over this? You should've had this down a while ago!" yelled your dance instructor

"I'm sorry" was all you could muster as you held back tears

"I thought you were better than this. Even if you have to stay in the studio all night I want you to master this choreography. No ifs or buts," sighed your dance instructor as they left you alone in the studio.

now that they were gone it was safe to let it all out

the tears you had been holding flowed out as you let out choked sobs

it really was a pitiful scene as you leaned against the mirrored wall with your face buried into your palms

I'm really going to screw up my chances at going big because of my feelings? you wondered

just thinking this made you cry even more

you didn't hear the door to the dance studio open in the midst of your crying session

whoever walked in didn't see you either

just as he was about practice dancing his newest song, he saw your wallowing figure in the mirror

"AAAAHHHH!!" he screamed and jumped surprisingly high

"AAAH SORRY!" you half squeaked/yelled through teary eyes

you realized that you had terrified the Kwon Soonyoung aka Hoshi aka Tiger

"You got my heart racing haha, no worries, Y/N was it?" he chuckled as he walked toward you

oh no

this is not how you wanted to meet any of your labelmates

you simply nodded in response attempting to hide your tear-stained face

you definitely failed for sure

"Y/N? Are you okay?" he asked as he kneeled to your height

"Yes" you lied

"You don't look okay. What's wrong?" he frowned as he sat next to you on the ground

something about his question made you want to cry more

this was probably the first time someone here has ever thought to make sure you were okay

"It's just..." you begin as you began to cry more

ngl Soonyoung felt a bit awkward but he felt his heart break at the sight of you

"It's okay, Y/N. Let it out" he said gently patting your shoulder

usually he was known for being super energetic but seeing his comforting side was calming

so you cried, at least until you felt composed enough to tell him what was wrong

"Sorry for bugging you, I guess trainee life is a lot harder than I anticipated," you admitted wiping the last of your tears against your sleeve

"Ah I remember those days, they were tough," reminisced Soonyoung

"For sure... I've just been feeling pretty lonely. My whole life is completely different than it was a couple of months ago and I guess the homesickness and anxiety is affecting my performance. My dance instructor was pissed off at me and I guess that was my breaking point," you vented as he listened attentively

"I'm sorry they were harsh on you. I wish they'd have a little more empathy. If you need any help with dancing and what not I'd be more than happy to help" he offered with a smile

"You'd help me?" you asked kind of shocked that someone as busy as Soonyoung would offer to help a lonesome trainee like you

"Yeah why not. You seem dedicated and you got this far. I don't mind really!" he said as he got up.

"Wow Soonyoung, I can't thank you enough," you said

"Alright let's get up" he said as he pulled you off the ground. "So what do you need help with exactly?"

You explained to him that you needed to memorize your assigned choreography by tomorrow

"My dance instructor said I needed to know this even if it took all night" you said worriedly

Soonyoung took a look at your assigned work and beamed

"Hey I know this song! Okay which part do you need help with?"

You were so thankful omg

You explained to him that you knew the beginning up until the first chorus but were kinda lost afterwards

"Okay Y/N, by the end of this session you're gonna know this dance by heart thanks to me"

As soon as he played the music Soonyoung went into full tiger dance pro mode

you were in awe of how a human could just become the concept of dance itself like woww

it definitely took some time for you learn and master the new parts of the choreography but Soonyoung was impressed by your motivation and drive

not gonna lie you did feel your face flush when Soonyoung would fix your positioning or stature

you knew he was being professional but man was he hot when he was in dance mode

he was very patient with you too!

and learning the choreography was actually fun because he'd joke around

"Okay Y/N, this final move is the hardest. Think you can keep up?" he asked raising a brow

"Heck yeah!"

"Okay, I'll guide you. First you raise your right hand about shoulder length" he said as he performed the move

"Alright" you followed raising your right head

"Good! Okay now you open your palm like this" he said opening his palm

"Yup!" you followed his instructions

"Okay, don't screw this part up. It's fundamental to the choreography. Bend your fingers and thumb forward" he said as his smile grew

"Alrighty!" you said bending your fingers forward

before you knew it you horanghaed

"HAHHA HORANGHAE Y/N" laughed Soonyoung as he horanghaed

it took you a second but you burst into laughter

"WOW SOONYOUNG tricking me a poor trainee into horanghae-ing. The tiger agenda has gone too far" you laughed

"Ugh Y/N, you're too cute" chuckled Soonyoung

aaaaand you felt your face get warm and felt all shy

"Anyways, this is what happens when you hang out with me for too long. Just ask my members!" laughed Soonyoung

"Although tricking people into your Tiger agenda is devious, they really are lucky to have you Soonyoung" you said with a smile

"Aw Y/N stop" blushed Soonyoung at your compliment as he looked down smiling

"It's true! Thanks to you I got the choreography down! Seriously thank you so much" you said

"I just couldn't leave a poor little trainee alone like that. But you made my night Y/N. I had fun" he admitted with a small smile

"Night?"

"Yeah, it's about three quarters past midnight" said Soonyoung matter of factly

"HOW LONG HAVE WE BEEN HERE?" you wondered loudly not realizing how much time has gone by

"Shoot I don't know maybe 5-6 hours? I wasn't keeping track" chuckled Soonyoung

"Oh my gosh I'm sorry I didn't mean to keep you up this late!" you apologized

"Nah don't worry. I had fun Y/N. And I'm glad to see you happier now"

"Thanks Soonyoung"

"But you're right, it is kinda late. I know you need your rest but let me know if you ever need help dancing. Or if you just wanna hang out in general. I know you said you've been feeling lonely and I would love to spend some time with you" he rambled with sparkling eyes

"Soonyoung, I'd love that. Thank you for everything" you said enveloping him in a hug

he gently returned the hug giving you a gentle comforting squeeze

"You're welcome" he smiled as you two pulled apart.

you two planned to meet tomorrow after you presented your newfound choreography skills to your dance instructor to tell him how it went

and maybe hang out some more

but you could not be more grateful for Soonyoung

and hey, you now have your first fan!

BONUS:

"Soonyoung, where have you been all night?" asked Chan running into his bandmate in the halls as he got up to get some water

"OH MY GOD OH MY GOD CHAN!!" yelled Soonyoung

"SHUSH the whole floor is asleep!" whisper yelled Chan

"CHAN I MET SOMEONE THEY'RE SO CUTE THEY'RE A TRAINEE AND- AHH" yelled Soonyoung as he felt himself blush remembering the evening you two shared

Needless to say, all of the boys heard about you through Soonyoung's very loud recounting of the day you two had

[beautiful-songbird]

Snowy Cat Café

Pairing: Idol!Jimin x Teacher!OC

Genre: fluff

Word Count: 1k

Warnings: none

Summary: Jimin and Nubia go on a date to the cat café.

Nubia scooped the little cat up off the floor.  Jimin had brought her to a cat café today, and she was thrilled.  There were cats everywhere, and she loved it.  She didn’t often get to just relax because of how much she taught, so this was Heaven for her.  She glanced down as a fluffy paw was set against her thigh.  A kitten was climbing onto her lap.

“Jimin, look at this one!”

Jimin was standing between all the cats a few feet away from her.  He glanced down at the black kitten with white spots that was curled up in her lap now.  He smiled. 

“He’s pretty.”

“Isn’t he?  I should get a cat.”

“You like cats?”

Nubia nodded. 

“I like them too,” he laughed.  He crossed the room and squatted down in front of her and ran his hands over the kitten’s fur.

“This is really nice.  School has been insane lately.  Since the school year was ending, I was up working so late every night trying to get everything graded.”

“I’m glad you get a few days off right now.”

“Me too!  I was hoping to go hang out with Zelda sometime soon.  I haven’t gotten to see her much since Zoro was born.”

“Well, having a baby is a lot of work.  I haven’t seen Tae a lot either.”

“I’m sure they love it.  Zelda was so excited when she told us all that she was pregnant.”

Jimin smiled as another cat wandered over and sat itself in his lap. “What about you?  You want kids?”

Nubia nodded. “Definitely.  I love my nieces.  I’m sure you know that after meeting Kema and Lateefah, though.  I’d love to have kids of my own.” She giggled. “I wish I lived in Egypt still sometimes.  Kema is getting so big!  She was a newborn when I moved, and she’s seven now!  I haven’t gotten to meet either of Omar’s girls yet,” she frowned. “Zahra has said hi to me over video call a few times, but she’s never really met me.”

“You’ll get to meet her when we go in April, right?”

Nubia nodded again. “I can’t wait,” she admitted. “They’re all so adorable.  I’d bet they’re even cuter in person.”

The two of them sat in silence for a few moments as they pet the cats.

“Is there anything else you’d like to do today?” Jimin asked.

“I’d love to get some food.  Something savory.  My kids were bringing me sweets occasionally, and I haven’t had any time to cook or order takeout, so I’ve just been eating whatever I have around my apartment.  I want some real food!  The only time I’ve eaten anything good recently was the night I cooked dinner for Tae and Zelda.”

“We should cook together sometime.  The food you guys made last May was amazing.  Maybe we could try something like that again.”

“Yeah.  Not now though.”

Jimin laughed. “Of course not.  We could go get some bibimbap?”

“Oh my gosh, yes!  That sounds amazing.”

“Should we go, then?”

She glanced up at him. “Can we stay with the kittens for a little longer?  I have coffee to finish, anyways.”

He chuckled. “Sure.  Just don’t give the coffee to the cats, though.”

◇◆◇◆◇

The two of them wandered around town after they’d finished dinner.  It was snowing outside, so they had to stay close to each other for warmth.

“I can’t believe we met two years ago already,” Nubia laughed, pulling her scarf over her nose.

“Me neither.  It feels like we were in London just yesterday.”

“Doesn’t it?  I’ll be meeting my third class of students in about a month.  Isn’t that crazy?”

He nodded. “Jungkook’s getting married in the fall.  That seems surreal.”

“He’s been dating Astrid as long as I’ve known him, so I’m not too surprised.”

“Well, I met you before I met Astrid.”

“Really?” Nubia asked, shocked.

“Yeah.  I met her at Jin and Jasmine’s wedding, which was a month after we had the incident at the restaurant.”

“Wow.  Well, I’m flattered.”

The two of them walked on for a bit.  The streets of Seoul had less traffic than usual with how heavy the snow was coming down this evening.

“Do you ever get snow in Egypt?”

Nubia scoffed. “No!  I was shocked when I woke up at my aunt’s place one morning and the windows were white!  It was such an odd experience.  I like it, though.  It’s pretty.  And I’ve gotten used to the cold by now.”

“That’s good.  Korea’s not the warmest place out there.”

“It’s certainly warmer than London was most days!”

It wasn’t long before they were walking through a park, and Nubia glanced down at their feet as they left indents in the snow.

“We should take walks like this more often,” she smiled.

“Should we?”

“Yeah.  I enjoy being with you.  We don’t get to see each other a lot during the school year.”

“Well, maybe that could change.”

She glanced up at him and smiled. “What do you mean?”

He turned to her then and knelt down in front of her.  He pulled a ring box out of his pocket and popped it open. “Nubia, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.  Will you marry me?”

She grinned from ear to ear. “Yes!  I’ll marry you, Jimin.”

He smiled and pulled the ring out of the box, sliding it onto her finger.  It was a small emerald nestled onto a silver band.

“It’s stunning, Jimin.”

“You think so?  I saw it and thought it was something that would look great on you.”

She grinned and tugged him onto his feet. “I love you, Jimin.” Then she kissed him soundly on his lips.

This is part of the Dad!BTS series that can be found here

A/N: Happy friendshipiversary to wifey @jiminie-and-his-pinky-finger 😚

It would be greatly appreciated if you reblogged the story if you liked it!

Taglist: @jinnie-forthe-winnie @aianloveseven @fly-you-dam-fools @thornedswan @armys-dna @kookstempo

[drarrily-we-row-along]

Day 31: Veritaserum

186 days.

That's how long Draco had been held in the Department of Mysteries, trapped in a cell that barely left him enough room to lie down except when they came to take him out and interrogate him.

Draco'd relived the horrors of the past two years, over and over through their invasive questioning, through their digging around in his mind, through the imperious curse, and most recently through a stint of days spent with veritaserum flowing through his veins.

He heard their footsteps coming down the hallway, their voices recapping what they'd learned so far. Day 6 of veritaserum. He used his nail to scratch another line in the wall next to his thin mattress.

187 days.

Then he heard a third voice, a voice he would have recognized anywhere. "Veritaserum?" Potter asked, sounding incredulous for some reason. "But that's illegal."

"Auror Potter, I'll remind you that you're out of your jurisdiction here. You have no say in what happens or the means used to collect intelligence that is invaluable when it comes to protecting future generations."

"And," the man, whose breath always smelled stale and turned Draco's stomach, added, "There are no 'laws' during wartime when we need to catch criminals."

"The war is over," Potter replied, voice sharp and something in the pit of Draco's stomach thrilled at that.

"Out of your jurisdiction," the woman reminded.

A moment later, there was a sharp rap of a wand against the metal bar of his cell and the man called, "Let's go, Malfoy."

He stood, moving toward the door with his head down, and that was when he felt it; the crackle of Potter's magic around him like static electricity.

Draco couldn't resist looking up at that, meeting Potter's eyes. The green was blazing, he's furious and Draco wondered what (or whom) that fury was directed at. His fists were clenched at his sides, shoulders stiff.

Even with all of the obvious tension, Potter looked good, Draco thought; healthy, strong, handsome, like he had the entire world at his feet. Which, to be fair, he probably did. He wondered what Potter saw when he looked at him.

(Read more below the cut)

"Move," the woman snapped and Draco dropped his gaze from Potter, his thoughts weren't his own, not really. He couldn't afford to allow even more trouble in his mind.

He staggered down the hall, his legs feeling like they were made out of jelly, and flinched when the door to the white room opened and bright, sterile light spilled out over him. Draco made his way in and sat down in the same chair he always sat it, the shackles immediately chaining his wrists and ankles down. He fought the inevitable wave of panic as the woman walked over.

"Drink," she instructed, holding a vial to his lips.

He clenched his hands but did as he was told because it only made things worse when he didn't comply. The veritaserum flooded his mind, making his mouth feel loose and his mind feel unpleasantly open.

"Last time we talked about the treatment of muggles and muggleborns in your home under He-who-must-not-be-named, do you remember?"

"Yes," he replied.

"Today we'd like to hear about your complicity," the woman said. "We want to hear about everything that you did and that other people did to people who opposed you."

"What was it like to live in your home with He-who-must-not-be-named?"

"Horrible," Draco answered honestly, trying to keep the thoughts and memories at bay as long as he could. "I lived like a prisoner."

"The truth!" the man demanded, even though Draco couldn't have lied if he wanted to. He drew his hand back, preparing to strike Draco and Draco closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact.

Then there was a surge of magic so strong that it made Draco breathless. He waited for the inevitable pain but there was nothing and when he opened his eyes it was to see that both of the unspeakables had collapsed forward onto the table and Potter was standing in front of him.

"Malfoy," he said and the tone of his voice made it seem like it wasn't the first time he'd said it. "Come on," he urged. "We don't have much time."

He reached out and Draco took his hand uncertainly. This couldn't be real, could it?

"Malfoy," Potter pleaded, "Please, we have to go."

Draco staggered to his feet and followed the other man down a winding set of hallways, through moving doors, and all manner of strange things before they reached a passage that wasn't dark and vaguely terrifying.

"Here," Potter said, handing him a vial. "It's polyjuice potion. You're going to look like unspeakable Harrison. Once you look like him, we're just going to walk straight out, do your best to look calm. As soon as we're outside I'm going to apparate us."

"Potter," he finally managed, "Why are you doing this?"

Potter looked at him then, really looked at him, "Can we talk about this later?" he asked. "I swear I'm not trying to trick you," he added. "Please. Just let me help you."

At this point, what did Draco have to lose? What could be worse than this? He took the potion from Potter's hand and quickly swallowed it down, trying not to gag at the unpleasant taste as his body shifted and changed.

"Keep your head down," Potter said, "Don't answer any questions. You'll still have the veritaserum in your bloodstream."

Draco nodded and Potter opened the door, it was like he morphed into a completely different person. He smiled jovially as he strode across the foyer, waving and greeting people every step of the way. Every eye in the room was on Potter and it made Draco's skin crawl to have attention focused so near to him.

It felt like an eternity but it couldn't have been more than 45 seconds before they were out of the door and Potter was offering him his elbow, "Harry Potter lives at Number 12 Grimmauld Place," he murmured.

And before Draco could ask what the bloody hell he was talking about, Potter was apparating the two of them away. They landed in the Black Ancestral Home and Draco was shocked. And confused.

So confused.

"Hold on," Potter said. "We're not out of the woods yet. Too many people know about this place." He picked up a copy of a book called Treasure Island off the side table. "Portkey," he explained quickly, "Hold on." And then as almost an after thought, he added, "Harry Potter lives at 4 Oceanview Lane."

Draco took the other side of the book and felt the hook and tug behind his belly button as they were moved through time and space.

This time when they landed, it was in soft, soft sand, and Draco staggered, trying to catch his balance. Potter clasped his elbow to steady him, "Alright?" he asked softly.

Draco nodded, "Yes," he found himself compelled to add, the Veritaserum still hadn't quite faded from his veins.

"Come on," Potter said, giving him a gentle tug toward a little cottage just up the beach.

It was a lovely little house, lots of windows and glass doors overlooking the ocean. The walls were painted in cool beiges and light blues and white curtains fluttered in the breeze.

"Are you hungry?" Potter called over his shoulder after he kicked off his shoes and headed deeper into the house.

"Starving," Draco replied and Potter turned to look at him, frowning.

"When is the last time you ate?"

He shook his head, "I don't know. Time passed funny in there. I tried to keep track," he said, "but I don't really know."

Potter's frown deepened, "Come on. Let me show you your room," he said. "I picked up some clothes for you but we'll have to go shopping later so you an pick out what you like."

"Potter," he said as he followed the other man toward the back of the house, "I don't understand."

"You're free, Draco," the other man said. "Well, not entirely because they'll be looking for you. But you're safe here, safe with me. I won't let them find you and I won't let them take you back," he added with a firm nod.

"Potter," he called again, "This doesn't even make sense."

"Please," Potter said, as though he was well aware of how little sense this all made. "I just," his shoulders slumped a bit, "I found out they were keeping you locked up in there like," he shook his head, "Like some-"

"Criminal?" Draco offered.

"Worse," Potter said, shaking his head. "And it was wrong and no one would listen to me. So this is the best I can do," he said, gesturing at the cottage around him. "A little house in the Seychelles. No one even knows this place exists except for Ron and Hermione," he added.

"i don't understand," Draco said, leaning against the wall to support himself.

"I know," Potter said, "Just. Can you trust me for now? We can talk about it more when you're not so exhausted. Come in," he added, gesturing to the room.

Draco stepped through the door to a room with hardwood floors and white walls, with a sliding glass door that lead out into the sand and the ocean beyond. The bed was covered in soft white bedding and a door at the side of the room led to a bathroom with a proper bathtub and a shower.

He was dreaming, he had to be.

"There are some things in the drawers over there for you to wear," Potter said, sounding a touch anxious. "We'll find you things you like better whenever you're ready."

He stepped over and reached out a hand to touch the bed but pulled up short when he caught sight of his filthy hands. "This is for me?" he asked, looking over at Potter.

"Yeah," he said, nodding. "There's a second room across the hall that I'm in, if you'd rather have that one, but I thought you might like to be able to see the ocean."

"I don't know what to say," he said.

"Say you'll stay," Potter asked. "At least until we can get your name cleared."

"I don't think that's ever going to happen."

Potter sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. "Maybe, but can we just cross that bridge when we get there?" he asked.

"Okay," Draco said because this was all so strange, everything felt surreal, but Potter seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at his acquiescence.

"I'll go make us some lunch," he said quickly. "Do you want to freshen up first?"

Draco nodded, "If that's okay?"

"Yeah," Potter said, nodding, "Yeah. Anything you want." He gave Draco a little smile, "Towels are in the cupboard on the left when you go into the bathroom; there's soap, shampoo, conditioner, and the like in the shower," he added. "I'll be in the kitchen. Just shout if you need anything."

Draco watched him go, still very confused. But for the first time in a very long time, just a little bit hopeful.

--------------

Part 2 to this story is up! Read it here.

Part 3 is up! You can read it here.

Read Part 4 here!

Part 5

Day 30: Likeness | Day 32: After Wedding Fluff

Ahh! Nonnie. I did not anticipate loving this prompt so much. I could hardly bring myself to stop writing. Thanks so much for this prompt.

If y'all want more of this story, please drop me an ask or leave a comment. I'd definitely be up for writing more if people want to read it. :)

[cixthotshit]

A Cup of Rose Americano

Pairing: Bae Jinyoung x Original Female Character|Reader

Genre: Smut, Fluff, Poor Girl/Rich Boy, Coffee Shop/Gangster AU (IDEK how I got here, just go with it)

Summary: There's more than meets the eye with every person, including Bae Jinyoung, the world's finest barista at Personal Barista Cafe

Word count: 4.7k

Rating/Warnings: Mature / Explicit Sexual Content: Porn With Some Plot, Kissing, Mirror Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Creampie

Author’s Note: I wanted to write a fluffy Coffee Shop AU but NGL something else has been preoccupying my mind and the world building to this fic kind of went off the rails and transformed into a completely different story. Enjoy this smut, readers! I really want to explore this world a lot more but IDK if I can commit to anything beyond this RN. So please, please enjoy this! Sorry in advance for mistakes! I don't always catch everything when I proofread.

I always appreciate some feedback on my writings!

"Really, it'll be a...new coffee experience," Hyeon assured Sandy. She handed Sandy a green card. It felt like an expensive platinum credit card, the card made of metal, feeling heavy and cold in her hand. "All you have to do is fill out a survey after you get your free coffee. Once you make it inside, hand the card over to your barista."

"Aren't you supposed to find actual volunteers?" Sandy asked, looking at the shiny card. The only thing on the card was the name of the new test cafe, PB Cafe.

“Trust me,” Hyeon said with a grin. “You’ve never had coffee like this. This is free, too. You’re going to say no to free coffee? And I swear, this is really me saying it, their coffee is really good.”

“Fine, thanks for the free coffee.”

“Enjoy!” Hyeon turned her back to Sandy, most likely scanning for potential test subjects for her new marketing event. Being her best friend, Sandy was always her first test subject. She didn’t know if Hyeon’s bosses approved of her taking advantage of all the free stuff she was receiving.

Sandy walked over to a shop that was setup at the southwest corner of a 3 story building. The walls were white and the windows were covered by white curtains. “PB Cafe” was written in black on the front door, though there were no door handles. Standing in front of the door, Sandy noticed a black square pad beside the right side of the door. She pressed the green card to the black pad and jumped slightly as the glass door slid open. A short piano tune played, sounding old but familiar, reminding her of old Hollywood movies from the mid-20th Century.

Tentatively, she stepped in. Walking past the white curtains, she found herself inside a small room. At the back end of the room was a small bar with one wooden chair in front of it. It only took her 4 steps to reach the chair, so she pulled it out and sat down. The wall behind the bar slid down to the floor and a broad shouldered man walked out from what looked like a bright white light before the wall slid back up behind him.

Too shocked to react, Sandy set the green card down onto the smooth marble countertop. Her eyes couldn’t leave the face of her barista. He was very handsome and his small grin softened his masculine exterior. Wordlessly, he took the green card and placed it in the front left pocket of his black apron.

“Welcome to Personal Barista Cafe,” he said in a soft, sultry voice. “My name is Bae Jinyoung, your Personal Barista today. How shall I address you?”

“Uh, just call me Sandy, I don’t like formalities much.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Sandy. If you don’t like formalities feel free to call me BaeJin or BaeBae.” She gave a soft chuckle and threw her hand over her mouth, feeling her cheeks warm up. Such a sultry man telling her to call him something as cute as BaeBae tickled her. “Is this your first drink with PB Cafe?”

“Yes,” she replied. “I don’t know anything about this cafe, except that you have good coffee.”

“A Personal Barista will make you a personalized drink,” he explained, pulling out a menu form. “Whatever you order, I will make it in front of you. If you want to know how I prepare your drink, please let me know and I will explain as I go. If you want small talk instead, I enjoy a small conversation as I prepare you a drink. If you want silence, for any reason, please don’t feel pressured to speak if you don’t want to.”

“Can I get an Americano?” she asked, after glancing at the long list of coffee drinks. The menu was simple and elegant, the writings were in cursive but the paper was black and the ink white. She liked the seemingly simple attention to detail. “How long have you been a barista, BaeJin?”

“Almost a year,” he replied. He poured fresh ground coffee into a metal contraption with a long neck. She pressed her lips together as her eyes were fixed on his skilled, large hands. He was using a device to compact the coffee grounds.

“Do you enjoy being a barista?”

“I do. It allows me to be creative. My regular job is stressful.”

He put the coffee grounds into the machine and pressed a few buttons. She watched him place a small white espresso mug under the spout of the machine. He grabbed a large white mug of coffee, and looked at her with a soft grin.

“This is your side hustle?” she asked. PB Cafe seemed like it paid well.

“Most people have more than one job these days,” he replied.

“That’s true,” she replied. “I have a day job and a night job.”

“What are your jobs?”

“I’m interning at a law firm, helping a paralegal out. I’m hoping to get my private investigator’s license soon.”

“You want to be a private investigator?” he asked.

“I want to be a lawyer,” she answered, “but having a private investigator’s license helps me pick up skills. Research is the true gift of being a good lawyer.”

“Research. You must be very smart and hard working.”

“You are sweet,” she said, resting an elbow onto the counter, leaning forward. “I wish my smarts and hard work were enough to give me success. I’m lacking in luck lately.” His eyes drifted away from the espresso machine and looked into her eyes. She felt her cheeks turn hot, realizing she had overshared. It’d been a sad thought, too. “I feel very lucky right now.”

“Sandy, I don’t mean to make assumptions about people but if I were to guess you are someone with expensive tastes,” he said. He pulled out two small brown glass bottles from a drawer. “But, you settle for less.”

“I..” she breathed out.

She should have been insulted, but her barista BaeJin was right. Sandy had always been envious of people who could afford designer things or had the means to go on extravagant vacations, but all of that had always been a dream. The closest she got was free shit from Hyeon. A drink from PB Cafe was likely three times that of a drink from Starbucks, and Sandy could only afford Starbucks for special occasions.

“Why are you saying this?”

“I want to make you a drink in which you will appreciate,” he replied, pulling out a single stemmed pink rose from under the counter, and handed it to her. She felt her cheeks flush with heat as she accepted it. “Refined, seemingly ostentatious, but simple and hopefully, delicious.”

He poured hot water from a glass kettle into the mug. She felt her cheeks turn hot again as he reached over and plucked a single petal from the rose she held. He tilted a single drop of liquid from one of the brown bottles onto the petal.

“Rose water,” he said to her as he locked eyes with her for a second. He placed the rose petal into the mug, letting it float in the hot water. He poured the espresso into the mug of water, and took a spoon to scoop out the wilted petal, tossing it away before handing the drink to her.

She gave it a sip, and shut her eyes, a smile on her lips. Using a flower as aromatic as a rose was difficult to pull off in cuisine. Oftentimes the rose aroma was too overpowering, reminding one’s nose of perfume instead of food. Baejin’s Rose Americano, though, was the perfect balance of a good cup of coffee elevated with some elegance, refined by the subtlest hint of a rose’s sweet scent. The warm breath she exhaled after a hot sip of Americano filled her senses with flowery comfort.

“This is the most...beautiful cup of coffee I’ve ever tasted,” she replied, setting the mug down when she was half finished. “It tastes...beautiful.”

He gave a small chuckle, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. She bit her bottom lip, trying not to smile any wider than she already was. He was incredibly cute, grinning in reaction to her compliment. How could a man exude the amount of sensuality like BaeJin yet be so cute that she wanted to squish him like a marshmallow?

“You like it?” he asked.

“I do,” she replied. “I didn’t know a cup of Americano could be improved. Thank you for this cup of coffee. You’re a gifted barista.”

“Thank you. I would love to make you another drink.”

“I’ll try to come back one day,” she said earnestly.

She sipped her drink and glanced at her phone. Thanking her talented, handsome (and cute) barista BaeJin one last time, Sandy finished her drink and sprinted out of the odd, surreal cafe. She had to get ready for work. Smelling the pink rose in her hand, Sandy smiled to herself. Who knew her barista would be the first man to give her a rose?

--

“Diamond! Malibu was accidentally double booked,” Danielle called out into the dressing room. “Can you give a lap dance in the Blue Champagne Room before going home?”

“Wait,” Sandy said, holding the gold hoop earring she’d just taken off her left earlobe, “I’m not going to chase Malibu for the flat fee. The last time I covered for her, not only did her John not tip me but I had to chase her for 4 days before she gave me the cash.”

“I have a hard time chasing her down, too,” Danielle said with a heavy sigh, handing her purple vape pen to Sandy to hold. She dug into her pink and purple Bedazzled fanny pack, and fished out a few bills. She handed a bag of clothing to Sandy. “Let me know if this John is handsy or out of line. He’s a new customer. You have five minutes, babe. Fix your makeup.”

Handing the vape pen back to her boss, Sandy put the cash into her purse before shutting and locking the drawer to her vanity. She put her earring back on and retouched her eye makeup and lipstick. Her locks of hair looked good as she combed her fingers through her hair, looking into the mirror before getting up to change.

Sandy hadn’t exactly planned on becoming a stripper, but during her freshman year in college, she took a class on feminist studies, specifically on sex work. What started out as a learning experience in respecting sex work, and educating herself on the legal struggles of sex workers’ rights, Sandy soon found herself stripping as a means of extra income. She herself was in need of money, and recognized her beauty was valued enough that she could make capital from it.

Having walked out on her dysfunctional family as soon as she turned 18, Sandy had been hustling on her own for years. She was still working towards a career in law, but in the meantime, she was balancing between her day job as an unpaid intern at a shitty law firm and her night job as a stripper at a club called Blue Paradise. Giving lap dances were only nice when she received good tips, but they didn’t happen often enough. All she wanted was a good tip.

Pulling out the outfit Danielle handed to her, she took off her clothes and put on her new outfit. She wore a neon pink G-string bikini bottom with her matching lace bra under a black pencil skirt and a white costume button up office dress shirt. She put on a loose blue tie around her neck, and put on a pair of thick black framed glasses, matching it with her black leather knee high boots. Apparently, this new customer had a librarian kink.

Walking down the hall, toward the other side of the back of the club, she entered the room with the blue door at the end of the hall. The Champagne Rooms, where customers received their private lap dances, were color coded. The Blue Room was where the clients with specific kinks went.

Opening the door, Sandy pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, and looked up to see her John seated on the black couch. The dim lighting of the room cast a shadow over his body, making it hard for her to make out his face. She blinked, and closed her mouth, realizing that her customer was her barista from PB Cafe, BaeJin. It had been days since she had her cup of Rose Americano.

He was wearing a loosely worn grey sweater with black denim jeans. She didn’t think it was possible but he looked more handsome than she last remembered. Perhaps, with her body so close to his, knowing that he was there for devious reasons, her face flushed and her nipples hardened as heat rushed through her body from head to toe.

“BaeJin!” she said, forgetting her sexy librarian character.

“Don’t move,” he said, looking alarmed. She stood completely still, one hand on the door handle. “You’re a stripper, Sandy?”

“You...you remember me?” He nodded. “Stripping is helping me pay for my law degree.” She licked her lips and tilted her head, pushing her chest forward slightly. “I can give you what you want.”

“I can’t do this,” he replied, crossing his left leg over his right. His eyes left her, and diverted to the ground. Her ego was bruised. Not only did she need the money, but her vanity made her feel upset that he didn’t want a lap dance from her. “I should go.”

“I have to try to keep you here,” she said shyly, pressing her back against the door. “If I don’t, that means I’m not good at my job.”

“How long should we be in here for you to be considered good at your job?” he asked, his eyes returning to meet her gaze.

“You don’t want a lap dance? Am I not cute? My tits too small?”

He gave a chuckle, and looked away when his eyes moved to her chest as she talked.

“You’re very cute,” he replied, “but that’s the problem. As a barista, I don’t date customers. Since you didn’t actually pay for your drink, I thought it’d be OK to ask you out if I ever saw you again. But if I pay for this lap dance, I wouldn’t want to ask you out. It’s not fair for me to proposition you while you’re working.”

“You’ve been thinking hard about me?” Her cheeks felt hot and goosebumps formed on her arms. “Would you accept my invitation if I asked you out after this? I’m actually supposed to be off work by now, but this is my last job tonight. If I don’t give you a lap dance, we didn’t cross any lines, right?”

He nodded, and she gave a nervous chuckle.

“You said that being a barista was your side hustle,” she said, noticing the expensive watch and ring on his left hand. Sex workers had to know street codes to keep themselves safe, and watches and rings were how gang members communicated their loyalties and rankings. “What’s your main job? You said it’s stressful.”

His right hand wrapped around his platinum watch, the case of the watch encrusted with diamonds. The C9 Gang was a wealthy gang with origins in Tokyo, Japan, platinum was their calling card. BaeJin’s gold band emerald ring sat on his middle finger, indicating he was a made man of high rank. Sandy was impressed; BaeJin had acclimated to a high status in a gang at a young age.

“How long have you been working here, Sandy?” he asked in response.

“Diamond,” she answered, her grip remaining firm on the door. “My stage name is Diamond.”

“Sandy...Diamond,” he said with a grin. He stood, and she took a deep inhale of breath as he took a step forward and pressed his body against hers, his left arm wrapping around her waist as his hand gripped onto her wrist. Her hold on the door handle loosened. “You are the diamond in the rough in Blue Paradise. You still want to invite me out on a date?”

She took a gulp of breath, staring deeply into his dark brown eyes. He licked his lips and her eyes drifted to his mouth. Giving the most gentle nod of her head, she said, “Yes.”

“I drive a blue Ferrari F60 America,” he said as the tip of his nose touched hers.

“I don’t know anything about cars,” she replied, shutting her eyes. His breath was warm, making it hard for her to breathe. He chuckled and she felt his head rest onto her shoulder.

She opened her eyes when she felt a hand touch her chin.

“I drive a blue car,” he said, his eyes drifting down her face to her lips. His thumb ran across her bottom lip gently, sending heat deep into her groin. Her stomach ached at the touch. “It’ll be the most expensive looking car you’ll see when you walk outside.” He looked directly into her eyes again. “I’m a dangerous man, Sandy...Diamond. I have to ask you one more time, do you want to keep talking to me?”

She chewed on the inside of her left cheek nervously, and furrowed her eyebrows. Given how close she was to getting the paid job as a paralegal at Johnston’s &Partners, Sandy was one step closer to her dreams of becoming a lawyer. Would it be ethical to date a gangster?

“Will you take me home or will we be going to your place?” she answered. Life was too short not to take risks.

--

Upon his request, she left work wearing her costume. BaeJin’s description of having the most expensive looking car was accurate. The navy blue car shone brighter than any other car, and the curves of the body created an elegant design to the car. He’d opened the passenger door for her. She realized her skirt barely covered her ass as the cold leather from the seat hit the back of her thighs.

He drove them up a curvy hill to get to his expensive mansion, placed behind a small forest. It sat atop of a mountainous hill, overlooking the bright lights of the city far below. BaeJin was a man of very high rank by the looks of his home. It was large and designed with multiple floor to ceiling windows. Sandy took a soft gulp of air as her mouth felt dry.

“Your home is beautiful,” she said when he led her into his home, the hallway lined with expensively framed paintings. The jade vase that held 3 white lilies beside the coat hanger looked like it was worth more than everything she owned, including the small amount of cash she had in her bank account.

BaeJin’s home aesthetic was minimalist, though each room had a piece of furniture that popped out, like the jade vase in the front entrance. In his bedroom, he had a rose gold encrusted full length mirror sitting at the foot of his bed. It was shameless, but did not surprise her. Their eyes locked as BaeJin sat down at the foot of the bed. Their fingers intertwined when she reached her left hand out to his outstretched right hand.

“I spent a week trying not to think about you,” he said, pulling her easily onto his lap. His free hand wrapped around her waist. “The closest thing to you was trying to get a stripper to dress up like a sexy librarian.”

“Aren’t you lucky?” she said, squeezing his hand. “You went to Blue Paradise wanting a fantasy. Instead, you left with your fantasy.”

His hand released hers and she felt his hand between her legs, sliding up against her slit. Shutting her eyes she gave a soft moan, surprised at his swift movement.

“You deserve the best in life,” he said into her ear before grazing his teeth gently against her neck. “Don’t ever settle for less.”

He kissed her, his lips warm and firm. His tongue parted her lips and she gave a soft hum. She pushed his tongue out of her mouth, appreciating the taste of floral green tea from him. Her fingers tangled into his hair, pulling him closer to her. He tasted better than the beautiful cup of Rose Americano.

With a clouded head, she helped him pull his sweater off as he aggressively pulled her top off of her, the cheap buttons popping loudly as they flew into the air. Her skirt failed to exist when he ripped the zipper and tore the fabric apart with his bare hands.

“Are you going to rip me apart?” she asked breathlessly when his fingers found their way under her bra, fondling her erect nipple. She gave a soft moan and he grinned as he pinched her sensitive bud.

“I’ll be as hard or soft as you want,” he assured her. The pad of his thumb grazed against her nipple. Her back shivered as a sharp heat rode up her back.

“I like a bit of both,” she said, her cheeks hot. It felt like a dream to have BaeJin telling her he would do as she wanted. “You ruined my skirt.”

“The cheap costume skirt?” he asked, his hand returning to rubbing her slit. “You don’t have to settle, remember?” She shut her eyes, her hand grabbing his arm as two of his fingers pressed against her clit. “I like you best without clothes anyway.” The heat intensified as his fingers moved down lower, moistening her panties with the slick heat coming out of her pussy. Her back shook again as his fingers moved up against her slit, and then back down. “Your voice is lovely.”

She moaned as she rested her head against his chest, his fingers continually creating more heat between her legs. One finger slipped under her panties, pulling the fabric away from her wet cunt. The back of his knuckle pressed against the engorged bud of her clit, and she mewled as he rubbed up and down against her.

“BaeBae,” she could only speak with a shaky breath, “BaeBae, I’m going to come.”

Her hips thrust haphazardly against his knuckle as a small flash of heat washed over her, goosebumps forming up the back of her neck. Her orgasm disappeared as soon as it came and she breathed through her mouth. Her pussy felt wet as her slick heat dripped out of her.

“I was just playing with you,” he said with an amused smile, his eyes locked onto the mess between her legs, including his wet fingers. He spread her juices onto her folds, and moved the pads of his index and middle fingers to draw small circles onto her clit. She mewled, shutting her eyes, as her hips rutted against the motions of his fingers. “But with you this wet, I can fuck you right now.”

“BaeBae,” she breathed out, opening her eyes.

Her eyebrows were furrowed as she looked at him. Wordlessly, she stood as their hands began removing each other’s clothes off. His expensive jewelry remained on as he pulled her back to his front, making her stand between his legs. His hand went between her legs and he massaged the inside of her thigh. She hummed a soft moan, enjoying the way his hand relaxed her muscles.

Both of his hands wrapped around her waist, and his lips kissed her neck. He requested she trust him, and one hand reached down to her right knee and had her stretch her leg out to rest over his. As his other hand went to her left knee, she understood what he was doing. He wanted a full view of her pussy so she sat on his lap with her legs hooked over his.

“Ready to put this to use?” he asked, his hands kneading her hips. His reflection from the mirror was staring at her. She saw the cheeks of her flushed face turn a bright red, and she tilted her head down to look away from the mirror. The blood coursing through her chest up to her head clouded her vision. “Look at us.”

His right hand cupped her face, and she felt his wrist press up against the front of her neck. The pulse from his wrist beat rapidly against the pulse on her neck, and she struggled to breathe as her eyes locked onto his from the reflection in the mirror. Hot blood rushed to her groin and her hips jerked forward, out of her control. His left arm wrapped around her waist had her firmly in his hold, so all she could do was wiggle in his lap. Feeling the muscles of his thighs flex under her made her buttocks tighten, her body anticipating his cock.

“If you let me take you raw,” he said softly against her ear, his eyes locked with hers through the reflection of the mirror, “that’ll make you mine.”

His hold on her face was gone as his hand grabbed his cock. He rubbed his hard cock against her slit. She bit her bottom lip as his heat caused more juices to pool out of her cunt. It made her nerves shake, itching her skin in unbearable heat. He blinked, and his eyebrows furrowed as she opened her mouth to breathe loudly.

“I’m yours,” she said clearly. He groaned as he pushed the tip of his cock into her entrance. “Give me everything, BaeJin.” Pleasure blinded her vision as she saw nothing but white and gold flecks of stars. She gave a loud gulp when she felt his hand grip onto her chin again, his wrist pressing against her throat. Her grip on his arms tightened as she held onto him for leverage. His cock pushed in deeper, and the walls of her pussy trembled as heat filled her body in overwhelming waves. “I’m yours.”

His lips were on her neck and when her vision cleared all her eyes could focus was on the way his cock was fucking her pussy. He started with shallow pushes, the rhythm steady as she bounced on his lap. She came and she gave a gentle mewl, blurting out his name as her walls squeezed his cock. A gentle chuckle escaped her lips as she saw him shut his eyes tight.

“You’re so easy to please,” he said as he pushed in deep. She gave a loud groan as he pulled out roughly before pushing in fast, going in balls deep. He started a steady, deep rhythm and she cried as she was filled with undiluted pleasure.

“You fuck so good,” she moaned, her hand reaching back to grab his hair. He sucked on her neck, leaving a red mark before he kissed her shoulder. “BaeJin, fuck me. I’m gonna - I’m - I’m gonna come.”

His grip around her waist tightened as he pushed faster into her, and they bent forward together as he came into her in deep pushes. Her fingers dug into his skin as she shut her eyes, taking in the sensation of his hot seed filling up her insides.

“Come,” he panted out heavily as she felt him withdraw from her. She whimpered as she felt his middle finger push into her come-filled cunt. His thumb rubbed up against her clit, making her nerves dance in hot waves. She cried out a soft orgasm as she came again. She breathed heavily as she rested against his body.

“We barely know each other,” she said after a while. She didn’t know how long they sat together, staring at their reflection before she finally spoke.

“We have the rest of our lives to get to know each other,” he said, running a hand up and down her thigh, sending heat up and down her back. “You are mine now.”

He pulled her off his lap, and they laid in bed together. A shiver went down her back as he kissed her shoulder. They were facing each other, her left leg locked between his muscular thighs.

Giving a laugh, she watched him grab her wrist. He kissed the inside of her wrist before kissing the inside of her elbow. She shut her eyes as she felt his lips on her shoulder. Every kiss sent a vibrating heat under her skin. His mouth sucked on her neck and she grabbed onto the back of his hair as his teeth grazed against her skin. The muscles in her stomach tightened. The world ceased to exist as BaeJin’s embrace consumed her.

[sweetsbfreex]

that’s daddy!

read the first installment here!

last fic of 2020! thank you guys so much for all the love and sweet messages, i’ve only been here for a short time, but you guys have rlly gotten me through being able to post my writing publicly 💕 

Summary: another mix up, but this time it’s 10x more embarrassing

Warnings: lil’ smut but not so smut

Pairings: Husband, Dad!Harry x reader 

You and Harry had woken up five minutes prior. Your mumbles in both your sleepy, raspy voices of good morning and your morning pecks out of the way. Now the two of you were cuddled up in bed. You were lowered in bed, on your side. Your head under Harry’s arm, one arm by your side, while the other was tracing the butterfly on Harry’s chest absentmindedly.

Harry was on his back; one of his arm’s brought down– his fingers caressing the side of your face. 

“Plans for the day?” you ask H, tilting your head back slightly.

He was blissed out and zoned out, his mind running a mile a minute. With that he had hummed, asking you to repeat yourself. 

“Plans for the day, H?” you asked again. 

“Oh, have to head to the set in a few. Are you and B still meeting me there?”

“Why? Do you want us to?” you tease. 

“What do you think” he imitated, pulling on the hand that was once on his stomach to guide you upward and closer to him. 

You smiled knowingly down at him, your body hovering over him. While he winds a hand to the back of your neck pulling you down quickly. 

“Frisky, huh” you joked, pulling away. But you were hastily pulled down– Harry  snakes his arm higher using his bicep now to bring you down all the way– your body now bonded to Harry’s. Your sleeping shirt rubbing against his skin.

Harry kissed you roughly and was rough during the time he rolled the both of you over, so you were encased in him. Your non-stop grinding figure causing the growling he was emitting. And it would’ve gone father if it wasn’t for the pitter-patter of small feet walking past your open door. (You had left open last night for Bia this morning.)

He pulled away, breathless. Looking over his shoulder, using the hand that wasn’t under your neck to hold his body up. Only to see the four-year-old bouncing at the end of the bed, her favorite stuffed animal (an off-white duck) clutched in both her hands in front of her. 

“B, remember what we talked about” Harry reminded her sweetly, laying on his back next to her mother. 

“Sorry daddy” she pouted, her figure still. “Morning!” she squealed, running till she was laying in between you and Harry. It was always so surreal how crazy her emotions had shifted, but not very surprising. 

“Morning bunny” Harry replied, kissing her forehead.

“Morning B” you replied, kissing her cheeks until she was laughed out, begging for mercy. 

“What? don’t like mummy’s kiss?” Harry had asked, tickling her side.

“No!” she quipped, a mischievous, a very Harry look on her face.

You gasped in make-believe at her statement, looking up at Harry a plan in your eyes that he had naturally understood. You were each assigned a cheek of B’s and at once attacked her with kisses.

She broke out into a fit of giggles, each of her tiny hands brought up to clutch onto each of your chins, trying with all her might to push the both of you away. 

“Okay! Okay!” she yelled, but it took her awhile with all the laughing she was doing. 

“You love mummy’s kisses?” you asked her

“Yes!” she screamed, adjusting herself so she was now laying on top of you. Her cheek rested against yours, which she had kissed before settling herself to down– to further persuade you. You wrapped both your arms around her instantly, one of hers coddling the lobe of your ear. 

Harry shuffled closer to the two of you. On his side he used an arm to support his head. 

“Angel, guess what?” he beamed.

“What Daddy?”

“You and mum are gonna be meeting on set today” 

She was confused, and you could tell from the lack of emotion she let out at Harry’s information. She was four, so you couldn’t blame her for not understanding how exciting it would be to see her father live in action. 

“B” you started, gaining her attention. “Me and you are gonna meet daddy at work and watch him act and meet everyone else...like Descendants how everyone is at the isle of the lost” you divulged, trying to make this exciting as possible for her. 

“We’re going to the Isle of the lost?” she interrupted, her head tilting slightly in confusion. 

“No no” you laugh “It’s like– you know what nevermind. Basically, we’re gonna go see daddy at work, but with movies”

“Were going to the movies?” 

“Kind of, but instead we’re gonna watch how movies are made”

“Ohh” she dragged, still a bit confused, but she really only understood that she would be meeting her dad at work. Harry laughed at your attempt, knowing you were shit at explaining things and trying to explain something like this to a toddler was only harder for you. 

“it’s okay B, you’ll see soon” Harry reassured her. “What do the two of you want for breakfast?” 

Peeling off the comforter, he got out of bed stretching his back out. A deep, pleasurable groan leaving his mouth. Causing a giggle between you and Bia. 

“Pancakes and strawberries, please” Bia requested.

“Can I have French toasts pleaseee” you beg.

“You got it” Harry replied, making his way out of the room after grabbing a shirt from his dresser. 

He could hear the whispering between the two of you, most likely scheming against him. But when he had started making his way to the door, he heard a shrill voice filled with cackles.

“Thank you best daddy in the world!” B had recited. Harry had shook his head a great smile on his face, close to tears. He raised his hands high, making a heart with his hands catching the eye of the two of his best girls, that were still laughing, in his bed.

-

Only a few hours earlier you and B had kissed Harry a see you later at the door. Now it was only the two of you in the parking lot of the set, one of the employees from the movie, sent to guide you and B to your location. 

You looked down at your little girl, who’s hand was pancaked with yours, skipping behind you. Her pony tails shifting and her shoes lighting up with each bounce. 

“You excited miss Styles” you ask.

She hummed an answer, toi immerse into the song she was singing.

“I was requested by Harry to bring some goldfish and strawberries for Bia. Is that okay?” she double checks

“That’s perfect. Thank you so much” you smile as she stops abruptly in front of you, tapping away at her tablet.

“No problem, they’ll be inside” she smiled back, looking up “Here’s his trailer, if you need anything I’m once again Ximena” she waved a goodbye to you and Bia. 

You climb up the steps, gently, Bia trailing closely behind you. Opening the door, you walk inside to see the spacious area. 

The first thing you see when walking in is the platter of Cut strawberries and packs of B’s favorite varieties of goldfish on the coffee table, catching her attention instantly as she sprints towards the snacks. Getting herself comfortable on the sectional sofa in front of the tv. 

You can see a counter, an array of cosmetic products settled on top.  One chair sat behind the counter, facing a wall with a large mirror mounted on the wall. You walk farther in the trailer to see on the counter, a framed picture of the three of you on an impromptu picnic, your heart filled as you eyed the picture. 

you loved that day

Lastly, all the way in the back you could see a large bed, probably a queen, which you could tell was laid upon earlier. 

You walked over to Bia, taking a seat next to her, who shoved yet another strawberry into her mouth. You chuckled lowly, grabbing the remote from the coffee table. Putting something on just for her. 

You were getting engrossed in the show when the door to the trailer flung open, Harry walking into his hands on his hips. 

Bia had jetted off the sofa, running towards her dad, who had crouched down to pick her up. Spinning her around as she giggled, twinkling.

You paced towards him, flinging yourself softly onto him, as he was still holding B.

“Hi love, missed you” he said softly, bringing his right hand up to secure the back of your head, bringing you into a kiss. 

“Why are you so out of breath” you asked, laughing. You could see the glimmer of sweat along his hairline. 

“Ran all the way over here. I just finished a scene when they told me you two were here” jostling Bia a bit. 

“You’re so cute” you said with a fond look, welcoming him for a quick peck. “And you look so handsome. Love when your hair is parted like this”

One of the first things that you had noticed was how dapper he had looked in the brown suit.  

You tell him getting a cocky smirk in response. You take your finger and gently move a strand of his hair that hung in between his eyebrows, moving it so it was flowing to the right– as it should be. 

“Thank you lovie, how about I show the two of you around.”

-

You were walking down the lines of trailers, The three of you linked together like monkeys in a barrel, Bia walking in the middle. As you walked down Harry showed her all the equipments, teaching her how things worked, helping her pronounce the tough words, and explaining what they were for.

“They’re shooting something right now. You want to watch?”

“Mhm” 

You crouch to pick up Bia, her short legs slowing the two of you down if you had to be honest. She sat on your hip, now a bit farther away from Harry. He had been quick to drape his arm over his arm over your shoulder, bringing you both closer. 

“Remember you have to be quiet” Harry reminded B, as you both walked closer to a scene that was about to start. 

“I remember” she whispered.

It was only a minute or two that went by, when Bia let out a quiet groan. Frustrated to no end. 

“Daddy” She had groaned again, her hand in a tiny fist. You looked down at her, face scrunched up.

“What is it baby?” he asked, grabbing her fist. Her hand now enclosed over his finger.

“My eyes. S’ too bright”

You and Harry smiled down at her, You watched as Harry opened one of the jackets. Slipping his hand inside one of the pockets, you assumed, pulling out a pair of sunglasses. He perched them gently on her face. So big they had slid down her nose. 

“Better?” you asked, kissing the top of her head

She nodded her head, turning her attention, so she was watching the extras move around and the actors/actresses recite their lines. 

The three of you stood there for another ten minutes, but had to go when Harry looked down at his watch. Smile falling not wanting to leave you both.

“I gotta go lovie, but I’m gonna drop off you both at the trailer first” he says grasping your hand, leading you both away from the ongoing scene.

“What?” you pout “I thought I would’ve been able to see you in action” you tease.

“I know, I know” he sighs, walking in front of you so he can clasp your face between his palms. Which were by now ringless, except for the wedding ring prop. His, from your wedding day, sat next to his journal on his night stand. 

“But I’d not rather kiss another woman in front of B...Plus you’ll make me nervous”

“I make you nervous” you keen

“Don’t act surprised” he quips “Remember the time I spilled my drink all over your lap on our first date?” he asks, you nod in confirmation. “There you go! Now let’s get you two back to the trailer” he ended the conversation swiftly, grappling both your shoulders gently. Squeezing them lovingly as he guided you back to the trailers. 

You and H had been entranced in a conversation when B had squealed letting out excitedly “Puppy!”

The sound of her excitement got both of your attention, looking down to see none other Dodger on a leash held by Chris freaking Evans. 

“Hey Chris!” Harry greeted, putting his hands out for a handshake. Harry had let go of your shoulder as Chris pulled Harry in for what you called ‘manly man shoulder tap’. “You’ve met y/n, this” he pointed to B “Is Bia, my daughter” Harry, properly, introduced the squirming girl in your arm, trying so hard to pet the dog, pinching her cheek. 

“Hi” you greeted Chris, clearing your throat afterwards. 

You met Chris when the cast had got together for a bonding moment at a very fancy restaurant. But god, could you ever get used to the fact that your husband worked with Chris freaking-hot- Jamal Evans and you basically had access to see him whenever? No. Never.

When the news had broke out that Chris would be joining in as a cast member, you were probably more excited than Harry, as you had ran around the room in twirls at the fact that you were going to see two of the most handsomest men in the world in one movie. And you were married to one of them. 

Harry could do nothing that day not wanting to burst your bubble with the slight jealousy he had felt as he laid back on the bed, watching your very familiar crazy behavior. A smile on his face. 

“Almost as if you were the one acting with him baby” he teased you, making his way hastily towards you, throwing you over his shoulder a quick smack to your ass. 

And the dinner was not any easier. Your hand in Harry’s hands, placed over the table. Which you was his way of slight possessiveness, while you sat across from Chris Evans himself, trying so hard not to act like such a fangirl. His eyes were so blue, so bright, it was hard not to get caught in those. 

But you were married and had to calm down. Letting Harry know multiple times if this were Jennifer Aniston he would have all the passes he wanted. 

“Hey how are you y/-” Chris had started, but the sound of an overly excited toddler had took all three of your attention 

“Daddy!” she roared, a smile on her face, pointing towards Chris’ shocked figure. 

It was like time stood, still at the tension–– mostly felt on you and Harry’s end. At the way Chris had dropped his jaw, eyes wide, his finger pointing at himself. 

Harry was nothing but embarrassed, cheeks and ears heating up. His own daughter called someone who wasn’t Harry her father for christs sakes. 

 And you were nothing but the same, as all three of you stood there moths dropped. 

“O- oh my gosh, Chris, I’m so sorry. I have no idea why she-” you started.

“It’s fine really” he chuckled. “I’m actually supposed to be on set in a few, so I’ll catch you guys later.” he waved, smiling, walking away from the three of you. 

“Oh my gosh, Harry! I just embarrassed myself in front of Chris evans” you whined. 

“This is your fault” he laughed “Told you I hated that joke, glad to see karma got you where it hurts”

“I hate you” you whine

Harry pays you no mind, a smug look over taking his face. 

“Where’s daddy going?” Bia asks, her head turning at Chris’ walking figure. 

-

if you enjoyed pls don’t forget to reblog or give feedback if ur up to it <3

[bakubabes-tatakae]

A/N: I hope you all enjoy part 3/4 of my pieces for the sixth day of the anniversary collab for the @konoblog-simps. You can find all the lovely pieces for the day here! Today’s theme is places, let’s go head to Taito Station. My last piece for the day will be out in a couple of hours! You can find all the days of the collab here!

Pairing: Satoru Gojo x fem!Reader

Warnings: fluff, fun, a playful spank, and some kisses

Word Count: 1.2k

Your phone buzzed on the kitchen counter, shaking you from the trance you now had as you watched the breeze push around the trees out your window. You slowly picked it up and looked at the message that now sat on your screen. Your eyes narrowed as you read the sentence. 

Satoru 💞 2:56pm 

I’ll be at your place at 7pm, be ready.

Your message back was simple, something you had figured he would answer quickly. 

2:56pm

Can I ask you where we’re going, Sato?

It wasn’t like him to not answer a simple message like this, but after ten minutes you started to wonder what was up his sleeve. 

You waited the rest of the night in wonder as you watched the clock get closer and closer to the time, knowing that you’d have to start getting ready soon. 

As you climbed into a pair of leggings and a nice shirt you wondered if you were too underdressed. Why else would he have told you to make sure that you were ready? You shook your head again and got back to getting ready, throwing on some light makeup before heading back toward your living room. 

You heard the front door open and footsteps coming toward you. You called out to him, greeted by the familiar face of the Sorcerer that you knew and loved. You hopped off the couch and started for him, watching him lift one side of his blindfold over his eye. Satoru bit his lip and licked his lips as he watched your figure nearing him. 

“Looking good, baby.” As you reached forward and placed your hands on his chest, he placed a soft kiss on your forehead. “Ready to get going?”

You smiled and turned for the door. “Let’s go.” Once your back was to him a firm hand hit your backside, something you should have expected but it still shocked you. “Sato!”

As you turned your head back to him you caught the sly grin that shown on his face as he spoke. “Did you really think you could wear those pants and get by me without that happening?”

You rolled your eyes at him and opened your front door. Same old Satoru Gojo, why would you think anything would be different? 

* * * * * * 

The car ride had been quick, something you hadn’t thought would happen, but the parking lot was unfamiliar as he pulled in. But the big sign outside told you where you were. Taito Station. Had Satoru Gojo really brought you here?

You climbed out of the car and watched as he waited for you to make it to him. As you both walked toward the front door you heard him break the silence. “We haven’t done anything fun outside of the house in a while so I figured this could be a fun time.’

You looked over at him and smiled. You had never been to Taito Station before and for him to do something as “normal” as this was unseen. “It’ll be amazing, Sato.”

Walking through the door was almost surreal. The colored lights that lit up the area, the hundreds of crane games that lines the walls, the arcade games that surrounded the space between. 

The excitement in your voice as you turned back to him and grabbed his shirt made butterflies line his stomach. “Look at this place, Satoru! It’s amazing in here!”

Satoru wrapped an arm around your shoulder and made his way down the aisles of crane games, pulling you close, claiming you as his around the men in the area. “We’ve got quite a bit of stuff to look through so we better get moving.”

* * * * * * 

As the coins fell from the machine and Satoru scooped them into the small coin bag you screeched with excitement. Satoru chuckled at you and motioned forward. “Lead the way, this is all you, doll.”

Your feet couldn’t move fast enough, Satoru just barely able to keep up with you as you zoomed through the aisles. 

Each new crane game brought a small boost of serotonin to you, especially after that sound would tell you that you won. And the extra hard ones that you couldn’t get, Satoru was right there to help you. 

Bags filled with prizes lined his arms as you dwindled down the coins he gave you, anxious to bring all your new things home, but also never wanting the night to end. 

As the last coin went into the machine and the prize finally fell into the spot you turned to Satoru, puppy dog eyes gleaming for him. “Sato, I’m all out of coins.” You put your hands together and pouted. “Can I have more?”

Satoru looked from you to his arms and widened his eyes. “Doll, I can’t hold anything else. I think it’s time we start heading home.” He turned and pointed toward the clock on the wall. “It’s getting pretty late. It’s already midnight.”

You sighed and smiled at him. “I’ll head home, but only if you promise to stay with me tonight.”

His smile widened as he watched your hopeful eyes glow just a little more. “Fine. If we head back now I’ll stay at your place tonight. It’s pretty late and I have to meet with the kids tomorrow so I’ll be closer that way.”

Another happy screech came from you as you took a bag from his arms, lightening the load a little bit for him. 

The walk back to the car was a saddening one, but you had a feeling it wouldn’t be hard to convince him to come back again. One simple button popped the trunk of his car and he loaded the bags into it, taking the one from you to add to the pile. 

As he closed the trunk his hands touched your hips, your arms almost instinctively wrapped around his neck. It wasn’t often that you got to see this domestic, fluffy side of Satoru, so you savored it while you did. 

You pushed your lips out toward him and ascended when his lips touched yours. Your lips danced together as he pushed your figure against the side of his car. You chuckled into his kiss as you broke away. “I love you, Satoru Gojo.”

His features were soft as he beamed back at you. “And I love you.” He used his grip on your hips to turn you and push you softly toward the car. “Now let’s get home so I can show you just how much I do.”

Your cheeks warmed as he turned and walked to his side of the car. Soft, domestic Satoru had vanished in an instant and the normal Satoru was back. The wait for it to happen next started now, if only you could get it to stay when it came by. But you knew that probably wouldn’t happen. But there was no changing Satoru Gojo, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Taglist: @monic00l @strangeinternetwasteland @rowley-with-ackerman @kyu-pine @ellechanwrites @bonnisimpparker @impinthecloset @nikiniki743 @aracynthos​

©bakubabes-hatake’s original content, please do not repost/modify without my permission

[yourlmanburg]

yet another smp sibling // eret + gn!sibling!reader

(hello i genuinely do not know what got blown up in doomsday please let that slide lmao, also i am honestly really sorry about how late this is - i was super tired yesterday and i’ve been busy all day today lulw but even so, i hope you enjoy this even if i didn’t have the energy to edit it whoops)

word count: 1,343

summary: eret reveals they have a younger sibling and shows them around the dream smp

request?: yep! thank you @brianawithonen!!

---

Your brother had been streaming for about half an hour or so now while you were busy doing homework, but if you’d been watching, your heart would’ve melted. Alastair had somehow let it slip that he had a little sibling and his chat was going crazy as they spoke nothing but good about you, singing your praises and making it clear how much you meant to them.

“I can actually go and get Y/n if you guys would like?” She asked her chat, and needless to say, they were delighted with the idea of meeting another SMP sibling. You were sitting at your desk when you heard a knock at your bedroom door, spinning around to look at your brother.

“Aren’t you streaming?” You asked before he could get a word in. He wasn’t supposed to end yet as far as you were aware.

“Yep! Do you want to play on the SMP for a little bit?” They asked kindly, their tone preventing you from feeling too pressured. You couldn’t lie, the thought of showing yourself to tens of thousands of people both scared you and excited you - what if somebody you knew was watching the stream and they didn’t know you were The Eret’s sibling? What if nobody liked you? What if you said something wrong and got cancelled, or even worse, what if you got Alastair cancelled? Despite the negative thoughts crowding your mind, you realised how much joy the Dream SMP had brought to Alastair. You knew how much it’d boosted their career and you know how many lives he’d changed, and you knew about the friends he’d made. Maybe this was a chance for you to have the same as that for a segment of a stream.

“Sure!” You exclaimed with a grin, leaving your work where it was and following your brother into their recording room.

“Here we go, chat!” Alastair said with a smile, passing you a spare headset and pulling out another chair for you. “This is Y/n, my mini me, who is surprisingly good at Minecraft.” They chuckled as you looked at her with fake betrayal.

"Surprisingly, huh?" You chuckled, slipping on the headset and sitting beside your sibling. 

“Oh, by the way, I’m on the VC in case anybody wants to join - is that okay with you?” She asked and you nodded, already taking over his game and walking around on the Dream SMP. This was so surreal.

“So what do I do?”

“Well, I can show you around if you’d like?” Alastair looked at you with a small grin, to which you nodded eagerly. You began in (the remains of) L’Manburg and you were shown around the Greater Dream SMP, the Badlands, Manifoldland and even El Rapids, and you couldn’t lie; you were impressed by some of the structures your brother had built. Everything was going better than you’d expected and you really did enjoy spending time with Alastair like this, until you heard the familiar Discord chime and a very distinct voice that you just could not ignore.

“HELLO ERET!” The legendary TommyInnit screamed down your ears, unaware of your presence. Alastair chuckled, letting him know that he was with his younger sibling.

“Why do you have a child with you? Do they know that I am a big man, bigger than them?” oh, somebody sounded confident as ever.

“Wanna bet?” you spoke up, Tommy for once finding himself at a loss for words.

“You suck.” he stated bluntly, causing you to burst into fits of laughter. Alastair was a little more on the unimpressed side, however, asking Tommy to calm down with the somewhat aggressive remarks. Of course, he was only answered with incoherent angry mumbles, followed by another Discord chime.

“TUBBO!” both Alastair and Tommy shouted at the same time, Tubbo greeting them with an equal level of enthusiasm. A little yellow banner across the screen told you that he’d just logged into the game, his avatar appearing not too far away from your brother’s.

“Hey Tubbo, did you know Eret is with a child?” Tommy asked him like it was the biggest deal on Earth. Tubbo let out a confused laugh, asking Alastair if this was true or if Tommy was just spouting bullshit as usual.

“Hi,” you giggled before Alastair had a chance to reply. “I believe I am said child.”

“Oh, hello!” he greeted you happily, running over towards you in Minecraft and crouching in front of your character. 

“Tubbo, right? I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Who’s Tubbo? I am Big Law and Big Law only.” you laughed at how serious his tone was, feeling as if you were really, finally seeing why the SMP meant so much to your brother. You barely knew them yet these people were some of the nicest you’d ever met (despite the fact that you’d already known of their existence and tuned into more than enough streams prior to this) and you truly felt as if you belonged - if only you could become a permanent member in the intricate storyline.

You, Tubbo and Tommy played around for a while longer with your brother by your side, every so often speaking up but he was mostly just watching you. Watching the smile on your face and the shine in your eyes; this was clearly where you wanted to be, if he could just…

Alastair pulled out his phone, opening up discord and clicking on his conversation with Dream. Meanwhile, you were very invested in the business you were starting up with the two boys, trying to persuade people like Nihachu and Ranboo to buy from you.

Dream joined the game.

You paused for a second, looking up at Alastair with a grin. You’d always wanted to meet Dream and she’d always said that he was a busy man and you just had to wait for a chance, could this be it? Could you finally be able to speak to the Dreamwastaken?

Even so, you carried on as you were. You tried not to show your excitement in fear of being seen as an overly obsessed fan, when you saw a familiar green skin hopping over to where you, Ranboo and your two new friends stood. Turning to face him, Tommy and a very confused Ranboo began shouting at you to make a deal with him for your business when somebody joined the call.

“Hello?” the new voice greeted, and it was undeniably Dream. 

“Hello!” you replied enthusiastically, as did the others. 

“Y/n?” Oh my god, he knew your name.

“Yeah?”

“What’s your Minecraft username?”

“Y/u/n, why?” Dream left the game and there was a pause. Nobody else in the call was speaking, what was happening? Had you just fucked things up? You looked up to Alastair for reassurance, and he nodded at you with a warm smile, but you still didn’t understand.

“Okay!” Dream spoke up again, dragging out the “o” and rejoining the server. “Eret should be sending you the IP address now, go and try logging in on your account, you should be whitelisted.

And you were. You’d finally been whitelisted on the Dream SMP.

All because of your brother.

That night, you sat on the sofa beside Alastair, tired from many hours you’d spent on the server, but happy. The happiest you’d been in a while. As much as you were afraid to admit it, ever since they joined you’d longed to have what they had with everyone, you longed to be part of the plot. You finally had that chance.

“So?” She asked you with a smile. “How was today?”

“Fucking incredible!” you replied, making them laugh. You leaned into Alastair’s side, looking up at him with a tired expression. “Thank you, Alastair, seriously. You’ve just made one of my dreams come true - pun intended.”

“I’m glad! I’m so happy to have you there now, I really think you have the potential to become a really crucial character.”

“Really?”

“Really. Now go and do that maths homework you left.”

“I hate you.”

[mountainmaven]

What a week (mostly in a good way)

This might get rambly (and long), I apologize in advance.

I've had a lot of wins this week and it's kind of surreal.

Tuesday was the MRI and I worked on NOT berating myself for worrying so much ahead of time when everything went fine. Instead I wrote in my journal: "You were terrified and you did it anyway. THAT is bravery."

Wednesday I had a really good therapy session. We got into some deep shit, which was necessary. And it still blows my mind that I often don't see the very obvious. We talked a bit about my past traumas starting in childhood all up to adulthood. She (my therapist) picked up right away on something...all of my traumatic incidents happened in places that were supposed to be safe places. So it's kind of no wonder that a) I don't really trust others or feel safe anywhere other than my home. Or that b) I don't always trust my own judgement and decision making. She also very astutely picked up on the issues I have with transition periods. I don't do well with them at all. She told me to find an old photo of myself and put it somewhere visible (I have it on my fridge and I also now have it on my lock screen on my phone) and to remember that all the shit that little girl went through made me who I am, and got me where I am today. And that if I'm not living my best life, then the only one who is going to be disappointed is her. So if I can't do it for myself, do it for her. Now I've heard this from others before but it FINALLY sank in. And having the picture helps.

Then I was talking to my oldest daughter this morning and she shared something she'd seen online recently... and it was something along the lines of: "the only two people you need to impress in this life are your 5-year old self, and your 85-year old self." And that is so liberating and empowering .

The other thing is that anxiety is a debilitating bitch - we know this. I haven't shared this next part with anyone outside of my husband and kids. Back in Dec. (Dec. 8th to be exact) I drove to my ultrasound and mammogram appointment. It had snowed recently and was icy too. We have a very steep hill in front of our house that stays in shade most of the time so it was very icy - I pulled out of the driveway in 4-Wheel drive and I was like "okay I can do this" because that went well. I put the car in drive (still in 4-Wheel drive) and started going very slowly forward - my tires hit that ice and I was all over the street going sideways etc. It scared the crap out of me. I got to a point in the street where there was no ice and stopped for a minute to collect myself. I knew I'd be okay as long as there were no more giant icy patches like that. So I got to my appointment and back again just fine. However, I hadn't driven any vehicle since. It scared me that badly.

Until yesterday that is. I drove our Toyota (because now my Jeep had sat for so long that the battery was dead lol). I drove it to our little library to pick up a book. I found out that our little library up here on the mountain (and when I say little, it's TINY lol) has a book club that meets once a month so I had called to get more information and what book they're reading this month. I went to pick up a copy yesterday. (It's The Night Tiger by Yangsze Shoo). I hope to attend the meeting at the end of the month. Driving went great, and it felt so good to drive again. I've always loved driving, I would actually do it to relax at times. And it's one of the few things I'm really good at (or was before #ANXIETY).

Today I got my Jeep running again using the battery operated jump kit. I'll check it again tomorrow. But I got it running and then just let it run for about 20 minutes so we'll see how it goes. But at least I know I can get it started, and then if I have to drive it down the mountain for maintenance I can do that.