#the options for everything else look nice so far at least..

[ajdrawshq]

watching the missing link stuff.. i want to play this game sso fuckign bad

[alpaca-clouds]

I really find it frustrating how very different in regards to effort the different companion quests in BG3 are.

Like, you have Astarion and Shadowheart who both have those really nice paced out companion quests with a rather good structure in the story, a dungeon for that quest each and this big bombastic finale with stuff that is only connected to their quest and nothing else. They both also - regardless of whether you romance them or not - have quite a few of cut scenes connected to the quest.

Then there are Gale and Lae'zel. Their companion quests are a lot more weaved into the actual main quest which you can see both positive and negative. Positive: They are a lot more related to the plot. Negative: You will do most of the stuff from their quests either way. You can argue that the creché is a dungeon connected to Lae'zel, and you can also make the argument that Laroakan's tower is kinda Gale's dungeon.

Then there is Wyll, who mostly just hangs around during Act 1 and 2 and then has a little tiny bit of quest in Act 3, though the game will very much make sure to push you into the quest even if you have not recruited Wyll or Wyll has left the party. So, yeah, depending how you read it, there are two dungeons that are kinda connected to Wyll (the Iron Throne and then the Ansur dungeon).

And then... there is Karlach. Karlach's quest can be summarized by: "Fight some fake paladins, get one piece of infernal iron, get a second piece of infernal iron, defeat Gortash." The Gortash fight is not even like the two Wyll dungeons, that are not really Wyll exclusive (I mean, technically none of the quests is), that are optional outside of the Wyll questline. No, you will have to confront Gortash in one way or another to finish the game, no matter whether you have Karlach recruited or not.

And it makes it just feel so very... unsatisfying. I think a lot of the problems that people (like me) have with act 3 of the game really are connected to the fact that the endings for the companions outside of Astarion and Shadowheart feel rather, well, as I said: unsatisfying.

I mean, yes, Gale and Lae'zel are connected with the plot, but also their resolution is kinda pushed somehow into this "post-final-boss" scene and hence feels not really as if it actually resolves somethng. Especially as it feels also so very disconnected from basically everything else in the game you do with them.

With Wyll I would even argue that technically the post-Ansur stuff could almost serve as a proper resolution... If the dialogue was not bugged as hell. At least it is for me. And of course it still does not compare at all with the stuff happening with Astarion and Shadowheart.

And then there is Karlach. I just... I am sorry, I hate how the game handels Karlach. Especially because she is such a cool character. But her companion quest gives you less to do than your average side-quest. It is a fucking fetch quest. That's it. And it has no proper resolution. Because in Act 3 there is not even an attempt made to solve her issue. I spoke about that before: I would be totally fine if there was a quest in Act 3 where the player tries to get the engine fixed in the city. BUT THERE ISN'T. It is like: "Well, Dammon does not know anything. Tough luck Karlach. You gotta either die or go back to hell." Meanwhile I am like: "THEN ASK SOMEONE ELSE?" Ask the Ironhand Gnomes, ask the Gondians, ask bloody Gortash, try to make a deal with Raphael. Like, there has to be something, right?

And look, while I would have loved some Halsin content in Act 3, I am fine with the fact that there is not really anything. That is alright. Because really, the entire Act 2 stuff and how Halsin is interwoven with it might very well be the game's highlight for me.

Just as I am fine that Jaheira and Minsc are more like cameos with not that big of a role in Act 3.

(Again, I cannot talk minthy, because I failed to recruit her so far because I do not like to play evil characters.)

But... Yeah. I will not go here and argue that the game is incomplete. It is not. But it still is very frustrating how the game handles the companion quests in this regard, because the companions are the beating heart of the game. And I think the ending of the game would have been more satisfying if the companion quests had been more comparable in quality.

[idkwhatimdoinghere1655]

💗Pancakes for Dinner - Lando Norris

'I wanna eat pancakes for dinner, I wanna get stuck in your head'

<word count - 2386>

As Lando kept checking the time on his phone, he couldn't help but feel worse and worse as the minutes ticked agonizingly by. He had promised to go straight to your place after he had touched back down in Monaco.

As he's thinking about you, your smile, your laugh, your eyes, he can't help but want to teleport to yours instead of having to endure the painfully slow plane journey. He felt like he was missing something, though. 

He racked his brains, trying to remember what he was forgetting, but nothing was coming to mind. It was some sort of special day. It certainly wasn't Christmas, or your birthday. It wasn't Halloween or anything, so it... shit. 

It was Valentines Day. 

It was Valentines Day and he hadn't booked anywhere for dinner like he had said he would. Well, he had never actually told you he was going to, but he had made a mental note to book a table somewhere in advance. And he hadn't. 

The guilt he felt was incomprehensible, and he didn't want you getting angry at him because he hadn't. He knew you weren't like that, and you'd probably tell him it was fine and you could just stay in and cuddle, but he wanted to do something nice for you.

He wanted to treat you like the princess you were to him, and he was scolding himself for forgetting to do one simple thing while he was away. He tried to see if he could get anything last minute, but everything was booked up. 

He wouldn't even be able to give you your gift since it was at his place, and he was going straight to yours so you could have a couple hours together before you both went to sleep. And, he'd probably be sleeping earlier since he had had a long day of traveling. 

He wanted to give you something, at least. Something more than an apology on the day of love. Conveniently enough, he was able to ask for some paper, and he had a pen in his bag. As he started to write, he had to think carefully about what he was going to say.

His mind instantly went into doomsday thinking as the thoughts flashed in his mind of the plane going down, and the last thing he imagined was you. He didn't want to take it too far, either, but he was awful at telling you how he felt.

He could barely tell you how beautiful he thought you always were without blushing and stuttering, so writing the extent of how he felt was a much better option. Telling you was too scary, so he always just said something else. 

He read it over and over until the words didn't make any coherent sense in his brain, and he folded it before he backed out and threw it away. Lando thought that this was the best way he could give you what you deserved. The truth.

He finally touched down, and took a taxi straight to your apartment. You had texted him, telling him to come straight in instead of knocking. He had a key, so he could just enter whenever he wanted to. 

"Babe? You home?" he called out, dropping his things down by the door and slipping his shoes off. Just being in your apartment alone was enough to take away the stress of travelling. 

"In the living room!" you responded, listening as his footsteps approached where you were. You had missed him a great deal while he had been off on his travels, but he was having fun, so you didn't mind so much. 

He entered the room, and was relieved to see you just sat on the couch, curled up in a blanket. You weren't ready for a fancy dinner, you weren't looking at him in expectation of some grand gesture. You were simply happy for him to be back.

"God, I have missed you," he smiled, taking a seat next to you and slinging an arm over your shoulders, tugging you snugly into his side. He pressed a tender kiss to the top of your head, just allowing himself to relax. 

"I've missed you too," you agreed, revelling in the feeling of being back in his arms. "So, I was thinking for dinner, we could-" you started, but Lando abruptly cut you off. 

"Well, about dinner... I feel really bad because it's Valentines Day, and I know I should have gotten us a table somewhere. I wanted to treat you, but it completely slipped my mind and I'm really sorry," he rambled, his grip on you tightening. 

"Hey, hey, Lando, no, I was just going to say that I'll look in the cupboard and see what I can make us," you told him, knowing he would have told you to dress up in advance or something if you were going for dinner.

As he had suspected, you weren't waiting for anything, but he still felt awfully guilty. "But I still wanted to take you out and I feel like a shitty boyfriend for forgetting," he continued. 

"Lando, my love, I was going to book us somewhere too, since I knew you would have told me weeks ago if you had reserved something. But I figured you'd be tired and you'd rather stay in and relax," you explained, and his heart melted. 

It was baffling to him how sweet and considerate you were, but that was one of the many things he adored about you in the very, very long list. "You're such a sweetheart, I swear," he smiled, softly kissing you before pulling away and looking into your eyes. 

"I try, I try," you chuckled, blushing slightly. The pink tint that coated your cheeks was one of the most adorable things he thought he had ever seen, and now he was glad that the two of you were just staying in instead of going out. "What do you want me to make?"

"Can we have pancakes for dinner?" he asked, an innocent smile on his face. He had had the same thought earlier, and there was no harm in asking. 

"Now that is a splendid idea, my love," you agreed, getting up off the couch and heading through to the kitchen. Lando followed on, not wanting to be away from your side for even a minute. He leant on the counter and watched as you prepare the pancake batter. "Do you want crepes or American?" 

"Whichever you prefer is fine," he said, wanting you to get the choice. 

"Crepes it is," you smiled, putting the pan on the stove. 

"Do you want me to set the table?" he asked, wanting to feel of use and wanting to help you out somewhat. 

"You can sit down if you want, you've had a long day," you told him. And just when he thought you couldn't get any sweeter, you just had to ass a cherry on top of the cake. He shook his head, his curls flopping about on his forehead. 

"No, no, I'll do it, don't worry," he smiled, kissing you on the cheek and going over to the dining table in the other room. Lando made sure you couldn't see what he was doing as he changed the table layout so you could sit opposite each other. 

He took the flowers that you had on the coffee table and put them in the middle of the dining room table, as well as a few candles to create the proper romantic-restaurant feel. He was very proud of himself as he looked at your transformed table. 

Once he was done, he went back into the kitchen to see how you were getting on with the pancakes. You were flipping one in the pan as you noticed him, standing in the doorway. "Hey, you," you smiled as he walked up to you. 

He wrapped his arms around your waist from behind as he rested a head on your shoulder. "Hey," he softly said, just enjoying having you in his arms after being away for a while. 

"Do you wanna go get dressed up? Make it like a proper date?" you asked, leaning back into him. 

"I like that idea," he said, kissing your neck and letting you go off to your bedroom to get changed. He had some stuff at your place in the wardrobe in the spare room, and it'd suffice for a nice date setting. 

He found a pink shirt, perfect for the Valentines Day feel with some slacks. Simple, yet classy. When he came back out, he noticed that you were still getting ready, which was to be expected. He patiently waited, and his head snapped to the door when he heard it click open.

"Baby, you look stunning," he smiled, watching as you walked out, all dressed up. You had done as much as you could in the short space of time, but it was more than enough for him. You had both had the same idea, opting for pink dress.

"You're looking handsome as ever," you smiled, liking the pink on him. 

"Thank you, my love," he replied, taking your hand and walking you through to the dining room, the candle flames dancing in the darkness, casting your shadows on the wall.

"Lando, you didn't have to," you chuckled, taking in the room around you. The atmosphere was absolutely perfect, and this was better than any fancy restaurant. 

"I did for my love," he flirted, pulling your chair out as you sat. You had opted for the pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, since it was a classic combination. The two of you talked as you ate, enjoying the moment together. 

It didn't really matter where you were, as long as you had each other, you'd be happy to spend the time together. You had finished a short while ago, and now he had something itching at the back of his mind. The note he had written you. "Wait there," he said, getting up from the table and going to the front door. 

He rummaged around in his bag and pulled out the folded piece of paper he had written on the plane, and set it down in front of you. "You can open it," he said, and you could already tell he was nervous about whatever it was he had written. 

For a moment, you thought you were getting broken up with, but you quickly realised that wasn't the case. Lando watched anxiously as you read through the note, your face softening as the tears pricked the backs of your eyes. 

'Dear Y/N,

I think this is one of those times where I'm thinking overly negatively, so bear with me. I think that I should probably tell you this, in case there is an accident, and I never see you again. But, on this plane tonight, I'm thinking, honestly, what do I have to lose?

I want to do everything with you. I want to have pancakes for dinner, I want to be the one stuck in your head. I want to watch TV shows with you, and if we're feeling under the weather, we can watch in bed instead of the couch. I want to go out on the weekends and take you to races. I want to get dressed up just to get undressed again. 

I'm not trying to be too forward, and I don't want to cross any lines with you, but I think writing this to you is easier than telling you verbally. I can tell you everything I'm feeling without chickening out and changing the topic. 

I love you. There, I said it. Well, wrote it. I love you. I didn't want to say too much, but there's no way to skirt around this. I love you. The more I write it on the page the more it feels right, because I'm finally accepting that I love you. I love you so much. 

If I'm still in the room while you're reading this, just know I can take it if you don't feel the same. All I want is for you to be happy, even if the feeling isn't mutual. Or if you want to take a step back and just be friends. Or if you just like me a little and not a lot. 

I can take whatever it is you feel, even if this ruins everything. I guess that just comes with being in love with the prettiest girl in the world, huh? Anyway, I've rambled on enough, and I'll leave you to think. I love you.'

"You don't have to say it back, but I do really love you," he said, waiting for you to say something. Waiting for you to say anything. Anything at all. "I get it, it might be too soon-" he rambled, trying to fill the silence. 

"I love you too," you said, cutting him off. For a moment, he just looked completely gobsmacked, and he wasn't too sure he had heard you right. "I love you too, Lando," you repeated, letting a stray tear of happiness roll down your reddened cheeks. 

"You do? You really do?" he asked, needing to hear it one more time as confirmation that he wasn't just hearing what he wanted to hear. 

"I love you, Lando. I love you so much," you reiterated the words of his letter. It took every ounce of control that he had not to leap to his feet and scream because the girl he adored loved him back. The prettiest girl in the world loved him back. 

"Baby, you have no idea how much that means to me," he beamed, standing up from his chair and rounding the table so he was on your side. He wasted no time in taking you in his arms and kissing you. But he wasn't just kissing his girlfriend anymore, he was kissing the woman he loved. 

"I love you," he smiled against your lips, becoming obsessed with the way those words sounded when he said them to you. 

"I love you too," you smirked, snaking yours arms around his neck as you kissed him deeply. It was a damn good job that the two of you weren't at a restaurant, because you certainly couldn't do that on their tables. 

A/N - And the second Valentines post of the day! I still think I'm shadowbanned, so if you could reblog this if you read this far, that'd be such a massive help! Also, based off Pancakes for Dinner by Lizzy Mcalpine. Love y'all 💗

|masterlist|

[thenewgirl76]

Why Can't We Be Friends?

Before John can spend his rare downtime bonding with his childhood friend Angela Foley's son for the next two weeks, he first has to find someone to babysit the... weird looking creature that's apparently his nephew in all but blood's best friend. Not an easy feat given how clingy to the point of being attached to the hip the ferret shaped thing is.

Tucker has to bribe his pet(?) with hanging with the Green Lanterns along with the rest of the Justice League up in the Watchtower(they'll definitely be discussing that later) just to convince him to not try and tagalong. And that's how Hal finds himself dealing with the major headache that is Phantom.

No, he's not exaggerating. That's exactly what the measly gremlin is with his constant demands for food, affection, or playtime from anyone who's present and insistence on getting into whatever he can, one never-ending headache. What makes it even more taxing is how everyone else, even Batman is so wrapped up in how "cute and lovable" the little bugger is they see nothing wrong with his annoying antics.

And as if it couldn't get any worse, the tiny menace seems to have taken a liking to him the most out of all the League and won't quit following him around. It's like dealing with an abnormally needy and scarily intelligent cat, and Hal absolutely abhors cats.

That said, he does find himself feeling just a smidge of regret when he allows his stress over a grueling patrol to get the best of him and yells at the little creep for drinking his coffee. If it'll get everyone off his back and stop Phantom from making those hurt puppy dog eyes at him he'll make it up to the diminutive devil later somehow. Right after he sneaks a nap in while he's stuck on monitor duty.

But of course Phantom won't even allow him that, as he's now pestering him rather persistently with that aggravating chirping and trilling. Since napping is no longer an option he'll just see what Phantom wants and hopefully get rid of him for at least a few minutes afterwards. So Hal slowly drags himself into consciousness, and is met with a large oddly colored hunk of swiss cheese?

Waking up a bit more he starts hearing the swiss cheese begging him for death. Okay, clearly something's wrong with this picture. Wiping the last of the sleep from his eyes Hal looks again, and is instantly screaming in horror upon realizing what he had mistook for swiss cheese in his sleepy haze is actually Sinestro, looking very much like he'd fought a school of piranhas and the piranhas won. With all the blood and all the chunks of missing flesh and skin Hal can see why his former mentor was pleading with him to end him.

And throughout all this that little monster Phantom is staring up at him, perched on the barely alive korugaran, covered in his blood and looking far too pleased with himself. If it weren't for Hal's training and fortitude he'd either be running scared or having a nervous breakdown. That doesn't stop him from being immensely relieved over no longer having to be on guard around Phantom once John finally comes to get the miniscule hellion off the Watchtower.

Though it would be nice if; Superman stopped trying to guilt trip him. *He swears on everything holy he's gonna find the biggest piece of kryptonite and shove it where the sun don't shine if he has to listen to how Phantom never would have did what he did if Hal hadn't been so harsh one more time.*

Wonder Woman ceased with her badgering about how he should have shown more appreciation towards Phantom and the gift he had bestowed upon him.*He'd love to see just how appreciative she'd be if it was Cheetah getting dumped in front of her all chewed... oh wait.*

Flash quit laughing at him. *Shut the hell up Allen. He did NOT scream like a little girl.*

And most of all, John and all the other GL dropped it about how they were so jealous he was the one Phantom gifted instead of them. *Seriously guys? With all that little miser put him through, that's what you're taking from it?*

Missing Scene

*When Sinestro was confronted by Little Baby Man*

*What Little Baby Man did to him before hauling him off to present to Hal*

[writingroom21]

Sweet Escape

Pairing: Rafe x single mom reader

Summary: Moving to Kildare with your best friend and daughter was the perfect move. The little island is perfect, the people are nice, and you are finally at peace. Then Rafe comes in with his perfect smile and charm, sweeping you off your feet. The only issue is if you are ready to let someone else in.

Warnings: None

Wc: 5.1K

series masterlist

Chapter 1: You again

The breeze blows your hair, obscuring your vision from the boxes in the back of the moving van. The weather was nice here in the outer banks, different to what it felt like in New york. Moving here right when Spring is in bloom was the best decision. Back home it’s still cold, barely even warming up. But here it’s so beautiful. The waves from the water behind the house hit the dock, the lapping sound making its way to the front.

“Grandma is having a blast with Vi right now. I know she’s glad to have a baby in the house again.” Jo your best friend says as she walks into the van to grab another box. It was her idea to move her. Her grandma was getting older and she wanted to come take care of her. When she figured it all out she just handed you tickets, telling you that you weren’t going to stay there longer.

Without consulting you she had talked with her grandma to let you and your daughter Violet to move in with them. She wanted to get you as far away from New York as she could. Jo is the type of best friend that feels responsibility for her friends. It was that way when you were children and it got worse when you had your own child.

The moment you found out you were pregnant she was there to cry along with you. She was there in the delivery room when your precious little girl was born. Every step of your life has been with her, never allowing you to go through it alone. You couldn’t be more grateful to have her in your life.

“That’s good. I’m sure Vi is going to love being around her. Two peas in a pod probably.” You try to not get into your head as you pick up a box of Vi’s things. When you told your parents you were pregnant they weren’t happy. To be fair you were eighteen, fresh out of highschool. They tried to be supportive but couldn’t look past it when their friends from church started to talk.

They had kicked you out right before you gave birth, leaving you to be stranded. The father was a nightmare to say the least and that wasn’t an option for you. He was a mistake that you wish you could take back. A reminder of being what your family wanted to only be their disappointment. He seemed perfect to them but deep down he was a monster, no one you want around your baby to begin with.

The only option you had was Jo. Her family wasn’t like yours, they took you in with open arms. Embracing Violet as one of their own. Even though you lost your family that night they forced you out, you found another that loved you more. For two years it was perfect, Vi was growing up nicely, hitting all her milestones. You had a good job and had saved up enough money to move out on your own. Which was perfect timing since Jo was going to move here.

Then a week after she informed you of her decision you got a call from a lawyer. “Hello?” You answered. “Hi, I'm looking for.”  He says your name for clarification. “Yes, that's me.” You were confused on what this could be about. Worried that it was your ex. “I’m sorry to inform you that your parents passed away the other night in a car accident. The wake will be this week and the Will reading is after.” The shock of their death didn’t settle in fully until the reading.  

They had left you everything, they had abandoned you yet they left you everything. The next few months of winter were filled with you selling their house and settling the bank information. Getting the move ready so you and Vi would be comfortable once in your new home. Leading to now, standing in front of the house that is yours.

Grandma June had a pretty house in a nice neighborhood. The backyard was big and the water was right behind. A complete contrast to what you had growing up. You grew up in a townhouse, Jo right next door. It may have been more room then a regular apartment but you still had little room. There was no backyard to play in, the only time you had outside was going to the park. 

Your life, even if it may not have been bad, wasn't perfect either. Your parents preached religion and the bible until it was shoved down your throat. Telling you what you can’t and can’t do by the eyes of God. Introducing you to their friends' sons to meet the proper boy, look at where that got you. This move was a chance to continue to better yourself and give Vi the chance of being herself. 

You set the box down in the room that is now Violets. June had moved herself to the guest house outback stating that she doesn’t need all of this space. She had given the deed to the two of you, gifting the home as a thank you for not sending her off to a home. That meant you all had your own rooms. Vi still tends to sleep with you so her room is more decoration. 

“Who would have thought we would be here?” Jo’s voice says from the doorway. You turn to look at her. “Me a twenty-one year old with a two year old or that we moved out of New York.” She pounders for a moment, finger tapping her chin. “Hmm I was going to say us moving here but the toddler thing works too.” She laughs walking into the room more.

“We should paint the walls this week. Grams said there’s a paint store we can get it at. Should be near the shop.” You smile at her as you both go to get more boxes. Before moving here you wanted a stable job where you would be able to be with Violet more often. In New York you were a receptionist so you would have to leave her with Jo’s parents. So it was important for you to have the freedom to be with her since you can’t rely on June.

When you were looking around for jobs online you had seen that a flower shop was going for sale. Growing up you had always loved flowers. Books of plants, flowers, and gardening stuffed your bookshelves. With the money that was left to you from your parents you decided to buy it. Was it a long shot? Maybe but it couldn’t hurt to try. This way you will be able to have Vi with you at the shop without paying for a sitter.

With the van unpacked it was close to dinner time. Too tired from the day you and Jo decide to order pizza. But you make Vi her own meal on the side to have. You’re stirring the noodles that are in the pot when tiny footsteps can be heard. “Momma.” A little voice yells. You drop the spoon, turning to squat down. “Vi. How’s my favorite flower doing?” She giggles as you blow kisses on her neck and squeeze her tight. “She’s been such a little angel. Are you sure you don’t want to just leave her with me during the day.” June asks as she walks into the kitchen.

“Oh no I couldn’t ask that of you. Anyway, I want to spend as much time with her as I can. She won’t stay this small forever.” You finish up Vi’s food just in time for the pizza to get there at the same time. You all sit down and eat. You cut up tiny pieces of your pizza to let Vi try to see how she will like it. The table laughs when she smacks her lips and signs for more. 

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. Your routine consisted of giving Vi a bath and putting her to bed. Then finishing up some things before tucking in for the night as well. Before you know it the alarm is going off and it is bright outside. It’s seven o’clock so you have roughly thirty minutes before Vi gets up. 

Quickly you head to the bathroom for a shower rushing to head downstairs and start breakfast. When breakfast was finished it was time for her to wake up and you go to her room. Which she actually slept in last night. She’s rubbing her eyes, burrowing her head back into her pillow. “Goodmorning baby girl.” You softly say as you rub her back to gently wake her up more. “Hi momma.” Her voice is like music to your ears, always making you smile.

Slowly but surely she gets up, both of you entering the kitchen to eat. “Morning.” Jo yawns over her coffee mug. “Morning.” Strapping Vi to her chair, you place her plate in front of her before grabbing yours. Jo sits down across from you as she sips from her mug. “Any plans for today?” You finish chewing the piece of toast and look up at the girl in front of you. “Going to the shop. Want to work some stuff out before it opens again.”

“Bug and I can chill her with grams while you do that. I have the day off.” A sigh of relief is released. “Thank you. I need to make sure the ship of flowers is accurate. I need to restart the garden in the back.” Jo let’s out a “damn” while shaking her her. “Good luck with that. That sounds like a lot of counting. Counting yucky, right Vi.” The end is talking to the toddler. Her giggle lighting up the room. 

After finishing Vi’s morning routine you change into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. The weather was nice but there was still a chill in the air. You walk down the stairs to see Violet on the floor of the living room playing with some toys. “Hi sweetie. Heading out?” June is sitting on the couch smiling at you. “Yup I’m going to the shop today. Do you need anything while I’m out?” She shakes her head and laughs when Vi hands her a toy. “I’m okay. Now go ahead before we keep you here.”

June has been in love with Violet since she was born. She had visited Jo’s family right after you got back from the hospital. From that moment on she was always asking about her and buying her things. She said it was the first baby since Jo so it’s like she has a great grandbaby. Everyone was so kind about you having a baby so young and you couldn’t be more grateful. Which is something you wish you could say about this flower delivery. 

The flowers were delivered yesterday right before you all started to unpack. You had rushed to let them in and place everything inside that you didn’t pay attention to when they did. The previous owners of the shop were older and couldn’t keep up with it anymore. The garden they had in the back that grew some of their flowers was dead and the others wilted a long time ago. So ordering flowers to fill the story was the only option you had.

Which seemed really great at the time but now it doesn’t. You had come in and set your bag down on the counter. Looking around you see the endless sea of flowers staring at you. You go to the back to the office and get the clipboard you had placed there yesterday. Painfully slow you separate the flowers by their species. Having to count every single one was starting to prove to be a difficult task.

One that got even worse when you found out you were short on some flowers. This wouldn’t have been a problem if it wasn’t for the fact that they were popular flowers. Roses, tulips, baby’s breath, carnations, all flowers that people love. You were opening up the store in two days and you need to make sure you have a good supply. June had said that a lot of the rich folk like to throw parties and will buy flowers. You need to be prepared just in case.

You were in the middle of counting the Anemone when the store's front door started to rattle. Stepping into view of the door there’s a tall man standing outside with his back to you. He’s on the phone and using his hands to talk wildly. The man turns around again to try the door and sees you standing there. He snaps his fingers at you and points to the door handle that’s locked.

You walk over and unlock it, opening it slightly to ask him what he needs. “Can I help you?” The guy is tall, handsome, his hair is growing out from a previous buzzcut. He has on a shirt that is too tight on him and a pair of khakis, not usually what you find attractive but he pulls it off. “Yeah. For starts you can let me in and second you’ll put my order in.” He holds up a pointer finger at you.

“I know. I’m here right now, if the new girl would let me in it could go faster.” He says into the phone. “Listen, I gotta go. I’ll let you know when they will be delivered.” You give him a complex look. “Sorry but we aren’t open right now. You have to come back in two days.” You try to close the door but his foot catches it. “Look, I really need an order for tomorrow. The florist we were using canceled and I need them. There’s a banquet and the stupid tables need flowers.”

 You look back at the store and at him again. It wouldn’t hurt to do this order but you haven’t finished inventory yet. He could be asking for flowers that you can’t even give him. “I’m sorry but I’m not even open yet.” He interrupts you. “Well just open the store up and ring me out. I get you are new here but come on.” His tone is rude, annoyed that this is taking longer than he wants. “No, I can't just open up the store. I’m new here because I just bought it and I don’t even know how many flowers I have yet. So no I can’t help you, I’m sorry.”

He scoffs at you. “Do you normally buy things you don’t know if you can handle or is this a spur of the moment thing? I need those flowers.” This guy really has some audacity. “Do you normally talk down on workers or are you just a asshole?” Your head tilts to the side, looking up at him. The sun is burning your retina is making it hard to see anything but the lower part of his face. Even through the pain you can see the smile that crept on his face.

“Good luck with opening this up. I can clearly see the customer service is subpar.” With that he’s walking off down the street, pulling out his phone to probably call someone else. “Hey asshole, the flower delivery was short with some. So that’s the main reason I can’t help you. Don’t just assume shit.” Without looking back he calls out to you. “Sounds like an issue you need to fix. Try calling them up next time.”

Fuck. Of course you could just have called them this whole time. Quickly, you get back inside to finish the inventory to see what else is missing. After another hour you are done, exhausted from all the back and forth. Sitting down in the back office you call the distributor that you had used, explaining to them which flowers were short and how many you would need. Thankfully the lady on the other end didn’t give you any trouble, telling you she would have them delivered tomorrow. 

By the time everything was done it was around 5:30, which meant you should head home for dinner. The drive back to the house was peaceful. In New York you really didn’t need a car, you had spent most of your time in the city so you took the subway. Every now and then you would have to drive to family in the suburbs, this reminds you of that drive. Seeing the trees and greenery is like a breath of fresh air. 

It was a reminder that your old life was left back States away, no monsters here to haunt you. It’s refreshing knowing you got a new start and that Vi will get to grow up in a good place. When you get home it’s ten minutes until dinner should be served, at least for Vi. She’s on a strict schedule and will get fussy if she doesn’t eat or sleep at the same time.

You were greeted with shouts coming from the living room, footsteps playing the floorboards like a piano. “Momma!” Vi screams when she sees you in the hallway. “Hi pretty girl. How is my favorite doing? Had a good day?” She nods, tiny hands wiping her hair off her face. “Ya. Jo play.” She points to your friend who’s standing behind her. “She’s been making me run around for hours. How do you do this all the time?” 

You pick Vi up, walking towards the kitchen as you give her a bunch of kisses. “Lot’s of coffee and I have amazing people who help me.” Jo throws an arm around your shoulder walking with you. The table was already set, plates filled with food. “Yeah we are pretty amazing. So amazing that grams are giving us the night off.” You place Vi in her seat and look at Jo. “What do you mean?” 

She puts Vi’s food down in front of her before sitting to eat her own meal. “She means that you two are young and need to have fun. So I’ll stay here while this angel sleeps. Have fun for once.” June says as she makes her way back from what you assume is the bathroom. “Before you even try to say anything I told her she didn’t have to. She won’t take no for an answer so tough luck.” You don’t even argue, Jo’s parents always say she got her stubbornness from June so that is not a hill you want to die on.

Over dinner you tell them about your day. Explaining how you found out there were flowers missing and that you had to call for new ones. Finishing off your story telling with the asshole who thought he was special so that made him entitled to your flowers. “Sounds like a dick.” Jo said without thinking about the two year old sitting next to her. “Sorry.” June thought it was hilarious. Saying “it’s about time someone told those snobs the world doesn’t revolve around them.”

After dinner you spent time with Violet. Playing some more with her toys, then a bath to get the dirt off of her, and then reading bedtime stories to her. After each one she would let out a “nader'' informing you she wanted another story. The third one is always when she falls asleep, as soon as the first words are out so is she. Slowly and quietly you slip out of her bed and room.

“Ready?” Jo’s voice scared you, jumping from the fear shooting through your body. “For fucks sake Jo. Let me just change into a different shirt, I have Vi drool.” The other girls face twists in disgust as you pull that part of your shirt to show her. Not the worst thing you’ve had on you since becoming a mother but she still finds it gross. After changing the two of you head over to a bar.

The place actually looks really nice. There are lights strung up on the outside seating and the inside has amazing decorations. “What do you want? I’ll go get us the first round while you find us a table.” The first round? Damn Jo meant it when she said we will be living up the night. You haven’t really been out since your 21st, having a daughter doesn’t give you a lot of time to go out.

Plus you never really drank in highschool so this is a whole new ballpark for you. “Um I don’t know. Just get me something you will think I’ll like.” With that she was off to the bar as you found a table to sit at. The drink she came back with was in a tall glass and is yellow. You take it from her hands inspecting it. “What is it?” She rolls her eyes at you and takes a sip from her drink. “It’s a passion fruit mojito.”

You like passion fruit so this should be good. Oh yeah, that drink is delicious. You take a good few sips of it. “That’s fucking delicious.” Jo laughs at you. “Told you.” The two of you sit there for a while. Taking your time to finish your drinks. When they were done it was your turn to go up and get drinks. Since Jo is driving back she just wanted water but she insisted that you had to keep drinking.

The bar is a little more packed now, so you’re stuck waiting for the bartender to come around. Tapping your fingers lightly on the counter surface you space out, not realizing that the seat next to you was moving. “He won’t notice you for another five minutes. Blaire just sat down so he’ll be chatting her up for a bit.” The voice next to you sounds familiar, turning your head you can see why. “You again.” The guy from earlier smirks at you. “Now why does that sound like a bad thing?”

You look down at the other end of the bar to see the bartender flirting with a girl. Crap. “Maybe because you were rude and entitled. But hey what do I know?” Your brain is telling you to leave, just tell Jo you’ll go back up in a little. Then there’s a little voice in your head telling you to stay. For some reason there’s a part of you that is curious about the stranger.

“Pfft me entitled or rude? You’re the one who said that you wouldn’t let me order flowers.” Your eyes narrow at him, his arms shoot up in defense. “I know your shipment was fucked up.” He gives you a curious look. “I’ve never seen you before.”

“That’s because I just moved here. Don’t really know anyone besides my friend and her grandma.” You point back to Jo, his eyes following to see your friend with a wide eyed expression. “I don’t think I know her. Think I’ve seen her before but years ago.” He looks back at you, examining your facial features. You’re really pretty, he was too wrapped up in frustration earlier to notice. He’s sure noticing it now though. 

His chair seems to get closer to you, scraping against the sticky floors. “Where did you move from?” You had expected him to stop talking to you yet here he is asking you questions. “New York. I lived there my whole life.” He leans his arms on the counter, looking at you from the side. “Nice, I’ve been there a few times. Do have to say the pizza wasn’t actually good.” You gasp at his outrageous statement. “What? You’ve got to be joking, it's the best. You just didn’t go to the right places, probably some fancy restaurant that sells those tiny portions.”

He’s cracking a smile from your mini rant. You’re right, it was one of those restaurants. The ones where it cost $400 to just get a table and everything is super expensive even though it's a meal for ants. He’s never seen anything wrong with those places, grew up his whole life eating at them. In this moment he wishes that wasn’t the case, that he knew how to be a normal person and not someone with money. He would have never been caught at a dingy restaurant eating food yet here he is longing to experience that. An experience he didn’t know he was missing until your reaction.

“Oh my god it was one of those places. You can’t say you’ve been to New York if you haven’t really tried their food.” He turns on the stool so his legs are facing you. “Wouldn’t that technically be their food as well? They have high class restaurants there.” He likes the way your eyes roll at him, wanting them to do it in a different way. “That’s like going to Italy and eating at fast food places we have in America. Yeah it’s their version but it’s not actually Italian food.” “I would never. Italy is too perfect to not eat their food.”

You look at him, a smile plastered on your face. “Please don’t tell me you’ve been to Italy and I’m making a fool of myself.” He can’t help but to chuckle at how cute you are when you are nervous. “Alright I won’t say anything.” He shrugs. You let out a groan, of course he has. He looks like he has money so what else did you expect. “What can I get you?” 

The bartender cuts the moment the two of you were having. “Can I get a whiskey and whatever she’s having.” You look back at Jo and she sends you a thumbs up. “I’ll just have a passion fruit mojito.” The bartender leaves you two as he goes to make the drinks. “Wouldn’t have taken you as a mojito girl?” You look at him, blush forming on your cheeks. “Yeah? What kind of girl would you take me as?” He doesn’t know if you are flirting but he sure the hell hopes so. “Maybe a margarita. I feel like you’re a tequila girl.”

You giggle at the implication. “The last time I had tequila it got me in trouble.” It did, that’s how you ended up with a baby and being kicked out. “I like trouble.” Fuck. You had told yourself when moving here to just stick to yourself and everything will be fine. THen this guy walks in and you want to throw it all out the window. It’s not fair, he’s too hot to even say no to.

“You know I got to say I never met a florist as pretty as you” He tells you, leaning in closer but keeping a good distance. “Are you flirting with me so I can change my mind about those flowers?” He laughs, turning so he is now facing you, resting his weight on the counter top. “No, just flirting. Would it help me get them though?” Now it’s your turn to laugh. “You are not getting flowers. I would still have to prepare them and I wouldn’t get it done on time.Plus who knows if the reshipment will get here on time” You take a sip of your drink. 

“What if you had help?” Your eyes look into his. They're pretty. A shade of blue that in this light somewhat seems gray. They remind you of Vi, she had pretty blue eyes too, that she got from your mom. “You would hire help for me?” He scoots closer, his hand playing with the ends of your hair. “I could help you.” His fingers brush against your arms. The words seem to have an undertone of something. Simply suggesting something else. “How?”

The smirk that forms on his face makes you want to kiss him. His hand clears your face from stray strands of hair, eyes locking to yours. “However you want me.” This isn’t really feeling like you’re talking about flowers anymore. You aren’t sure if you should shut it down or keep going. The drinks were placed in front of you, he doesn’t take his eyes off of you as he hands the bartender his card. To relax yourself you take a sip of your drink, which only makes it worse. Now your relaxed mind can only think about dragging him off somewhere to see how much he could really help.

You’re interrupted before you can make a mistake. “Yo country club we gotta go.” A man walks up to the two of you. He nods at the guy. “Give me a sec.” The man looks at the both of you and shakes his head. “Aight five minutes.”

“Have somewhere to be?” He downs the rest of his whiskey. “Wish I didn’t.” Your blush intensifies. Shifting in your chiat you rest a hand on his lap. “Too bad. I was just starting to like you.” He stands up, catching your hand as it falls. “Guess I’ll have to refresh your memory tomorrow.” Your hand tightens around his. “Wait tomorrow?” 

“Gotta help you with those flowers right?” He actually meant it. “Fine.” He smiles and drops your hand, backing away from you. “I’m Rafe by the way.” You tell him your name, grab your drink and get up as well. “See you tomorrow beautiful.”

You smile all the way to the table, meeting Jo whose mouth was wide open. “Dude you were just flirting with Rafe Cameron.” You shrug your shoulders at you and sipping your drink “So what?” Her face flashes with different emotions. “So what? Dude he’s literally the richest person on this island. After his dad passed away he inherited the family business, he’s dumb rich.”

Jo won’t shut up about how hot the richest guy in Kildare was flirting with you. She gave you some of the run down on him from her “sources” on the island. Those sources being friends she made when she would visit. He apparently has a mean streak, causing fights with people. How he would sleep around with every girl and on top of that did drugs. It shouldn’t have shocked you but it was surprising to hear.

You thought over everything as you laid in bed. Rafe seemed funny and sweet when he talked to you in the bar. Those two versions of him do not seem to align together. Yet again you had only met him today and you don’t have the greatest track record with guys. It doesn’t matter anyway. You weren’t looking for anything anyway, all you needed to focus on was yourself and your daughter.

Taglist: @haruvalentine4321 @namelesslosers Let me know if you want to be added

[morganski-19]

The One With the Second Date

“Ok, I’m not sure what I was expecting to happen in the end,” Ryan explains as they leave the theater, “but it wasn’t that.”

Nancy laughs. “It was a stereotypical romcom, they were always going to end up together in the end.”

Ryan and Nancy walk down the sidewalk. Ryan’s hands shoved into his jacket pockets while Nancy’s are at her sides.

“I just think that she was much better with the other guy. They had way more chemistry.”

Nancy nods with another laugh.

They come to a stop outside of a parking garage. Ryan turns toward her. “My car’s in there,” he points awkwardly to the garage.

“My bus stop is right over there,” Nancy points across the street.

Ryan lets out a nervous huff. “You know, we didn’t really get to talk much tonight. With seeing a movie and everything. My parking’s for the whole night. And there’s this nice ice cream place around the corner that we could go to. If you wanted to.”

Nancy smiles. “Sure.”

“Sure?” Ryan looks generally surprised. “Sure, yeah ok. It’s this way.”

He leads them across the street and down one block. Turning at the corner and halfway down, there is a small ice cream shop. They walk in, a family and one other couple at the tables. But otherwise, it’s empty. Nancy looks at the options, debating which to choose. While Ryan immediately knows what he wants and asks the employee. One scoop of vanilla and one cookies and cream. Making sure to note that they needed to be rung up together but were in no rush.

When Nancy chooses the honey vanilla flavor, Ryan beats her to register to pay.

“You know I can pay for us at least once,” Nancy jokes. She instead pulls out a few dollars and slides them into the tip jar.

Ryan laughs. Taking back his change and dumping it into the jar as well. “It was my idea, so it’s my money.”

Nancy walks over to the table in the corner. “So, I need to plan the next date and then I get to pay?”

“Yeah,” Ryan stutters. There’s been a nervous energy with him all night. “That would work.”

“I promise I don’t mean anything by this question, I’m just generally interested. Why are you so nervous? We’ve already been on one date.”

Ryan sets down his ice cream, rubbing his palms on his pants. “I’ve been on what seems like hundreds of first dates. It’s down to a routine at this point. But as far as second dates go, there’s only been a few. And most of those times, it never went anywhere else, and I was back on the app the next morning.”

Nancy nods, showing that she’s listening.

“I get that’s just how dating can be, sometimes. Especially through dating apps. But I just want something that lasts more than a week or two, you know?”

“I do.” Nancy stares down at her ice cream. “I kind of gave up dating for a while for the same reason. It was just horrible date after horrible date. So I gave up.”

“What made you try again?”

Nancy sighs. Debating how much she should tell. “My best friend, who also lives across the hall from me, got a new girlfriend.”

“Oh,” he says. With a mix of shock and concern.

“There’s nothing there, I promise. Back when we were in college, there was a phase where we both liked each other but didn’t know. Part of me kind of always harbored those feelings for her, but it was time to finally let them go. Whatever we could have had was over, it was time to recognize that.”

“And you though going on a dating app would help with that?”

Nancy lets her hands fall into her hands. “That makes me sound like an asshole. I swear that I didn’t agree to go on a date with you just to get over my stupid feelings. They played no part in deciding to go on a date with you.”

Ryan reaches across the table and gently pushes Nancy’s hands out of the way. “I believe you, for what it’s worth. We’ve all been there at some point.”

“That makes me feel a little better.”

“I appreciate you being honest with me. I,” he pauses. Taking a deep breath. “I really like you, Nancy. You’re probably the best person I’ve met on one of these apps.”

Nancy smiles. “Same here.”

They fall into a comfortable silence. Finishing their ice cream and heading outside again. When Ryan goes to shove his hands into his pockets again, Nancy stops him. Taking his hand into hers. They walk back to the street where they would need to part ways. Nancy waiting for the bus and Ryan crossing the street to his car.

“Would it be ok if I drove you home?” he asks. “It’s dark and way better than a bus.”

“Yeah, that would be ok.”

She follows him to his car and directs them to her apartment building. He finds a spot down the street and parks. Planning on walking her to her door. With full explanation that she can tell him no.

Instead, she rolls her eyes and gets out of the car. Waiting for him to get out. He does, stumbling over his step a bit.

“So, for our next date,” Nancy talks as they walk up the stairs. “I was thinking that we could to this Mexican place I love.”

“Yeah, that sounds great.”

“And it’s my idea so my money, right?” She stops in front of her door. Facing him.

He laughs. “That was the deal.”

Inside of Steve and Robin’s apartment, Robin is staring through the peephole. Having heard Nancy come back and got curious. That’s all, curious.

“What the hell are you doing?” Steve asks. Looking unenthused.

Robin shushes him. “Nancy is back from her date. She’s talking with the guy outside the door.”

“Let me see.” Steve pushes Robin out of the way, looking through the peephole. “Oh, he’s cuter in person.”

Robin slaps his arm. “Don’t encourage this.”

“How am I encouraging this? I’m behind a door, she can’t hear me. Also, it’s too late for that. I was there for the pre-date crisis.”

“And she still went out on the date?”

Steve shrugs. “Yeah well, she seemed to really like the guy. Argyle even did his weird stalking thing he does and found nothing bad. He checked out.”

Robin pushes Steve out of the way again, looking through the peephole once more. “Oh no, she’s doing that face. You know that face.”

“I am well aware of the face.” Steve leans up against the wall next to the door. “Why is this bothering you so much? She’s allowed to date if she wants to.”

“I don’t know,” Robin groans. Letting her forehead thunk against the door. “She just deserves so much, and she’s been on so many dates and none of them have been good. I’m just . . .  looking out for her. That’s all.”

Steve hums, disbelieving. Pulling out his phone.

Steve: I think Robin is jealous of Nancy’s new guy

Eddie: Oh wow, what a shocker

Eddie: Do you not remember the two-hour long pity session she conveniently had after Nancy had the first date

Steve: They’re out in the hall right now, Robin can’t stop looking at them through the peephole

Eddie: Can’t she just pretend to take out the trash like a normal person

Steve: Are you going to go do that now?

Eddie: Yes

Eddie: I need to see this guy in person

Back in the hall, while all of that was ensuing, Nancy and Ryan were saying goodbye. Not exactly making any moves toward it. Until Eddie opens the door, with a half full bag of trash in hand, interrupts it.

“Oh, hey, Nance. I didn’t hear you get back,” he says, nonchalant. Looking over at Ryan with fake shock. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Nancy sighs, catching onto Eddie’s play. “Ryan, this is my roommate Eddie.”

Ryan holds out his hand. “Nice to meet you, man. Nancy’s told me about you.”

“Same here.” Eddie shakes his hands. “I’m just gonna, thank you.” He steps in between them to head down the hall to the trash shoot. Leaving them alone again.

“I should get going,” Ryan says, pushing his hands into his pockets again. “It was really nice to see you again.”

Nancy smiles. “Yeah, it was. I’ll text you later when I’m free.”

“I’ll be looking for it.”

There is a break of silence. Expectation in the air. Ryan shrugs in the direction of the stairs. “I’ll see you later.”

“Oh my god.” Nancy stops his from walking away. Grabbing his face and pulling him down. Pressing a kiss to his lips. He’s shocked for a second, before pressing into it. “Have a good night,” she says after pulling back.

Ryan steps backward, a blush covering his face. “Yeah, uh, yeah. You too. I’ll text you later. Yeah. Bye.”

He turns to walk down the hall while Nancy snorts to herself. Eddie comes back around the corner with a teasing smile.

“Don’t even start, Munson.” Nancy walks into the apartment.

“Oh, I wasn’t going to say anything.” He closes the door behind them. “I was just merely observing.”

Nancy glares at him while taking off her earring. “Observing?”

“He seems nice,” Eddie teasing tone.

“He is nice.”

“Is he a good kisser?”

“There it is.” Nancy walks to her bedroom. “Night.”

Eddie leans on the back of the couch. “No, I wanted to do the after-date gossip.”

“Maybe tomorrow.” She closes the bedroom door.

Eddie sighs, pulling out his phone to see many new texts from Steve.

Steve: Holy shit, she kissed him

Steve: Robin is not taking that well

Steve: She’s trying to play off her jealousy as protectiveness

Steve: Maybe we should warn Nancy about the tirade she’s going to get tomorrow about the dangers of kissing random men

Eddie: I don’t know, the guy was pretty respectful about it

Eddie: He was smiling like an idiot when I passed him in the hall

Eddie: And Nancy seems happy about it

Steve: This is going to be both entertaining and a pain in the ass

Eddie: Agreed

Eddie: I take it Robin isn’t going out tonight then

Steve: Sadly not

Steve: There goes our plans

Eddie: Damn, I kind of really want to kiss you right now

Steve: You know

Steve: No one is ever in the laundry room this late

Eddie: I could do some laundry

Steve: Meet you there in twenty

Tag list (let me know if you want to be added or taken off) @slowandsteddie, @annieofhearts, @cacdyke, @ubpd, @captain--low,

@thespaceantwhowrites, @goodolefashionedloverboi, @anne-bennett-cosplayer, @lunaticparisianlady,

@apomaro-mellow, @dolphincliffs, @dragonmama76, @maggiebug417, @stevesbipanic,

@fearieshadow, @eightpackdiaz, @au79burger @bookworm0690 , @practicallybegging,

@potato-of-the-lord, @autumncrocusandladybug, @estrellami-1, @ilovecupcakesandtea, @gregre369

@my2amgaythoughts, @ellietheasexylibrarian, @emmabubbles, @eriquin, @grtwdsmwhr

@croatoan-like-its-hot, @dreamercec, @dreamy-jeans137, @morallyundefined

[zeroseuniverse]

User

WC: 1.2 K Pairing: Kim Seungmin X reader Warnings: Angst, breakup

It was expected, how could it not be? Dating an Idol would never have been easy, but she at least thought it would be the fans she was battling and not the other members. So when she had heard Changbin explain to Seungmin that all of them thought she was using him, she didn’t exactly know how to approach the situation, she could come out from behind the wall and act like everything is okay, she can walk out of the dorm and away from the boys where she’s not wanted, she can go out and confront the issues head on, or she can excuse herself politely and ask Seungmin to speak to her in private. The latter seemed like the best option for Seeungmin, he preferred when she was upfront about her feelings, but she felt like maybe she could change their minds. So she waited, she didn’t distance herself, it would defeat the whole purpose, but she didn’t go out of her way to make time for them as well. 

The tension lasted months, and it was visibly taking a toll on Seungmin who felt like he had to divide his time between his lover and his group mates. He refused to mention her to his groupmates not willing to start that argument up again, and honestly he would’ve happily kept them physically separated if they didn’t purposefully crash their dates without his permission.

“All I’m saying is, you definitely make more money than her. You’re always paying for the dates. How can you be sure she’s not just using you?” Hyunjin asked, not knowing that the girl in question was just outside the door having come to bring Seungmin his lunch.

“I pay because I want to. And don’t talk as if you know her.” Seungmin frowned, looking down at his phone as he types out a text to his girlfriend asking how far out she was.

“You’re an Idol! She could totally just be using you. She doesn’t belong in this world.” Changbin said, he and Hyunjin seemed the most adverse to Seungmin’s relationship, Felix had tried making her feel welcome but she just gave him a smile and stayed quiet usually, Han naturally didn’t like having her around but it was just because his anxiety spiked everytime the thought of Seungmin getting hurt crossed his mind, Lee Know didn’t care about her, whether she was there or not he just ignored her existence, Chan had nothing against her but avoided her to avoid any issues, Jeongin didn’t hate her per say but he did find her odd, nobody was just naturally that nice in his opinion.

“You don’t know her! You never took the chance to know her so stop making assumptions based on your own fears!” He shouted and would have continued if the door hadn’t opened revealing a teary eyed woman holding a bag of food, she approached her boyfriend without sparing a glance at anyone else. The way she was acting was enough to tell Seungmin exactly how she was going to handle this situation so he quickly gripped her wrist to try and keep her there but she simply pressed a long kiss to his lips before nudging his sad figure away from her.

“Please don’t do this.”

“It’s okay, If it’s meant to be we will be.” was all she said before parting ways and walking past the seven stunned members, all of them confused as to why a gold digger wasn’t trying to force their way into their lives further.

–

She hummed the tune of Case 143 softly as she packed the canned goods into the boxes to be shipped. She was making a lot of progress, especially since her brothers were finding any excuse possible to be near her after the breakup.

The door opening snapped her attention from her work as well as her brothers from the kitchen area, he peered through the window curiously. The entrance of two men made her head tilt in confusion.

“What are you two doing here?”

“The past month Seungmin hasn’t been himself,” Felix murmured, earning a nod from the woman. She knew. Of course she knew she had kept in contact with him and listened to all of his weeping over the situation, “So we did research.” 

“We came across this place and read everything we could about you. Jeongin’s reasoning was he didn’t think anyone could ever be that nice but he was proven wrong, we all were. You were with Seungmin because you truly loved him.” Lee Know sighed, running a hand through his hair as he looked around, taking in the different projects in production, so many donation boxes sitting against the wall, clothes, food, blankets so many things scattered about in a mess of organized chaos as the woman worked to make it all ready for shipping.

“Yea well, everyone makes mistakes.” Was all she said, lifting the box and moving around two to make her way towards her other brother who was waiting nearby to carry the next box out to the truck. 

“Is there a way you can forgive us, I really don’t think Seungmin should be punished for our mistakes.” Lee Know tried to reason, earning an eye roll from the family members in the room.

“He’s not being punished.”

“You broke up with him, I’d call that being punished.” Felix commented.

“Yeah well you all tend to make plenty of assumptions, don’t you?”

“This isn’t an assumption, it’s a fact.”

“Is it?” A new voice chirped, making everyone turn to face her oldest brother who had jut entered with Seungmin by his side, the younger boy glaring at his friends who keep butting into his personal life.

“Seungmin?” Felix asked in astonishment, not thinking the two were still in contact, “Look we’re just trying to talk her into talking to you again.”

“She has been talking to me, every night, she calls me every time I have a nightmare, everytime I’m stressed, everytime the tension gets too much and she listens. Despite all the jabs and taunts all of you threw she stayed. We broke up because you guys were too close minded to think anyone could ever love an idol without other intentions. You guys didn’t even give her a chance, well Felix did but everyone else? You guys hated her right off of the back.”

“We were just trying to protect you.” Changbin’s voice spoke up making the woman tense turning to the door to see the other 5 gathered in the door.

“I didn’t need protection, have you seen her? She’s quite literally an angel.”

“We see that now but we were cautious at first, it’s normal.”

“Oh stop trying to rationalize your prejudice, just because she’s not an idol doesn’t mean she’s any less than you. She’s been through more pain than you’ve experienced, that’s why she built this place. To help people who go through what she has gone through. Better yourself. Because that is the only way she’s ever going to get back with Seungmin. She won’t put him in the position where he needs to choose again. So fix it. Because those two were the definition of puppy love and quite frankly I could punch you for taking that away from her.” The eldest brother spoked, patting Seungmin on the back before moving to work with his other brother in the kitchen.

“You guys know where the door is.” She said simply, motioning for the uninvited 7 to leave before turning to her ex with a small smile, “Come on, the puppies are back here.” 

And as the 7 watched the two leave the room, looking lighter as they stood together, their hearts shattered taking in the strain they had placed on their bonds.

[coryothesub]

Sinful Desires

So I’ve been dabbling in some more kinky / taboo themes lately which prompted me to write this as a special treat no one asked for. Basically I have no excuse for this and sorry if I got any tbosas lore wrong because I haven't read the book

nsfw / mdni / sub!coryo / stepmom!reader / stepcest / breeding kink / mentions of underage sex work

You married Crassus Snow as soon as you turned eighteen. Looking back you could say that you were truly in love with the tall, handsome general. However for him you were just a warm body to sleep next to and tight pussy to drown his sorrow after the unfortunate passing of his beloved wife. His decision to remarry had definitely come too soon and you were definitely too young to even understand the implications.

After you received the news of your husband's tragic death, you decided to stay with the Snows, because you simply had nowhere else to go. Just like many others, your family had been torn apart by war and even the house you’d grown up in was now bombed to shreds. Your only options were to be poor or to be poor and homeless so you opted for the first one. 

You were always on good terms with Tigris. Daily struggle to sustain the family had brought you two pretty close especially because you both were forced to do the same unspeakable things just to maintain the food on the table and the roof above your heads.

First you categorically refused to bring her into that, but realizing it was getting harder and harder to make ends meet with your own endeavors and after thousands of silent and desperate “I’ll be fine, if you can do it then I can do it too” you finally gave in and introduced her to some men for whom your ripe age of twenty five was already too old to satisfy their needs.

You both didn't have much choice anyways since Grandma’am simply refused to move into a smaller apartment, let alone leave the Capitol. Apart from that and her other weird quirks she seemed to be a pretty nice lady. At least as far as you knew the right patriotic buttons to push in order to stay on her good side. 

Crassus’ son Coriolanus or Coryo, as Tigris used to call him, didn't seem to like you one bit. He considered you an intruder, an unfair replacement to his mother that did nothing but reminded him of his family's tragedy. 

Over the years Coryo seemed to have learned to tolerate you, mostly because he felt somewhat grateful for all your efforts, but still he remained cold and distant. You didn't particularly mind that, because you had no idea how to raise a young man. You felt pretty happy that he didn't ask you any awkward questions and managed to figure out everything himself. 

Sometimes during his teenage years you noticed Coryo secretly watching you while you were changing or getting ready for a bath. On some occasions he even touched himself while doing it trying to suppress his little moans by biting into his fist. You always knew he was there, but you never confronted him. You knew full well it would make your coexistence very awkward for both of you and frankly you found it pretty amusing.

After all, he was just a silly little boy for you until the time his nineteenth birthday came around. It started even earlier if you thought about it. After Coryo returned from his service in District 12 and got his hands on the Plinths' fortune he turned into a completely different man.

Coryo always had the taste for finer things in life and when he finally got the means to fund it, you only saw him wearing tailored dress suits and perfectly polished shoes. Even his whole posture had changed and when he passed you in the dining room followed by an intoxicating wave of expensive cologne, instead of the anxious malnourished boy you had known for most of your life you saw a fit and handsome young man that reminded you of your late husband so much.

Your run down penthouse was completely refurbished to suit your stepson’s taste and he showered all three of you with lavish presents, encouraging you to throw out your old things.

Finally he could have the life he had always envisioned. And every last memory of your humble existence after the war had to be exterminated and written off into oblivion.

Coryo had become confident, strong and ambitious. Some might say even ruthless. It was hard for Tigris to accept those changes and she grew more distant with her younger cousin. They barely spoke, she was mostly just looking at him with sadness and disappointment in her eyes.

Coryo didn't seem to care about that much. He didn't care about other people's feelings in general. But there was one interesting detail. The colder he became to others, the more delicate and gentle he was with you.

He always wanted to be in your vicinity, lighting your cigarette, opening the door for you or helping you to put on your coat. He always had to do a little something just to remind you he was there. He even pretended to care about your opinion, giving you the most dashing smile every time you seemed to agree with what he had actually already decided.

And the weirdest thing about that all was that he had started to refer to you as “mommy”. He had never called you that before and there was no particular reason for starting it now, especially because it seemed to make Tigris extremely uncomfortable.

And it sounded pretty eerie for your ears too, especially because Coryo always accompanied the word by giving you this one specific look that radiated childish naivety mixed with a hint of pure lust.

It always made your heart skip a beat, especially because in some weird twisted way you wanted it too. The sheer hunger in his icy blue eyes made your pussy tingle and after those interactions you always had to go to your room and touch yourself, your pleasure overshadowed by shame.

After all, you weren’t dead yet, you were just a woman in your early thirties and you hadn't been touched by a man since you had stopped selling your body. But for god's sake he was your stepson! You really needed to find some dick, before things spiraled out of control.

One day you returned to your room after running some errands and found a gift box on your bed. It was adorned with a crimson satin ribbon and a single white rose. You found an envelope laying next to it.

You opened it with trembling fingers, the strong rosy scent of Coryo's cologne filling the air. Inside the envelope there was a card with a few words in your stepson's neat handwriting.

From Coryo to Mommy with love…

You sighed and opened the box, finding a snow white, neatly folded piece of clothing inside. You couldn't really call it a nightgown, it was more like a negligee. You lifted the delicate item against the window, seeing the sunlight pass right through it. Of course it was nearly transparent apart from the exquisite hand made lace embroidery.

Coryo's taste was flawless as ever, you had to admit that, but this had to stop! You were gonna tell him tomorrow. But it wouldn't hurt anyone if you tried it on tonight, right? Just for one night, no one would find out, and you would demand him to return it tomorrow morning.

That night you put Coryo's present on and marveled at yourself in the mirror. It looked like a lacy cloud hugging your naked body so nicely the outline of your feminine curves visible through the sheer fabric. You turned around then moved your hips in a suggestive way flirting with your own reflection in the mirror. You couldn't remember the last time you had felt so desirable.

After pairing the negligee with a pair of white cotton panties, you went to bed. Just as you were drowsing off into your sleep, you heard the door creak before someone opened and closed it quietly. You rubbed your eyes and switched on the night lamp just to notice Coryo standing by your bed wearing nothing but his tight white undies and a loose fitting silk robe. His hair wasn't perfectly styled as usual, instead his blonde curls were falling freely around his face.

“Mommy?” He gazed upon you with the most innocent look in his baby blue eyes. “Can I sleep in your bed tonight?”

Coryo had never slept in your bed, even when he was a young boy often haunted by terrible nightmares, Tigris was always the one who comforted him and sang him to his sleep, you were just sitting on your bed listening quietly until you were sure the boy was alright.

You knew full well what his true intentions were. You had to act like an adult.

“I really don't think it's the best idea, Coriolanus,” you tried to sound strict and inexorable.

“Please, mommy! It's so cold and I can't sleep. I feel embarrassed to go to Tigris and ask her for a lullaby, not to mention we’re not on the best terms right now,” he was looking at you, his blue eyes wide and desperate.

“Please, please, just this one time!”

You sighed deeply and gave him a faint nod.

“Alright, just this time!”

To your surprise Coryo threw the robe off his shoulders and pulled down his underwear, revealing his long, handsome half hard cock, its tip looking so velvety and just as pink as his lovely lips.

You were so caught off guard that you didn't even manage to make any protests before he jumped into your bed and glued himself to your side, burying his face in the crook of your neck.

“Mommy…” he whispered against the sensitive skin of your neck, making you shiver. “I’ve been having the worst nightmares… About the war, about all the things we had to do to survive. I’ve tried everything to make them disappear, but they keep coming back…”

You knew this was your last chance to stop this, you had to push him away, order him to leave your room immediately and never come back, but instead sinful words of encouragement just spilled out of your mouth.

“It's alright, babyboy! Mommy's here and you're safe with me,” you hummed gently as your hand caressed his golden curls. 

God, this felt so wrong on so many levels especially feeling your stepson's now fully hard cock pressing against your thigh, waiting for what seemed to be inevitable at this point.

“Thank you, mommy, you’re always so good to me,” you heard Coryo say just before feeling his lips on your neck. He kept kissing your soft skin and teasing it with his tongue, you felt your pulse running wild and you knew he probably felt it too.

Coryo's hand, previously resting on your shoulder, was now traveling down, his fingers dove under the lacy fabric of your negligee and started drawing circles around your nipple making your breath speed up.

“Coryo what are you doing?” Your mind still felt as you had to resist the pleasant feeling although your body was enjoying it so much.

He looked at you ever so innocently.

“I read that fidgeting something with your fingers can be really calming,” he said, playing with your nipples and tweaking them gently. “I just wanted to test that theory, it seems like it truly works…”

You just sighed, feeling your whole body filling with the insuperable feeling of pure lust, your nipples were rock hard under Coryo's masterful fingers and you felt a treacherous wetness pooling up in your panties. You hated that your own body was betraying you like that under your stepson's salacious touch.

“Mommy, you have such beautiful breasts…”

You inhaled sharply as Coryo's lips wrapped around your nipple, starting to suck hungrily, while his hand traveled further downwards. It easily found its way between your thighs and dove under the waistband of your soaked panties.

“Oh,” he cooed, dipping his fingers in your wetness. “Mommy really needs her babyboy to help her out, huh?”

“Shut up, Coriolanus!”

You grabbed a fistful of Coryo's curls and pulled him away from titty to smash your lips together in a passionate kiss, he felt so needy and desperate as he was exploring your mouth panting softly as you felt his erect cock pressing to your thigh, leaving a trail of precum from its leaking tip.

“Oh fuck, Coryo,” you whispered his name against his lips feeling him pushing his long slender fingers inside you. Your wet cunt that swallowed them so easily. You were literally dripping around his digits as you felt the embarrassment slowly leaving your body and getting replaced by a feeling of raw insatiable desire.

“I'm here for your mommy,” Coryo whispered, his fingers deep inside your pussy, curling against your soft walls and teasing your sweet spot.

“I will help you fulfill all your needs. That's what family's for right?”

With one swift move you pulled down your panties and crawled on top of him pinning him to the bed and covering his mouth with your hand.

“Don't mention family, you filthy little boy!  If you want mommy to give you a treat, you need to stay quiet, is that clear?”

Coryo nodded and you took your hand away from his mouth, wrapping it around his throat instead. The young man gasped watching as your free hand steadied his rock hard cock at your entrance before you slowly sank down on him, your wet pussy taking his whole length with ease. A soft moan escaped your lips as he stretched out your tight cunt.

You kept your hand on his throat in a tight grip as you started to move at an easy pace, eliciting a series of moans from his lips. Coryo's pupils dilated as he saw your pussy sliding up and down his length making it glisten from your juices.

You tightened your grip around his throat as you sped up your movements enjoying his little gasps as he was fighting for air completely under your control. The sight before your eyes made you impossibly wet and lewd slapping sounds filled the room as you bounced up and down his shaft faster and faster with each movement.

Chasing your own pleasure you let go of Coryo's neck and threw your head back, letting the straps if your negligee slide down your shoulders revealing your lovely tits bouncing up and down as you kept riding your stepson's cock.

Coryo's eyes widened at the sight and he let out a deep groan as your tight walls clenched around his cock, his tip hitting against your sweet spot as you kept moving.

“Oh mommy, you’re making me feel so good,” Coryo spoke, breathing heavily as you were too busy chasing your release to make him keep up with his vow of silence.

“I want to cum inside you, to put a baby in your belly. To make you nice and round full of new life that would make our family complete and strengthen our ties forever.”

In your mind you realized how twisted these words were and that they could actually become true considering that you weren't on birth control since your sex work days but your brains were completely shut off by pleasure as you kept moving up and down Coryo's wonderful dick your manicured nails digging into his smooth pale chest.

Coryo's nostrils flared, watching your boobs bouncing up and down as he felt his climax approaching.

“I can't wait for those beautiful tits to be swollen and full of delicious milk oh oooooh…” he cut himself off, moaning loudly as thick ropes of cum filled your cunt spurting up against your velvety walls.

You rode him through his orgasm and your red nails dug deep into his skin leaving red scratches. After mere seconds you came hard all over his cock and squelching sounds filled the room as your juices were mixing together with his cum. You collapsed on top of your stepson, his cock still inside you and he wrapped his arms around you, holding you tightly.

“Just let me stay inside mommy's pussy a little longer,” he whispered. “Don't let the seed go to waste.”

“Fuck you, Coriolanus!” You hissed and bit into his neck using his distraction to wiggle out of his grip and crawl off of him making him whine at the loss of contact.

Coryo didn't put up a fight, he just watched you as you pulled the straps of your negligee back on your shoulders and then pulled you into his arms, wrapping himself around you.

You sighed and brushed a stray curl off his forehead looking into his big sleepy eyes. There was no way of denying the fact that you had just slept with your stepson, especially since you could still feel his heart beating softly against your skin and his cum dripping down your inner thighs.

It was so wrong. But still deep down in your heart in some sick and twisted way it felt so incredibly right.

[xannador]

Thank you!

A big thank you to everyone who got a copy of Mostly (h)Armless! I think that for an obscure little fancomic it did really well! About 30 copies have gone where none can ever take them away again. I've also finally received my own version and I am happy about the quality.

I've now unpublished it but turns out you can never entirely take a book off the store once published. You can't edit it to be something else either. (which is what I had hoped to do, I have a bunch of unpublished original comics lying around). So it's just kinda going to sit there for all eternity, unavailable for sale. I sincerely hope it won't give me problems later on.

Anyway, if anyone is curious about one day printing their own comics, here are a few things I have noticed that I will definitely remember for my future printing endeavors:

Most glow and blending effects like Lighten, Color dodge, Hard Light, Linear dodge (add), etc don't look that nice in print despite looking awesome in digital.

Make your line art thick enough.

soft shading looks bad, cell shading looks good. (But it's better to fully fill shapes with a contrasting color rather than doing fancy lighting.)

Consider shading in black rather than color. (optional)

Details and soft lines are usually lost and a waste of time (Mostly in case of a colored book. Black and white may be different)

Keep panels spaced far enough apart.

Draw big panels. Small panels aren't as nice to look at and the eyes are naturally drawn to the larger panels.

Gradients don't look very nice either. Unless they have a light color.

Vintage comic textures and effects actually looks nicer in print than digital (which surprised me).

In dark scenes, rim lights are essential to make the character pop out. M(h)A would've looked like ass if I hadn't added those.

Stay away from the borders of your page, especially the left and right ones. Not just for the text but for the drawings too.

Keep track of which side of your page will be closest to the spine, keep a distance from that side especially. Because your book will be folded and part of the page will be hidden (the thicker your book, the more will be lost).

fancy panel compositions are cooler in digital...

contrast contrast contrast...

Don't be afraid to use pure black a lot.

Don't be afraid to use white a lot.

The 3D shake effect is also not that cool on print. But looks gorgeous on digital.

To myself… keep the font size consistent…

If text is outside a text bubble, it should have a high contrast stroke

Text should always be high contrast in general.

Motion blur is really cool in digital but not so much on print.

Keep black silhouettes black, avoid adding any kind of subtle glow or texture.

Text bubbles can have color but they should be light (again high contrast) watch out for saturated green or blue or red. Test in greyscale. Contrast should be more than 70%.

Line art should not be colored. Keep it black for print.

Hard borders are better than soft borders. On everything.

white panel borders are better than black panel borders.

But white borders with a black stroke are probably the best (cause more contrast).

Again light colors are better than dark colors. To do dark scenes it might be better to just use black and contrast with a lighter color.

Line art perfection is not that interesting, especially in regards to hard surface shapes like robots. (Might be personal taste though. I enjoyed looking at robots with messier line art more than those where I did perfect brush strokes.)

Beware dark blue and purple...

Compositions and colors of both the left and right page should always fit together. I think I did that pretty well here at least.

If possible make your total amount of comic pages devisable by 4. (so 24 pages total, or 28, or 96, you get the idea) not including the cover and back. Or else add a little extra drawing to fill the remaining pages.

I think that's about everything I can see based on my own print. I'm sure that a fair few of the things that I found looking worse in print than digital could be resolved by just being... better at converting your files. There's the whole CMYK color mode thing but in my personal experience that has been such a pain to work with, and each time my prints looked worse attempting to convert the file rather than had I just left it in RBG and let the printer do the guessing work for me.

So if you're like me and you're hopeless at this technical mumbo jumbo printing stuff, I think just avoiding the things I mentioned while drawing should get you well under way to having a nice print. The most important thing to remember is that digital and physical media are two entirely different beasts and if you are interested in getting your comics printed it's easier to adapt your workflow to that from the start rather than going back and altering. A lot of the mistakes I made here are rookie ones and I should have known better. But it's very easy to get lost in the process once you've started. I hope to improve my next print significantly. Once I can make RBG look good, I might try CMYK again.... Maybe. Potentially. No.

Hope these tips can be of service to somebody. They'll be a useful archive for myself in any case. If anyone wants me to elaborate more on a specific point, I'm happy to explain.

[komoboko]

Dog owner/lover tanjiro with female reader who hates dogs but loves cats 🙏🙏

𝐝𝐨𝐠 𝐟𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫

Tanjiro kamado x reader ・nezuko kamado mentioned

Kinda projecting in this bcs I don’t like dogs either at all, I’m lowkey scared of them 😢

You do not like going over to Tanjiro’s house at all.

Not that it was his house or anything about him. He’s such a sweetheart and always does his best to accommodate for you, and his house was really nice as well. Always super clean and everything was super organized as well. The only downside was the stupid dog that terrorized every person place or thing it came in contact with.

Everywhere it went it had way to much energy for almost any human, except tanjiro at least. It was much too big for its own good and still thought it was a lap dog at his big size. Super touchy as well always rolling around or trying to persuade somebody into petting it. Much to big, much to fur, much to friendly for your liking. Worse of all, that dog went everywhere with Tanjiro. It was pretty much his child at this point.

If you saw Tanjiro walking down the street near your house? He’s walking the dog. Going to the store? He’s buying something for his dog, and if they allow it the dog coming inside with him. Eating something? The dog has a designated seat at the table to eat with him to. Tanjiro is nearby? His dog is nearby to. The little parasiteー in your words would never go away.

Not to say you didn’t like animals or pets, you adored them to an extent. Especially cats. The much better pet option far superior than any dog could be that cat you had would beat Tanjiro dog for miles at anything. The little feline was so docile, couldn’t do anything wrong. Even Tanjiro enjoyed your cats presence, although he still tried to persuade you to give his dog a chance.

“I promise you he’s really not that bad, he’s just super friendly can you blame him?” Tanjiro ask while following you into the kitchen while you go prepare yourself a snack. “I really can blame him.” you reply without a second thought as your eyes drift back into Tanjiro. “Dogs are just.. ew nothing good about them.” The boy sighs while grabbing something for himself. “C’mon he doesn’t even bite.. he’s so nice!”

He’s really trying his hardest to get you to connect with his dog. He knows you’ve never been a fan of any dogs specifically, and maybe his just is a breed you hate more than others. He still has some hope for you, you gotta at least warm up to the idea of it! Besides his dog already loves you anyways you gotta show some love back right?

On your side of the story nothing Tanjiro could really say would sway your opinion. You’ve seen that dog and you seen how big it is and that’s already one to many signs for you. You have a witness and somebody else on your side at the same time! Tanjiro’s little sister, Nezuko. She’s even told you some of the problems with the dog they own! “Very big, very friendly to! To friendly sometimes..” is what she says and that’s all the evidence you needed. Though she does still take Tanjiro side most of the time.

The boy only sighs once again before an idea comes into his mind. He turns to look at you once more before shuffling beside you, Your cat trailing behind him. He stares up at you biting back a smile that would reveal his intentions. “Could you at least come over this weekend? My dog is going to be gone for two weeks for training, unfortunately..” he says, trailing off on the last part to grab your attention. You only turn your head once you hear the words “dog” and “gone” leave his lips.

You blink for a moment before a smile appears on your lips at his idea. “Sure, but only because the dog isn’t here alright.” you announced as a big grin is plastered on Tanjiro’s lips as his excitement comes to a peak. His arms wrap around you bringing you into a hug as you hug him back. Laughing at how much excitement he was showing.

It’s to late when you realize he was lying to you completely.

The weekend rolls around and you stand Infront of Tanjiro door. It’s a breath of fresh air being able to visit him once again. You knock on his door and can hear his footsteps coming down the stairs. The door swings open as Tanjiro invites you inside and you’re quick to step in. You almost forgot how nice his house looked after being away for so long, it was nice to enjoy seeing it again. Taking off your shoes you give Tanjiro a hug as he shows up all the new decoration he’s put in his living room.

You stare at everything as you admire the room. Almost missing Tanjiro’s words as he mutters a quick “be right back!” before disappearing somewhere inside of his house. You only continue looking knowing he’ll be back in a moment, staring at all the new pictures framed around the room and on the wall. You’re not fazed by the pitter patter of footsteps coming down from the stairs as you simply sit yourself back on the couch assuming it was Tanjiro.

To your dismay, it was not Tanjiro.

You only look up from a second when you don’t hear him walk over to the couch. Your eyes drift up only to see a patch of fur, and to your horror it’s his dog standing in the living room. You look at it for a long time, and it stares back at you for a long time. The dog is the first one to break eye contact and look away into the kitchen as you take the chance to look away as well. Maybe Tanjiro did bring it to training and it will just walk away. Maybe it can sense your “I don’t want you near me at all” energy and walk away from you. Just maybe.

The dog doesn’t follow any of your theories one bit as it soon charges at you. Jumping onto the couch and nearly onto your lap if you didn’t stand up quick enough. Irritation quickly creeps up to your throat as you’re only able to yell out “TANJIRO!” To hear him snickering around the corner. His dog doesn’t make it any better as it rubs and circles around your leg.

Well, you won’t be coming back to his house anytime soon.

[akesdraws-blog]

Giving you a hand

Version (🎞️TMNT BAYVERSE🎞️)

Note: The turtles help you prepare for a job interview and will pretend to be the future or possible boss. Warnings: None, spelling mistakes

🍵Leonardo 🍵

It will prepare you as if you were going to go into the most dangerous fight of your life. He was reading your application for a few moments and made you show him that you really have all those skills that you put. (If you said you are fast at writing, you better be, because it will take your time) You better not stutter at any point or you'll get Leo's ninja stare. (And he is not very pretty to say the least)

Y/N. -Why the hell do I have to practice immobilizing someone?!- L. -Never know what is going to happen in your work- Y/N. -But I'm going to apply for secretary, not security!-

And when they have to simulate the interview, Leo will come into character, a boss who may seem friendly but will not be. He will offer you some tea and they will start doing the “interview”. But after a few minutes his response is…

L. -We will call you- Y/N. -What? Leo, this is supposed to be the part where you tell me I have the job.- L. -I would if you had done it well- Y/N. -But I did everything right! I answered everything, which part was wrong- L. -To begin the posture, you are hunched over, and you play with your feet, in addition to fiddling with your hands, that does not show security, and your smile seemed more like a request for help… Shall I continue? -

That's right, Leo is going to evaluate everything you do. Internally you will be grateful that you are not going to have a boss like him.

⚗️Donatello ⚗️

This guy will review your application about 10 times and he will always find some error, which will cause you to do it again. He gave you a time to answer each question and you better not spend another second or they will go back to the beginning. He himself wrote you a few pretty good letters of recommendation. He will prepare you in any aspect that the interview may cover and even that which it will not cover.

Y/N. -Is it necessary for me to study this?- D. -They have to see that you are skilled in any case- Y/N. -But I don't think a cafeteria would ask me to know how to repair an engine- D. -But maybe your boss's car doesn't work, and that's where you act!-

When it's time to simulate the interview, you'll be as nervous as if it were a real one. Because like Leo, he gets into character and we're not talking about a good one, his character will be like talking to John Jonah Jameson Jr. himself.

D. -So you want to work- Y/N. -That's how it is- D. -Why here? Why not somewhere else? I heard they were looking for one near here- Y/N. -Well, it's the closest to where I live- D. -Just that? Isn't it because we are the best? Are you reducing us only as an option for closeness? Y/N. -I did not mean that- D. -If you don't see how we are the best of the best, maybe it's not the place for you, look for another place!- Y/N. -Donnie!- D. -What? Was it too much? You never know what kind of boss you will have-

Let's say you'll practice interviewing with different types of bosses, from a nice boss to one you'd want to hang. But in the end he will apologize if he feels that he has crossed the line or notices that your morals have gone to the ground.

🥊Raphael 🥊

It will only help with two issues.If she found what you were doing curious or because she saw you as nervous as a chihuahua. (And your murmurs were already bothering him)

First he will question the place and position you will go to, he knows that you are much better for such a low position, but he hopes that at least they will give you a good pay.

But if you have photos of the place where you are going to apply, this guy will go into overprotective mode.

R. -Why can't you see where the fire extinguishers are? The emergency exit is very far away, and have you already seen the windows? Any crazy person could throw a stone and it would break into thousands of pieces, what kind of security protocol? do they have in case of a theft? Or if the Foot Clan arrive?

Y/N. -Why would those on the foot go to a cafeteria?-

R. -They may be criminals but everyone needs a coffee-

That's right, raph just created a new fear for you.

You will have to beg him to simulate an interview, because in his words it is a waste of time.

R. -Do you have schedule availability?-

Y/N. -Yes!, at the time I set I will come right away and...-

R. -Do you know how to make coffee, tea or whatever we sell?

Y/N. -Yes, my espressos are wonderful and...-

R. -Do you want to work here?-

Y/N. -Um, yes, but you have to let me finish talking...-

R. -Hired, I'm leaving-

Y/N. -Raph!-

It will be a matter of a few minutes before your mock interview ends, mostly because Raph won't let you finish talking.

But he always encourages you, he knows that you can do it if you put your mind to it.

🍕Miguel Angel 🍕

He already knew that you were preparing for an interview, it's not like he will use your phone to order a pizza and by mistake he read the message of the day and time your interview would be, that didn't happen at all.

He will show you the best streets and shortcuts to avoid traffic.

M. -And if you go this way you can get there in less than 20 minutes-

Y/N. -Mike... They are buildings-

M. -You will never see traffic over there-

Mikey will beg to simulate the interview.He even converted the room into an office, you saw how he made a boss badge out of a pizza box that said “Super Chief Cowabunga”.

You don't even know where he got a tie, much less a briefcase.

Y/N. -Very well, remember Mikey, you are the one who is going to interview me, just follow the questions that I put on the sheet and the ones that occur to you-

M. -Understood, but bosses are always full of papers, Donnie must have a lot of papers-

Y/N. -I don't think they are necessary-

M. -And the bosses also have a phone to call their pretty assistants-

Y/N. -I don't even think that's important right now-

M. -Wait, a boss has a white cat, right? I need a white cat-

Y/N. -I don't think bosses have a white cat-

They never start to simulate the interview, as Mikey quickly gets distracted.

In the end you will only see how Mikey continues to bring more and more things to be a true “boss”

One good thing is that you weren't nervous anymore, and if you started to feel a little nervous you only remembered how Mikey started to get distracted and it just made you laugh a little.

•°~•°~•°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•

Tags:

@turtle-babe83 . @dilucsflame33. @thelaundrybitch . @scholastic-dragon. @leosgirl82. @tmnt-tychou .@little-bunny-in-space . @happymoonangel . @lazyafgurl . @kikithedreamerwriter .@androidships007.

[obsessive-clown]

Your content is so nice. To a fellow yandere Nanami enjoyed I am curious about your two cents on this. What would be the difference personality wise between a Yandere Nanami and a Yandere curse user Nanami 🤔

Oh!! This is an interesting one…

As someone who hasn’t dabbled too much into Curse User Nanami media (but would love to), I think I have a few ideas…

꧁ꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥ꧂

First of all:

Curse User Kento is far more sadistic. This is just a given, I mean look at the man. Slaughtering his entire work place? Not giving a shit about other people or anything around him? There is no doubt in my mind that man has a hit list of sorts, and every single name on that list is full of people who have wronged you, hurt you, dated you, slept with you. All of it.

Not to mention, I think Curse User Kento would be a bit sloppier with his work, unlike his Sorcerer counterpart. Whether this be on purpose or just because he has a lack of care. Sometimes he wants you to find someone from your past, that you’ve nearly forgotten about, on the news and taken out brutally. He struggles to show love and interest, at least in normal ways, anyways.

Following Up:

While CU!Kento has a lack of care, empathy and compassion for others, something about you makes his long dead, cold and miserable heart beat and feel something new.

Regular, Sorcerer Kento is just kept to himself. He doesn’t particularly like showing too much emotion. He doesn’t like people seeing his soft side and using that to their advantage. But with you, he lets you in on every bit of it. There’s just something about you that the Sorcerer loves and can’t get enough of. Unlike his Curse User counterpart, he has morals, he approaches you in a calm, normal, civilized manner.

Both of the Kento’s are incredibly problematic in their own sense though.

CU!Kento will convince you to push those around you, away. Gaslighting? He’ll do it, if it means getting to be with you. No other man— person in general— is good enough for you. Only he is. Everyone else is garbage compared to you. He struggles with being overly controlling in my mind. He would love to work on this for you, since he doesn’t particularly like seeing you upset, but he can’t help it. Old habits die hard and he just needs to know he’s your only option and that you’re his.

Sorcerer!Kento will be overly possessive of you. You want to go out? Let him come with you. He hates the thought of another person getting the idea to try and take what’s his. You’re his prized jewel, so naturally, he hovers a lot. Gatekeeping you? Absolutely. You’re his everything, his reason to keep going. He may hide all of this well and be extremely subtle and soft with how he shows it, but it’s a force of habit.

꧁ꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥ꧂

These are just a few things I could think of… I’m sure more will conjure and I’ll have to post about them… I apologize for posting this so late though! And I hope you enjoyed, loves. 🫀

[adobe-outdesign]

thoughts on robot neopets? I love robots but none of them quite click for me

Robot might seem like a newer colour, but in reality it's been around since the early 2000s, and was one of only a few colours to get unique artwork pre-customization. It has a very loose tie-in to the lore due to most robot pets coming from the Virtupets space station, as no other place in Neopia has tech that advanced.

Visually, there really isn't any consistency to the color beyond just the pet being a robot. Some designs are incredibly detailed, some are super minimalist, some are sleek and elegant, some are bulky and square, etc. For the most part I feel like simpler designs tend to be the best, but both can be good depending on execution.

When it comes to customization, robot pets generally did alright, though there was little consistency as to how they were converted. Some robots seem to completely change design, while others changed body shape or details for little reason. I think as a whole the color works fine customized because the poses weren't too unique to begin with, but more care could've gone into the actual converting.

Perhaps one of the stranger additions was the ability to remove the outer casing, basically giving robots two different designs. I'm not sure why they did this exactly, but some robots look far better uncased so I'm not complaining. For the sake of this review I'm just going to show the images for the option I think looks best.

Favorite Species:

Ixi: As I mentioned in my Ixi review, the converted robot Ixi looks pretty terrible due to weird proportions and bad shading, but the UC/styled version is incredible. The design is nice and slick, it's appropriately robot-ish with the tubes and paneling, and the black, dark green and red palette looks lovely.

(While I don't like it more than the UC/styled version, the uncased robot Ixi does look better than the converted version, with some pretty fun eyes and lightbulb horns that make no sense relative to the actual casing but who cares.)

Tuskaninny: The robot Tuskaninny is the complete opposite of the robot Ixi, focusing on being chunky and re-interpreting parts of the design to be more robot instead of sticking close to the original's anatomy. I really like how simple this design is, and little details like the antennae in place of hair and wheels so it can move on land are great. I actually kind of prefer the customized in this case, as the original's proportions feel off and I like the tail a bit more on the newer option.

(The uncased version has a disturbingly not-robotic face and looks mostly like a normal Tuskaninny but with wires, making it a disappointment compared to the cased version.)

Gnorbu: This one is just plain cute and charming, with a super nice smile and bright green and red accents against a neutral base. Also, it has a buzz saw tail. What's not to like?

(I'm not big on the uncased for this one; it's just a mess of colored wires, and it doesn't even make sense relative to the casing).

Poogle: The Darth Vader design of the cased is fine and the UC/styled is the same, just with different colored eyes for some reason, but the uncased is terminator-styles of straight-up terrifying and you have to respect it for that. Also, reminder that all Poogles canonically have sharp teeth!

Least Favorite Species:

Lenny: The converted version is just a huge visual mess, with entirely too much detail that makes it hard to figure out what you're even looking at (though the lightbulb tails are fun). The uncased isn't much better. On the plus side, the UC/Styled version is quite charming, keeping the fun details but greatly simplifying everything else down, making me wonder why the heck they changed it to begin with.

[paperweight91]

The Other Side of Tomorrow Part 2

Pairing: Lloyd Hansen x reader

Warnings: fluff, mentions of divorce

W/C: 3.5k

A/N: The muse finally allowed me to finish up this part after stranding me halfway through. Things are moving forward. Please let me know what you guys think, feedback and reblogs are greatly appreciated!

“How long do you need me to watch him?” Your mom asked.

You sighed, leaving your son with your mother while you went on assignment with Lloyd wasn’t your first choice, but it was the only option you had. “Just for a couple days, he’ll be going to his dads before I get back.”

It’s not that your mom couldn’t look after your kid, she was just a bit ditzy. He was always well taken care of, if not a little sugar-high when he came back from her place.

Your mother continued to go on about something to do with one of your cousins, you couldn’t be bothered to listen to. You let her ramble as you started packing clothes, only half listening to her one sided conversation. You wrapped up the call after only thirty minutes and went to check on your son.

He was sleeping soundly in bed. He had taken the separation far better than you had thought he would. Adjusting quickly to splitting time between yourself and your ex. It was probably the lack of tension that had settled him the quickest.

After a final check of your last minute items to pack, you decided to turn in for the night. Excited to hear from Andy on what your ex may have agreed to.

You woke the next morning feeling more refreshed than you had in years, so much so that you decided to stop for a coffee on your way into work. A nice little treat to start off your day. You dropped your son at daycare and quickly raced to the closest Starbucks. While you waited in the drive through you thought back to the day before and how kind your boss had been. Yes he was still an ass, but he had done something no one else in your circle had been able to do. You decided to order him a drink along with your own. It wasn’t much but at least it was something.

With your coveted haul, and some extra treats for later, you made your way into the office. It was a surprisingly boring building, not at all in line with the preppy outfits your boss liked to wear, or his outlandish attitude. Hansen Government Services covered several floors with your desk being on the top floor.

When the elevator dinged to signal the arrival to your floor you quickly stepped out and made your way to your desk. Arranging your coffee and cookie to snack on once you dropped off Lloyd’s. As you marched towards his office, your steps faltered. What if he thought you were sucking up? Well you kind of were, but you really wanted him to know you appreciated his help. Shaking your head you resolved to be your old self again and knocked on his office door.

It was early so you weren’t even sure if he would be in yet, before you could berate yourself you heard his voice with a distracted “come in.”

You opened the door and stood there nervously. “Sir, I stopped at Starbucks on the way in, I didn’t know your order, but I wanted to get you something and figured you can’t go wrong with an Americano right?” You kept your voice light as you shifted your weight from foot to foot.

“Sourpuss!” You flinched, you’re going to correct him, just maybe after everything was sorted. “Look at you, you look like a brand new woman this morning. Come, sit.” Just like the day before it was definitely an order.

You started to make your way over to the other chair in his office, hoping it was slightly more comfortable than the one you chose the day before. You were halted however as Lloyd pointed to the door. You mumbled an apology before quickly closing the door behind you. As you made your way back to his desk, Lloyd came around from the other side and leaned against the front, his legs crossed at the ankle and arms crossed across his broad chest. You handed him his coffee and one of the danishes you had picked up.

He smirked as he took a whiff of the coffee. “Ahhh, nothing better than some coffee first thing in the morning is there Sourpuss? Although, I’m sure we could think of a few other pick me ups?” He waggled his eyebrows and took a long gulp of his coffee. Not sure what to do with yourself you plopped into the more comfortable looking of the two seats in his office.

You chose to ignore his innuendo, and decided to go ahead with your planned thank you so you could get out before the nosy trolls could catch you in Lloyd’s office again. “Sir.” He cut you off with tsk.

“None of that Sourpuss. The least you could do is call me by my name.” His eyes were dancing with mirth at his reply. Of course he wanted you to call him by his name when he refused to use your own.

“Mr. Hansen.” That earned another tsk, before he could interrupt you again you carried on. “Lloyd. I wanted to tell you again how much I appreciate what you did for me yesterday.” You gestured to the coffee and the danish on his desk. “I know it’s not much, but right now, until everything is sorted it’s what I can do. I’m sure Mr. Barber doesn’t come cheap so if the amount is too much, I’d like to go on a payment plan to pay you back.”

Lloyd took a sip of his drink. He watched you the entire time and caught the way your eyes flitted to his lips as he licked them. Before you could feel embarrassed he spoke. “Now see that, that’s the girl I hired. Not the sad sack I saw in the lunchroom yesterday. And that is why I am paying for the lawyer. You were becoming boring and useless to me. Now that you’ve got your spunk back we can really get the job done. That reminds me, did you get the crotch goblin squared away or are you abandoning me on this OP?”

You were shocked. Not only by Lloyd’s backhanded compliment, but his total lack of respect regarding your child. You held in the urge to roll your eyes, “Yes, sir- sorry Lloyd. He’ll be with my mother and ex while we’re gone. There won’t be any issues while we’re away.”

Lloyd placed his coffee beside him on his desk and clapped his hands together in excitement. “Excellent! We’ve got the briefing later today, it should already be in your calendar. So until then-“ the loud ringing of your phone cut Lloyd off. His expression changing from excitement to stone cold in an instant.

“Shoot.” You scrambled to get up quickly so you could answer it before it went to voicemail. In your rush you wound up stumbling into Lloyd, who caught you effortlessly.

“If you wanted to rub up against me Sourpuss, all you had to do was ask.” His eyes were twinkling as he winked at you. You felt heat spread through your entire body at his comment. Shaking it off as embarrassment you pulled your phone out of your pants pocket just as it went to voicemail. Looking at the caller ID it was your ex. Lloyd’s eyes followed yours to your phone and voiced your exact thoughts as he pulled the phone from your hand and tossed it on his desk. “Better left unanswered Sourpuss. Let Andy do all the talking to that dickwalk.”

You looked up at Lloyd through your lashes only now realizing you were still leaning against him as he held you. You were stuck, not quite sure what to do. “You’re probably right. I’ll listen to the voicemail later. I’m sorry I’m such a clutz, there’s a reason I sit behind a computer.”

Lloyd snickered at your half hearted joke, before smoothing his hands up your arms. There was a sizzle of electricity in the air. Something you hadn’t felt in a long time. Against your better judgment you let yourself lean more into Lloyds embrace.

His face momentarily shifted to shock, but was quickly replaced with a smirk. His one arm shifted to wrap around your waist, while the other came up to cup your cheek. “You're playing with fire Sourpuss.” His voice was purr, and the sound sparked something in you that had you rubbing your thighs together.

You reached up to wrap your hands around his neck, suddenly needing to pull him closer. Just as your lips were about to meet, there was a knock on the door.

And just like that the moment of tension snapped. Reality came crashing down around you. You felt mortified. Your hands moved to his chest to push him away.

There was that twinkle in his eye again as he watched your reaction. He smirked down at you, before giving you one last squeeze and releasing you. “Wrap up the assignment you’re on by end of day so we can be ready to leave tomorrow.”

“Yes, of course. I’ll uh, just get started on work then. I hope you enjoy the danish, they’re my favourite.” You gave him a broad smile before stepping out of his personal space and turning to leave his office. The person on the other side of the door was knocking again causing Lloyd to huff and yell “Just a minute!”

“Don’t forget your phone, Sourpuss.” You could hear the smirk in his voice before you turned around. Walking back towards him, you saw the phone laying on his desk. The only way to grab it was to physically lean back into Lloyd.

You stopped in front of him, hands on your hips. The look on your face was one of begrudging amusement. You held your hand out waiting for him to pass it to you. When he didn’t move, you huffed and pushed yourself into his personal space, leaning fully against him to reach around him to grab your phone.

You could feel his chest rumble in a laugh against your cheek, as you blindly reached behind him for your phone. His hand joined yours in the quest to locate your missing phone, the knocking at the door all but forgotten. At last you grabbed your phone, giving Lloyd one last look of annoyance, before turning to leave his office. “Don’t forget, briefing at 3.” You could hear the cocky smirk on his face without looking back.

You walked out of his office and past the persistent knocker (Lloyd’s assistant with coffee.) You returned to your desk to start on your day, nothing new or exciting. Just wrapping up a data dump. It was tedious work and you found your mind drifting as you went through the motions. Thinking about your boss, and the new way you were looking at him. He hadn’t changed, of that much you were sure. Maybe it was you that had changed. No longer in a loveless marriage, sticking it out for the kid, you could clearly see what was actually in front of you. Thinking back you couldn’t remember a time that Lloyd had ever been like this with anyone, yourself included. In fact, up until yesterday, you didn’t even think he knew who you were.

The day seemed to drag on with your tedious work, making you thankful for the early morning Starbucks run. At around noon you stretched and decided to take a walk during your lunch, hoping that Andy would give you a call with an update on your divorce. After a pit stop in the break room to grab a bottle of water, you headed to the bank of elevators. You hummed “Walking on Sunshine” as you waited for the doors to open to let you on.

You were so caught up in your own world you didn’t notice the shadow lurking beside you. “Going somewhere Sourpuss?”

Of course. You were trying to escape work and it was going to follow you. “Just a walk, I needed to walk away from the data dump.” You gave a small smile as you looked up at Lloyd.

He hummed as the two of you stood side-by-side waiting for the elevator, his arm brushing yours every so often. As the ding signaled the arrival of the elevator car you both stepped on together and each pushed your desired floors. Deciding to break the awkward tension that had settled since he approached you at the elevator you asked, “Where are you headed at this time? Don’t you eat?” It came out harsher than you intended.

Your question had clearly shocked Lloyd if the look on his face was anything to go by. “Meeting with the new interns or whatever. I don’t know, my assistant put it in my calendar.” He sounded entirely uninterested in what he was supposed to be doing.

You laughed as the elevator dinged again to signal Lloyd’s floor, “Just try not to call any of them a bitch and I think you’ll be fine.” You gave him a warm smile as he looked down at you.

You weren’t quite sure what to make of the look on his face. He was smirking, which wasn’t new, but on anyone else you would almost call it fondness in his expression. “I only did that once, Sourpuss, and he was being a bitch.”

He winked and strutted off the elevator while rubbing his palms together. You didn’t envy any of the fresh faced kids you saw waiting for him. They were about to get eaten alive.

The elevator doors shut and the trip down to the first floor seemed to go much quicker now that you were alone. You popped your AirPods in and began walking towards the exit. Excited for some time outside to really refresh yourself.

You made your way lazily through the busy streets, no direction in mind just wandering. As you passed the cafe you used to frequent when you first started working for Hansen your ringtone sounded in your ears. Looking down at your phone you squeaked as Andy’s called ID popped up. You hastily answered the phone not wanting to miss his progress.

“Andy! I’m so glad you called, I’m not going to lie to you, I’ve been staring at my phone all day.” You gushed into the phone.

His low laugh sounded on the other end of the line. “Well I’m sorry to have kept you so distracted. You got a few minutes to talk? You may want to sit down.”

You couldn’t decipher what he was trying to tell you with his tone. It annoyed you to no end when you had no idea what was going on. “Of course, please tell me everything.” You did a quick turn and began speed walking back to the office. At best, you hoped to make it to your car so you could at least have some privacy.

“You ready?” He laughed as you huffed, “Okay, okay. I got it. All of it. He’s signed. We just need your signature and you’re a free woman.”

You stopped short. He couldn’t be serious. “I’m gonna need you to repeat that, like maybe more than once.”

Your hands shook as you looked down at your phone. You weren’t going to have to settle, you weren’t going to have to sell your car. You could live.

“It’s over. Your divorce papers need one more signature, and this will be behind you. I’ve already sent the paperwork via courier to your office. They will wait for you to sign and then bring them right back to mine.”

You could feel the tears welling in your eyes. “It’s over? No more fighting, everything we asked for? Andy, I can’t thank you enough for this. I-I really don’t know where I’d be without you.” Without thought your feet had carried you back to your office building.

“It’s nothing. Really. I’ll let you get back to work. But call me if you need anything, okay?”

You smiled widely as you entered the building, a new skip in your step. “I don’t think I’m allowed to ask you for anything ever again at this point. Thank you Andy, talk soon.”

In your jubilation at Andy’s call your body moved on autopilot. Before you knew it you were back at your desk. You quickly checked the status of the auto-decryption you had set before leaving, and seeing it at 50% you realized there was a ton of time before you could get through the actual sifting of data. Your mouse, entirely of its own accord, went to the shared calendar, pulling up Lloyd’s. His appearance at the Intern Lunch was almost done.

Again, you found yourself at your destination with no thought to how you actually got there. The elevator dinged and the doors slid open to reveal the man you were looking for. His face was twisted in aggravation, until he saw you standing waiting for the elevator. His face softened as his eyes met yours.

Before he could give you a smart ass remark you spoke, “If you’re not busy, can we speak in your office?” His eyebrows shot up towards his hairline, and he nodded leading you to his office.

You heard the murmurs of your coworkers as you trailed behind Lloyd. Today you smirked as you followed him. Uncaring of what they thought of you.

“You seem happy,” Lloyd murmured as he shut the door behind you. “What’s gotten into you, Sourpuss?”

“Andy called…” was all you could get out.

Lloyd raised his eyebrows questioningly and you nodded. A wide grin spreading across your face. “Told ya, Sourpuss.”

Before you knew what you were doing, you had launched yourself at Lloyd. Your arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him down so you could finally taste him. He groaned as his hands framed your hips, fighting you for dominance in the kiss.

You licked into his mouth, tasting every inch before pulling away. “Thank you.” You breathed. Suddenly it hit you what you were doing, like you had been hit with an ice cold hose in the middle of summer. You stiffened in Lloyd’s embrace.

He tutted, “None of that. Not now.” His right hand moving to the back of your head to pull you back to him. You’ll tell yourself later that you tried to resist, but in reality you went willingly.

He backed himself up, while keeping a firm grip on you. As if he was afraid that you would disappear. His fear wasn’t unfounded. You were one wrong move away from bolting out that door, and you both knew it. He pulled until he was seated at his desk chair and pulled you to straddle him. His left hand palming your ass, while his right soothed through your hair softly, in stark contrast to the battle you were both waging with your tongues.

Tentatively you reached to cup his face and stroke his cheek, while your other hand wandered. You found yourself tracing the vein on his throat, the angle of his collar bone, that peeked out from beneath his loud yellow shirt. This was turning out to be one of the most intense make-out sessions you had ever had.

You pulled away finally to catch your breath while pressing your forehead to his. You smirked as you took in his breathlessness. “Just for the record I’m not sleeping with you.”

Lloyd barked out a laugh. “Yet, Sourpuss. We still have a whole trip in Oslo.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. At that, you huffed, with a smile spread wide across your face and playfully smacked his chest.

“I should get back to my desk.” You didn’t want to leave. But you knew, if you kept kissing this man, you’d be done for.

Lloyd nodded, bringing both of his hands up to cradle your face. He pulled you in for one more kiss, which you allowed, and sent you on your way.

“I better not see you making eyes at me during the briefing Sourpuss, or I may just take you right on the conference room table.” He winked as your embarrassment flooded through your entire body.

“I wouldn’t dream of it Mr. Hansen.” You sent him your own wink before, turning to leave his office.

Your day seemed to speed by after that. Shortly after the tryst in Lloyd’s office the courier showed up with the papers, which you happily signed and returned. You showed up early for the briefing, and were proud of yourself for how focused you managed to stay throughout as Lloyd walked through the broad strokes and everyone’s roles. He seemed particularly prickly at the CIAs involvement in this OP, but you weren’t worried.

Before you knew it the day was done. You packed up quickly, and raced to your car. Tonight was your last night with your son before the OP you wanted to cherish every moment before you left.

You picked him up some McDonald’s on the way home, as he animatedly spoke about all the new trucks they had at daycare. You smiled as you tucked him in that night, feeling on top of the world for the first time in a long time.

****

Taglists:

@stargazingfangirl18 @krirebr @rebeccapineapple @precious1610 @bambamwolf87

[varteeny1234]

MEMORIES

(ao3 link)

Summary:

Marm gets lost in her own head after finding an old photograph, from before everything fell to pieces. She knows Kittrix means well, but they both know that being near each other _hurts_.

Chapters: 1/1 (probably. i might write a part 2 in the future)

Words: 1651

Warnings: Marm does a respawn, and also has a cut on her finger from shards of glass

:DDD I love the mangrove and acacia friendship. too bad they all have tragedy arcs and have split up lolll *crying*

(full fic under cut)

Marm's fingers bled, cut by the shattered glass of the broken picture frame. She stared down at the little pieces of her reflection, faint images, a hundred different faces that were all her face. A sudden pain made her realize that she was biting her lip. 

She cried. 

It had been so long since all four of them had been together. Trog was acting so weird, not like themself at all, taking a complete 180 on the 'chaotic triangles' theme that they'd been working with. Tea had been missing for weeks... which wasn't really reason for worry, but still, she wasn't here in the Mangrove kingdom, wasn't there to keep Marm company on the rainy days or get up to mischief or run around the swamp together with her. 

Kitt hadn't... secluded herself. She just didn't talk to Marm all that much anymore- Marm was mostly sure that it was because she didn't want to get involved in any more void nonsense- after Trog went missing, even though they came back eventually, she'd been unsettled at what they said they heard and saw- so much so that if anybody brought it up around her, she would always make up some excuse to leave or change the topic. Trog's sudden personality change almost right afterwards had scared her even more. And since Marm was so tangled up in the void problems...

Functionally, that left Marm on her own.

Maybe if she just looked harder, looked in the right places, she could figure out how to fix everything. She could learn what had happened to Trog, find Tea, and help Kitt handle her uneasiness. Maybe then they could be their little quartet again. Marm, Trog, Kitt, and Tea. 

The smiling faces in the photograph sent an ache running through her chest every time she saw them, so she let it drop down onto the ground. It hit the floor with a sound that, quiet as it was, rang out louder than anything else nearby. Nighttime tended to be like that. Marm clenched her fists as she turned away, intending to head up to the top of the island and go to sleep. Then, her hand felt like it was on fire. 

Shards of glass must have gotten stuck underneath her skin, she realized. (She was still bleeding)

Marm considered her options. Leaving the injury as-is would be both painful and leave a mess, and she doubted her ability to pull the tiny pieces out herself. It was far too late at night to call anyone else over...

That left respawn. 

Sigh. 

It wasn't like it was hard or anything, it was just annoying to deal with! Any method was painful, even if the feeling only lasted for a few seconds at most; respawning was usually left as a last resort for a reason. But sometimes, even last resorts had to be used, and now was unfortunately looking like one of those times. 

She wasn't carrying anything valuable on her, so it was only a moment before she had let herself fall through one of the holes in the very bottom of the island. Void suffocation always felt the same, and Marm was one of the most familiar with the experience, so she always had the phantom sensations of leaving the atmosphere and falling down into a nothingness that wrapped itself around her body like a cold blanket before she even left the reach of the vines that grew nearby. 

When she respawned, however, instead of landing nicely on her bed like she thought she would, she ended up at the shopping district's center island. 

She swore, and let out a shout of frustration. Why didn't she check to make sure she'd respawn at her bed, or at least at her base?! It would have taken all of a minute at most! And now, she had to walk all the way back to the Mangrove kingdom in the middle of the night. At least no phantoms had shown up yet. Silver linings, silver linings. 

Marm decided to start the long trek back as soon as possible, so she began to walk towards the bridge leading to her island. But before she got very far, the sound of firework rockets and an elytra came closer, and a person landed a little ways behind her. Had they come to check on her? There wasn't any reason for them to- she didn't need anyone's help. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve, thankful it was dark enough that whoever it was wouldn't see her red face. 

"Marm? What's going on with you? You need help?" Asked the person. 

Their voice was a familiar one- very familiar. And the last one that Marm had expected to hear. 

She turned around, incredulous. 

"Kittrix?" 

"Yep, that's me!" Kitt smiled, the flames of her hair glowing brighter. "Hello, Marma1ade. Why'd you die?"

"Um..." Marm looked away. She didn't actually need Kitt's help with anything. 

"Marm. It's the middle of the fucking night, even you don't randomly die at this time. So, why'd you fall?"

"I needed to respawn, and that was the quickest way to. I'm just-" Marm yawned. "-heading back now." 

Kitt frowned. "You didn't set your spawnpoint beforehand? That doesn't seem like something you'd do, you're way more careful than that."

"I'm fine," said Marm. She internally grimaced at how snappish she sounded- but she was beginning to feel quite irritated. "Just... leave me be."

"Nah. You don't sound fine, and I'm worried about you."

"No! I'm going back to my swamp, and I'm going alone! Don't follow me," she turned around, only to have the world start spinning around her. She tripped, and nearly hit the bridge, but Kitt grabbed her before she did, helping her back to her feet.

"Look, Marm, you're my friend, okay? I-"

"You're my friend, Kitt? Really?" Marm spat, a bitter taste in her mouth. 

Kitt stopped, simply staring at Marm. Marm couldn't read her face. 

"Yeah, I'm your friend- I am, right?" She whispered. 

"Then why did you leave me all alone? I know you're hurting because of what happened to Trog, but you're the last person I have left to talk to about anything! And you left me all alone! Friends don't abandon friends, Kitt. I- I need you!" Marm choked out. She fell to her knees, collapsing from the flood of emotions overtaking her- anger, mainly.

Kitt stood still, falling silent. Her hair dimmed, going from a wild, bright flame to a gentle flicker. 

"I'm sorry, Marm," she murmured. She crumpled, sitting down next to her and bringing her knees up to her chest. She buried her head in her arms. "I was just so scared. I know Trog's still here, but they're not themself, and I hate it. I hate it so much, why can't they just go back to normal? Why can't we all just go back to normal? Where did Tea go, and why hasn't she come back? Have you had any contact with her at all?" She peeked out at Marm, who could now see her grey eyes had filled with tears. 

Marm took a steadying breath. "No, I haven't. I'm sorry... I'm just as lost as you are. I miss our old group," she cried. "I miss us!"

Their quiet sobs were the only noise that could be heard. 

"...Marm?" Kitt spoke up, a few minutes later. Her voice was raspy. 

"Hm?"

"Can I stay at your place tonight? I don't want to be alone." 

Marm considered it. "Alright... I don't see why not." She shrugged. Kitt breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Thank you. I... I'm still sorry I stopped talking to you. I know I already apologized, but I still feel bad. I know you don't mean any harm with all the weird magic you have and stuff, but, well..." she trailed off. 

"I'm a walking reminder of what happened to Trog?" Marm finished for her, wiggling her fingers. Kitt nodded. 

She pushed herself to her feet. She held out a hand to Marm, who took it gratefully. They started walking back, Marm somewhat leaning on Kitt for balance. 

"Does this mean you'll tell me what happened to you?" Kitt asked, after a couple of minutes of walking. "Like, why you decided to respawn at this disgusting time of night?"

Biting her lip, Marm decided that it couldn't hurt to tell Kitt. She said, slowly, "I accidentally cut myself on some shards of glass. I didn't think I could get them out of my hand by myself, and I didn't want to ask anyone to come over and help me. I forgot I hadn't set my spawn at my bed, and wound up at spawn instead." 

Did she omit some of the specific details? Maybe. Kitt didn't need to know why she hurt herself. But that was essentially what had happened, anyways, so she wasn't lying. 

"I see. I guess that that's not the worst thing that you could have done, but Marm, next time, anyone on this server would have been plenty willing to help you! Even if it's the middle of the night. No one wants you to suffer," Kitt replied. "I was awake. I could have gone over."

"Still- I didn't want to make you come over. Also... I wasn't exactly in the right headspace to talk to anyone." 

Now, Kitt most likely suspected that Marm still wasn't telling her everything. 

That would be fine. She might choose to tell her in the morning, when she was less tired, or she might not. 

"Hm. Well, it'll be alright. We're talking! Also, we're cool, right?" Kitt sounded so hopeful, Marm couldn't bear to say no. And if she was being honest with herself she desperately wanted them to be cool as well. 

She'd figure everything out in the end! 

After all- she still remained the only one who could. 

"Yeah- we're cool."

[thebiscuiteternal]

for the writing jam: nhs tries to do something nice for meng yao or take him out or something but he keeps misinterpreting it as one of his duties. thx!

Nie Huaisang thought he'd had everything planned out.

For over a month, he'd been carefully observing Meng Yao on the rare times he actually joined the disciples on a trip to the market, or even went alone.

He'd made notes of every item that caught Meng Yao's interest, only to be put back with a wistful sigh, of every restaurant Meng Yao would hesitate at the door of and never go in.

Of course, he didn't want to throw too much at Meng Yao on one trip, but he had been so sure that the little list of stalls to shop at and the tearoom to eat lunch at had been tailored exclusively of things that Meng Yao clearly wanted, but wouldn't let himself indulge in.

That Nie Huaisang would be all too happy to give him.

So why, then, were they both left awkwardly picking at their food, Meng Yao staring at some surely fascinating spot on the table as he ate, and Nie Huaisang struggling not to squirm or huff in frustration?

The entire trip, it had been "Yes, gongzi," and "No, gongzi," and "This one couldn't possibly, gongzi," and it made no sense. Meng Yao wasn't this deferential to him at home, at least not after the first week they'd known each other, so why-?

Should he bring it up?

If the problem was something he could fix, then he certainly wanted the chance to do so, but what if he came off as accusatory? What if he made Meng Yao clam up even further?

Eventually, he decided he didn't have any other options. If nothing else, their food was getting cold.

"Yao-ge... would you rather order something different?"

There. That should be an innocent enough lead-in.

And yet Meng Yao visibly flinched and okay, now Nie Huaisang was concerned.

"Yao-ge-" he started, but was cut off by-

"Please don't tell Zongzhu I was disagreeable!"

Nie Huaisang stared.

Then slowly and deliberately closed his open mouth.

Then put his head in his hands with a groan. "What did Da-ge say to you?" he asked, the question muffled by his palms.

"I- that is- this one-" Meng Yao stumbled over the words before seeming to realize Huaisang wasn't going to call him on it. "I... told him that the two of us were going to the markets, just us, and he was... very insistent that I-"

"-keep me out of trouble and not overly indulge?" Huaisang finished for him.

When Meng Yao nodded, it was all Huaisang could do not to pull on his own hair in annoyance.

All that careful planning, and his da-ge had turned it all around from a gift into a babysitting mission with just a few words.

"The trip was for you," he finally muttered once he'd gotten the urge to scream back under control.

Meng Yao's expression turned from fearful to confused and damn, it was cute. "I don't follow, gongzi."

"I knew you'd been looking at Zhao-xiansheng's newest work, and the stationary shop's new inventory. I knew this was one of the places you'd been looking at the menu, but hadn't tried."

Needing something in his hands, but unwilling to hide behind a fan the way he normally did, Nie Huaisang fiddled with his soup spoon instead. "I knew you'd be too worried about the expense to ever do anything but look."

"You were watching me that closely?" Meng Yao asked, and Nie Huaisang winced. But when he raised his head, the expression on Meng Yao's face wasn't disturbed or disgusted.

Instead he looked almost... awed.

"You're very interesting," Nie Huaisang said tentatively, hoping it wasn't pushing too far.

"Some would disagree with that... or at least they wouldn't be interested for the reasons you seem to be."

"Then they're stupid."

Meng Yao involuntarily snorted, then covered his mouth with his sleeve to regain his composure. "So... this trip," he said once he'd succeeded. "I... think it would be best if we just concluded it after lunch."

"But-?" Nie Huaisang asked.

"If you're really sure about this... maybe we could attempt a do-over sometime soon?"

Nie Huaisang beamed, the last of the tense knot in his stomach finally dissolving. "Yeah. Any day you like."