#the other day i walked a 17 year old employee out to her car after closing despite it being out of my way | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

drunk-person · 2 months ago

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Dynasty (The Gossip) P.7

Pairing: Aemond Targaryen x cousin!reader

Summary: One of the most talked about gossips among the lower class servants in Kings Landing is the fact (or not) that Aemond Targaryen got involved with his cousin Y/n Targaryen when they were both teenagers. Mainly due to the fact that at the age of 17 she was sent to Old Town overnight. Some employees claim that Aemond was caught between her legs. Some say that, like her father, she had had a horrible fight with her uncle and aunt and was sent away. And other than that none of this happened, she just became interested in the course offered at the Old Town conservatory. But now five years later, Y/n Targaryen is back, and rumors haunt those who favor them.

This chapter is a part of a main story The gossip, you can find the previous chapter, summary and general tags by accessing the link.

Summary of the chapter: The return to Kings Landing may not bring everything that Aemond and Y/n expected, since life does not always favor the choices of those born into a dynasty.

Warnings of the chapter: 18+, family fights, dysfunctional family, I don't know what warnings to put up today, no description for reader.

Word count: 9.800 k

A/n: Ok this chapter was a little hard to write and I told myself I would stop editing it or it would never see the light of the Internet hahaha. For those who want to follow the soundtrack in this chapter we have a bit of Two Ghosts by Harry Styles and then Dynasty by MIIA. I hope you like it, and continue to like me after this.

"Hey, hey Kings Landing, apparently Aemond Targaryen was seen on the beach in Lys over the weekend. It was not reported whether he was accompanied or not, but we all know that no one goes to Lys unaccompanied, and everyone who goes there does not intend to be seen. Could this be the reason for Floris Baratheon's disaffection?"

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The trip back to Kings Landing was nothing but peaceful. And while still on the plane, Aemond smilingly decided that the cat's name would be Vhagar, just like the ancient Valyrian goddess, which Y/n vehemently approved. The two landed in the early hours of Monday, and with Aemond still excited, they went to a 24-hour veterinary clinic, where Vhagar could be examined and properly vaccinated. When the two returned with her to the car, she was much cleaner, although her fur was still dull. And Aemond had bought special food, a bed and toys for cats.

Vhagar was slightly scared when she arrived at Aemond's apartment, since she had never been in that environment. And as soon as Aemond opened the transport box, she hid under the bookshelf in the living room and refused to leave, which Aemond respected, letting her adapt.

The next morning, Aemond had to use all the willpower he had in him to get out of bed after having slept for about two hours. Y/n's warm body next to his in bed looked so attractive, covered in nothing but a black cotton shirt that she had taken from his closet. And all he wanted was to cling to her and spend the whole morning just breathing deeply against her neck.

Reluctantly, Aemond got up without waking her and took a shower. As he got dressed for the day, her voice called him softly and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up with that sweet sound.

-Are you already going to work? - Her hair was messy and her face was slightly crumpled as she stared at him and Aemond walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, pulling her in for a soft kiss.

-Mmmm. - He murmured positively and almost felt faint when she crossed her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and leaving another kiss.

-If you need to talk to me, just give me a call. - Aemond spoke against her neck after breaking the kiss, pointing to the phone he had brought from the living room and left on the bedside table and Y/n nodded positively with a smile.

-Did you leave your number? - She frowned slightly.

-It's still the same as always. - He shrugged. - I never changed it.

Y/n just smiled and left a soft kiss on his chin before Aemond got up and headed for the door.

-See you later.

❦❦❦

Aemond was visibly tired when he arrived at the company that morning, and all he wanted was to have stayed cuddled with Y/n in bed at least until 11. In his slight distraction caused by sleep, he barely noticed the eyes following him as soon as he entered the main hall of the Targaryan, everyone inadvertently noticing the not-so-subtle tan on his always white skin, denouncing the veracity of the speculations pointed out early in the morning in the gossip magazines and blogs.

As soon as he got off the elevator on the floor where his and Aegon's offices were, the secretaries' eyes landed curiously on his skin, and soon after the two quickly looked at each other with slightly anxious eyes.

-Any message for me? - Aemond asked, already heading towards his own office.

-No message, sir, just some late reports from last week that are on your desk. - Lizze replied quickly while nodding her head negatively.

-Mmmm, good… - He then stopped in the middle of the way - When you order my lunch, order the same as you ordered for me, but swap the meat for fish or chicken and have it delivered to my apartment.

-Yes sir. - Lizze quickly wrote down what he said so as not to run the risk of forgetting. And as soon as the door to Aemond's office closed she whispered to Sana.

-Last Friday she made that exact same order for me. - Lizze leaned over the table as she spoke and Sana just drummed her fingers on the table while laughing and waggling her eyebrows at Lizze.

-So we already know where she's spending the day. - Sana whispered back laughing. - Did you see his skin? He looks like a walking shrimp! He must have been frying in the Lys sun all weekend.

-Well we have a good idea of who was keeping him company. - Lizze bit her lip, a little guilty for making such statements, even though she knew they were probably true.

-You mean we're sure, right? - Sana rolled her eyes, laughing.

-What I really know is that she's been back less than a week and in that time my workload has decreased by 50% and I got a raise, I hope she never leaves! - Lizze concluded with a mischievous smile as she answered a call.

❦❦❦

Aemond gave an irritated look at his desk as soon as he entered the office, he hated delays with almost every ounce of his being. And after reading to make sure everything was right and finally being able to finish his own reports, he decided to personally deliver the papers to his father in the presidency.

He usually didn't go to Viserys' office very often, only when strictly necessary, but he was in a good mood and it wouldn't cost him anything to go there and deliver such important documents.

-You look happy. - Viserys said, looking at his son with a slight smile as he approached the desk and Aemond frowned in confusion since he had the same serious look as always. - It's good to see you like this.

-Mmmm. - He murmured, lowering his gaze, a little embarrassed as he usually was when interacting with his father.

-The technical data reports for this month. - He placed the first folder on the table. - And sector growth reports.

-Very good. - The older man nodded positively while analyzing the papers. - Good work Aemond.

Aemond just nodded, almost letting out a sideways smile as he left while Viserys stared at his son's back, a little apprehensive about the reason for his apparent happiness. The cloud of melancholy that hovered around him seemed to have dissipated overnight, and the patriarch was slightly worried that his wife was right in her concerns.

❦❦❦

The sun was already a little high in the sky when Y/n, even though she was still sleepy, forced herself to get up from Aemond's comfortable bed. She had a lot of things to plan and wanted to find a perfect place to be the studio for the brand in formation. And after taking a shower to feel more awake, wearing a beautiful aqua green sundress that she had brought from Lys and eating some yogurts from the fridge, she turned on the desktop computer in the office to start working.

Y/n hadn't noticed much about Aemond's apartment the day she arrived, but thinking better now that she was looking closely there wasn't much to notice. It was very spacious and there were almost no walls, increasing the feeling of spaciousness. Apart from the main furniture, it didn't have any decorations that drew much attention; the walls were white and the furniture was a mix of black, gray and cream. In fact, when she stopped to think about it, she concluded that even his office at the company had more personality.

The only thing that caught the eye was the large wooden shelf full of books. And she couldn't help but smile at the huge collection he had acquired. Some of them, she was sure, should be in a museum, and not on Aemond's personal bookshelf.

Below the bookcase, Y/n frowned when she noticed a beautiful wooden chest with some flowers carved on the lid, but when she tried to open it, she realized it was locked. She then went back to the computer desk and rolled her eyes deeply when she realized it was asking for a password.

Grumbling softly, she walked back to Aemond's room to get the phone. With a huff, she jumped onto the soft bed, lying on her stomach and reaching for the phone on the table. But then her brow furrowed slightly when she saw the bedside drawer with an open gap. Curiously, she opened it all the way, feeling her face heat up a little as she began to laugh when she found two polaroids of herself at the bottom of the drawer. In one, she was just smiling with her eyes closed, wearing a yellow summer dress, lying amidst the colorful flowers of a meadow that the two of them always went to hide in near Kings Wood, something completely innocent. But the other… It was her lying in the middle of the sheets of Aemond's bed wearing nothing but a smile, Y/n remembered that photo and the moment it was taken, it was the first time he had made her cum three times, and at the height of his own arrogance he took that photo saying he wanted to remember that moment forever. And with a smile she dialed the number that she had known by heart for a long time, waiting for Aemond to answer. When he finally did, her smile grew even wider.

-You know, I found something very interesting in your bedside drawer. - She laughed, turning over and lying on her back on the sheets, looking at the ceiling.

-Very interesting? - She could almost see Aemond roll his eyes and smile wryly if he closed his eyes.

-Yeah, you know, a picture of a girl? - She asked, still thrown between the sheets.

-If it's of a very pretty girl, put it back where you found it and don't crease the edges… I only have one of those. - She smiled against the phone when she heard him speak.

-Can I ask what you did with one of them in specific?

-You can after dinner today. - He murmured on the other end of the line and Y/n pulled her legs against her, laughing.

-I'll contain my curiosity.

-Is everything okay? - His voice sounded worried and Y/n felt her heart warm.

-Yes, but I need the computer's password. - She rolled excitedly onto the bed, lying on her stomach while swinging her legs. - I want to look at the available properties to find one that's good enough.

When Aemond started saying the numbers, Y/n jumped out of bed and walked quickly back to the living room, asking him to repeat it more slowly as she sat down on the chair, barely noticing the fact that the numbers were her birthday. She just smiled when she saw a photo of the mansion's garden at dusk, only the stone bench under the tree empty.

-Did you have breakfast?

-Yup. - She answered, already accessing the browser and crossing her legs in a lotus flower on the chair - Yogurt.

-Yogurt is not breakfast. - His voice was serious and Y/n smiled when she imagined the crease forming on his forehead.

-It was when is my first meal of the day. - She rolled her eyes, still laughing. - Now get back to work!

And without saying anything else, Y/n hung up the phone and threw it on the table, then grabbed some papers and a pencil to start researching.

❦❦❦

Aemond hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket, still smiling, but the smile slowly faded when the office door opened and his grandfather and mother entered unannounced, with very serious looks on their faces.

-Hello, Aemond. - Oto's expression would have made anyone tremble at that moment as Alicent closed the door and walked behind her father towards the office desk. - I heard some rumors that may not be good at all.

-Well, the bad tongues of this city have a certain addiction to spreading unfounded gossip. - The youngest disdained, raising his eyebrows slightly. - If we paid attention to all of them, some of us would already be arrested for moral harassment, wouldn't you say, grandfather?

Oto only became even more serious, staring at Aemond with twice the fury.

-I'll ask you just once, Aemond. - Oto's cold and controlled voice seemed to drop the temperature of the room. - Are you having an affair with that little bitch again?

-Don't you dare talk about her like that! - Aemond practically growled with a carefully calculated tone of voice.

-Based on your inconvenience, I can assume so. - Oto placed both hands on the tabletop, staring into his eyes. - And I'm trying to understand Aemond where you're planning to go with this, because Aegon is a stupid idiot and we all know that, but I always expected more from you.

Aemond's eyes burned with anger as he heard his grandfather speak, and he stared back at him without moving a muscle while he felt his hands tremble.

-Do you remember what we talked about the last time I was here? - Oto hissed tightly. - About the unique opportunity that the party chose to offer you? Your candidacy could be launched in the next elections alongside mine, this would make you one of the youngest deputies in our history, it would give more power to our family, it would improve your position within the company and as an heir!

-But do you think the conservative party will maintain the proposal if all this comes to light in the media? - The older man glared at him. - People are not stupid! They see things and go around talking about what they see. Do you think no one is talking about you going to Lys all of a sudden and leaving your fiancée behind?

-She's not my fiancée! - Aemond spoke firmly and slowly, narrowing his eyes at his grandfather.

-But it should be! - Oto slammed his hands on the table. - Do you think that girl is going to wait forever? That her father will be patient forever? He is my ally and supporter within the party, but he expects to receive something in return and this marriage is as beneficial to you as it is to everyone else involved. The shareholders will pressure Viserys about the succession if you are married to Floris and have direct influence over Baratheon industries!

-What if I don't want any of this? - Aemond walked away from his grandfather and headed towards the bookshelves under Alicent's watchful eye. - What if I want to have a different life?

-A different life? - Oto scoffed before Alicent could open her own mouth. - There is no different life for you, Aemond! You were born for this, for business, for politics! You are a Targaryen and a Hightower, you will not give up everything for a girl who is not worth your time. You were born into a dynasty, boy! Luxuries like choices cannot be paid for!

-She is exactly like her father! - Oto growled angrily, approaching his grandson again. - She doesn't think before she acts, she only does what she wants and thinks she deserves to do well for it. Let me tell you where Daemon is now, isolated in Pentos, married to a useless woman, with two daughters and running a branch of the company that is of absolutely no use! He threw away the golden opportunity that was Rhea Royce because he thought he deserved a different life. That's what happened!

-Do you want to follow that same path? End up with nothing, just the failure they expect you to be, just like Aegon is? - Oto almost shouted those words to Aemond as he got closer and closer to him under Alicent's watchful gaze. -That girl will only pull you down like the anchor she is! Putting those stupid dreams in your head.

Aemond's brain seemed to be rattling around in his head at his grandfather's words, he could barely reason. And as if that would help bring his focus back, he brought his hands to his eyes and pressed them tightly, breathing deeply. When he opened them again, he faced the leather sofa ahead where Y/n was lying waiting for him while drawing, talking and smiling two days ago, feeling her heart speed up.

-I'm not going to marry Floris Baratheon! - He stated slowly, looking very seriously at his grandfather. - And I'm not going to continue with this whole farce, this "relationship" with Floris is over! I'm going to end it all with her today.

-You can't do that! - Alicent screeched, walking towards the father and son. - Aemond, you're not thinking straight, I won't allow you to throw everything away for such a sordid sin.

-Sin is what I'm doing to Floris! - His eyes were wide and he looked towards the elders as he gestured. - Involving her in this whole situation just for my own benefit while I'm in love with someone else…

-Aemond! - Alicent reprimanded him firmly the moment he used the term love. - How many times have I told you not to repeat this? Why can't you just forget about it all? Leave this horrible story behind? You were doing so well until she came back here and messed with your head again.

-Nothing was fine, it wasn't even close to being fine! - He looked at the older people with a fierce look. - But I'm not going to live that way anymore, and I can't bring Floris into this either.

Alicent put her hands to her mouth, sobbing as she stared at Aemond. He felt horrible at that moment for making his mother cry. For a moment, he almost apologized and took back what he had said.

-Do you think your actions only affect you, boy? - Oto turned once again towards Aemond with a fulminated look. - Do you think the consequences won't affect me too?

-The elections are at the end of this year and I run the risk of not even having my candidacy launched by the party if you are involved in a scandal of this magnitude!

-I have built my entire career based on family, morals and good customs. - Oto looked at him fixedly. - And now we have Aegon and Daeron destroying my reputation out there. My salvation is you and Helaena. If you do this, Aemond, I will lose my position in the party and probably my political position.

-And what do you expect me to do? - Aemond asked through gritted teeth, feeling like he could collapse at any moment as he looked at his grandfather with his eyes trembling with pain and doubt.

-Wait at least until the elections to break up with Floris Baratheon. - Oto almost smiled saying those words. - Just act as if everything was normal between you two.

-I can't do that. - Aemond shook his head negatively as he remembered the promise he made to Y/n.

He didn't need to say the reason, both Oto and Alicent knew very well what it was. And before Alicent started talking again, the older man silenced her with just a gesture.

-I know your reasons, Aemond. But if she loves you as much as she says, she will understand your situation. - Oto's eyes shone as he said that. - She will wait for all this to be resolved.

-Give me a few days to think about what I'm going to do. - He asked in a morbid voice, staring at his grandfather with a lost look in his eyes.

-Then at least guarantee me that you will go to the charity ball with Floris. - Oto demanded in a harsh voice. - That would be very good for your image after the last few days and consequently for my image as well.

-Mmm. - And without knowing what to say, Aemond just murmured and nodded to his grandfather who smiled sideways at the small victory.

❦❦❦

Sana and Lizze practically bit their nails out of curiosity in the entrance hall of the offices. Every now and then they heard shouts and incoherent words coming from inside Aemond's office. The only thing they both knew was that they were discussing Floris Baratheon.

And when the doors finally opened and Oto came out followed by Alicent, both with unfriendly faces, the two pretended to focus on their own tasks, avoiding even looking away to notice them.

-Father, have you lost your mind? - Alicent looked at him furiously, starting to speak as soon as the elevator doors closed. - Why did you back off?

-Because it wouldn't do any point to pressure him to stay away from her. I underestimated Aemond's devotion towards her. - Oto's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

-I warned you, didn't I? - Alicent hissed, biting the skin of her thumb staring at his father with wide eyes. - You weren't there the night I sent her away, you didn't see what I saw! She's like a parasite stuck to him.

-Well, we already know one thing… the only person who can keep Aemond away from Y/n is Y/n herself. - The oldest looked at her very seriously. - And I'm going to make sure that happens.

-How?

-From the little time I've spent with her and from what you've told me, the girl has the same unstable temperament as that her idiot father. - Oto rolled his eyes. - It'll be easy to put her exactly in the position we want.

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Y/n was leaning over the office desk eating one of the remaining chocolate bars Aemond had bought for her in Lys the day before while crossing a potential property off the list after realizing it was too close to Flea Bottom.

The soft sound of the doorbell broke through the silence of the apartment and Y/n frowned, heading towards the door without even looking at who it was before opening it, becoming even more confused when she found a food delivery man standing in the doorway.

-I didn't order food. - The girl frowned, staring at the boy.

-This is Mr. Aemond Targaryen's apartment, isn't it? - The boy looked at her confused and Y/n just nodded positively.

-So that's right. - He handed the package into Y/n's hands and left, wishing her a good lunch, making her smile and wish him a good day at work.

She rolled her eyes with a silly smile on her lips as she opened the package and saw the smoked salmon with Caesar salad and some side dishes.

-He knows how to be sweet when he wants to be. - She said to Vhagar who was eating some of the food with her back to the wall while looking at her suspiciously.

Y/n tried to call Aemond to talk about lunch, but he didn't answer her calls and shrugging her shoulders she finished her own meal while feeling Vhagar, who had become less skittish after getting a piece of fish from Y/n's plate, rubbing herself against her calves.

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The rest of Aemond's afternoon was an endless torment. He barely touched the food that had been brought and didn't do even a third of the work he was supposed to do for the day. He just kept thinking about how he was going to get out of this situation without causing any more problems, but there seemed to be no answer.

Y/n called once again shortly after his mother and grandfather left his office, but Aemond didn't have the courage to answer. Not after all that, not when he felt unable to draw oxygen into his own lungs.

Hours later, when the sun was already setting on the horizon, he sighed deeply and picked up the phone, dialing the home number, leaning over the table as if a huge weight were on his back.

-Hello you! - Y/n's sweet voice came on the other end of the line and Aemond felt his chest tighten.

-Hey, beautiful. - He practically sighed. - Is everything okay?

-Well, I received some delicious food for lunch and I have ten good real estate options for the studio, so I would say yes. - He could feel the excitement in her voice as she spoke and couldn't help but smile melancholy.

-But what about you… are you okay? - She paused, her voice suddenly worried, he did his best to reassure her.

-Yes, just a stressful meeting earlier.

-Oh, I can give you a back massage when you get home. - Her voice was so soft, so sweet, so concerned for him. Aemond felt his own body tingle.

-That will definitely be well received. - He smiled more genuinely and soon after that he decided he had had enough of that day.

-I'll be there in a few minutes.

-Really? - Her voice sounded excited and he was sure she was biting her lower lip at that very moment. - I thought you were leaving later.

-And I am, but I'm leaving early today.

-Great! I'm going to order something for us to eat! See you later.

Aemond heard two loud kisses that she had probably placed on the phone and shortly afterwards the line went dead. He just rolled his eyes with a tired smile and put away his things and left the office.

-Miss Mayotte, take my messages. I'm going for today. - He announced without even looking at the secretaries as he walked towards the elevator.

-Yes sir. - Lizze nodded positively while, away from her boss's gaze, she raised her eyebrows questioningly at Sana, who just shrugged.

-Someone was obviously not happy with the visit earlier. - Sana whispered as soon as the elevator door closed, but even if he had been next to her, Aemond probably wouldn't have heard with so many thoughts screaming in his head at the same time.

And when he got into the car he made a decision, he would tell Y/n everything that had been said by his grandfather and mother as soon as they both finished dinner.

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Not far from there, at the Flavor of Seven Tea House, evil-intentioned tongues gnawed at each other in malicious whispers. As was already common, some of the members of Kings Landing's high society were sharing a table for afternoon tea in one of the most expensive places in the city.

The laughter was contained and the voices low and polite while, more cruelly than the lower class, they made cruel comments about each other's lives. The conversation at the table immediately ceased when the door of the tea house opened and Aemond Targaryen entered with his very serious look and his usual importance.

As soon as he arrived at the main counter, everyone started talking even more intensely and even more quietly so that no one around could hear.

-Look at his skin. - Elyrio Hayford murmured, taking a subtle sip of tea while pretending not to look in Aemond's direction.

The others at the table nodded positively while raising their eyebrows and biting their lips, also looking discreetly in the direction of the counter.

-I just wanted to run into Y/n around to make sure she was in Lys with him. - Elyrio's younger brother, Lion grumbled, taking some cookies from the older brother's plate.

-And how would you do that? - Jane Pyle asked laughingly, biting her lower lip and raising her eyebrows, drinking some of the black coffee in the cup.

-Hello Y/n dear, have you been seeing Lys with your grumpy and hot cousin in the last few days? - Jane spoke in a terrible imitation of Lion's voice and he just threw one of the cookies at her, making her laugh even more.

-And do you think it would be necessary to ask? - Elyrio whispered maliciously. - Just look at him! He's more tan than the surfers at Black Water, he looks like a shrimp. And I bet all my inheritance that she must be the same!

-What's he ordering at the counter? - Pia Rosby, who had her back to Aemond, hissed in curiosity. - As far as I know, Floris always says he doesn't eat sweets.

-I can't see very well. - Lion rolled his eyes. - That huge guy is blocking my field of vision.

-It looks like he's taking a strawberry cake. - And trying to be discreet, Elyrio leaned closer to Jane to try to see.

-Sometimes he'll take the cake to Floris. - Pia shrugged and everyone at the table laughed a little louder without meaning to.

-Floris is allergic to strawberries. - Jane rolled her eyes, still laughing. - That's besides the fact that she told Nia a while ago that he never brought her a single sweet, among other things that a boyfriend is supposed to give his girlfriend when he likes her.

The four of them looked away at the same moment Aemond turned and walked past them all once more without saying a word, leaving the tea house with the package in his hands.

-Everyone's going to the Targaryen charity ball this week, aren't they? - Lion smiled evilly as he stirred his iced tea with a straw.

-I wouldn't miss it for anything! - Jane smiled, biting her lip as she drank the last sip of coffee.

❦❦❦

Y/n smiled and hummed the music on the radio as she placed plates, cutlery and glasses on the dining table. The phone was next to the computer, and she had already called five of the places on the list. Unfortunately, none of them had pleased her enough. But she was still absolutely happy. Aemond had called her about an hour ago saying he would be home early from the company. And with a smile, she ordered food from a restaurant they always went to for family dinners.

Setting the table and waiting for Aemond Y/n felt like she was 9 years old again playing house where she and Aemond pretended to be a very happy couple, the only thing missing was the children she thought unconsciously putting her right hand to her stomach feeling a pang of pain in her heart , then shaking her head as if that could drive away the bad thoughts and then smiling at the thought that in a short time she and Aemond could have all of this.

Without warning, the door opened and Aemond entered, leaving the folder on the top of the sideboard where he kept his shoes. And walking towards him with a smile, Y/n could see a package of craft paper with yellow ribbons in his hands and frowned curiously.

-What is this? - She pointed with her chin at the package expectantly while pulling him by the neck and leaving a kiss on his lips, and Aemond shrugged his shoulders in a sign of unimportance.

-Only the best strawberry cake from Flavor of Seven.

-No way. - Y/n said, her eyes shining, going towards him and taking the package to open it as if it were a gift under Aemond's watchful eyes.

An easy smile appeared on his lips when he saw in Y/n that same childish joy that she had when he gave her sweets as a child.

-Do you know the best part of being an adult? - She suddenly looked very serious at Aemond and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he denied it.

-Being able to eat dessert before dinner. - She wiggled her eyebrows laughingly, placing the cake on the table while she went to look for a cake knife, leaving Aemond smiling behind. He looked down, still smiling, and then saw Vhagar sleeping hidden under the couch, with only her tail sticking out.

-Was she okay during the day? - He arched his eyebrows, following Y/n to the kitchen.

-Yup. - She nodded with a smile as she bit the tip of one of the strawberries she had taken from the top of the cake and put the rest in Aemond's mouth. - She spent most of the time hiding, but she ate, drank water, and walked around the apartment a few times.

-Well, the vet said it's normal for this to happen while she adapts to the environment. - He smiled slightly after swallowing the strawberry, staring at Y/n's smiling red lips.

And with his heart still aching from the dark day, he gently pulled her by the waist and kissed her sweetly on the lips, feeling the strawberry flavor of his own lips mixing with hers in a soft caress.

After breaking the kiss, Y/n just buried her head in the crook of Aemond's neck, rubbing herself lovingly against him while sighing when she felt him stroking her hair affectionately. And with a sweet smile she walked back towards the dining room to cut the cake, followed closely by the eldest who stopped when passing by the office itself.

Aemond smiled as he looked over the computer table and found some drawings of how she wanted the front of the studio to look, some sketches of the interior and even some drawings of Vhagar throughout the day. In one of them, the cat was eating, in another just sitting on the chair and in another hidden under the bookshelf with only her long, fluffy, gray tail showing.

-What did you order for dinner? - He observed the practically perfectly organized table with curiosity as the serving bowls were covered.

-That Westerlands restaurant that we always went to in the past. - Y/n cut a slice of cake and placed it on Aemond's plate. - Ravioli with mushrooms and cheese. - She smiled, placing a slice on her own plate while Aemond murmured in approval of the dinner menu.

The two ate dessert before dinner and amidst smiles and conversations Aemond opened the wine that Y/n had ordered with the food and they both laughed when the cork hit the shelf hard, making Vhagar show her teeth in discomfort and hide under Aemond's chair, who was delighted with the fact that she felt safe around him.

In the tranquility of dinner conversations, Y/n told him that of all the places, the one she liked the most already had a proposal and was off the market. And Aemond squeezed her hand, humming and vehemently affirming that she would find an even better place, making her smile and lean towards him.

When they finished dinner, Y/n held his hands and they hugged while dancing to the soft music that played on the radio. Aemond buried his head in her soft hair that smelled of his shampoo and closed his eyes in pleasure, then distributed kisses on her face and neck, still feeling the light taste of the wine they had drunk on his lips while he kissed her.

And lost in the sweetness of that moment, he decided that he would not talk about anything that happened earlier with Y/n, at least not that night.

❦❦❦

The next day he did not wake her up, Y/n slept soundly between the covers and before leaving the apartment, Aemond just placed a soft kiss on her forehead, feeling his own heart ache in a strange way when he left her that morning.

Compared to the previous day, the morning was completely monotonous, and when it was close to 11:00, he sighed and headed to the meeting room for something that was finally relevant that day.

❦❦❦

Just like the previous day, Y/n got up, took a shower, got dressed and went straight to Aemond's office to continue organizing everything necessary for the opening of the studio. The hours passed while she took note of suppliers of good quality inputs. And feeling tired, she decided to eat a fruit to wait for lunch.

While she ate the peach, the browser's news tab updated and Y/n read some of it, rolling her eyes at all the sensationalism that was being done about the lives of members of high society while smiling, but then a new piece of news appeared in the breaking news carousel and her heart seemed to freeze in her chest the same moment she read it and the smile slowly died on her lips until all that was left was a soft tremor of despair.

Aemond Targaryen announces his engagement to Floris Baratheon.

Y/n felt her hands shaking uncontrollably as she clicked on the news, shaking her head as her eyes burned.

"The son of the magnate Viserys Targaryen, Aemond Targaryen has just announced the engagement with Floris Baratheon. According to him, the two would wait to make the announcement at the annual Targaryen Inc. charity ball, but faced with such happiness, they couldn't wait to make the announcement. Apparently Aemond Targaryen went to Lys to choose an exclusive ring for Floris made in the land of the goddess of love that she will wear at the ball. Happy news, isn't it?"

Y/n wanted to scream, scream until her lungs exploded and she no longer needed to feel that searing pain in her chest. She had barely noticed when the tears began to run down her cheeks, leaving her eyes blurry, and at that moment the only thing she could feel was pain.

Without even dressing appropriately, she opened the door to Aemond's apartment and slammed it behind her as she left the place in tears wearing only a short yellow dress and bare feet, barely seeing the path ahead of her down the hallway to the elevator.

-Miss Targaryen? - The doorman called her as soon as he got off the elevator in the building's lobby, seeing the state she was in, and Y/n felt like his voice was miles away. - Do you need something?

-Just order a taxi for me, please! That's all. - She begged amid sobs, barely able to breathe as she tried to wipe her own tears without success, the only thing Y/n wanted at that moment was to get out of that place.

The man just waved as he looked at her with a curious frown, but Y/n barely noticed, too lost in her own sadness to look around. And when the taxi arrived about three minutes later, she got in and drove away from there, still feeling the hot tears running down her cheeks, and no matter how much she squeezed her eyes, the bright letters announcing Aemond's engagement to another seemed to not disappear from her mind.

❦❦❦

-Congratulations, Mr. Targaryen. - Sana said politely as Aemond walked towards his own room, returning from the meeting, and the man frowned in visible confusion.

-For your engagement, of course. - The secretary smiled and Aemond felt his stomach drop.

-Where did you get such nonsense, Mrs. Heyors? - His voice sounded cold and sharp, making Lizze and Sana shrink in their chairs.

-I-It's on all the news sites, sir. - The woman lowered her head, unable to look him in the eye, and Aemond instantly turned the woman's computer screen to him, clicking on the news site in the tab next to it.

Bile rose in his throat instantly when he saw the huge photo of him next to Floris below the headline saying that he had announced an engagement between the two.

-Seven fucking hells. - He hissed in shock and without saying another word to either of them, Aemond turned and practically ran towards the elevator with only one thing on his mind, Y/n.

The secretaries just looked at him with silent judgmental looks and after the elevator door closed, Sana pulled her own chair up to Lizze's desk.

-What is this man planning to do? - She whispered, quickly looking over her shoulder to check if anyone was coming. - Marry the daughter of the Baratheons and have sex with his cousin in free time?

-Sana! - Lizze scolded her immediately, afraid that someone would hear them.

-But it's the truth and you know it. - She rolled her eyes. - Do you think he let us leave early on Friday night out of the pure kindness of his dark heart? I have a slight idea of what the two of them must have been doing alone in that room after we left that day.

-What about this whole story about him going to Lys just to buy a ring for Miss Baratheon? - Lizze hissed, giving up on reprimanding her coworker. - Do me a favor, I've never seen this man even take the time to go with the girl to the corner and out of nowhere he made a 3 hour trip just to buy her a ring?

-It's obvious that he went to Lys with his cousin and now they're trying to cover up the whole thing. - Sana rolled her eyes, but then approached Lizze very seriously. - But I don't think he agreed to this engagement thing, did you see his face? It felt like he had come face to face with a bear in the forest and then I thought it was going to eat us alive.

❦❦❦

Aemond got into the car and sped away from Targaryen at high speed, not even stopping at the entrance. His mind was boiling with anxiety as he drove like a madman through the busy streets of Kings Landing. As he tried to call the apartment's landline without success.

-Seven hells. - He practically shouted as he hit the steering wheel hard. - What the fuck.

He had barely stopped the car in the building's parking lot and without even taking the key out of the ignition, he already got out, taking long steps towards the elevator, pressing the button continuously as if that would make the elevator arrive faster, as he pressed his short nails firmly into the palms of his hands.

When he finally reached the apartment, the door was unlocked and he jumped inside, already calling Y/n's name with his wide eyes shining with despair, but getting no response. As he approached the computer, he saw the screen frozen on his own face next to Floris's with the huge news of the engagement.

-Damn. Damn. Damn it. - He walked back towards the door, almost tripping over Vhagar's bowl full of food, who was sleeping under the couch once again.

Aemond ran to the building's reception in search of the only likely person who would have seen her. The doorman.

-She left a few minutes ago, sir. - The older man replied as he nervously played with a pen. - She asked me to call her a taxi, she seemed very upset about something.

-Where did she go? - Aemond demanded with a cutting voice.

-H-hotel Aegon's Fort. - The man stuttered shakily while Aemond barely heard and ran back towards the parking lot, leaving once again at high speed while feeling his hands sweating cold.

As soon as Aemond entered the hotel reception, everyone looked at him curiously, but he didn't care, he just walked to the reception as fast as his legs could carry him.

-I would like to know the room number of my cousin Y/n Targaryen. - He looked at the boy at the reception who swallowed hard, barely able to look him in the eye.

-I-I'm sorry sir, b-but she asked not to be d-disturbed. - The poor boy stuttered shakily looking at the counter as he answered.

-My family owns this hotel! - Aemond hissed softly, placing his hand firmly on the counter, looking at him with wide, threatening eyes. - Everything inside here belongs to me, including your job.

-What's your name, boy? - Aemond's voice sounded weaponous and the boy in front of him felt like he was going to vomit.

-It's-It's Tom sir.

-Very well Tim, I'm asking you something very simple… I think it's best to do it. - Aemond looked at him even harder as he spat the words, and the boy nodded quickly in response while stuttering Y/n's room number.

And without saying anything else Aemond walked with long strides to the elevator, barely able to breathe, feeling as if the air was thin, while his stomach churned with anxiety.

As soon as he reached the room at the end of the corridor on the thirteenth floor, Aemond knocked on the door with wild eyes as he waited for an answer. A few moments later, Y/n opened it and he could see her eyes filled with tears. When she saw him, she tried to close the bedroom door again, but Aemond held it firmly, preventing her from doing so.

-You have to believe me when I say that I didn't authorize any of this. - He said in a very serious voice, staring at her as he held the door.

-You didn't authorize it, but you allowed your mother to authorize it. - She laughed in derision, still trying to close the door without success.

And being careful not to hurt her, Aemond pushed the door with a little more force, entering the room, making Y/n grunt in anger and going in the other direction.

-Y/n, please… - He murmured with his eyes shining, bringing his hands to her face as he always did when he wanted to calm her down.

-Don't touch me! - She hissed in an angry voice full of venom, avoiding his touch while looking at him with wide eyes. - Your fiancée is Floris.

-Y/n, no. - He shook his head in a desperate attempt to explain himself.

-Go away Aemond, leave me alone! - She begged, pointing to the door and turning her back to him, once again feeling the sting of tears behind her eyes.

-You promised me! - Y/n cried, still with her back to him, but unable to contain the tremors in her body even as she hugged herself tightly to try. - You promised me you would solve this! That it would have nothing to do with Floris anymore, and now what? - She spoke with a broken voice, almost a sob turning towards him, and Aemond felt his heart breaking into pieces when he saw the pain so deep in her eyes. - Your face is in all the newspapers announcing an engagement!

-I didn't announce anything. - He whispered, slowly approaching her once again. - My mother and my grandfather…

-That's enough! - Y/n yelled at the mention of Alicent and Oto, her face contorted in anger once again. - I don't want to know! - She laughed in derision. - I really don't! Marry Floris, buy a really beautiful house for both of you and enjoy the woman you chose!

Y/n practically screamed through her tears as Aemond tried to approach her as if she were a wounded animal that would attack him with any false step.

-Y/n, I should have told you, my grandfather asked me yesterday to wait for the elections before ending everything with Floris. Just to not hurt his campaign. That's all. But I didn't agree to announce any engagement! - He shot the words quickly while trying to keep his voice soft before she interrupted him.

-It's not a big deal. - He muttered, getting closer to her who had walked towards the dressing table to get away from him. - I'm still yours.

-It's not a big deal? - She squeaked, looking even more furious, feeling her stomach churn when she heard him say that. - Aemond! How do you think I feel? - She gestured, almost choking on her words and crying. - How would you feel if I went out with someone else, let him touch me and then had a fucking announcement of my engagement in every newspaper in the country?

Aemond felt his blood boil at that thought and could almost taste iron in his mouth just by imagining whoever it was next to his Y/n, and unconsciously his face contorted with anger.

-I thought it wasn't a big deal! - She spoke ironically, glaring at him as she dried her tears with the back of her hands once again.

-Y/n, if I do this, there might be a chance for the two of them to accept us being together! It's not just about being with Floris, I don't even like her! But if we do this, my grandfather might help me convince my mother in some time…

-How long until I become your lover? - Y/n cried in a desperate voice, staring at him.

-Y/n…

-How long, Aemond? - She almost screamed, her voice muffled by crying and pain as her lips trembled. - How long until your grandfather decides that you need to marry her, and you accept his decision? And I become your lover, watching you give her everything you promised me! Do you even remember the things you used to say to me? Of everything we planned together?

-It's not going to come to that! - He denied immediately, feeling his heart break when he saw the hurt in her eyes. - I would never let it get to that point, Y/n.

-Your grandfather is one of the most cunning people I've ever met in my life, Aemond. Unlike your mother, he never liked me, not even for a moment. What makes you believe that if you roll over and show him your belly, he will somehow miraculously accept us and convince your mother of that too?

Aemond had no answer for that and with his silence Y/n just laughed humorlessly, bringing her hands to her face and squeezing her own eyes shut, holding back the urge to just scream in frustration and anger.

-I will fix the things. - Aemond murmured, taking her hands between his and holding them tightly, looking into her eyes. - I swear to you that I will.

-I can no longer believe the promises you make me when we are alone. - Y/n sniffed, pulling her hands from his and crossing her arms protectively around her body. - Because when the day dawns and your mother snaps her fingers, you will run to the hem of her skirt like the obedient son that you are. - She sobbed, her face contorted in pain as she clenched more and more tightly into herself. - And maybe I would do the same, but I don't have a mother to take me in.

The older felt broken, he felt as if at any moment he would collapse on the floor of that room because he could not bear to be the reason for her tears. And when he tried to get closer to her once more, Y/n pushed his hand away from her forcefully, wiping her tears angrily and walking in the opposite direction of the room.

-Don't you lay a hand on me! - She hissed in fury with her dilated pupils leaving her eyes completely dark in a frightening way in contrast to the redness caused by crying. - I'm not yours to touch anymore!

-And I want to make one thing very clear to you, Aemond. If you're having to choose between me and this whole farce, you can go ahead and marry Floris to make your grandfather and mother happy. - Pain and anger pulsed in Y/n's eyes as she spat those words about Aemond. - Because if you really loved me, you wouldn't have to be choosing!

-Don't you dare question the intensity of my feelings for you. - Aemond hissed, his eyes burning, holding her by the shoulders and staring at her as he felt his own blood burning in his veins. - Don't you dare minimize the pain I felt in these years without you! How hard it was for me to lose you!

-How hard was it for you? - She mocked, throwing her head back in mockery, freeing herself from Aemond's hands once again but then walking towards him in a theatrical way while spitting out the words. - Poor Aemond Targaryen, he went to the college of his dreams and stayed here in Kings Landing doing whatever he wanted with his life.

-I was stuck in a septum for five years! - She shouted with wide eyes, putting her finger in Aemond's face. - You have no idea what I had to go through alone while you were here living your life as if nothing ever happened. I was left with all the consequences of what we did!

-You don't know half of what happened! - She cried, her face contorted in pain and her lips trembling, tangling her hands in her own hair as she screamed. - Half of what I had to go through alone!

-I asked you more than once if you wanted to talk about it. - Aemond shouted, his face contorted with anger, losing patience for her touching such a sensitive spot. - I asked you if you were okay, and you dodged me as if I were a stranger, someone you couldn't trust!

The words almost sounded jumbled on his tongue as he spoke and he seemed to be three times his size in his fury, but Y/n didn't back down, she just got even closer with so much anger and pain that it seemed like she was being swallowed by them.

-Maybe you're not! - Maybe I shouldn't trust you! Because after everything we've been through, after all the promises, when I come back you're with someone else, and do you know what the problem is? - She hit his chest with her index finger furiously.

- I was an idiot for continuing to love you and thinking that you felt the same way too, that nothing had changed over the years. I was a fool for believing that everything would still be the same, for blindly believing in the promises you made to me. You're a liar! Liar! Coward! - Y/n screamed and cried uncontrollably, hitting his chest while Aemond tried to hold her arms without hurting her in the process.

-You haven't said you love me even once since I came back. - She sobbed against his chest with a broken voice. - Not once.

-I still do. - Guilt chewed and swallowed him for not being able to say the words he wanted to say to Y/n at that moment and he just stroked her disheveled hair, making another wave of fury take over the younger girl's body, who pushed him away when she felt despised by him.

-Then do something about it if you really still feel that way about me! - She challenged him with her eyes flickering with anger. - Go down to the hall and tell everyone what we are to each other!

-You know I can't do that. - He muttered irritated with his patience again on the line when he heard Y/n question his feelings out loud once again.

-Because you don't want to do it! - She practically growled infuriated. - Why don't you care about how I feel!

-Why do you act like you're the only one with feelings? How do you suppose I feel about this? - Aemond shouted loudly, walking towards her with wide eyes.

-I can't just go around doing whatever I want because these things don't just affect me! - He yelled at her, but even Aemond's screams weren't loud and shrill like hers, they were contained and slightly muffled as his face contorted with rage. - It affects our family too! Affect my grandfather! You should know this better than anyone else!

His angry screams almost made her retreat, unable to deal with Aemond's anger directed at her. But then he shouted something that made her heart break even more if that was possible.

-But no, you're just like your father, you don't care about what happens around you as long as you're satisfied! - When Aemond realized what he had done, it was too late to take back the words.

-You didn't say that! - She whispered, frozen in place, looking at him with her face red and slightly swollen from crying.

-Y/n I… - The eldest held his breath, momentarily freezing when he saw the hurt in her eyes, the fury draining from his body as quickly as it had appeared.

-If I'm as selfish and crazy as my dad, then what are you still doing here? - She laughed humorlessly and looked at the floor as she took a deep breath.

-Fuck… - Aemond grunted with his hands on his head, looking at her with teary eyes. - That's not what I meant!

-Do you know what my dad came to Kings Landing for my 16th birthday? - She looked at him very seriously. - He came to get me, to take me to live with him in Pentos. But I didn't go, I chose to stay! I chose you! But I guess you never chose me. - She cried muffledly, covering her mouth with the back of her hand as she looked at him.

-That isn't true and you know it! - He hissed, taking firm steps towards her. - In every life, in every choice I would always choose you! - Aemond spoke with conviction, looking at her with teary eyes.

-You're not choosing now. - She mumbled, barely able to look at him.

-I wish I had never set foot in that house. - Y/n whispered in the midst of her tears, feeling like she would collapse at any moment. - Never having met you. I gave myself body and soul to you, I gave you all of me, every part of my being. And you… - She choked on her tears, unable to say another word.

Aemond didn't know what to say, didn't know what to answer. If she had cut him with a knife, it wouldn't have hurt as much as those words. The two stared at each other for what seemed like hours, breathing heavily and their eyes full of tears, without saying a single word. Until Aemond's phone started ringing and anger bit Y/n in the ankle once again.

-It must be your grandpa. - She mocked, squinting her eyes. - Or perhaps your mother. - She curled her lips in false curiosity. - Or better yet, maybe it's your dear fiancée!

-Here you can give this to her to match the beautiful ring that I'm sure your grandfather already bought! - Y/n screamed at the top of her lungs, ripping the sapphire necklace from her neck and throwing it at Aemond with force while his eyes widened, holding the beautiful and delicate silver necklace between his fingers, preventing it from falling to the floor.

-Get out of my room! - She screamed, pushing him away, barely giving him time to react as she held the necklace. - Get out of here! I don't want to see you anymore! Never!

-Please Y/n. - He looked at her in despair. - I'm begging you, let's solve all this!

-Don't come after me anymore! - She squealed between sobs and screams as she pushed him out of the room. - Better yet, forget that I exist!

-I don't think you'll have much trouble doing this again, considering the last time. - The venom in her voice as she said this before slamming the door could have killed Aemond right there.

And with the bang of the door slamming, Y/n collapsed sobbing on the floor, hugging her own legs and feeling the last remaining parts of her heart breaking into more pieces than she thought she could put together.

tag list: @afro-hispwriter @fan-goddess @strangersunghoon @zenka69 @callsignwidow @amanda08319 @alesswift-blog @marialikescherries

Final notes: All must choose... who is right and who is wrong in this fight? I hope you enjoyed the chapter my dear readers! 💕🥺❤️‍🩹

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shemarmooresfedora · 4 years ago

Text

Rebuilding Family

Summary: Y/N and Spencer were college sweethearts at Cal-Tech but once Spencer got accepted to the FBI Academy, he ended things deciding it was not fair to make Y/N wait for him. When they meet again years later, he discovers something unexpected.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem! Reader

Warnings: allusions to sex, heavy making out and touching (i think that should cover it), swears

A/N: now back to your regularly scheduled fluff...

Masterlist

Chapter 17

“Alright, bye. Love you,” you laughed, hanging up the phone.

“Jo, Daddy already found a way to make it up to you for missing the museum,” you smiled.

“What?” she asked excitedly.

“Ah that would ruin the surprise. Wouldn’t it?” you grinned, “But we are leaving now.”

Jo slid her snow boots and jacket on as you sneakily packed her hat, mittens, and snow pants. You also grabbed snow stuff for Spencer because converse and a sweater vest would not keep him warm in 29 degree weather with 7 inches of snow on the ground.

Jo skipped out of the elevator, not even waiting for you to go to Spencer’s desk.

“Daddy!” she exclaimed like usual.

“Hi, Princess!” he lifted her up into his lap, “Are you excited?”

Jo nodded enthusiastically.

“Good because I got permission to go sledding on the HUGE hill right outside,” he smiled.

“But I don’t have a sled,” Jo frowned.

“I bought you one,” he grinned.

After Spencer had finished suiting Jo up in her snow gear, you slid a purple hat with a big white pom-pom on top over his head, a few of his messy curls still poking out.

“Can’t have you getting cold either, my dear,” you gave him a quick peck on the nose as he scrunched his face up in a smile.

“Oh chocolate thunder, get my coat please. We are going outside to watch this cuteness!” Penelope exclaimed.

“Of course, baby girl,” he replied, standing up from his desk.

You all piled into the elevator and headed outside. Jo stared down at the big hill in front of them. It seemed awfully scary to a little girl.

You grabbed her mitten-covered hand.

“How about I go down with you the first time and Daddy pushes us?” you suggested.

Jo nodded as you both climbed into the sled.

“Okay, ready? 1...2...3!” Spencer gently pushed you both down the hill.

Spencer was relieved when he heard the joyful giggles of Jo followed shortly by your laughter.

Jo ran back up the hill with you towing the sled behind her.

“Daddy! You go with me now!” she said.

You both took turns going down the hill with Jo even Auntie Penelope and Uncle Derek had their turns. Jo was even brave enough to go down by herself if Spencer waited at the bottom for her.

Much to everyone’s chagrin, you had to go home when it started to get dark and Jo’s cheeks were bright red from the cold.

You, Spencer, and Jo were driving over an hour out of the city to get a freshly cut Christmas tree from a tree farm.

Spencer packed you all thermoses with hot chocolate and mini marshmallows. His excitement may have actually exceeded Jo’s. He told you he never got to get a real Christmas tree when he was younger because the trees shipped to the middle of the hot Las Vegas desert wilted quickly. And, he had no room for a big tree in his old apartment.

It was cute seeing the both of them all bundled up in their matching purple scarves and big winter coats. Spencer brought the sled so he could pull Jo along since there was about a foot of snow on the ground that would make it very hard for her to walk.

Spencer had taken the exact measurements of the corner of the living room so the tree would fit perfectly.

“What about that one?” you asked, pointing to a tree farther back in the field.

“Let’s go check it out,” Spencer pulled a measuring tape from his pocket.

“Always prepared, Dr. Reid,” you laughed.

“They didn't give me a PhD in engineering for nothing,” he grinned.

“This is about the right size. What do you think, Princess? Is this a good tree for Santa to put presents under?” he asked.

Jo gave an approving nod after inspecting the tree.

“Alright, then it’s settled. Hand me the saw, love,” Spencer said.

“Please be careful,” you reminded him, slowly handing him the saw that the farm employees gave to you.

After multiple breaks and some encouragement from you and Jo, Spencer was finally able to saw through the tree’s stump completely.

He dragged it to the car as you pulled Jo in the sled. You both tied it to the top of the car using bungee cords.

Once you were home, you set the tree in its stand and gave it plenty of water. Spencer got the box of ornaments down from the attic.

You put Christmas music on and the three of you spent the rest of the day decorating the tree, baking cookies, and watching Home Alone.

Spencer had insisted on putting on a Santa suit in case Jo came down when you were putting the presents out.

Knowing this information, you decided to tease him by purchasing a tight elf dress that stopped right under your butt.

You smirked, looking at yourself one more time in the mirror before heading downstairs where Spencer was waiting.

Spencer ceased his movements as he saw you slowly descend down the stairs. He was practically drooling.

“What’s wrong? Have I been a naughty girl?” you asked, feigning innocence.

“Yes, baby, you have,” he whispered in your ear, roughly planting kisses along your jawline and down your neck.

Spencer cupped your ass with his hands.

You tugged on the hair at the nape of his neck and he let out a moan that vibrated against your skin.

“Shhhh, we can’t wake Jo up,” you reminded him.

He started to guide you over to the couch but you put your hand on his chest to stop him.

“We’ve got to put the presents under the tree first, babe.”

You broke from his grasp and Spencer let out a soft whine.

Deciding you weren’t done having your fun just yet, you picked up a present from the box where you had hidden them and slowly bent over to place it under the tree.

You felt a light smack against your ass that made you stand up quickly because you certainly hadn’t been expecting that.

You turned around to see Spencer with the biggest grin on his face and a devilish glint in his eyes.

“Don’t tease me, sweetheart,” he whispered in your ear, “Cause I have no problem with doing that again and again and again.”

Jo woke you both up by jumping on the bed.

“Santa came! Santa came! Santa came!”

“He sure did, baby,” you giggled, looking at Spencer.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go open some presents!” Spencer got out from underneath the covers, dressed in his flannel PJs.

Jo ran down the stairs with you and Spencer right behind.

“No opening any gifts until Mommy gets her camera!” you shouted out from the kitchen as Jo took her seat on the floor right in front of the tree.

You grabbed your camera, the box of donuts you got yesterday, and coffee for you and Spencer.

“Thanks, love,” Spencer gave you a quick kiss, accepting the mug and picking up a chocolate frosted donut with sprinkles as you joined him on the couch.

Jo opened up all of her presents from you and Spencer that consisted of a model plane that she could build herself with instructions, a set of washable watercolor paints, and of course more dinosaur memorabilia.

“Daddy’s turn!” you jumped up from the couch and grabbed a manila folder that had a huge bow on it under the tree.

Spencer looked at you curiously, opening the envelope and revealing a packet of forms that were half filled out.

“It’s the forms needed to update Jo’s birth certificate. Once you fill out your section, I can take it to city hall and your name will officially be added as the father on Jo’s birth certificate,” you smiled.

Spencer nodded softly, staring down at the document in awe.

“I love you so much,” he finally said, pulling you in for a hug.

“And I love you so much too,” he grabbed Jo to join the hug.

“We love you too,” you replied.

Spencer wiped the happy tears from his eyes.

“Okay,” he chuckled, “First, I have a gift for Jo and Mommy and then Mommy gets her gift.”

Spencer pulled out a bag from the back of the tree and handed it to Jo who was sitting in your lap.

Two sets of headbands with a pair of black round circles and a red bow were inside the bag. You both looked at Spencer for further explanation.

“We are going to Disneyworld,” he smiled.

Jo screamed in excitement, running over to hug Spencer’s legs. You laughed, putting the Minnie ears on you and Jo’s heads.

“Spence, that is so generous and thoughtful of you but how much did that cost,” you asked.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with, my dear. I had to make up for all the past Christmases and birthdays,” he kissed you before picking up the last item under the tree and handing it to you.

You opened the box to see two identical silver bands inside, one slightly bigger than the other. You looked up at Spencer skeptically.

“Not the ring yet. Just a ring…for each of us,” he picked up the smaller ring and slipped it onto your index finger, kissing your hand.

“I love it and I love you,” you smiled, looking at your hand and then taking the other ring and slipping it onto his index finger.

#spencer reid fluff #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x you #reid x reader #spencer x reader #spencer reid #cm fanfic #criminal minds

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alonely-dreamer · 4 years ago

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The Valuable Sun | Chapter 23 (Part 3)

Summary: Brooke and Eric have work to do.

Pairing: Eric x OC

Warnings: 18+

A/N: Please, note that I am French so there might be some mistakes here and there.

Words: 2688

Masterlist

Tags: @parabatai-winchester

To say that Brooke and Sookie were having a hard time was an understatement. Sookie, after killing Debbie and having Pam turn Tara into a vampire, was judged and hated by all, and she had come back from work a wreck, and had dove into the cabinet were gran had always kept the alcohol. She turned on the stereo, and the loud music woke Brooklynne up.

She had spent the entire day in bed, and even though she kept waking up and kept having the worst lucid dreams, she stayed under the covers until way after sunset.

Not only the music was loud, but Brooke could hear her sister’s devastating thoughts. She had cast Bill away from her mind, she had enough humans judging her for her to worry about the traitorous bastard her vampire ex-boyfriend had turned out to be. She was so drunk she couldn’t hear Brooke think really, really, loudly that she wished she’d turn down the music a bit. Perhaps Sookie didn’t even know her sister was in her bedroom upstairs. She rarely were anymore.

Lafayette called. He had found Sookie’s car destroyed against a tree, and wanted to check on her. She was fine, apparently, she had jumped out of the car at the right time, and had even found it funny. She must be really drunk, Brooke thought.

She heard another train of thoughts approach the house, but his smell told her who he was before she could even hear anything. Sookie was waiting for another well deserved scolding from the werewolf but was surprised to hear Alcide had told Debbie’s parents some lie about how the Alpha from their pack had slept with her then killed her. Good. Because if Alcide had told the truth and Sookie had been sent to jail, not much would have been left of the werewolf after that night.

She tried to tune out the party that was going on downstairs, but it was either listening to Alcide and Sookie’s drunk thoughts about each other or thinking about her own issues. And she really didn’t want to think about Eric at the moment.

When Sookie and Alcide started to make out on their grandmother’s couch, she thought about leaving the house, not only to give them some privacy but also because she really didn’t want to hear any of it.

But then she heard his voice. Or rather, his thoughts. Bill was standing right there, outside of their house, watching the werewolf and the fairy take each other’s clothes off. A creep until the end. Brooklynne felt like fighting, and he had just given her a reason to beat his ass.

She sped out of her house, wearing nothing but a tight shirt and silk shorts and went straight to Bill whom she pushed away with supernatural strength. The King of Louisiana landed in the cemetery near the house.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as if he were still standing right in front of her.

It took a couple of seconds for him to get back on his feet and return to his spot.

“You know, I am still your King.”

“What are you gonna do?”

Bill sighed. “I get that you’re mad, but…”

“But nothing. Leave my sister alone.”

“I didn’t come here for Sookie.”

“What then?”

“I told him to meet us here,” Eric said as he appeared beside his King. “Granted, he could’ve picked a better spot.”

“Weren’t we supposed to go with Alcide?” she asked, remembering the plan. “He’s drunk now.”

“Clearly,” Eric mumbled.

“Let’s sober him up,” Bill said, and Brooke had no doubt he was more than happy to put a stop to the party.

***

Alcide took them to Doug, the employee that had found the hole in the parking lot. The werewolf had been smart not to ask about the obvious tension between the vampires while they drove in his van to the site.

Doug was a chubby man almost as tall as Alcide. His hair was longer, and so was his beard. He seemed shy and squeamish, and didn’t feel comfortable with whatever was happening. They had taken them to Russell’s former resting place where fresh cement had been poured to cover the hole. Brooklynne asked Doug to hold her hand and close his eyes and focus on that night, on what he saw. He had been glamoured by the vampire who had dug up Russell and it was harder for her to get any useful images from his mind.

“It’s a woman,” Brooke said. “She’s digging up Russell with her hands.”

Russell appeared like a bloody overgrown baby with no skin and the memory made Doug start to shake in fear.

“What the fuck is this?” he asks as if he were living it for the first time.

“Wait,” Brooke squeezed his hand harder as he tried to step away. “It’s Nora,” she breathed out.

“That’s not possible,” Eric said, trying to ignore Bill’s ‘I told you so’ look.

“She has the same necklace.”

“It could be any member of the Authority, then. Do you see Nora’s face?”

“No, just the necklace.”

“So we don’t know for certain it’s her,” Eric insisted. “It’s not Nora, it can’t be. She thought Russell was dead. She risked her life to free us.”

“Can I go now?” Doug asked.

But they were far from done.

The woman, whom according to Eric was not Nora, had Doug scoop Russell up like a baby and take him into an abandoned facility at the other end of town. That was their next destination.

In the van, Eric and Bill kept arguing about Nora while Brooklynne, helped by Doug’s blurry memory, led Alcide to Russell’s location.

“She’s a traitor and a liar, just like her brother,” Bill spat at the sheriff who showed fangs at the insult. Bill followed suit.

“Take that back,” Eric growled.

But the fight was cut short as Bill’s phone started ringing. Brooke couldn’t help but listen.

“Hello?”

“Hey, guys. It’s Molly. Remember me? Giving you a shout-out to let you know your countdown has started.”

“Our countdown?”

“Yeah, your iStakes are set to activate at dawn. Bummer, right?”

“There must be some kind of mistake.”

“No, I’m launching a test. Is your iStake glowing?”

Brooke took a look at the two vampires at the back of the van. Eric opened his jacket and a red light was coming from under his shirt, right where his heart was. iStake. It sounded stupid, but scary. That was what she had felt the previous night when he had held her against his chest. And that stupid but scary thing would kill Eric if they didn’t find Russell before the end of the night. She looked up at her maker with a heart and eyes full of worry. They wouldn’t have time after all. She wouldn’t have time to forgive him. And as he stared back at her, she saw in his eyes that it was okay. That he knew.

“Yeah, they’re glowing…”

“Cool. Means we’re good to go. Good luck. And if you don’t make it, it’s been rad serving you. Peace out.”

Brooklynne wanted to tear that Molly apart for the total indifference she showed at her maker’s True Death. But she had bigger problems. They all did.

Doug was reluctant to enter the building, but all Alcide wanted was for it to be over, so he dragged him in and started looking.

“Wolves have been here,” he sniffed.

“They come with Russell,” Bill said with a sigh, wondering which would kill him first, the iStake or a werewolf.

The building was an abandoned asylum. Brooklynne would find it ironic that Russell would hide here but she was too anxious to find it even remotely funny.

They dragged Doug, or rather Doug led them, through Brooke, down to the morgue, walking pass freshly severed hands and other dead bodies being eaten by rats.

“Well, at least we’re in the right place,” Eric said.

“The morgue,” Bill thought aloud as they walked pass the indications on the wall. “How convenient.”

Helped by a flashlight, Doug and Alcide followed the vampires into the darkness of the basement. Hearing, or perhaps sensing something Doug couldn’t, the vampires revealed their fangs as Alcide said:

“We’re being watched.”

Doug had reached his limits and let go of Brooklynne before he ran away. Knowing it was a bad idea to leave the human alone in this abandoned asylum where a three thousand year old psychopath was hiding, Alcide went after him. It was only when Doug started screaming that the three vampires followed him.

They found what seemed to be Russell’s pantry, where over a dozen humans were hanging from hooks like pigs in a butchery. A man started begging for his life, begging for them to take someone else, anyone else but him.

“Where do they take the prisoners?” Bill asked him.

“Down the hallway. There’s screaming and then there’s not!”

“What do we do with them?” Brooke asked.

“We’ll come back for them after we’re done with Russell,” Eric said before turning around and exiting the room, followed by the rest of his suicide squad.

Stakes in hands, they made their way to the end of the hallway where they found Russell lying on a hospital bed. He looked pale and sick, even coughed a few times. He looked almost human. Almost.

“Ah, miss Stackhouse. I see you’ve joined us,” he said with an eerie smile.

“We came here to finish what we started,” Eric told him as he approached.

“Well… give it your best shot.”

Russell’s smile grew bigger before Alcide, who was still standing in the hallway, behind Brooke, got jumped by a wolf.

“Eric!” Brooke shouted as a wolf launched itself at her maker.

She went to help him but was stopped by Russell who positioned himself between her and the Viking.

“Mmh, you’re just what the doctor ordered,” he smirked. “I’m sure becoming one of us just made your fairy blood even stronger.”

He trapped her against a wall and as he aimed for her throat she used her light to push him away. His back hit the wall at the other end of the hallway and he collapsed on the floor painfully.

“Yeah,” he cackled like a maniac as he sat up and leaned against the wall, “there is that aspect of you which I loathe.”

Eric killed the wolf that was after him then sped towards Russell. He crouched to get to his level then seized his face and made him look away from Brooklynne and directly at him.

“Look at me. I want to be the last thing you ever see,” he growled as he directed his stake towards his heart.

But before he had the chance to make a big mistake, Bill had his own stake aimed at Eric’s heart.

“He dies, we die. Most certainly. But if we take him back alive, maybe we don’t have to die.”

“Unlikely.”

“But not impossible.”

“Eric! Please,” Brooke begged. “He’s right!”

Eric snarled but eventually let go of his stake and put his fangs away. Russell used this short moment of weakness to pick up the disregarded weapon and attack the Viking. In less than a second, Eric was on his back, Russell on top of him, the sharp tip of the stake on his heart. Brooke moved fast and once again used her light to push Russell away from the man she loved.

It all happened really fast, and Brooke barely had time to register what was happening, as a group of heavily armed soldiers came in. Half of them had their guns pointed at Russell and the other half at her own heart.

“Freeze!”

Russell surrendered without protest, the red lights now aiming at his chest. One move and he’d be a pool of blood.

A tall, black man all dressed in black, from his shoes to his cap, joined them and stared at Brooklynne like she was the worst thing he had ever seen in his entire life. Eric quickly positioned himself between her and the man who was obviously the one giving orders here.

“What is this?” he asked with a strong accent.

“She’s mine,” Eric growled.

“Yours?”

“My progeny.”

There was no hiding anymore, no lying anymore. They had seen it. The light, the speed. It was useless to deny it, they were damned either way, and if they had to die tonight, they were at least going to be honest about it.

“What is she?”

… Well, half a truth was better than a complete lie…

“She’s a vampire.”

Russell chuckled.

“Lie,” the commander hissed.

“I turned her myself.”

“I suppose we will see what Guardian has to say about… this,” he said, looking around at the room where two dead werewolves were lying naked next to Bill. “Wolf and human are here,” he continued as Alcide appeared behind him, buttoning his jeans. “Why?”

“Doug led us here,” Bill started to explain. “Nothing that a little glamouring won’t take care of.”

“Do it,” the commander agreed before he exited the room.

After thoroughly glamouring Alcide, Eric made sure he got out safely and wasn’t stopped by any of the soldiers that the Chancellor had brought with him.

“He’s fine, he got in his van and is driving home,” Eric told Brooklynne as he saw the worried look in her eyes, though she didn’t worry about Alcide, she knew the werewolf would be okay.

Eric sighed.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered as he cupped her cheeks with his hands. “This is what I wanted to keep you safe from.”

He placed a kiss on her forehead before bringing her to his chest. He rested his chin on her head as she hugged him back. Still, no word came out of her mouth.

***

Chancellor Akinjide seemed impressed, and though he wouldn’t let Brooklynne go, he had stopped looking at her with disgust but rather with curiosity.

“No one thought you two would actually be able to deliver Russell Edgington,” he told them as he led them out of the building and into a van. “Guardian will be extremely pleased.”

“Pleased enough to not execute us?” Eric asked as he sat next to Brooklynne.

“Only Lilith knows that.”

“As only she knows all,” Bill replied with a smirk.

The chancellor didn’t reply as he closed the doors of the van, trapping them inside the vehicle.

“Who’s Lilith?”

“Enough with this religious bullshit already,” Eric sighed. “Lilith can fucking blow me.”

“No, she certainly cannot!”

Bill chuckled.

“Lilith is like the God of vampires,” he explained.

“And why are you suddenly so into it?” Eric asked his King.

“I’m just covering my ass.”

“Are you telling me the Authority is a religious government?”

“It could be worse,” Eric said. “They could take the word of the Vampire Bible literally.”

“The what? The what?!”

“At least the sanguanista aren’t in charge…”

“Who…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Eric told her as he took her hand in his. “I’ll explain on the way to New-Orleans.”

“New-O…” she stopped. “Are we… are they… Are we going to die tonight?”

She caught his eyes and saw. They were most probably going to be executed tonight, and she would be questioned and experimented on and maybe they’ll use her blood to give the sun to all vampires… And everything he had done to keep her safe was crumbling down on him, breaking him apart as this voice inside of his head screamed at him that it was his fault and that he should have known better.

He wiped a tear off her cheek and took her chin between his fingers. He tried to give her his most sincere smile as he said: “I love you.” And he didn’t wait for her to say it back because hearing those words coming out of her mouth would kill him before dawn. So he kissed her forehead and rested his cheek on her head, hoping, praying to whatever God there was that he hadn’t just sentenced the woman he loved to death.

#true blood #Eric northman #oc #reader #imagine #fanfic #fanfiction #fic #Eric x oc #eric x reader #Sookie stackhouse #alcide #sookie #bill #Sookie x bill #alcide x sookie #Eric northman x oc #Eric northman x reader

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studying-for-my-future · 4 years ago

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First Thinspo Imagine

Topic: You get picked on at your current job, quit after enough, and see an old coworker months later

Today was another slow day at work at the hotel you were working at, and you were just about ready to clock out. “Hey y/n!” you hear a voice say from behind you. Shit, I was too slow. You turn around to see one of your coworkers standing there with a smirk on her face.

“I thought that was you, I just couldn’t tell for sure because of how bloated you look today. Ever think about losing a couple pounds? It might make everything about you easier on the eyes.” Her mocking laugh was almost as harsh as her words.

I just want to get out of here, I’m sick of being constantly mocked by her. She’s always poking fun at me. She laughs when I try to lose weight and laughs when I don’t, there’s no in-between. You started to see only red as you listened to her laugh, hearing others chime in. That’s it, I’m done. I can’t take this daily torment anymore.

You decided to just walk away at that point. You clocked out and walked up to your shift manager. “I’m done. I can’t do this. Everyone here is beyond toxic at this point, so take your shitty crew and shove it.” Taking in your anger, she meets your eyes. Panic washes over you as you think about how pissed she’d probably be. What the hell did I just say? I need to apologize. “I’m so-” You start, but she cuts you off.

“ You don’t need to apologize. I haven’t worked this shift before as I was just transferred, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right? I’m upset at the tone you used yes, but I see where you’re coming from.” As you looked at her, she took her time card, swiped it, and called her supervisor.

“Hey, I’m done. I don’t like the way most of this crew treats the others, and they don’t listen to me at all. I don’t care if this is my first day as this shift manager or not, find someone else.” She hangs up while looking at you and smiling. “I just got another job this morning and should’ve done that sooner. Let’s go!” You leave the building with her just thinking about everything.

Just as you were about to get in your car, you hear the supervisor behind you. “Hey, we should definitely hang out sometime, we’re pretty much the same age anyway right? I’ll text you when I get home.” She gets in her seat and drives away. Holy shit, that was...what? Did someone as pretty as her just ask me to be her friend? OMG YESSS!!!

~AFTER WORK~

You get home, walk in your parents house as you were only 17 and couldn’t move out quite yet, and go up to your room. Your phone goes off as you sit down, and it’s your supervisor! Well, technically your ex-supervisor. Hey, I just got home. I was wondering if maybe you’d want to make plans to hang out? It could be so much fun!

“Holy shit” you say aloud, rereading it to make sure you weren’t going crazy and it was actually happening. You decide on what you want to reply with. Hey, yeah sure, that sounds good. Should we head to the gym together maybe?

Oh gosh, what if she says no? Why’d I suggest the gym, I don’t even have a membership. Your phone goes off again with a response. Sure! What about the one over on the corner about 10 mins from the hotel? I have a membership there, and I’m allowed to bring someone with me. We could meet up in half an hour. That’s perfect!

That sounds like a plan then. I’ll meet you there. What should I wear? I don’t look good in anything right now. Well...how about this hoodie and these sweatpants? They’re not tight and they’ll hopefully work.

~AT THE GYM~

As you arrive at the gym, you walk in and see her waiting for you. She runs over to you and starts talking. “Hey! I figured after before you might still be mad at the ex-coworkers. Working out is a good stress reliever.” You nod in agreement as the both of you walk up to the counter to check in.

“Hey, I’ve got a membership here, this is my card. I’m bringing a friend today, she’s right here.” The receptionist looks you up and down, hands back the card, and says “You’re sure? She doesn’t look like she’s ever been in a gym before.” You look down in embarrassment, feeling your face heat up. “I’d like to speak to your manager really quickly before I go in please. Now.” Your friend says. “Sure thing, I’ll go get her right away then.”

Great, another person that thinks I’m fat. I’m going to workout and lose all of this weight. I’ll become the skinniest person out of everyone.

The manager walked out and went to your friend to talk. “Hello, is everything alright here? My employee said you’d like to speak to me?” “Yes, I did. This employee insulted my friend by criticizing her choice to come here and was extremely rude about it.” “Excuse me?!” The manager turns to the employee. “You’re fired. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard things like this, but I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. I want you to apologize, then go back and get your things.” She turns back to us “I apologize. I’ll give you both a free lifetime membership to our gym, and I hope you come back!”

The employee walked out without apologizing, but you weren’t really bothered. Things like this always happened. Both your friend and you walked into the gym and started using the equipment.

~THREE MONTHS LATER~

Things have actually been looking up for you lately. You got an apartment with your friend and turned 18 about a month ago. Looking in the mirror, you see a girl with collar bones visible, a thigh gap, sharp bony shoulders, and abs. You were tiny. As you stepped on the scale, you couldn’t believe it. You’d lost over 50lbs in the past 3 months by working out and cutting out sugars and different breads, which means you hit your goal weight of 93lbs. Just eating cleaner in general helped you.

There was an outfit hanging in your closet that you’d gotten for your 18th, but it hadn’t fit at the time. Putting on the XS long sleeved shirt, the size S skinny jeans, the necklace you’d gotten….it looked so good together. Your hair that you’d been growing out for about 3 years now (only getting it trimmed every now and then) was past your waist. Putting your hair into a high ponytail, you decided something. Maybe I’ll head to the café near here today. I haven’t been there before, so why not?

Going downstairs to get ready the rest of the way, you see that your friend doesn’t have work today. “Hey, I’m gonna head to the café that’s close by, you want to come? It’s not that long of a walk, maybe 15 mins.”

“Yeah sure, why not? Are you wearing makeup today? Something seems different about you, but I can’t put my finger on it.” “I’m really just happy today. I don’t really wear makeup, it clogs my pores really bad when I try.” She nods and you both head out the door and have a relaxing walk.

~AT THE CAFE~

You both walk in the door and smell the fresh coffee and the baked pastries. The smell was so nice even if you wouldn’t be getting any food today, only coffee. Your friend taps your shoulder and motions for you to look over at one of the tables. It’s your old coworkers! At first you want to shrink into yourself and leave, but then you remember that you hit your goal weight and have no reason to be so insecure about what they might say.

The both of you get your coffee and, as you’re about to walk back to the apartment, you hear a familiar voice behind you. “Hey! Y/n.” Slowly turning around, you make eye contact. This time though, it’s different. You keep your head high instead of looking at the ground right away, and you don’t back down. “Yes? Can I help you?” “Well, we saw you and wanted to say that you look good. Sorry that we were so horrible back then, can we be friends?” “Hmmm, I don’t think so. There’s a lot of things you said and now you only want to be friends with me because of how I look. I don’t want fake friends like you guys, sorry.” You walk out and head back to the apartment with your friend, both of you laughing at how the encounter had gone.

Everything seems so much better, and you feel so much more confident now that you lost weight. There’s nothing stopping you from being yourself anymore. You feel...cute. And it’s a term you’re no longer afraid to associate with yourself.

#thinspo #thiinspo #thinsp0 #thinsppi #tinsp #anaimagine #ana imagine #not pro just using tags #thinspro #eating disorder imagine #ugw imagine #gw imagine

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theculturedmarxist · 4 years ago

Link

The Fight for $15 movement started in 2012, when hundreds of fast-food employees went on strike in New York City for higher wages and a union. Since then, the movement has brought the concept of a $15 minimum wage firmly into the mainstream and won (eventual) hikes to $15 per hour—less than a true living wage in most places, yet double the federal minimum wage of $7.25—in cities, counties, blue states, and red states alike.

But fast-food workers all over the country are still working under dire circumstances, with the COVID-19 pandemic surfacing long-festering problems about wages and safety. And so the workers are still rising up. Today, McDonald’s workers in 15 cities across the country are striking. The actions are timed to the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday and come hot off the heels of McDonald’s attempting to fix a “labor shortage” by offering workers at company-owned stores an entry-level wage of between $11 and $17 over the next several months.

Precious Cole is one of those striking workers. Cole has been working in fast-food joints since she was 15 years old; she’s now 34. During the pandemic, she has worked at three different restaurants in Durham, North Carolina: Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, Wendy’s, and since last month, a McDonald’s franchise, after she got recruited out of the Wendy’s drive-thru window.

McDonald’s announced they’re raising the average pay in their corporate-owned stores to $15 by 2024, but that’s only 5% of US locations. Workers are striking May 19 because we know that @McDonalds can and should pay $15 to every worker NOW!https://t.co/MpOFIRso97 #FightFor15 pic.twitter.com/igIjZCK2w7

Cole has been involved in various labor actions at her workplaces over the course of the pandemic, mostly over safety protocols, and on Wednesday she’s going back out on strike for a $15 minimum wage and a union. Cole talked to Discourse Blog earlier this week about the strike, her experience working through the pandemic, what she believes are the real reason behind the labor shortage.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Discourse Blog: How long have you been working at McDonald’s?

Precious Cole: Honestly, only a month. I got recruited out of the Wendy’s drive-thru to work at McDonald’s.

Discourse Blog: How long have you been working at fast food restaurants including Wendy’s and McDonald’s?

Precious Cole: Since I was 15 years old. My first job was Burger King…I just turned 34 at the beginning of this month.

Discourse Blog: There’s a lot of talk about a labor shortage right now, and McDonald’s put out that statement saying they were going to raise their minimum wage to $11 per hour. Is your store having trouble finding people?

Precious Cole: From my experience, yes. Since I’ve been working, I’ve literally been working 12-hour shifts, because people don’t want to come to work and we don’t have enough people. We even did a hiring event last Thursday, I believe.

I just believe it’s these companies not paying enough, paying poverty wages, and people are just sick and tired of getting paid so little. Especially with the cost of living going up, with this coronavirus that’s going on, people lost their jobs. And it’s crazy that they lost these jobs and they don’t want to even try to get another job because these companies don’t care about their workers.

Discourse Blog: What’s your experience been like at work with health and safety? Have your workplaces been following regulations and everything?

Precious Cole: I had two jobs at once at one point. And one job followed regulations, the other job was very iffy on their regulations. And that led to a movement and us making sure that everybody in that company is safe now.

The [iffy] company was Freddy’s. One of our coworkers went to the hospital because she couldn’t taste her food…she came back to work the next day. And the day after, we got a call saying her hospital record came back and she has coronavirus, and you have to either take a two-week quarantine or go get the swab stuck up your nose. [Cole and her coworkers went on strike in September and then again in October; after the second, the owners of the Freddy’s franchise agreed to pay for COVID-19 testing as well as 10 days of paid sick leave for employees who test positive.)

Discourse Blog: What has dealing with customers been like during the pandemic?

Precious Cole: So in my experience, it has been a lot harder. Like I said, I’ve been in fast food half my life, so I’ve seen and dealt with everything imaginable. But now, you know, they just seem so angry. You get one or two that say, “Thank you for being here, for helping us out, for working during COVID.” But then you have the other customers where—it’s store policy that you have to wear a mask. “Well, it’s my right not to wear a mask.” And I’m like, “I can’t serve you.” They get ignorant and rude and throw stuff on us.

It’s a whole lot worse now, because I believe people are angered. Half of these people don’t have jobs, or they do have jobs that are paying them little to nothing. People try to feed their families and have gas in their cars, they’re trying to make it to work. There are some people like me who haven’t even gotten stimulus money yet, still waiting on the government.

Discourse Blog: Oh, wow.

Precious Cole: I’m literally living paycheck to paycheck until the government decides, “Hey, let’s give Precious her money that she’s owed and deserves.” I just think they’re angry.

Discourse Blog: Are there any examples that stick out to you from the past year?

Precious Cole: When I was a manager at Wendy’s, I was doing my manager things, making sure my coworkers were OK. No offense, but I care more about my employees than I do the customers. Without the employees, there are no customers, there’s no store. So I have to keep my coworkers safe.

So one day, I come around the corner and I hear one of my coworkers arguing with the customer and I see a large drink in his hand, and I got the intuition. I said, “Oh God,” because it wasn’t the first time anything’s ever been thrown on me. And as I’m walking up to try to defuse the situation, a whole large cup of lemonade comes through the window. They hit my coworker square in the face, broke her glasses. And in the after-effect of somebody chucking something, it hit three of us. We were dressed, from head to toe, in sticky lemonade. And we still had to work the rest of the night because it was no going home.

Everybody’s going through something. You don’t know what these people are going through and I understand that, but it’s like, you don’t have to throw stuff on us. People belittle us because we work in fast food, but it’s like, OK, you’re here. So if we weren’t here, you wouldn’t be here.

Discourse Blog: How many hours a week do you have to work to be able to pay your bills?

Precious Cole: I would have to say probably a little bit more than 40, maybe between 40 and 50. To pay rent, I have a car note, I’ve got to eat…I live with my elderly mother and that is a big concern for me. She’s vaccinated but about two weeks ago, she was in the hospital. And not trying to think morbidly, but my mom wants me to be OK when she’s gone, and as of right now I wouldn’t be OK. I wouldn’t be able to pay the rent, and the car note, and feed myself, and other necessities like gas in the car.

Discourse Blog: So how did you get involved in the Fight for $15 in the first place?

Precious Cole: The Freddy’s thing. One of my coworkers started talking about this movement she was in and I got interested, and then the coronavirus thing happened [at Freddy’s] and I shoved in full force.

Discourse Blog: What are you hoping to get out of the strike on Wednesday?

Precious Cole: Just that they finally listen to their workers. Not even just McDonald’s, workers all over the world, that we stand in solidarity with each other. We try to get this $15 minimum, and we know $15 is not a lot but I always say that it’s a start. Not the end, but it’s a start.

I just want to see people staying together and McDonald’s listening to their workers and not their shareholders. Something I always say is that I want to see the shareholders walk a day in our life. Pay them what they pay us and see if they can survive.

Discourse Blog: Have you seen more enthusiasm for this strike than other efforts?

Precious Cole: I honestly don’t know because the strike hasn’t happened yet. But I feel like for me, it’s gonna hold a lot of weight because I’m an actual McDonald’s worker. Before, I stood in solidarity with everybody, but now that I’m an actual McDonald’s fast food worker I can speak to some of the things that are going on. One of our Fight for $15 people told me he only makes $8 an hour and my whole mouth dropped. I was making $8 an hour at 18, 19 years old, but nowadays that’s a drop in the bucket.

Discourse Blog: Because of the pandemic and everything you told me, have you and your coworkers talked about eventually forming a union and what that might eventually look like?

Precious Cole: I started at Wendy’s trying to organize people because of what we’ve gone through over there. I tried to get them involved in Fight for 15, so some of them are still involved.

I know they have a lot to say because they say it to me when we’re at work. So I’m just like, hey, like, I have an outlet for you to express all of this stuff…I get that the majority of them are scared to lose their job and I’m trying to tell them, you’re not gonna lose a job because you’re protected; you have the right to organize. And then I’m also trying to tell them that if we form a union, you’ll definitely be protected.

#fight for 15 #minimum wage #strike action #mcdonalds strike #mcdonalds #discourse #labor #organized labor

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nyctolovian · 4 years ago

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Chapter 16: easy being nice to a bitter boy like him

Welp! I just thought it’d be cool if I posted fic on my birthday. So here’s a milestone chapter of sorts haha

Summary: Shouto's doubts grow

Chapter 1

Bakugou woke up incredibly cranky, even by his usual standards. Shouto was made aware of this by the colourful swearing Bakugou let out when he stubbed his toe on the foot of the bed in the morning. This was followed by a loud slam of the door as Bakugou exited the room to head to the shared toilets.

The two headed to the dormitory’s cafeteria for breakfast (a sandwich, yoghurt and a chocolate-y drink called Milo). The sort of silence they had, which would usually be calm, was now stiff, like Bakugou was looking for the next thing to metaphorically or physically blow up. Shouto didn’t quite want to stand in the way of that.

Then, as they stood at the pickup point, waiting for Preeta to pick them up, Shouto finally asked, “Is something bothering you?”

Bakugou let out a gruff “nah”.

That was a lie and Shouto could smell from a mile away. He frowned at Bakugou in deep thought. However, before he could ask another question, Preeta’s yellow car drove into the pickup stop. Hesitantly, Shouto dropped the subject when he and Bakugou got in the car and Preeta greeted them with a wide, sunny smile. "Are you ready for Day 1 of hero-ing Singaporean style?"

Shouto nodded nervously while Bakugou let out a hum that wasn't quite in assent or disagreement.

"Tough crowd," she huffed out, curling her fingers around the steering wheel. "No worries. You're gonna have a blast at my office, I assure you."

As they travelled, the supervisor gave a quick rundown of what interning under her would entail. Preeta and Co. Hero Offices was located on an entire floor in one of the many office buildings in the central business district. Preeta explained, "We mostly deal with combat situations within that area. It's a hotspot for villains that really want to wreck things big time."

As they drove into the district, Shouto spotted countless skyscrapers and interesting sculptures around. He had heard that there were many important expensive buildings in the area so property damage was apparently a big deal as well. He was slightly worried by this. If there was one thing about their fighting styles that Shouto could call a similarity, it might possibly be the destruction. He and Bakugou didn't exactly have the best track record for keeping fights in their lanes after all.

Soon, Preeta parked in the underground carpark of a fairly unremarkable office building and took a lift from the car park up to the office. As soon as the lift slid open to their destination, they were greeted with a frenzied girl rushing towards them. "Oh my god!" She side-stepped, letting them out. "New interns?" she asked in English, brushing her messy blue hair behind her ear.

"Yeah," Preeta replied. She glanced at the folders the girl was clutching as she darted into the elevator and slammed her thumb into the button. "Documents for HeroTech again?"

"Yah lah!" she whined, pulling a face of agony. "Who else?"

Preeta rolled her eyes at the closing lift doors. "That's Charlene by the way. You'll talk to her a lot in the future."

Shouto glanced back at the closed doors. He barely remembered what she looked like already. Sometimes he wished he had better facial recognition skills. Also, Shouto was about 75% certain that was her first name. This felt wildly different from what he is used to…

Bakugou nudged his back, bringing his attention back to their supervisor, who had already walked past the empty reception desk. She pressed her finger on a scanner to unlock the door that led to an open plan office.

It was chaotic with people discussing things or typing away at their computers. Some of them were in office wear, some in casual clothes, and others in their hero costumes. With a quick glance around the room, Shouto estimated a head count of about 15 other people.

"Attention!" Preeta's voice boomed across the room, capturing the attention of everyone. "We have two new interns, Bakugou Katsuki and Todoroki Shouto from UA, Japan. They'll be with us for three months." She gave them both a look and made a sweeping motion, urging them to introduce themselves.

Shouto tried his best to articulate himself in the foreign language, "Hello. My name is Todoroki Shouto. I am 17 years old. Um… My quirk is um…" He held his palms up and simultaneously created a flame and a shard of ice. "My hero name is Shouto. Nice to meet you."

Someone started clapping and the others followed suit. Shouto stiffly nodded and pursed his lips.

Next was Bakugou. "I'm Bakugou Katsuki. 18 years old. My quirk is Explosion and my hero name is DynaMight. I'll be the Number One Top Hero."

Shouto narrowed his eyes at him. Did he really need to say that?

Bakugou's eyes made contact with his for a while before he added somewhat reluctantly, "Nice to meet you."

His greeting was also met with an applause and a short hoot. Meanwhile, Preeta grinned at him and said, "Someone's got more guts than I thought! I like that!" She glanced around the room and said, "Everyone except Charlene is here."

Someone from the corner confirmed that statement.

"Ok! Good! Saves time!" she said, clapping her hands together. "Introduce yourselves as well!"

One by one, the others introduced themselves with their names, positions, and their quirks. Some added special information about themselves and cracked a few jokes that garnered some chuckles in the office. However, between trying to get used to English comprehension, the unusual names and many different information, Shouto's head was swirling. Names and faces seemed to seep out of his brain as the introductions continued.

By the time Preeta smiled down at the two new interns and suggested introducing them to the office facilities, Shouto had already forgotten everyone's names.

Still, he silently followed Preeta as she told them where the pantry, toilets, sick bay, function rooms and her private office were. Then, they walked around the already chattering employees to a steel door behind the large table. There was another fingerprint scanner that Preeta used. "We'll have to get your prints later. This stuff is just a safety precaution. Hero work can get pretty sensitive. Plus, we have expensive equipment." She swung open the door to the most spacious room yet – the training gym.

With its light blue walls, the room looked more vibrant than the rest of the office. Natural light also streamed in from its wide windows, which displayed a view of the city skyline, like a reminder of why they do their work. The equipment, while not as grand as Endeavor Hero Agency’s, was still not to be sneezed at, from its high-tech temperature-regulators to an obstacle course with elements customisable to one’s training needs. There was a large first-aid kit and defibrillator beside the benches and a fire extinguisher fixed upon each corner of the room.

"This is where you will likely begin and end your day. Warm-up in the morning, and self-training in the evening." Preeta smiled as she pointed to a door with her thumb. "The lockers are just over there. Now, get into hero mode, chop chop! I want to see what the two of you can offer on the field."

***

There was a wide grin on Preeta's face when the boys were done showcasing what they could do. "Not bad! Not bad at all!" she said, clapping her hands in appreciation. "We will be working together just fine, I think."

"How about you show us what you've got?" Bakugou said, crossing his arms. He lifted an eyebrow at her challengingly. "Would like to see how *you* fare on the field."

Of course, Bakugou would do something abrasive at some point. Truthfully, however, Shouto would say he was expecting this side of Bakugou to show much earlier. Perhaps that was a testament to what a strange mood Bakugou has been in since this morning.

Luckily, Preeta didn't seem to take any offense in his tone. She just threw her head back and laughed boisterously. "Of course!" she said. She pulled her hair back and her nimble fingers secured the dark red locks in a tight bun. With her originally mid-back length hair tied up, Shouto could see an intriguing feature of her costume.

It was already fairly interesting when she first stepped out from the locker room, changed into her hero attire. Despite her extremely colourful casual outfits, her hero costume was entirely black. She wore black boots, a black jacket, a black pair of pants, and a black undershirt. The only thing that stood out at first were the big black bracelets that resembled Uraraka's. On her back was a metal fixture with six cylindrical tubes sticking out behind her, and behind those tubes was her bare brown skin.

Shouto found this all very curious. This costume must have been designed like this to serve a purpose… but what was it?

As though she read his mind, Preeta said, "How about a little quiz for you two?" She stabbed her hair with several more bobby pins. "Take a guess what my quirk is exactly."

Bakugou made no reaction and Shouto just nodded quietly.

Taking in a deep breath, Preeta swung her arms. Then, she spread them out and leapt to the air. There was a gust of hot air that pushed Shouto and Bakugou back slightly.

They straightened back up to see Preeta shooting upwards like a rocket. Her muscled arms swung forward to grab a slab of metal that hung from above. As soon as she made contact with it, the metal bent to fit the shape of her hands, glowing red-hot. With the momentum, she swung forward and landed with a roll on a lower hanging platform. The spot on the metal that she had grabbed had the marks of her fingers and no longer looked molten. Shouto's eyes widened in intrigue and Bakugou let out a short hum.

Preeta was on her feet before their focus could return to her and, when they did, she was bounding to the other end of the suspended platform. She grabbed a wooden block from a stack at the side and drew her hand back.

The wood burst into flames and she hurled it across the gym, and accurately into a pail of water. Nodding, she leapt off the platform and grabbed onto a pole near the walls and slid down quickly with one arm.

When she was on the floor again, she flashed the two a grin. "That's the gist of what I can do. My abilities are most practical in a real-life scenario to be honest. So," she folded her hands in front of her chest, "take a guess what my quirk is."

"It's heat-related," Shouto mumbled to himself.

"That's a given in my office."

Meanwhile, Bakugou narrowed his eyes. "Is…"

Shouto's eyes followed his gaze to the coated metal pole. He frowned. There were water droplets forming upon it. He took a step closer to it and placed his hand on the pole. "It's cold." Shouto's eyes widened. "Is it like mine?"

"No, not really. I can't just create fire and ice like you."

Bakugou grinned triumphantly. "So it's some heat transfer thing."

"Impressive," Preeta commended. "What else can you tell me about my quirk then?"

"It relies on contact?" Shouto suggested.

"Yes, and...?"

Shouto frowned in thought, as did Bakugou. Bakugou hazard a guess, "Do you store the heat in your body?"

"Nope," she said. "It's all stored in these babies." She tapped the cylindrical bracelets on her wrists against each other. "Insulate against the external climate but in direct contact with my skin."

Curious, Shouto asked, "But how did you shoot through the air?"

"Rapid gas expansion in the cylindrical structures on my back," Preeta explained.

Wide-eyed, Shouto nodded. Bakugou's air of skepticism was also lifted as he looked at Preeta in silent admiration.

"You two are pretty impressive, I must say," Preeta said. "UA really is UA, huh?"

“Preetaaa!” someone interrupted with a sing-song voice. A familiar blue-haired lady popped in.

Shouto was mildly surprised to find himself recognising her as Charlene from the elevator.

Looking towards the entrance, Preeta shouted back, "Yah?"

“Your darling is here!”

Preeta turned to goo as she laughed nervously. "Oh my god," she said. "I just– Well, you two–" She buried her face in her hands for a second as she let out a groan. "Just… stay here. I'll be right back." She made a beeline for the exit and stopped in her tracks right outside the gym. Her face broke into a smile. Preeta's hands were even more animated than before as she began to talk to a rather plump lady just beyond the entrance. The lady's back was towards them but Shouto could spot her handing a small tin box to Preeta, who smiled apologetically. It looked like a bento.

Shouto found his eyes sliding towards Bakugou. “What are they saying?” he asked as he peered towards Charlene.

“Harh? How the hell would I know?”

“Aren’t you always eavesdropping others’ conversations?”

Sighing, Bakugou shot him a glare. “Don’t say that as if I hear your stupid-ass conversations on purpose.”

“Do you not?” he teased.

Bakugou shoved him. “Die, asshole,” he said, rolling his eyes. The exasperated fondness did not escape Shouto's notice.

“Hey, hey,” Charlene interrupted. “I may not understand Japanese but I know fighting when I hear it.”

“Ah,” Shouto replied in English, as he raised his hand up in refutation. “It’s okay. That’s… um… just the way he usually is.”

Bakugou jabbed Shouto’s side harshly, drawing a yelp out of him. “You’re un-fucking-believable."

“Are your interns arguing already? On the first day?” the lady Preeta was speaking to said as she spun around to look at the commotion.

Shouto froze.

The skin of her face had a familiar leathery and discoloured quality to it. Her face was of a darker shade compared to the rest of her body, which was pale. And Shouto found his fingers tracing the scar on his own face.

Those were burn scars. But unlike his, it stretched over her entire face.

“They’re not fighting, they said,” Charlene replied, pulling Shouto back from his dazed state.

“I hope not." Preeta peered back into the gym. When it didn't seem like they were ready to murder each other, she said, "Love, do you want to meet the new interns?"

The scarred woman exclaimed, “Okay!" She walked swiftly into the gym in her high heels, Preeta following close behind. “I’m Kaiqi. Preeta’s girlfriend.”

Bakugou stepped in front of Shouto, hands nonchalantly in his pockets. “I’m Bakugou Katsuki. And he is Todoroki Shouto. We’re both from UA in Japan.”

"Nice to meet the both of you. I hope you'll have an amazing time in Singapore. Even though it's an internship, I think it'd be good to have some fun," she said.

Now that she was closer, Shouto could see the burn scars better now. Such as the way her smile was a little lopsided from the odd swelling in her face. She didn't have any eyebrows or eyelashes either.

The only burn victims Shouto knew were himself and his father. However, while both of their scars were on their face, neither of them had burns as severe as hers, and not over as large an area. He couldn't help but wonder: how did she get those burn scars?

Preeta’s face twisted as though her foot had been stepped on. At that, Kaiqi rested her hand on her girlfriend’s elbow and asked, “What did he say?”

That was when Shouto realised he had spoken aloud. He blinked in shock. Bakugou spun around, staring, and mouthed, "Idiot."

It looked like pulling teeth as Preeta translated what he said into English.

Shouto felt a surge of shame as he apologised for the question.

"It's fine," Kaiqi said, waving her hand. "I get asked about it quite often anyway. It was during a scuffle with a small-time criminal I was chasing after. He overloaded my quirk, which stores heat in my hair, and just caused it to catch fire."

"You're a hero?" Shouto asked.

Laughing, she said, "Used to be but not anymore. I've essentially lost my quirk." She pulled her bangs up to reveal that it was a wig.

His eyes widened. "Oh. I-I'm sorry."

"It's alright, really. You learn to live with things, right?" she said, directing a kind smile at Shouto. "It's been more than 10 years now so I'm fine!" She flexed her arm with a grin.

The dark look on Preeta's face, however, said otherwise. But Shouto dared not press this any further.

***

The rest of the day was taxing. Between figuring out their patrol route, struggling with names, and fumbling through hero equipment, Shouto was drained by the end of the day.

It really didn't help though that the mood had seemingly soured. Preeta wasn't as bright and bubbly as she was in the morning. That wasn't to say that she was gloomy because she still tried her best to ensure the atmosphere was never too heavy. But it was clear something was weighing upon her, and it obviously had to do with whatever happened during Kaiqi's quick visit.

That, however, wasn't the most frustrating part; it was Bakugou's sour mood. He was a little grumpy in the morning, and then it got better with time, even joking around in the gym. Yet, suddenly, he was brooding again, and Shouto hadn't a clue what he should do.

Even as the day ended and Preeta sent them back to the dormitories, Shouto still couldn't figure out what had gotten him in this mood or what he should do.

Discreetly, he slid his phone out of his pocket and texted the first person he could think of for help. He was waiting for a reply when the car pulled over.

"Alright! We're here!" Preeta said, smiling back at them. "Rest up. It's been a tiring day but we've got more to do tomorrow!"

Bakugou hummed in acknowledgement as he got out of the car.

"Thank you for today," Shouto said as he slid out after Bakugou.

"No problem!" Preeta returned. "Goodbye, kids!"

The two boys waved before closing the car door and watching it drive off. When Shouto turned around, Bakugou was already walking back into the dorm compounds.

Shouto was about to follow after when he felt a vibration in his pocket. He took a look at his phone.

Izuku: good morning!!! (Or evening?)

Izuku: but oh no that doesn't sound good :(

Izuku: i honestly think u should talk to kacchan properly

Izuku: leaving kacchan with his thoughts isnt exactly the best idea

Izuku: maybe talk to him

Shouto: … I think you're right

Izuku: (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

Shouto nodded to himself. Izuku had experienced first-hand what it was like to deal with a Bakugou who has been left with his own negative thoughts for too long. So Shouto trusted his friend's advice on this topic. He was about to put his phone away when another message came in.

Izuku: its really nice that u r his boyfriend now! i think sometimes he forgets its okay to ask for help and that he doesnt need to deal with stuff alone. plus i can tell he listens to what u say

Izuku: love really changes a person hehe

Izuku: not in a bad way!!

It was as though a lead ball was launched straight at Shouto's stomach.

There was still the issue that he had to confess that he didn't reciprocate Bakugou's romantic love for him. The day had been so hectic and he had forgotten all about that.

And this conversation with Izuku drove home another problem: when he and Bakugou do break up, how would he explain to his family and Izuku that the relationship they had been overjoyed about not too long ago had just ended?

Shouto felt his lip begin to tremble. He wouldn't know how to face them to be honest. It seems like such a jerk move to have dated someone for more than half a year, only to tell them that he didn't feel any romantic love.

Wouldn't it have been much simpler if he had said that he didn't feel anything romantic for Bakugou from the start? Either they don't start dating or they enter the relationship knowing exactly what they were both in for. Not this… unstable form of a relationship.

What Bakugou needed was something firm he could lean on. Not this… mess of a person who fumbled around with his feelings like an idiot.

"Oi."

Shouto's head shot up to find red orbs staring into him.

"You coming?"

"Y-yeah," Shouto muttered, climbing the flight of stairs to the boyfriend whom he simultaneously wanted to embrace and tear himself away from.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #todobaku #bakutodo #todoroki shouta #bakugou katsuki #bktd #bnha fanfic #mha fanfic #fanfic #my writing

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stevishabitat · 3 years ago

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CHICAGO — They acknowledged that they could have shown up months ago. Many were satisfied that they were finally doing the right thing. A few grumbled that they had little choice.On a single day this past week, more than half a million people across the United States trickled into high school gymnasiums, pharmacies and buses converted into mobile clinics. Then they pushed up their sleeves and got their coronavirus vaccines.These are the Americans who are being vaccinated at this moment in the pandemic: the reluctant, the anxious, the procrastinating.

In dozens of interviews on Thursday in eight states, at vaccination clinics, drugstores and pop-up mobile sites, Americans who had finally arrived for their shots offered a snapshot of a nation at a crossroads — confronting a new surge of the virus but only slowly embracing the vaccines that could stop it.

Duncan Beauchamp, 17, was vaccinated at Lyman Orchards in Middlefield, Conn. His father had been concerned by how quickly the vaccines were rolled out.Credit...Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times

Ever Diaz, 42, was vaccinated at the Polk County Health Department in Des Moines. He said it had been hard to get a vaccine because of his job in construction.Credit...Kathryn Gamble for The New York Times

The people being vaccinated now are not members of the eager crowds who rushed to early appointments. But they are not in the group firmly opposed to vaccinations, either.Instead, they occupy a middle ground: For months, they have been unwilling to receive a coronavirus vaccine, until something or someone — a persistent family member, a work requirement, a growing sense that the shot was safe — convinced them otherwise.

How many people ultimately join this group, and how quickly, could determine the course of the coronavirus in the United States.Some of the newly vaccinated said they made the decision abruptly, even casually, after months of inaction.

One woman in Portland, Ore., was waiting for an incentive before she got her shot, and when she heard that a pop-up clinic at a farmers’ market was distributing $150 gift cards, she decided it was time.

A 60-year-old man in Los Angeles spontaneously stopped in for a vaccine because he noticed that for once, there was no line at a clinic. A construction worker said his job schedule had made it difficult to get the shot.

Ronald Gilbert, 60, was vaccinated at a light rail station in Hawthorne, Calif. He said he didn’t really believe in the vaccines, but that with an uptick in cases it was “better to be safe than sorry.”Credit...Rozette Rago for The New York Times

Cliberman Centeno, 36, was vaccinated in Los Angeles. He said he was tired of wearing a mask.Credit...Rozette Rago for The New York Times

Many people said they had arrived for a vaccine after intense pressure from family or friends.“‘You’re going to die. Get the Covid vaccine,’” Grace Carper, 15, recently told her mother, Nikki White, of Urbandale, Iowa, as they debated when they would get their shots. Ms. White, 38, woke up on Thursday and said she would do it. “If you want to go get your vaccine, get up,” Ms. White told her daughter, who was eager for the shot, and the pair went together to a Hy-Vee supermarket.

Others were moved by practical considerations: plans to attend a college that is requiring students to be vaccinated, a desire to spend time socializing with high school classmates, or a job where unvaccinated employees were told to wear masks. Their answers suggest that the mandates or greater restrictions on the unvaccinated that are increasingly a matter of debate by employers and government officials could make a significant difference.

Audrey Sliker, 18, of Southington, Conn., said she got a shot because New York’s governor announced that it was required of all students attending State University of New York schools. She plans to be a freshman at SUNY Cobleskill this fall.“I just don’t like needles, in general,” she said, leaving a white tent that housed a mobile vaccination site in Middlefield, Conn. “So it’s more like, ‘Do I need to get it?’”

Lisa Thomas, 45, was vaccinated at the People’s Market in Portland, Ore. She first wanted to see how the vaccines affected Americans. “I do know people who have gotten it and they haven’t gotten sick, so that’s why,” Ms. Thomas said.Credit...Tojo Andrianarivo for The New York Times

Patricia White, 46, took her son Tariq, 17, right, to be vaccinated at Michele Clark Academic Preparatory Magnet High School in Chicago. Her grandson Diaunta is too young to be vaccinated.Credit...Taylor Glascock for The New York Times

Many people interviewed described their choices in personal, somewhat complicated terms.Willie Pullen, 71, snacked on a bag of popcorn as he left a vaccination site in Chicago, one of the few people who showed up there that day. He was not opposed to the vaccines, exactly. Nearly everyone in his life was already vaccinated, he said, and though he is at greater risk because of his age, he said he believed he was healthy and strong enough to be able to think on it for a while.

What pushed him toward a high school on the West Side of Chicago, where free vaccines were being administered, was the illness of the aging mother of a friend. Mr. Pullen wanted to visit her. He felt it would be irresponsible to do so unvaccinated.“I was holding out,” Mr. Pullen said. “I had reservations about the safety of the vaccine and the government doing it. I just wanted to wait and see.”

The campaign to broadly vaccinate Americans against the coronavirus began in a roaring, highly energetic push early this year, when millions were inoculated each day and coveted vaccine appointments were celebrated with joyful selfies on social media. The effort peaked on April 13, when an average of 3.38 million doses were being administered in the United States. The Biden administration set a goal to have 70 percent of American adults at least partly vaccinated by July 4.

But since mid-April, vaccinations have steadily decreased, and in recent weeks, plateaued. Weeks after the July 4 benchmark has passed, the effort has now dwindled, distributing about 537,000 doses each day on average — about an 84 percent decrease from the peak.

About 68.7 percent of American adults have received at least one shot. Conservative commentators and politicians have questioned the safety of the three vaccines that the Food and Drug Administration has approved for emergency use, and in some parts of the country, opposition to inoculation is tied to politics. An analysis by The New York Times of vaccine records and voter records in every county in the United States found that both willingness to receive a coronavirus vaccine and actual vaccination rates were lower, on average, in counties where a majority of residents voted to re-elect Donald J. Trump.

Barnet Gaston, 14, was vaccinated at Michele Clark Academic Preparatory Magnet High School in Chicago. He wanted to get vaccinated so he could spend more time hanging out with his friends, most of whom were vaccinated.Credit...Taylor Glascock for The New York Times

Anastiacia Rincon, 15, was vaccinated at the Polk County Health Department in Des Moines. She says that she got vaccinated “to protect myself and others, and I have asthma.”Credit...Kathryn Gamble for The New York Times

Despite the lagging vaccination effort, there are signs that alarming headlines about a new surge in coronavirus cases and the highly infectious Delta variant could be pushing more Americans to consider vaccination. On Friday, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said there had been “encouraging data” showing that the five states with the highest case rates — Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri and Nevada — were also seeing higher vaccination numbers.

In Florida, a clinic in Sarasota County was quiet, a brightly lit waiting area full of mostly empty chairs. Several people wandered in, often no more than one or two in an hour. Lately, they are vaccinating fewer than 30 people there a day.

Elysia Emanuele, 42, a paralegal, came for a shot. One factor in her decision had been the rising case numbers in the state, which she had been watching with worry.“If everything had gone smoothly, if we had shut down immediately and did what we needed to do and it was seemingly wiped out,” she said, “I think I would have been less likely to get the vaccine.”

Some people said they had heard snippets that worried them about getting shots on social media or on cable television — misinformation about vaccines has circulated widely — but they said they ultimately dismissed the rumors.In the shade of a freeway underpass in South Los Angeles, volunteers and would-be vaccine patients tried to talk over the roar of passing cars.

Charlene Bradley, 71, was vaccinated at the People’s Market in Portland, Ore. “I was kind of against it, but I promised my son I would do it,” she said. “It just took a while.”Credit...Tojo Andrianarivo for The New York Times

Cindy Adams, 52, was vaccinated at the Polk County Health Department in Des Moines. It was her workplace’s requirement to wear a mask as an unvaccinated person that changed her mind.Credit...Kathryn Gamble for The New York Times

Ronald Gilbert, 60, said he did not really believe in the vaccines and has never been a fan of needles, but with an uptick in cases he reasoned that it was “better to be safe than sorry.”

“I feel better having this now, seriously I do,” he said. “I’m going to be walking like a rooster, chest up, like ‘You got the vaccine? I got the vaccine.’”

News of the Delta variant also changed the mind of Josue Lopez, 33, who had not planned on getting a vaccine after his whole family tested positive for the coronavirus in December.

“I thought I was immune, but with this variant, if it’s more dangerous, maybe it’s not enough,” he said. “Even now, I’m still not sure if it’s safe.”

At a vaccination site at Malcolm X College in Chicago, Sabina Richter, one of the workers there, said it used to be easy to find people to get shots. More recently, they had to offer incentives: passes to an amusement park in the north suburbs and Lollapalooza.

“Some people come in and they’re still hesitant,” she said. “We have to fight for every one of them.”

Otchere Darko, 44, was vaccinated at Westchester Community College in Ossining, N.Y. He waited until he felt the vaccines had proven to be safe.Credit...Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times

Frederique Moretto, 59, was vaccinated at a Florida Department of Health site in Sarasota, Fla. She got vaccinated to visit her daughter, who is going to a school in Washington in the fall.Credit...Octavio Jones for The New York Times

Cherie Lockhart, an employee at a care facility in Milwaukee for older and disabled people, said she was worried about the vaccines because she did not trust a medical system that she felt had always treated Black people differently.

She was not anti-vaccine, she said, just stalling until something could help her be sure. Her mother ultimately convinced her.

“My mom has never steered me wrong,” Ms. Lockhart, 35, said. “She said, ‘I feel this is right in my heart of hearts.’ So I prayed about it. And, ultimately, I went with my guiding light.”

Many of the people who newly sought shots said they had wanted to see how the vaccines affected Americans who rushed to get them early.

"I do know people who have gotten it and they haven’t gotten sick, so that’s why,” said Lisa Thomas, 45, a home health care worker from Portland, Ore. “I haven’t heard of any cases of anyone hurting from it, and there’s a lot to benefit from it.”

Leslie Vences-Avena, 14, was vaccinated at a Florida Department of Health site in Sarasota, Fla. The F.D.A. approved vaccinations for children age 12 and older in May.Credit...Octavio Jones for The New York Times

Cherie Lockhart, 35, was vaccinated in Shorewood, Wis. Her mother convinced her to get the vaccine.Credit...Marla Bergh for The New York Times

For Cindy Adams, who works for a Des Moines insurance company, it was her job’s requirement to wear a mask as an unvaccinated person that pushed her into the Polk County Health Department drive-up clinic for her first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Ms. Adams, 52, said she had been concerned about possible long-term effects of the vaccines. But now her husband, children and most of her extended family have been vaccinated, as have most of her co-workers.

“I just honestly got sick of wearing the mask,” Ms. Adams said. “We had an event yesterday, and I had to wear it for five hours because I was around a lot of people. And I was sick of it.

“Everyone else is healthy and hasn’t had any side effects, gravely, yet, so I decided I might as well join the crowd.”

Julie Bosman reported from Chicago. Contributing reporting were Matt Craig from Los Angeles, Elizabeth Djinis from Sarasota, Fla., Timmy Facciola from Middlefield, Conn., Ann Hinga Klein from Des Moines, Emily Shetler from Portland, Ore., and Dan Simmons from Milwaukee.

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riaflicke · 4 years ago

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The saying went something like, monsters are created not born. And that was exactly how Ria Flicke felt about the demon - or demons, plural, depending on the day - inside of her. It wasn’t always dark, but it was fed enough that it grew and grew until she didn’t know what it felt like to not have the darkness inside of her.

Some of the creation was self-inflicted. It wasn’t like she knew how to walk away from a bad situation or how to let the light win out, no, she let the darkness win and that was her own fault. Over the past few months of alone time and wrestling with questions and curiosities, she managed to figure out how and where the darkness was cultivated, fed and nurtured by the people that were meant to protect her.

AUGUST 17th, 2010, FAIRFIELD, CONNECTICUT (14 years old)

Move in day for Faircrest Preparatory School. Day one of one million of learning to be a spy. Mariana thought that it would be a good idea for Leon to drive Ria to move in. After all, he worked at Faircrest, and she thought it’d be good for the younger Flicke to finally get to know her father.

Needless to say, it did not get off to a good start. Ria knew two things: her mother was cryptic about her father and the only way to get adults to pay attention to her was to be annoying. And she had lots of questions for Leon which meant she would be extra annoying.

“Don’t put your feet up there,” Leon turned over to his daughter, who had perched her feet on the all white car dash. “You’re going to get it dirty.” “What?” Ria didn’t dignify him with even a glance, she instead focused on picking a scab on her calf. “Maria-” “Ria.” “Maria,” Leon huffed, “Take your feet off the dash or we’re not leaving this driveway… What did you do to yourself anyway?” “Fell off my bike.” “Don’t you know how to ride a bike?” Picking at the scab until she got it to bleed again (because it definitely made her dad cringe), “Yes. I let go.” “Why?” “It made mom freak out.” She finally moved her feet from the dash, pleased with the furrowed brow her father now had. “And why in the world would you want to do that?” Leon asked in a deadpan tone, clearly frustrated with his daughter’s antics. “It proved mom cares. Somewhere. She got worried.”

The frustration on Leon’s face morphed into one of pride, but in the blink of an eye it was back to neutral. “You’re already thinking like a spy. What has your mother taught you so far?” “Nothing, I’ve known for all of like, three months.” “Alright. Well, we have about six hours ahead of us-” “Joy.” “Don’t interrupt me, Maria. I can’t have my daughter not knowing anything about spyhood. You’re already starting Faircrest at a disadvantage.”

That spoke to the competitive side of Ria and all, but she thought that this ride would be a way to get to know the man she’d wondered about for years. “You’re going to spend six hours talking to me about spy stuff and not like… anything about me?” “I didn’t say that. Anyways, I’ll see you all year on campus, we have plenty of time to get to know each other.” “Ooookay. Weird, but, fine, talk to me about your spy life or whatever…” Her voice trailed off into silence.

Leon glanced over at her, “What were you about to say?” Chewing on her bottom lip, Ria was silent for a little longer before speaking up. “I wanted to ask you a question.” “Fine, ask it then.” “Do you love me?” The words sounded sharp to hide the fear inside. “I don’t know.” Sitting up straighter, the blonde’s face dropped, “How do you not know? I’m your daughter.” “We just met.” “So?” “So, I need time to decide.” “Do you think you ever will?” “We’ll see.” And he wouldn’t. ‘I love you’ were three words he’d never say. “Fine… Tell me about this spy shit.” “Language.”

JUNE 8th, 2010, FAIRFIELD, CONNECTICUT (17 years old) Whether she wanted to listen to her father or not (spoiler: she didn’t!), Ria wanted to be top of her class. Success was something she could control. Success gave her purpose. Success made it all worth it. So as much as she hated Leon Calder with everything in her being, she kept note of all of his rules and the subsequent tests and trials in a tiny leather bound notebook. It was a pale pink, embossed with “Maria” on the cover - which she had since scratched up with pens and keys until it only read Ria.

With graduation on the corner - and a four year break from spyhood (her parents hated that one) on the horizon - she flicked through the pages, a walk down a very bumpy memory lane.

Rule 1: Control the conversation What’s it mean: - Have conviction in what you say - Stand by your words, even if they’re questionable - Don’t get stuck in webs of lies - Take pride in attention - good or bad - throws people off their game when you embrace an insult

Rule 2: Head not heart What’s it mean: - Don’t lead with emotions ever - Look at things logically bc that’s trustworthy, emotions are fickle - Tears are weakness - avoid at all costs!!!

8/30/10 - first week @ faircrest, dad got me a xanax prescription. told me it’s better to feel nothing than something. haven’t tried it yet 2/1/12 - (middle of soph. year.) - i think i’m addicted 4/29/14 - i’m graduating in 2 months. Idk how to feel bc i don’t think i’ve felt anything in four years. 8/2/14 - i don’t trust my own head

Rule 3: Don’t have a blindspot What’s it mean: - Falling in love means youre caught up in another person - Getting caught up in another person is a weak point - A lover will betray you or will be used against you - Lust =/= love, lust is ok.

11/1/13 - i don’t think ive cared about a single person ive slept with. like at all.

Rule 4: Know what you’re walking into What’s it mean: - Awareness is key - Evaluate every situation in full - ALWAYS keep your guard up or you’ll get backstabbed

12/21/10 - was @ home for christmas, dad snuck up behind me and threw a knife. i ducked in time. said i need to get better at awareness. Wtf.

After twenty or so blank pages, one page of the notebook had a few words written on it in all capitals. They were written more cleanly than the notes and scribbles of yesteryear, clearly written by an older Ria with stronger penmanship.

I THINK IM A MONSTER.

SEPTEMBER THROUGH NOVEMBER, 2020, ROSEVILLE, VA (24 years old)

The fires the year prior had been the first time that Ria remembered crying in over ten years. Something cracked inside of her as the buildings and all she’d used to ground herself started to fall and crackle apart. It was what pushed her to look inside of her. To know why she held so tightly onto the lessons and learnings from two people that couldn’t care less about her. It was what sent her to therapy.

There were no diagnoses to be found, apart from a self-inflicted dependence on unhealthy relationships and her vices. She lacked the remorse and violence to be a psychopath, and she didn’t have the swings of anger that hallmarked aggression disorders. What was there instead was a shell, a guard that presented itself as sociopathy - but she knew what she was doing, she had remorse, that was where the questions began. How could you display every trait in the book but be ‘normal’ inside?

The revelation of Blackthorne as a school for assassins had opened up even more of a can of worms, but she ignored it until the start of her third year, as she continued to try and understand what was going on inside of her head. Leon had gone to Blackthorne, yet the alumni didn’t seem to recognize his name. Something was up.

With the help of one of her Faircrest friends, Tobi, she was able to find more on her father. More on his employment records and his history. He’d begun going by his middle name after graduating Blackthorne, Leon Calder instead of Malcolm Calder. Hardly a criminal offense. He had a cross listing with the MI5 (expected, she knew her parents met in London) and a private agency ‘Atkinson Associates’. Further digging revealed it as a hitman agency, one that her father was still actively employed with.

Once she had that, and access to the files of the company, she went to dig on her own - not wanting to pull anyone else deeper into the mess. The employee roster and files were what she really wanted. Clicking on her father’s, she read through the notes, feeling a gross pit building in her stomach as she learned more. Kill count: 117. Use for: High profile, quickturn jobs. Works both individually and with partners.

Noting that the word partners was linked, Ria clicked on it, skimming quickly over unknown names until she settled on the name of a former partner. One she knew too well. Mariana Alice Flicke.

“No…. no no no…” But she couldn’t stop, she had to know more about her mother. Kill count: 2. Use for: Track erasure and evidence destruction.

She didn’t know if it made her feel better or worse that her mother was typically non-violent… Even if she condoned the violence. Blue eyes kept scanning the profile of her mom. Employment Terminated: September 30, 1995 Reason: Pregnancy.

“No wonder he hates me so fucking much.” She took Mariana out of the field, she took his partner away… But that wasn’t her fault! Hovering over the word pregnancy, Ria’s brow furrowed. Another link. There was no reason that needed to be linked. Everyone knew how pregnancy worked!

After a long stare off with the link, she finally clicked on it. The curiosity eating away at her. It pulled up what looked like an incomplete profile, one with nothing but the key statistics. And she didn’t even need to read them, they were ones she knew by heart. Name: Maria Grace Flicke Date of Birth: June 6, 1996 Start Date: To Be Determined.

She wanted to stop scrolling, but her hand kept moving, the answers were finally there. Whether she liked them or not.

Current Status:

Atkinson Associates Case study 001.: Nature versus Nurture

- Developing the mindset of an assassin from day one - Utilizing upbringing to control later characteristics, thought processes, and disposition

None of her mania was an accident. It was all part of a bigger plan that she never wanted to be a part of. Each demon was planted inside of her by the people that were supposed to love her most.

And the only way she could deal with this was to let out an ear-piercing wail.

#dev | ria #i'm sorry #drugs tw

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nevervalentines · 5 years ago

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If u did the dare me kind it will make me very happy, i love your writing and i love them sooo

a teeny tiny snippet of a dare me wip, half gallon of milk and all

Addy sees her again for the first time in six years in the aisle of the grocery store.

Beth is cradling a half-gallon jug of milk under one arm, hip propping open a glass freezer door.

This is a fantasy Addy has toyed with for so long. She has played her thoughts over its potential again and again until it felt nearly like a memory. For the vivid colors of everything she had imagined, the moment it actually happens is ghostly, translucent. She can feel the instant passing even as it unspools out in front of her.

It’s a twilight zone. Addy’s carefully spun fictions splitting and streaming around the reality.

They don’t meet again on the mats, or in the dim lighting of a party, or rain soaked on her front stoop, but here – at the lip of aisle 7, Beth juggling a plastic jug while she considers endless stacks of Styrofoam egg cartons.

Beth still doesn’t see her. Her lips are moving, like she’s reading the packaging to herself, silently. She looks older. Her cheeks fuller, her hair lighter, the way it gets when she’s spent a whole summer in the sun.

Baggy sweatpants sit low on her hips, her crewneck pullover a dreamy blue. She isn’t wearing makeup and it feels like a novelty to see her here, like this, face bare. Beautiful. Addy can see the creases at the corner of her smile. If she didn’t know better, she would mistake them for laugh lines.

Addy is frozen beside a wire rack of chips. Tinkling muzak pipes through the speakers, filtering down through watery, fluorescent lighting.

Beth deliberates. Decides. Withdraws a dozen eggs in a cardboard carton. As she moves, her sleeve slips up her arm, revealing an expanse of her pale, narrow wrist.

At the sight of it, of her skin, an intimate battleground she used to know better than anything, Addy takes a reflexive step back. The beginning of a retreat. Her leg jars the shelving, just barely, but the hollow metallic echo is enough to draw Beth’s attention.

Beth looks up, eyes fixing on Addy. There is a beat of silence. Addy can tell the exact moment Beth sees her, really sees her. Her face flickers through a sickening slideshow, like a stream of light ghosting from the mouth of a projector.

First, surprise. Her fairytale lips fall into a perfect ‘o.’ Her knuckles whiten around the handle of the milk jug.

Next, hurt. Just a breath of it, enough that if Addy hadn’t spent years studying this landscape, she would miss it.

Then, worst of all, interest. Keen. Familiar.

Beth smiles.

She takes a step forward. The freezer door swings shut.

“Addy Hanlon. Of all the gin joints –” She shifts the weight of the milk to her hip, the eggs tucked under one arm. One hand stretches out. Addy realizes, belatedly, it’s meant for her to take.

“Beth,” Addy says. Then. “What are you doing here?”

Beth withdraws her hand, and her mouth twists. “Same as you, I would assume.” She shrugs. “Late night grocery run. Is that a problem?”

Addy is embarrassed to find herself already stumbling. Six years. A lifetime for a 23-year-old. And in thirty seconds, Beth Cassidy already has her on her back foot.

She feels at once completely and utterly 17. She can’t remember what to do with her hands.

“No, of course not. I was just –” she trails off, searching, “Surprised.”

“Same small town,” Beth says. She shrugs. “We always used to come here. Only a matter of time, I guess.”

Addy almost loses the train of conversation, too busy trying to re-remember the shape of Beth’s collarbones. A hint of them peaks above the scoop of her collar.

Flatly, she says, “I guess.” Too busy with: the ridge of her knuckles, the arch of her brow, her weight shifting from foot to foot, like the milk is getting heavy.

“It’s been—” Addy starts.

Beth cuts her off. “Yeah.”

The sight of Beth haloed by linoleum and fluorescence smash-cuts Addy back to high school. Beth driving them to the townie grocery store on the edge town, jeep tires spraying gravel in the parking lot, a little stoned. They would raid the aisles for Little Debbie snacks and pork rinds to spit back up later. Would buy Smirnoff Ice at the register with the clerk who never carded if they flashed cleavage and big smiles.

Beth, then, tilting her head at Addy at the mouth of the dairy aisle, smiling her just-for-Addy-smile.

Beth, now, waving a hand in front of her face.

“Hanlon? Anybody home?”

Addy jars back to present, finds her palms clammy. “Sorry?”

A little amused now, eggs swapped to the other hand. “I just asked if you were back all summer?”

“Just for July,” Addy says. “Trying to keep Faith happy.” She looks around, like she’s seeing the store for the first time. “It’s my first time home in months.”

It feels so pedestrian to talk like this. A casual catch-up conversation, like you would with anyone you fell out of touch with after high school. Something about it feels dirty, almost taboo.

“How about you?”

“Same,” Beth says. She turns now, starts to walk. Without thinking, Addy follows, falling into step a pace behind. “I have a month before my masters program starts up, then it’s back to school.”

Reflexively, Addy reaches out to take the half gallon jug of milk from Beth’s arms, just to relieve her of the weight. Beth’s eyes flash wide, but she says nothing. This close, Addy can smell a hint of her perfume. Like she didn’t wash yesterday’s floral blush from her pulse points, from the side of her neck.

They steer toward the register, already in step.

“Grad school. Wow. Congrats, Beth.”

Addy finds she means it. Beth flashes her a smile, a little shy, cheeks dimpling. “Thanks. I heard you weren’t doing too bad yourself.”

“Who said?” Addy has been careful not to ask after Beth, and only comes back to Sutton Grove when its necessary, too scared to peel back the scab of old wounds.

That sly Beth grin, eyes shifting. “I have my sources.”

Steps echo off the tile floor as they dodge through the aisles. Just past 10 p.m., the grocery is all but empty, humid night air crowding the floor-to-ceiling windows of the storefront, reflections warped and watery in the glass.

They play at small talk, the rhythm of it unreal in the ghost town of empty aisles.

Only the sign above register three is lit, the decal peeling off the plastic, yellow light flickering. A lone employee stands at the till, flicking through his phone, blue light throwing his cheekbones into sharp relief.

Beth rests the eggs on the conveyor belt and Addy crowds in behind her to set the milk next to it. Their hips bump. Beth smells exactly the same. It’s such a mind-fuck that the simple, incidental press of warm hip on warm hip is enough to send her reeling.

Addy is suddenly certain she is going to die in a fucking Save-A-Lot outlet on the edge of town.

White teeth digging into a full bottom lip, Beth looks up at her through her lashes. Addy burrows her hands deep in the pocket of her hoodie, nods toward the register.

“You gonna pay?”

A hum. Beth produces a wrinkled bill from the waistband of her sweatpants. A pale flash of skin, the divot of her navel. “Always in a hurry.”

When she turns to the lone employee, Addy thinks she catches her wink.

Addy trails her to the parking lot, to an unfamiliar car. Beth pops the trunk, old-fashioned style, key-in-lock, and dumps the lone plastic bag into it.

With their mission completed, silence falls over them. They turn to one another under the pooled light of the lot’s sole floodlight. They shuffle their feet in the gravel. Beth seems so small like this. Her sleeve falls over her fingertips, and she pushes it back absently with one hand.

Addy looks hard at her forearm, stops herself from reaching out to touch.

She has a terrible idea and speaks before she can stop herself.

“So Riri is throwing a party. Kind of a reunion?” Addy’s voice tilts up into a question. They don’t need to mention that this used to be the kind of thing Beth would never need an invite to, let alone need to be told about it. “Nothing crazy, just drinking wine and talking about,” Addy flaps a hand, “the good old days.”

The cliché feels stale on her tongue and she immediately regrets it.

Beth looks at her evenly, silent.

Addy shrugs, fixes her gaze on the edge of the lot, where the shadows around the dumpster are deep, scrubby grass poking through asphalt.

“You could come, if you wanted.” She makes the mistake of looking back into Beth’s cold eyes. “It could be like old times.”

“Wine, huh?” Beth’s voice is pitched, low, grating into the air between them. “That’s a change from trying to shotgun a watermelon Four Loko in the 7/11 parking lot at 1 a.m.”

Addy laughs before she can stop herself, remembering the night. “I think that’s the closest I’ve ever come to dying,” she says. A lie. “I think I saw God that night.” Possibly true. She can remember the world turning topsy-turvy, street lights glinting like stars against a murky, smog filled sky.

“Oh yeah?” Beth is smiling now, too. “What did she look like?”

Addy crinkles her nose. “A little like you actually.”

Beth snakes out a hand – that pale, pale wrist flashing in the dark – and sneaks Addy’s phone out of her pocket. She adds a contact, lightning fast, extends the phone. Addy takes it, heart stuttering, fluttering.

“Text me when. I’ll be there.”

Beth climbs into her car without looking back. Pauses to fix her hair in the rearview mirror before she starts the ignition.

Addy watches Beth peel out of the lot, driving fast, rear lights flaring like the embers of a cigarette on an inhale.

She plunges her hand into her pocket for her keys and hears a rustle. Pulling out a paper, she looks down at her grocery list. She didn’t buy a goddamn thing.

#dare me #my writing #i had to repost bc the readmore got erased #and i couldnt stand the idea of ppl wading through all that text on their dash #Anonymous

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prorevenge · 5 years ago

Text

New Manager makes working stressful, enjoy working alone with no staff.

This story happened over 20 years ago during the late 90s. I was 17 and had just recently gotten a job as a dishwasher at a local summer camp. This was a large camp that was run by a corporation. I won’t say the name of the corporation, but there is a very famous song named after them. I had been to this summer camp before as a kid so I knew the layout of the camp. My job started up on the first week of summer (mid June) so the kids were already there. I had my interview with the acting Kitchen Manager (who we will call Susan), the original manager had just recently left the company and put Susan in charge. This didn’t seem to bother Susan as she was eyeing for the kitchen manager job that had recently open. Susan was a sweet heart; she was nice and helped me out with everything. I also interviewed with Bob, the camp director as Susan did not have any hiring or firing power (as she was just an acting manager).

The majority of the kitchen staff were also nice and helpful. I made friends with them during the time I worked there. While there was way more than these people (I remember there being around 10 to 15 kitchen staff members during the summer), I am only going to bring up ones that are important to this story. There was Todd, an older guy who lived only a few blocks from the camp and didn’t have a car so he rode his bike in the morning, who was also a dishwasher, he was my supervisor but also really nice. Dale, the head cook, had been there for a long time and used to be a cook for the local middle school, Debbie, another cook, Ellie, a kitchen server (later girlfriend), and Boris, a Russian dishwasher who had a sponsorship with the camp as part of their “world view” program. There were 3 other dishwashers (Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest) who I will call “the dummies” but they are not part of revenge, just that there were 3 dishwashers that were the worst. Nobody got along with them and they couldn’t get fired because Susan was acting manager.

Now, due to the fact that we were located in at a camp, the staff had full access to the facilities of the camp. This means that during my breaks or off work, if the camp was open, I was allowed to go to the swimming pool, go horseback riding or even boating. As long as I didn’t get in the way of the kids, who had a set schedule, it was full access. Susan told me this along with the director of the camp, Bob, during my interview. Bob was also a nice man but also kind of weird. This is important later on.

During the summer, this place was wonderful. I would typically start working the lunch shift then have an hour lunch break between lunch and dinner. While I was required by state law for a half hour lunch, Susan gave me an hour which she did for everyone. Typically during this hour I would go swimming or play with the horses. One time Bob and I went jet boating around the lake or Ellie and I would make out in the pool. Just typical stuff a teenage boy would do. Most everyone in the kitchen staff loved me, as I was a model employee and helped with just about everything. They loved that they had someone who they could get help with as the dummies would always mess up.

In August, we got the news. The corporation had picked a new kitchen manager and it was someone from outside of the company. Susan was really upset, she had worked so hard for years for this job and the higher ups picked someone outside of the company. The new manager was named Karen.

The first time we met Karen; she gave a speech how “new changes are coming” and “we will now work as a team” and was condensing towards Susan’s work. The first thing she did was do a massive clean up to the large walk in fridges. The strange thing was, she didn’t have the staff do it, but it was (later on we found out) her family cleaning it out. She also hired her husband, Dan, to be the assistant manager, pretty much forcing Susan out. During this time the camp was starting to transition from a summer camp to an event camp. So the large staff would be cut in half. This wasn’t a problem normally as people would be leaving for school or other seasonal jobs start opening up. The first people she cut were “the dummies”. Everyone was happy on that (and that was the only good thing she did) but in the end all that was left was Ellie, Dale, Todd, Debbie, Boris, a few others and me. I asked Karen if I could work the weekend (as I had high school) and she agreed since everyone else had wanted to keep me on staff.

Karen then begins her terror, it only took a week but it happened. Her fangs started to show and the power got to her, each person felt the wrath of her. She was one of those people who thinks their farts doesn't smell. She would come in late, leave early but yell at everyone for doing the same thing. Everyone had problems with her but here are a few that I remember.

Todd was starting to get written warnings about coming in late. Karen placed him on the morning shift but he told her that he couldn’t do the morning shift or he would be late as he doesn’t have a car and bikes into work. As the camp is located in a rural area, it doesn’t have street lights and biking in the morning is dangerous. This isn’t a problem during the summer as the sun is up earlier but during the fall and winter time is not acceptable. She called him lazy for not having a car and it didn’t matter, she needed him in here.

Dale, the head cook, was starting to get fed up with Karen ordering too little of the food and the wrong food. Having cheaper products and being forced to work with a broken stove. One time he asked her when the stove would be fixed and her response was “fix it yourself, you are a big boy.” So often times we would run out of food for the night and had to make sandwiches for the people.

Ellie got the worst of it. Since we were dating, I found out that she had an eating disorder a few years earlier (she was 2 years older than me) and use to be anorexia. Karen kept calling her “piggy” and “fat” and how she shouldn’t eat all the food in the kitchen. She was upset and crying the whole time when this happened. I confronted Karen about it and she said “she shouldn’t be sheltered college brat and grow up” and “if she has a problem she should talk to me, not you.”

I also felt the wrath of her too. She would change my schedule around randomly after posting it. On Friday we would get our schedules for the week. I typically worked Friday night, Saturday and Sunday because of High School. During the week, she would change my schedule, so I was working on Friday night, she changed it to Wednesday night and then would call saying I missed Wednesday night. Unlucky for her, Dale had my number and called me whenever he found a schedule change but it was getting old quickly. She would also tell me to do a job then change what to do. For example, one time she told me to clean the oven and when I was near finishing up on the job she asks why I didn’t clean the stove and get mad when I said she told me to do the oven. Another example was that she would tell me to mop the floor and Boris would come over and help me out because he had nothing to do and then get on me for Boris finishing my job, even though Boris spoke up and said that he asked her if he could help me and she said yes. Another example was that she cut my break from an hour to half hour and not allowing me to use the facilities during my break since I “was only on break to eat, not play.”

After a few weeks of this (late September), I went to Bob about her and told him everything about what she was doing to us. I found out from Bob that Dale also went to him earlier that week with the same thing. However, having the spine of a jellyfish he said “I’ll talk with Karen;” then a day later Karen starts getting on us for going to Bob and not her saying “If you have a problem with me, you come to me, not Bob.” This was the last straw for us, so I talked with the rest of the kitchen staff and we decided that she needed to leave.

During one of my breaks that she wasn’t in the office that day when we were still trying to think of a way to get rid of her, I was eating my dinner in her office (the manager’s office was the only one with AC in it and it was a hot day). We all had permission to be in her office as it had the keys to the large fridge, tools, the private rest room and what not. I’m eating dinner with Ellie when Boris comes looking for a pen. He was trying to fill out information so he could go home to Russia (I don’t remember what, just that he was planning on leaving in 3 weeks) and sits down at her desk. He is opening up the desk to find a black pen when he finds a check. It was a paycheck to one of the dummies, who left a month earlier. It was his final paycheck, highly illegal to withhold a paycheck. Boris showed us the paycheck and then he started to look at the computer that was on her desk. While Karen was a jerk, she was also stupid and left everything unlocked. There he saw the orders. She was ordering things that we never got into the kitchen or ordering extra stuff. It turns out that she was ordering more food than we thought, stealing the food and using it for her own personal use. I told Boris that he was looking though her personal property and he said “What are going to do? Deport me?” We also found out that Bob was getting a kickback from the extra food that Karen was getting in to keep quiet. So it explained why Bob had the spine of a jellyfish towards Karen. Boris printed out the information and held onto it. This is important later on.

The three of us told Dale about it and he wanted to confront Karen, but Debbie pointed out that she would just deny it and Bob would cover up. We thought about corporate but we had no connections to corporate and Susan had left the company, who use to have the connections. It then hit on us, in about 3 weeks (mid October) corporate was going to be having a retreat using the camp. All the big wigs and high ups were going to be there and we were all scheduled to be at work that day because there was going to be a huge feast for dinner while lunch corporate was going to have grilled burgers and hot dogs. I remember that corporate brought in an outside vendor for the grilled stuff since they were preparing a big feast. Karen was also going to be there to impress the big wigs. We decided to act on that day but also knew what to do before hand. It was also going to be Boris’ last day as he was leaving to Russia that night.

So on the day of the feast, all of us show up on time at around noon. The dinner feast wasn’t going to be until 5pm so we had plenty of time to prepare or at least, that what Karen thought. We got there and just sat down around the kitchen and did no work. We locked the freezer with a different lock (it was only locked with a normal deadbolt lock you can get at the hardware store). The janitor wasn’t going to be in until later in the evening (thanks to Dale telling him about the plan and not to answer the phone) so he couldn’t use his tools to break into the fridge. So we waited. Karen didn’t get in until 4pm with her husband; she looked as if she was ready for a major interview when she saw all of us just standing around. The stove wasn’t on and cold, the fridge was locked and we were just sitting around. Karen started to yell and talk about how today is important for her and that she would have our heads for this. So Dale comes up to her and says “We quit.” Karen went full on deer in headlights and her mouth was so wide open that you could throw peanuts into it. All of us walked out on her, into our cars and drove away before she could get a word in. We decided to just quit. We went and got jobs or some security lined up but knew that a major shakeup like this would grab the attention of the big wigs.

I found out a month later when I got a call from Susan, the original acting manager before Karen, asking me if I wanted my old job back. It turns out that Karen called Bob and said her whole kitchen staff just left and they needed to tell the big wigs that the feast was going to be cancelled. She couldn’t get into the fridge with all the food since her key didn’t work and nobody was picking up to help her. She tired to call others that left or were fired but since she was so toxic that nobody wanted to work with her. The big wigs were not happy, they went right to the kitchen to find out what was wrong and saw that nobody but Bob, Karen and Dan were there without any food cooking. Boris walks in and Karen starts yelling at him, saying how could he do this to her? Boris then hands the big wigs the printed information he got from Karen’s computer earlier and had made copies of it, gave it to everyone in the room (Boris told me, though email, that he wasn’t sure who was in charge so he gave everyone in the room the information since he figured one of them had to be a head guy) then got into a taxi and went back to Russia. Corporate started an investigation as soon as that happened. Bob, Karen and Dan were fired almost right on the spot and not only did they find out about the withholding checks and backdoor deals with Bob but also Bob was stealing money from the camp to support a drug habit. Karen and Bob were arrested for fraud and most likely other things (it has been over 20 years, I don’t remember everything but that one stuck out at me). Pretty much the whole camp had a shake up, Susan took over as the manager (got the job she wanted with a pay raise. She did leave after they gave the job to Karen but her new job wasn’t working out) and about half of the staff came back. I did come back as my parents were helping me out while this was happening (I told them everything in advance) but only for a month as by that point it was winter and it was costing me more in gas than work. Dale came back to the job along with Debbie but Ellie and I broke up (it was a “summer love” anyway) as she moved away for college, Todd never came back and works at a local liquor store (at least last I saw him. I haven’t been in that store in about 7 years).

So what happened now in my acting job that caused me to remember this? Well, I got a call from Dan about a month ago recently wanting to do some work for him. However, he lived in another state that we aren’t licensed to do work in and that was pretty much the end of the conversation. I decided to Google search her name but didn’t find much information except some court records about the original case from years ago. Dan and Karen do not appear to have any social media page or anything that I can find. I honestly don’t care anymore as it has been over 20 years since this happened and I’m much happier at my current job.

TLDR; Summer Kitchen job at summer camp gets new manager and start causing problems, whole staff quits during an event and gives higher ups information about fraud with manager and director.

(source) story by (/u/Konacha)

#prorevenge #by /u/Konacha #pro revenge #revenge stories #pro revenge stories #pro #revenge #last10

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seoulsister98 · 5 years ago

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Dissonance (Ch.1) | jjk (m)

⭄ Pairing: Jungkook x OC

⭄ Genre: Superhero!au / Enemies-to-lovers

⭄ Warnings: explicit language, minor character death, mentions of blood, mentions of violence

⭄ Word Count: 2,955

⭄ Disclaimer: Hi, everyone! This is my first ever attempt at writing a BTS fanfic so please be nice. I’ll probably continue the series even if this doesn’t get many likes. I wrote this based off a dream I had, but it is also inspired by X-Men and the show The Boys. Enjoy! :)

Mutants have been living among humans since the dawn of time. Across all cultures, religions and legends, mutants were seen as gods and miracle-workers. Overall mutants were viewed as benign, altruistic beings, gifted with special abilities. However, in this modern social and political climate, the world now perceives mutants in conflicting ways. Some people feel entitled to their gifts, given to mutants through the alterations in their DNA. They expect mutants to use their powers for good and to protect human-kind from the dangers of the world. However, others consider mutants freaks of nature and even menaces to society. Political leaders spew mutant versus human rhetoric, only fueling the hatred that humans feel towards mutant-kind. This ideology is derived from fear of the unknown. Although most mutants are capable of killing humans, most of them wish to pursue normal lives. Like getting an education, finding a career, blending into the crowd. Most of them. Until recently…

Mutants often face discrimination and even violence from humans because of their fear-derived convictions. This has led to the formation of radical mutant groups, rallying up their bloody masses and promoting the belief that mutants are far superior to humans and should be treated as such. The government has deemed these groups as terrorists and a threat to the general public. Because of the immeasurable powers some mutants possess, human strength nor human weaponry stand a chance to eliminate this threat. With this in mind, the government has initiated a military-trained task force called the Mutant Special-Ops (MSO). They are given mutant-related assignments that would otherwise go unchecked. Government collaboration with mutants is very controversial in the media. Some believe mutants have a duty to fight the bad guys while some think all mutants are inherently evil, and will turn against mankind.

---

☽ Bangtan City. District 7 Railway. 1:42a.m.☾

Nara. ID number 5407. Telekinesis. These were the only three things listed on her MSO portfolio along with the red letter ‘M’ in the corner, signifying her mutant status. She never understood the need for this distinction, as if the word ‘telekinesis’ didn’t give away what she was. She also couldn’t wrap her mind around what had become of her life. It felt like yesterday that she was just 17 years old, disowned by her family, homeless, with no prospects when a government official had approached her. A sleek, black car pulled up beside her as she walked along the sidewalk. The back, tinted window was rolled down. A man wearing a suit peered at her over his sunglasses. “Get in,” he had said. Wanting no trouble with the law, Nara cautiously entered the vehicle. She pressed herself against the leather seat across from him, attempting to put as much space between her and the man, and stared at him warily. “Don’t worry. You’re not in trouble,” he said with a slight smile. Knowing how mutants were systematically killed by law enforcement, Nara still felt doubtful about the man’s intentions. “What is it that you want from me then?” she asked. The man’s smile grew wider, “I have a proposition for you.”

That day had changed Nara’s life for the better. Along with the rigorous 4-year military training and the scientific experiments she had undergone, she had also been given a home, a family, and a purpose in life. Now she sat beside two of her fellow teammates, Jimin and Taehyung, several feet away from the city’s train tracks. It was very dark out sans the lights illuminating the track. Nara looked up at the starless sky; the city lights swallowing up their light. A cool breeze lifted Nara’s midnight hair off her shoulders and she relished in the feeling. Although she had been assigned missions countless times, she still felt on edge.

Taehyung sighed and glanced at his cellphone again for the nth time that evening. “My patience is wearing thin. This train was supposed to be here 10 minutes ago,” he said in annoyance and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared off towards the tracks in the direction the train was supposedly arriving from. Jimin placed a hat over his head in order to cover his silver blue hair, a phenotypic mutation that came along with his powers. Although it wasn’t too strange to see a younger man with unnaturally colored hair in the city, the team was required to look as ordinary as possible. “Complaining about it isn’t going to make the train come any faster, Tae. Besides, where do any of us have to be right now?” Jimin asked. Taehyung shrugged and smirked, “I was hoping we could grab drinks after our mission. Maybe enjoy a night for once.” They were about to kill a man, a fellow mutant, and Taehyung was thinking about grabbing drinks as if they worked in some stuffy office all day. With each completed task, these things became easier and easier to do. The only solace they shared was that all of this was for the good of humanity and the rest of the mutants who didn’t want a bad rep because of a few sour apples.

Nara placed her brown color contacts over her violet eyes. She glanced over at Taehyung who was sporting his signature pedestrian garb, all black clothes topped off with a leather jacket. Mutants often exhibit physical abnormalities like Jimin with his natural blue hair and Nara’s violet eyes. Taehyung, however, was blessed with black hair and brown eyes, making it easy for him to pass as human. He never needed a disguise while on missions or in life for that matter. “Let’s go over the mission one more time,” said Jimin, pulling up the file on his phone. “Target is on board a District 7 high-speed train heading east-bound towards Bangtan City to meet with the mutant terrorist group: Supremus. Target is mutant, but powers are unknown so execute the mission with caution. Target is in possession of top-secret information disclosed in a briefcase. Assassinate the target and retrieve the briefcase without any human casualties. Dispose of the body.” Jimin slips his phone back into his pocket. “Easy enough,” Taehyung said nonchalantly.

The rumble of the approaching train pulled them out of their thoughts, “It’s here.” Taehyung groaned as he stood, “About time.” Jimin and Nara stood as well and they stealthily made their way towards the train. As they approached, the wind from the speed of the train whipped their hair and clothes, making Nara wince. “Which car is he in?” Jimin asked nonchalantly as he began to stretch his limbs. “According to Namjoon, he should be in car sixteen,” Nara replied. Taehyung groaned again, “When is Yoongi gonna stop this train?” Yoongi, the MSO’s hacker and shapeshifter, was tasked to hack the high-speed train’s operating system in order to stop the train instead of letting it take its intended route. A few seconds later the train came to a gradual halt. “We shouldn’t enter car sixteen immediately. We should enter from the back, it’ll give us enough time for a distraction,” Nara said. Jimin nodded in agreement. Taehyung sighed, “We’re just wasting more time by doing this! Why can’t we just kill this guy and get it over with?” Jimin nudged him and gave him a look which seemed to silence him.

Nara approached one of the back cars, most likely empty due to the time of night. She raised her hand towards the train door. Using her power of telekinesis, she forced the door open and stepped inside. Jimin and Taehyung followed closely behind. “How’d you three get on here?” The three whipped their heads around to face a man in a uniform, most likely someone who worked on the train. Dammit, Nara thought to herself. She only considered the possibility of passengers seeing them, not an employee. However, slip ups such as this were easily fixed by Taehyung, possessing the power of memory manipulation. He approached the man and waved his hand in front of the man’s eyes, in a calm voice he said, “You never saw us here. Continue with what you were doing.” The man’s eyes seemed to glaze over as he nodded and turned away from us. Taehyung turned around and smirked at us, “Still got it.” Nara rolled her eyes, “Get serious, Tae. That could’ve blown this whole operation.” Taehyun tsked at her and shook his head, “You have such little faith in me.” Rather than contributing to their bickering, Jimin began making his way towards the sliding doors, separating them from the other cars. Nara and Taehyung followed behind as they all made their way towards car sixteen.

The team finally came upon several confused passengers. Jimin, feigning concern, asked a couple why the train had suddenly stopped. “I don’t know, but someone came back here and told us it would start running again shortly.” They’re window of opportunity was narrowing. “We need a distraction,” Nara whispered to the others. “I have an idea,” Jimin replied, “but let’s get closer to our target.” They continued walking and slipped into car sixteen. Nara scanned the area and noticed a man, sitting by himself, holding a briefcase. He seemed inconspicuous enough, passed as human, except for the gills he was attempting to hide under his shirt collar. He could have the ability to manipulate water or even the ability to swim at inhuman speeds. Either way, he was potentially dangerous and the team needed to execute this perfectly. “Get on with this grand plan of yours Jimin, we don’t have much time,” Taehyung urged. Jimin glanced at Nara, “You got this?” She nodded. Jimin sat down close to a window and the others sat beside him. Jimin placed his hand against the side of the train, shooting volts of electricity from his fingertips. All of the lights on the train sparked and busted, encasing everyone in complete darkness. Passengers screamed and ducked for cover. This was their chance. The man with the briefcase, seeming to know something was off, shuffled out of his seat quickly. Taehyung and Nara followed after him. The man sprayed water from his hand onto the floor, causing Taehyung to slip and fall. Nara easily avoided the water and jumped over Taehyung. “Dammit! Get him, Nara.” The man clutched his briefcase to his chest and ran to the next car. Nara chased after him, shoving away distressed passengers trying to run the opposite direction. Outstretching her hand, she forced him in place. He grunted and struggled in her telekinetic grasp. She approached the man and withdrew her knife from her boot. The man’s eyes widened as if she was squeezing them out of his head. His gills seemed to be gasping for air and sweat dripped down his temple, “P-Please don’t do this. I’m one of you!” Nara felt her stomach churn at his words and grimaced, “You are not one of us,” she said and slit his throat. He made a gurgled sound as blood spurted on her face and chest. Losing her concentration, she released the man from her hold and he fell to the floor with a thump. She wiped her face and looked down at her hands. It was dark on the train, but she could still see the man’s blood on her hands. She felt sick to her stomach from the sight. Taehyung and Jimin finally reached her and lifted his lifeless body. “Let’s go.”

In their hysterics, the passengers had run to the opposite end of the train so thankfully no one had witnessed the man being killed. Nara pried the door open with her power and helped the other two drag the man’s body out. “What should we do with the body?” Nara asked. “Let the train run over him. That should be sufficient enough for disposal,” Taehyung said and shrugged. Jimin grabbed the suitcase, “This is all we need. Let’s get out of here.” As the train began to move again, the team ran away from the tracks and into the city.

---

“Thank god this bar stays open late!” Taehyung exclaimed as he downed his drink. After the mission was completed, the team reported to their leader, Namjoon, and delivered the briefcase they were asked to retrieve. Getting the thumbs up from Namjoon, Tae believed celebratory drinks were in order. Nara glanced at her phone, it was 3 am. Most human bars were closed by then, but mutant nightlife lasted much longer, sometimes into the early hours of the morning. Mutationem, a popular mutant-only bar in the city, was a place the team would frequent after missions. Nara sipped her beer and chuckled as she watched Tae flirt with the bartender. She turned to her left and noticed a fluffy grey cat sitting beside her on one of the barstools. “Hi, Yoongi” In a blink of an eye, he shifted back to his human form, clothes somehow intact, “Hey.” Yoongi preferred walking around as a cat, little chance for any verbal interaction but a lot of chances for petting. “That hacking thing you did was pretty convenient. I thought we might have had to jump on top of the train to get in,” she said with a laugh. Yoongi shrugged, “It wasn’t too hard for a genius like myself. Run into any other problems?” Nara shook her head, “Other than having to listen to Tae complain, it went fine.” Yoongi scoffed, “Figures.” Nara watched as she swirled the contents of her bottle around, curiosity consuming her, “So what was in the suitcase?” Yoongi shrugged, “I don’t know. Namjoon didn’t tell me and I didn’t really care to ask.” Nara thought this was strange; it wasn’t like Namjoon to keep things hush hush from the team. As if Yoongi could read the concern on her face, he said, “I’m sure it’s nothing too important. Probably just some info on their next move.” She nodded. “Anyway, I think I’m gonna go back to the base. I’ll see you later.” And with that, Yoongi transformed back into a cat and jumped down from the barstool. Before leaving, he rubbed his head against her leg, making her smile. Nara looked back at her bottle which was still almost full. Deciding it was time for her to go back to base as well, she chugged it and exited the bar.

She regretted her decision to down her drink so quickly, feeling her head buzzing from the alcohol. Base was only a few minutes away so she decided to walk instead of calling for a government vehicle to pick her up. She shivered as the cold, night air whisked her hair around. Wrapping her arms around herself, she began walking in the direction of the base. As she walked along the sidewalk, Nara could sense someone trailing her. She couldn’t tell if they were actually following her or if her tipsiness was making her paranoid. Deciding to take a shortcut home, she made a b-line to an alley. As soon as she turned the corner, the man following her grabbed her around the waist from behind. Thanks to her military training, Nara easily broke free from his grasp and used her telekinesis to push him back several feet. Stunned, the man fell to the ground and stared at her as if he saw a ghost. “Fucking freak!” he yelled as he scrambled to his feet and ran off. She winced at his words as she watched the man run away. She knew she should be used to this kind of treatment by now, but interactions like that always left a bad taste in her mouth. And these were the people she had sworn to protect, she thought to herself and continued walking back to base.

---

☽ Bangtan City. Supremus HQ. 3a.m.☾

The small room was dark except for the lamp that illuminated the desk. The mastermind behind Supremus, Bang Si-hyuk, sat broodingly behind the desk, a scowl on his face. Jungkook lounged across the leather couch situated in the shadowy corner of the room, watching the other man that just entered the room.

“Intel has just informed us that our assailant from the group outside of the city is dead,” he said to Si-hyuk. “Fish boy?”

“Yes, sir.” The man behind the desk scoffed. “Of course he got himself killed. He was one of the weakest among us. I can’t believe they trusted him with such an important task,” Si-hyuk rubbed his face in exasperation. “What about the supplies?”

“Gone, sir.” Si-hyuk slammed his fist on the desk. Jungkook closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “God dammit! MSO?”

“Yes, sir. Three of them.” Jungkook sneered at the mention of the MSO. He couldn’t comprehend why any mutant would risk their life for the sake of humans. Humans all had unwarranted arrogance about them even though mutants were obviously the more powerful beings. They exploited these mutants for their own personal gain and still treated them like dirt. Jungkook didn’t understand and he never would. That’s why he had decided to join Supremus. They were considered terrorists by the state, but he didn’t see it that way. It wasn’t a question to him who was more superior.

“We need the supplies back. If they figure out exactly what we’re doing, the government is going to crack down on us even harder.”

“What do you suppose we do, sir?” Jungkook stood from his position, “I can get them back.” Si-hyuk eyed Jungkook and shook his head, “No, you’re too valuable of an asset.” Jungkook smirked at him, “You underestimate me.” Si-hyuk considered Jungkook’s words carefully, “I trust you, Jungkook. Do what needs to be done.”

“Yes, sir.”

#BTS #bts fanfiction #bts fanfic #bts scenarios #bts smut #bts fluff #superhero!au #jungkook #jeon jungkook #bts x oc #networkbangtan #series

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queen-rogah · 5 years ago

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Chasing Dreams - Part 11

A Queen Series AU

Series summary: In the year of 1971, you dreamed to be the best musician/performer that you’ll ever be. And upon achieving your dream, you have met the four musicians that would surprisingly help you to chase your dreams. The story of you and the rising band is deeply life-changing, and even finding love would get in the way, but all you have to do in chasing those dreams is to always face the consequences...

In this chapter: Roger finally tells you what he wants to say to you that night. You started your first week working in the record shop and your second Friday night performance happened. Someone came by in Crown & Anchor and watched you perform. (I’m literally trying not to drop some spoilers)

Warnings: mild angst and fluff

Word Count: 5.1k words

CHASING DREAMS MASTERLIST | QUEENROGAH’S MASTERLIST

A/N: It’s been 4 months since I updated this series! I’m sorry I’ve been MIA!

♡♡♡ PART ELEVEN: “UNEXPECTED” ♡♡♡

Roger said that he’s saying something to you.

Is it important or not?

But you still followed him outside the nightclub where a few people are walking around with cigarettes hanging between their fingers. The music from the inside is still blaring, it’s also heard from where you stood.

You heard him sigh beside you.

“Y/N…” Roger spoke.

You turn to him. He’s tensed.

You never seen Roger so tensed.

It’s already midnight and the moon is up, illuminating the whole town with it’s silver light. Roger was about to speak up until someone busted out of the door to see it’s Tommy with some girl in his arms.

“Y/N, there you are…” Tommy slurred out his words and quickly approached you. Your moment with Roger alone was completely ruined. “Thank you for taking care of me back there, I–”

He hiccups.

You tried to control your laughter. Thinking that he’s your boss and he’s so wasted in front of you.

“–I am grateful, love. I must go, see you next time darling!.” He smiles and waves goodbye to you, taking a hold onto the girl again.

“That next time will be tomorrow Tommy! See you in my first shift!.” You respond back to him even though his drunken self ignores you by now. You watch them both get into a car, maybe it’s Tommy’s or the girl’s and drive away from the street.

You completely forgot that Roger is just silently standing beside you.

“So Rog, what are you trying to say again?.” You asked him. Your arms folded in front of your chest.

In a few minutes of him containing his strength and the finding the right words to say to you, you’re patient and now he sighed deeply then put up a warm smile.

“Can I take you out sometime? Just you and me?.”

…

You told Freddie about Roger’s question to you that night. You and Freddie talked about the moments that happened in the pub before and after you performed and you still can’t believe that Roger Taylor, the man who firstly flirted with you on the first day he met you became so vulnerable in front of you when he said that. He’s like a shy child that wanted to tell his feelings with his playground crush. Freddie became sober at 3am in the morning where you told him everything as he listens until the sun comes up and peeping through the window. Vicky was out again to accomplish something at work and now you’re getting ready in doing your first shift in your first job in Kensington.

“4pm you say?.” Freddie asks from the kitchen as you hummed loudly for him to hear. You tied up your hair and stepped inside the kitchen.

“Meet me up in the record shop at 4pm later as we go to Kensington Market to find me some decent clothes for our date.” You said to him. A genuine smile attached to your face.

“Okay darling. I’ll make sure blondie is have his jaw dropped on the second he will see you on your special night with him.” He smirks then playfully winks at you.

You chuckled, “Well, if you say so Mr. Bulsara.” You showed him a small smirk also and took your valuables to your work.

Freddie pulls you close and hugs you tightly, “Good luck on your first day darling, and shall I call Roger to drive you there again or?…” He asks.

“No, it’s fine. I know the way to the record shop. I won’t let myself get spoiled here anyway.” You chuckled and he nods. Freddie once again hugs you and kissed your cheek before you left his flat. You decided to walk to work and as you were walking, you see Lola and her bandmates standing outside Flotsam while talking and taking long drags in their cigarettes.

You took an intake of breath and just ignored them, going in the different direction where the record shop leads. The adrenaline still kicking inside of you when you saw her again. Those violent scenes you made that night still may have haunt you, but the pain finally fades away.

Your tensed self faded when you opened the door of the record shop to hear the music playing in this place. You dropped your eyes on the girl standing behind the cashier, also wearing the orange colored vest as the uniform. Tommy also gave you one and you just put it on right now, dropping your bag on the floor and wore the vest.

“So you’re the new one.” The cashier girl spoke as she lean against the counter and look at you. You noticed her clothes, she’s wearing some jean shorts just above her knees and knee high brown suede shoes.

Your brows furrowed.

“You’re wearing shorts.” You mumbled, totally dodging her comment earlier.

You’re wearing a plaid bell-bottoms and your old white leather boots.

And the climate is warm.

She looks at you weirdly, “And so what that I’m…wearing shorts?.” She asked.

“N-nothing, I just…I thought there was a dress code or something that…any employee won’t wear shorts or just revealing clothes whatsoever.” You stutter in your words. You heard her lightly chuckle.

“Tommy didn’t say about some bloody dress code. Shorts or pants, shirt or sleeveless, he doesn’t care.” She said and you see her eyes raked down on your pants. “But I like your pants.”

“Oh, thank you.” You shyly smiled and just realized, “Oh yeah I forgot, I’m Y/N by the way…” You smiled at her.

“My name’s Sabrina.” She smiled back.

…

You and Sabrina really got along very well through your whole shift. You did your thing in organizing the records by order in the shelves and Sabrina works on the cashier. You also had your turn earlier in the cashier and just been flirted by a teenager, guessing his age in around 17 or 18 and he’s buying a Fleetwood Mac record. You try not to laugh, but he did his best in flirting with you.

Your shift will end in one and a half hour and Freddie will be coming by too to fetch you. Tommy still haven’t visited the shop and go to his office to manage everything, maybe his hangover is still haunting him until now. Customers grew short this day when the time goes on and now, you and Sabrina are lounging by the cash register where you are both sitting on floor behind the counter.

“So, do you have a boyfriend…or some sort?.” Sabrina asked in her giggly tone.

You both are like schoolgirls crushing on someone.

“I don’t have any but I like someone and he asked me out to have dinner with him.” You proudly shared and Sabrina softly clapped her hands in happiness.

You grin.

“Good for you! He must be a good looking bloke yeah?.” She chuckles.

You bite down your lip and sighed deeply, “Well, he really is a good looking man. According to him he’s been called a ladies man for so many times in his life now. He’s like sex on legs.” You said.

“Now I want to meet him.” Sabrina smirks and you laugh at her playful eagerness.

“I will introduce you to him soon, maybe next Friday? You can come in Crown & Anchor where we perform there.” You nudged her shoulder.

“You two are both performers? That’s groovy…” She grins.

While on your small talk with Sabrina, you both didn’t realized someone stepped inside the shop and look around the place then stood in front of the cash register where you and Sabrina are just sitting behind. It’s hand reach over gently, then…

“What the fuck are you both doing there?.”

It’s the girl you’ve met on your first time stepping in this record shop. The girl with the rude words.

“Clementine! You’re early.” Sabrina scrambled herself off the floor and brush away the dirt from her shorts. You also stood up and just crossed your arms in front of your chest.

“Well thank god I’m early because if I’ll be running late and you both are still behind that counter without guarding the shop, someone would come inside and rob us. Would you like that?.” Clementine hissed and Sabrina looked down on the ground as she nod her head.

You can’t contradict on what she’s saying because she’s saying the truth. It’s only been your first day and now it’s running ugly.

“You, new girl.” Clementine spoke and you looked at her. “Do your job properly. There’s a purpose that Mr. Muller hired you. Just don’t waste that opportunity with some people like her, you got me new girl?.”

“Yes ma'am.” Your voice came out in a whisper as she walk away, checking the place again.

You breathe.

“She’s really the boss of this shop. More bossy than Tommy himself.” Sabrina mumbled to you when Clementine turn her back to you.

“She really is but she’s true Sabrina. We shouldn’t be just lounging around this place, we should do our job properly.” You said and grip her shoulder, “But still, coming by on Friday?.”

“I’ll try if I’m not busy. You know, I have a lot of work.” She smiles and you nodded.

“Other than your work here?.” You asked.

She sighed, “Yeah, I’m actually working on a pub nearby Crown & Anchor too where I make some drinks. But yeah, I can make it by Friday. What time will you be on stage by then?.”

Your eyes lit up and you’re happy that you’ve met someone again thay became your friend, “I’ll be at 8pm, together with my friends too who will perform.” You replied.

“Okay. See you there Y/N, I promise I’ll be one of your biggest fans there.” She winks as she nudged your side. You laughed at her gesture as you both continue doing your job since you both saw Clementine’s eyes fixated on your direction.

You both tried to control your laughter at Clementine’s robot-like, unemotional looking face.

…

The clock ticks at 4pm, just in time that you’ve finished sorting the records to where they are since customers are always clumsy in putting back the records in the right genre. Sabrina has her work behind the cash register. More people come to get their records to listen to. Clementine still have those snake eyes glued onto the both of you.

You heard the bell rang from the door again as you walked out of the rock genre section aisle to finally see Freddie enter the building wearing that red velvet jacket, black and white polka dots top underneath it and clean white pants together with his worn out leather boots. You smile at his early appearance in the shop as he have promised earlier to accompany you to go shopping.

“Good afternoon, how may I help you?.” Sabrina asked him as you watch her lean over on the counter, immediately smitten towards Freddie.

“I’m looking for Y/N, darling. Did her shift ended?.” He asked her as she stood straight to call on you from the cash register.

“Y/N! This very attractive man is expecting you!.” She hollers through the whole shop trying to find you in the aisles. Freddie chuckles at her remark as he playfully winked at Sabrina, who probably is melting from inside right now.

You emerge from the aisles right after Sabrina just called you out, “Hi Fred. You’re unexpectedly early. That’s unsual.” You joked.

“Very funny Y/N,” Freddie sarcastically replied to you as you giggled at his reaction. He soon smiled back as you both shared a friendly warm hug, “C'mon, Kensington Market awaits.” He said.

“Okay okay. I’ll just go and write down my time out in the office. Just stay here with Sabrina, I’ll be back in a few,” You said and before you could walk inside the office, you turn your back to Sabrina who’s still behind the cash register since her shift is going to end later at 6, “Sabrina, while I’m gone, make sure you’ll leave Freddie here still in one piece. He have a girlfriend by the way.” You smirked.

“What a shame.” Sabrina pouted as you finally walk inside the office to write down your time out on the attendance book. You nod goodbye to Clementine who’s inside the office earlier as you walked out. You put on your bag, said your goodbyes to Sabrina and finally took off with Freddie.

You both walked towards where Kensington Market is. You can see different people walking around the building to find something that would catch their attention. Especially women, wanted to be mesmerized by something.

“There are so many clothes, I literally don’t know what to choose.” You said to Freddie as you both stopped in front of the first booth in the market. Not only clothes are here, even fruits and vegetables are being sold here. You also see different mini grocery shops around the corner, and that’s why a lot of people go here. Almost everything is right here in Kensington Market.

“What about this?.” Freddie made his way to another booth, pulling out a violet thigh high velvet dress with flares hanging on the sleeves.

“Fred, it’s a date with Roger, not a party.” You chuckled as you put back the dress. You’ve saw a lot of clothes but nothing really made you stop and just be mesmerized in those clothes.

“This, this is where me and Roger used to sell some clothes.” Freddie pointed at the small booth meters away from the both of you, “I remember selling my clothes, Roger’s clothes, Brian’s clothes, my mother’s clothes, Kash’s clothes just to pay my debts. We’re struggling students before, well…we’re still struggling musicians today. But I believe Queen have a bright future.” He sighs.

You just imagine young Freddie and Roger shouting and hollering around this loud market where they are selling different clothes. You can literally imagine Freddie saying to the customer that every clothing they have will look perfect on them. Just to sell those clothes. And now they’ve gone through it and graduated, wanting to pursue their career as musicians. They just have to wait and see.

Same goes for you too.

You both walk past their old booth, you suddenly stopped in your tracks when you saw this beautiful jacket displayed in a mannequin in this booth. You approach the mannequin and just gaze at this beautiful tapestry jacket with fur on it. You’re praying that this jacket won’t be overpriced.

“Freddie, this is the one. I can top this off the clothes I have.” You said to him as you touch the jacket. The soft faux fur really brings a smile on your face.

“Excuse me dear?,” Freddie asked the saleslady from inside the booth, “How much is the tapestry jacket that is on the mannequin?.”

“£10 for the jacket.” She replied.

And that made your heart dropped, feeling in crashing down into a million pieces. You’re trying to save up these days but buying this precious clothing can make you happy but it’s such a huge minus in your savings.

“I’ll come back for it, thank you so much.” You said and walk away again. Freddie was shocked and catches up with you. “I know, I know what you’ll–”

“–I thought that jacket is the one? Why didn’t you get it?.” Freddie asked.

“£10 is a huge thing Freddie and I can buy some food with that money. I guess I’ll just use some of my old clothes.” You stifle a laugh and sighed deeply.

“Yeah, you’re right. Just like I’ve said, we’re a bunch of struggling musicians here darling.” Freddie said as he put his arms around you in a friendly manner.

“But we have huge dreams.” You said and you both continue to window shop around Kensington Market and even buy some cheap foods that can satisfy your appetite.

…

You didn’t bought some new clothes for your date with Roger but the walk around Kensington Market with Freddie has been one of the greatest memories that you’ll cherish here in your stay in Kensington. You’ve tried the most popular English delicacy which is the Fish and Chips. Freddie introduced you to some of his old friends around the market too and then stopped for a little karaoke fun in some public karaoke machine which definitely attracted a lot of people while you both are singing and dancing at the same time. You’re embarrassed with your moves but never expecting it’ll be praised.

Speaking of singing and dancing, your upcoming second performance in Crown and Anchor is fast approaching already and you have a day remaining to think about replacing the songs from your old setlist to new ones.

At your work in Universal Sounds, Tommy finally visits the shop and asked him in your free times some other popular songs to get an idea for the performance.

“Your old setlist is great though and I like you performing it so you gotta keep it, love.” Tommy said while looking at your journal book with the old setlist you have as he hand you back the book, “And honestly Y/N…”

“Yeah?.” You turn your attention to him.

“You should put some of your songs in your setlist. Give the people some unique taste of your own music. The fire of Y/N Y/L/N igniting the crowd with those melodies and lyrics.” Tommy said and that made you sigh deeply.

You were moved on his words. Performing some of your songs makes you nervous and if you’re nervous, it’ll mess up the whole performance and everything will go wrong.

“It’s not that easy to perform my own style of music in front of a crowd. Maybe they’ll judge me, maybe they’ll turn their backs while I’m singing it. It will make me nervous and my voice will get a littlr pitchy while I’m nervous–” You rambled those words without stuttering that’s why Tommy already shut your negative ass.

“Get in the vocal booth Y/N.” Tommy cuts you off and your eyes blinked while looking at hin with a questioning face.

“What–”

“I want you there to sing something for me. Get in the vocal booth and stand in front of the microphone.” Tommy nicely demanded and you now obliged.

You took a deep breath before stepping inside the regular sized vocal booth and faced on the glass pane with Tommy peering to you from the outside. He gave you a thumbs up, telling you he’s ready and the microphone is also ready. You look around to see a piano here, an electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums and bass guitar. Your hand reaches over the classic acoustic guitar but you suddenly stopped as you thought about another idea.

Then you chose the electric guitar, now standing before the microphone.

Your fingers ran over the pages of your journal, finding the song that you’ll play to Tommy who’s patiently waiting for you to sing.

And you picked one.

It is called Hummingbird.

You played the chords you’ve arranged in the song but gave a little dance vibe to it as you used the electric guitar with style. You played the intro then started singing the first verse, remembering how you even sang it from before. You remembered some tunes, but some you don’t, that’s why you just randomly sing it with new melodies.

The dance and bubbly vibe of the music made Tommy wiggling his hips there as he catches up in the lyrics on the second time you’ve sang the chorus.

A smile appeared on your face as you turn up the energy on the last chorus before ending the song with that fire guitar solo outro as you imagine it fading out in the audio. You bow your head as you see Tommy clapping his hands for you. You can’t hear what he’s been saying but you know it’s positive with that wide smile of his.

He lean over to the control panels and pressed a button, “That’s…that’s a breathtaking song Y/N. It blew my heart away more than Fleetwood Mac did.” He compliments.

“Don’t…ever compare me with Fleetwood Mac. They’re the best artists and I’m just here as an amateur singer slash song-writer slash producer.” You chuckled and Tommy shakes his head.

“You’re not a freaking amateur Y/N. You literally belong to the professional group, and I recorded your voice for future plans.” He winks as he wriggles the tape he have in his hands.

You widen your eyes, “You recorded it?! You know when it comes to sharing my song, my insecurities and anxieties are eating me whole.” You stepped out of the vocal booth and just stare at him, pleading that he will never give the tape to anybody else to listen to.

“I’ll think about it.” Tommy smirks as he replied. That’s all he just replied to me before saying his goodbyes to you and the others in his office and walk away, with the tape in his hands. You inhaled sharply and return outside to assist Sabrina on what she’s doing in the shop.

You still hope that Tommy will never get that goddamn tape in the palm of anybody’s hands.

…

Tommy didn’t listen.

The next day came and that’s when he called someone he personally knew because he worked as the person’s assistant and publicist. The person he called had the biggest role in the music industry and they are one of the well-known producers around UK. And with only one call that your boss made today, maybe everything will turn upside down.

The phone rang on the third ring when someone finally answered the phone to Tommy, “Hello? Yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve met again though. I have missed you too dearly. Actually, what I came here is that I have a very nice girl with a very nice voice. She can do ballad, rock, pop, soul, everything! She have that versatile voice. I have a demo from her, hope you’ll listen to it…” He said to the phone, listening to what they are saying.

When Tommy finished talking to them, he have a victory smirk, but he have to surprise you on what he just did.

Friday came again and you prepared for your second performance tonight. You can’t stop pacing back and fourth in the living room here at Freddie’s while looking on your journal, with the new setlist you’ve made last night. And you didn’t stopped yourself from putting three of your songs in the setlist.

And now your anxiety is building up again.

The bathroom door finally opened to see Freddie and Vicky freshly showered, but more like freshly fucked because you definitely heard them doing it in the shower while you’re here in the living room. They noticed you being weird here.

“You okay darling?.” Freddie asked you, but you didn’t hear it. Your eyes are just glued on the papers of your journal with your pen between your lips.

“Y/N?.” Vicky snaps her fingers to you and now you’re back in reality. Out of those thoughts.

“Oh…did you just…called me?.” You questioned them with your most confused face.

“Yeah, we did. Did you get enough sleep last night?.” Vicky asked.

“Yes, I did get enough sleep last night. I’m just to bombarded with my thoughts about my new setlist for tonight’s performance.” You said and gave them your journal. Freddie was the one who took the journal and read through it.

“Moonshine, Hummingbird, He’s a God…are these your songs Y/N?.” Freddie asked, looking oh-so proud about your decision.

“Those are one of my favorite writings in my whole life and I guess this is now the time that I have to share it to the people.” You replied to him. Freddie didn’t say anything but you can see him smiling widely at you.

You sighed as he gives back your journal and suddenly gripped your shoulders, “I’m so proud of you dear. So fucking proud.” He cups my face.

Tears began to pool in your eyes as you just laugh away your emotions, quickly wiping it away before it slips down my cheeks.

You’ve made your decision. You’re going to sing your song.

Hoping that you won’t regret it.

…

Crown & Anchor tonight is packed with more people than the previous night you had here before, that’s why your heart rate is increasing again. Queen is already performing onstage while you watch them with Vicky and Genevieve by your side. Rosalie isn’t with Brian tonight and you don’t know why.

Speaking of Brian, he gave you a late thoughtful present for your very first performance earlier and it’s a dress, and the print of the dress is celestial. There’s the sun, the moon, the stars. Everything. It was a very beautiful dress and you loved it. You are shocked about his sudden gift, not only you who is shocked, also the blond drummer too.

You wore the dress tonight as you partnered it with Freddie’s fedora hat that you borrowed and your dark brown suede boots.

When Queen ended their set and thanked the people who listening to them, you took a deep breath before you head in the backstage to meet them. You see them exhausted from performing, drinking water and heaving a breath to calm themselves down.

“Nobody will seriously top you guys here in Crown & Anchor, you all are the life of this place.” You said and took the electric guitar. Playing in acoustic is your number one thing, but now you’re in the electric guitar. Ready to electrify them.

Before you got onstage, Freddie gave you a huge kiss on your cheeks, Brian and John warmly hugging you and Roger, he was hesistant to do something to you. He wanted to kiss you, but he thought that you’ll be shocked, that’s why he just put a sweet kiss on your forehead and said his good lucks before you step out of the curtains of the backstage. You heard several people clap for you, feeling that those people were the ones who listened to you before.

You also saw Sabrina with some guy she just met tonight and she’s been clapping for you non-stop since you stepped on this stage. You can’t help but to blush and wave at her direction.

“Good evening, beautiful people,” You spoke through the mic and people howls in delight as you giggled, “Tonight is my second night here in this very stage and…I just want you guys to know the night is better than the day because when you stay under the sun for a couple of minutes or hours, you’ll be burnt but when you’re under the moon, it feels so relaxing and all that I have to say is…moonshine is better than sunshine. Here’s my song called Moonshine.” You said as you started strumming your guitar in a soft rock type of genre.

You sang the first verse as you see the people enjoying the style of your music and your confidence boosts up. You remember the chords you’ve wrote for this song and put a little new tweaks too here and there. The chorus more energetic as the people sings back to you by the time you sang the chorus in the second time. A smile formed around your lips when you made this decision and beyond thankful that the people are enjoying in your own music.

While you’re performing onstage with all your glitter and groove, Roger was absolutely amazed by your performance again. Smiling widely that he’s now hearing you singing your songs to these people. Brian was also amazed by you and the fact that you wore the dress he gave you, there’s something that knocks him out of what you do. He don’t know what to do about it. Freddie on the other hand was dancing and also singing back to you, and he’s shaking John around while dancing on the beat of your song. John was so proud of you too. All of them was so beyond proud of you.

You sang your second song which is Hummingbird, the song that Tommy heard days ago in the vocal booth of the record shop. Tommy was also in the pub, sitting far back the counter island while drinking his whiskey. He smiled on the rim of the glass while watching you sing your songs, fingers lightly tapping the glass. He remembers the phone call earlier and he can’t wait about what will happen next.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Tommy Muller…”

A smirk appeared on his lips as he look at the person before him who’s wearing an all white semi-formal outfit and it’s accent became more sophisticated than it was before. The person also looked at the stage where you stood and singing to the audience.

“So this is she…” They spoke, fully observing you and your mannerisms and how you deliver the songs in your performance.

“How’s Y/N for you?.” Tommy asks, tapping his glass with his fingers as he waited for the answer.

“I like her.” They nod their head and Tommy had that victory smirk on his lips as he gets back in watching you onstage.

Of course they will like you.

___________________________

*TAGLIST:

@lilytalebi @luvborhap @ziggymay @kiwithekiwi @imgonnabeyourslave @deakysmisfire

IF YOU WANT TO BE IN THE TAGLIST, LET ME KNOW!

#queen fanfiction #queen fic #queen imagines #Queen #queen band #roger taylor #roger taylor x reader #roger taylor x you #brian may x you #Brian May #brian may x reader #freddie mercury #freddie mercury x reader #John Deacon #queenrogah's fic

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hhemeraa-a · 5 years ago

Text

Update / Haitus

I’ve been a ghost the last two weeks and I know that my last post was very succinct - which I had to delete because apparently porn blogs started reblogging it for some reason????????? And I’m just?? not in the place to deal with that.

I really hope to get back into a place where I can be here again, I know before I said I was on discord but I’ve had zero (zero) time to do literally anything else other than deal with my current situation so I’m barely even there. I do read all of your messages and I’m really sorry I haven’t responded.

A lot of people had or have questions and wanted to know how I am, etc etc so under the cut will be a quick explanation of my absence and everything that’s happened within the last few weeks.

As some of you know, I am a Peace Corps volunteer servicing in China. I had been serving as a university English teacher for the last near 2 years. This was a very very very important and huge opportunity for me.

Years ago when I was in college, my Mom was taking student loans out in my name while I was living with her. I went from having $54k in student debt (which is a lot already) to having about $108k in student debt in private loans. She shirked all responsibility on me, I had to graduate college early with a degree in something that I had credits in (International Studies with a focus on Chinese language and history), I was homeless for a while working random jobs, trying to join the Marine Officer program, etc etc -- needless to say, things were really really messy for a few years there. I ended up getting a really nice job for a logistics company getting paid about 2200 a month, but I was paying about 1600 a month in student loans. I had a lot of support from a friend who let me live with her and to this day I literally cannot thank her enough for everything she provided to me while I was suffering through all of this.

After working that soul sucking job for nearly 4 years, I took a chance and applied for Peace Corps because it was an opportunity to finally make it to China. I was supposed to study abroad in college, but when my mother maxed out my debt, it was no longer feasible. I never thought I was going to get in because I had been out of school for years at that point, I had never taught English before besides 1-on-1s during college and I kind of thought I was too old???

BUT LOW AND BEHOLD I GOT IN. This shit meant everything to me. I was finally going to study abroad, I was finally going to have a chance to use my degree, I was finally going to have the chance to learn a language, I had an opportunity to have a complete career change.

It was so incredibly hard though. I worked my ass off during training, I worked really really hard to integrate into my site, but if anyone has ever heard any of my horror stories of being the only foreigner in the middle of south east China, you’ll understand that it’s not always fun 😅 I even had a whole mental break down and had to be sent back to the States for 45 days so I could stop stressing, but I got my ass right back on that plane and came to finish the job I started. The low were low, but the highs were so incredibly high that it made up for every bad moment.

This program meant everything to me. My first semester sucked ass, it was harder than I ever thought it would be. My second semester was so much better, my third semester I was over loaded with about 450+ students and 8 classes, but I was finally getting the hang of the language, the school, the people, and I had gotten the ‘ok’ from my school to work there as a full time teacher once my Peace Corps contract was finished. This?? Was such an opportunity?? I literally had started making the moves to start a life here -- at least temporarily. Work at my school as contracted teacher for a year, pass the HSK Chinese language test above a 4, use the money to find a better job in Taiwan -- there was a whole plan.

Every year, Peace Corps meets for 1-2 weeks for In Service Training. We met from Jan. 12 - 17. Usually it’s just to reconnect and make sure all the volunteers are doing their jobs, medical check ups, etc etc etc. It’s a good time to see how other volunteers are doing.

Jan. 17th we were formally told that the Peace Corps China program was being closed. After 2020, there would no longer be any new volunteers and that we needed to start preparing our schools for the transition. They called it a graduation, but we all knew it was a political move. For five hours, a room of 200 people ripped into the US PC HQ staff as to why they were “”graduating”” the program. They said it was because the budget didn’t call for it and that China no longer needed volunteers in their schools. Which is a lie. Tensions were already really really high, the answers kept gettin more vague, and we finally flat out asked if this was a political decision to remove Peace Corps from China.

We didn’t get an answer.

Needless to say, all the volunteers are livid. The information spread like wild fire to all of the schools and volunteers were faced with having to be the representative of a shitty political decision. It was extremely difficult to have to face students and try to explain that Americans don’t hate them when the political system there does.

Chinese New Year was from Jan 25th - Jan 27th this year. I lived in Chongqing city in the Chongqing province/municipality, a city that has about 32 million people in it. During this time, the city becomes a ghost town due to the holiday being similar to Christmas/Thanksgiving where everyone goes back to their hometowns to be with family. All the shops close and for foreigners it can be difficult to find food because everything isn’t open lol.

However on Jan. 25th was when news about the corona virus started getting around. It wasn’t very big, but the news was starting to spread. The Hubei province touches Chongqing province, so whispers were starting to come through and most information volunteers got were through foreign sources, but even my Chinese friends were telling me that I shouldn’t go out or if I do, I need to be sure to wear a mask.

Sunday Jan. 26th, notices are starting to go up on store fronts saying that they are required by law to be closed, but I managed to find a place that was still open. News about the virus is starting to gain traction and more and more information about what is happening in Wuhan is starting to spread. My friend who is staying with me who lives in a small town near the border of Hubei (where Wuhan is placed) gets a call from his school telling him that it is safer for him to not come back to site. We are starting to hear that small towns are shutting down travel in and out, bus systems are starting to shut down and certain areas in the city are no longer allowing taxi or Didi (Chinese Uber) services.

Monday Jan. 27th, my friend leaves because all train and bus tickets out of the city were being canceled. My city was slowly starting to quarantine everyone. I live on campus, and when I tried to return after walking my friend to the metro, security took my temperature (with those neat little temp guns) and then wouldn’t let me in because they thought I was too warm. After arguing with them in my broken Chinese and convinced them that I lived there, they finally let me back on campus. They told me that no cars or people are allowed to go in and out anymore.

I lived near city center and it was obvious that the government was slowly locking everyone away to try and prevent the spread, but it was so eerie and apocalyptic. We had been receiving emails from the PCChina director giving us daily updates that were inching towards the idea that all volunteers were going to be ‘consolidated’, so everyone just needed to be prepared.

Tuesday Jan. 28th, the notice went out that the volunteers were being ‘consolidated’ to Thailand because China made it illegal for any group of 4 or more people to be together. We were only allowed 1 check in bag and we weren’t sure if we were ever going to be allowed to come back into country. People who were not at their sites were not allowed to go back to their sites. Wherever a volunteer was in that moment that we got the notice was required to get their ticket to Bangkok and leave immediately. I had to pack 2 years of my life up into a single suitcase not knowing if I was ever going to come back.

Wednesday Jan 29th, I was on a plane and landed in Bangkok. I am a safety warden of my province and the first warden to arrive so I was in charge of all safety until staff arrived.

But after that, things were very much in the air. We had no idea what was going to happen and every day things just got weirder and more serious and we didn’t know if at all we were going to be able to go back. We speculated a lot, as the news got worse and worse and worse. By Friday, all USA government employees were told to evacuate. No gov employee is allowed to enter China until the travel restrictions were let up, which meant that many PCChina staff - if they were to leave, would be allowed back in until China decided that it was safe enough or... if they wanted them back.

Sunday, Feb. 2nd, all the volunteers who were at the hotel had a skype meeting with the head of the PCChina program and were told that due to the severity of the situation, all currently serving China volunteers would be forced to COS (Close of Service) by Thursday. The program was ending and we would all be sent back to our respective homes between Wednesday and Thursday.

When I say it was the shittiest delivery of news imaginable, I cannot even put it into words. After we were all told that we could no longer return to China, we had lost our jobs, and couldn’t even say goodbye to anyone; HQ Staff had the balls to tell us that in order to get our final service allowance, we were still required to fill out paperwork and that we shouldn’t be sad. We should be happy we served at all.

They gave no time for mourning, many of us put two years of our lives on hold to do this program, some of us don’t even have homes to go back too and they want us to make decisions in 4 days. After Thursday, they will no longer provide any assistance with travel, we do not get health insurance, the moment we COS, PC shrugs off complete responsibility of over 100+ volunteers.

I have been so busy filling out paperwork and I have been so incredibly angry and sad and resentful that the only person I’ve told is my Dad. Returning to the USA isn’t really an option and the plan I had set into motion is now nonexistent because I’m no longer allowed in the country I gave two years of my life to until they decide that this virus has been resolved.

I have been spending a lot of time trying to figure out where I’m going to live, what job I’m going to have, how I can get a cellphone plan, where I can go because I’m being quarantined for having been in China within the last 14 days, how to manage the money I’m getting -- everything has been changing so rapidly that I still don’t know where I’m going to be by Friday since Peace Corps is only paying for the hotel up until then.

I promise I’m not ignoring any of you, I really really want to be in a place where I can RP and chat with y’all, but life for me right now is moving so fucking fast and I have to make so many decisions that will affect my future that I literally have not stopped going since Sunday night.

I still stand by my last message: I really appreciate all the messages you guys have been sending me. I do read them. I just don’t want to talk. I don’t have the emotional capacity to and I haven’t even been given time to just... process and be mad.

I promise I’ll be back, just give me some time.

#tbd #personal #when I say this is the cliffnotes version #I mean it #there are so many other layers to this story that I can't even begin #to get into #but this is where I've been #and I'm going to try and return as soon as I have like...#some stability

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