#there are about three decent restaurants in my city and only one of them does deliveries. i miss living in helsinki

[mercurygray]

Hii Merc, could I please request #10 — emerald — for Eileen? Thank you <3

He had a 48 hour pass and an absolutely clear idea of how he was going to spend it.

The train from Swindon was a stretch, three hours at most, but Lew had a better chance of a decent meal in London, and a decent whisky, too, even with the rationing. He wanted to be in a city again - the lights and the buildings and the bustle. He'd had enough of small town living to last him quite a while, and army food wasn't ever anything anyone asked for by name.

Maxim's, or Claridge's? The Ritz? The Savoy? The possibilities seemed enormous. The Waldorf was the American outpost - perhaps he'd go there.

There was already a flurry of activity at the door, a crowd of servicemen and press types with cameras, clamoring a single name as they pushed and shoved for a better view of whichever celebrity they were anxious to see.

Lew joined the press, trying to actually reach the door for his own dinner, until he realized he knew the name - and the face that went with it.

"Miss Hammond! Miss Hammond! Miss Hammond!"

And there she was, in all her glory - Eileen Hammond. The last time he'd seen her she'd been sporting a t-shirt and shorts and a bloody nose courtesy of Herbert Sobel, but she was wearing nothing of the kind now - an emerald green suit with some kind of fur stole around her shoulders, topped off with a hat that gave slight shades of Robin Hood and Sherwood. An absolute vision, with no evidence, at least from this distance, that her nose had ever been broken or that she had ever been anything but perfectly coiffed and dressed.

She turned to the crowd, obviously practiced with this sort of thing. "Boys, boys, boys. I'm so sorry to disappoint you all but I've got a date waiting for me inside." She gave her biggest smile and glanced beneficently around the crowd, her eyes finding Nix and almost immediately lighting up, like she'd been expecting him. "Oh, Captain Nixon. There you are. Shall we?"

Nix could only mutely offer his arm, Eileen settling her gloves around it like she owned him and beaming to the crowd as she steered the two of them inside, past the doorman and the lobby clerk into the waiting eves of the hotel's restaurant entrance. God, he thought silently. That's an actress.

Once they were well and truly inside she let his arm go. "Well, there you are, Captain. Now you're the envy of every man in town." She gave a little laugh. "What, no free and easy quip? I think this is the first time I've seen Lewis Nixon without something to say."

It was true - he didn't have anything to say. For the first time in a long time, he was well and truly surprised - and, more than that, almost embarrassed. It had been one thing back at Toccoa to make a joke about what he'd do, given a hotel room and half a chance, but he didn't have that kind of power here. Here he was just another guy in a uniform, just like all the other guys out front, clamoring for her like she was a commodity on the exchange. She'd plucked him out, made him worth the attention, when usually it was the other way around, with him doing the plucking. He didn't have the same kind of power here that he usually did. "It may surprise you to hear that escorting movie starlets isn't my usual Friday."

Again that smile - she could blind people with it. "But I'm not just a movie starlet, am I? You could call me Private Hammond if you thought it would go down easier."

Lew thought mutely of Annie Sutton's steely glare and nearly winced. "It wouldn't." He swallowed, tried to gather up more of his customary charm. "So, how does this usually work? You pick some kid from the crowd, give his rank like you know him, and then bring him inside?"

She shook her head. "No. Usually I say I have someone waiting inside and then I eat dinner alone and sneak out the back. The staff here's nice for that."

Lew didn't have a quip for that - only an honest observation. "Sounds lonely."

"It is. But easier to manage."

It felt awkward, now - the honesty. He wasn't honest much, and then only with a very short list of people. The last woman he'd been honest with was - well, Joan. (Joan, who'd have a few words to say about chivalry and helping friends out of tight spots, who had a lot of stories herself about eating alone.) "Well, since I'm already here, it…seems a shame to waste it. Can a fellow treat you to dinner, Miss Hammond?"

He got an honest smile back. "I think he can."

[survey--s]

677.

Does your middle name begin with letters A-G? It does.

What is your state’s largest city? Carlisle.

Pick your three favourite vegetables. Eggplant, potatoes (I don't care that they're technically a starch) and sweetcorn.

Have you ever broken a movie or game disc? Not like, snapped it, but I've had ones that were scratched so badly they were unusable before.

What colour are your brother’s eyes? Who said anything about having a brother?

What are you feeling right now? I woke up with a splitting headache so a bit tired but otherwise fine. I'm glad it's the weekend anyway.

Do you watch Law & Order: Special Victims Unit? Not regularly but I'm sure I've seen a few episodes. My mum loved all those kinds of shows and I watched most of them over the years.

How many flights of stairs are in your house? One, plus a ladder up into the loft.

Have you ever played a drinking game? Which ones? Sure, loads over the years.

Do you often feel excluded? No. I did when I was in school/university but now as an adult things are much more...natural, I guess?

Are you good with managing your finances? Yeah, to the extent that I'm not in debt and can manage to save decent amounts of money. I'm self-employed too and do my own taxes so I kind of have to have a grip on things, really.

Do you have an accountant? I am the accountant, lol.

Did you ever play Neopets when you were younger? Yeah, but I was never that into it.

Have you ever been to Mexico? No.

How many friends do you have on Facebook? 146.

Do you regularly check anyone’s profile online? Nope.

What is the closest pizza place to your house? There's an Italian restaurant and a takeaway pretty much next door to each other - the restaurant is closer but I've never been there as it's extortionately expensive.

What age did your mum stop helping you clean your room, if she ever did? Probably when I left primary school, so I was about 10-11. Before that she only really helped with things like making the bed or vacuuming anyway.

What colour is your toothpaste? White.

Have your parents ever worked in medicine? They both did. They're retired now, though.

Do you have any silly nicknames or pet names? Sure. Are you any good at drawing? Nope.

Is there anything unusual about your house? No, not really.

Can you maintain a text conversation or do you run out of things to say? It depends who I'm texting.

How old will you be turning in 2020? I turned 32 at the end of the year.

Have you ever met anyone with Multiple Personality Disorder? Not that I know of.

What is your favourite type of cookie? Chocolate chip.

Do you spell things the way I do? (colour, favourite, flavour etc.) Yes. The correct way, lol.

When was the last time you painted your nails? About six months ago.

Do you find it hard to talk to strangers, even people who work in stores? No. I don't enjoy it but I worked in retail for years so it just became second nature.

Have you ever tasted goat’s milk? Yes.

Are you a fidgety person? Definitely. I find it really hard to sit still.

Did you ever take classes for a musical instrument when you were younger? Yeah - recorder, piano, cornet and guitar.

Is there anything going on outside your window? Not that I can see, and I'm not about to get up and check.

When was the last time you congratulated someone? A few days ago, maybe.

Have you ever taken care of a newborn baby? No thank you.

How old were you when you got your ears pierced? 12.

Do you snore when you sleep? Yeah, sometimes.

[emiplayzmc]

Guess who has more LONG headcanons to share rn? Mostly about my main five ✨️

•

— Target and Spamton ran a dating website / speed-dating business together for a while - Target would play matchmaker and Spam would send out notifications / scout out users of the site. It was actually a good bonding experience for them, and it made Spam hate his job as 'the email guy' a little less until users started moving to other sites, and they eventually closed the site.

—Target only started their tea shop a while after Spamton disappeared - partially to help them channel their internal need to vent into a calming atmosphere that would be soothing to customers, but to mainly himself.

—In one of my scrapped AUs, Target and Swatch were in a sort of situationship, and I'm still debating whether I want to make them canon to my current AU or not as exes ✨️ For now though it's just a fun fact about a scrapped AU ^-^ (what if Swatch and Spamton were both each other's rebound relationship after Jevil and Target.......)

•

—Broadcast absolutely CANNOT sit still. It's not even just that he's constantly moving around on-set to keep himself awake, he just has to move SOME part of his body at all times. You don't want to know the amount of Rubix cubes and fidget spinners he has on him, in his car, apartment, and in a drawer at the studio.

—He also can't focus without hearing at least two or three other things going on in the background all the time. He can pay attention to one single conversation or paperwork or multiple things at once with two different TVs running in his apartment on different channels or at a loud and obnoxious restaurant, but put him in silence and he just. Can't. Just can't.

—Seeing things moving or twitching around in his field of vision also works - he has a plasma ball in his apartment by the couch that absolutely helps him focus when he does paperwork on his few days off. It's also relaxing to stare at if he's genuinely taking a break.

•

—Banner is similar to Broadcast in that they can't sit still for long, but most of that comes from the fact that they love working with their hands on any kind of new project, and their brain is running on 20 new clothing line ideas a second. Nothing is automatic in Banner's apartment or boutique, they just love doing things with their hands.

—Banner also writes fanfiction. I shall leave it up to imagination on what they have written. Nobody knows they do, but they sure do post it. Nobody will ever find out their online pseudonym.

—This ain't about human Banner / Benjamin but gall-darnit I'm throwing them in here somehow too. Human Banner / Benjamin fidgets with a little turtle-shaped pincushion in their hands when they're not doing anything - like just sitting on the couch - and Addison Banner does the same. In Addison Banner's case they have a little Maus themed pincushion.

—Banner also adores Tasques, and owns one themself! She's named Olive :)

•

—Sample's actually a decent cook, and prefers making meals for himself rather than eating out. His favourite things that he likes making are pot pies and toad-in-the-holes.

—Sample's also probably the best at bribery out of his family.

—Sample's been poisoned before.

—Sample and Broadcast dyed parts of their hair to be each other's main colours - yellow on Sample, blue on Broadcast.

—Sample and Broadcast are also the only twin Addisons to exist! They were both created at the exact same time on the same day directly next to each other - their eye colours are also both tinted green (sea green and electric yellow)!

•

-Spamton is great at reading lips.

—Spam and Sample's favourite activity before he became a Big Shot was riding the Ferris Wheel - the both loved the view they got of Cyber City above the skyline, imagining that they were flying above everything. Spamton continued to do this alone after he became a Big Shot. It sure is lonely at the top.

—Touching on 'Spamton working with other people' like mentioned before, Spam actually worked as an intern for multiple Addisons (including his siblings) and a couple item-repair shops - even for Sweet Cap'n Cakes for a short amount of time. None of them really lasted that long, and he would frequently bounce between internships to try and find one that felt 'right' to him. Working with Banner as a model was kind of fun, and the repair shops were a small step in the right direction towards him selling and repairing cars at Big Shot Autos later on, but none of the ones he could find internships at worked on cars - that was just a side hobby of his that he picked up in his late teen years. The only stable job he had was delivering emails.

—While interning with Target, Target mainly had Spam helping with inventory, storage, and display. Target was (and still is) very rigid in how they want things displayed and organized in their shops. For the MOST part it was... okay, but they contested a lot on what should be displayed, HOW so-and-so was displayed, why wasn't Spam ever allowed to work the register, the only time things were mostly fine was when they ran the dating website where it was literally ran by the two of them and they could decide established things together and compromise, instead of Spam arguing with Target on how they've done ore-established things. Target thought that with how much the two of them argued that he's be better off working with someone that he DIDN'T fight with as often and was a little more exciting for him, so they discreetly asked Broadcast if he could offer to 'let Spam work at the studio' instead of outright terminating him.

—While interning under Broadcast, Spam helped out with scripts, lighting, and background pop-ups in the shopping-channel parts of Broadcast's day, and the newsletters by night. Eventually he just started working with Broadcast on scripts and occasional jingles at Broadcast's apartment because the studio made him feel weird (headaches, CPU felt fuzzy, etc) and he'd glitch more there - the glitches would affect his pop-ups and corrupt them live occasionally. Working on just scripts and jingles became... pretty dull and boring to Spam.

—While interning with Banner, Spam was a model for various clothing - Banner said that he had a perfect size for modeling, and Spam thought it was fun working with his younger, equally as active and somewhat scatterbrained sibling, but he had a sneaking suspicion that sometimes Banner mistook him for an actual mannequin when they got too deep into a 'working mindset,' (which was often), and Banner would often be staying up 24 hours to work. They work fast and they make their outfits incredibly well in the end, but after about the fiftieth time of Banner being half-asleep while accidentally dropping needles and threads through the creaks between Spam's joints and body parts - most of which would get stuck and have to be taken to a repair shop to be removed - they both decided that maybe Banner wasn't that good with having a live mannequin model to make clothes on...

— While interning with Sample - or, rather, being on the same equal ground as Sample since Sample isn't his own boss - at Cyber Shoes II, it was uh. Probably the most boring and frustrating out of all the places where Spam's siblings work. Sample's boss, Service, had Spam out actually advertising outside the shop, despite Sample's saying that it maybe wasn't the best idea. Of course, at first, Spam thought that this was great!! He'd really wanted to just be advertising instead of being behind the scenes!! ...He fumbled the bag. Turns out for all his confidence and blown up ego he was quite overwhelmed in front of an audience. He'd forget what he was supposed to say, glitch and stutter in front of potential customers and passerby, pop-up holograms would display the wrong things, smile just that *little extra bit* TOO wide, and even with Sample's patient assistance he was just *not* handling it well despite his continued insistence that he'll get better with practice or that it was just a bad day for him. He'd be the kind of Addison to have a hologram that's SUPPOSED to say "SALE!!" on it, but when it actually is seen, it's formatted like "Sasa Lele." Service was quick to terminate him.

♤~~♡~~♤

♤~~♡~~♤

—Snap is a little bit of a hover-copter when it comes to making sure every camera is PERFECT on-set for Broadcast's air time. If even the slightest thing is out of place / goes wrong they are Not Happy ™️. Of course he knows that accidents happen, but that does not stop him from clenching his fist at their side and internally screaming into a pillow when a camera's glitching out.

—Do Not EVER Bet Against Snap in Strategy Games. You Will Lose. He's VERY strict when it comes to making himself bets about strategy games, but when they do that is not a good sign for the other person, since that means he's observed them for long enough that he knows their tells and how their brain is working, and is confident they can win.

—Snap also hates chance / RNG games. He prefers games where it relies strictly on skill and intelligence rather than dumb luck. He doesn't like the whole idea of 'luck.'

•

—Vice dyes the tips of her hair bright green! Green is her favourite colour, as well as the main signifying colour of the Dark Web where she spawned, hence she dyes about as much of her hair is allowed for Addisons, and even then it's pushing the limits.

—Vice was the one to make the first move with Sample. By 'first move,' that meant aggressively ordering him to meet her at a restaurant for dinner because she thought he'd been overworking himself, and they hit it off from there.

—Vice. Loves. The fair. Every time she's there she goes out of her way to make ***SURE*** she goes on all the rides and plays all the games. Her favourites are the teacups, and she always tries to make them spin as fast as possible, loving the rush she gets from them.

One random fact about each and every one of my Addisons because I CAN:

-Target (Main Pink, jewellery maker, Cyber Shoes manager, tea shop owner)'s fav Light World flowers are bleeding hearts and foxgloves.

-Sample (Main Blue, Cyber Shoes II customer service) has insomnia. Only in his worst mental states can he actually sleep, but only very lightly.

-Banner (Main Orange, fashion designer and caterer) has a borderline unhealthy obsession with making Victorian-era clothes specifically for themself to put on display in their own closet. They can count on one hand the amount of outfits they've actually worn of that time period.

-Broadcast (Main Yellow, news / shopping channel host. Their only host.) is aromantic. YIPPEE.

-Spam (Addispam, email-man and ever-changing intern) learned how to make cars in his spare time by himself before he made it big. He never had actually used them, though - just kept them in an unused alleyway and mix-n-matched them in his spare time between delivering emails and internships.

♤~♤

-Click (Banner's boyfriend, baker and party caterer, Pink) lives in an attic above his bakery. It's small, but it feels like home to them. It has a stained glass window overlooking a highway on the other side of Main Street.

-Vice (Sample's co-worker / girlfriend, Service's Trojan, cashier at Cyber Shoes II, Orange) breaks into Sample's apartment at night to raid his fridge / watch TV for a while. She doesn't know that Sample is awake every time she does this and just lets her get away with it (they live in the same complex). She loves the nights that he makes stuff with leftovers for dinner.

-Snap (Broadcast's co-worker and best friend, camera-man, Green)'s favourite drink is a Shirley Temple. They've never been a fan of alcohol.

♤~♤

-Gamble (Mobile and Clickbait's father, casino owner, Blue), despite being an online advertisement, doesn't know much about how to actually use the Internet beyond posting his casino ads. Mobile tries to help him learn by giving him social media accounts, but he's basically like a grandpa using Facebook.

-Mobile (Clickbait’s elder sister, mobile advertiser [mainly in gambling / lottery / casino apps] and casino bartender, Yellow) prefers to go by Cooper / Couper, or Coop / Coup, her middle name - a reference to Martin Cooper, inventor of the mobile phone.

-Clickbait (Mobile's younger brother and Click's Trojan, clickbait advertiser [mainly making Couper's ads more flashy and clickable], casino bartender, Cyber Shoes II supervisor, gossip columnist, Pink)'s only 'true' friend is a young Werewerewire named Amp that he met in the Dark Web.

-Service (Manager / owner of Cyber Shoes II, Orange) has tapped Vice, Clickbait, and Sample's phones to monitor their activity on their phones, much to their displeasure.

♤~♤

-Hanahaki (placeholder name, Purple)'s favourite flowers are lavender and wisteria vines.

-Patient 0 (placeholder name, Pink) is one of the oldest Addisons to exist and hates being one. Not like Spamton and Sample do with just 'being a Darkner in general,' but actively hates the Addison species, and has days where he wants to destroy his casing to be unrecognizable as one... unfortunately he has enough damage to his endoskeleton as is without uncovering his entire inner skeleton.

♤~♤

[ripclaudia]

the only thai restaurant in my city closed up a couple months ago and i am still mourning it

[starkidwriting]

Childish Mischief

Lego monkie kid x G/n! Reader.

A/n: Hey there! Thank you, guys, for reading this and for your patience. The weather had risen, and it became too hot and melted my brain. Sorry for the grammar and spelling errors!

It was supposed to be a pleasant day to hang out at the restaurant. To relax and enjoy the weather, sadly, that wasn't the case. As the gang sat down, chatting and joking around and meeting an old friend again, having a good time and catching up.

 Til two sneaky demons attempted a plan to capture Mk, once and for all! 

"All right, Yin, let's go over this!" Jin said as they stood in the back alley, holding a mystery bottle filled with liquid. "Okay, We walk into the restaurant and ask them if they want to buy cookies!" Yin said, holding out a batch of somewhat decent cookies. "Yeah, when Monkie Kid eats one, he will turn into a child!" Jin said, "Then he won't be able to fight us when we attack!" 

"YES! Then the city will be ours!" Jin explained to Yin. Yin nodded his head furiously. "He will be too punny to beat us!" 

"That right!" Jin replies to his brother as he opens the bottle and puts a few drops on the cookies. They put on children's clothes, posing for a moment before walking to the front of the store. Inside was the whole gang chatting and eating noddle. 

Mk and Mei talk to their old friend (Y/n), whom they met when they were kids. Tang and Sandy were talking to Pigsy about other things. The gang didn't notice the twins til one coughed. "Excuse me, do you guys want free cookies from children?" Yin said, making the best kid voice. 

Mk and (Y/n) turned their heads to the two 'kids'. The due did not see through the disguises, while the rest of the gang knew something was off. 

"Please, We made extra cookies for our..." Jin paused for a moment before Yin jumped in, "School! event!" He elbowed Jin's arm. "Ow-Yeah! Our school event!" Jin said, rubbing his arm. (Y/n) about to get one, was stopped by Pigsy. "Wait? What event?" He asked, causing the demon to sweat. "Uh...Um, a school fun raiser?" they both gave an uncertain response. But it was enough to convince (Y/n) and Mk. 

"Good enough for me!" Mk said as he took the cookies. The twin demons snickered and ran out before Pigsy asked more questions. "Mk! Have I not taught you not to take anything from strangers!" Pigsy yelled, shaking his head and face palming."What's wrong with some kids giving out free cookies?" He asked before eating one. "I think the cookies are fine. They don't seem dangerous." (Y/n) said. 

"Yeah, Want one, Tang? " Mei asked as she offered one to Tang, but he pushed it away. "As much as I love food, I learned my lesson from taking food from strangers." He said, shivers going down his spine as he remembered the scorpion queen. Mei looked at the cookies, "They aren't half bad. It does have an aftertaste." She said as Mk and (Y/n) noticed it. "Yeah, what is it?" (Y/n) questioned and tried to guess. Before they grabbed seconds, they realized all the cookies were gone. 

Pigsy had taken them and thrown them away. "Pigsy!" The three teens whined as they saw their free cookies disappear. "You guys are going to get sick from those strange cookies." He said, crossing his arms as the teens pouted. Sandy patted (Y/n)'s back, "Don't worry, you guys. We can make our own later." He tried to cheer them up, and it worked. 

"Yeah! We can so many chocolate chips!" Mk smiled as Mei agreed. Before (Y/n) said anything, they felt a sting. The gang turned to see them crouching on the floor.

Soon the other two felt the same pain. Tang and Pigsy rushed to catch them from falling. "Kids!" Pigsy said as he carried Mk, Tang with (Y/n), and Sandy with Mei.

 "Come on, guys! say something!" Tang said and looked at the pale (Y/n). "Something..." (Y/n) giggled as a cloud of (F/c) filled the restaurant. Coughs were the only sound inside heard, followed by cries. The three adults realized the teens had disappeared from their grasp.

"Mk/(Y/n)/Mei!" They all called out in unison. The cloud soon faded, and they saw three children holding on to their legs. "Wh-" "Dadsy!" the little boy said as he hugged Pigsy's leg. "Mk?" Pigsy stuttered as the little boy looked up.

"Yeah?" He answered the now panicked Pigsy. Tang looked down to see a quiet child holding on to his clothes. While Sandy eye's met a small girl jumping up and down, asking if she could touch his mohawk. All three were stunned in silence. 

"Pigsy...What just happened?!" Tang shouted as (Y/n) started to whimper. Tang saw this, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Tang said as he tried to calm down the child. Pigsy had to process what had just occurred before feeling a tug on his jacket.

"Dadsy, can me and my friends go play?" He asked with a sweet smile. Pigsy took a deep breath in and kneeled to his level. 

"If you can tell me, what was the last thing you remember?" He asked, causing the boy to chuckle. "Me, Mei, and (Y/n) were playing outside before you called us in!" He said, pointing at his friends. He ran to his friends, took their hands, and ran off to find something fun. Sandy was already blocking the exit, 

"Sorry little or littler dudes." He said, causing them to pout, but (Y/n) saw Moe. They tugged Mk and Mei's shirt and pointed at the poor feline. All three smiled before they ran after him into the Mk's place. Pigsy's mind was about to burst, "They... have been turned back...into children." Pigsy said it as calmly as he continued. "By those cookies, I told them not to eat!!" He burst out. 

"Well. I guess you can teach Mk that lesson now." Tang said, trying to lighten the mood but failed. He was about to be hit with his husband's wooden spoon for making that joke. Sandy was luckily able to stop him by suggesting they go and take care of the three hyper kids before they cause more problems. Pigsy agreed as he walked away to find the children in Mk's place. 

Meanwhile, the three small kids were causing mischief in Mk's room. "Guys, I'm bored!" Mk whined as he tried to climb onto his large bed. Mei went through Mk's movies and video games while (Y/n) was watching Mk struggle. "Do you need help, Mk?" (Y/n) said, as it got too painful to watch him fail. "No!" He said as he pulled the sheet and something fell to the floor. The three kids went to see it was a golden staff.

"Cool!" Mk and Mei said as (Y/n) was in awe. "We can play Monkey King!" Mei said as she tried to lift the staff but was struggling. (Y/N) try to help, but neither couldn't lift it. They both got exhausted, "Why is it so heavy!" Mei cried. "Let me try!" Mk said as Mei and (Y/n) rolled their eyes. "If we can't lift it, what-" Mei was interrupted by seeing Mk hold the staff. 

"Well, it seems that I'm the monkey king!" He said proudly, but it shot up into the ceiling. The trio screamed and ran away from the staff, and it fell to the floor nearly on (Y/n). A loud thud went through the apartment. (Y/n) was frozen in shock that they almost 'died', "I don't want to play monkey king anymore!" They yelled as they shook from the fear. (Y/n) ran to the adults, who found the place a mess and hid behind them for safety.

"What happened here!?" Pigsy yelled, but all three children's voice-overs lapped each other to try to explain. "Okay, how about we just sit down and do something safer, like drawing?" Tang suggested. The three kids smiled and agreed as if the last few minutes had never happened. 

For the next hour, it was peaceful in a way, the kid trio drawing while the others tried and figure out how to reverse this mess. "We need to find those demons, but how?" Pigsy questioned, but the TV interrupted his thought and Monkey Cop with the news. The city was under attack by Yin and Jin since there was no monkie kid. They had gone around and run a mess for a couple of hours.

"you mean those guys?" (Y/n) asked as they pointed at the tv. Pigsy sighed, thinking of an idea. A shadow appeared as it covered the room in darkness.

"Man, Mk, are you sick or something? Not following your hero duty-..." Macaque came out of his portal, his eyes landing on a fighting stance Mei as she protected (Y/n) and Mk.

 "Mister Macaque!" Sandy said. Everyone was surprised at his arrival, "Why are you?" Pigsy questioned Macaque, unsure of his intention. Tang tried to calm down the tiny trio before they jumped on the monkey. 

"Well, I care about my student, i had a feeling something happened because he didn't show up to stop those dummies." He gestures toward the tv. "What happened to them?" He asked as Tang explained what happened. 

"Well, lucky for you guys, I know how to reverse it. but how we get will be the problem, and these small guys can't come." He pointed to the children trying to grab his tail. 

(Y/n) was the one to grab it and pull it. He glared at the giggling children before taking it back. "Yeah, two of us need to stay here." He muttered. It wasn't long before Sandy volunteered to go with him. Before Pigsy could protest, Macaque had made another shadow portal, and both vanished. 

"Well, what do you three want to do now?" Tang asked the small kids, and a stomach growled was heard from Mk. "Lunch!" Mk said, not long before Mei and (Y/n) chanted with him. "I'll go make some noodles," Pigsy said as he walked to the kitchen, he turned to see (Y/n). 

"Can I help?" They ask as they try to view the kitchen counter. Pigsy chuckled before lifting them onto a stool. "Yeah, kid, just had me the vegetables. Okay." He said as he prepared the food. Meanwhile, Tang was reading JTTW to the two hyper kids. 

(Y/n) smiled as they handed small vegetables they could carry, and Pigsy allowed them to taste the noodle. 

"What do you think it's missing?" He asked the child. They looked at the sauces and spotted one, "This!" They smiled as they gave it to Pigsy. He was surprised that they were right on the sauce. 

"Well, aren't you a chef helper," Ruffling their hair making. They giggle as they taste it again, "Perfect!" They shouted. "Let's go get the others," He said as he carried (Y/n). 

After a nice lunch, the small trio was getting antsy. "Dad, can we go outside now?" Mk asked Tang, but he shook his head. "Sorry, bud, not yet. You guys need a nap." He said as he saw (Y/n) and Mei yawing. "No, we don't!" Mei protested but yawned again. Pigsy helped Tang and carried the trio to the bed. Mei and Mk fell asleep in a few winks, but (Y/n) struggled to sleep. 

"(Y/n), what's the matter?" Pigsy asked (Y/n), who was looking around. " I don't feel tired," they said as they tried to get out of the bed and almost fell. Pigsy caught them before hitting the ground, "carefully, kid!" Pigsy whispered as he carried (Y/n). They chuckled a bit before apologizing. 

"Tang, can you read stories from JTTW?" (Y/n) asked the man with glasses. "Why, of course, (Y/n). If this will help sleep." He said, and they nodded frantically. "Yes, yes, yes, it will!" They yelled. Pigsy hushed them, "let's be a more quiet kid. Don't want to bother the others now." He said. 

Tang soon began to read the beginnings of JTTW. (Y/n) was listening to him internally while Pigsy was dozing off and on. Before he was at the peach festival, he saw Pigsy asleep and (Y/n) trying their best to stay awake. 

"Come here, let's get you to bed." He softly spoke as he picked up the annoyed child. They tried to escape, but it was useless as they were too sleepy. Tang laughed at the attempt, "Nice try." He said before placing the small child next to the other two. 

"Good night, (Y/n)." He whispers.

"Okay, Good night, dad," they mumbled as they fell asleep. Tang sat on the couch, sighing in relief to have a bit of tranquility. "Finally, peace." He whispered before summited into sleep next to his husband. 

Moments later, Sandy and Macaque came back and saw the gang sleeping. Sandy found it adorable while Macaque cringed a bit, but both didn't disturb them. 

Sandy made tea for both and waited for the gang to wake up. It wasn't long till Tang and Pigsy woke up. 

"About time you two woke," Macaque said as he walked over to the small trio. He took out a bag, grabbing a hand full of powder. He softly blew it in onto the children. It falls onto them and soon dissolves into air, "This is what will change them back. It might be a few minutes, but they'll return to their age." He said as he put away the bag. 

"Thank you, Mister Macaque!" Sandy said with a smile Macaque rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Next time, don't let them take any free food. Especially from these two," He said as a shadow opened with Jin and Yin knocked out. "I don't want to be the one cleaning up this city." The shadow moved underneath him and disappeared, along with the twins. 

It wasn't long till they saw the child trio grow up in their sleep. They sigh in relief, seeing them back to normal. (Y/n) was the first to wake up, "what happened?" They said, but remember the cookies they ate. "Man, that cookie didn't sit right," they pouted. Soon Mk and Mei woke up, and none of them remembered what happened.

Pigsy gave them a short version of what happened and that they should take it as a lesson to never take things from strangers. The teens felt embarrassed thinking about how they acted as kids again. 

"Sorry, dadsy, I promise never to do it again," Mk swore. Tang sighed, knowing it was most likely an empty promise. " I dont think I can go through it again," Mei said, remembering her childhood. 

"Yeah, sorry dads, I think it's going to be a while before I eat cookies again." (Y/n) said to Tang and Pigsy. The husbands noticed but didn't mind. "Don't worry, kid, just be more cautious," Pigsy ruffles their hair as they got up to leave. 

"MY PRECIOUS POSSESSIONS!" Mk yelled as he saw his room in shambles.

Words: 2,470

[samwilsonshandsandass]

Don’t decline too many times

Pairing: soft!dark!Steve Rogers x reader

Summary: The local gang leader is always nice to you. But is there an ulterior motive behind it all for his niceness?

Warnings: Alcohol consumption (voluntarily), asks about pregnancy, abduction

Word count: about 3000

A/N: This is my entry for @stargazingfangirl18​ Siri’s 5K Soft Dark Challenge. A big congrats on your milestone and thank you for hosting this challenge, I enjoyed writing for it! I chose general prompt number 5 (“The leader of the local gang doesn’t like it when you tell them no.”) for this. The dividers are made by the awesome @firefly-graphics​

You sat at the bar, a small bowl with olives and peanuts in front of you. You had asked for a caipirinha and shortly after if the bartender, a female redhead, could get you some snacks. She said she could, but she also cautiously probed if you were pregnant. No, you weren’t.

“Well then, I can offer you olives and peanuts.”

You nodded, and now the quite unusual combination of a fruity and sweet drink and olives and peanuts found a home in you. You had your elbows propped up on the bar, back straight and eyes on the bar top. The bowls with the snacks were gone quicker than the drink and the bartender kept both coming. Eating way quicker than drinking helped with that, apparently.

You didn’t know what number drink you were on when you were approached the first time that evening. Although night would be a better term.

“Miss? I- uh- I’d wanted to ask-“ The guy who now sat on the stool next to you stumbled over his words, but not because of alcohol in his system. He didn’t slur, he talked normally.

You saw a tattooed hand clasp the guys’ shoulder. “I don’t think you’re in the right place, buddy. Leave the lady alone.”

“Why would I-“ The guy turned to look at whoever had his hand on his shoulder. “Oh! I’m so sorry, Mr.-“

“Yeah, yeah, I imagine you are. But you’ll be even more sorry if you don’t move now” The other growled and the guy got up so quickly, he almost face planted away from the bar.

“Uhm, thank you? You know, you didn’t have to, he wasn’t bothering me. I could’ve dealt with him” You said to the brown-haired man.

“I know. But this isn’t what this is about.”

“Then what is ‘this’ about?” You were a little irritated.

“You’ll see. Enjoy your night, miss” He gave a small salute and went back into the crowd. You tried looking where he went but quickly lost him, although the bar wasn’t as packed as it could be.

Steve looked over the bar patrons from the mezzanine level of the bar, that housed his private booth that could be seen, and was supposed to be seen, from below but no one ever found the staircase until they were explicitly shown where it was.

His night was going nice, no big problems in the last days, the bar was filled and his new favorite person had just walked in. Alone. She made a beeline for the bar and after a short conversation, got what she wanted from Natasha. She didn’t move much throughout the night and he was happy to just watch her.

Steve sipped on his own drink. He wondered what she drank. He’d have to ask Natasha for that. He took another sip and swallowed harshly. Someone sat next to what would be his. Normally, he’d be lenient with that, especially if the bar was packed almost too full but for one thing, it wasn’t. Secondly, you didn’t seem to want any company tonight. Just to be left alone and drink.

“Buck?” Steve looked up.

“On it.”

A few days later, you were out grocery shopping after work. It had been a long day, full of demands you couldn’t meet or weren’t even supposed to fulfill because they didn’t fall into your department. And right as you could finally leave for the day, your boyfriend Chad had called to let you know he came home to an empty fridge and if you couldn’t pick up some fresh vegetables. But only from that one organic store. And only the freshest produce of the freshest.

How were you supposed to get literal farm-to-table produce when the delivery truck for that particular store only came twice a week and only ever in the morning? You asked and just got an exasperated sigh from Chad. So here you were, paying for the groceries and leaving the store.

You stepped out of the store and almost collided with someone. The person just kept on walking, apparently not even noticing how you wobbled and the bags in your hands almost slipped out of your grasp. Just as you thought everything would tumble and you’d have wasted that money, you felt hands on your elbows, steadying you.

“I got you, don’t worry.”

You didn’t recognize the voice. You turned around and did a double take. You looked up at Steve Rogers, the leader of the city’s gang, just known as “The Commando”.

“Th- thank you. It wouldn’t have been good if I had spilled all this.”

“What would you have spilled?”

“Fresh vegetables for tonight’s dinner.”

“All that just for you?” Steve seemed genuinely curious and confused.

“Oh no. For me and my boyfriend, Chad.”

Steve took the bags from your hands without asking. “Mind if I walk you home? It’s late and these bags look really heavy and that’s not even touching your normal bag.”

“I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“You’re not, I’m offering.”

“Thank you, but it’s not far, it really isn’t necessary” You declined.

“Alright, well have a nice evening, miss” Steve raised his fingertips to his non-existent hat.

“You too, thanks.”

Several weeks later, you laid on the couch with Chad with some mindless trash tv show playing in the background. He had his arm around you. You looked at him. He didn’t look back at you, but maybe he was just captivated by watching something that didn’t require much thinking after a long work day. Well, you wanted to do something that also didn’t require much thinking. You started kissing up and down his neck until he turned his head.

“What are you doing Y/N?”

“What does it look like?” You grinned.

“I’m too tired right now. Tomorrow?” Chad groaned.

You removed yourself from him and sat up again. “You’ve said that for weeks now! I also have needs and I don’t want to use my vibrator all the time. I want you.”

“Well, I can’t change how tired I am!” He raised his voice, despite or because of his tiredness, you didn’t know.

Shortly after, you went to bed. Unsatisfied and feeling like you had been shunned.

Just a few days later, you were frantically searching for a clean and decent shirt you could wear to work. You really couldn’t show up to work in a graphic tee shirt.

“Chad, where are my clean shirts?” You yelled through the appartement.

“In your wardrobe?! Like always?” He yelled back.

“No, they aren’t! Didn’t you do the laundry?”

“No, why would I?”

“Because it was your turn!”

“Well, I forgot. I’m sorry, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, always sorry” You grumbled so he couldn’t hear and pulled a unicolor long sleeve shirt from the wardrobe. That would have to do.

It was a Saturday and you were in the mall, trying on clothes, maybe you’d buy some shoes. You wanted to treat yourself. Chad was gone for the weekend and you’d had a stressful week at work. You had found so many things you were packed with two or three bags in each hand plus your handbag over your shoulder. This had been an extensive haul and you couldn’t be more happy about your new treasures.

You carried several bags to the entrance to then get on home when you saw the revolving door wasn’t working. You groaned. Awesome. When you entered the mall, they had still worked and of course, today had to be the time you also bought something voluminous that you couldn’t just transfer from one hand to the other to open the door that was still working. While you thought about setting half the bags down and just walking twice or holding the door open with your foot, someone from behind you reached around you and opened it for you.

“Oh. Thank you!” You turned around and saw a familiar face. Steve Rogers.

“You’re welcome.”

He tipped his imaginary hat when you and all your bags were through the door. You turned and could see him still hold open the door with an older lady thanking the “Young man” and walking off.

“Do you want me to walk you to your car?” He offered.

“No, thanks I got it from here.”

Steve tipped his “hat” again and said his goodbye when you went in the direction of the parking lot.

You had reservations at a nice Mexican restaurant with Chad for this Friday evening. There was nothing to celebrate, you had just agreed to go out again, because you could. You were excited for it, an evening with good food, talking, no needing to take care of anything except getting home and a nice evening and then a lazy weekend until the work week started again. Now it was Thursday.

“Chad? Friday is still happening?” You sat at the breakfast table and Chad poured himself a coffee.

“Yeah. Work shouldn’t keep me longer than expected.”

“Alright, we’ll just meet at the restaurant, then.”

Friday came, work went down without any incident and you went straight to the restaurant. Granted, you were a little early, but you’d rather be early than late, which would have been the case if you had gone home beforehand.

“Excuse me? I have a reservation for Y/L/N, for two people. I know I’m a little early, but I thought maybe…” You trailed off.

“My colleague will show you to your table, you can already take a seat and wait for your company. I’ll send them over once they arrive” The receptionist said.

“Thank you” You smiled and followed her colleague.

At the table, you texted your boyfriend. Just a simple “I’m here a little early.” After the waiter brought a water, your phone still didn’t ping with a text. Twenty minutes later, you sent a second text. “Hey, you coming? Our reservation is for this time.” Now would’ve been the time your table was reserved for. No answer. 15 minutes and another text later, there still was no answer.

“Miss, do you want to order an appetizer or wait for your company?”

“I’ll wait for him, if that’s okay.”

“Yes, of course.”

Thirty minutes, another text and another visit from your waiter later, there still was no sign of Chad. Just as you felt tears of rage pricking your eyes, your waiter set a dish of panna cotta with fruits on the side in front of you.

“On the house.”

You smiled gratefully. At least panna cotta would soothe some of the rage you felt.

At home, there was no sign of Chad. You went to bed alone, feeling a storm of different emotions ranging from anger to sadness.

You woke to clanging in the hallway. It sounded like a person stumbling, trying to get back up and failing. That could only be Chad. Especially at this hour. You remembered once, pretty early on in your relationship how he had stumbled in just like this after a night out with his boys when you didn’t want to come with. You had helped him sober up and then you both had spent a nice day in with Chad nursing his hangover.

But this was different. This was your boyfriend, first blatantly ignoring or forgetting your date night (you didn’t know which would be worse), no matter if it went along with a special date or not, and now he didn’t even hide what he had been doing instead.

“Hey babe? Can you- can you help me?” He slurred.

And in that moment, you snapped. Still sitting in bed. You couldn’t do this anymore.

In the hallway, you saw Chad entangled in your and his winter coat. However he managed that.

“No. No, I will not do that” You crossed your arms and looked down at him. “I’m done. This is the last straw.”

“What happened babe?” The confusion was evident on Chad’s face but you couldn’t see if it was from the hangover or just general confusion. And either way, you didn’t care.

“Several things. Over quite some time. But this, this takes the cake. We had a date. We wanted to meet after work at this restaurant we’ve talked about. And you didn’t show up! You didn’t answer any of my texts! It got so bad, the staff there gave me a free dessert! It was humiliating! And don’t you dare tell me you lost your phone; you’re glued to it!” You shook from your anger.

“But you got free dessert!”

How could anyone miss the point so badly? You wondered.

“Go. Go and only come back to get your stuff. Otherwise, just leave me alone.”

You threw on clothes quickly, grabbed your keys, bag and purse and left. Down on the street, you just started to wander around aimlessly. You ducked into a bakery for a to-go breakfast and coffee, you went to the park, to a hole in the wall pizza joint for lunch, just meandering through the city.

Now it was evening. You looked up to actually see where you were and were surprised to see you had walked all the way from the park you had been in during the afternoon to the bar of the city’s main gang.

You remembered all kinds of rumors and stories about the gang, sometimes just about one or two members, even if the story didn’t tie directly in with the gang. But no matter the stories or rumors, they all boiled down to “They’re dangerous, stay away from them and their localities!”.

But the first time you had been in the bar, everything was nice, it had seemed cozy and like you were welcomed even if no one knew you. Hell, the bar lady had asked you if you were pregnant, like she wanted to protect you! And Steve, the actual leader of the gang, had been nothing but nice to you. Offering to help you and still not inserting himself forcefully into situations when you said no.

You entered and looked around. For a bar, it was pretty early and you only saw a few patrons. You went to take a seat at the bar again and greeted the red head with a smile. She smiled back and continued cleaning the glasses. A while later, she got to you.

“Caipirinha, olives and peanuts again? Still not pregnant?”

“Yes and no. And how do you remember what I ordered? That was weeks ago!”

“I’m a barkeeper. Simple as that” She smiled.

“Uh, could you keep them coming? At least for a while?”

“Something happened?”

“I broke up with my boyfriend today. Then wandered around and now I’m here” You shrugged.

“Alright. But I reserve the right to cut you off when I think you had enough.”

“Okay. But you won’t cut off the olives and peanuts?”

She laughed, throwing her head back. “Yes, I’ll keep giving you food.”

You smiled for the first time today. “Deal.”

The rest of the evening went by in a more or less haze of snacks, alcohol and the mix of hurt at your ended relationship but also the rage when you thought of what kind of behaviors of Chad made you end it all.

The barkeeper didn’t cut you off, which probably was related to you basically inhaling olives and peanuts. Hours later, you paid, slipped the redhead a big tip and a big smile and made to get home.

Almost right at the exit, you were stopped when you felt a hand on your elbow. You turned your head to tell whoever touched you off, but slight confusion furrowed your brows. Wasn’t that the guy from when you had been here weeks ago who kept that other guy from (probably) asking you out?

“Can I help you?” You asked.

“Actually, you can. Indirectly at least.”

“What?”

“I’m here to ask you if you’d like to come with me to up there” He nodded his head to the mezzanine level. “to meet someone.” He emphasized the ‘someone’ in a way that made it clear that ‘someone’ was special. In one way or another.

“Why would I?”

“To experience something, you wouldn’t otherwise.”

“No, thank you” You weren’t in the mood for something new. You wanted to mourn and rage at what you left behind and burrow yourself under blankets with pints of ice cream at home.

“Alright. Have a good evening, miss” He tipped his head and went off into the direction of, supposedly, the stairs to the mezzanine level.

You went home. You were surprised to see Chad had actually gotten his stuff out of your appartement. At least one pleasant thing had come out of the morning, in a twisted way. In the living room, you did exactly what you wanted to do. Eating all the ice cream you had in the freezer and basically becoming a blanket burrito.

When you woke, you felt blankets around you and a softly pulsing headache behind your forehead. You opened your eyes and blinked. And blinked. You turned your head. And blinked again. Slowly realization trickled in. Something wasn’t right. You weren’t where you were when you’d went to sleep.

Whatever you laid on was soft and big. You could turn your whole body and roll around. You could move and you could orientate yourself in your body. You looked down and saw you were still in the clothes you had worn to the bar. Right, you didn’t put on pajamas before going to sleep.

Just as you sat up on the bed, you heard a door open. You turned your head and couldn’t believe your eyes.

“Steve?!”

“Just the one.”

“Why?”

“I just want to take care of you. Is that so hard to understand?”

[after-witch]

Yandere Ransom Imagine

“That's some heavy-duty conjecture.”

Word Count: 2700ish

notes: unhealthy relationships, emotional and physical abuse, financial abuse, yandere

Imagine being a struggling adult working a full time job plus freelancing gigs just to get by in your one-bedroom apartment where the ceiling always leaks when it rains and you have to perform a complicated maneuver to make sure the door doesn’t jam up on you and you’re constantly worried about your landlord raising the rent.

Maybe a well-meaning friend gets you a gift card to an upscale bookstore because they know you haven’t had a new book on your shelves in years, or maybe you find $20 on the street like a veritable Charlie Bucket but instead of buying a Wonka Bar you head into a this fantastic artisan coffee shop on the rich side of town, a place that everyone always raves about on Instagram, just so you can try an expensive latte with hand-ground beans and flavors you’ve never heard of before--because don’t you deserve a treat, for once?

Whatever it is, wherever it is, Hugh Ransom Drysdale is waiting inside and sees you there.

And oh my God is it obvious that you’re out of place right off the bat. I mean, what the hell is someone like you doing in this part of town?

With your worn out clothes that are worn from necessity and not from being fashionably thrifted and your ratty purse stuffed with papers and candy wrappers that spill out when you dig in for your card or cash and your winter boots that you’ve probably worn 5 years in a row, ripped in the hell and patched with black tape that you hope people don’t notice.

It becomes even more obvious that you’re out of your element when something goes wrong. The gift card isn’t activated. The $20? A fake, probably a movie prop that blew in the wind. Whatever goes wrong, it means that you’re suddenly at the register, impatient people with real money tapping their expensive shoes behind you, unable to pay. You’re left standing there like a deer in headlights, unsure of what to do or say.

Normally he might just roll his eyes and remind himself that people like you ought to stick to your own shops, your own place. But something about the way your eyes go all downcast and you seem to shrink down in embarrassment makes him take pity on you. Like a stray cat in the alley hoping someone will toss it some scraps.

So he strides up and flicks out a card and hands it to the cashier, dropping a friendly greeting to them because he spends like crazy and they probably know him by name at this place, and he’s the one who hands you your coffee or your bag and your hands touch ever so briefly during the exchange.

He leads you away from the register--don’t want to piss off the spoiled debutantes and assistants on lunchtime coffee runs--and you stammer out a thank-you-thank-you and you promise you’ll pay him back as soon as you can and Jesus Christ, isn’t that just adorable? Someone like you, some lost kicked puppy who can’t even afford new boots, promising to pay him back?

He doesn’t care if you pay him back, but he finds that he would like something out of this exchange, so he says that instead of paying him back you can do him the honor of going to lunch with him. His treat. 

He insists. And you can’t really say no, can you? You are hungry and he did just pay for your things and it’s the least you can do to oblige his request.

He’s not stupid. He doesn’t take you to some razzle dazzle fancy restaurant where you’ll feel embarrassed and out of place. Instead he takes you to a quiet diner, classy not greasy, where you can have an easy conversation and tell him all about yourself.

It’s funny. Normally he brings up his family name, his grandfather’s books, to women he picks up, to get them impressed and hooked and pliable. Something about you, though. Something about you is making him want to turn this into more than a lunch date and pressure for a quickie in the car to repay him. 

So he holds back to see what he can do with you on his own. No quickie in the car, but instead before he drops you off--at a bus station, you insisted--he brushes his hand over yours. Can he get your number? He swears he can feel the heat coming off your cheeks as you fumble for your phone and let him put his number in your contacts.

He waits a day, then asks you out again. Dinner, this time. He asks you if you know any good places and you recommend a dive bar that you can go to after work (because 1) schedule and 2) cheap) and shit, he’s all for it. There will be time in the future to impress you with restaurants that have dress codes instead of sticky floors. You sit close on the stools and you buy him a drink (real cute, real real cute) and just for you he keeps the baggie in his pocket there all night instead of heading to the bathroom to liven things up.

Your relationship develops with an almost shocking speed. He knows just how to reel you in. I mean--look at you. Working your ass off at some dead end job, living in an apartment so shitty it takes you almost a month before you reluctantly agree to let him see it.

He can understand, though. Because you’re not that stupid and you know he’s wealthy, even before he casually brings up his family in a “it’s no big deal but I don’t want to keep things from you because we’re getting serious” sort of way. 

You pretend to be casual about it all, but he can tell you’re suddenly wondering: why the hell would someone from this wealthy family want anything to do with me?

It’s a question Ransom asks himself a lot. He asks himself this when he’s snorting coke off another woman’s stomach (hey, you’re dating, but he’s got needs and they aren’t met with hand-holding) or when he’s eating another greasy burger at a shitty bar because you refuse to let him buy you a nice dress to wear so he can take you out somewhere fancy.

You’re not the type of person he normally goes for, not at all. He has strings of girlfriends and flings, but they all tend to fit that same cookie cutter mold: wealthy do-nothings with their parent’s credit card who want someone else to spoil them for a while, without caring who it is or what they’re like. They’re easy pickings that Ransom can burn through and then toss aside when he’s bored of them. Some of them cry but a few days later he’ll see them on someone else’s arm, it’s the circle of life.

With you, though, there’s more. You don’t expect him to pay for dates or anything at all (even when he wants to spoil you a bit) and you have actual conversations and you seem to actually give a shit about what he says and does. You argue with him, too, when he wants you to do something (just let him take you shopping, for Christ’s sake!) or he asks you to move in (again) and you say no (again). I mean, you really fight with him, spitting words and all.

And unlike his previous girlfriends, you don’t come crawling back a few hours later because you want to buy a new purse with his shiny credit card. Instead, you make him apologize first. Fuck, that’s hot. It’s also something he tucks away in the back of his mind to work on later--but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t admit that he sometimes has the overwhelming urge to push you against the wall and fuck you for the first time right after a good argument. 

But he knows that would destroy your image of him entirely, so he holds back. He’s good at crafting a version of himself that appeals to others when he has to, and you’re maybe the first person that’s been worth all the effort he’s put into you so far.

But you need a push, a push that makes it so you can’t go running back to your shithole apartment when you fight or when you question whether or no you two have a future. You do, you’re just too naive--too inexperienced with money, to say it charitably--to realize it.

So he tips off the fire marshal about your apartment building’s shoddy fire escapes and well, damn, in the process of the investigation all the little corners that your landlord has cut come crashing down. At least they were discovered before it was the building that came crashing down.

But the evacuation of the building leaves you--and countless others--high and dry. You don’t have any family in the area, and your only half ass-decent friend in the city lives in the same building but her parent’s aren’t going to let a stranger move in.

When you finally realize you have no options and call him, voice tentative and embarrassed, he knows just what to say to get you to pack your meager belongings and wait for him to pick you up. He’s no-nonsense about it. 

He knows how to avoid deflating your pride, how to keep you from deciding you’d rather stay in a shelter than take his charity. You’ll pay him back, he says, you’ll figure out a rental plan or whatever. He even teases--he’s not the best landlord, but he won’t take 2 weeks to change the toilet if you submit a maintenance request. It makes you crack a smile and bam, just like that, he knows he’s gotten in.

That night, after takeout and wine and a Netflix movie neither of you paid attention to, you fuck for the first time on his expensive sheets on his expensive bed and afterwards, when you’re both sweating and cuddling and reveling in the afterglow, he makes a note to buy you some new lingerie. 

It’s all very homey, for a while. He could do without you leaving for work and working your ass off, with your freelance shit, sometimes staying on the computer until two, three in the morning. But it’s nice to have you close all the time, available to him whenever (almost whenever) he wants. He brings home takeout and you snuggle on the couch and he finally even convinces you to go out with him to a nice restaurant wearing something he’s bought and hot damn, do you look good, head-to-toe in the clothing he’s chosen for you. Especially, later that night, in private, in the lingerie. 

Does he love you? The word hasn’t left his lips yet, hasn’t crossed yours either, but he can feel it underneath the surface. No. It’s more than love. He wants you. He wants to have you. And not just for the afternoon or the summer, but forever. 

He spins daydreams about how he’ll clean you up nice and introduce you to the family. Probably to Harlan, first, because everyone knows that’s whose opinion really matters. Harlan will like you--he would probably like you without any primping or fixing, actually, which is more than he could say for his parents or anyone else in the family. Then once you’re in, you’re in--you’ll come to family dinners and vacation retreats where people always end up in ridiculous arguments, and you two can exchange snarky comments about the family on the ride home.

And yeah, sure. You fight sometimes.

He throws out your old clothes and buys you a wardrobe befitting someone he wants to integrate into his family. You fight about that.

He makes comments about you how you should quit your job or at least try to get a degree--he’ll pay, as long as you agree to go to a university within driving distance--to work somewhere more respectable than a chain restaurant. You fight about that.

He gets pissed when you want to meet some “friends” at a bar without him, because why would you need to go anywhere without your loving boyfriend in tow, unless you were trying to flirt with someone else? You definitely fight about that.

And, okay. Maybe he’s hypocritical.

Maybe he goes out late at night when you’re stuck doing your “freelancing work” and he’s in a rotten mood about it, and he ends up on the floor of a swanky club with drugs in his system and lipstick on his neck. He doesn’t come home until the next morning and you’re pissed and red-eyed and arguing with him, accusing him even, but you have no shitty apartment to stomp back to anymore so you’re stuck. 

Until you’re not stuck. Until he casually snoops through your phone and sees that you’re looking up cheap-ass apartments and hey, you’ve already booked a few interviews already. The thought of you slipping through his fingers makes him more sober than he’s been in a while. He’s got to do something. Not to himself, of course. But to you. To keep you with him.

It’s easy enough to get you fired. He’s a ‘Thrombey’ after all, and some nice crisp bills anonymously sent to the right hands is all it takes for you to come home one night, cheap mascara (he notes: buy you some better quality makeup soon) running down your cheeks. Your freelancing isn’t nearly enough to get you into an apartment.

He assumes that you’ll give up on the idea after losing your job, but you’re nothing if not stubborn (one of the reasons why he likes you) so you start the job hunt the next morning, fresh mascara in place. 

Damn, do you keep him busy. Anonymous calls. Cash in nice white envelopes. Rejection after rejection. You get so sad, so depressed. You don’t even want to go out to restaurants, so he orders in and you snuggle in his lap while he feeds you bites of orange chicken and rubs your back. It almost brings you two closer again, starts to mend the rifts that began when you refused to get over his occasional late night out.

But then you break the uneasy mending by snooping and woah, you don’t like what you find on his phone. 

You fight. 

Damn, do you fight. This time there’s no pretense of potential forgiveness as you begin wildly throwing your clothes into your ratty duffel bag from the back of the closet, telling him to fuck off fuck off fuck off, telling him he’s crazy, telling him that what he’s doing is fucking illegal and--

It’s the shock that hurts you the most.

The shock you feel when he grips your wrist hard and pushes back on your shoulder when you try to yank away, pushing you against the wall with a hard thud. It’s like having a rug pulled out from underneath your feet when you feel a slight ache in your back, on your shoulders, when you tell him to Let go, goddamn it and he only pushes back harder to keep you in place. It’s Ransom. It’s Ransom who’s doing this.

His voice feels unrecognizably cold when he leans in and hisses in your ear.

“You think you can just leave me? After all I’ve done for you? Let me tell you something--you won’t get another job within one hundred miles of here, within one thousand miles of here, unless I say you can. So just put your clothes back in the closet, chill the fuck out, and stop being such an ungrateful bitch.”

It’s the shock that makes you numbly hang your clothes back up in the closet, fold them again with shaking hands, and sit on the bed until the dam breaks and you cry.

And oh fuck, he’s sorry. Really. He wraps his arm around your shoulders and then he’s the one who’s crying and confessing that he didn’t want you leave him because yeah, he knows he’s a fuck up, he knows he’s got a drug problem, but he loves you. 

It’s the first time he’s ever said it out loud. He loves you. “I love you,” he says, again and again, half-laughing.  And he tells you you’re the only person he’s ever dated that made him want to be a better person but he doesn’t know how.

You don’t know what to say because maybe you do love him--but he hurt you and got you fired, but the tears on his face seem so genuine and he tells you he’ll never, ever hurt you like that again and fuck, he says, if you want to go get a job he’ll drive you to the interview right now just-let-him-blow-his-nose-first-please.

You make him sit down and then you’re the one apologizing and the rest of the afternoon is a shaky truce between you two as you drink hot chocolate and order in takeout and watch a movie together.

It’s not until you’re both under the sheets, satisfied and then showered, that you think about what he did to you in a clearer light. The thoughts weigh heavy on your mind, pulling and tugging. You think you might love him. He hurt you. He took care of you when no one else would. He cheated on you. 

I love you, he tells you, when your mind is starting to tug itself into sleep.

He hit you. He said he was sorry.

He hit you.

[justthehiddleswrites]

Accidentally Married | Tom Hiddleston x OFC | Chapter 6 | Having a bit too fun with our charming Captain America?

A/N:  Tom makes certain comments about an ex (who is unnamed).  It is a fictional girlfriend, take from it what you will.  Keep your hate to yourself.  

SERIES MASTERLIST HERE

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x OFC (Molly Bishop)

Summary: Tom is stuck in a news cycle from hell; Molly is stuck in the dead end job of bartending with a pile of student and credit debt.  Tom has an idea to solve all their problems.  Get married, get the paparazzi off his back, divorce after a year and Tom pays off Molly’s debts.  Tom has everything figured out, that is until he sees Molly as more than a just a friend and so does someone else.  In this vying for affections who will win, the handsome Brit or the boy from Boston?

This Chapter: As Molly and Chris become friends, Tom becomes jealous and makes a terrible mistake. 

Warnings: fake marriage, smut (vaginal sex), mentions of:  child abuse/neglect, foster care, substance abuse, cheating.

TAGLIST IS OPEN! PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED!  THANK YOU FOR READING!

-

Tom came home carrying an enormous bouquet of lilies and roses he purchased on the way home. He bubbled with anxiety and excitement. His talk with Benedict had done him wonders. Until he opened the door to an empty house. He called out for Molly a few times but got no response. There was also no note. He slumped in a kitchen chair. His phone buzzed.

I’m on my way home. Sorry I didn’t leave a note. Hope you aren’t worried. I promise I’m fine!

Tom smiled at the message. He didn’t know why, but something gnawed at the back of his mind. He scrambled to his feet as he overheard the door opening.

“Tom?” Molly yelled into the house.

“In the kitchen, darling!” He fidgeted with the flowers behind his back. As he stared at the floor, a wide grin grew on his face.

“Molly, I…” His face fell as Evans walked in behind Molly.

“Look who stopped by and took me to lunch!” Molly squeaked.

Chris slung an arm over Molly’s shoulders. Tom’s fist clenched around the flowers behind his back.

“I hope you don’t mind me stealing your girl, Tom.” Chris smirked. “She said you were out to lunch with Benedict.”

“Not at all, Chris.” Tom lied. “I’m glad you could keep my wife company.”

“Pleasure was all mine, pal. She is,” Chris gazed down at Molly with a look that made Tom want to leap across the kitchen counter and strangle Chris. “a pretty special girl.”

“Chris!” Molly smacked his hand. “You are too kind. Thank you for a lovely lunch.” She squeezed his torso.

“And don’t forget about tomorrow. We will find decent margaritas in this city if it kills us.”

“You’re on. But you know I have discerning taste when it comes to my liquor.”

“That makes two of us.”

Molly and Chris giggled. “Let me show you out, Chris.” Tom offered.

Molly smiled over at Tom and noticed his hand behind his back.

“What’s that, darling?”

“What?” Tom’s brows knitted.

“Behind your back.” Molly strolled towards him and peeked around Tom. “Are those for me?”

Tom pulled the flowers out. “They are. I thought you might want them to brighten up the house.”

Molly gasped at the beautiful arrangement. “They are stunning, love.” She wrapped an arm around Tom’s neck and pecked his lips. “Thank you. I love them.”

Tom leaned down for another kiss, slipping his tongue into her mouth when Molly sighed.

Chris cleared his throat and hooked his thumb towards the front of the house.

“I’ll just see myself out.”

Molly pulled back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Tom trailed kisses down her neck, tickling her skin. She giggled as Chris waved and walked away.

“What has gotten into you?” she teased as she pushed Tom back.

“Just selling the relationship. We are newly married.” Tom commented, kissing her cheek.

“Oh.”

Tom’s answer disappointed Molly. Somewhere deep inside, that place she never admits to having Molly wanted Tom to want her for more than just a PR stunt. She wanted him to love her as much as he pretended to. But it seemed clear Tom was content on keeping things professional.

“That is the plan, after all?”

“Yeah.” Molly shook her head. “So how was lunch with Ben?”

“Good. You’re going out with Chris again?” Tom’s heart sank further down as he shelved plans to tell Molly how he felt. Evans ruined that.

“He is staying in town for a few days and with you doing auditions and meetings tomorrow, Chris thought I could use some company.” She went to grab a vase for the flowers.

“I bet he did.” Tom muttered.

“What’s that?” Molly twisted her head around.

“I said how nice of him.”

Molly smiled. “It is. He is so funny too! The stories he tells.”

Tom inhaled sharply. “Think you can pry yourself from the Captain to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?”

“Anything for you.” She cupped his cheek. “Now what would you like for dinner tonight?”

“Whatever you would like, love. I don’t have much of an appetite.”

Molly marched over to him and placed the back of her hand on his forehead. “That is the second time you have said something like that. Are you sure you’re not sick?”

Tom pulled back. “I’m fine. There’s no need to fuss.”

Molly pursed her lips. “After you drove me to urgent care, filled my prescriptions, let me sleep in your bed, and took care of my every need for three days, you can bet your sweet ass I’m fussing.” She touched his forehead again. “Hmm. I can’t tell if you have a fever. Go lie down in the living room and I’ll bring you dinner.”

“But I…”

“Go!” She jabbed a finger at the door. “I will not have you getting sick on my hands.”

Tom held up his hands in defeat. “Yes, ma’am.”

Molly came in with a steaming bowl of a beef stew she whipped up with leftovers in the fridge and on the side some thick slices of a crusty bread she picked up a few days ago. A heavy slash of butter on top. She arranged it on a tray for Tom.

“Arms and knees up.” she commanded. Tom complied, tucking up his knees. Molly set down the tray and then settled into the spot once occupied by Tom’s feet. “Eat up.”

Tom blew onto a spoonful before taking a bite. He moaned as he swallowed. “That is exquisite, Molly. What is it?”

“Leftover stew.” Molly took a bite herself.

“You made this with the leftovers?”

“You learn to get creative with the spice cabinet.”

“Foster care?” Tom asked quietly, teeth crunching through the crust of the bread.

“College. Financial aid only goes so far. I couldn’t let food go to waste. I became famous or rather infamous in the dorm freshman year with what I could with a microwave. A modern witch, they called me.”

“You have certainly bewitched me, darling.” Tom commented without thinking. “With your cooking.” he covered. “You are a genius in that kitchen. I will have to learn some of the recipes before year’s end.”

Molly gazed up at him, pained. He was already talking about when all of this was over. Tom quickly changed the subject.

“Tell more about college. I imagine it was rather different from my experience.” Tom ate another spoonful of stew, warming his insides.

“Where did you matriculate?” Molly teased in a haughty tone.

“Cambridge.”

She let loose a low whistle. “You really are Mr. Fancy Pants.”

“With a degree in Classics.”

Molly giggled. “And I thought a tourism degree was useless.”

“Enough about me. I’m boring. Tell me about you.”

-

They talked about college, about how hard summers were when the dorms closed and Molly would couch surf while working summer jobs.

“I had amazing friends.” she whispered. “I am forever in their debt.”

Tom reached over and pulled her to his chest. “I am so sorry you had to go through that.”

“I’m not.” She snuggled against him. “Our experiences make us who we are. The good and the bad. I would have preferred an easier life. I would prefer not to freeze every time someone raises their voice, but that’s not me.” she sighed and the tears fell onto Tom’s shirt.

Tom smoothed down Molly’s hair. “I’m sorry to upset you. Let’s talk about happy things.”

“What are those?” she chuckled softly.

“How about this?” He stared down at her tucked under the crook of his arm. “Tell me about some of the craziest things you’ve seen as a bartender in Vegas?”

Molly laughed. “How about the one about the guy who peed on a blackjack table?”

“This I must hear.” Tom chuckled.

-

Tom woke up on the couch that next morning. Molly’s messy bun tickling his chin.

“Molly…” He groaned as he sat up. “… I have to get up, darling.”

Molly burrowed deeper into Tom’s chest and he couldn’t help but wrap his arms around her. He kissed her temple. She hummed and sighed. Tom’s stomach clenched.

“Time to wake up. I need to shower.”

She slowly woke and stared at Tom, realizing the compromising position of their bodies. Molly scrambled away, blushing.

“So sorry.” She sat up. “I don’t want to keep you waiting.”

Tom cleared his throat. “I still have time.” Tom sat up and fiddled his hands in his lap. “You could always come with me. We could grab some lunch. You can see all of my ‘hard work’.” Tom gazed at her hopefully.

“I…” Molly pondered the offer. “can’t. I would only be in the way. And I have plans with Chris.”

“Chris, right.” Tom stood abruptly. “We wouldn’t want you to miss that.”

Molly gave a strained smile. “I already committed. But we are still having dinner?”

“Dinner, indeed. I’ll meet you at the restaurant at 6:30 p.m.”

Molly stood and hugged him. “I’ll be there with bells on.”

-

There was a knock on the door exactly when Chris said he would come by. Molly opened the door to find Chris leaned against the frame in jeans and a henley. A devastating combination.

“Hey babe, I have an Uber and a list of five Mexican restaurants with great promise. Ready to find the perfect margarita?”

“I am.” She stepped out with a smile. Chris slung his arm over her shoulder. Molly leaned in for a bit. Just long enough for a camera to click.

-

“That first place was awful!” Molly howled in the back of the Uber as they made their way to the next place.

Chris laughed next to her. “I never knew they could make tortillas out of rubber.”

Molly’s phone buzzed. It was Luke. She switched off the phone.

“Anything important?” Chris leaned over to glance at the screen.

“Just Luke. Tom’s publicist. It is probably just something about an upcoming event. I’ll ring him back later.” Molly shrugged before tucking the phone back into her purse. “Now an important question.”

“Which is?”

“Strawberry or Lime?”

“Lime all the way.”

“A purist, I like that.”

Chris burst into laughter.

-

Tom struggled against his sour disposition through most of his auditions and lunch. It wasn’t until he got to the restaurant for dinner Tom listened to Luke’s voicemail. Which led him to googling himself for the first time in years.

“Fuck!” He hissed louder than he wanted to, drawing the attention of a nearby couple. He forced a smile and gave a small wave.

Molly slipped into the chair. “Sorry, I’m a bit late. I lost track of time and then traffic.”

Tom’s fists clenched. “Having a bit too fun with our charming Captain America?” He spit at her.

Molly blinked at him. “What do you mean by that? I was with Chris. He seems like a nice guy.”

“And you are such a friendly girl.” Tom continued to speak in a clipped tone.

“Tom, what’s wrong?” She reached out for Tom’s hand, but he pulled it back.

“This is what’s wrong.” Tom slid his phone over to her.

Molly scrolled through the pictures with increasing horror. The headlines read: Hiddleston Marriage on the Rocks? Tom’s New Bride Steps Out with Captain America Himself.

“I… I…” Molly sputtered, handing the phone back. Hot tears hit her cheeks.

Tom threw his napkin down. “We’re leaving. Keep a smile on as we leave and when we get home. No need to give the paparazzi more fodder.”

Molly stood in a daze and Tom snatched her elbow roughly to lead her out of the restaurant. As they walked outside, Tom leaned in.

“Wrap your arm around my waist and laugh like I said something funny.”

Molly snaked her arm around him and Tom pulled her tight against him. They both threw their heads back in laughter until they got into the taxi, where Tom’s expression fell into a cold mask.

Molly sniffled with stifled sobs the entire way home. Tom took no effort to sooth her. He was… cold and detached. They repeated the charade from the restaurant up the stairs to the front door. Tom had to hold back from slamming the door.

“How could you have been so stupid?!” Tom hissed, slamming his keys onto the table.

“Don’t call me stupid. I was just going out with a friend.”

“A handsome movie star!”

“Not unlike my husband! In fact, Chris called you a close friend.” Molly raised her voice.

“He would say anything to take you from me!” Tom yelled.

Molly froze and her head dropped, shoulders hunching forward. “Please don’t yell at me.”

“How else am I to make you understand, Molly?!” Tom continued to shout like someone crazed. He gestured wildly in the air. “You are forbidden to see him.”

“I want out.” Molly sobbed.

“What?” Tom snapped out of it. He glanced at Molly, only to see the damage he had done. Molly was all but curled in on herself. She sobbed freely, shoulders shaking. “Molly, I…”

“Don’t touch me.” She turned from his hand, reaching out to her. “Why is Chris different from your sister?”

“Because Emma isn’t trying to steal you from me.”

Molly chuckled. “You’re fucking jealous?! How rich! Chris is a nice guy! I used to say the same about you. I used to…” her voice trailed off.

“Used to what?” Tom sniped, tears of anger and hurt filling his own eyes. “Take pity on me? Poor Tom with shit taste in women?! Has to pay a girl to pretend to be his wife for the papers?!”

Molly reared back and slapped him. Tom held his cheek.

“Don’t you fucking dare!” Molly screeched. “I’m leaving. Don’t worry, I’ll pay you back.”

“Molly, please…” Tom begged.

“Fuck off, Tom!” Molly pushed past him. “I thought we were…” she sobbed. “But I guess not. It’s my own fucking fault.”

“What’s your fault, Molly?” Tom asked. “What’s your fault?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Molly cried, defeated. “I was clearly wrong about you.”

“Wrong how?” Tom’s heart shattered as she walked away, returning with a small bag.

“Goodbye, Tom. Don’t worry, I’ll be discrete. Wouldn’t want to tarnish your good guy image?” she sneered before heading to the door.

“Where will you go?” Tom grew more desperate as the reality of his actions set in.

“Away from you. Other than that, I don’t much care.” The front door slammed behind her.

Tom collapsed onto the couch and his head fell into his hands. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. FUCK!” he screamed into the void of his empty house.

[ari-writes-hq]

Unlucky Days and Back Scratches

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Bokuto x Fem! Fiancée! Reader

Summary: Bokuto has a really bad day and just wants to be in the arms of his love

Words: 2,476

Warnings: Bokuto has a bad day (he's accident prone), fluffy fluff, and some grammar errors maybe?

A/N: I'm genuinely terrified to post this for it is my very first fan fic (that I started and finished and it took me 3 days to do so too). I'm honestly getting the confidence to post it because it's 12:20 am and @toru-oikawas-milkbread. Please be nice to me and I hope that ya'll enjoy <3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a very, very, very long and rough day for Bokuto Kōtarō. It first started when he had accidentally overslept, due to staying up late into the night making love to his beloved girlfriend-turned-fiancée and had completely forgotten the early start that Meian had scheduled for the team, he was late to practice by nearly three hours. On top of that, “Silent Mode” was turned on on his phone as well, so he didn’t hear the mass messages and calls from his various teammates.

Aside from waking up late, Bokuto struggled leaving the house. How could he leave his long term girlfriend of nearly four years who had just agreed to marry him, and someone who doubled up as his best friend, all alone in their big apartment? The beefy 6’2 male just wanted to stay home and wrap himself around his woman who slept peacefully next to him in all her naked glory. If she had been clothed, Bokuto probably would have only been an hour late to practice. He doesn’t regret it though, he knows that he’s going to end up staying late to make up for the time that he had lost.

When Bokuto finally made it to the MSBY building, he had tried to sneak his way to the locker rooms, but with his luck and the morning he was having, he had accidentally knocked over the janitor’s broom and mop that had been leaning up against the wall. Quickly, his coach and teammates, who were having a small discussion of what to work on next, whip their heads towards the noise, finding a sheepish and guilty Bokuto. Within seconds, he was bombarded by his coach and teammates.

Somehow escaping their wrath, Bokuto was able to finally make it to the locker room where he struggled to open his locker. Has the code changed? Did someone switch his lock as revenge for him coming in late? About fifteen minutes later, with the help of Sakusa, who was sent in by Meian, he found out that he had just been twisting the knob the wrong way. Then, while trying to change, he realized his jersey was far too small and as he was trying to get the constricting article off, he had accidentally tripped and fell over one of the metal benches. There is now a bruise on his left shin.

During practice, and after getting a new shirt, Bokuto’s work performance seemed to lack. He kept messing up his serves. If he wasn’t hitting it, he was missing it. Then at one point he had put a little too much force into one of his spikes, causing the ball to lose control and hit one of the managers in the face, they walked away with a bloody nose. The salt and pepper haired male never truly believed in karma until now. As he was trying to receive a ball, the ball then bounced up from his upper forearms and nailed him in the face… fifteen times.

On top of that, he couldn’t get any of the new moves down. It was concerning since he was one to learn decently quickly when it came to new techniques. Meian had even questioned him about his performance loss. Bokuto had no idea, normally he was on top of his game both in practice and games. So why is he suddenly having a hard time with everything?

After practice, which ran three hours late in the night, Bokuto thought his bad luck was finally at a stand still. Outside, the sky was clear, the stars were bright, well, assuming that they were since the city lights made it impossible for anyone to see them, and there was a gentle fall breeze, so, Bokuto decided to walk home rather than message his lover, who he believed was asleep.

Not even three minutes out of the ten minute walk, rain had suddenly downpoured. Clouds rolled in, hiding the once clear sky, lightning flashed the same gold as Bokuto’s eyes, thunder rang in his ears, and the once gentle breeze suddenly became rough. If not for the rain, Bokuto’s gravity defying, black and white hair would have fallen into its dejected droop.

Why does the world hate me today? He had thought to himself as he huddled underneath a building's canopy. Quickly pulling out his phone, he had checked the time, Midnight, Y/N’s probably asleep. Maybe Akaashi? He opened his messages and pressed his old high school teammate’s name before pressing the text box and sending a quick, Akaaashi, are you still awake? Y/N dropped me off at work today and it was really really nice out when I got off so I decided to walk home instead of catching a ride but now it’s storming. I forgot my bag so I don’t have anything to protect me from the rain. Please, come save me. Satisfied with his message, he pressed “send” with a hopeful smile.

Roughly two very slow minutes passed by before Bokuto’s phone went off.

Yes, Bokuto, I am awake. I will come get you. Next time look at the weather forecast. Where are you? Was Akaashi’s reply. Bokuto grinned at his phone quickly sending him a,

Thank you, Akaashi! I’m-, Bokuto raised his golden eyes to look around his surroundings, not entirely sure where he is himself. I actually don’t know where I am. A few moments after sending the message, Bokuto’s phone lit up, an “incoming call” from the former setter. Answering it, Bokuto pressed the “speaker” button.

“Bokuto, how can you not know where you are? You know what, don’t answer that.” The male on the other side of the receiver sighs. “What are some shops and landmarks around you? Street names?” Bokuto hummed, quickly looking at his surroundings once again.

“Well, I do know I’m not too far away from the MSBY building, uh, there’s a fountain outside a res- oh wait! That’s the restaurant I proposed to Y/N last night! I’m under a… oh I forgot the name of the roof thingy,”

“A canopy?”

“Yes! That thing! I’m under one of those across from the restaurant I proposed to Y/N!”

“Good, okay. I’m on my way. Do not move from your spot, I don’t want you to get lost… again.” From the other side of the phone, Bokuto could hear his friend unlock and open his car door. “You understand?”

The former ace chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck with his free hand. “Yeah, yeah. Just hurry, please,” he basically whined. “I want to go home and cuddle Y/N. I miss her.” Akaashi rolled his eyes and hung up, causing Bokuto to pout down at his device. “Akaashi’s so mean.”

What seemed like an eternity, Akaashi’s car came into view. Bokuto, unsure if his friend can see him, raised his large arms and flailed them around, only stopping when the car came to a stop right next to him. Throwing the front passenger door open, Bokuto slipped into the seat and closed the door with a, “Thank you so much, Akaashi,” he put the seatbelt on. “I’m sorry if I woke you up.”

The dark haired man put the car in “drive”, starting his way towards the other man’s home, he replied, “Nah, you didn’t wake me up. I have my deadline coming up so I’m trying to finish everything as quickly as I can.” Bokuto nodded enthusiastically. The short car ride was filled with some talk of the past, bringing up some of their most memorable moments from high school, then, some of the talk was the two catching up, given the fact that the duo both worked two completely different jobs and have very little time to hang out anymore.

Akaashi talked about his work, telling what little he could to his friend, not wanting to spoil anything. Believe it or not, Bokuto read the little stories that Akaashi edits for his work, just because the two don’t see each other often doesn’t mean he can’t support his friend in other ways. After Akaashi, Bokuto talked about his day, how everything seemed to go wrong for him and all he wanted to do was to go home and be in his fiancée’s arms.

Soon enough, Akaashi pulls his car in front of a luxury apartment complex. Getting out with another, “thank you”, Bokuto closed the door and swiftly made his way into the building. Once Akaashi knew that his friend was inside, he drove off. The tall male was on a mission: get into the arms of his lover as quickly as possible. He knew that the moment she wrapped her arms around his body, even if he had to wake her up for it, his bad day streak would end.

Running up to the elevator, Bokuto pushed the “up” button and impatiently waited for the elevator with his thick arms crossed and a pout on his lips. Giving up with a huff, Bokuto makes his way to the stairs and runs up them, tripping at least five times and falling once. Why did I choose to live on the top floor? Y/N even said it was a bad idea. He grumbled to himself, tripping on the very last step that leads to his home.

Rushing to his front door, he removes his keys from one of his pockets and fumbles with said keys, even dropping them not once, not twice, but three times before he finally was able to unlock the door. Throwing it open, he yells, “baby, I’m home!”, as he takes off his shoes and places his keys on the hook next to the door. His golden eyes racl over the large, dark living room and the equally dark kitchen. Realizing that she is in fact not in the room, he makes his way towards their shared bedroom.

“Baby, you awake?” He slowly opens their closed bedroom door, trying to be as quiet as possible, not wanting to wake Y/N up if she is actually asleep. Peeking in, his eyes fall onto her body lying on his side of the bed, her back facing him. “Baby?” he whispers, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him, albeit louder than intentional. This caused the girl to jump in her sleep and whine.

“Baby, you home?” she called out, turning towards the door, mind blank, not realizing and too tired to care that it could have been an intruder. The tall man hummed in confirmation and quickly started to take his clothes off, wanting nothing but to be in his lover’s arms as fast as possible. “Kou, you okay?” Y/N piped, worried as she watched the man catch his foot in his shorts and nearly face plant had he not caught himself on the edge of the bed. He launched himself onto the female.

“No, bad day,” he mumbled, face smooshed into her neck.

“Wanna talk about it?” Y/N ran her hand through his droopy salt and pepper hair. The larger man removed his body from the female’s, a pout on his lips as he sat back on his knees, Bokuto began to talk about his “unlucky day”.

Half an hour and many tangents later, he finished the detailed story of his day. Large hands reached out to Y/N and roughly, but softly, pushed her to lay flat on her back, then, Bokuto took hold of her arms and splayed them out on the bed, he did the same to her legs too. Happy with her position, Bokuto nestled himself in between her legs and covered the female with his body like a blanket.

Smooshing her cheek with his, he let out a puppy like whine. “Hold me,”. He reached his hands out to her arms and moved them around his torso. “Want you to hold me, baby, please, need it. Need you to.” Bokuto rubbed his nose against her cheek before peppering kisses down her neck and nuzzling into it. “Please, baby.” He whined more.

Chuckling softly, Y/N tightened her arms around the man and moved her head to the side to place a soft smooch on his head. “Of course, baby. Anything else you need?” Bokuto let another whine out, shifting himself so he could get closer to the woman, even though he was lying on top of her with all of his body weight. “Kō?” Bokuto mumbled into the female’s neck, although she couldn’t hear him. “Baby,” she tapped on his back. “Can’t hear you.”

The man huffed and lifted his head up, his black and white hair disheveled, golden eyes glossy, and a pout on his lips. “Scratch my back, baby, please,” he whined and dropped his head back down into the warmth of his fiancée’s neck. He wiggled in Y/N’s hold, scooching up her body so he was closer to her ear. “Pleeeeeease, baby.”

“Ask and you shall receive, my love.” Y/N’s left hand that was flat against Bokuto’s back arched into a claw. Slowly and softly, but with some pressure, she traced her nails up and down his back, or wherever he specified (the nape of his neck seemed to be his favorite spot). Every so often, Y/N would look at her ring finger to admire the pear shaped engagement ring that the male on top of her had proposed to her with the night before.

“Baby,” Bokuto lifted himself up to look at the woman. Y/N hummed, turning her head up towards him to make eye contact.

“Yes, Kō?” He had a lopsided grin on his face and gave a whiney chuckle when the girl’s nails scratched up his nape.

Bokuto moved closer to his lover’s face. “I love you,” he said confidently. “You’re the love of my life,” he nuzzled his nose into hers. “Never wanna let you go.” With that, he pressed his lips onto Y/N’s and flopped back onto her, whining and cooing into the kiss as she kept up with her ministrations. Pulling back from the kiss, he cooed into her ear, “So good to me baby. M’ safe haven. Can’t wait to marry you.”

With that, Bokuto gripped at Y/N’s sides, whining and cooing as he pulled themselves impossibly closer. Placing a small, wet kiss to her neck, Bokuto nuzzled himself back into the woman’s neck. Within the matter of minutes of Y/N scratching his back and a, “I love you too, Kō. I’ve got you, my love, you’re safe”, the love sick man fell asleep peacefully, happy, and safe in his lover’s arms, a smile on his face.

[seneca-milestone17]

wheels go round and round Chapter 25 (Port Mafia II)

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26573278/chapters/96373395

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Dazai does not have good memories of Port Mafia’s three towers.

He has lived a better part of his teenage years in those towers yet not once can he recall a happy memory to have ever occurred in that place. In fact, the only good thing he can think to name that ever happened while being in the Port Mafia was that Dazai had met Odasaku and Ango, and that was before everything went down in flames.

The memory of the Demon Prodigy of the Port Mafia, though no more in this new world, still lingers heavily.

But that doesn’t mean he can’t make new ones.

“This crab cake is delicious, Kouyo-san.” Dazai chirps as he takes another bite off his cake with gusto.

“I’m glad you like it, detective. That cake was a new recipe offered by one of my subordinate companies.”

Ozaki Kouyo had the look of a girl hanging on to the ghost of a woman the first time he saw her in this era. Now, that same girl wears her layers of kimono with pride and presents herself as a woman confident in her power, and in what she projects to others. Closer to the woman Dazai once knew.

“The tea smells good,” Hirotsu notes beside her, dressed looking like an elderly gentleman and smiling. “Is it from that company we traded with in America?”

“You mean the one from Mister Fitzgerald? Of course.”

Dazai listens to the conversation with a light smile.

A lifetime ago, he would never have expected to be inviting Kouyo and Hirotsu out for tea and snacks on a fine winter day like this. The restaurant Kouyo provides for their outing is simple yet bearing that elegance the girl herself seems to prefer; warm, thanks to the brown colours to contrast the stark cold of the outside.

“I take it things are proceeding smoothly then?” the detective asks amidst the chatter.

“As well as we can expect,” Kouyo tips her head in acknowledgement. “The man, Francis Fitzgerald, was accommodating for a businessman. He knew what we wanted, how we would get it, and took that as an opportunity to gain foothold here in Yokohama.”

“It probably helps in knowing that the Port Mafia is licensed to operate business as an official Gifted organization,” Dazai muses to himself.

“One I will forever wonder how you managed to accomplish,” Hirotsu shakes his head as though in wonder. “Taneda Santouka is keeping quiet, the stone wall that he is.”

“Hm? Oh that’s simple. It’s because Taneda-san owes the Port Mafia for your participation in relief and disaster response after that intense earthquake a while back. He knows that had Port Mafia not responded so quickly, nor offered so much help, the city would never have recovered this fast.”

“So you used that to get us an official license to operate?” Kouyo raises an eyebrow at that.

“Of course. How else will I be able to get what I want?”

Dazai supposes it’s a harebrained statement to make, but it’s the truth; definitely a far better method than inviting a foreign mercenary organization to wreak havoc in the city.

“What you want being a new form of communication device and a wireless network that will theoretically connect everyone in the world,” the Port Mafia Boss points out wryly. “If not for the fact that you’ve proven it works, I would have doubted you long ago.”

“Give me some credit at least, Hirotsu-san. I don’t lie in negotiations.”

Right. Because while so many things might have changed because of Dazai’s interference, Dazai is under the belief that he is still the same in all of his ugly messes and forms. This is but one of them.

“We might require your presence in some of the negotiations proceeding forward, considering you’re the one who came up with the idea,” Kouyo points out. “You’ll be needing a passport by then.”

“I can make one tomorrow.”

Or so the detective says, uncaring if his statement is edging towards the wrong side of the law. What does it matter anyway? These two people with him are the last ones to harp on him about being a law-abiding citizen, much less being a decent human being.

Because while some things change, some things stay the same.

(And somehow, that thought is not as haunting as before)

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[orangepanic]

I saw this “100 OTP questions” by @the-moon-dust-writings and figured I'd procrastinate:

1. Who loves flower crowns more?

Neither of them really, but Asami might make Iroh wear one just to laugh at him.

2. Who is the one who likes to cuddle?

Iroh. Asami likes it, too, but he usually initiates.

3. Who has awful taste in music?

Honestly, both of them. Asami likes terrible dance music and Iroh likes obscure combinations of horns and bells and stuff from different cultures.

4. Who is the meme lover?

Asami thinks they’re funny. Iroh doesn’t quite understand.

5. How did their second date go?

Iroh tried to take Asami somewhere very fancy, but the wait was too long. They ended up making out in a shadowy doorway down the street and missing their reservation entirely. Iroh was mortified, but Asami dragged him around the corner to a low-key noodle shop that has since become their favorite restaurant.

6. How many children do they want/have?

Asami thinks about three. Iroh, as many as Asami will agree to.

7. Who hides the weapons?

Iroh hides weapons for Asami around the house so she’ll always have something on hand. In a drawer in the kitchen, on her nightstand, etc. He knows she can take care of herself… and he stashes weapons for her anyway. Asami rolls her eyes but secretly thinks it’s sweet.

8. Who is the better dancer?

Asami. She likes dancing, and learned formal dancing in school. Iroh can’t dance at all, having skipped out on all his lessons as a child after bribing his instructor. He thought dancing is boring, but likes dancing with Asami and lets her lead.

9. Do/Did they have a theme wedding?

No. They quite deliberately have a very normal wedding, including cutting out a lot of the more stuffy Fire Nation customs because Iroh doesn’t want Asami to feel out of place not having any family present.

10. What do their parents think of them dating?

Hiroshi Sato is livid, and actually tried to have Iroh assassinated from prison. His little girl, marry a firebender? A prince of the firebenders? Iroh’s parents are more accepting. Izumi initially thinks Asami is too young and gives Iroh a hard time about how quickly he got serious, but quickly comes around when it’s clear Asami is very mature for her age. Within a year Iroh’s parents are both hounding him on when he’ll make it official.

11. Are they a super sappy couple?

They are that couple everybody hates.

12. How did they get together?

They meet during the Equalist revolution, but don’t get together until long after. Iroh has a crush on Asami almost immediately, but spends forever sitting on it thinking it wasn’t the right time and trying to be friends until one day he just kind of slips up and kisses her. She kisses him back. It turns out Asami liked him, too, but she isn’t great at reading people and had no idea he was interested.

13. Who asked the other to get married?

Iroh just kind of blurts it out one day.

14. Who stays up too late and makes stupid jokes?

Asami is the night owl. Iroh makes the bad jokes.

15. Who is the nerd?

Oh my god, both of them. Asami is more of the classic nerd. Iroh is more of a dork.

16. Who knows the most obscure facts?

Iroh.

17. Who makes the other a flower crown?

Two questions about flower crowns out of 100?? Changing this to who is more dominant in bed. Asami.

18. Who likes to read?

Iroh. They both do, but he’s much more into it.

19. Who bothers the other person while the other person reads?

Asami. She has the shorter attention span.

20. Who tutors the other?

They both would in different subjects. Asami is better at math, physics, etc. Iroh is better at philosophy and languages.

21. Do they have similar taste in movies?

No. Asami likes gory slasher films and lots of action. Iroh scoffs and thinks they’re dumb. Asami, in turn, thinks his period dramas can be kind of boring, and refuses to count documentaries as movies. But there’s a healthy overlap in things like Vikings and Game of Thrones.

22. How do their personalities complement each other?

Asami helps Iroh lighten up a bit, drawing him out of his shell, and gives him an anchor and a sense of home. She’s more social than he is, and a lot of her friends eventually become his. But she’s also quiet enough and serious enough that she doesn’t tire him out and can feed his need for downtime. Iroh, in turn, loves seldom but deeply, and gives Asami the kind of fierce, unconditional love and stability she needs. He’s also genuinely interested in her projects, is smart enough to follow most of it, and is one of the only people who can occasionally beat her in Pai Sho. They have a lot of fun together just being nerds.

23. How do they tell everyone that they are going to be having a kid/adopting a child soon?

They don’t have to tell anybody. It’s all over Iroh’s face like a big neon sign.

24. Who has better fashion sense?

Asami, but not by much. She’s more up to date with trends, while Iroh’s style is clean and classic.

25. Who will punch someone out if they are rude to their partner?

Hoo boy, both of them. Do not go there.

26. What songs do they sing together in the vehicle?

Neither of them sing in the satomobile. Iroh has a decent voice, but he’s a bit private about it. Asami mostly hums.

27. What other couple would your otp get along with?

Iroh quickly becomes BFFs with Bolin. Asami and Opal aren’t quite as close, but they like each other’s company and have fun as a foursome. They also get along quite well with Pema and Tenzin.

28. Who likes to prank the other?

Iroh tries more often. Asami’s pranks are more successful.

29. Who is the one who loves to take pictures?

Iroh, though generally Korra is the picture taker in the group.

30. How would they react if they found out they were soul mates?

Iroh raises an eyebrow. “Hmm.” Asami only shrugs. They both already knew that.

31. Where would they live?

They like Republic City and decide to stay downtown, first in an apartment and eventually a larger townhouse.

32. What type of dragon would they own, if they could have one?

Whichever one Iroh made friends with. Asami is a bit wary of animals and would need him to convince her it was safe.

33. If they were both vampires, what type of vampires would they be?

The kind that live in a beautiful house with perfect collections that took hundreds of years to make. Iroh has first editions of everything in a giant library, arranged in a complex system only he understands. He’s working on his 14th language. Asami has invented artificial blood and doesn’t miss sunburns. Occasionally she’ll throw one of those big fancy vampire balls just so they can both get dressed up. They’re pretty happy.

34. What would they dress up as, for Halloween?

They once went as Lady Tienhai and the last king of Mo Ce because picking something obscure and historical was the only way to get Iroh into a costume.

35. Can they name each other’s favourite food?

Kind of. They are both really into food, so picking a favorite is hard. But if the question is can they order for one another, absolutely.

36. Do they have pet names for one another?

Asami sometimes calls Iroh “General Hotstuff” when she’s teasing. Iroh sometimes calls Asami “sex pretzel” when he’s 1000% sure they are alone.

37. How do they cheer each other up?

Asami is more of a gift giver. She’ll show up with Iroh’s favorite take-out or make him something in her workshop—anything to make him feel special and valued. Iroh is all about quality time, and will swing by Asami’s office to haul her out on surprise dates. He also gives great hugs.

38. Do they show a lot of PDA?

No. Iroh is very uncomfortable with PDA, especially when he’s in uniform. Asami follows his lead.

39. How old were they when they got together?

Asami was 19-20, Iroh 24-25.

40. Who is the one that would bring the puppy home?

Iroh, 100%. He’s such a sucker.

41. Can they do yoga couple’s poses?

Yes, though Asami is the only one who really tries.

42. What is their song?

They don’t really have one.

43. What does their room look like?

Asami moved in with Iroh, so it’s very basic. White walls, perfectly made bed, a neatly organized desk in the far corner by the window. He’s a total minimalist, having spent most of his adult life on a ship. Asami added a very fluffy comforter in *gasp* a color and lots of pillows.

44. Who would be the one to kill zombies while the other keeps them grounded?

They’d take turns, and at some point Asami would turn it into a contest.

45. Who makes the other breakfast in bed?

Iroh. Asami is a terrible cook.

46. Who loves kids more?

Iroh.

47. Do either of them have a crazy ex?

Not crazy, but Iroh and his ex are not on good terms. He doesn’t like to talk about it.

48. What are their favourite colours?

Asami, purple. Iroh, black. He gets annoyed when people get him so much red stuff.

49. Who likes to cook?

Iroh. He fired Asami from the kitchen, something they are both grateful for.

50. Who is the forgetful one?

Asami.

51. Does either of them know how to fight?

Have you met these people?

52. What do they do for Valentines Day?

Iroh would probably plan something elaborate for them to go out. Asami would plan something sexy for when they got home.

53. Who swears more?

Asami, at least out loud. Iroh mostly swears under his breath.

54. Who has the better comebacks?

Asami. It’s not even close.

55. Who would start a fight with another parent at a bake sale?

Probably Asami, unless it was about the kids. If anyone comes for Iroh’s kids, they’d better hide.

56. Who reads buzzfeed?

Asami.

57. Who is the hopeless romantic?

Iroh, hands down.

58. Do either of them know how to do a handstand?

Asami can manage it.

59. Who can rap better?

Asami, though Iroh is the only one who actually listens to rap.

60. Do either of them want to go sky diving?

Asami would love to. Iroh laughs. “Been there.”

61. What do they usually text about?

Some version of “I miss you” or random pictures of stuff. They generally only text when Iroh is away as they’re both busy during the day.

62. Who is the dramatic one?

Asami has a shorter fuse. Iroh is more ridiculous when he loses his shit.

63. Is either one confrontational?

Not really.

64. What is their favourite cuddle position?

Asami will lay on top of Iroh on the couch like a sandwich. It’s the only position she seems to be able to nap in.

65. Who are their favourite musical artist(s)?”

See above about terrible taste in music.

66. What are their parenting styles?

Iroh covers a lot of the basics. He sets a schedule, makes lunches, tells bedtime stories, is more likely to help with the homework. Asami is the one who gets them around and does most of the interacting with teachers, other parents, etc. They share things fairly equally.

67. Who would be the more laid back one?

Iroh.

68. Who listens to more vulgar music?

Asami.

69. Do either of them have secrets even the other doesn’t know?

Yes. Asami can be secretive about some of her projects, both out of an abundance of caution but also because she likes a big reveal. Iroh keeps some past relationship stuff close, and will occasionally read a steamy romance novel for “tips.”

70. Who is their go to couple for a double date?

Bolin and Opal

71. Do they tip the waiter/waitress on their date?

Iroh tips very well.

72. How do they work out a fight?

Asami yells. Iroh yells back. One of them storms off. The other one waits about half an hour then goes to find them, usually with an offering of food. There are hugs. Somebody cries. Then they finally talk it out before falling asleep together.

73. Who brings home an illegal pet?

Asami. She is less likely to have a pet, but if she does, it’s going to be a weird one.

74. What side of the bed do each of them sleep on?

Iroh is on the side by the window because he likes to get up with the sun.

75. What is their favorite photo of them two together?

There’s a photo Korra took at the beach where Iroh has Asami thrown over his shoulder right before dunking her in the water. This is the picture he takes with him when he’s deployed.

76. Who takes longer in the bathroom?

Asami.

77. Who has more songs on their ipod?

Iroh. If you can call them songs.

78. What movie did they first see together?

Iroh took her to Last Days of the Sun Warriors. She fell asleep. He said the book was better.

79. What do they like to see each other in?

Asami thinks Iroh’s butt looks great in jeans. Iroh got Asami a red silk robe from the Fire Nation and likes to see it fall off.

80. Who makes jokes during inappropriate times?

Iroh.

81. At what age do they discuss the possibility of children?

Mid-20s, though they don’t have them until a little later.

82. What do they love about each other the most?

Iroh likes that Asami is tough and smart and a problem-solver. Asami likes that Iroh is kind and brave and has a strong moral compass.

83. Who is the one that sees the big picture, while the other focus’s on the small details?

They are both big picture people, which is sometimes a problem. Of the two, Asami is probably better at details, but she’s also forgetful.

84. What would they write on their partner’s social media’s for their anniversary?

Asami would probably put up a picture of them and say something brief but sweet. Iroh doesn’t really understand social media and would just paste a heart-eyes emoji.

85. Who is bad at math?

Iroh. He’s not bad, per se, but Asami is very, very good.

86. Who googles everything?

Asami.

87. Who does stuff on impulse?

Both of them in different ways. Asami is generally more flexible. Iroh usually has a plan but makes big decisions completely off the cuff.

88. How do they comfort each other when they are helpless to do anything about the situation?

Lots of physical touch. Iroh will kind of just wrap himself around her in one giant, whole body hug. Asami will spend some time cursing out whomever is causing the issue, then let him lay his head in her lap and give Iroh a good head scratch or massage.

89. What is an inside joke they have?

There was one time they had sex in Asami’s office at Future Industries, so occasionally she’ll drop things like, “feel like coming by the office?” with a suggestive eyebrow waggle. Iroh is, predictably, very embarrassed. Also interested.

90. Who makes the other smile with almost no effort at all?

Asami: *exists* Iroh: *smiles*

91. What is their favourite holiday?

New Years is a big deal in the Fire Nation. Iroh loves his family and likes going home, and Asami has grown to love it almost as much.

92. Who is the one that is calm and collected while the other is angry and destructive?

They take turns. Both of them can have quite a temper when pushed too hard.

93. What is their favourite board game to play?

They’re both big Pai Sho fans, but can get into any kind of strategy game. Nobody really likes to play them though, they're too good.

94. Who accidentally sets something on fire?

Asami. Iroh hasn’t had a fire accident since he was four.

95. Who has the car ready while the other is robbing the store?

Asami. She’d rob the store, too, but no way is she letting Iroh drive.

96. What artist/group did they go to for their first concert?

Iroh booked a private box at the Republic City Opera, thinking that was an impressive thing he should do on a date. It turns out neither of them like opera, and by the end they were both making fun of it.

97. Who sleep talks?

Asami. Iroh thinks it’s funny.

98. Who is the more social one?

Asami, by a long shot.

99. What are their karaoke songs?

Neither of them would really sing karaoke, but Iroh cannot hold his liquor like at all so if he ever got really plastered Asami might be able to drag him up there. By which point he’d be too far gone to have an opinion on the song and would sing just about anything.

100. Who would get up on stage and make a fool of themselves just to make the other laugh?

Asami.

[gukyi]

the search | jhs

summary: your boyfriend, hoseok, decides you surprise you one afternoon and sends you on a scavenger hunt all around the city, marking the memories of your love. 

{established relationship!au}

pairing: jung hoseok x reader genre: fluff word count: 1k warnings: none a/n: thank you to @theevangelist for commissioning this drabble and for donating to blm! this fic is just a reminder to me that i need to write more stuff for hobi because he is lovely and deserves it.

It starts with a note taped to your front door. 

You plop the canvas bags of groceries down at your feet in curiosity as your fingers tug at the index card attached to your grody wooden apartment door, eyes narrowing as you read the scrawled lettering. 

I hope this note finds you well. You are being sent on a quest by none other than your amazing, incredible, wonderful, generous, handsome, talented boyfriend. There is something good at the end of this, I promise. 

There better be, you think to yourself. All you could think about while at the supermarket was how excited you were to come back home and fall asleep on your couch watching reruns of the Forensic Files. 

First one’s easy. Return to the very place we first met. Where it all started. 

You shuffle into your apartment, hands full and note between your lips, and drop off all of your groceries, making sure to put anything cold into your refrigerator before continuing. The moment you’re finished, you head out of your apartment and make a beeline for your local sushi restaurant. It’s several blocks away but your feet seem to be moving quicker today, pink index card clutched in between your fingers as you walk against the wind, hands crossed over your chest to keep warm. It’s cold today—or perhaps you just never dress appropriately—and you sure as hell hope that Hoseok isn’t going to send you on a wild goose chase outdoors like this. 

When you arrive, Hoseok isn’t there (not that you were expecting him to be). Instead, you notice his good friend Jimin waiting in an empty booth, sipping on a soda. 

You have a feeling he isn’t anticipating anybody else. 

It’s hard not to think about this place when it comes to Hoseok. When it comes to who the two of you have become together. 

“Hey, that’s my friend from dance,” Jungkook says to you, pointing to a man sitting a few tables away from you. He’s alone, but checking his watch often, like he’s expecting someone. “Hoseok!”

The man looks up and his expression bursts into a grin, happy and relieved to have been called over. At once, you notice his eyes, the way that they twinkle in the soft white light of the restaurant, like his own little sets of stars. He gets up at once, heading over to your table. 

“Jungkook, what a nice surprise!” He says, making sure to turn and say hello to you as well. You’re frozen still, too nervous to say anything but too entranced to look away. 

“What are you doing here?” Jungkook asks. 

Hoseok shrugs. “I was supposed to be on a date, but it looks like she bailed on me.” For what reason you cannot possibly imagine. Who would bail on someone like him?

“Damn, that sucks,” Jungkook says. “You’re welcome to sit with us, right, Y/N?”

Jungkook’s voice breaks you out of your trance, making you turn to him with wide eyes. Hoseok smiles at your fumble, chuckling heartily. 

“Y-Yeah,” you sputter out. “Of course.”

Hoseok accepts happily, thanking the two of you for letting him crash your meal. He slides in next to Jungkook so you’re forced to look at him and his starry eyes, and he begins to smile. 

“Am I in the right place?” You ask with an eyebrow raise, strolling up to Jimin. He jumps at your voice. 

“Not too hard to find me, right?” Jimin poses. He holds out a blue index card between his fingers.

I knew you could do it. Hard to believe that so much would come from that one meal. You know, I’m actually kind of grateful to the girl that bailed on me. I think that, since our friend groups were so interlocked, we would have met eventually, but if she hadn’t skipped out, I don’t know if we ever would have made what we have now. 

In any case, your next clue is this: my favorite book?

You thank Jimin for his time and promise to buy him a drink sometime soon as payment for sitting in the sushi restaurant, lonely and waiting for you to show up. The hostess does not pay attention to the fact that you arrived and left within five minutes, and you dart off to the next spot on your list. 

It’s ten blocks in the opposite direction—god, couldn’t Hoseok have made this a little less intensive?—but you know that you’re getting close because the smell of coffee is wafting through the air, the wind blowing it towards you. 

The bookstore is right next to you and Hoseok’s favorite coffee joint, a perfect destination for two nerds like yourselves. 

You wander into the store, a crooked little thing, old white walls with peeling paint and random rugs scattered along the floor. Here, you and Hoseok could spend hours, browsing through the hundreds of books stored haphazardly on the shelves, some arranged in an order, and some placed wherever there was an empty spot. The books have long outgrown the store, but the owner still refuses to part with this near-shack. Something about the memories. 

“I never knew this place even existed,” you tell Hoseok as he leads you through the winding passageways and uneven steps of this tiny little bookstore, so tilted and twisted it’s as if the place will fall apart underneath the pressure.

“It’s a secret,” Hoseok whispers into your ear with a giggle. “For only those who know exactly where to look.”

“I take it you read?” You ask. This is a strange place for a first date, but no stranger than any others you’ve been on. 

“I bring a book with me to practice every day,” Hoseok tells you proudly. “Books are dreams turned to reality.”

“There are other ways to turn your dreams into a reality,” you tell him. 

Hoseok turns to you, a gleam in his eye, interest piqued. “Really? How’s that?”

You whisper, a shout into the void, into the air settling between the two of you. “By doing them yourself.”

Despite the organization (or lack thereof) of the shop, you know exactly where to find what you’re looking for. On a small shelf that doesn’t match any of the others in the store is a collection of Charles Dickens works, and three paperback copies of A Christmas Carol. 

You fish through the first two with no luck, but find a purple index card in the third. 

Too easy for you, huh? I guess it’s no surprise that my favorite book is a children’s tale about Christmas. But I think that even adults can learn from ol’ Ebenezer Scrooge sometimes. I just think that Christmas, and the wintertime in general, is magical. And I think that we could all do with never forgetting the past, working towards the future, and living in the present. At least, that’s what I try to do. 

Okay, last one: in a big city, stars are sparse and nearly impossible to see. But there is one place that we can go whenever we miss the Moon and her admirers. 

You suppose that Hoseok has a method to his madness nonetheless. 

There are four parks within the city, but you know exactly which one Hoseok’s talking about. It’s the one in the center, surrounded by skyscrapers and glass windows and street lamps. It’s small, barely the size of a decent parking lot, but it’s filled with trees and a giant fountain in the middle, and signs to keep off of the grass that nobody reads. 

And when you arrive, there you see him, sitting on the lawn on a gingham picnic blanket, with a basket splayed out as he gazes up at the evening sky. 

“I knew you’d know where to go,” Hoseok says when he spots you strolling towards him, fingers toying with themselves like a kindergarten love. 

“Did you ever doubt me?” You ask him. It’s as if Hoseok thinks that you don’t think the same as he does, don’t treasure the same memories you share. “You know we’re not supposed to be on the grass.”

“Oh, yeah?” Hoseok says, pulling you down next to him and wrapping his arms around you. He leans in close, pressing a soft kiss on your lips. “And who’s going to stop me?”

“Stop,” you say with a grin, letting him kiss you again. “The stars are watching us.”

Hoseok smiles. Even if it’s only seven, even if you can’t even see the stars in the city anyway, they will never leave your side. Not when you can watch them in the eyes of the man in front of you, white glints twinkling, shimmering, sparkling. He is golden and beautiful. He is starlight. ���I hope that they always do.”

↳ links are broken, but don’t forget that i’m still taking commissions!

[ryttu3k]

Finishing up SoNY, ‘bad’ end and final thoughts!

But first, the early game over.

Wow, she just gets shot. Not even slurped? That’s rude as hell XD;;

And on to the ‘bad’ end!

Beginning is much the same, ofc.

“You’re too in love with weaving a good story and establishing a seductive narrative to let facts get in the way.” Foreshadowing for the ‘good’ end, maybe?

God that Embrace scene gives me literal goosebumps.

Alright! Last time I did Danse Macabre and Retributive Justice, let’s try The Risks of Swiping Right!

lmao god I’d eat this guy too. Back to the ghost club! That legitimately is a really neat scene. ...Ooh yes so that’s where the girl was from.

Panhard just lowkey dying at the mental image of Katherine Weise in a fast food restaurant is so good.

The sweet scene between Julia and Dakota hits a bit different after the ‘good’ end XD;;

Went to the park, reminisced, and helped out the guy. That was sweet ;_; High-humanity Julia, this time!

‘Fairy God Mother?’ is great but ‘Vin Diesel?’ is objectively the funnier response.

“Shining even more brightly than usual, Aisling.” Samira got a cru-ush~

Poor Julie. It’s probably been tough without Sophie around :(

Huh. Interestingly, refusing to lie to Mia results in Julia actually feeling genuine loyalty to the Cammies (for now, at least).

Believing Agathon is still alive = more optimistic = different dialogue! See, this is how you make choices have consequences, game!

Oooh boy time to meet Adelaide XD;;

“She uncrosses her legs in a strangely seductive motion. In her mind’s eye, it probably looked like Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, but in reality, it had all the grace of a tracksuit Slav squatting.” *snickering*

Fight me, Adelaide >:(

‘sup Nastya. Went with the slightly less disruptive routine here XD Huh, she’s an aspiring DJ! Julia is deeply confused as to how being a DJ and being head of security works together.

lmao Julia referring to Hope as a girlboss. That phrase has lost all meaning to me...

The conversation between Julia and Father Leonard is still really interesting. Man, you know who I want Julia to talk to? Anatole. Interesting insights into balancing being queer Catholic vampires there for sure.

lmao oh my god I want to fight this street reporter.

‘I can almost feel my brain losing its wrinkles.’ *snort*

Yeaghhhh the Abyss bit is still so creepy...

Oops. Being honest regarding Tamika and Torque’s relationships gets a fail :(

Oh, or not XD That works! Also, uh, apparently the giant albino ghoul alligator is real, according to New York by Night. He’s Calebros’ pet.

“Because I think I have a pretty good nose for people’s auras. And when I take a good look at you... ...somehow, I have a feeling you’re a surprisingly decent person. Whatever way of unlife you choose, I hope you don’t change it. And that you remember my advice.” :)

“I know.” Oof.

“Hi.” “WAAAH!” lmao sorry Princess XD;; Just trying to imagine Qadir’s face as he tells Julia to find a 1990 glass statue of Scrooge McDuck... dying...

Oh she’s so a Toreador XD Low art options are a fantasy book, an anime DVD, or a video game... those can all be arty, though! And went with the anime DVD called ‘Ririsu no Daibouken’... that translates to ‘Adventures of Lilith’. How on the nose XD “The cover says ‘Lilith’s Carnal Carnival’.” Oh. Yeah, that’d do it XD

“This 90s original video anime presents us with a tale of five big-bosomed samurai warriors travelling through America in search of General Hastavista, The Incubus King. Don’t let all the titillation misguide you: the main draws here are peerless direction, a nearly avant-garde editing rhythm and dialogue that coyly comments on traditional gender roles in anime. Once you see the animation in the final battle, you’ll understand why it never fails to set a sakuga fan’s heart ablaze!”

She’s my new favourite.

“So can I know your name now?”

“Hmmm... Let me think...

No. <3″

I need to stress that the heart appears in the dialogue box. Like. The actual less-than-three heart.

Didn’t investigate the rat this time, so Qadir did and I die. “Glad you’re alright, little guy.” Qadir...

Still not over the drunk blood doll rats.

Kaiser’s still a goddamn creep and this time Julia is not going too far. She still has her humanity, dammit. Final set of traits:

Loyal to the end

Glass half-full

Not into a bad cop schtick

Honesty is the best policy

No more human, still humane

Onwards to the ‘bad’ end! Oops, and Dakota still did the Single White Female thing XD;;

Man I’m still really curious who the ‘good friend’ is!!

Okay! Time for end game!!

So that’s the good friend, huh? “Let me phrase it differently, then. You’re not Ecaterina the Wise, the Agitator of Prague, a Brujah elder causing turbulences all over the world... are you?”

Mention of Christof! Mention of Christof doing shady shit :| Poor Hana.

“An immigrant from Eastern Europe comes to New York City, takes the position she always expected to find herself in, is molded into someone who is no longer herself.”

Julia and Dakota representing Carthage is kind of neat.

I want to say the mention of St Jude is a reference, but I’m not sure what to XD;; Is that from Redemption? Christof could have been the one to tell Hana that.

“Like a two-person human centipede loop or something. An Ouroburos? Or an, uhh, Mobius strip?” No, that’s the other traditionally Sabbat clan XD

That‘s. That’s a hell of a reconciliation XD “Yeah, let’s give it a try. By the way I’m on the run for my unlife, want to go to California and try to find utopia?”

Julia, wear a fucking mask XD

“Hey.”

“Yeah?“

“Do you love me?”

“... Of course I do. For now, at least.”

I still don’t know if I love her. Or even if I can love anyone, for that matter. I’m a fucking monster, after all. I don’t even know if we’ll exist next month. The prospects are not looking good. But although I can’t see myself in the rearview mirror right now...

...I will remember this image of us leaving the city, somewhat melancholic, and somewhat hopeful, forever. And maybe the meaning of this image will be clarified with time. Or maybe I will just force a more positive description on it, and that is what I’ll believe.

No matter what happens... even if oceans of blood lie before us, I will make this a cherished memory.

Whatever possible salvation still remains for me... ...it probably lies in the eyes of another.

Oh dang I have chills.

So the ‘bad’ ending is about the subverted compromise. Julia resigns herself to letting the compromise about the truth of Callihan’s death go ahead. ‘Catherine’ is a walking compromise to hide the Ecaterina’s real deeds. But while Hana is still stuck in her role for now, Julia refuses to accept the compromise she’s made, both the one relating to the investigation and the compromise she made of her own views and morals. It might blow up in her face, yeah. But damn, she’s going to try.

So, final thoughts! For the sake of completion, this is what I said about Coteries:

And of course this is the part where the game all falls apart :-\

Just… god. This is probably the biggest problem with CoNY, and the reason I didn’t bother getting it until it was like… 60% off. The bulk of the game is great - the writing is intriguing, the design is stunning. But the choices themselves are so limited it’s barely worth even getting it at 60% off!

You have three choices of characters, with their own opening chapters and own individual scenes with their touchstones. You have four choices of coterie members, and three sidequests. You can probably get in at least three full story arcs and a sidequest or two, but you’re only ever limited to two of your coterie members showing up at the not-yet-endgame.

So let’s say you decide to play all three protags, which, indeed, is encouraged (there’s an achievement for it). You are going to repeat coterie arcs and side quests, because there simply aren’t enough for three unique playthroughs.

And then you get to the end and literally everything is scripted. You get attacked by the SI. You get rescued by your two coterie members (and then never see them again, despite the game being called Coteries of New York). You meet Torque, you escape the SI, Sophie reveals her plan to Torque, you go to Ellis Island, Adelaide kills Sophie (and despite the fact that you’re given multiple options there, none of them work), Arturo does his spiel, end of game. You don’t even get to choose between ending up blood bound or going “no fuck you” and at least dying with a bit of dignity!

I just. I really want to like it, and there genuinely is a lot there to like! But uuuugh the ending. Like damn at least give the poor protag the option to choose what happens to them!

Anyway. Not sure what’s next. To get all the achievements, you have to finish with all three protags, so that’s three full runs and a lot of repetitiveness (compare to, say, Bloodlines or Night Road. I have eighty-five hours on Night Road and there’s still stuff I haven’t seen!), so I can’t even just… rush it through up to the meeting with the touchstones on the third play. Nope. Gotta finish it :-\

Final rating: 6/10

8/10 characters, 9/10 atmosphere, 8/10 story aside from ending, 3/10 story ending, 2/10 replayability. Final consensus: get it on major sale if you can, otherwise, you might as well just watch an LP. I might do that instead of doing a third run, although I at least want to do a second.

I ended up revising that 6/10 to 5.5/10 after finishing all runs and getting the achievements just out of how goddamn repetitive it was. So, how does Shadows measure up?

Absolutely continued with all the things I enjoyed about CoNY (characters, atmosphere, and writing), and of the bits I hated (cookie cutter protagonists, lack of real choice, repetitiveness, the godawful ending), every single part has been completely improved.

Instead of three fledglings so similar they even have the same internal thoughts, we have Julia, who’s got such a distinct voice that she becomes the most memorable game protag I’ve seen in years, and I’m including non-VtM games in this. This is absolutely her game, and it’s just... absolutely fascinating to read and watch.

Related - actual real choices. There are five key choices that determine the ending, and every single one has actual consequence in-game. You get different dialogue. Different introspection. Different philosophies. And this carries across - if Julia believes Agathon is alive, she’s more optimistic about her relationship with Dakota, too. And of course, both endings are completely distinct and incredibly written - the ‘good’ ending where Julia gives in to her most Lasombra instincts, plays the game, wins it, gets power and respect at the expense of her humanity and avoiding all those wraiths... or the ‘bad’ ending when she listens to her morals, reconciles with Dakota, and leaves for California, uncertain, but hopeful.

Not a lot of repetitiveness. Yes, by design, you’ll probably do two playthroughs. The main plot is much the same, but there are enough options there to get multiple dialogue options and stuff. And for the little sidequests, you can actually get all in with just the two playthroughs, only repeating like... two, I think. Still, I wasn’t feeling actively bored like I was midway through my second run of CoNY!

Loved seeing more in-depth backstory and development for the coterie members. Agathon’s section was particularly fascinating, literally getting into his head.

And just. Atmosphere and music is so, so good.

Final rating: 9/10. Thank you, Draw Distance, you hit it out of the park.

[lordseochangbin]

Crime n Mystery- Lee Felix

description: [3k words] felix FBI agent au w/ a possible plot 

warnings: curses, slight masturbation (?) no idea what it is lmfaooo

a/n: ive always wanted to write a murder mystery so this is to get it started! if it does well ill think about continuing it because im not sure if anyone enjoys criminal mind things as much as i do

This guy was going on a date with no cologne on? Disgusting. You had a knack of judgment, already being able to predict the outcome of this guy’s dinner after driving so many lovebirds to their dates. A typical Saturday night called for taxi driver business and you loved the amount of money that came through but in the end, you couldn’t help but wonder when you would be driving yourself to a date.

You carried a decent amount of knowledge after three years, your best bet was when you told one of your customers she was about to be broken up with, only to see her back in your car asking for a ride a few minutes after arriving. You could tell where these people were going, what their plans were just from their location and attire. A decent amount of knowledge. 

Sometimes there were “those” type of people. Failures of being a woman in the driver’s seat (which shouldn’t be a problem smh). “Those” people who ask to sit in the front seat to play the radio only to try to get their hands in your pants. “Those” people who try to sit right behind you and try to whisper things in your ear. “Those” people who- you get the idea. But with no excuse, you carried pepper spray around your neck all the time for when it was necessary. 

The woman that had just stepped in your taxi, you couldn’t seem to get a grip on. She wore a poker face, hands crossed as she scrolled through what seemed to be “Tinder”. Maybe it was a Tinder date. After arriving at the restaurant you watched as she left your car, her ass sticking out in her bodycon dress along with the sound of her high heels clicking. 

“Hey wait, aren’t you going to pay?” You groan before turning around to see the exact amount in cash on the seat. You peeked inside the restaurant to see a full crowd, someone in there is going to need a ride for sure, so you turn on your taxi light and wait for the next customer to arrive. 

----

Rolling up the sleeves to his white button-up, Felix makes his way through the crowded restaurant. He was lucky enough to have found his first suspect on a tinder website and couldn’t believe how vulnerable she was for having accepted his request to meet. Little did she know his identity. 

His co-worker Angel claimed it was the profile picture that must’ve swooned her, the forced smile and nose scrunch hiding his secret demeanor. Felix was handsome, his hair combed back and his cheeks covered with light brown freckles. It was easy for him to pass as a college student or gas station employee- a bit of makeup was all he needed. Thus holds today, meeting a suspect who expects a perfect tinder date, only to be disappointed. 

Finding the small table in the corner, Felix casually grabs the seat, looking into the girl’s eyes before asking “Is this seat taken?” 

A slight smirk meets her face before she replies, “If your name is Alex then yes” 

“Alex?” Felix replies, sitting down across from her, “Lucky guy” 

From the way she smiled at his response to her soft pink cheeks, Felix could already tell she was lured into the game. He was annoyed yet relieved, his good looks always gave him entry, along with his deep voice. He could practically read women like a book. 

Her bright red hair seems fake, even in the pictures and the amount of makeup is quite visible, she’s trying hard to hide her identity as well.

“Hm, care for a drink Alex?” 

Felix pouted his lips, free drinks from his number one suspect? A big win. But his boss checking his BAC? Not really. 

Playing with the edge of the plastic menu in front of him Felix refuses, “No thanks. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to drive you home after this” 

The woman’s lips gasp at his words, “You’re driving me home after this?” 

A light chuckle leaves Felix’s lips as his hand meets her thigh, giving it a small squeeze before whispering in her ear, “I think you’ll want me to drive you home after this” 

God, it always worked. Of course, she throws her head back at his touch. Felix feels like internally cringing. Her skins rough like scales and he wants to remove it so badly. Her hand goes to his wrist, moving his hand up her thigh as her eyes shut in bliss. Disgusting, disgusting, Felix can’t form words on how not turned on he is. Maybe he should just end this now. 

“But unfortunately, I’ll have to drive you to the Los Angeles Police for continuous accounts of larceny and grand theft” 

The woman gave Felix a blank stare, slowly closing her legs. The small action made Felix smirk as he pulled out his cuffs from under his suit, “Can’t get away now- Fuck!” 

Jumping out of her seat, the woman dashed for the door through crowded people. Trying to make his way through, Felix thought about calling for backup. 

Sure, he should’ve came with his partner Ashton but he just quit the job, leaving Felix alone on tracking cases like these until he finds a new partner. The sounds of laughter and the smell of alcohol filled his senses in the midst of his thoughts. He needed to catch this woman and finally put an end to the city’s robberies. 

----

God, how long were you sleeping? You rubbed your eyes in an attempt of clearing your blurry sight at watch the front door of the restaurant in hopes of someone needing a ride when suddenly a woman runs out. Her hand is held onto her purse as she runs down the street, jumping into the car in front of you and driving away. “Woah, WOAH!” You exclaim as a guy jumps into your passenger’s seat. 

“Follow that car!! Follow the car!!” Your eyes freeze on the man next to you as he quickly puts on his seatbelt. “Hello? Can you fucking drive??” He asks, waving his hand in front of your face before you could get a hold of the situation. Your eyes peek inside his suit, an FBI badge hidden behind the clothes before you could step on the pedal. “I have ALWAYS wanted to be in the middle of a pursuit, I’ll follow the car!” You squeal in excitement, speeding up before you could catch up with the Honda Civic. 

The guy next to you pulls up his phone, muttering some words in the call before getting an address. “Y-yeah, uhhh I just got in some taxi and the driver is following our criminal.” Shit, so this is some police stuff? 

You try to keep your cool as the Civic you’re chasing speeds through traffic, breezing through the cars and way over the speed limit. 

“Look, I work for the FBI, I’m sorry if I scared you by getting in your car all of the sudden but I seriously need to catch this guy, o-or girl. If you could press on it a bit-” 

“Are you fucking crazy?! I’m going at 75!!” You exclaim, your hands aching in pain from gripping on the wheel. 

“The limit is 65, I’m a cop!! You won’t get a ticket!” 

You turn to his side and smirk, “I won’t get a ticket?” 

The guy rolls his eyes before sighing in relief, “You won’t get a ticket” 

“If you say so” You tsk as you press on the pedal again, “Hold on tight~” 

Felix’s eyes glow as the car’s engine below you burns, the sudden speed pulls the both of you back but your reactions are quite different. The man next to you is holding onto his seat for his life while you’re living the time of your life. 

“Can you be a little more responsible?? I’m trying to catch a criminal here” 

“A bit responsible? You literally just got into a stranger’s car and asked them to drive” 

“You’re a taxi driver, you should at least have some experience in traffic” 

“Only when I’m following the ro-WATCH!” You swerve past a car in front of you that slowed down, your hand on Felix’s chest as you hold him back to make sure he’s safe. Your act took Felix by surprise, his focus completely thrown off before you could place your hand on the wheel. 

“Okay, okay sorry. I-I’ll try my best, I can see the car ahead of us” You sputter our nervously. 

Felix clears his throat and fixes his suit before eyeing the car again. “It looks like it’s taking a turn on Union, maybe going to one of the backstreets” 

“Should I keep my distance?” 

“Hmm, depends. Is this car bulletproof?” He asks, arching an eyebrow as you pout your lips. 

“Fuck off” You roll your eyes before cautiously driving into one of the more hidden streets of the city. 

Suddenly the Civic stopped, causing Felix to jump up in his seat as he watches. The woman gets out of her car, her figure suddenly disappearing. 

“Park right here,” Felix asked, “If you don’t see me in ten, try calling the police, but I doubt you’ll have to do that” He winks before closing the door. 

You take a gasp in relief, looking around the dark neighborhood and locking the doors to your car. What are you going to do now? A random FBI agent got into your car and now you’re stuck here for ten minutes… waiting. Anything could be going on inside there. Shit, what if he gets shot? Or kidnapped?? You covered your mouth at the thought, no that can’t happen. He seemed too cocky to be easily fought against. 

Left with your thoughts, you couldn’t keep the idea of the FBI agent’s figure off your mind. I mean, you’re not saying he’s hot or anything but… well. Can you blame yourself? What else should you be thinking about when you just gave a ride to some guy and possibly put him in danger. You would never be able to forgive yourself if something happened to him, even if he asked you to. 

“Maybe I should go,” You tell yourself before shaking your head. “No.. no he told me to wait here, just 8 more minutes.” You stared at the clock inside your car and anxiously stuff your phone inside your coat pocket. “Screw this” You mutter before getting out. 

----

You take a risky corner, entering the blindspot which the woman had disappeared into when you were in the car. A gust of wind blew your way, the chills growing goosebumps on your skin as the anticipation waited. God bless all the seasons of Criminal Minds you had watched, you felt like you were prepared for anything. In fact, the building you stepped into was completely empty. Tip-toeing into the place, you hid yourself between two storage containers before you could feel it shift a bit. 

A few groans and sounds of stress were heard from inside. Was there more than one person here? You feel your heartbeat out of your chest, back pressed against the metal container as you slid closer to its entrance. 

It was when the container moved that you couldn’t hide any longer, an uncalled gasp pasted your lips and blew your cover. 

“Is someone else here?” You heard a woman’s voice ask, your fingers growing numb as you felt yourself exposed. 

When you found yourself in broad attention, you saw the person Felix was looking for heading towards you, gun in her hand, and a fierce look in her eyes. “Who’s this?” 

Over the person’s shoulder, you could see Felix bunched up in the corner of the container, hands over his stomach as a patch of blood started to build upon his side. His eyes showed fear as he gestured his head to run, but you knew you couldn’t leave him like this. 

“I asked, who are you, sweetie?” The woman asked again before finally stepping in front of you. 

Peeked over to see Felix again, you scrunch your fingers up in a fist trying to blow off some heat. 

“I… I’m-” Grabbing your pepper spray bottle around your neck, you sprayed the woman’s eyes causing her to fall on the floor. Once she fell you quickly kicked the gun out of her hands, grabbing the weapon and running towards Felix. You could hear the woman groan in pain but you could care less.

“Are you okay?” You asked, grabbing his arm and throwing it over your shoulder. 

“Yeah I’m fine” Felix panted out, his eyes wincing in pain. “Just be careful, there’s guards on the other doors so use that entrance, it’s closer to your car” 

You made your best attempt to leave the room as soon as possible, the exit was just a few steps closer but the woman who was once blinded with pepper spray was now up on her feet. 

“OI, DID YOU NOT HEAR ME SCREAMING?” She exclaimed, calling at the guards from each exit. You quickly slid in between two containers, pulling Felix in front of you. 

Felix looked to the side, the awkward positioning giving you two no space. You could only look at him in the midst of events. His face filled with freckles, brown eyes, lightly shaded features and blonde hair. You clenched your jaw, trying to keep yourself together as a guard passed by you two. 

You felt a wet patch growing on your chest, causing you to look down at Felix’s wound. The chest to chest contact had not only gotten your cheeks pink but also your coat, fancy. As soon as the guards followed the girl, Felix tapped your shoulder and pointed at the exit as you assisted him out. 

“We have to be quick, the guards are probably looking for us” He panted as he let go of you, opening the door as you ran to your driver’s seat. 

“Is that a bullet wound?? You’re bleeding so much, do I call 911?” You exclaimed, looking at him for a response. 

“Just drive!” Felix exclaimed, watching as the guards started the move out of the building. 

“Fuck, fuck!!” You screamed, pressing on the accelerator as the car backed up. You shook in fear when you felt your car being shot. “Felix, I already told you this shit isn’t bulletproof!! It’s just a freaking Toyota!!” You cried out, watching as the bodyguards chased towards you. 

Felix pulled out a gun from under his jeans before opening the window and shooting at the guards. “Keep going, it’s fine” He puffed out before you could finally meet the road. You quickly changed gears to drive and found yourself on a crowded street. 

“Felix! Felix?” You asked, looking to your right to find him clenching onto his shirt. “Shit, you’re bleeding even more, should I drive to the hospital?” 

“No, no just pull over” He whispered back, “Check if we lost them and pull over, if not go to a hotel nearby” 

Thanks to your years of being a taxi driver, you knew the streets like the back of your hand. Making a few turns you found yourself at a motel that your friend owned. You pulled up at the drive-thru, soon realizing that Felix was next to you. 

Trying your best to cover him with your figure, you thanked your friend and grabbed a key to an empty room. 

----

“Oh my god, that’s so- eek!” You screeched as Felix removed the bullet from his waist. 

Turning around, you felt a similar pain growing on your side just from the sight of Felix’s injury. 

“It’s over, you can look now” Felix rolled his eyes, laying back on the bed carefully so he wouldn’t stain the sheets. 

You turned around, slowly opening your eyes to find him resting against the bedrest. “Umm, I can go chill with my friend downstairs if you want to relax that… seems pretty serious” 

“No it’s fine, you can stay in bed with me if you’d like” 

“I mean, wait what?!” 

Felix smirked at your response, chuckling in pain as his laughs caused pained to his stomach. “Oh come on, I saw the way you were checking me out earlier” 

You gasped at his words, “What a cocky bitch. This is coming from the same guy who said ‘If you don’t see me in ten, try calling the police, but I doubt you’ll have to do that’” You mocked in his deep voice. 

“Hey- it was your problem for not waiting ten minutes. If you had waited I’m sure I would’ve found a way out of there” 

“Excuse me?” You asked sarcastically, walking towards him. “Oh were you not going to thank me for saving your life right now?” 

Felix sat up on the bed, his lips inches away from yours before whispering “Would you like me to?” 

You pushed him back in his place before crossing your arms. Felix did the same, crossing his arms and closing his eyes as he grabbed onto the sheet. “ I think the injury is getting worse even after I took out the bullet” 

“It seriously doesn’t hurt?” You asked, eyeing the cut and clothes torn with blood, the white material of his suit slowly dissipating. “Maybe we should clean it up” You run to the bathroom to grab some towels, filling a bath bowl with water and returning. 

“Here,” You said, handing him the things before he could close his eyes. 

“I don’t think I can do it myself, can you?” 

You look back down at the clothed wound, dipping the cloth in water and dabbing it. 

“I swear to god, take off the shirt please” He groans, arching his back at the contact of cold water. 

You feel a gulp down your throat as you slowly unbutton his white shirt, his broad sweaty chest being exposed before revealing the wound for itself. 

Watching his facial expressions, you slowly clean up the bullet wound and remove his shirt so you could cool him down with the hot water. 

“Thank you” He mutters out, “Thank you for not freaking out on me, it’s honestly surprising that you didn’t ask me when I’m calling for backup… or how you even trusted me in the first place” 

“It’s fine, today would’ve been another Saturday I supposed if I wasn’t saving some FBI agent’s life” 

Felix chuckled at your response, “Taxi driver huh? You don’t seem fit for the job”

“Oh really? It’s been three years and I’m doing just fine. What do you see me as?”

Felix’s eyebrows wrinkled in thought before he could answer, “Maybe an FBI agent… in fact, would you like to be my partner?”

[euphoriahrs]

bittersweet | jjk [i.may]

» pairing: manhwa artist!jeongguk x oc

» genre: roommate au

» synopsis: it’s easier to act indifferent than to show vulnerability.

» word count: 2.2k

» disclaimer: contains strong language, but very little

» rated pg 13

*lowercase is intended*

[series mlist]

chapters: i. | ii. | iii. | iv. | v. | vi. | vii. | viii. | ix. | x. | xi. | xii.

© euphoriahrs (please do not steal or copy in any form)

a/n: this is my first book, so don’t forget to reblog and let me know what you think about it!

𝐓𝐇𝐄 late spring heat welcomed haewon’s skin as she exited the apartment building with a satisfied smirk and made her way to the park.

the town that she lived in was not that far from the city but close enough so she could go anytime she wanted. it was more peaceful in this town whereas, in the city, there was commotion all day and night.

since she was little, she loved being alone with her thoughts in silence. during her school years, she was okay with being a loner. sure she had friends she would hang out with from time to time, but she preferred having time to herself. now that was something that she rarely had the privilege of having since she moved into her apartment and got a job.

the complex that she stayed in was well kept, not the best of the best, but good enough. the rent was manageable since she shared the apartment with a roommate that she had gotten to know during the past couple of months. the roommate in question was a special case, one that she either enjoyed or despised, but mostly despised.

her legs unconsciously strolled past the numerous buildings on the streets, though one, in particular, caught her eye, one that she hadn’t noticed before. letting curiosity take over, she decided to take a detour and have a peek at the building.

when she got closer it turned out to be an ice cream parlor. the building had a cute but simple modern style to it.

a bell rang as she walked in alarming the worker that there was a customer. she looked around, noticing the green and white modern furniture.

“hello! welcome to rocky’s road!” the girl greeted in a bored state.

haewon glanced at the girl, she was quite pretty, she had a cute girl next door appearance. she was average height, maybe shorter, with honey skin, straight black hair, brown doe eyes, and cute round lips.

haewon, who had slightly sharper features and a slightly darker skin tone, with dark hair that was dyed with ash purple highlights that was always kept in a ponytail, gave her a more mature appearance compared to the girl.

“hi,” haewon approached the register with a small smile. enjoying the smell of fresh waffle cones. “what can i get you today?” the girl asked.

haewon glanced at her name tag, yujin, then directed her attention to the menu on the wall. feeling slightly overwhelmed as there were so many different flavors and combinations to choose from, she continued to stare at the possibilities.

yujin noticed her struggle. “i recommend our special the rocky mountains, which is three scoops of our homemade rocky road in a waffle bowl with drizzled chocolate syrup on the bottom two scoops, marshmallow sauce drizzled on all three and chocolate chips sprinkled all over!” she excitedly explained.

haewon rubbed her chin contemplating whether she should get the treat or not.

after a couple of seconds, she grinned, “sure, i’ll take one of those.”

“that’ll be $4.74. you won’t regret it!” yujin chimed. haewon half smiled, “i hope i won’t,” she paused and adds, “has this place always been here?” still wondering why she hasn’t noticed it before.

“no, we just opened a couple of days ago. there used to be another restaurant here, i don’t remember what it was, but I do know that they ran out of business after drunken fights repeatedly happened and it ruined their image, so no one wanted to dine in,” yujin replied preparing the ice cream.

haewon let out a soft ‘oh’ and walked away to one of the chairs close by. she looked around to get more familiar with her surroundings and pulled out her phone to play a game to help pass time.

suddenly it felt like all of the air was pushed out of her lungs when she remembered what the building used to be. this building used to be the pizzeria that she had been wanting to visit since she moved to this area but never had the time to due to the schedule of her job.

she let out a heavy sigh and turned off her phone not being in the mood to play her game anymore. she dropped her head onto the table to cope with the pain. yujin shot her head up to make sure her customer was okay before focusing back on work.

“i was hoping that i’ll get a chance to eat there soon,” haewon internally groaned. that was the only place that seemed to have decent pizza in this town. she groaned again when another wave of sadness and regret washed over her as she grieved.

a few minutes passed and yujin brings out her finished ice cream and smiled cheerfully, “here’s your order,” she paused, “earlier it seemed as if you were upset about that restaurant not being here anymore. i’m sorry for that, but now you have the parlor that you can come to anytime you like,” she smiled cheekily, “so your next order will be on the house,” trying to cheer the girl up.

haewon was about to object the offer but yujin continued to speak, “i’m actually new to this town and haven’t had the chance to meet anyone yet because i’ve been busy working and organizing my apartment… so would you like to possibly hang out sometime?” she perked with puppy eyes.

haewon froze for a second thinking yujin was coming off a little too strong but thought about how she needed new friends as well. she lost contact with her old friends from high school after they all graduated. she was the only one to lose contact with them, they on the other hand, were all still great friends and went to the same college. but due to her habits of not wanting to talk to anyone, she didn’t try to keep in touch with her friends even if she felt that she should’ve.

haewon nodded at yujin’s request not wanting her to be upset if she didn’t give her an answer in a few seconds.

yujin squealed, “i’m sure that you know my name already, but it’s yujin.”

haewon answered, “and i’m haewon.”

the two chatted for a little longer before haewon remembered that she wanted to go to the park, so they said their goodbyes and she was on her way.

she ate her ice cream on the way enjoying the peaceful outdoors around her, the calm before the storm she thought . her smile transformed into a smirk when she thought about what she did earlier that morning.

when the park was in sight, her thoughts quickly went away, excited to finally be able to reach her destination.

she skipped her way to the park, weaving through running kids to get to the abandoned set of swings that she found on a whim when she first moved into the area.

☽ ⋆ ☾

it was a brighter night than usual with the light of the full moon shining down. haewon thought that it was the perfect night to explore the new area, so she grabbed her phone and left the apartment that her residing roommate was currently knocked out in.

she casually strolled through the streets enjoying the quiet night and being in her thoughts when a playground across the street caught her interest. quickening her pace to cross the road, her feet made contact with the sidewalk and continued towards the playground.

she was looking around reminiscing to when she was a kid playing on the slides, chasing and tormenting other kids with bugs and worms when she noticed a silhouette in a wooded area not too far away from where she was. she headed deeper into the area, stepping on sticks and dead leaves on the way to search for what the object was.

carefully, she stepped closer until it was in view. it was a swing set. that had been left to rust and be forgotten, to spend the rest of its time falling apart until it was completely in shambles.

she was walking towards the set when she froze in place. there was a shuffling noise coming out of the bushes close by. her eyes widened and the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stood up.

“it’s close to midnight, who would be out at- oh yeah, me.” she quivered. trying to calm down, she blindly tried to search the area but wasn’t very effective because the trees blocked most of the moonlight. so she waited a few seconds to see if the noise was going to reoccur before continuing to walk to the swings.

she didn’t even get to take five steps before there was another shuffle coming from the bushes.

she jumped in surprise and failed to land on her feet with a thud, mumbling a stream of explicit words as she got up. then she remembered that she took taekwondo and silently thanked the gods that her dad forced her to take those lessons back in middle school.

“i’ll have to thank dad later,” she pondered. feeling somewhat prepared, she stood up, dusted the back of her pants off, and got in position ready for anything that could come out of that bush.

a figure slowly started to creep out causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand up even further than before, if that was possible.

her nervous thoughts rapidly shot through her mind. trying as hard as she could to block them out, she quietly hummed a random melody that she thought of on the spot.

her eyes locked onto where the target currently was. the small amount of moonlight allowed her to at least see the silhouette of the figure.

after a few moments, the figure finally sprinted out. quickly gathering up her courage, haewon dashed right towards the figure but stopped midway letting out the breath that she didn’t know she was holding in.

“a cat?” she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth in agitation.

“a cat got me that scared? a fucking cat?!” she exasperated. a few moments passed in silence so she could gather her thoughts. her whole life flashed before her eyes just because of a cat?

“boo!” she quickly spun in the direction of the voice only to find an older man that looked to be in his fifties standing proudly with his coat opened in his hands.

“wha-” she screamed with terror after she realized what she was witnessing while covering her not so virgin eyes.

in a split second, she ran at full speed towards the man. who once had a sly grin, now was shocked in place as she lunged her knee at his exposed balls and scurried her way back to the apartment.

☽ ⋆ ☾

she spotted the woods and ran for the swings.

while eating the rest of her ice cream, she listened to the late morning conversations of the birds along with the trees rustling in the background, shifting the sun’s rays. butterflies, dragonflies, and other little insects flew through the empty spaces filled with the sun’s rays, weaving through trees and other bugs. occasionally, she would see a butterfly or two become a bird’s lunch. the moving sun rays gently radiated off her skin as she looked at the ladybug that was chilling on the seat beside her. she enjoyed the relaxing ambiance before it was to be interrupted.

haewon got off of the swing and headed to the recycling bin for plastic to dump her empty ice cream bowl away. as she walked back to the swings suddenly a song from her favorite band the rose interrupted the conversations that took place around her.

a toothy grin appeared on her face. she looked at the time on her small wristwatch. it was about time that her roommate would decide to wake up since it was the weekend.

she grabbed her phone from her back pocket, her grin turning into the one the cheshire cat possesses and accepted the call. but before she could answer, a husky livid voice boomed through the speaker, “haewon! what the fuck is wrong with you?!”

her smirk not faltering one bit “what’s wrong?” she asked with her voice laced in fake concern and chuckling to herself, “this isn’t funny haewon! you’re as good as dead when you come back,” the voice shouted with irritation. haewon burst into laughter. her boisterous laugh combined with the booming voice coming from her phone occupied the area around her.

“don’t- don’t act like your the innocent one here,” she tried to say in between laughs still imagining how he must look being upset over such a harmless prank.

a few moments later and she’s hunched over with tears stained on her face. she heard her name being said on the other side of the phone. “see ya” she breathed heavily and hung up feeling too tired to talk to them anymore.

after she caught her breath and cleared her mind, she stood back up and wiped her face before making a beeline to the apartment ready to embrace the storm or maybe just a squall that she had awakened.

[airis-paris14]

Starlight (T. Udaku)

Summary: Amani is an orphaned heiress who's spent most of her life raising her younger sister. T'Challa is a widowed King and Father. Neither of them is expecting much from their night at the Lotus. But the coming months have many milestones in store for these young adults. Will becoming a family be one of them?

Warnings: None

A/N: Hey y’all. I know I’ve been absent for a little bit again. This story was on the top of my update list and Dress Up is next now that I’ve finished the update. Now I’ve only posted this story on Wattpad, and since the update really only helps them, I thought I get in my weekly update by posting this story from the beginning. I hope you all enjoy as much as my other stories. As always let me know if you wanna be on the tag list. I’ll be posting an account update soon with some news about stories and the Master list. Have a beautiful day guys.

2 || 

Amani watched from the doorway as her baby sister packed up her suitcase. "You know you don't have to watch me pack. I'm a big girl." Amare Okeke looked up smiling. Amani walked over to help her zip the suitcase. "You're barely old enough to fly alone baby girl."

"Amani I'm 17."

"I know. I know. My baby girl is all grown up." Amani pulled Amare into a tight hug. "Maybe I should just keep you here this semester."

"Amani....."

I know, I know. Massachusetts Institute of Technology is paying your tuition, so I guess I gotta put you on that plane."

Amare chuckled. "I think they'd miss me too much if you didn't."

Amani scooped the younger girl into a hug. "Just be safe kid. Don't talk to strangers and no joining the mile high club."

Amare groaned and shuddered. "Okay, it's definitely time for you to go, don't wanna be late for work."

Amani laughed, "Be safe okay. Come back to me in one piece."

"I promise, scouts honor," Amare raised three fingers as she pushed her older sister out of the door. "Just one more hug," Amani begged. Amare shook her head, and shoved the car keys in her sister's hand. "Out," she pointed to the 23-year-old. Amani ran in for one last hug before hopping in her car. She waved three times more before pulling out of the drive and into the city traffic. Her Lexus weaved in and out of traffic as she headed to her day job. The Lotus was more of a pass time than an actual job. It paid a decent amount, and she got to work with her friends.

Twenty minutes later Amani pulled into The Lotus's back parking lot. She gathered all of her things and headed in to help work the closing shift. She scanned her key card and pushed open the heavy security door. The kitchen staff seemed to be winding down from the dinner rush. It was only seven and most of the tables had been served and were waiting to pay. Amani dropped her things in the break room before heading out to help the other waitresses.

" Well look what the cat dragged in." A petite woman teased from behind the bar. "Hello to you too Sakura."

"Hey, Mani! Can you cover this last table for me while I set up for tomorrow?" Madiyson asked as she nodded at a man and a little girl who walked into the restaurant.

"I just got here! What about 'Kura? She's here too."

Sakura glared at Amani from behind her magazine. "It would really mean the world to me if you could do it, Amani..." Madiyson puppy dog eyed her.

"Fine," Amani sighed, fixing her thick curls. They both stared at her arranging her twist out.

"What he is cute!" The black woman blushed grabbing a kid's menu and a menu."He has a daughter." Kura pointed out. Amani walked over to the sink to wash her hands, grabbed the nearest dish towel, and leaned again the counter to check her teeth in the mirror.

"But I don't see a ring," Madiyson pointed out as she grabbed a fresh washcloth. She winked before she hurried away to wipe down tables. Sakura laughed and turned back to her magazine.

Amani hastily checked her reflection once more before walking out onto the main floor. The little girl waved as the woman approached the podium."Hi! Welcome to The Lotus. Just you two tonight?" The man nodded. "If you'll follow me then." The small group walked to a booth. Amani fished into her small apron and took out a notepad. Can I get you anything to drink?"

"I'll have water," he smiled at the young woman. His voice and that smile practically melted Amani right then and there. The young woman pulled herself together to write down his order.

"Ada did you want anything?" he asked the little girl across the table from him.

"Do you have strawberry lemonade?" She asked in a sweet voice.

"No, but I may have something just as good. If you don't like it I'll bring you something else. How does that sound?"

The little girl grinned and nodded her head.

"I'll let you look over the menu while I get your drinks."

As the waitress walked off she heard the little girl whisper to her father. "Baba she's pretty!" Amani blushed and rushed over to the bar, desperate to hide the growing flush of her face. As she mixed the little girl's drink at the bar Madiyson and Sakura began drying cups beside her.

"So who's the beautiful stranger?" Sakura was the first one to speak nudging Amani on the side. "That's what we're calling him?" Madiyson rolled her eyes. Amani laughed as she felt Madiyson nudge her other shoulder. "He's watching you," she whispered. The sister looked up quickly at the man and his daughter before grabbing napkins and straws.

"His voice, god it's sexy. He has an accent though. It sounds dark and a little  controlling, but warm at the same time." Amani hastily revealed as she worked to keep her hands busy. Madiyson grinned "Oooh! You like him!"

Sakura face-palmed as guests looked up at the commotion."Keep your voice down," Amani hissed as she grabbed the drinks. "I just think he's cute. Besides he may not even be single. There's no way I'm that lucky," She blushed as she walked towards the bar exit. "You won't be getting lucky either if Madiyson keeps yelling stuff like that out loud," Sakura grinned as Madiyson slapped her on her shoulder.

Amani shook her head and walked out to the table. She set the drinks down in front of the little girl and her father. The young waitress gestured toward the drink as the little girl took a sip. Her face lit up and she smiled before drinking some more. "I'm guessing you like it," she smiled at the little girl before noticing the father smile at her. Amani's face churned up the color of a bouquet of roses. "Anybody ready to order?" Amani asked taking out her notepad.

"Yes, I'll have the filet mignon with green beans and mashed potatoes." He closed his menu and smiled at her."Rare, Medium Rare, or well done?" The young woman looked up expectantly, instantly regretting meeting his eyes. Her knees went weak."Well done please." He folded his arms on the table.

Amani smiled before looking at the little girl, "what is a Mac and cheese?" Ada asked politely."You've never had Mac and cheese?" The young woman exclaimed feigning shock. "Oh my goodness, it's this really creamy bowl of amazingness. You wanna know what I eat mine with?" The little girl giggled nodding. Amani leaned down and whispered in her ear. "I eat mine with Chicken tenders."

The little girl nodded."Good choice, I'll have mine with chicken tenders too then." The brown woman smiled at the girl before writing it down."Fabulous choice princess," Amani smiled as the little girl giggled before her mouth dropped open. "How'd you know I was a Princess?" The man shook his head at the little girl. She went quiet.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I got her in trouble." Amani apologized.

"No, no she's not in trouble. I am T'Challa and this is my princess Ada." At the mention of her name the little girl grinned. "It's nice to meet you both, Amani." She smiled at them both. "I'll have your food out shortly."

The young waitress walked back to the kitchen, handed her ticket in for her table and wrote for herself for a to-go meal."Find anything else out?" Sakura asked as she walked in handing over a ticket. "His name is T'Challa. And he's got money." The woman looked up. "How'd you find out he had money?"

"He ordered Filet Mignon. How many people in this area order filet mignon?" Amani said as she grabbed the plates from the window. "Besides us, and that's only when Mrs. Ella needs to get rid of it."

"Businessmen mostly, we just never give you the big ballers," Madiyson smirks as she drops off her ticket."Are you serious?" Sakura nodded. Amani rolled her eyes, "I'm feeling the love," she sassed as she headed back into the dining room.

"Aww don't be mad Mani!" Madiyson called as Sakura cackled. The young woman huffed as she carried the food out to her table.

"Baba, I want to go somewhere fun tomorrow!" The little girl insisted as her father laughed. "You did not enjoy the Museum?" His eyes twinkled as she huffed. Amani chuckled silently as she set the plate down in front of Ada. "Maybe your Mac and cheese will make you feel better," Amani suggested as she handed T'Challa his steak. "If you don't mind me asking, what Museum did you go to?" He smiled, clearly glad someone was interested.

"We went to the High Museum of Art," Amani had to stifle her laughter at his reply.

"Princess Ada, how old are you?" Amani asked as the laughter threatened to pour out of her. "Four," The little girl proudly displayed four fingers.

She could hold back no longer. A full-bellied laugh rolled out of her.

"What?" T'Challa protested as Ada began to giggle too. He sighed as he waited for the two females to stop laughing. "I'm sorry, but you took a four-year-old to the High?" She smiled as she tucked the serving tray under her right arm."There was an exhibit of children's illustrators." He defended himself."But baba," The little girl interjected, "we don't live here I've never read any of those books."

Amani smiled. "Maybe you should try the aquarium, it's one of the best in the country.  There's also this really big Ferris wheel Princess," the little girl's face lit up as she chewed up her chicken tender."Chew with your mouth closed Ada," her father gently reminded smiling at his daughter.

"I'll let you guys eat and be back soon."

The young woman couldn't keep the goofy smile off of her face as she helped refill salt and pepper shakers as Madiyson refilled condiments. "So is he feeling it? Is there a wedding I should start planning."

"No Madiyson you won't be planning  anything." Amani grinned as she put the salt back in the closet. "And I don't know, you don't usually go up to a stranger and say 'Hi, I'm single. Are you single?"

"Well don't ask him like that," Madiyson scoffed as she replaced the top on a ketchup bottle. "I see why you're still single," she laughed. Amani whirled around and threw some salt from the counter at her. "Haha, very funny."  Amani looked out the window to see T'Challa raise his hand.

"I'll be right back," the waitress walked over to the table. "We need a check?" T'Challa nodded as Ada finished the last of her Mac and Cheese. "That Mac and cheese treat you right?" Amina smiled as Ada grinned. "Yes ma'am," she replied.

"Baba, can we get ice cream?" Ada begged as Amani gathered the dirty plates. "Not tonight Ada, maybe tomorrow, entle."

"Oh if you go to the aquarium there's a really good ice cream shop downtown." Amani smiled."Then it's settled we'll get ice cream tomorrow Baba," The young princess declared. T'Challa smiled at his daughter. "Your wish is my command princess."

"Cash or credit?" Amani asked as she stood with the dirty plates. "Cash," T'Challa called. His eyes caused the waitress's heart to flutter. She offered an award-winning smile and nodded. "I'll be right back." Amani walked back into the kitchen dumping the dishes into the sink."Girl don't break no dishes," an older woman yelled from the back. "Sorry Mrs. Ella!" Amani grimaced as she began printing a check.

"Find out anything else?" Sakura asked as she began loading the dishwasher. "He's a total pushover for his daughter." Amina smiled placing the check in a black holder.

When she walked out to the table it was completely empty. Save for a note and some bills underneath his glass.

Sorry I could not say goodbye. Here is some money for the check. Ada says goodbye as well and thank you for the Mac and cheese and being so pretty. I would be delighted if you would consider accompanying us tomorrow around the city.

T'Challa

His number scrawled at the bottom of the note sent fireworks straight to her eyes. Amani lifted the glass to find two hundred dollar bills. She smiled fondly before tucking the note in her back pocket. She quickly finished the tab and grabbed her order from the window.  She helped the rest of the staff to mop, sweep, stack chairs, clean dishes, put away dishes. As soon as the restaurant was locked up she waved goodbye to Mrs.Ella in the back and proceeded to hop and skip back to her car and speed home. Amani pulled up to her condo in the city her parents had given her before they passed. The young woman pulled off her shoes and walked up to the front steps. She placed her hand on the doorbell and let it scan her finger before opening the door. The off duty waitress placed her food in the microwave and blasted a Kendrick album before plopping onto the couch. She glanced at the clock before pulling out her phone. She quickly typed in T'Challa's number and typed a message.

Amani: Is this T'Challa? It's Amani, from The Lotus.

T'Challa: yes this is T'Challa. I'm so glad you texted me. I'm sorry to bother you but Ada would not stop talking about you. She would really like it if you could join us tomorrow.

Amani: just Ada?

T'Challa: We would both enjoy your company tomorrow.

Amani: Then I'd be delighted. What time?

T'Challa: 9:30 a.m. we do not wish to hold the masses back for long periods of time. We will pick you up.

The woman typed a quick goodnight. She made a point to text her little sister before grabbing her food and settling down with the music. The ping of her phone startled her. Licking her fingers she checked the clock and headed into the kitchen to grab her phone.

Amare: don't forget you promised to attend that after-party tonight. With mom and dad's work partners.

"Frick," Amani yelped hopping off of the couch. She was beyond late. She grabbed her phone and ran into her bedroom. A gown was hanging over her closet door. She grinned, knowing that Amare had left it there before she left. She took a quick shower, tried to refresh her hair, threw on some light makeup, and pulled on the dress. Texting a quick thank you to her sister, she searched for the invite email once again and decided her car would be faster than an Uber. Luckily the venue was downtown. Amani drove as fast as the floor-length gown and heels would let her. She skidded into the valet drive-in, tossed the young man her keys, took a deep breath, and glided her way into the lobby.

Once in the elevator she touched up her makeup, fluffed the braided twist out bun, and sighed. The doors dinged open and she glided into the ballroom. Immediately she was surrounded by her parent's former employees. She smiled, shook hands, took some press pictures, made a couple of statements to reporters, before taking refuge in the corner. The part-time waitress grabbed a flute of champagne to sip as she perused. One of her dad's partners smiled and moved in her direction. Mentally preparing for the longest conversation of her life, Amani took a long gulp of champagne. "Long time no see!" Harold Armon smiled. "Hello Mr. Armon," Amani rolled her shoulders back and plastered on a smile.

"How are you, dear girl? How is your little sister? Amira?" He reached out to touch her shoulder.

"Amare," the older sister corrected. "Right, right!" Harold beamed, squeezing the young woman's shoulder. Amani shrugged his hand off. "She's fine. She left this morning to finish off her second semester at MIT."

"That's brilliant, she always was bright like your father. Is she thinking about running the company when she comes of age?" he pried. Amani frowned, "No. Our parents always wanted us to choose our own route in life. She decided that she didn't want to run the business."

"That is too bad. I could have been a great help. You all could have relied on me to take over the business. Then you wouldn't have to worry your pretty little head about all the men's work-" Amani zoned out as the man tried to persuade her to appoint him to a top position. She already knew his game. These conversations were why she hated coming to the parties. 

When her parents had died unexpectedly, Amani and Amare had been thrown into the world of office politics. As soon as the plane crashed in that Pennsylvania field, her phone was flooded with calls. Her father's lawyers advised her not to talk to anyone until she and Amare were together. They brought, the then 15-year-old, Amare out of school and down to Atlanta. Within a matter of hours, Amani had to decide who would take over the company in her parent's absence. She promoted her father's CFO, and her mother's assistant. She made sure that she put money away for her and Amare to live on. Then she handed the company over, operationally at least. She and Amare were still obligated to show their faces, and be present at board meetings. They weren't required to vote, but when they did, their word was law. Hence the groveling, and somewhat misogynistic, man standing in front of her.

She nodded along, taking to chance to glance at her side, where she saw T'Challa. His suit immaculately pressed and tailored. A ring flashed on his left hand and Amani felt her heart drop slightly. She blushed when he looked up and noticed her staring, she waved before tuning back into Harold.

"Brookman's first-quarter report does not look like it will be that promising. I think that if I were in that position I would avoid this merger with Wakanda and their king-" The man faltered, and tripped over his words. His eyes going wide at something behind her. Turning to look Amani saw T'Challa walking towards them. She returned his smile when he moved to greet her. "Amani."

"T'Challa-"

"Your highness." Harold quickly dropped into a stiff bow. "There's no need for that. Mr.-" T'Challa laughed.

"Armon" Harold stuck out a hand.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Armon," T'Challa placed his hands behind his back, forcing his posture upright. Harold brought his own hand back into his side. "Do you mind if I borrow your conversation partner?"

"Oh well, we were-"

"I will make sure you get to see her before the night is over," T'Challa gripped Amani's hand and pulled her away. She gave Mr.Bowdman a quick goodbye before falling into step with T'Challa. "Thank you," Amani laughed while strolling with the man.

"I can always sense a damsel in distress."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. It's my superpower," the businessman whispered. Amani chuckled as she wrapped her arm through his. "Though I am surprised to see my waitress here. At the Okeke Tech Industries donor party."

"Are you suggesting that I cannot contribute based on my meager salary?"

T'Challa raised his hands in defeat, "I am merely suggesting that there is something you are not telling me, Amani." The undiscovered royal laughed.

"I believe that Ms.Okeke would be more formal T'Challa."

"Ah, you are the mysterious, and rumored to be beautiful, Okeke heiress.

"I wonder which of those intrigues you more. Beautiful or mysterious?" she teased.

"I quite prefer mysteries. Your beauty is just a bonus." The two smiled at each other. "It is nice to formally meet you, Ms. Okeke."

"What are you doing here?" Amani asked, grabbing a flute of champagne from the passing waiter. "I am here to check on my future assets. Make sure everything runs right."

"You're the one buying my parent's company?"

T'Challa winked, grabbing the flute of champagne from Amani and taking a sip. The woman blushed as he handed it back. "I was never told who the buyer was," Amani added, taking another sip from the same place on the glass. "His Majesty King T'Challa Udaku, at your service Ms. Okeke," the king bowed to kiss her hand. Amani choked a little, as the news slammed into her. "King?"

"Yes, please do try to keep up Ms.Okeke," The king chuckled while he grabbed a flute of champagne for himself. He extended his arm once more for the heiress and they continued to stroll about the room, eventually ending up on the balcony. They sat next to each other on a stone bench, each admiring the night sky. "You look beautiful tonight," T'Challa turned, staring at Amani's profile. "I've always been told starlight is my best light," Amani teased, blushing once her eyes met T'Challa's. She grabbed the king's cup and took a long drink.

The sounds of the party wrapping up brought both of them out of their isolated dream world. "May I walk you to your car?" T'Challa extended a hand to help Amani up and off of the bench. "If you would like," Amani smiled. The two walked side-by-side, bypassing anyone who wanted their attention. "Are we still on for tomorrow?" Amani broke the silence.

"Of course. I await our reunion with earnest."

"I guess I should text you my address then."

"I guess you should."

Amani pulled out her phone and quickly sent a text with her information. Placing her phone back in her purse, she looked up at the king. The valet pulled up with her car and she let her smile falter. "I guess I'll see you in the morning."

"I'll see you in the morning, Ms. Okeke." T'Challa smiled, placing a kiss on the back of her hand. She got into the car and sighed as it pulled away from the curb.

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