#they're gonna turn out like this one probably 99% of the time just be warned

[wake-me-up-inside-imagines]

Ok! May I request J, Rose and Hu with a reader who’s very sensitive/gets emotional very easily? For example, whenever people are fighting they can’t help but get overwhelmed and start crying (even if they’re not the one being yelled at).

Sure! I hope you enjoy! We need more drt women x reader content on this site

J, Rose and Hu with a sensitive/emotional reader

Warnings: none

Gn! reader

-J's the queen of being blunt so she definitely needs to learn how to curb her tongue when your around

-She's never rude to you, she cares about you too much to hurt you like that, but she sometimes forgets that her comments upset you even when aimed at others

-She makes more of an effort to get along with her classmates both around you and when your not there (except Arturo because she has every reason to hate him) and she also tries to keep her negative comments to herself

-J isn't perfect so sometimes an antagonistic comment slips out, but when it does she's quick to backtrack and she'll apologize to you privately (she's not gonna apologize to the other person though, she meant what she said and she's nothing if not honest)

-If she gets into a fight in your presence, she's quick to either end the fight by walking away with a biting remark or get you out of the room until it's over

-If (when) you start crying because of the fight, she'll apologize and hold you until you feel better. She's not great at using words to comfort so she opts for physical support instead

-God forbid one of her classmates (or anyone really) yells at you, their as good as dead. She's ripping them to shreds right then and there before leading you away to comfort you

-If you've seen something sad or upsetting, whether it be through the news the internet, or something in your personal life, she tries to distract you from whatever it is until you've completely forgotten about it (she also turns the tv/device off if that was the cause)

-She's pretty good at figuring out when you upset so you never have to wait long for comfort

-Luckily for you, Rose isn't big on confrontation so you don't have to really worry about her starting or involving herself in any fights

-She also just doesn't talk a ton in general, like she speaks when spoken to and she'll speak up if something's on her mind but most of the time she prefers to listen and observe instead of engage

-She is kinda blunt, but unlike J she doesn't make unnecessary comments, and most of the time he more "rude" comments aren't meant as an insult so it's less of an issue to others

-If she does piss someone off however (probably Ace), she's very good about diffusing the situation. She apologizes to them and tells them she meant nothing by it in a calm, collected manner and that's usually all it takes to end the conflict

-Because of this, there's rarely a time when you become upset by her words

-But if she somehow does get into a genuine fight her first reaction is to get you and herself out of there as soon as possible. She then assures you she didn't mean for that to happen, specially around you, and ya'll lie down and cuddle until she falls asleep or you feel better (99% of the time she falls asleep)

-She's naturally really laid back and calm, so it's pretty easy to calm down with her presence alone

-This is just a little headcannon of mine, but I think she likes giving/receiving forehead kisses so she'll kiss your head if you're particularly upset

-Despite her dislike of arguments, she'll definitely call someone out for being an ass if they're yelling at you or being mean in general. She also leads you away from any arguments between other classmates or any upsetting media without even waiting to see if you're visibly upset, she just knows

-She's very perceptive so she can pick up on your nervous tells easily, which makes it easier for her to escort you away from upsetting scenes

-Hu my absolute beloved

-Like Rose, she doesn't like getting into conflict but unlike Rose she has very strong opinions and if she needs to correct someone's behavior, she has no problem doing so

-It's less of an argument and more of Hu scolding someone for whatever it is that they did, but it can escalate to one if she's scolding someone who's more aggressive/defensive. Although most people respect her enough that they won't argue with her because they know they messed up if she's berating them

-She'll try to be nicer when she's being stern in front of you, but if you're still upset afterwards she'll apologize to you immediately afterwards

-Hu's incredibly good at comforting, anything that helps you she'll do. You want cuddles? She's already in the bed with blankets and her arms outstretched. You want food and/or a comfort drink? She's making it right now! You want to watch a movie to distract yourself? She has a huge pile of movie dvds and 15 different streaming services pulled up, just pick what you want to watch and she'll put it on

-She'll even sing/hum for you if you would like, and she's always got her zither on her if you would like to hear her play

-Hu rarely gets genuinely angry, but the second someone comes after you she's yelling at them, as she should

-Like the others, she’ll try to help you avoid upsetting content or hostile public environments, but if you happen to see/be in that environment, she’s very comforting to be around in the moment

Sorry this took me forever to finish, I’ve been pretty busy recently. I hope you enjoyed!

[hanaflowersofficial]

I think I saw a post where you say Piccolo births both his and Hana's children. I'm wondering if that would happen 100% of the time with namekian / other couplings or would it ever be possible for a namekian to impregnate their partner? Just curious about your headcanon.

oh! thank you for the ask! :D i'm gonna ramble at you, sorry in advance haha

i dunno how other folks headcanon how nameks handle reproduction, but i mean, in dragon ball king piccolo can just kinda spit 'em up at will, so that's sorta what i base my headcanon on. except i think there's king piccolo's way and then there's the proper namekian way. king piccolo's kids were "mutated", and even piccolo is "mutated" in the sense that he grew to maturity in like 3 years (meanwhile we see dende in the show later who seems to grow at a more "normal" pace so i assume he was hatched correctly)

so yeah i think namekians can just sorta decide to start making an egg and then it happens, and they carry it for a little while and let it form slowly before spitting it out. (i also headcanon that the formation of an egg can be "triggered" through a super deep emotional attachment, specifically like some sort of intimate event between a namek and someone else, doesn't even have to be physical)

but to answer your question (finally, sorry haha) with my headcanon it's not possible for piccolo to get anyone else pregnant. i do have some ideas about namekian physical intimacy, though... like i think nameks as a society/culture are meant to be very warm and loving, and they've got Ways of expressing that warmth and love to each other that have nothing to do with reproduction, just feel-good brain chemicals that promote closeness

ANYWAY god i'm sorry. i have like no outlet for these thoughts, i don't talk to people about dragon ball, i just sit in a cave and mash words into a clay tablet for my own amusement basically - thank you for reading if you made it this far 😂

[moonylantsovs]

RULES | 1.05: TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING

summary: the daughter of Marcus Kane gets sent down to the ground with 99 other teenage criminals and a fake guard on her eighteenth birthday, deciding to take charge of the camp along with the two people she never thought she'd get along with after her previous experience with authority and the privileged.

pairings: john murphy x fem!oc, bellamy blake x fem!oc ( slowburn )

warnings: best friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, swearing, mentions of death, violence

series masterlist

After her breakdown a few hours prior, Gabriella listened to Octavia's advice and tried to get some sleep while the younger girl went to sleep in Murphy's old bed. Both girls were soon woken up by the commotion just outside the tent.

They shared a look before putting their jackets and boots on and going outside to check out what was going on. Looking around camp, they saw most of the delinquents outside their tents looking at something in the sky. When Gabriella turned around to see what it was she gasped in surprise to see it was a pod, most likely sent from The Ark.

"Bellamy, get out here!" Octavia called out to her brother, not taking her eyes off the falling pod.

Seconds later, a shirtless Bellamy emerged from his big tent, and Roma and Bree ── only covered in blankets ── followed behind him. Gabriella had to resist the urge to scoff at the sight. Of course, Bellamy Blake was going to be the guy that has a threesome three hours after a kid commits suicide in front of him.

By the grunt of disgust that left Octavia's mouth, Gabriella could tell she was thinking the same thing.

"They're coming to help us." a boy named Jones said, looking at the pod in awe and excitement. "Now we can kick some grounder ass."

There were shouts of agreement that could be heard around camp but Gabriella noticed their male camp leader looking at the sky with fear, he was having a hard time hiding.

"Please tell me they brought shampoo." Roma's whine made Gabriella's attention turn away from Bellamy and to her.

This time she didn't even try to hide her annoyance, "Or you know, something useful. Like extra food, medical supplies . . . or a gun I can shoot myself with."

The Blake sister snorted at her comment while the half-naked girl threw a half-hearted glare at her which was ignored when Gabriella grabbed Octavia's elbow to lead her to the tent reserved for meetings.

Once the main group was gathered inside, Jason spoke up addressing the only two present leaders in the tent, "If it cleared the ridge, it's probably near the lake."

"We should get moving, everyone is ready." Wells said while stepping inside. Gabriella didn't even bother to hide the glare she threw his way.

"No one's going anywhere. Not while it's dark, it isn't safe outside camp." Bellamy said sternly, "We'll head out at first light. Pass the word."

While everyone else nodded in agreement, Octavia and Gabriella clearly weren't buying his bullshit. The blonde glared at him. "Look, I don't know if you forgot but you aren't the only one calling the shots here. I say you and I take a small group to check out where the pod crashed. Even those who are seventy miles away saw it come down. I can guarantee the grounders aren't going to go check it out because they're scared of the dark. If we don't go now they're gonna get to it first and probably kill whoever's inside."

"I said we wait until sunrise." He repeated and made his way around the girls, not sparing them a second glance, only to have Gabriella block his way with a hand placed firmly on his now-clothed chest. "I really don't know what makes you think that I suddenly listen to you. Just because I found a few people in camp I hate more than you does not mean that I dislike you any less."

Bellamy softened his features and took a deep breath. "Listen, Gabi. If we go out right now, we could easily get to the pod but we could also lose more people and I'm not willing to take that risk. Are you?"

Gabriella inhaled sharply, ignoring the new nickname and giving in. "Fine. But we leave at first light."

-

Gabriella was once again woken up from her sleep, but this time by Clarke marching into her tent without even a word of warning.

"What now?" she groaned in annoyance, opening only one of her eyes to look up at her co-leader.

"Have you seen it?"

"Yeah." Gabriella responded, already knowing what she was talking about, and laying on her side. "We're gonna go check it out at first light. Why? Where were you?"

Clarke huffed. "Just get dressed and come with me."

The Kane furrowed her eyebrows but did as she was told and came out of her tent to see Finn and Wells there too. She sent Finn a small smile but ignored Wells before she followed the trio to Bellamy's tent. The two blondes were the first to walk inside, but instead of Bellamy, they were faced with two half-naked girls. Again.

"Ever heard of knocking, bitch?" Roma hissed, covering her bra-covered chest with her shirt and glaring at Clarke.

"You mean on the door that's just down the hall? Why didn't I think of that?" Gabriella shot back. "Besides, it's nothing I haven't seen before."

Finn and Wells soon followed inside but quickly averted their eyes at the sight of the two girls laying inside Bellamy's bed.

"Oh, great. It's a free show. Anyone else wanna take a look?"

Clarke ignored Bree's comment and looked between the two girls. "Where the hell is Bellamy?"

"He took off a while ago." the brunette girl shrugged.

"Gear is gone." Finn announced, after looking over Bellamy's stuff.

"That little shit actually left." Gabriella scoffed in disbelief, instantly regretting believing a word that came out his mouth. "Whatever's inside that pod, he wants it."

"We've gotta get there before he does." Clarke said, determination written across her face.

-

After a while of walking through the woods, the four decided to split up with Gabriella and Clarke going along one side of the lake, while Wells and Finn went along the other one.

"This is all my fault." Clarke sighed after a few minutes of them walking in silence "I should have been there, but I let myself get distracted."

Gabriella had a feeling those words had a double meaning and her face went from confusion to realization to surprise then to excitement in a span of two seconds before she let out a dramatic gasp, "Clarke Griffin! Did you and Finn . . . ?"

It did not take a genius to connect the dots. Clarke was nowhere to be found since Murphy was banished. And (not that she was looking) Finn was not in camp either. It would not surprise Gabriella if the two of them sneaked out to the bunker and spent the night there. While she was always on team Clarke and Wells, she did not mind her being with Finn if she was happy with him. Finn seemed pretty into her but then again, he seemed into a lot of girls, One of the many reasons why she was not as close to him as she was with his ex-girlfriend was because he flirted with everyone ── even when he was in a relationship.

The Griffin girl quickly realized she said too much and gulped. "It just happened. He was upset and we were alone in the bunker. No one else is supposed to know."

"Oh, scandalous sex!" Gabriella clapped her hands together, an excited squeal escaping her lips. "Even better! So, Freckles over there is having threesomes with minors and you and Finn are having hot bunker sex while I'm counting how much wood we have for the fire at camp? Why am I the only one not having scandalous sex? I need to get laid."

"Can you be quiet?" Clarke scolded but still chuckled at her friend's excitement.

Soon enough, the duo finally reached the clearing at the end of the lake and spotted the crashed pod instantly and quickened their pace to get to it and see what or who was inside of it.

Clarke went in first and gasped in surprise once she came face to face with a dark-haired girl with blood pouring from her forehead. "Oh, my god."

"What?" Gabriella asked curiously, trying to look at the inside of the pod over Clarke's shoulder.

"Hi. I made it?" the girl inside the pod spoke up, the familiar voice making Gabriella freeze.

The Kane gently pushed Clarke away from the pod so she could look inside. She gasped when she came face-to-face with her old working partner "Raven?"

Raven Reyes grinned at her lazily, "Hey, Kane."

Gabriella didn't hesitate to help her out of the pod and watched her take off the suit with an unreadable expression on her face.

Seeing Raven again was like a rude awakening. She didn't want to help get The Ark down and plotted against it ever happening, knowing damn well those people up there were gonna die. She was so selfish she didn't even think about the friends she had up there once. But seeing Raven down made her mind go to the rest of the friends she had on Mecha or Farm Station, people that didn't deserve to die but will most likely be one of the first ones to do so. Because if the council was gonna sacrifice people for oxygen, it was obvious those people won't be from Alpha Station.

Raven's grin widened when she stepped out of the pod and finally took Earth's beauty in, the sight reminding Gabriella of her experience in taking the ground's beauty on the first day down here before everything went to shit.

"I dreamed it would smell like this." the olive-skinned girl sighed, inhaling softly, her face showing nothing but pure bliss and awe. Soon all three girls felt bits of rain falling and the oldest one gasped, turning to the blondes. "Is this rain?"

Both of them nodded and Clarke gave her a warm grin. "Welcome home."

Raven giggled again before pulling Gabriella into a long-awaited hug that made her stumble back a bit. "It's been a while. I missed you."

After recovering from the shock, Gabriella wrapped her arms around her waist and whispered, "I missed you too, Rae."

A sudden call of her name made Raven turn around to see Finn and Wells finally arriving.

"Finn!" the mechanic exclaimed happily, running up to the boy and wrapping her arms around his neck before pulling him in for a passionate kiss.

Both blondes gaped at the scene, one held a look of surprise and the other held a look of pure heartbreak. Wells just looked between the couple and the two girls with confusion written across his face.

"How did you get here?" Finn asked after pulling away from his girlfriend, not daring to take his eyes away from her and ending up seeing Clarke's disappointed and heartbroken face, accompanied by Gabriella's pissed-off one.

"You know that big scrap hold, the one on K deck Sinclair told me and Ella we have to clean the parts of for punishment after ditching work to go to that party last year?" Raven hinted, giving the engineer a smile over her boyfriend's shoulder.

"You rebuilt it?" Gabriella chimed in with an impressed and shocked look.

Raven shrugged, acting like it wasn't a big deal. "Please, it might have been hard without you but turns out I just needed a couple of parts and some love."

"You're insane." her boyfriend breathed out, bringing her attention back to him.

"I'd do more for you and worse." Raven told him, pure love shining in her dark eyes, completely oblivious to what an idiot the boy in her arms actually was. "Just like you would for me."

She stumbled back a bit, almost falling onto the ground if it weren't for Finn who still had his arms secured around her waist. The boy helped her to a big rock and helped her sit down. "Come on, sit down. Sit down here."

While Finn and Wells were helping Raven, Gabriella turned to Clarke, keeping her voice down, "Are you okay? I swear I had no idea they got together."

Clarke managed a weak smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm fine."

Even though she wasn't convinced, Gabriella still nodded and turned her attention back to the couple and Wells, who was trying to put pressure on her wound with the sleeve of his jacket.

"This is Clarke. She was on the dropship, too." Finn said, introducing his girlfriend to his one-night stand.

"Clarke?" Raven asked ── recognition shining in her eyes ── while getting up, "This was all because of your mom."

"My mom?"

"This was all her plan." the mechanic explained, "We were trying to come down here together. If we waited . . ." Gabriella watched as realization hit her. "We couldn't wait because the council was voting whether to kill three hundred people to save air."

"When?" Gabriella asked quickly.

"Today. We have to tell them you're alive!"

They all rushed back to the pod only to find the radio gone. Bellamy.

"It must've gotten loose during reentry. I should've strapped it to the A-strut." Raven scolded herself. "Stupid."

Gabriella shook her head and put her hand on her shoulder "Don't beat yourself up. This was our fault, some jackass got here before us and took the radio."

"We have to find him." Wells said firmly and just like that, they were rushing back into the forest.

-

"Hey!" Gabriella yelled as soon as she caught sight of Bellamy casually but quickly walking through the forest. His pace quickened at the sound of her voice but she was able to catch up with him and tug at the sleeve of his jacket to make him stop walking. "Where is it?"

"Hey, Bambi. Are you taking a walk in the woods?" He asked casually, trying to pretend he didn't do anything wrong but still obviously still trying to annoy her with the nickname.

Gabriella took a deep breath, "They're gonna kill three hundred people up there because of you! To save oxygen! And I can already tell you those people won't be from Alpha Station! It will be people from Mecha, Factory, or Hydra! Working people! Your people!"

"Bellamy! Where's the radio?" Finn stormed up to them, shortly followed by Clarke, Raven, and Wells.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Bellamy snapped, pushing Finn back.

"Bellamy Blake?" Raven spoke up, "They're looking everywhere for you."

"Why?" Gabriella asked, curiously.

"Shut up." Bellamy spat at the brunette girl.

Gabriella shushed him and turned her attention to Raven. She finally wanted to find out what the hell Bellamy Blake was so afraid of.

"Looking for him? Why?" Clarke asked, almost as curious as Gabriella.

"He shot Chancellor Jaha." Raven announced with a hint of smugness in her voice.

Everyone had different reactions. Wells was mortified at the news about his father getting shot and Clarke and Finn were shocked. Gabriella on the other hand didn't know if she should be impressed or surprised. But she was definitely both.

"That's why you took the wristbands. You needed everyone to think we're dead." Clarke scrunched her face up, disgusted at his actions.

Finn scoffed "And all that 'whatever the hell we want'? You just care about saving your own ass."

Bellamy ignored their words, his chocolate brown eyes briefly skipping over to glance at Gabriella before he turned around, ready to make his way back to camp.

"Hey, shooter!" Raven called after him, "Where's my radio?"

"Get out of my way." he spat, but she kept pushing, "Where is it?"

Bellamy clenched his jaw. "I should've killed you when I had the chance."

"Really? Well, I'm right here." She taunted, getting in his face. Bellamy grabbed the collar of her jacket and pinned her against the three when she pulled out a knife and put it to his throat, hissing, "Where's my radio?"

"Stop." Gabriella said, getting between the two. "Bellamy let her go now. Raven put the knife down. This is not helping."

The pair scowled but did as they were told, still glaring at each other nonetheless.

"Jaha deserved to die. You all know that." Bellamy tried to defend himself.

"Yeah, he's not my favorite person, either." Raven rolled her eyes. "But he isn't dead."

"What?" Bellamy gaped in surprise, his eyebrows furrowing.

"You're a lousy shot."

That wasn't much to the rest of the group but it felt as if a weight was lifted off of Wells and Bellamy's shoulders. Wells' father was alive and Bellamy was not a murderer.

Gabriella licked her lips before taking a hold of Bellamy's wrist, making him look down at her. "Do you have any idea what this means? You aren't a murderer. You shot Jaha so you could protect your sister down here like you always did and by doing that you helped Clarke and I protect the whole camp too. You can do it again, by protecting three hundred of your people." His eyes softened at her words and he tried his best not to give in until she spoke again, "Do you really want to have all those lives on your conscience for the rest of your life? Where's the radio?"

"It's too late." his voice came out softer than invented, his guilt and the fact that the blonde's words got through to him obvious.

"What did you do Bellamy?" she asked.

"I threw it in the lake." he responded immediately, not bothering to lie to the girl, knowing she could see right through him.

"Shit." Gabriella cursed and mentally flinched, knowing two things. One; that the radio will almost be almost impossible to fix if they find it. And two; Bellamy Blake fucked up big time.

-

After getting back to camp, Gabriella and Clarke chose around twelve delinquents to help them look for the radio. Once they got there, they split into pairs to make the search easier.

Gabriella ended up with Raven and decided to ask her about the whole Finn situation.

"So you and Finn . . . " she started, "I thought that the two of you broke up?"

"I was gonna tell you but you ended up getting arrested. We got back together pretty quickly." Raven told her with a fond smile.

Gabriella was glad her friend was happy and did not want to be the one to ruin that, so she was going to make Finn do it. He screwed over two of her friends so he was going to be the one tofix it and try not to break their hearts even more than he already did. She quickly shot another look at Bellamy, who already had his gaze on her but quickly looked away once their eyes connected. Besides that, he looked like he didn't have a care in the world.

"What about you and the shooter?" Raven asked, a twin of mischief in her dark eyes.

"What?" Gabriella asked, genuinely confused by the question.

"Please." Raven scoffed, "All five of us were yelling at him asking about the radio and he would not budge but one look at you, and the guy practically melted."

"There's nothing going on between us. No way." the blonde denied.

"Deny it all you want. I can see the tension, you must've hooked up at least once."

"Never."

"Seriously?" Raven asked in disbelief, "It's not that hard. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy; sex. It's not like you're a virgin."

"Except I don't like him." Gabriella said stubbornly. "I actually hate him. Ever since we landed he's been nothing but a selfish piece of ── "

Her words were interrupted by Jones announcing he found the radio making all of them rush over to him. Raven quickly snatched the radio from his hold and checked over it.

"Can you fix it or not?" Wells asked impatiently.

"Maybe. But it will take half a day to dry out the components to see what's broken." Raven informed him.

"Like I said, it's too late." Bellamy said, trying to remain a neutral expression on his face to hide the guilt that was slowly eating him up.

"Do you have any idea what you did?" Clarke snapped at him and pushed him slightly. "Do you even care?"

"You asked me to help." he shrugged, "I helped."

"Three hundred people are gonna die up there because of you!" Wells yelled in disbelief.

"Wait." Gabriella stopped the fight from escalating. "We don't have to talk to them, we just have to show them we're here. We have to let them know we're alive."

"Yeah, but how do we do that with no radio?" Finn asked bluntly.

Raven quickly caught up to Gabriella's plan and a large grin showed up on her face. "You, Gabriella Kane, are a genius."

-

Raven and Gabriella's plan to launch flares into the sky for The Ark to see had the whole camp working and they finally had everything ready after dawn.

Gabriella found herself watching the launching flares from her spot in the middle of camp with Clarke by her side when she felt a presence behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see Bellamy already looking down at her "You think they can see it from up there?"

She shrugged at his question, "I hope so. I might have to face my father again if The Ark does come down but putting that aside, it might not be so bad. At least they wouldn't be dead. I, on the other hand, can always make a run for it."

"Can you wish on this kind of shooting star?" Clarke asked suddenly, not taking her eyes off the flares. Seeing the deadpan look Bellamy was sending her she quickly shook her head. "Forget it."

"I wouldn't even know what to wish for." the Blake brother told them honestly.

"Me neither." Gabriella nudged the girl next to her. "What about you?"

She saw Clarke's eyes subconsciously glance at Finn to see him having Raven wrapped up in his arms before she shrugged, "Same as you. I don't know."

[emperor-palpaminty]

Killing Time

Because nothing can kill a relationship like lies.

A modern AU where crosshair is a hitman and you're his loyal girlfriend who happens to be in the bodyguard business, but neither one of you know the other's careers

Warnings: swearing, mentions of death, making oit and allusions to smut, also this is in no way accurate to real life and it's just dramatic, please don't hurt me lol

children you have full permission to run away and not come here, in fact please run away

Very few things phased you. The only things that brought you to your precipice of agitation was burning pasta, your phone charger not working, and showing up to your shift only to realize someone had been killing all your clients.

Who said keeping people alive was easy? No one, that was who, and if anyone said it they were wrong or had no experience working with others whatsoever. Making sure others lived to see their next day was deadly business, for the people that were trying to live, at least.

“Charles!” You barked, feet hitting the floor of the bull pen. “What the hell happened?” You slammed your files on your desk, face warm, head just about collapsing with pressure. Your fingers pressed to your temples, hoping that they would grip it, hold it together. “Burke was alive when I left last night.”

“Doesn't matter now." Your coworker dropped his sandwich onto his desk. "Burke is fucking dead now. As dead as a doorknob." He swallowed his bite. "Luckily, you weren't on shift when it happened, so you aren't gonna catch any fire for it."

"Shit, Charles, a man is dead." You collapsed in your chair, a gentle "oomph" escaping your mouth. Your lips pressed together in agitation and you moaned to yourself. "This is the third one in two months. Sure, I'll get a couple cold bodies, but-"

"But this is a lot." Charles sunk into his own chair, grabbing for his sandwich again.

You stared at him, disbelief coating your gaze. "One is a lot, Charles," You snarled, grabbing at the folder on your desk. "Any leads?"

"Oh, yeah. But they're all at Burke's mansion." Charles tossed the crust of his lunch into the trash can. "I can drive ya."

"No, I'll take my car," You grumbled. You swiped the keys from your desk and stood, stalking back towards the elevator, anger eating away at you.

If one more of your clients- YOUR own clients- got killed, you would have to start pulling full shifts again.

___

Your shoes, practical, did little more than tap against the marble floor as you ducked under the Police tape. You skimmed the scene, frowning, eyes gracing past a particularly nasty chunk of gore on the wall. "Shot from above," You mumbled, glancing at the shattered window.

The mansion was huge. You'd been coming here for nearly a year now to keep an eye on Burke, and it still shocked you when you saw the absolute volume of the home. How much house would one man need, exactly?

In your years as a bodyguard you'd watched out for a lot of people- spoiled celebrities, prideful and arrogant politicians, and a particularly interesting Chef who had an unusual desire to cook everything with some kind of caffeine in it. That was probably your favorite client.

"Excuse me, miss," a voice broke the mumble in the next room, probably of detectives or cops sweeping the house for evidence. "You shouldn't-"

"I was Burke's bodyguard." You tugged your badge out or your pocket, allowing the interrupting police officer to take it and examine it. “You can verify with my assistant, Charles. Make sure you tell him he’s my assistant and not the other way around, though, he can be a dick.”

The cop hesitated, then gave a slight nod. “Well, we’re still cleaning up the scene.” His hands offered your badge back, and you slid it into your back pocket, satisfaction deflating. “You can come by later after it’s clean. Ballistics is running comparisons right now.” He paused and glanced at the shattered window. “Looks like the shot came from the garage. It’s the only side with no motion sensors or alarms.” The cop’s brows raised in interest. “Know why?”

“No.” You said, calmly, turning towards the front door. “I assume I can go there?” You heard no objection as you stepped outside, tugging your sunglasses back on over your eyes. The sun was unforgiving and you gave an involuntary hiss as the bright rays hit your eyes just right to temporarily give your vision black spots. You blinked strongly and hurried towards the garage. 

In truth, Burke had alarms everywhere except the garage because he had so many people and cars coming and going. For any new technology the billionaire was releasing, the man had drugs and other forms of entertainment coming in and out, and it was all stuff that would probably bring him down. That nondisclosure form was still somewhere in the house in some obscure filing cabinet and you really, really, really didn’t feel like having a lawsuit lurking over your shoulders. Life was too good- well, everything outside of people you were being paid to keep alive was good. 

Death really killed the whole “survival” business.

You clamored your way to the roof of the garage, noting the ladder was the same one that the gardener used around the several acres Burke owned. The police had to have put it here- the gardener only came in the mornings.

So who the hell climbed up here without a ladder? Most people didn’t want to put in the effort to scale this freehand or wedge between the wall of the garage and the fence to shimmy up. That someone had to be either very determined to kill Burke, for personal motive or financial motive.

You brushed off you pants and glanced around, looking down at the surface of the roof. Nothing- not even a bullet casing- had been left behind. You frowned and raked a hand through your hair, skimming your scalp as you examined the roof, walking to the edge closest to the window.

You stared in, at the shattered glass, pondering. Burke was heading to bed when he'd been shot, you assumed, so the assassian would have had to know his routine. Your mind ran through possibilities again, but you could come up with none that were motivated personally enough or fit enough to climb without much assistance. You trailed along the surface, frowning, unable to find anything, but paused at a smudge of black paint, small, on the corner of the roof.

____

You turned your car down the street, exhaling softly as you pulled into your driveway.

99. That was what the marks said. Very subtle, meant nothing, unless it was a birth year or graduating class. The cops had come back, irritated, snapped a couple of pictures, and told you off about your wild theories of a fiscally motivated assassian. Apparently, you watched too many scret agent movies, or something like that.

You opened the door of the car and climbed out, frustration making you slam it shut. You inhaled the scent of the yard- clean, fresh cut, and perhaps it could help soothe your anger before you went inside.

After fumbling on your Keychain, you unlocked the door and hurried in, locking it behind you. "Cross?"

A savory aroma wafted from the kitchen, and your mouth watered. Your toes found their way out of your shoes and you hurried to the kitchen, pausing briefly at the doorway.

Cross's lanky figure was leaning over the skillet, stirring something, pale hands moving in expertise across the stove top. "Darling, you're late." He drawled.

You sighed, fully entering the kitchen. "Yeah. Sorry." You leaned up and wrapped your arms around his waist, face pressing against his back. You sighed. The day felt a little less bad now- filled with him. "Work kept me."

"How was work?"

You grunted. "A killer. An absolute killer." The irony was not lost on you, but it was lost to your boyfriend. He thought you were an editor for some book publishing company, because cover was the most important thing. You were one of those people trying to stay alive, after all.

Lies hurt, but it was one of the necessary ones. A little lie.

"Yikes." His hands drew plates to himself. "Mine wasn't much better. Got a few new clients, a few new cases." He sighed. "The Baliff forgot to submit evidence."

You mumbled against his shirt. "Law school really paid off, huh?"

"I'll say." He turned around, adjusting your arms, slowly taking your chin and leaning down to peck you. You always melted at his kisses, knees weak and brain numb, and he seemed to know it every time. You hummed, running your hands up his chest, the irritation for the day pooling to your midsection as your fingers gripped his shirt, your lips pulling in on his.

Cross tugged away gently, and you whined, fingers stubbornly clasped. "Wow, really frustrated today."

"Yes," You mumbled.

His lips pressed towards one of their corners in a half smile, and he picked your head. "Go shower. Then we can eat and I'll take care of you."

You hummed, fingers reluctantly releasing him, and you hurried away to the bathroom. You paused at the dresser, rummaging through, grabbing an especially large t-shirt and hipster underwear. Comfort was more important at the moment.

You climbed into the shower, turning the water to as hot as you could and scrubbing yourself off, humming in pleasure as the day came off you and went down the drain. The floral scent of the soap remained, the purple bad working diligently to rid you of your grime and frustration. Lavender really is a natural relaxant. You sighed and leaned back briefly on the tile, feeling every muscle in you ease at the same time.

After toweling off and getting dressed, your padded to the kitchen where Cross was pouring a your favorite wine. You sighed happily, accepting the glass as he skimmed your fresh-showered body. "Thanks."

"Of course." Cross picked up his own glass, taking a sip, eyes still diligently stripping you on their own. You shivered slightly, setting down your glass and looking up at him. "Dinner's ready," He mumbled, leaning in, pressing a hand to the counter of either side of you, leaving your back to the counter. "But I would much rather start with dessert."

You drew in a breath as he pressed his lips to your neck, drawing out a sigh with his teeth. You wrapped your arms around his neck, humming in agreement, and he scooped you up. Your groaned as he drew your legs around his lips, shifting, the agitating heat pooling back between your legs. "That's a good idea." You mumbled, whimpering as he bucked his hips slightly. "I just showered, though."

"Then we can take another one," He hissed, lips covering yours. "You're so damn intoxicating."

You mumbled something against his lips, unable to get a coherent response out as he dropped you on the bed. You bounced briefly, giggling, and he yanked off his shirt and joined you, climbing over you and hovering. "Come here, sweetheart," His finger traced over your shirt between your breasts, running down to the hem. "Let's end the day on a good note."

You whimpered, neck straining as you leaned up for his kiss, and you felt Cross snarl against you, tugging your surrendered form up closer to him. Your body relaxed again, neck loosening and head back against the pillow as he tugged your own shirt up, eyes gleaming with a primal eagerness that made you swoon, ready to work out the agitation for the day you both had.