#this is also coming off the heels of multiple of my coworkers getting yelled at on the phones last week

[iguessitsjustme]

work rant feel free to ignore i just need to get this out of my brain before i esplode:

My job not having any social media presence actually drives me insane...I'm going to try to rant without giving away where I work but my god. I work for an extremely well known (at least in the USA) organization and there's a lot of misinformation flying around out there and we do have a website, but just a website. That no one goes to or looks at unless they call and we direct them to exactly what they're looking for because they ask if we have it written down anywhere.

And I think it's incredibly...obtuse...to not have any presence at all. I'm not saying we need to have an extremely loud and huge presence. But even just like an official reddit or an official tiktok (we do have a twitter kind of but it is never used and I honest to god don't think anyone has access to it anymore) and even if those pages just have the most basic information on it, I think that would help. Just like "here's a link to our website. Here's our phone number. Here's which department handles what if you want to be asked for that specific department." I spend so much of my day on the phone with people that have questions that are so easily answered by just going on our website but no one does. Also don't even get me started on what they did to the website it looks like it got hacked now but it didn't.

This is a strange work rant for a Sunday night but I find myself annoyed. My coworkers and I send each other reddit posts of people misunderstanding things. I mean, they are willfully misunderstanding things they were previously informed of. In writing. But if we really want to make it better and more accessible for people, I think having the information presented in multiple ways would be best. Especially when we're dealing with children. These kids are on reddit and on tiktok and on twitter and they have questions and they are more likely going to go searching in those places to find information. And there are people that claim themselves as experts on all of those platforms but none of them work for or have previously worked for my organization. So they don't know. So these kids are getting incorrect information and then I get angry parents and children on the phone because they listened to the wrong person or organization and I'm standing by our policy and our rules and they don't like that.

Also sometimes they aren't angry on the phone because they were misinformed about something saying that they can't do this this or that and it turns out they can. And if they hadn't called they would have entirely missed the opportunity because they're going to the wrong sources because we, as an organization, refuse to be the source on a different platform other than our own.

And I get it. They don't want to hire someone to be the social media person because we are small and don't have the budget for that. But it's 2024. There are many people. Many staff. That have a lot of downtime (not my department unless it's the summer) and this could be the perfect task to give them. Even if it's just coming up with ideas to present. Not even necessarily filming anything. And videos don't need to show anyone's face or voice. We could literally do the most basic shit and it would be beneficial. It would count down on the number of calls we get and my coworkers and I would have time to do our jobs instead of spending half our time on the phone (do not ask how behind we are because it is sad).

There's something else I want to say about a different organization that I think this would help with but I cannot say without giving away where I work and also I can't bitch about our partner without causing problems. But if you live in the USA, you know about our partner, and I guarantee you hate them. But not as much as me. Never as much as me.

[sunnypogue]

Okay you know how coho!rafes gf is always super sassy and animated? So like what if one day she’s acting super off and down and rafe is like??? Bc she’s never been that way and she breaks down in front of him for the first time 🥺🥺🥺

wow this was lowkey cathartic.

sorry i am BAD at emotion but this is usually how it goes for me: bottle shit up and then explode at someone you love - not! healthy!!!! 

anyways, enjoy!

--

rafe was playing video games shirtless on the couch when you came home, announcing your late arrival via a slammed door.

“hi babe.” he offered, eyes glued to the screen, where he was shooting...something. “no, not you topper. shut up.” 

“hi.” you grunted, throwing your work bag on the table, kicking your heels off in the foyer. 

it had been a BITCH of a day - you had gone into your internship, expecting to finish up a project you had been editing all week, only to find it completely wiped from your hard drive. your morning was dedicated to trying to relocate your missing project - multiple phone calls to IT, a panicked text exchange with your mom, a desperate plea to your co-worker, who just shrugged and said, “you should have backed it up on your external.”

your lunch was spent getting screamed at by your boss, insisting that you piece something together before going home (also berating you for not backing the project up to your external hard drive.)

your afternoon (and evening) was spent recreating a shitty, dumbed down version of your project - you stared at the monitor with tears in your eyes, hand shaking as you attempted to put a two-week project together in 8 hours.

by the time you commuted home (a solid 40 minutes), you were completely and totally defeated - all you wanted was a hot shower and sleep.

you dragged your ass up the stairs, rafe’s voice yelling into his headset fading into the background as you made it into his room, immediately heading for the shower. 

you were so exhausted, you sat on the floor of the shower, letting the scalding hot water rain down over your shoulders, as you tried to muster up the energy to wash your hair.

by the time you emerged from the shower, skin red and pruned, it was near midnight. too exhausted to hunt down pajamas, you let your body collapse onto the bed, wrapped in nothing but a towel.

you felt pathetic.

you weren’t used to the feeling - normally, you liked challenges, thrived in adversity - but this job was different. despite it initially being your “dream job” with a “dream company, you were completely out of your comfort zone. 

you were thrown into an arena where you didn’t know as much as your coworkers, and despite your effort, you still managed to fuck up the little things (or, in this case - a big thing). you had never NOT been good at something - and it sucked.

you noticed you were crying the same time you noticed the bedroom door opening, rafe’s voice breaking your internal monologue - “babe?”

“what?” you snapped, quickly wiping any evidence of emotion off your face.

rafe frowned, stepping into the room, “i just wanted to see what you were doing - you didn’t come down after you showered.”

you scoffed, “okay, next time i want to take a long shower and lay down, i’ll confirm with you. sorry.”

“woah!” rafe held his hands up in surrender. “babe, it wasn’t an accusation - i just wanted to see if you were okay -”

“i’m fine, rafe.” you cut him off, looking down at your nails.

“you don’t seem -”

“what, rafe!” you yelled. “what the fuck do you want from me? i’m tired, i worked all day, leave me alone.”

“i want you to talk to me!” rafe growled. “you don’t fucking talk to me - ever since you started this job. you come home upset, and you shut me out!”

“fine! you wanna talk? let’s fucking talk.” you swung your feet off the bed, sitting upright. “i fucking hate my internship. i fucking commute 40 minutes one way, at the ass crack of dawn, only to get ignored by my coworkers, and screamed at by my boss. i have no idea what the fuck i’m doing, i’ve cried in the bathroom stall FOUR times this week, and now, i fucked up a massive project that i was really -” your voice was starting to crack at this point, hot tears sliding down your cheeks. “REALLY fucking proud of.”

you were really starting to cry at this point, completely overwhelmed from your day. “i just don’t know what the fuck to do. i thought this was what i wanted, but i don’t. i don’t fucking want to do this anymore. i don’t want to feel like this anymore.” you whispered, burying your face in your hands.

you felt the mattress next to you dip. next thing you knew, you were in rafe’s lap, cradled in his arms as you sobbed, all of the emotions from the first two months of your job releasing in that moment.

“i’m sorry.” he murmured, running his hand up and down your back. “i didn’t realize you felt like this - i’m sorry you felt like this.”

“s’not your fault.” you hiccuped, catching your breath. “i didn’t really want you to know it wasn’t going well - i thought it would get better.”

“you know you can always come and vent about this shit with me, right?” rafe asked, thumbing fresh tears from your cheeks. “i know you like to be on top of everything and in control, but you don’t have to pretend with me. i’m not going to judge you.”

you shrugged - it wasn’t easy for you to get vulnerable. “i just -”

“no. baby, look at me.” rafe’s voice was stern.

you looked up, meeting his stare.

“you don’t have to be perfect at everything you do. you don’t have to get shit right the first time, every time. so this job sucks - fuck it, that’s why you take internships in college. now you know what you don’t like. finish out strong - like i know you will, because you attack everything in life with an insane amount of determination, and we can figure out other options for you in the spring.” 

your bottom lip quivered, fresh tears filling your eyes.

“shit, baby - was that not - i didn’t mean -” rafe fumbled over his words, hands going to cup your face.

“no! no, that was -” you hiccuped, tears spilling. “fuck. that was exactly what i needed to hear.”

rafe exhaled, the momentary panic leaving his body. “you’re so fucking talented - and you’re so fucking hard on yourself. just...just come talk to me, next time. we’re in this shit together, baby. i want to help.”

you sucked in a shaky breath, leaning up to hook your arms around your boyfriend’s neck, “love you. mean it.”

“love you too.”

[atlafan]

Take it Slow - Part Twelve

a/n: okay this is my first shot at a harry:y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. y/n had a bad experience with an ex over a year ago, and finally accepts her coworker and good friend Niall’s invitation to go on a blind date with his friend Harry.

(Shorter part, but there is fluff and a little bit of smut.)

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight Part Nine Part Ten Part Eleven

Masterpost

Your hair is straightened and pulled half up. You have your new navy blue dress on that your mom bought you. It has a sweetheart neckline, and is tight around you, coming a few inches above your knee. You have a pair of white strappy heels on. You feel great and you look great. You grab a small box with a bow on it, and stuff it into your purse. Harry texts you letting you know he’s downstairs. You walk out and see him standing outside his car. He looks good enough to eat. His hair is slightly wet, and pushed up off his forehead. He’s wearing black dress pants, and a light blue button up. You walk up to him and wrap your arms around his neck.

“You look absolutely stunning.” He says into your ear, sending a shiver up your spine.

“I could say the same to you.” You say smugly.

He opens the car door for you, and off you go. Harry takes you to a nice restaurant with lots of food options. As always, he pulls your chair out for you, and it feels like everything is normal again.

“Have you spoken with Niall?” He asks.

“Yeah, I called him earlier to let him know I was alright. He was still with Sarah, so she’s in the loop as well.”

“Oh good. I know he was worried about you. I’m glad he was there last night.”

“Me too.” You put your hand out for his, and he takes it. ��But I was also happy to be taken care of by you. You’re always so wonderful Harry.” You look down and see that his nails are now a nice peach color, and black. “Did you get your nails done today?”

“Yeah…I needed to relax, so I went in last minute.”

“I love this color combination.” You smile up at him. “I would love to get our nails done together sometime. I think that would be a fun date for us. Have you ever gotten a pedicure?”

“You’ve never looked closely at my toes before, have you?” He laughs. “I think a spa date is a great idea. Why stop with nails? We could get massages too.”

“Now that is a great idea.”

A waiter comes over to take your orders. You both decline on alcohol. Instead you just get seltzer with a lime, and Harry does the same. Harry gets a vegetable dish, and you opt for pasta. He makes you laugh throughout the meal. He tells you stories from his trip, and you tell him about the time Niall ripped his pants at work. Once the check is squared away, another meal he wouldn’t let you pay for, you work up the courage to say what you’ve wanted to all night.

“Harry.”

“Yes?”

“I have something for you.” You take out the small box from your purse. “But before I give it to you, I have something to say.”

“Alright.” He swallows hard, unsure of what’s to come next.

“This last month and half has been amazing. You’ve made me so happy, and I feel this connection with you. When you gave me your key so I could water your plants, I didn’t think much of it, but the more I thought about it, I realized that you were really trusting me. And, well, I know I gave you back yours, but I want you to know that I trust you too. So, here.” You slide the box to him.

Harry opens up the small box, and sees your spare key. He smiles at it and looks up at you.

“It’s a key to my place. Don’t feel like you need to give me back yours, but it would be nice not to have to buzz you in, or if there’s a night you want to come over after work, you don’t have to wait for me to get there to come inside.”

He doesn’t say anything. He reaches into his pocket and takes out his key ring, and takes a key off it. He slides it over to you, and then places your key on his ring. You take his key and put it on your keychain.

“It means so much to me, that you trust me (y/n). And I want you to feel like you can do the same. There was no better sight than walking into my place, and seeing you there, just being comfortable.”

“I also want you to feel comfortable to leave some clothes at my place too, if you want. It’s easier for me to slip into your things, but I want you to have things ready if there’s a night you feel like staying over. I don’t want to keep waiting for weekends to have sleepovers.” His eyes look glossy, he looks as if he could cry.

“That would be great, thank you. Since we’re being vulnerable here, I have to admit, I sleep better when I’m next to you. And I love waking up next to you.”

“I feel the same way, Harry.”

“Care to go back there now? I’ve got my overnight bag ready to go.” He winks at you.

“Sounds good to me.”

When you get in to your place, you immediately kick your heels off, and go over to the couch. Harry rests his bag on the chair next to the couch, and sits next you. He puts his arm around you, and you throw a leg over his. He runs his hand up and down your back. You look up at him, and marvel at his features. He looks down at you.

“Staring?”

“Admiring.” He places a kiss to your hairline. “Harry?”

“Yes, love.”

“Kiss me, please.” He sighs. “What?”

“I’m afraid to. You’ve had a rough couple of days, and I don’t want to do anything that will upset you or trigger you.”

You get up, and move to straddle him. You take his face in his hands, tilting him up to look at you.

“I do not ever want you to be afraid. I appreciate you being cautious, and not wanting to upset me, I really do. I don’t want what happened yesterday to stifle our progress. That douchebag is not going to ruin what I want to have with you. I’m not anywhere near to being ready to give you all of my body, but I want to get there with you at some point. The only way to do that is to keep making small steps. So, please, fucking kiss me.”

With that, his hands go around your back, and he’s pulling you closer to him. His lips connect with yours, and you part yours immediately for him, sinking into the kiss and his touch. His tongue grazes your bottom lip before entering your mouth. It molds perfectly with yours, and you moan as his hands travel down to your butt.

“Bring me to the bedroom.” You say against his mouth.

He smiles, picks you up, and puts you over his shoulder, causing you to laugh and squeal. He brings you into the bedroom, and set you down on your feet gently. You turn around.

“Can you unzip my dress?”

“Mhm.”

You feel him step behind you. He slowly unzips your dress, and moves the material off your shoulders enough to gain access to your skin. He kisses your left shoulder, and gives you a little bite, sucking slightly. He does the same to your right shoulder. You shrug the dress off and let it pool at your feet. Your turn to face him, revealing a black lace bra and panties. You start to unbutton his shirt, and untuck it from his pants. You tilt your head up to kiss him while you undo his belt and pants. He takes his shirt off and the t-shirt he had on underneath. His pants drop to the floor and he steps out of them. He takes a really good look at you.

“You are so unbelievably sexy.” He pulls you in and presses you against him. He nibbles on your earlobe for a moment. You realize this is his thing. Harry likes to bite, and you love to be bitten by him. “Tell me what you want?” He whispers. You feel yourself getting wet for him, his words alone have the power to make you hot.

“I want your mouth.” You say into his ear.

“Where, love, tell me where you want my mouth.” You grab his thumb and press it to your clit, causing his chest to rise and fall.

“Here.”

Harry lifts you up, and places you on the bed. You scoot all the way back to the headboard, and he climbs on sitting in front of you.

“I’d like for my bra to stay on, but you don’t need to turn the lights off. I wanna see you.”

“Alright, baby.”

You lean back a little, and take a deep breath. He parts your legs, and places soft kisses along your inner thigh. His thumb rubs against your clit, with your panties in the way. He kisses you through your panties, and your mouth falls open, he’s making you pant already. He was teasing you.

“H, Harry…”

“Here right, you wanted me to kiss you here?” He asks looking up at you.

“Yes, please.”

“And you’re already wet for me, you know that?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, Harry, I’m already wet for you.” You don’t want to give him so much power, a grin grows on your face. “Don’t you want to taste?” His head completely perks up.

He grabs at your waistline, looking at you still. You nod and lift your hips so you can drag them down the rest of your body, and then tosses them on the floor. He licks his lips, and admires the shine from your wetness. You want him so bad, and he can see the proof. He kisses your clit first, lightly swirling his tongue around the bundle of nerves. He uses his hands to spread you apart further. He sucks on your clit and then uses the tip of his tongue to flick at it, up and down. Your back arches a little from the pleasure he’s already bringing you. Your fingers find his hair, pulling on his curls. His mouth moves down to your warm center, where you’re dripping for him. He guides both of your legs over his shoulders, as he laps his tongue all around you. He looks up at you for a moment, and smiles.

“So sweet, always so sweet baby.” This causes you to groan, and push his head back down to you. You feel his smile against you before he begins to lick again.

His tongue enters you, licking up as far inside as he can. You begin to moan, your chest rising and falling rapidly. You push your head as far into your pillow as much as you can. His hand moves from your right thigh, and thumb works on your clit.

“Oh, fuck, Harry!” You yell out. “That feels so good, please don’t stop!”

He licks into you faster, drinking all of you up. He rubs your clit faster and faster with his calloused thumb. His left hand has moved to press down on your stomach. You could feel your release coming.

“Harry, fuck, Harry I’m gonna come.”

He groans into you as you release onto his tongue. He continues to suck on you as you ride out your high, pulling harder on his hair. You feel a tear run down your cheek, and you wipe it away. He leans up, and hovers over your body, propping himself up on his elbows. He kisses you, even though you can slightly taste yourself, you don’t care. Your head is swimming with what he was able to do for your body. His tongue goes into your mouth, and you suck on it.

“If I keep my boxers on, can I rub against you?” He says looking at you with those green eyes you’ve grown so fond of.

“Yes.”

You spread your legs back out and wrap them around his waist. He presses his hard dick against you, and you grind into each other. You feel your wetness getting all over his boxers, and he grind into you further, dicks pressing hard against your clit. He kisses your neck and bites down slightly, causing you to moan. You loved the way it felt when his teeth would sink into you. You can tell he’s breaking the skin because he licks over the bite to try to sooth it before sucking on the same spot again. You bring your hips up to meet his, and he groans into your neck. One his hand travels down to grip your ass as you move against him.

“Fuck, (y/n), I’m going to-“ Before he can finish saying it, he comes into his boxers, and you feel the warmth from it hit you. This turns you on, making you come undone again.

“Shit, Harry!” Your back arches as you ride out your second high of the night.

He rests his head on your chest for a moment, trying to catch his breath. He looks at you and smiles.

“I’ll never get sick of hearing your say my name like that.”

“I could say the same thing.”

He gets up, and does down the hall to grab his bag, he changes his boxers in the hall, and comes back in with his bag, he’s about to stuff his dirty ones into his bag, but you speak up.

“Babe, just put them in the washer, I have some clothes I still need to wash tomorrow, I can take care of that for you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.” You smile at him. He opens the hall closet, and puts his boxers inside the washer.

You get up and use the bathroom, come back at out and take your bra off. Before he can get a good look at you, you put the t-shirt he was wearing earlier on.

“This okay?” You ask, already knowing the answer.

“Looks better on you anyways.”

You both climb back into bed, and you rest on his chest. His arm goes around you, and keeps you close to him. His fingers trace circles into your back, and yours do the same on his chest.

“(y/n)?”

“Mm?” You say, as your eyes start to flutter closed.

“I’m really happy.”

“Me too.”

[vegetasleftsock]

A Devil’s Smile (Vegeta x OC)

Part 1

Chapter 2

Saturday morning arrived. Golden sunbeams poured through open blinds in a window next to Milla’s bed. Waking up, she blinked a couple of times to try to adjust to the light.

“No use,” Milla thought to herself. “My eyelids feel like they weigh ten pounds each.”

She shifted onto her stomach and plopped her head straight into her pillow.

“So soft.”

Milla breathed in the scent of her pillow in a deep breath. It smelled like apples- the scent of her favorite fabric softener.

Suddenly a wave of realization and horror washed over Milla. She used her arms to push herself up from the pillow, eyes wide.

“Oh my god, what time is it?” Milla whispered aloud. She flipped over and began to rummage through the sheets to try to find her phone.

“Where is it?” Milla said, frantic. “Fuck!”

She unravelled her comforter and shook it until her phone made a loud thud on the floor.

“9:52? No! Fucking shit!”

“3 missed calls?? All from Janice?? Great.”

Milla clicked on the missed call and the phone began to ring. As she was waiting for the phone to pick up, she rushed to the closet, pulling her oversized t-shirt over her shoulders as she walked.

“Hello?” the voice in the phone said.

“Hey, yea,” replied Milla while hopping into one leg of her black slacks. “Is Janice there?”

“No, she left to run errands. Joey’s here though, I’ll give you to him,” said the voice.

“Thank you, dear angels above, for watching over me,” Milla breathed a sigh of relief that it was Joey, her bandmate and coworker that she was going to have to talk to and not her boss, Janice.

“Ya, you’re welcome. Although, I don’t know if I’d fall under the category of angel,” Joey laughed.

“Joey, I overslept.” Milla said.

“No shit. I told Janice I sent you to try to get more of that special printer ink from the Office Depot off of 5th,” Joey said.

“You told me that printer ink was discontinued,” Milla said, with a ponytail holder in between her teeth. Her hands stayed busy pulling her hair back and brushing out bumps with her fingers.

“Uh-huh. But I didn’t tell her that,” Joey said. “That way when you get here and you show up empty handed, at least you have a reason, ya know?”

“Oh ok, nice! Damn, Joey- I owe you!” Milla said.

“Just get me a pack of cigs and some pretzels for lunch and we’ll call it even.”

“You got it. Thanks again, friend.” Milla smiled.

“No problem bud. See ya soon.” Joey replied, and then hung up the phone.

Milla took one last look in the mirror. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and silver jewelry hung from her ears. The jewelry was vintage and an emerald sat in the middle of each earring. The earrings were a prized possession- her grandmother gave them to her the year she started college.

A black blouse with floaty long sleeves and a bow tied loosely around her neck hung slightly off her small frame. The all black outfit made her look put together- professional. Greatly contrasting from the persona she wears at home and on stage during her performances.

A black and white cat curled through Milla’s legs as she leaned against her dining room chair to strap her tall chunky heels onto each foot.

“Okay, Chomps. I promise I’ll feed you in just a moment.”

Chomps continued to rub his head against her ankles and calves aggressively. Just as Milla placed her foot to the floor to walk to the cabinet where she kept the cat food, Chomps placed his teeth on her ankle and bit down- hard.

“OW, fuck, Chomps! Seriously?” Milla yelled. “I said I was on my way to feed you!”

Blood trickled down her ankle onto her heel, but she was already late. No time to waste.

Milla opened the cabinet and pulled out a measuring cup to portion Chomps’s food. He obviously had an food obsession issue. She dumped the food into his bowl, grabbed her keys and ran out the door.

She sat down into her small silver Jetta and started the engine. As she started her car, it reminded her of the night before.

That guy- the one with the black, spiky hair and the death glare. Milla allowed herself to reflect and replay her interaction with him.

She never even got his name. Not that she really cared. What was his problem? He approached her after the show at her car for what reason?

If he wanted to hurt her or be a pervert, there was nothing stopping him. Milla was strong for her small stature, but she was nothing compared to him. He was clearly ripped. She could tell by every muscle in his toned arms, folded over his chest that also appeared to be rock solid. His shoulders were big and built and even though he wasn’t the tallest guy she had ever met, he still towered over her.

“Too bad he’s fucking odd. He’s hot.” Milla thought to herself.

Before she could think any further about the situation, Milla had arrived at work. She walked through the front doors of the doctor’s office and found her desk, acting like she wasn’t an hour and a half late.

“Good morning, Milla. Did you find anything at the Office Depot? I really need that ink.” Janice, the office manager and Milla’s boss said.

Milla took a deep breath and spun around in her chair to face Janice.

“Janice, I’ve got some bad news about that. They discontinued the ink.”

“I have a hard time believing that,” Janice said. “Did you ask to speak to the manager?”

“I did,” Milla said. “I even asked the manager to call the distributor and they said it’s production has been indefinitely suspended.

“Great,” Janice sighed. “Next time can you clock out if you’re going to take more than 30 minutes to drive across town? Thanks.” Without another word, she turned on her heel and left Milla at her desk alone.

“NeXt TiMe CaN YOu ClOck Out,” Milla mocked.

Even though Milla was annoyed by Janice’s never-ending passive aggressive remarks, she was relieved to be relatively unscathed throughout the day.

However, Milla didn’t get to take her lunch break, which means she didn’t have time to get Joey his thank you gifts for saving her behind.

Milla tied up any loose ends and threw her purse over her shoulder. She waved goodbye to her coworkers and she walked to the back of the office to find Joey.

“Hi, friend.” Milla said to Joey, who was slinging his Levi jean jacket over his broad shoulders.

Joey was about 6 foot, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was average build, but his arms and legs were lanky.

Any girl would normally fawn over Joey, but Milla considered him to be like a brother.

“Heading out?” Joey said while grabbing his keys from his desk and sticking them into his jacket pocket.

“Yup. Let me take you out to dinner since I didn’t get to buy you pretzels and cigs.” Milla said, starting towards the back exit of the office.

“I’m down. As long as I get something to smoke and we go somewhere that has the big kind of pretzels.”

Milla laughed. “Sure thing, dude.”

They both climbed into Milla’s Jetta and started driving to one of their favorite breweries, not far from the bar they perform at every Friday night.

On the drive over, Milla lit Joey a joint and told her the story of the guy from the bar. How he met her at her car, got defensive, but never even tried to lay a hand on her.

Joey took a puff and laughed. He told Milla that he assumed the mystery man was probably too nervous to tell her that she was pretty.

Once they got to the brewhouse, they ordered a full flight of beer, pretzels, and a medium pepperoni and basil pizza to share.

They discussed work, talked shit about Janice, and Joey talked about his multiple sketchy encounters with recent hookups.

“Alright, you ready to call it a night?” Joey said.

“Ugh, no I really wanted to finish my beer. It’s only 9:30.” Milla said, pouting at Joey.

“Normally I would stay with you, but I have to meet my mom for breakfast at 8. She’ll have my neck if I’m not there.”

“Understood.” Milla said.

“I’ll just grab an Uber so you don’t have to drive. You should too. Call me if you need anything and please be careful.” Joey said, knowing he couldn’t convince her to leave.

“Ew, you’re not my dad.” Milla laughed. “But yes, I will be extra careful if you insist.”

“Thanks.” Joey patted Milla on the back before heading outside to catch his ride.

About 15 minutes later, Goku, Bulma and Krillin walked into the brewery. They sat at the bar, close enough to Milla to get a hint of who she was.

Goku squinted at Milla. “Hmmm..”

“What is it, Goku?” Krillin asked.

“I feel like I’ve seen that girl somewhere, but I can’t put my finger on where.”

“Ha! I know,” Bulma laughed. “That’s the girl that got Vegeta all flustered!”

“From yesterday? The singer?” Goku asked. “She looks so different!”

“She probably works, Goku. Singing isn’t usually super lucrative.” Bulma explained.

“But she’s so good at it!” Goku said. “Excuse me, miss?”

Goku had moved over so that he and Milla were a seat apart. He tapped on her shoulder to get her attention.

“Uh- Hi.” Milla smiled. “Do I know you?”

The guy appeared relatively harmless and the two friends who joined him gave off good vibes. Milla decided to lessen her guard a little.

“Not really. We saw you sing last night. I just wanted to let you know that we all really enjoyed it!” Goku smiled. “By the way my name is Goku and these are my friends, Krillin and Bulma.”

“Nice to meet you guys. I’m Milla. Thanks for the compliment and for coming out last night. I’d love to see y’all there next Friday as well.” Milla beamed, cheeks a little pink from the alcohol.

“I wouldn’t mind going again,” Bulma said. “Your singing is great but it was pretty great to watch Vegeta get all flustered too.” She laughed.

It suddenly clicked for Milla. The blue haired girl and the guy with the nice smile were the ones who were at the table with the grumpy mystery man.

“Vegeta?” Milla moved her head to the side a little. “That’s the guy who got embarrassed and left after I flirted with him, right?”

“Yup. That’s Vegeta!” Goku laughed. “He’s a little hard around the edges but he’s a good guy.”

“Hard around the edges. That’s one way to explain it.” Milla said eyebrows raised. She took another swig of her stout beer.

“Wait-,” Krilled said. “You sound like you know Vegeta.”

“Hardly.” Milla smiled. “He approached me at my car after the show.”

Bulma laughed. “So that’s where he went! It doesn’t sound like he made the best impression.”

Milla puffed up her chest and held her arms out to the side like she had big muscles. “If you knew who you were talking to, you wouldn’t be laughing. Foul woman!” Milla said, imitating Vegeta.

The four of them shared a laugh before Goku was pulled off his barstool.

“Kakarot! Did you forget about our night training? I’ve been waiting for over 30 minutes and I find you HERE of all places, doing god knows what with-“

Before Vegeta could continue, Milla placed her hand on Vegeta’s shoulder.

“Dude. Shut up, relax. Drink a beer or something before your head explodes.”

Vegeta’s face pulled in a snarl as he looked to see who would have the nerve to say such a thing. His eyes met with Milla’s and his expression turned from anger to shock.

Bulma, Goku, and Krillin sat and watched. They were surprised at Milla’s bluntness with volatile and moody Vegeta.

“You,” Vegeta said, brushing Milla’s hand off of his shoulder. “What are you doing here? Are you all just friends now or something?”

“And what does it matter to you?” Milla laughed.

“Ugh.” Vegeta scoffed. “You’re intoxicated.”

He crossed his arms and inhaled the air again. “And you’re bleeding.”

“What?” Milla furrowed her brow in confusion. She was definitely weirded out again.

He leaned down to follow the smell.

“Dude, what the fuck?” Milla cursed at Vegeta.

“Here.” Vegeta brushed his finger against the bite marks on her ankle. “Looks like some kind of small animal marked you.”

Milla then remembered that this morning she didn’t have time to attend to her wound from Chomps.

“Oh, you’re right. That was Chomps.” Milla and Vegeta’s eyes met once more.

“Wow, Vegeta! That’s crazy how you knew that just by smelling.” Goku said.

Vegeta scoffed and rolled his eyes in response.

“Who’s Chomps?” Krillin asked.

“My cat. He bites when he’s hungry, so I named him Chomps.” Milla said.

“Hmph. Your cat and I have something in common then.” Vegeta said while giving Milla a sly grin.

“Kakarot, I’ll let you play your little games for now. But I will not be as lenient if you fail to show for training tomorrow morning. ON TIME.”

Before Milla could even process Vegeta’s words, he had already left.

“Looks like someone has a little crush on Milla,” Bulma said and gave Milla an encouraging wink.

“What’s his deal?” Milla asked. “Why can’t he just buy me a beer or ask me out like any normal human being.”

“Probably because he’s a Saiyan!” said Goku. “And so am I!”

“A what?” Milla said, looking lost.

“I can explain it all later,” Bulma said. “If you’re free you should come over to my place tomorrow night and I can fill you in. I could make dinner for everyone!”

“Are you sure we can’t do it tonight,” Goku whined. “I’m hungry.”

“Goku, you just cleared the wing place we went to of their entire inventory for the week. You don’t think you can wait until tomorrow?” Krillin asked.

“I guess.” Goku pouted. He quickly perked up. “Can you come, Milla? It’d be so fun to have you there!”

“Sure, I can go.” Milla said. She was apprehensive, but the kind nature of the three in front of her and the craft beer bubbling through her system told her to not worry about it.

“Great! Do you have an iPhone?” Bulma asked.

Milla dug in her pockets and pulled out her iPhone.

“Awesome,” Bulma said. “I’ll just connect to your phone through mine and give you all of our numbers, and it’ll put your number into our phones.”

At this point, Milla was ready to go home and sleep. She nodded her head in agreement.

“You look tired Milla, do you need a ride home?” Krillin asked, aware of how quiet Milla had gotten.

“Please.” Milla replied, her eyes fighting to stay open.

“I can help. Where do you live?” Goku said.

“Apple Cove apartments. Not too far from the Sprint skyscraper.” Milla said.

“Got it! Put your hand on my shoulder.” Goku smiled at Milla, helping her onto her feet from the bar.

“It’s okay, Goku I can walk.” Milla said.

“Just trust me.” Goku looked down at Milla and held his hand out.

Milla reluctantly gave her hand to Goku and he placed it on his shoulder. Milla’s arm was almost completely extended, making the height difference between the two of them glaringly obvious.

Krillin chuckled. “Man, I thought I was short.”

“Bye Milla! See you tomorrow at the party!” Bulma said as she waved.

“Bye, nice meeting you. See you tomorrow.”

Goku placed his fingers to his forehead and before Milla could blink again, she was in front of her apartment complex.

“Holy shit, am I really that drunk?” Milla said, eyes wide.

“It’s instant transmission. Pretty cool, huh?”

“I’m not even going to crack open that can of worms tonight,” Milla said before hiccuping.

“Is it okay if I walk you to your apartment?” Goku asked.

“No really, you’ve done a lot. Thank you for all your kindness.” Milla said.

“Please. I wouldn’t feel too good if anything bad happened to you.” Goku said while scratching the back of his neck.

“Okay-“ Milla said reluctantly. “Promise you’re not creepy?”

“I don’t think I’m creepy?” Goku said innocently while looking at Milla.

“I don’t think you are either,” Milla chuckled between hiccups.

Goku walked Milla to her apartment, made sure she was settled, and even fed Chomps.

She was fast asleep by the time he was ready to go home. Goku pressed his fingers to his forehead and transmitted to the kitchen of Capsule Corp.

“Boy am I starving!” Goku said while rubbing his stomach.

“Kakarot.” Vegeta said, standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

“Oh, hi Vegeta,” Goku said with his head in the fridge. “Did you come to get snacks too?”

“What I was doing in this kitchen before you got here is none of your business.” Vegeta said, pushing the bags of fruit snacks further into the pocket of his black sweatpants.

“Oh. Okay.” Goku said. “That Milla girl is really nice, the singer one?”

“So that’s her name. She has an attitude,” Vegeta stated plainly.

“I’m guessing that’s something you like in women.” Goku shrugged, a plate with an entire turkey in his hands.

“Kakarot-“ Vegeta growled, stepping closer to Goku.

“Good news, she’s coming to Bulma’s get together tomorrow night. You’ll get to spend more time with her. If you play your cards right, you might be able to have a normal conversation with her too.” Goku laughed.

“Why do you smell of her?” Vegeta asked.

“I took her home. She was pretty drunk and I didn’t want her to try to make it home alone.” Goku said in between bites. “You could’ve taken her if you would’ve stayed longer.

Vegeta scoffed and walked out of the room. “Training. 8 AM. DON'T be late.”

[shedyou-blog]

Rush (Adonis Creed One-Shot)

Summary: A young intern has a rough start to her day, and running into a certain stranger is just the icing on the cake. 

Warning: Mild language.

Word count: 3,399

Notes: I might turn this into a series, but for now it’s just a quick one-shot that I wrote last night. This is my first ever piece of writing that I’ve shared, so I’m pretty nervous. Feel free to leave your feedback or any requests, as I’m keen on wanting to better myself as a writer. Also, thank you to my friend, Brittani, for being my proofreader/editor! I appreciate you! You guys can check out her material @killmongers-counselor ❤️

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“Thank you so much, Greg!” I cried out to the barista behind the Starbucks counter as I made my way past the crowded sea of people trying to get their morning beverages and breakfast. Holding a piping hot cup of coffee in one and my briefcase in the other, I used my shoulder to quickly push the door of the Starbucks open and made my way on to the ever so lively, busy streets of New York City.

This morning had been a doozy, considering the fact that I overslept, and was now running late for work. As an intern for one of the top public relations firms in the country, I made it my mission to appear as professional as possible in order to achieve the career that I’ve always wanted, which was to be the best damn publicist in the entertainment business that the world had ever seen.

Glancing down at the rose gold Apple watch on my wrist, I cracked one eye open, scared to look at the time displayed on the tiny screen. “Fuck!” I let out a tumultuous groan as I proceeded to power walk down the congested sidewalk amongst other wayfarers trying to get to their individuals destinations. There was never a time where NYC wasn’t busy, especially during the weekdays. The streets were always filled with employees making their way to their nine to fives. I fret that I wasn’t going to make it to my job on time, becoming annoyed and panicked as I damn near sprinted, finally approaching the area in which my workspace was located. The only issue was that I was on the wrong side of the street and making it across the hectic street would prove a challenge. However, at this moment in time, I didn’t care about anything other than making it to my job, so I took my chances. Holding up my hand that was preoccupied by my briefcase, I began to jog across, passing by a few cars. The owners of the cars were obviously irritated, making sure that they honked their horns at me to let me know how dumb I was, but I didn’t care.

I was halfway across the street when suddenly, my heel got caught in a subway grate, causing me to lose my footing, but I quickly recovered by stretching my arms to my sides, which helped me with my balance. Once I got my body to stop swaying back and forth, I crouched down to try and retrieve my heel which was still stuck in the subway grate. “Oh, my fucking god, you have to be kidding me right now.” I harshly whispered to myself, thinking my morning couldn’t get any worse than what it already was.

“Aye, watch out!” I heard someone bellow out, but I was way too focused on trying to save my heel to pay them any attention. “Hey!” They yelled again, and that’s when my entire body crashed into the sidewalk. It was as if something, or more so, someone, had collided right into me.

I let out a shriek, bewildered and thinking over what the hell had just happened. A few seconds later, the weight that had slammed into me removed itself while I still laid on the hard, gray concrete. “What the fu- “I turned my body around and sat up, so I was sitting on my butt, and that’s when I looked up to see a well-built African-American man standing over me with his somewhat swollen hand extended to me. Before I grabbed his hand, I analyzed him quickly. His torso was clad in a skin tight, long sleeved black shirt, which was layered with a warm black leather jacket with beige fur lining the outsides. His jeans were a dark wash blue and they slightly sagged a little, but not too much to where they were falling off his ass. He adorned a pair of classic tan Timberlands on his feet. He was good looking, handsome, actually. I’ll give him that. Hesitantly, I took his hand into mine and he pulled me up, helping me stand to my feet. My feet. Underneath my left foot, I could feel the hard, cold, gravely pavement. I glanced down, finding that my shoe was no longer attached to my foot and my eyes immediately darted toward the street to see that it had already been ran over, and was continuing to be ran over by other vehicles making their way through town. “SERIOUSLY?!” I huffed out, sulking and stomping my feet, to which the male currently standing before me found to be amusing. I quickly shot him the hardest glare I could muster which only made him laugh even harder. If I wasn’t so angry, I would have noted how perfect his teeth were, but I was way more focused on giving him a piece of my mind than complementing his features. “I don’t see what it is that you find so funny. Now what am I gonna do? I literally have to be at work in three minutes and I’m missing a fucking shoe!”

With a shake of his head, he beamed down at me. “It was either gonna be you or the shoe. I figured you were worth more than an object that could be easily replaced.”

“Well that’s where you’re wrong, because that shoe was VERY expensive, limited edition actually, therefore it can’t be replaced!” I spoke loudly with an eye roll and with as much venom that I could lace into my voice.

“Listen, if the shoes mean so much to you, I’ll buy you another pair to cover the damages.” He said with an exasperated sigh, sensing my anger through the tone of my voice.

“What part of these are limited editions did you not understand? Did you not listen to a word I just said?” I was pretty much yelling at the guy now.

He cocked an eyebrow at me as he looked at me in shock. “You know usually when someone gets their life saved, they show a bit of gratefulness by saying thank you. You’re crazy to wanna risk your life over a shoe of all things.”

“Yet you’d risk your life for a complete stranger, someone who you don’t know and will probably never see again?” I inquired, raising my eyebrow to imitate his earlier facial expression. I knew I was coming off as extremely rude and bitchy, but I was too far gone in rage to even care.

He gave a slight shrug of his broad shoulders. “Well, I’d rather die as a hero than die as a moron.”

“Excuse me? The hell is that supposed to mean?” I questioned, getting offended by his smart comment.

He rolled his eyes and shook his head while waving me off. “It doesn’t mean anything. Just leave, y’know…. so you won’t be late for work.”

“Oh, I’m going! You don’t have to worry about that!” I clapped back, making sure the tone in my voice was dripping with nothing but sarcasm. I quickly turned around and limped my way to my destination, before growing even more annoyed and taking the remaining heel off. Once inside the building where my job was located, I scurried through the front lobby with my head down, embarrassed to be seen by my fellow coworkers in my current state. I could hear murmurs and whispers as I felt people’s eyes burning a hole through my body. After what felt like forever, I reached the elevator and climbed in with a number of other employees, squeezing my way through so I could press the button that would take me to the tenth floor of the building. Once again, I could feel eyes on me, so I concentrated on getting to my meeting on time, and also tried to come up with an explanation as to why I was walking into a professional setting barefoot. This internship meant everything to me and was the key to achieving my dream job. I couldn’t let this mishap cost me everything that I’ve worked so hard to get.

When the elevator doors opened, I lightly jogged to the conference room, walking in to see my boss, Mr. Addington, and multiple other colleagues sitting at the long, freshly varnished conference table. I nodded my head swiftly as a greeting, and hurriedly made my way to my seat.  “You’re just in time Ms. Bridges. I was starting to think I was going to have to let you go. We are waiting on our new client to arrive and then we’ll proceed with the meeting.” I sighed, giving him a light “okay” as a response, honestly exhausted from how rough my morning had been. I was just grateful he hadn’t noticed my missing shoes.

Once seated, I took a deep breath, trying to relax my thoughts. I looked around the table nervously and spotted that everyone had their required paperwork stacked in front of them, just in case the client decided to pick who he or she wanted to represent them. Then it hit me. When I got knocked over on the sidewalk earlier, my coffee AND briefcase fell out of my hands and onto the jam pact streets of the Concrete Jungle. “Shit!” I said under my breathe so no one around me could hear. I scooted my chair back and stood up, straightening my outfit which had been wrinkled due to my fall a few minutes earlier. “Mr. Addington,” I squeaked out. “I apologize for the inconvenience, but I just realized that I left my paperwork out- um, on my desk! If you don’t mind, could I go and get it really quick?”

“Go ahead.” He finally spoke after a few seconds of sitting in silence, which seemed like an eternity. I nodded, trying to make a beeline for the conference room door, but then Mr. Addington stopped me.

“Ms. Bridges?” He called out from behind me, resulting in me stopping dead in my tracks, shutting my eyes tightly in order to brace myself for what I knew was about to come. “Why on earth are you walking around in a professional setting without shoes on?”

Turning around slowly, I gave him the most apologetic look that I could assemble, opening my mouth to say something, but someone standing behind me decided to speak for me. It was him.

“It’s because I spilled coffee on them. I might have gotten some on her briefcase too.” I turned my head in the direction of where the voice was coming from, only to see the man I had encountered earlier standing before me, holding a pair of the very same shoes that had been damaged along with my briefcase. He sported a dazzling smile, showing off his pearly whites while handing the items over to me. “Here you go, ma’am. Sorry about all the trouble.”

My mouth was wide open as my jaw hung low, in complete shock and disbelief that 1) I would run into him again and 2) he had found the same exact limited-edition shoes I was sporting earlier. I struggled to find the words to say, until I saw him stalking over to the other empty seat at the table, that’s when the realization hit me. “Wait, you’re our new client?!” I whispered to him before he got too far out of ear shot. He turned his head slightly, winking his eye at me with a cheeky grin plastered along his face.

“Well then Ms. Bridges, if you don’t mind, could you please take a seat, so we can get this meeting started?” Mr. Addington suggested. “Y-yes sir.” I stuttered while clearing my throat, ecstatic that I wasn’t going to lose my internship and headed towards the table to take my seat.

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When the meeting was over, everyone in the room stood up from their seats and began to fill out of the room, including the man whose name I had already forgot despite him being the topic of discussion at today’s meeting. I was still wanting to hold on to a little bit of anger, but it was hard to do so after his grand gesture of retrieving my briefcase and finding me my prized heels. Apparently, he was really popular in the boxing world, being the gifted seed of another popular boxer who had died before he was born. He recently became the new heavyweight champion of the world and was in need of a publicist to help mold his public image to the world. It seems as if he was known by the majority of the employees in the conference room, except me, considering I’m not into sports like that. The meeting ended with him not deciding who he wanted as a publicist, so Mr. Addington decided that we’d have another meeting soon unless he made up his mind later on today.

I quickly caught up to the man in the hallway, tapping him lightly on his shoulder with a manicured nail to get his attention. “Excuse me.” I croaked out, slightly nervous and embarrassed that I had made such a fool out of myself earlier.

He stopped walking and turned his head halfway, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. I could tell he was smirking, his eyes held a glint of amusement in them. “Yes?” He responded.

“Um, h-how did you get these? They’re-“I began to ask before he turned around fully and cut me off.

“Limited edition?” He chuckled, finishing my sentence for me. His shoulders bounced lightly, finding the turn of events humorous. “Girl, you ain’t the only woman in this building with these. You know that, right? They aren’t as limited as you thought.”

I nodded my head, beginning to stumble over my words. “I mean, yeah but- I know b-but- “He cut me off again.

“Look, I bought ‘em off some woman’s feet ‘ight? Don’t even trip. There yours now so you should be happy now, right?” He answered in the most sarcastic tone he could convene, imitating how I was acting earlier. He started to walk away again toward the elevator.

“Thank you!” I blurted out loudly and he stopped dead in his tracks, his back facing me while his finger hovered over the button that would take him to the first floor of the building.

“What are you thankful for? The shoes, saving your life, or saving your job?” He cocked his head to the side. I couldn’t see his face, but I just knew he was sporting an exasperated look on his features.

“Everything.” It came out more like a question and he kissed his teeth in response. “Look, I was dead wrong to not say thank you. I know I came off as a bitch and I truly apologize for being so nasty to you. I was just really stressed out and I know that isn’t an excuse to treat you the way that I did. I’m really sorry.”

He was still turned around the other way, nodding his head as a sign that he accepted my apology. “’Ight, I forgive you, but you owe me for doing me like that.”

“I’ll do anything! Just say the word.” I quickly rushed out, only to ponder that what I just said could be taken the wrong way. “Except sex. That’s out of the question. Anything but that.” He spun around at that statement, letting out a hearty laugh, his eyes squinting and his nose crinkling a bit. I hated to say it, but he looked absolutely adorable. He reminded me of a little kid at that moment. When he finally calmed down, he let out a small chuckle, shoving his hands into the pockets of his coat. “I promise no sex. Just dinner and movie… and for you to be my new publicist.”

“Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa. You mean like a DATE date? I asked, taken aback that he’d even mention that as an option. Not to put myself down or anything, but I considered myself to be pretty average compared to the women I’d assume were his type. He seemed to be out of my league. “And also, you want me to be your publicist? Nigga, did you see how we were butting heads earlier? Plus I’m just an intern. There are other people who were in that room that are way more qualified and have more experience than me. You really think that’s a good idea?” I said with hand on my hip.

He gave me a blank stare, kissing his teeth again. “Nah I mean a conference.” He responded sarcastically to my first question. “And how are you gonna get experience if you don’t go out in the field first hand? If you do a good job, you might get hired for a full-time position. I think it’s a great idea.” I nodded my head slowly, taking in what he just said. He was making a lot of sense.

“Well when you put it that way… okay, what the hell, I’ll do it.” I obliged, glancing down at the shoes that were now on my feet, clasping my hands together behind my back as I rocked back and forth on the heels of my feet to the tips of my toes. “And as for the date, I mean, that’s cool. I would love that…” I trailed off, trying to remember the name Mr. Addington referred to him by during the meeting.

As if he read my mind, he chuckled once again. “You can just call me Donnie.” He smiled, shaking his head lightly in delight.

“Donnie” I repeated under my breathe a few times, making sure his name was ingrained in my brain. I looked up at him, his gaze was slightly intimidating. “Well, I’m- “

“Amondi. How could I forget such a unique name?” He had a habit of finishing my sentences, I could see. It seemed like he always had a way of knowing exactly was I was going to say, and he just met me. “Wait, Mr. Addington never referred to me by my first name. How did you know?” I gave him a side eye, curious as to how he found out that piece of information.

“This morning must really got you frazzled.” He spoke, amusement lacing his voice. “It’s labeled on the front of your briefcase.”

“Oh… well yeah, that’s correct. So, uh, do you wanna take my number or should I take yours? My mom always told me that if a guy gives you his number, then that means he has nothing to hide and is serious about wanting to get to know you, but if he takes yours instead, then that means he probably has a boatload of other women and would rather have your number, so you won’t have such easy access to him. He can call you whenever he wants but you can’t do the same.” I gave him a knowing look, analyzing his face to see if I could gauge his reaction.

“Well then, you got a pen?” He raised a brow at me, a smirk slowly forming across his face. I nodded my head, reaching in to my briefcase to retrieve my favorite red ink pen. I was expecting him to hold his hand out, so I could scribble my number onto his palm, but was shocked we he briskly grabbed the pen from my hand, holding it in his to write his own number on my palm. I smiled at him for what was probably the first time today as he quickly wrote each digit one by one onto my somewhat shaky palm that he held still with his own.

I knew for a fact my mom would cuss me out and would continue to do so until the cows come home if she knew I had agreed to a date with a guy I barely knew, but he just seemed different. He actually seemed like he wanted to get to know me for me, plus he was encouraging me to step out of my comfort zone by being his publicist. Most of the guys I’ve been with could care less about my career.

And after all, he found a way to make the impossible, possible, and not just once, but three times.

Let’s just hope I’m right.

[babygirlofwakanda]

Sweet Treats

Characters— Black Reader X Erik Killmonger

Content— Chocolate Fluff, Sweet Looks, Tasty Touches and Sprinkled Kisses

Plot— For my girl @soldierandawar happy birthday 😭✨ Based off of the song, “Trip” by Ella Mai. In addition, I STRONGLY suggest listening to this song on REPLAY while reading to get further feels, but hey..

Narrative— Swirls of cream colored icing filled Jay’s vision while she circled her wrist around forming a perfect swirl ontop of the warm cupcake.

Placing the transparent frosting bag on the counter she reached over and dug her hand in the chocolate shaving sprinkling them over the frosting. Doing the same a couple more times Jay completed the dozen before wiping away the sweatbeads on her forehead with her forearm pushing up the hairnet keeping her braids in tact. “—fuck.” She rasped, once the cool air made contact with her open pores.

Realizing her edges curled up from the perspiration she harshly exhaled. Sitting the dozen cupcakes into the white box Jalah completed the order and sat the box into the fridge savoring the design and order.

Cleaning up her station with a hot rag she wiped up the messy icing, sweeped away the fallen sprinkled and flipped the opened sign around once it reached six o’clock. The yellow rays reflected over her as she counted her tips; being the employee of the month at one of the most popular bakeries at the capital of North Carolina had it’s perks and benefits.

However, her focus was quickly interrupted when she heard the clattering of multiple pots and pans in the kitchen along with muttered curses following the commotion. A giggle escaping from her mouth Jalah immediately knew it was her fellow employee, Erik in the kitchen. Rising up out of her seat Jalah turned on her heels to check out the scene, but the view of the muscular chestnut man rounding the corner stopped her movements.

The view of the flustered black man clad in a white apron with an arrangement of chocolate cream on it and cream icing smeared across his left cheek along with his dark dreads falling around his face created a faint heartbeat to form in Jalah’s lower regions.

Watching the rise and fall of his shoulders and the thin layer of sweat covering his face only indicated that he was working on something. Huffing, “Jalah, you got a minute?” He questioned, still slightly out of breath from his previous activities.

Raising her eyebrow out of curiosity she nodded, “Aight, go ahead and take a seat in the front and wait.” He instructed, before disappearing again.

Tilting her head slightly to the side Jalah untied the knot to her apron and hung it up on her hook before walking to the front of the store. Taking a seat on the white chair next to storefront Jay tapped her nails on the matching white table while looking at her view of people walking and cars driving through the pier.

“Jay! Do me a solid and close your eyes.” He yelled, with his back pressed against the wall of the hall as he glanced at his coworker. “What is this? Erik quit playing with me, you have five minutes until I clock out.” Jalah retorted, with a lengthy eye roll. Hearing the smacking of lips Jalah turned her head to spot Erik’s head peeking around the corner.

Shaking her head she obliged, “Okay, okay! My eyes are closed, I’ll even put my hands over my eyes just so you can quit playing.” Jalah exclaimed, once she covered her eyes. Losing one of her senses Jalah’s hearing increased as she heard the shuffling of his feet approaching her and the loud shrieking of the chair legs gliding against the tilted floor.

“You can open your eyes up now.” He announced, making Jalah futter her eyes open. Dropping her jaw in a instant Jay covered her mouth before a replacing her shock with a genuine smile.

“—aw, Erik! You did remember!” Jalah beamed, as she looked down at the multiple ice cream sundaes with sprinkles and a cherries all ontop of a cupcake.

Gazing at her wide smile Erik couldn’t help but to feel warm at the gesture he committed towards the sweet girl. After coming from a long troubling family history and enduring the rough climate of Oakland there wasn’t a lot of people Erik could lean on.

Deciding to change his surroundings Erik moved to the southern state of North Carolina for a fresh start.

After constantly receiving hard stares from strangers he found the one person who wouldn’t judge him on his flaws and instead embrace his loving side. Going from job to job Erik stumbled into the bustling store in desperate need of help. With the line increasing Erik made a good impression as he snuck behind the counter, put on an apron and assisted Jay at the front counter and started taking orders.

Within six months the two were inseparable, making great partners and employees the pair quickly grew closer. From spending eight hours a day together to closing the shop and having multiple flour fights the two were damn near best friends. “I couldn’t forget your birthday girl.” Erik grinned, as Jay grabbed a cupcake licking the melted chocolate.

“Well, thank you. Now I don’t have to give you the cold stare the rest of the week.” Jalah winked, at Erik before biting in the dessert. Moaning as she chewed Jay fluttered her eyes close as she was temporarily placed in a sugar coma.

Shifting in his seat Erik watched with intense eyes as Jalah’s lips were smeared with ice cream. He wanted nothing more than to reach across the table and lick the dripping milk from her lips. Instead of acting on his impluse he just clenched his fist under the table.

Finishing her cupcake Jalah crumbled up the polka dot foil and looked at Erik. “What is it?” She asked, once she caught a glimpse of his staring.

Shaking his head, “Nothing, you’re just cute.” He winked, causing a shy grin to cross her face. “Stop it.” She chuckled, avoiding his face and settling her gaze out the window. “—so, birthday girl what you getting into tonight?” Erik questioned, making Jay shrugged while she watched the sunset.

“Nothing much, I was just going to throw on my favorite romantic comedy, order some take out and call my mom.” Jalah continued, causing a chuckle to escape from Erik’s larynx. “Damn, girl. You sound like a middle aged woman living with her cat named Sam not a vibrant twenty-two year old living her best life.”

Glancing at her friend Jalah released a giggle realizing how boring her plans seemed. “What you need to do is let me take you out tonight, huh?” He asked, in a flirty tone. Snapping her head Jalah saw that he was serious and nodded, “I don’t see any harm in a couple of friends hanging out, okay.”

“Ight, you send me your address and I’ll pick you up around nine?” He confirmed, with a toothy smile on his face. Packing up her cupcakes Jalah nodded as a smirk was also present on her face. “Ok, nine it is.”

Locking up shop the two parted ways as Erik and Jalah got in separate cars and drove off. Reaching her high rise apartment Jalah immediately kicked off her shoes and released her bra tossing it into her dirty hamper once she got into her bedroom.

Stripping off the rest of her clothes Jalah took a long shower scrubbing away the scent of flour and fresh icing. Completing her daily hygiene routine Jay wrapped a towel around her body and went into her closet with small droplets of water trailing behind.

Digging into her closet she repeated the words of Erik’s text describing to her where he was planning on taking her. “—a grown, but sexy and lively club.”

Within ten minutes of figuring out the perfect outfit Jalah stood infront of her vanity mirror as she put on minimum makeup. Opting out of foundation Jay only put on a thin layer of concealer, darkened her brows, applied a stroke of highlighter and smeared the thick gloss on her lips ontop of the burgundy lip pencil.

Interrupted by the bell of her front door Jalah swiftly rose up from her table side desk before running her palms flat against the sleek material to her porcelain white colored jumpsuit. Shuffling out of her bedroom Jay walked towards her foyer before briefly stopping infront of the door to check her appearance one last time. Angling her head side to side she checked her jumbo braids, freshly laid edges and gold highlight poppin’ on the tip of her nose and cheekbones.

Hearing the ding of her front door again Jay harshly exhaled as doubled checked her reflection and took a step back to unlock and open her door. Pulling the wooden door back Jalah’s breath hitched as she let the door hit the back of her wall revealing a grinning, smell good and casually dressed Erik Stevens.

This was another side of Erik that Jalah has never seen before; the casual but sleek dressed Erik. As his usual loose dreads framing his head in a carrot top style it was braided back into four sections.

In addition, his normal fashion of black forward thinking quotes, symbolic symbols and historical black known and unknown figures on his hoodies and t-shirts was replaced with a thick ivory white crew neck that which was accessorized with gold necklaces. The rest of his outfit consisted of dark blue denim jeans with small rips to the knees and black jordan’s. “—damn, Jalah. This is how you stepping out tonight, just for me?” He teased.

Bashfully dropping her chin down to the floor Jay pushed her teeth into her bottom lip in attempt to disguise her shy antics. “Oh, please. You probably spit that game to all the girls you take out.” Jalah disregarded, with a hand wave in air.

“Nah, you got it all fucked up.” Erik corrected, with a simple shake of his head. Standing in the same spot Jalah studied his face for any indication of a lie, but detected none and went to grab her clutch purse.

Returning from her kitchen counter Jalah locked her door following Erik down the stairs of her apartment building. Assuming he hit the locks Jay watched the white chevrolet camaro light up to the sound of Erik hitting the locks. Walking ahead of her Erik opened the door and waited until she was inside with her seatbelt across her chest until he shut the door.

Traveling around the front of the car Erik situated himself inside before clicking his seatbelt and pulled the gear into drive. Reversing out of the parking spot Erik hit the road before pulling up to a red light.

Hearing the brief static of the radio before music followed Erik snapped his head at Jalah innocently touching the dial to the radio. “What you think you doing, girl? Touching my radio and shit.” Erik asked, with a smile tugging at his lips. “Just drive and allow me to control the music.” Jalah taunted, with a wink.

Turning his head just in time to press the gas petal Erik couldn’t help but chuckle at Jay. Within seconds he heard the soulful seventies inspired artist Childish Gambino’s Redbone vibrating through his system.

“—ay, leave it on that.” The Oakland native rasped, as he began tapping his thumbs against the steering wheel. With the song playing throughout the car the friends found themselves belting out the lyrics and doing the best two-step they could do in a seated position. “Go Erik, ah! Get it, get it.” Jay hyped, as she recorded Erik on her instagram stories.

The friends shenanigans continued until Erik pulled into the parking lot of a local restaurant. Hitting the locks when they walked away from the vehicle Erik held the door open for Jalah. “—ah, Erik. How are you holding up sweetie?” The cheesing hostess asked, with two menus in her hand.

Exchanging a faint smirk with Erik before clutching onto his forearm Jalah trailed behind him and looked around the booming restaurant. The multiple shades of melanin talking over wine and seafood, to the live band grooving and couples moving in sync to the music captured Jalah’s attention.

Still caught off guard by her surroundings Jay didn’t realize she was still in awe as she subconsciously sat in the chair Erik held out. Taking his own seat across from her Erik watched the scarlet red lights cascade on Jalah’s facial features as she still looked around.

“—I’m guessing you never been here before.” Erik stated, his baritone voice interrupting the music and clinging of silverware. Focusing her eyes on the man across from her Jalah’s cheeks rose as she realized that she hasn’t muttered a single word towards him.

Exhaling, “That obvious, huh?” She spoke, with a tilt of her head and rise of her eyebrows. “It is, but that’s straight. I’m glad I’m the nigga who got the pleasure to show the birthday girl something new.” He teased, making Jalah roll her eyes at his slight cockiness.

“I would have found out sooner or later, don’t get arrogant nigga.” She weakly retorted, with a flatlined smirk. “Ya’ know you have a smart ass mouth, if you keep that shit up imma have to show you something new what you could do with it.” He taunted, with his eyes dropping from her eyes and to her shiny lips.

“Nah, I’ll do you one better. How about you show me exactly what you want me to do then I’ll consider it.” Jalah winked, causing Erik to brush his large palm over his mouth in attempt to hide his smile.

“Aight, I see we have jokes now.” He laughed. Within a few minutes the waitress took their orders breaking up the sexual tension leaving the friends to converse about any and everything. The rest of the night went smooth as they laughed over a big bowl of crab legs and plates of shrimp, potatoes, corn and broccoli.

In addition, throughout the course of the dinner the friends continued to exchange flirtatious comments and touched hands even with the dripping of juices.

It was undiscovered love at it’s best.

Settled back into the car the two employees sat with their backs against the leather seats listening to the old bops of late night radio. “—it’s been real Erik, but we both have to get up early for work.” Jalah yawned, as she sat up and unlocked the door.

Quickly breaking out of his trance Erik shifted in his seat as he swiftly exited his car and jogged to stop Jay from walking any further. “Ay, Jay! Hold up for a minute.” He yelled, causing Jalah to pause her steps.

Pivoting on her heels Jalah stopped to see Erik coming up from behind. “Ye—?” She asked. Jalah’s question was briskly cut off as Erik suddenly gripped her soft face and pressed his plump lips against hers causing a whimper to escape her pharynx.

The kiss was short and sweet. Placing her hands on his ridge chest Jalah pushed away breaking the kiss before she sauntered away leaving Erik to stand there with low eyes and a heavy breath.

Confused at her motives Erik watched as Jalah reached the first step to the public stairs. Watching her intensely Erik saw her turn around to look at him.

“—hey Erik, how does a nightcap sound?”

Author’s Note— Breaking the stereotypical Erik day by day, lmao. However, writing this Erik shit won’t be a normal thang! I do this purely for friends only, lmao.

Anyways, everyone wish a happy birthday to Jalah on her page or below in the comments!

Taglist— @wakandan-flowerz @stressedgyal @texasbama @wakandas-vibranium @storibambino @theultimateblacknerdwithglasses @maya-leche @therevolution-willbelive @randomwordprompts @bartierbakarimobisson @great-neckpectations @soldierandawar @blackgirloneshots @destinio1 @cmonkillmonger @princesskillmonger @profilia @sisterwifeudaku @halfrican-heat @autumn242 @theshadesofbrown @siriuslycollins @504queen @lildashofmelanin @madamslayyy @drsunshine97 @lalapalooza718 @mysticbrownie @leahnicole1219 @ambthegamer @ashanti-notthesinger @s0eul @inlovewithmakeupcomicsanimelove @airis-paris14 @everybodylovesmormon @barely-emily @idilly @blackpantherimagines @mermaidchansons @lewatigress @dakotapaigelove @ursapharoh05 @barely-emily @inlovewith3 @taehyungsmelanin @hold-me-like-a-heart-beat @soulmates8

[theroundeviloftable]

Park Ranger

Pairing: Namjoon x Reader

Genre: Fluff, Soulmate AU

Summary: Y/N and Namjoon live in a soulmate universe where they receive the same injuries that the other does; for example, if one soulmate were to cut their finger, the other would receive the same cut spontaneously a few seconds later, without the initial pain but still with the blood/other physical effects.  You can imagine how well this would go for a pair of soulmates where one is just naturally clumsy, and the other works as a tree-climbing obsessed park ranger.

Word Count: 2,391

A/N: so this AU is something I wrote for a different pairing a while ago (its not my AU originally, but I lost the original post I got the AU idea from), but I thought that it would just fit Joon so damn well, so I decided to create this...whatever it is. As always, this has not been proofread at ALL lmao so go easy on me.  (Also I know I’ve been MIA for quite some time now...ha ha..don’t @ me bc I will fight)

Enjoy my lovelies!

“Y/N, I think you’re bleeding again...?”

You turned to your left to see your shift partner pointing at your forehead with a questioning look in her eyes.  You huffed out a tiny breath and brought your fingers to your forehead, feeling around until you felt moisture right above your left eyebrow.  You pulled your fingers away and, sure enough, they were coated with a thin layer of dark red blood.  Letting out another, albeit louder, huff, you turned away from your coworker and headed towards the first aid kit.

“You need some help?” She yelled at your retreating figure, but you replied back with a strong “NO”, and continued your 4th trip to the bathroom that day (only one of which had been to actually USE the bathroom), first aid kit in one hand and an ever-growing distaste for your “soulmate” in the other.  You hadn’t even been outside at all that day, hadn’t climbed a single tree, hadn’t given a single nature tour to a visiting elementary school group, and yet you already had a shallow cut on your forearm, a bruise on your calf, and now another cut above your eyebrow.

You hoped your soulmate was either a doctor or a tattoo artist because you were going to need some way to cover up all the scars he was responsible for.

~~~~~~~

Namjoon had one of the worst headaches in his life, and all because of his friend, Seokjin.  

He was visiting said friend at work, the pair choosing to take a walk around the hospital grounds while Seokjin was on a rare break, and everything was going fine, until the pole.  Namjoon had walked face-first into a steel pole, all because Seokjin had failed to warn him it was coming.

“Joon, I told you, I was looking the other way!  I swear, I didn’t see the pole, otherwise I would’ve said something and-”

“Jin, please just be quiet.” Namjoon was crouching and had one hand pressed over his left eye that had taken the brunt of the collision with the pole, his head pounding and Jin’s voice bouncing around in his skull doing nothing but amplifying the pain.  Seokjin mimicked Namjoon’s position, grabbing his friend’s wrist and slowly pulling his hand away from his eye only to discover that-

“Joon!  You’re bleeding!  My goodness, how hard does someone have to smack a pole with their face for the skin to break?”

Seokjin began rifling through the pockets of his lab coat to find a bandage, meanwhile Namjoon was groaning and cursing himself for his stupidity.  “Jin, my soulmate is gonna kill me!  This is the third time today that I’ve hurt myself, honestly I think this is the start of a personal record-breaking day for me.”

The doctor simply chuckled as he peeled the protective backing from an adhesive bandage, pressing it lightly over the cut on Namjoon’s forehead after wiping it with an antiseptic cloth.  “Just, when you meet her, make sure you bring her in to see me first thing, yeah?”

Namjoon looked up at Seokjin with confusion written all over his face, the expression making the bandage over his left eyebrow crinkle worryingly.  Jin just chuckled again, and tried to clear up his friend’s confusion.  “I meant to bring her so that I can work on patching up all those scars she probably has from your clumsy ass.”

“Hey! I’m not that clumsy...”  Namjoon rises back to standing straight, but keeps his eyes trained sheepishly on the ground, and Seokjin just joins him standing, laughing brightly and flinging an arm around his friend’s shoulders to usher him forward on their continuing stroll.

Namjoon smiles devilishly and stops rubbing at his bandaged forehead for a moment.  “At least I don’t sound like a broken windshield wiper when I laugh.”

Seokjin punches him in the shoulder, hard.

“Jin!! C’mon, I think that left another bruise!”

~~~~~~~

“Y/N, can you take this group out for me?!  The supervisor over at the RV station called and said he needed an extra hand over there.”  

You stopped your shift partner with your hands on her shoulders, and looked deep into her eyes while you smiled softly.  She was obviously panicking, and you wanted to try and calm her down a bit before she had to drive a four-wheeler over to the RV station further in the forest.  “Emily, Em, hey look at me for a sec.”

You saw her eyes focus on yours and hold the contact, so you began speaking once more.  “I’ll take care of this group, and the rest of the groups for today, so don’t worry about it, okay?  Everything will be fine.”

“But, Y/N, your shift is scheduled to end in like, 30 minutes and there are still 3 groups left for tours today and I can make it back for those I just really need help for this one-”

You held up a finger and Emily immediately closed her mouth, following your instructions for her to breathe in a out a few times.  You continued to assure her you would take the remaining tour groups out for their nature walks, and Emily was in a much better state of mind as you watched her strap on a helmet and begin her ride to the other park station.

You took a deep breath and patted your hands on the sides of your khaki cargo shorts, scraping off invisible dust, before turning on your heel and exiting the back room of the nature center.  Out in the arrival area of the center, you could see the beginnings of a group of school kids, one by one piling off the yellow school bus and practically vibrating with their excitement to go on a hike.  The sight brought a small smile to your lips, and you took a moment to grab your ranger hat and re-tie your boot laces before heading out front to greet the school group.

Little to say, that day of tours ended with a slightly twisted ankle (on both you and your soulmate) that resulted from having to stop a kid from slipping off a rock while he was playing in a creek,  multiple cameras that held pictures of the “daring park ranger” who had climbed a tree to save a baby squirrel, and a mess of tiny, stinging cuts on your face from climbing said tree that had Namjoon yelling in pain when he went to wash his own face later that night.

~~~~~~~

It had been 2 days since you had received any secondhand bruises, cuts, or scrapes from your soulmate, and you were honestly starting to get a little worried.  He usually gave you at least one bruise or bump a day, whether it be a stubbed toe or a certain tender spot on the hip that only comes from impact with a table corner.  You were secretly hoping (and this might make you sound a little crazy) for any sort of small pain just to let you know that your soulmate was still alive and out there somewhere.

Finishing tying your hair into a ponytail and brushing your teeth, you slipped on your ranger hat and boots again, prepping to go in for another rewarding, if not tiring, work day.  Your stomach grumbled quietly, and you humored it by grabbing an apple from the bowl on the counter on your way out to your car, keys in hand and backpack slung over one shoulder.  The apple was already halfway gone by the time you were in the driver’s seat with a hand on the wheel, ready to depart.

You felt something dripping on the arm that was currently holding the apple up to your waiting mouth, and you silently prayed to yourself that the wetness was from leaking juice.  You shut your eyes, breathed in deep, and opened them to face whatever reality existed.

You were sure you had been eating a green apple, but the whole upper half was stained red from blood that was currently pouring from a large gash in the center of your hand.

“Shit.”

Your hand shot off the steering wheel and reached over to your bag, groping blindly for any sort of cloth to bind your hand in temporarily while you drove yourself to the hospital.  You were sure you needed stitches, and just hoped that the cut wouldn’t hinder any possible, near-future tree climbing opportunities.

~~~~~~~

“Joon?  We weren’t supposed to meet today, why are you...oh.”

Seokjin simply raised one eyebrow, unamused, as he surveyed a very sheepish Namjoon with a sock wrapped right around the middle of his left hand.  The once white sock was now stained bright red, clearly from something the boy had managed to get himself into once again.  Jin had to stop himself from sighing before he motioned to Namjoon to follow him back to the section for emergency patients.  He pointed to a clean bed, and Namjoon obediently sat while he waited for Jin to return with what he needed to assess and fix Namjoon’s wound.

However, not even a moment later, a woman was being led to the bed directly next to Namjoon’s, and he craned his neck in curiosity to see what was wrong with her, as she seemed perfectly healthy.  It was then that he noticed she was also cradling her left hand to her chest, with what looked to be a bright orange safety vest wrapped carefully around the middle of it.  Namjoon was just beginning to notice the clear start of blood seeping over the portions of cloth that were not clutched in the woman’s fist when she turned around from talking to the nurse to sit on her assigned bed.

It was as though Namjoon experienced the moments after while submerged in a jar of honey, everything looking slow and golden.  Their eyes met as he looked up from her hand, and he swore he could feel a rush of strong emotion go straight to his heart, squeezing it in a vice.  The sound of her voice was muted when she started to speak, but he watched as her eyes flitted to his own sock-clad hand, and then returned to holding his gaze as her eyebrows furrowed in obvious understanding and annoyance. 

“I’m sorry, what was that?”  Namjoon visibly shook himself out of whatever sort of moment his brain decided to have just then, and looked at the girl with wide eyes.  The expression was so comical and endearing that you had to stop yourself from cracking a smile and laughing a bit.

“I asked, how did you get that cut?”

Again, you bit back a laugh as the man before you (who you realized was most likely your soulmate) donned an equally expressive face, this time conveying his embarrassment at having to tell his possible soulmate how he managed to slice open his palm.

“I uh...I, well...”  He cleared his throat and adjusted the collar of the button up shirt he was wearing, even though the top two buttons were undone and were nowhere near tight around his neck.  “I was..attempting to cut the tag off of a new pair of sunglasses I had just gotten in the mail, and it seems as though I wasn’t meant to use a pair of scissors.”

At that remark, you couldn’t hold in your laughter anymore, and it flowed freely from your lips as you rocked back a little and rested the non-injured hand over your abdomen.  Namjoon thought to himself that he had never heard your laugh before, but it was already a sound he wanted to keep on repeat for the rest of his life.

~~~~~~~

“So now I know why I have so many little cuts all over my hands and face all the time!”

You turned to glare down at Namjoon, who was currently pointing up at you accusingly as you continued to climb up a rather tall pine tree.  He withered under your glare, and you smirked at the fact that he knew he had caused you just as many injuries, simply because he was a clumsy fucker.  At least your injuries were warranted by your job.

He huffed out an indignant breath, and crossed his arms over his chest.  “This is just great, my soulmate is goddamn George of the Jungle, and I’m her clumsy ape of a sidekick.”

“You what, mate?”  You looked down at Namjoon again as you reached out your hand for a squirrel to jump on your arm (it gladly took the invitation and clambered onto your shoulder without a second thought), and soon there were two pairs of eyes staring down at Namjoon questioningly.

His jaw was almost on the floor when he saw the squirrel on your shoulder.  He threw his hands up in exasperation, and began walking away from the tree.  “That’s it, I’m done with this.”

You just laughed and expertly navigated the tree branches until you were safely back on the ground, placing the squirrel down and waving at it as it scurried back into a bush.

You called out to Namjoon, who was currently about a yard away from the tree.  “Hey, wait up, Joonie, you’ll get yourself into trouble somehow without me there to watch you!”

He turned quickly with a goofy grin on his face, one that he couldn’t stop from spreading at your use of his favorite nickname, and replied, “I’ll be perfectly fine, don’t you worry!  I’m not that much of a klutz that I can’t walk a simple hiking trail without-gah!”

Your hand shot out immediately to catch Namjoon’s own to stop him from falling completely on his face.  He had tripped.  On a stick.  It wasn’t even rooted into the ground, just a plain stick lying in the middle of the path.

He looked up at you in mock horror as he saw the self-assured smirk gracing your lips already.

“Aw Joonie, you didn’t need to go through all this trouble to show how much you’re falling for me.”

“Shut up, you’ve been hanging around with Jin too much lately.  Your jokes are terrible.”

You simply giggled softly under your breath as you tugged Namjoon into your waiting arms, planting a kiss on the side of his jaw and laughing louder when you saw the tips of his ears turn red.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and don’t be afraid to like, reblog, and tell me your thoughts/comments!  Love you, darlings <3.

[stankystarky-blog]

as a young female who has worked in retail for 8 months now, i can confirm this... there’s so many stories oh boy but the best one is when i was dealing with this woman who kept demanding things from me, and kept asking if there was someone “better” to speak to. i work at a small business so at the time i was the only one available to help her so i just told her my coworkers were tied up and that i would help her with anything she needed. while i was leading her around the store, a couple walked in and i greeted them while leading lady #1 towards the mouse traps which are near the back of the store, and i temporarily forgot about the couple. after keeping my cool with this woman for over ten minutes (i kept checking my watch), she said she was ready to check out. keep in mind that through this entire ten minutes of us walking back and forth across the store, she kept picking up the products i recommended, looking at the price, scoffing, complaining, and then setting them down. all of her questions were extremely vague, like “do you guys have any parts?”, which forced me to ask her multiple questions in order to lead her to the correct item. all in all, i was extremely worn out and frustrated, as this woman just would not shut up about how high our prices were compared to Curtis Lumber or Home Depot or Tractor Supply and how the employees at those stores were “able to comprehend things better and be more helpful”. Keep in mind, my store only employs 8 people, and often only 3-4 of us are working at a given time. Of course our prices would be higher.

Anyways, after enduring this bullshit for ten minutes, I finally lead this bitch back to the registers and see the friendly couple that had walked in, with a couple items on the counter, waiting for someone to come help them out. Most people who are made to wait at the counter “accidentally” drop something, or make a noise, or even yell to us that they’re ready to check out, but this couple just smiled at me as I jogged behind the counter. I went to help them first, because they had been waiting longer, but the other woman scoffed from the other register. “You need to check me out. I need my chicken food, and you’ve already taken up enough of my time.” The husband from the couple turned to her, and said “We were here first. We’re getting helped first. Wait your turn and be nice to the poor girl. She’s doing her best to help you, and you’re doing your best to make her life miserable.” His wife interjected. “We heard her explain things to you down to the smallest detail she could, she led you around the store while she could have just pointed and stayed behind the counter, and we also heard you complain about the prices here. Do you really think that she can magically change the pricing of items, or magically give you the exact item you’re looking for when you give her no information?” Woman #1 just stared at the couple, with her mouth open. She kept opening her mouth like she was going to say something, then closing it again. With a shit eating grin on my face, I picked up the couple’s first item and scanned it, all while looking the bitch in the eyes. She was so flustered that she turned on her heel and walked right out of the store, mumbling something about “people these days”. I thanked the couple profusely, and the wife was SO nice to me and kept asking me if i was alright and making sure I wasn’t going to work myself up over the other woman’s yelling. I took my 15% employee discount off of their checkout total. It was the least i could have done. I didn’t mention it to the couple, just took off the discount and told them their total. Handed them their receipt, gave them an extra 5 cents in change thanked them again, and told them to have an amazing day. The husband was looking at the receipt as he walked out the door, and pointed to something and showed his wife. They both paused halfway out the door and the husband poked his head back in and started asking me if there was a mistake, why there was a dicsoint, and I told him “Maybe I can magically change the price, if it’s for the right person.” He smiled and, with his wife on his arm, left. They come in all the time now. I love them so much and they’re so cute together.

some customers: oh my god i’m so sorry i have to ask you a question i feel so foolish for not knowing this already please help me but i’m so sorry forgive me other customers: answer this question before i’ve even asked it or i’ll kill you where you stand 

[alextheantichrist-blog]

My Fingers Brushed the Sky

As a biomancer, Harry Moss was in charge of making the food for everyone in Paradise. He meticulously took the separate elements on the holographic screen and put them together into a bundle. He brought up a menu and hit "Create", and then hit "Apple". The elements merged together to make an apple both on the screen and behind it. He then hit "Copy-Paste" and made a whole bushel of apples. Each apple dropped down the hole, which he knew poured into a giant barrel.

Josh Grey, his coworker, turned to him. He was lanky and short where Harry was tall with an athletic build. "Hey, Harry, you know what happened to me last night?"

"No. What?"

"I was at this singles mixer and I met a girl there. We hit it off right away. She works as a druid, using the magic of the Light to make stuff like dead grass grow again. Pretty cool, eh?"

"Nice. I'm happy for you."

"That's not all. Didn't I tell you one of the prophets said that I would find love in the next six months? Well, it's been only three, and I'm already head over heels for this girl."

"The prophets definitely are wise."

"Do you have any plans for tonight?"

"Not really. Why?"

"Me and her are going to watch the high priest execute the heretics. You should come. It will be a grand old time. We can have some drinks, mingle, watch some blasphemers burn. It should be fun."

"Well, I haven't seen an execution in a while. Sure, I'll be glad to come."

Harry made his way through the crowd of people. There was a raised platform made of fake wood in front of the crowd. The five heretics were there, each tied to a stake. A ring of white fire retardant foam had been sprayed around each of them.

"Hey, over here," cried a familiar voice. Harry turned to see Josh with a blonde woman with blue eyes. She was significantly shorter than Josh, and that made her quite cute in Harry's eyes.

"Hey, thanks for inviting me," said Harry.

"Yeah, no problem. This is Martha."

"Glory to the Light." He shook her hand.

"May it shine forever," came the expected reply.

"Harry tells me you're a druid."

"That's right."

"How's that going?"

"I really enjoy it. I'm glad the prophets chose this as my calling. Today I filled a dying stream with water and the children in the village nearby began playing in it. It's so nice when you get to see the difference you make in the world."

"I can imagine."

"Josh says you two work together as biomancers. That's also an important job."

"That's true. Every time we eat at the communal cafeteria, it gives me great pride knowing that I helped make this."

"Well, it looks like you made a new friend, Harry," replied Josh, slapping him on the back.

The giant white candles on both sides of the platform were suddenly lit by the magic of the Light. Everyone became quiet.

The high priest came forward. He was wearing white robes with a red sash going vertically down from his neckline. On the sash, around the chest area, was the yellow Star of the Light. The same star was also painted on his forehead.

"Brothers and sisters of the Light," he began. "I welcome you on this very important occasion. We are here not only to punish wrongdoers, but to protect the Light from their corruption. They want to take us away from our green valleys and fields. They want us to live a life without joy, without meaning. They say it is all a lie.

"They do not believe in the magic of the Light. They do not believe in the rituals we do every day to provide food, water and shelter for ourselves. This is blasphemy and for that these fools must pay the ultimate price."

"You are the fools," cried the heretic in the middle. "This isn't Paradise. This is a ship. We've been in space for hundreds of years. Wake up!"

"See how they spout their lies. They try to corrupt you with their heresies. Do not listen to them."

"If you don't listen to us, everyone on this ship will die and the whole human race will go extinct!"

"Silence. It is time. Bring me the torch."

One of the lesser priests stepped onto the platform with a lit torch. He handed it to the high priest.

"May you be cleansed in fire," he cried. "And may the Light forgive your sins."

There was suddenly a loud commotion in the back. A blaster shot came sailing through the air to land at the high priest's feet.

"Who dares disturb this sacred rite?" he yelled.

"We don't have much time," came a voice from the back. "Just grab them and get out of here."

More blaster shots followed. Multiple screams rent the night as the crowd began to scatter every which way. The Praetorian Guard, garbed in its regal white armour, began firing back. Harry felt hot pain in his back as one of the shots hit him. Then all was darkness.

"Why did you take him with us?" came a voice.

"I couldn't just let him die," replied another, deeper voice. "He was innocent."

"This could blow our entire operation!"

"Don't worry. I can bring him to our side."

"He's waking up."

Harry opened his eyes to see two male strangers in blue armour kneeling over him.

"Wh-Where am I?"

"Welcome," replied the man with the deeper voice. "My name is Brandon Smith. What's yours?"

"Harry Ross. What happened?"

"You were hit by a stray blaster shot. We brought you here and Reg over there healed you."

"I thought I was dead. I've never heard of people being able to heal blaster wounds."

"It is possible, and so much more is as well."

"What do you mean?"

They both stared at him.

"Harry," began Brandon. "Paradise is a lie."

"Wh-What?"

He sighed. "Let me show you something. Reg, open the hatch."

"You sure about this?" asked Reg.

"Yes." He turned to Harry. "I'm going to show you the truth behind Paradise. Put on this suit. It will let you breathe when you're outside."

"Outside what?"

"The ship. We're on a ship, Harry."

"You're... you're one of the heretics!"

Brandon sighed again. "Just put on the suit. I have something to show you."

"Why should I trust you? You people are trying to corrupt me, to make me stray from the Light!"

Brandon grabbed Harry's shoulders. "Harry, there is no Light. That's an artificial sun. It's all fake."

"No, that's impossible!"

"Just come out with me. If your Paradise is real, it should be able to hold under scrutiny, right?"

Harry hesitated. "I... I guess."

"Grab the suit, Harry. I will show you something out of this world."

Harry couldn't believe it. He was floating in a black, empty void with little pinpricks of light all around him. In front of him was a massive piece of metal Brandon called a spaceship. They were the size of ants compared to it. It was a silver cylinder with two wings in the middle and a tail at the end.

"Wh-Where have you taken me?" cried Harry. "Where is Paradise?"

"It's over there." Brandon pointed to the middle of the ship. "Click the top left button on your helmet to see inside."

Harry did so. Sure enough, there was Paradise, in all its majesty. It looked like a small model, but all the geographical features were there: the lakes, the fields, the forests, everything. He could see tiny people moving around there, too.

"This... this can't be," whispered Harry.

"I'm afraid it is."

"What is this?"

"It's a generational ship called the Salvation. It was sent to make the long voyage to Sirius after the civilization in the Alpha Centauri system crumbled. Something went wrong, we don't know what. People now live without realizing they're on a ship. All those rituals they do and the magic of the Light, as you people call it, those are just procedures and computer programs handed down by the original crew. Reg and I, along with the other people you call heretics, are part of that original crew. We were frozen in cryostasis until recently. The ship is failing despite your rituals. If we don't wake everyone up to the truth and teach them how to fix it, the life supports will run out and we will all die."

"My whole world... is a lie?"

"I'm afraid so."

When they came back into the ship, they found the dead bodies of the other members of the rebellion strewn all over the place. In the middle of the room was the high priest with the Praetorian Guard. One of the guards shot Brandon and he fell down, dead.

"My child," cried the high priest, putting his arms around Harry. "You are safe now. Those heretics cannot harm you anymore."

"High priest, everything we know is a lie. We're on a generational ship that's failing. We need to inform everyone."

The high priest let go of him and his face went dark. "I see they have corrupted you. It saddens me to hear you shout such heresies. I'm afraid there's nothing more that we can do for you."

"But it's true."

"Silence! Guard, execute him now!"

The entire Praetorian Guard shot their blasters at Harry. After being hit multiple times, Harry fell down, lifeless.