#this started as a joke but now its really 7 dollars on the line

[cmedics-hell]

my friend (DIFFERENT friend than the baboon monster) is bribing me with 7 dollars to try to convince babs to join the friend group's discord server (of which started as a fan server for a completely unrelated fandom, but eventually devolved into a regular friend group server) and i dont know what to do about it

[yunhsuanhuang]

old thing from the Situationship Trenches of 2023. transcript below cut

HOW TO FALL IN LOVE WITH AN AMERICAN BOY

for AL

So let's define x as falling, as love, as boy. The most important rule of loving an American boy is this: to call what you have anything else but what it is.

2. Think about him in a supermarket aisle, holding a pack of cup noodles in the flavour he likes. Think about him as you're rifling through fifty-dollar sweaters with his college crest on them. Think about him in a Subway, a Safeway, a somewhat-kind of-okay well very obsessive way.

3. Tell him that you're in America for Christmas. Make a joke about Walmart, about the weather. Reread his text back a thousand times. Giggle. Twirl your hair. Kick your legs a little, just because you can. So it feels familiar? Of course it does. That's the whole point. ¹

[1: To fall in love with an American boy you have to first resign yourself to cliché. But that's not really right, is it? Resign's such a funny word: both reluctant compliance and forceful withdrawal. To fall in love with an American boy is to willingly make yourself a cliché. To shrink yourself into something easy to define, easy to swallow, a three-act story with a rise and fall. Maybe that's better for everyone involved, you included. Maybe it's better to be Butterfly. Because Butterfly, despite everything, is still a part people want to play.]

4. Buy an extravagant peppermint-gingerbread-mistletoe concoction at an overpriced hipster cafe, just for the hell of it. When they ask for your name—this is important—don't give them your legal name (they'll butcher it) or your English one (you've always hated it). Instead, give them his nickname for you. Pay attention: you don't want to miss them calling it out. An actress always watches for her cue.

5. On long road trips, draft and redraft lines of poetry in your head. Maybe this time you won't forget them the moment you open your notes app. Maybe this line will finally be The One, whatever The One means. Maybe you'll finally be able to explain yourself to him, autopsy yourself, sell yourself like a story: blurbs and back-flaps and signatures and movie tie-in covers. (Plus a pronunciation guide at the back, just in case.) Good poetry, like everything else, has a little bit of performance to it. A little bit of acting. A little bit of lying. ²

[2: So, okay, fine. Let's say it's not love. Let's say it never was. Let's say you just wanted your own personal Beatrice, the wizened mentor who dies to make way for the second act. So what? You can't write about yourself forever, a snake eating its own tail. You used to have real friends. You used to be a good writer. You used to be a good person. Now the most interesting thing that's ever happened to you is a boy. What happened to the Bechdel test, babe? What happened to being a strong female character? Are you even a character at all?]

6. Try and figure out when you stopped being a person and started being a trope. Give up halfway through, and settle for the small stuff instead: When you overhear snatches of accented conversation in the Target aisle, try not to jump to the conclusion that someone’s turned up their Tiktok a little bit too loud. Walk through streets like movie sets and feel a little bit like you've slipped through a silver screen, an unreal thing in a real place. Try not to think that this is the most real you've felt in the last few years.

7. On the morning of Christmas Day, have a spirited conversation with him about your favourite species of dinosaurs. You didn't even know he knew anything about dinosaurs, but apparently the dream-version of him does. You don't know anything about dinosaurs, either, but you would learn everything about them if it meant he would keep talking to you. You don't know when you started talking to your friends more in dreams than in real life.³

[3: He'd kill you if he knew you were thinking of him like this. He'd kill you if he knew you dreamt of him the way you did, the way you still do. Well. Probably not kill, but something close to it. Maybe one of these days you'll stop. Maybe one of these days your predictive text will forget who he is. Maybe one of these days you'll have something to live for that isn't the fact he knows your name.]

8. Wake. He's gone, of course. You're in a sofa bed in a motel somewhere in San Jose. The morning light’s filtering through the blinds. Look at them and think The morning light’s filtering through the blinds, and think, or maybe not filtering, maybe slicing, maybe leaching— in your head open up your notes app, rifle through Dictionary.com. Try and figure out when you stopped writing for yourself and started writing for him.

9. Your parents are still asleep on separate ends of the big bed. For the first time in a week they're not yelling. The room is quiet. Nobody in the world knows you're awake. Nobody's looking at you. Nobody's watching you. This moment is entirely yours, and yours alone. What do you do with it? ⁴

[4: The world is so vast and so small and none of it is real in any meaningful way except for him. You're twelve hours away from home and still every road leads back to the only person you've ever known how to love. Or at least you think you love him. Probably. If not— if not—

What do you do with it? What a stupid question. Is there anything else you know how to do? Despite all appearances to the contrary, this is a story written in past tense: You rolled over. You checked your phone. He hadn't texted you. Some part of you wasn't surprised. The rest— well, figure that out.]

10. Write him a story. Tell it to him.

[baekhvuns]

Okay I'm here after reading all the hwa ffs in less than a month (talent ladies). So, I'm going to review it. Although, ik everyone already knows how perfect those ffs are but hey.

1. Bodygaurd

Accidentally tumbled upon this and I'm glad I did. I mean it's been so much time I've spent on Tumblr and then this shows like a miracle. So, OHMYGOD PARK SEONGHWA IN A SUIT AND GLASSES , READY TO SHOOT SOMEONE WHO COMES NEAR ME?!?! Perfect. The story was so well-planned and i like how even though y/n had grown up through so many hurdles she still was so cheerful and bubbly and not all emo and depressed. Ok i get if some fic writers do it in a few of their fic i get it, sometimes the mc has to have some issues BUT I'm tired of it. Really. I'm trying to escape this reality to somewhere where I can be someone i very much aspire to be and not to be depressed which I practically I am irl so ...yeah 😃. Oh and tears. I did tell u i cried and i was not joking.

2. Just friends

You knew ... you knew what you were doing when you wrote that and how much of an impact it would have on us. I can literally hear that one tiktok sound that goes "the hOe$ gonna love this..." AND I BET THATS WHAT WENT THROUGH YOUR HEAD. But let be real tho, this fic was everything. When the fashion world gets involved with love and Seonghwa?!?! Masterpiece. Shakespeare could never. Plus the clothes inspo?!? This was one of the fic i could actually visualise yk?

3. Rewrite the stars

These types of tropes are basically what I live for. Its like you know you have limited time, you can't fall in love, you mustn't but...oh well look at how the sun shines on his face as he gives his million dollar smile. I think it'd be fine to fall in love. Even if it's just for a few days. Maybe just for tonight.

*kickin the air and rolling in my bed* OH AND BUDAPEST??? 🫠🫠

4. The Duke and his general

Its a classic.

I thought.

But oh boy was i wrong. First of all the simplicity of the fic..and the classic trope but then you get to the plot and then boom! Its like i kind of have gotten used to the whole meet -> fall in love -> get heart broken -> finally together.

And honestly I'm glad I saw the fic after they'd already been written completely because lord knows what I would've done with the whole amount of curiosity after every part.

5. Mr and Mrs Park

Holy oompa loompas THIS!!! THIS IS WHAT WE CALL 'INSPIRATION'!! Ykw...i don't even have words. The last scene at the beach tho. Chills literal ✨chills✨. And the whole loop that starts from the 'A. You messed up' and it ended on the same line but obviously now it had a diff. Meaning. And ong I can never look at a person named 'nayoung' the same.

6. Khronos

No words.Just tears and trauma.

7. The trouble with hating you

Again, the trope was simple. And oh we have seen it in so many movies and dramas about this. BUT yet again you sprinkled it with your own touch. Idk how you do it but when I read your fic i actually transform into yn. I am the real yn when I'm so into reading those lines and talking to air that my family becomes concerned but do i care?...no. and that's what we need in a story! I really hated hwa here tho. HOW COULD YOU?? But hey, yn's got charms 😏

8. Lets not fall in love, again

This was so hurtful. Because, i did not know people getting divorced felt like that. See? That's how you elucidate the feelings. When you're single asf but you still feel the pain of getting seperated from a man who has no idea you exist. Yes. I also recently realised that you have kind of a lot going on. Which again! Intersting.

At first, i was so mad at hwa at the start of the fic i was like wth did I even do. Turns out....he just did it out of love 😭. So pure.

Basically you have the best ffs I have read so far. 🙌🙌

o my god i am actually screaming

1. bodyguard : Accidentally tumbled upon this and I'm glad I did. I mean it's been so much time I've spent on Tumblr and then this shows like a miracle. So, OHMYGOD PARK SEONGHWA IN A SUIT AND GLASSES, READY TO SHOOT SOMEONE WHO COMES NEAR ME?!?! Perfect. The story was so well-planned and i like how even though y/n had grown up through so many hurdles she still was so cheerful and bubbly and not all emo and depressed. Ok i get if some fic writers do it in a few of their fic i get it, sometimes the mc has to have some issues BUT I'm tired of it. Really. I'm trying to escape this reality to somewhere where I can be someone i very much aspire to be and not to be depressed which I practically I am irl so ..yeah g. On and tears. I did tell u i cried and i was not joking.

DBWNDJWKDHWKHEKW IM CRYING UR SO SWEET FOR THIS REVIEW IM ACTUALLY GONNA SOB BFMWDH no bc ur so right on that part like why do all the yn’s gotta be depressed, let’s make the guy depressed 🤚🏻 u are so right on that last part 100% !!!

2. just friends : You knew ... you knew what you were doing when you wrote that and how much of an impact it would have on us. I can literally hear that one tiktok sound that goes "the hOe$ gonna love this... AND I BET THATS WHAT WENT THROUGH YOUR HEAD. But let be real tho, this fic was everything. When the fashion world gets involved with love and Seonghwa?!?! Masterpiece. Shakespeare could never. Plus the clothes inspo?!? This was one of the fic i could actually visualise yk?

THE WAY I FUCKING GASPED AT THE MEME JFBWKCJSKD I KNEW THIS WAS COMING 😭😭😭😭😭 o i did EXACTLY THAT 🥰🥰 i knew how nasty this fic would be and what the reaction will be, two top models and enemies??? sign me up! this fic was my fashion résumé actually <3 RIGHT I LOVED WRITING THE PHYSICAL PHOTOSHOOT ITSELF

3. rewrite the stars : These types of tropes are basically what I live for. Its like you know you have limited time, you can't fall in love, you mustn't but…oh well look at how the sun shines on his face as he gives his million dollar smile. I think it'd be fine to fall in love. Even if it's just for a few days. Maybe just for tonight. *kickin the air and rolling in my bed* OH AND BUDAPEST??? 🫠🫠

no ur so right, these travelling romances are the >>>> top tier of any tier,, the thrill of romance & the separation 😮‍💨😮‍💨 OH MY GOD IM GONNA STEAL THAT PARAGRAPH MISS CHAERSSSS !!!!! U MAD EMT MIND GO BRRR WITH THAT & yes budapest <3 im absolutely in love w that city, was debating on italy but miss budapest got me

4. the uke and his general : Its a classic. I thought. But oh boy was i wrong. First of all the simplicity of the fic..and the classic trope but then you get to the plot and then boom! Its like i kind of have gotten used to the whole meet - fall in love - get heart broken -> finally together. And honestly I'm glad I saw the fic after they'd already been written completely because lord knows what I would've done with the whole amount of curiosity after every part.

FBWKDHSK U FOUND MY FORMULA AND I WILL USE EVERY BIT OF IT! ahhh ur right, a simple fic turned out to be so big it amazes me! it really was a craze the curiosity and excitement when i first released it, the anons attacking hwa during that time in the fic amazing ✊🏻

5. mr and mrs park : Holy oompa loompas THIS!!! THIS IS WHAT WE CALL 'INSPIRATION'!! Ykw... don't even have words. The last scene at the beach tho. Chills literal ✨ chills. ✨ And the whole loop that starts from the 'A. You messed up' and it ended on the same line but obviously now it had a diff. Meaning. And ong I can never look at a person named 'nayoung' the same.

FBWKDHWK THE SCENE WHERE “come to daddy” *beats the shit out him* “who’s your daddy now” IM FJWKHD 🤲🏻🤲🏻 nayoung will make a return in this blog again in that yunho fic <3

6. khronos : No words. Just tears and trauma.

7. the trouble with hating you : Again, the trope was simple. And oh we have seen it in so many movies and dramas about this. BUT yet again you sprinkled it with your own touch. Idk how you do it but when I read your fic i actually transform into yn. I am the real yn when I'm so into reading those lines and talking to air that my family becomes concerned but do i care?...no. and that's what we need in a story! I really hated hwa here tho. HOW COULD YOU?? But hey, yn's got charms

DBQNJDKWHDKW IM SO GLAD ITS READ LIKE THIS, TEARS IN MY EYES these are the biggest compliments ever 😭😭😭😭 HEY ITS ALL ATEEZ’S FAULT IN THAT OKAYF HWJDHEJ

8. lets not fall in love, again : This was so hurtful. Because, i did not know people getting divorced felt like that. See? That's how you elucidate the feelings. When you're single asf but you still feel the pain of getting seperated from a man who has no idea you exist. Yes. I also recently realised that you have kind of a lot going on. Which again! Intersting. At first, i was so mad at hwa at the start of the fic i was like wth did I even do. Turns out....he just did it out of love 😭. So pure. Basically you have the best ffs I have read so far.

this is the best description of that fic, he did out of love 😭😭😭 THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!! ALL OF THIS HAS MADE MY ENTIRE YEAR IM GONNA BE SAVING THIS WHEN I NEED TO SMILE STOP IT THIS IS SO NICE FBNWDJKW 😭😭😭😭

[greenbagjosh]

13 + 14 June 1998 - HRH the Queen’s 72nd Birthday and the cringeworthy Donald Duck joke

Originally written in June 2018

Hi everyone, 

Hope you are having a nice evening.Twenty years ago today and tomorrow, I went on the cheapest path from Munich to Prague.  And came back the next day almost 11 PM.  Saturday the 13th June 1998, it was a few days before the start of the 1998 FIFA World Cup.  Widgetmeister International had two paid days off officially, namely Fronleichnam for Thursday the 11th, and Friday the 12th.  Neither day counted against my vacation balance.  On Thursday I did a bit of exploring on the S-8 line from Englschalking up to the Franz Josef Strauss airport, known also by its airport code "MUC".  The Schönes Wochenende ticket would not be valid as it was a Thursday so I bought a ticket for the outer zones of the MVV-München transit area that were otherwise not covered by my month pass.  It was raining so there was not much to see.  At the time, there was also an expansion project for the S-1 train, instead of all trains going to Neufahrn and Freising, some S-1 trains would also go to the airport.  This was called the "Neufahrner Spange".  

Friday the 12 June was a shopping day.  I bought myself a Czech language guide.  Czech is not exactly romanized Russian.  For that reason, it is a good idea to have a Czech language book.Saturday the 13 June arrived.  I had to be at München Hbf by 7:10 AM to catch the train to Plattling, and it left from the "short-haul" track 25.  On the German rail side, this was the only known electrified section.  On Saturday *and* Sunday, the Schönes Wochenende Ticket was valid, and for only 35 Mark.  The train stopped at Freising, Landshut and Landau on the Isar before arriving at Plattling about 9 AM.  About 9:05 AM, a diesel unit went on to the border at Bayerisch Eisenstein.  This train really went through the backwoods, made about nine stops about ten minutes from each other.  The train did not arrive in Bayerisch Eisenstein until 10:13 AM.  So what was at Bayerisch Eisenstein?  It was a border town on the German side, and right at the same station was the Czech border, known as Železná Ruda-Alžbětín.  You had to have your passport ready for stamping back then as the Czech Republic was neither in the European Union nor a Schengen member.  Also, then as now, they did not use the Euro.  So changing money was necessary.  I think the exchange rate then was 21 Koruna to 1 DM.  The smallest coin was the 10 Heller, then the 20 and 50 Heller, then 1 Koruna, 2 Koruna, 5, 10 and so on.  Bills were 20, 50, 100, 200, 500.  Please refer to XE.com in case I cannot otherwise provide an equivalent in Dollars, Mark or Euro.  Back then the Czech Republic was inexpensive compared to Germany.  Even the train fare.  But somehow you get what you pay for, likely in speed and comfort.I bought a single fare ticket to Prague at the Zelezna Ruda station on the Czech side, paying in Koruna.  I think it was 75 Koruna then, as today it costs 110 Koruna.

The train left about 11:08 AM, and arrived in Plzen about 1:10 PM.  For a distance of 60 miles, it must have gone an average of 30 mph, unelectrified, windy and slow up to Klatovy, and then fairly straight, medium-fast and electrified the rest of the way.  Plzen Hlavní Nádrazí (central station) has an interesting dome.  At Plzen, I made a quick shopping journey to a grocery store along Americká called the Maxi Hit.  I bought some beer and Slivovitz - the real good plum brandy.    

When I arrived back at the Plzen station, I found that the regular train to Prague was delayed.  I had my radio with me, and there was a BBC English broadcast on.  Apparently it was Queen Elizabeth's birthday and they did a short tribute.  Later in the broadcast, one joke that they told was "Why did Donald Duck?  Because someone was shooting at him"

I think the train to Prague arrived around 3 PM.  It went as far as Prague Smichov.  The conductor on the train gestured at me, to take the subway to the town center.  I bought a 24 hour subway/bus ticket, I think for 70 Koruna, and stamped it at Smíchovské nádrazí, and went to my hostel at Karlovo námestí and on the street Na Zborencí.  Back then it was owned by the Czech chapter of Hostelling International.  Google maps still shows the big "Na Zborenci" sign in the alleyway where it remains.  The room was cheap but there was no breakfast served on Sundays.  And, I would find out later, that the room I was in, was co-ed, something I was not used to in a dorm room in a hostel.   

I dropped off my luggage at my bedside in the hostel, then took the subway at Karlovo Namesti to Staromestska, the old part of Prague, changing at Mustek.  At Staromestska is the clock tower, the Chram Matky, and next door is the Josefov, the Jewish Quarter.  The museums were closed that day so I could only walk around.  I returned in 2006 to visit one of the synagogues and I still have the kippa.  I took the Metro across the Vlatva river, and took a tram to Malostranské náměstí, the west side of Charles Bridge.  It is a strictly pedestrian bridge, apparently a popular tourist attraction in itself.  I have a selfie of being on that bridge in a red and white sweater, as Prague was a bit chilly, around the low 60s for temperatures.  When I arrived on the east side, I found a store that sold hats, and that is where I bought that red-white-and-green striped hat.  I think it is about a foot high, and yes, it is probably the silliest hat I ever owned.  On 24th July 1998 I took a selfie of myself, yes, with that hat!  I did not know blacklight theater back in 1998, though my next visit February 2006 I went to a show - albeit medicated - at the Image Black Light Theater, was very interesting and in the back rows it was optically amazing.   

I was hungry and then looked for a place to have supper.  Closer to the clock tower, the offers were a bit out of my price range.  So I went to Staromestska.  There was an interesting restaurant called the "Studentska Satlava" or "Student Jail".  Apparently it was in the same building as where the writer Franz Kafka was born.  They had excellent deals for supper, including dark locally produced beer.  I had the sausage, chop and dumpling plate.  Gosh that was good.  Once that was done, I took the metro back to Karlovo Namesti, and went to bed.  In the morning I had to check out, take my luggage to Karlovo Namesti and further on to Hlavni Nadrazi.  I had a quick breakfast at what is now the CrossCafe.  There were lockers in Hlavni Nadrazi to place luggage.  Lockers were interesting as you could choose the combination with four dials.  You would retrieve your luggage by picking the same dial positions. 

I had not been to Vysehrad.  There is a canyon between Vysehrad and I P Pavlova and the metro travels along the auto bridge.  At Vysehrad there is a good view of Prague, also the Police Museum.  I went shopping at the Budejovicka shopping center.  It was open on Sunday, bought peanut flips, beer and slivovitz at the store because it was so cheap.  I took the metro to I P Pavlova and a tram back to Staromestska, bearing in mind that I had to return to Hlavni Nadrazi by 12:30 to catch the train to Munich through Plzen, Zelezna Ruda, Bayerisch Eisenstein, and Plattling.  I bought a ticket to Zelezna Ruda.

At 1 PM, the train left Praha Hlavni Nadrazi.  I was in a second class compartment, where there were eight seats to a compartment, four on each side.  In Germany, normally the same size would be for just six people in total.  The compartment was not air conditioned, and it was okay as the temperatures were not expected to exceed the mid 70s that day.  The train ride went without any extraordinary event up to Plzen.  I had to find a post office to send a postcard, and I almost missed the connection from Plzen to Klatovy and Zelezna Ruda.  At Klatovy I had to change to a very old diesel carriage, class 131, and to open the windows, you had to crank them up or down.  

By the time the train reached Zelezna Ruda, about 6:50 PM, the lady at the sales hut was about to close.  I made a few last minute purchases before crossing into Germany.  The snack bar was crummy on the German side at Bayerisch Eisenstein so I thought I would wait until I arrived at Plattling for some food.  Did not work out too well.  The German customs stamped my passport and did not look at my bag of slivovitz and beer.  The diesel train from Bayerisch Eisenstein arrived at Plattling about 8:45 PM, and there was not much time to get anything of value at the snack bar there.  

The train to Munich arrived around 9:30 so I had to take my snack to go.  The sun was about to set, and it was raining in the distance.  In the sky was an interesting effect.  I arrived home in Munich around 11 PM, I entered very quietly.  I was not told about any alarm clock issues (see w/e 31 July - 2 August 1998), and the next morning I went to work on time, and at lunch I had some interesting stories to tell my work colleagues and I mentioned the striped hat.  

Next adventure, Salzburg and the Berchtesgaden Salzbergwerk, weekend of 20th and 21st June 1998.  Servus und Gute Nacht!

[mercur1e]

Saw your Father’s Day post and I knew I had to ask for it:

Dilf!Jean x Teacher!Black reader fic

I’ll let you pick whether it’s sfw or nsfw, I just need some Jean content rn😌

YES OML

Contains: Modern AU, female anatomy but no pronouns

Jean has had his eye on you for a while now. You're his kid's teacher, he know he shouldn't be feeling this way. But he can't help it. You're so kind and beautiful. You're great with the kids, and always patient with them. And god, your smile. That pretty, pretty smile. When he dropped Julia off at the first day of school, you had smiled and introduced yourself. Nothing unusual, it's just common courtesy. So why was he acting like a teenager in love all over again? He brushed it off thinking it was just because he hasn't dated in a while. Ever since his divorce he hasn't really been interested in dating.

Everytime Jean would pick up his child he made small talk with you. About his daughter, about your jobs, anything that would get you to talk to him. Jean would subtly compliment you, telling you that you look pretty or that a color looks good on you. Hell, he pointed out when you changed your hair up for a day, even if it wasnt anything major. Every once in a while he would lightly flirt with you, questioning how you're single and asking if you have a s/o. You'd always reply that you haven't been interested in anyone around here.

And it wasn't one sided, no. You'd glance at him when (you thought) he wasn't looking, looking as handsome as ever. His slicked back hair and style would make anyone swoon. A million dollar smile, great personality, and he was a good father? You wanted to be with him, you really did. But as a teacher you know you shouldn't. But the school year is almost out, you wish he would make a move.

Today was just like any other day, Jean came to pick up his kid and he was making small talk with you. Talking to you about your plans for the summer, and where you would like to go. Meanwhile Jean was was worrying about how to ask you out. "Do I just say it? Do I slip it in? Shit. Fuck it I'll just say it."

As you were talking about your summer plans, Jean interrupted you. "I..I was wondering if I can take you out on a date? If not I'm sorry that-"

"I've been waiting for you to say that." A smile forms on your lips. "I thought I'd become a corspe before you asked me out!" You poke in a joking manner.

Jean chuckled at you. "Well how about as an apology for making you wait so long, I take you out to dinner tonight?" He says while smiling at you. God, he's got a nice smile.

"I would love that. Is 7 o'clock good for you?" You ask Jean while writing your number on a slip of paper and handing it to him.

"Works for me. It won't be hard finding a babysitter for Julia for the night. I'll see you then sweetheart."

The rest of the school day went by fast. Happy to be home, you search through you closet to find something to wear. After digging in your closet you found your perfect outfit. Putting it on and standing infront the mirror you looked damn good in it. Going into the bathroom to finish up your hair and getting the look you wanted, you were almost done. Now you just had to find the right fragrance and any other additions. And with that, you were ready for your date. Hearing a knock on your door, you go to answer it.

You're met with Jean, looking as handsome as ever. He has on a dress shirt with some slacks, paired with a nice watch and shoes. Eyeing you up and down, he shoots you a smirk.

"You look amazing."

"And you look handsome, which is a shocker for you." You play, he knows he looks even on his worst days.

Jean guffawed at your comment. "Uh huh, like I don't notice you checking me out almost everyday at school."

Locking your door behind you, you two begin walking towards his car. "Guess I'm not as sneaky as I thought."

"Nope, you're shit and trying to be sneaky."

"Oh shut up!" You giggled as you slapped his arm lightly. He opens the car door for you and you get in.

"So, where are we going?" You ask once he gets in the car.

"It's a surprise, but I think you'll like it when we get there."

As he was driving, you two talked and joked together. It wasn't a very long ride, maybe about 15-20 minutes until you arrived to the destination. It was a popular steakhouse that had recently opened up, and it wasn't cheap either.

"I've always wanted to go here, I've heard good things about this place." Looking around the parking lot, you could tell it wasn't a super busy night but they had business, that's good.

"Me too. I've heard good things about the place and its owned by a local chef." Holding out his hand to you, you take it as you're getting out of the car. To his pleasant surprise, you hold on to his hand until you two are seated at the table he reserved. The rest of the date went wonderfully, you both thoroughly enjoyed dinner and had fun getting to know each other more. And of course taking playful jabs at each other and eating dessert.

Pulling up in front of your house, Jean helps you out the car and walks you to your front door.

"I really enjoyed tonight, I loved every bit of it. Thank you for treating me to dinner."

"Of course." Jean replies, secretly hoping you'd you'd kiss him.

You two sat in silence for a few minutes until you looked him in the eye. His eyes were shining, hoping that you'd make a move. Finally, you broke the silence.

"Can I kiss you-" You didn't even finish your sentence before his lips landed on yours. He pulled back though, the kiss ending as quick as it started. You kissed him again. And again, until it turned into a full blown makeout session. "Do you want to go inside?" You asked once you finally caught your breath. Jean nodded at you, eyes now clouded with need. Opening your door, you barely have time to register what happened. Jean's got you pressed against your door, lips back on yours. Running your hands through his hair you let his tongue roam your mouth. He sucks on your tongue while trying to take your clothes off. "Mm, not here, my bedroom." While hurrying towards your bedroom, articles of clothing litter your hallway as you both rush to take off your clothes. After you get into the bedroom Jean motions for you to lay on the bed.

Laying between your legs, he leaves kisses on your navel and thighs, avoiding where you need him the most. Taking a long finger and swiping up your slit, he feels just how wet you are for him.

"Fuck, I've been waiting to do this for so long."

You hum in agreement. "Me too, I've wanted you for so long"

Licking a stripe up your pussy, you shiver under him. He kitten licks your clit before sticking a long finger into you. Your vagina clenches around the digit, adjusting to it after a minute.

"Another" you mewl, wanting more of him. He listens, putting his index finger in. He moves his fingers in a scissoring motion, loving the way you feel around him. His fingers are coated with your juices, creating a wet sound every time he thrusted them into you. Sucking on your clit, you moan and twitch under him. He speeds his fingers up, and starts sucking at your clit more harshly.

"Ah! Ah! M' gonna cum!"

"That's right, come for me baby. Cum all over my fingers."

Your body shivers from your orgasm as your hole convulses around Jean's fingers, creaming around him. He takes his fingers out of you, and you whine at the loss. He takes his fingers up to his mouth and sucks on them.

"You tatse so good baby. So good for me. Can't wait to have you screaming for me."

He looks so hot like this. Hair disheveled and out of place, lust filled eyes just waiting to devour you. He takes his dick and strokes it a few times before pushing your legs against your chest. He lines himself up at your entrance, and slowly pushes in. It stings at first, he's so big. You already feel full, before you look down and see that you've only taken half of him. Jean slowly eases the rest of himself into you, before he's finally buried to the hilt. You swear you can feel him in your throat.

"Y-you can move baby, I can take it."

Jean smirks at you. "You sure?"

"Mhm..keep going."

Once Jean knew you were okay he started roughly thrusting into you. Leaning down to suck at your nipples, your hand grabbed at his hair. Tugging lightly at it, you wrangled a low groan out of the man above you. He can tell you're close because your moans are getting louder and he can feel you tightening around his dick.

"You gonna cum for me baby? Want me to fill you up?"

"Mm Mhm!"

"Say it."

"Cum in my Jean, please!"

He smirked. "Anything you want baby."

Slamming his hips into you, Jean's abusing your poor g-spot at this point. He flips you over so you're face down ass up and you can tell he's close too by the way his dick is twitching inside of you.

"Fuck! Fuck! I'm cummimg, I'm cumming-"

"That's it baby, come all over me."

Jean doesn't let up even after you've come. Your overstimulated pussy fills the room with sloppy noises. Jean gives a few more rough thrusts before coming inside of you. You both simultaneously groan out, you feel even fuller than before. He pulls out of you, feeling a sense of pride as he watches some of his cum drip out of your pussy.

Rolling over onto your back, you gaze up at Jean. A fucked out grin makes its way onto your face. Jean smiles back down at you before he lays down onto your chest.

"Is it selfish if I say I don't want this to end?" He mumbles in between the valley of your breats.

"Mm no. Because I don't want it to end either. I really like you Jean, I mean it." Your hand runs through his hair, its original style long gone.

"I really like you too, you think we could make something outta this? Maybe even a relationship?"

You giggle. "Is this your way of asking me to be your s/o?"

"Yeah...pretty shitty way huh?" Jean let's out a small laugh.

"Hmm yes, but I accept. I'll be your s/o."

"Guess it's not stupid if it works hm?" Jean leans up to plant a kiss against your lips.

"Oh shut up you!"

IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE THIS DONE YESTERDAY BUT I FEEL ASLEEP! Anyways I hoped you liked it! Thank you for requesting and feedback is appreciated!! Have a good day! <33

This is my original work. Do not steal, repost, or copy my works. All works on this belong to @c00chi

[swtki]

My Game - Spencer Reid x Reader

This is a part 2 to Teachers Pet

SUMMARY: After Y/Ns little test, she takes Dr. Reid up on his offer. She also takes him back to the apartment. 

WARNINGS: 18+ CONTENT, SMUT, FEM READER, PROFFESOR-STUDENT, TEACHER REID, ORAL (FEMALE RECIEVING), PENATRATIVE SEX, SEMI DOM-SUB

It had been three days since Dr. Reid emailed me. I hadn’t texted him yet, too afraid of not knowing what to say. When I pulled that little stunt at his desk, I expected nothing to come of it. Just seeing his cute and pink face was enough of a reward. But it was obvious to me in the days following, he wanted to cross his finish line.

My phone sat comfortably in my hands, the series of numbers lining the top of my screen. I had not an inkling of an idea of what I would say. Should I go casual? Professional? Sexy? I mean, did anyone ever know how to aproach their crush?

Y: It’s Y/N, sorry I took so long. I’ve been kinda busy.

S: No worries, I was beginning to think I had read the room incorrectly. What are your plans for Saturday night? Theres a great Italian restaurant next to where I’m staying in DC.

Y: That sounds wonderful, actually. I’ll meet you there at 7?

S: Perfect.

I reluctantly pulled my figure from the sofa, and soon eagerly jumping into the shower. When the water hit my face the entire day melted away, and left only the anticipation of that night. I felt so special, I mean I was living my most vivid fantasies and not every woman gets to do it with a genius professor.

With my makeup carefully applied, and my dress matching my shoes, I started down the stairs. As my heels made a clicking noise, I started to feel a familiar flutter in my stomach. I was nervous; First date nervous. Though I had met him many times, and most recently met his body with mine, the event of a first date was a pâté of emotions.

The door of the restaurant was cold against my hand. I didn’t expect a high end dining experience, and when I walked in the entry way I was glad it wasn’t. The entry way was filled with cozy items. The faded rose pattern on the wallpaper complimented the display of family photos.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for a tall brunette man, it was a table for two.” I said to the hostess. She paused for a second, tapping on her tablet as she checks the current table descriptions.

“Ah yes, party of two for Reid?”

I confirmed and she led me through a hallway to our left, which led into a small dining area. The room walls were a burgundy color, illuminated by the candle sitting at the head of each table.

I thanked the woman as I walked toward Spencer. He looked a tad bit cleaner than usual, his hair was combed and tucked away behind his ears.

“Oh, here let me get that for you.” He rose from his seat and rushed over to the chair across from him.

“How gentleman like, Doctor.” He laughed and we both took our seats.

“Please, call me Spencer.” His form was more relaxed than it usually was in class, giving him a calmer and peaceful demeanor.

Dinner progressed, a glass of wine was nursed, and he insisted on paying our check. Though I had been on dates before, this felt like my first real adult date.

“How did you get here?” He inquired as we stepped onto the rough parking lot terrain.

“I took a cab, I’m thinking I may catch the train though.” I said. His mouth spread into a displeased expression.

“Nonsense, please let me drive you home. I would hate for those statistics we learned last week be applied in this manor.” I laughed and rolled my eyes. I hesitated to answer for a moment, instinctually I looked down and shifted my weight on my feet. The thought of him driving me home could end up in a number of ways; Mostly good. But, if I did take the train, it would end in a few ways; Mostly unmentionable.

“Alright, since you asked nicely.” His cheeks grew red as he avoided eye contact with me. I knew right then where our night would likely head.

“Would you like to come up? We can have a drink if you aren’t hell-bent on going to sleep before nine-thirty.” I joked with him.

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want you to feel forced into anything because I know that theres a certain expectation when-“

“Spencer, if I didn’t want to fuck you, I wouldn’t have asked you up.”

Sure, having to say it in blatant terms is less than sexy, but thats what I adored about our dynamic at that point; I led the relationship.

I leaned into my fridge, purposefully bending over so my skirt lifted to show my ass.

“Well...fuck,” I said, “As it would turn out, someone stole my wine bottle and filled my fucking vodka bottle with water.” I stood up and shut the door, walking over to the counter inches away.

“One time I took the drink turn when it came to our friend-team-dinner-night, the bottle was forty dollars, which granted is the cheap wine more or less. To this day I still have no idea who stole the bottle, because I wanted to take it home.” Spencer reminisced. I laughed at his unusual way of trying to understand.

“Wasn’t really mine to begin with,” I started walking over to the sofa where he patiently sat. “I’m not of legal drinking age. But of course it tastes better when its forbidden, everything does.” I stepped in front of the man, his knees only an inch from my shin. "Can I touch you, Spencer?” I said in a soft voice, the lids of my eyes relaxed in a sweet shift.

“Y-yes.” He gasped, obviously so turned on by the way I stood over him, in power of him. I threaded his hair through my fingers and tugged back, pushing his head as far up as I could. His eyelids fell and he was no longer looking at me.

“Look at me, sweetheart. I want you to see everything.” He opened his eyes, his irises were colored with lust and desperation. I connected our lips in a long a sweet kiss. Rather than just having a mess of tongues, the kiss was filled to the brim with emotion, of pleasure that this was happening again. His lips were slightly swollen when I pulled away to unbutton his shirt. While I fiddled with the garment, he put his hands on my hips firmly.

“Can I- can you sit on my lap?” he asked, a red tint forming on his face. I smiled and obliged, sliding his shirt off of his lean torso. I started kissing him once more, this time I made sure to press my dripping panties against the large tent in his trousers.

“Would you like to take this to the bedroom?” I ask,hands resting comfortably on his neck.

“Please”, I stood and laced our hands together, leading him to my bedroom. Once we both entered through the doorway, I pushed him onto the bed, he fell softly.

I reached my hands behind my back to unzip my dress, as I felt it fall past my legs and onto the floor, I saw his eyes scan every detail of my body.

“One might say you were planning this.” He eyed my matching lace set.

“Wanted to make sure Spencer Reid had the best.” I replied, climbing on top of him so that I would be straddling him. I felt his hands connect to my waist as we kissed, his hands were warm and excited me even more. He pulled away, quickly pressing his lips to my neck and collarbone. My breath hitched in my throat as he bit down lightly on the skin. “Lets get these off, shall we?” I motioned to his pants, which had to be killing him right now. While he does that, I reach into my drawer and retrieve a condom, laying against the plush material of my pillows after I set it down on the table.

He gets on top of me , pressing his lips with mine as he rubs the back of my bra, signaling he wants me to take it off. I ,of course, reach back and unhook it, tossing it onto the floor. He grabs my tit while dancing his tongue with mine, making me more wet than I thought was possible. Usually, these actions signified a need for control, but when Spencer did it, it was like a desperate sixteen year old boy. Its clear he needed me.

“Can I...” he nods down to my cunt, still covered by the thin material of my panties.

“Can you what, Spencer?” I lace my fingers in his hair and pull, earning a soft groan from the man hovering over me.

“Can I please eat you out?” He begged. I smiled and pushed his head down, spreading my legs when his face met my stomach. He started by taking his thumb and rubbing over my clothed pussy. I bucked my hips, desperate for more friction. “Is it okay for me to take these off?” His eyes met mine, searching for confirmation. I smiled and nodded, moving my hands to stroke his hair rather than tug at it.

As his fingers latched onto the last piece of fabric that covered me, instinctually I pushed my hips upwards. He looked at me, silently asking if taking the garment off was still okay. When I bit my lip, a rose hue covered his face. He was flustered by me, by the escalation of us. But nevertheless, he slowly pulled off the last piece of modesty I had.

To re-assure him, I lightly tugged at his hair. Thankfully, he took the hint and licked a long stripe on my clit. My voice was caught in my throat as he continued making flat-tongued movements. I felt his hands slowly wrap around my thighs, pushing my heat into his face more than it already was.

He devoured me without hesitation, but when he pulled away for air he replaced it with two fingers and then when my stomach tensed and my eyes rolled back into my head, he used three. I finished with his mouth sucking on my bundle of nerves and his fingers buried inside me.

“Do you want to keep going?” He raised his head up and his thumb stroked my thigh, which he was still grasped onto.

“Yes, God yes please, Spencer.” I whined, the high fading away. He stood up off the bed and removed his strained boxers. He was beautiful; His lanky form was now a lean masculine type. I smiled at him, to which he obviously thought he was being laughed at. He couldn’t make eye contact with me, resulting to the floor instead. “Spencer,” I crawled towards the edge of my bed and placed my hands on his shoulders, “You are so gorgeous, the reason I’m smiling is because you always hide it in those sweater vests.” he relaxed.

“Thanks” he mumbles, still avoiding my eyes.

“Now please, come back here and let me take care of you.” He climbed back onto the bed while I rested against the pillows. He was nervous, and obviously he wanted to do it right. I could see his hands shaking as he unwrapped the condom and put it on.

“You’re sure?” He asks, the tip of his cock resting on the top of my inner thigh. He was easily six inches, my hand could probably wrap around and be too small.

“Yes, please fuck me.” He slowly inserted himself into my dripping cunt, causing me to let out a lewd string of words. Once again, my hands flung to his hair and tugged harshly, causing his arms to almost buckle beneath his own weight. I could feel his pelvis against mine, his muscular bottom torso pressed up against my clit. “Move, baby, its okay.” I reassure him. His hips pull away from mine, then snap back with a nice pressure. He quickly started to pick up his pace, small grunts escaping through his clenched jaw. “Do you like the feeling of your pathetic little cock inside my cunt? I bet you feel like a special little bitch now.” I moaned into his ear. “Well, are you going to tell me how much you enjoy my cunt?”.

“God, yes! I love it so fucking-“ his moan paused the sentence and he focused on getting his movements right.

“So fucking what? Go on, finish the sentence baby.”

“So fucking good, I love being inside of you so much!” He was practically whimpering in pleasure.

“Be a good boy and make me cum all over that pretty little cock of yours?” I struggled to contain my moans, I could not fall apart this quickly.

“Yes I will!” His fingers reached down to rub my clit, impressively keeping a steady rhythm. I felt the knot in my stomach becoming hotter and hotter as the minutes passed by.

“Oh my god, such a good- oh my god!” my eyes rolled back into my head as the impact of my orgasm was full forced. When my head cleared, I tugged on his hair, pulling his head so he could look me in the eye. “Gonna cum soon? Are you going to cum all inside of me?” his thrusts got off beat, he was close.

“Yes, I’m gonna-“

“Ask permission to cum, Spencer.”

“Can I please cum inside of you? Please?” He whines.

“Of course you can, baby.” With that he makes a strained moaning noise and his hips slowly stop moving. We’re both panting, while he flushes the condom I walk into the bathroom next to him. I turn to the shower and twist the hot water knob.

“We might as well get clean together, yeah?” I said.

“Yeah.” he smiles and kisses me once more.

[himbeaux-on-ice]

Its funny that Vegas saw the criticism that they were weak down the middle and went after the most expensive available center and he is going to be the number one center I believe. But for the cap hit I feel like that is going to be a problem later in the season since Jack is going to be on LTIR for months due to injury (also tbh it is probably why the traded MAF, get rid of one 9 million dollar player and replace him with a 10 million dollar one lol)

See, see this is why this move today drives me insane, bc that’s NOT WHAT THEY TRADED MAF FOR.

The whole idea in the off-season was, need to reallocate some of the money being used to pay two equal starting goalies (instead of just one starter and a backup) into more depth forwards who can score, because we keep running into a scoring problem late in the playoffs when tight-checking defensive teams are able to shut down our top 6 (the “big line” and the Misfits line), and then there isn’t enough offence in the bottom two lines (aside from Nic Roy and *checks notes* OH YEAH, ALEX TUCH) to pick up the slack or draw attention of opposing defenders enough to create opportunities for the top two lines.

And they went okay, well then to solve this therefore we will essentially liquidate Marc-Andre Fleury (because he is the older and more expensive goalie of the two goalies) to turn his $7 million (not 9) in cap space into free space which we will then spend on: 1) guys like Patrick, Dadonov, Howden to reshape the 3rd and 4th line to be more offence-focused, 2) a cheaper backup goalie, and 3) re-signing Alec Martinez because he’s awesome for us. And then they even said no, we don’t think we need to chase a “true 1C”, because we believe Chandler Stephenson is that player, and has shown us he can be — what we need is more depth.

Which was like okay, cool! Great! Controversial, in many quarters, due to the whole goalie liquidation thing, but sure, as far as offseason plans go it at least has a coherent philosophy and goal that is being worked towards! You were essentially taking the cap space that was one (1) goalie and turning it into several less expensive but hopefully offensively productive forwards, gambling that you really only need one starter anyway. That would honestly be a pretty smart strategy as far as the copycat league goes, given that you’ve watched Tampa’s ability to roll four offensively potent and extremely deep lines LITERALLY beat the EXACT teams that eliminated you for Cups TWICE in the last two years.

So WHY in the name of FUCK have you now decided to UNDO some of that by re-concentrating $10 mil of cap into ONE guy, ostensibly to play in your top 6, thus making them even more top-heavy??? WHAT was the point of all that!! I hope to god Buffalo was on Fleury’s MNTC list, because that’s the only reason I can truly accept not just TRADING HIM FOR THAT INSTEAD OF FOR NOTHING. [muffled screaming into hands] I’ve heard some say that if he gets the surgery he wants and it works, Eichel could be skating in as little as 3 weeks and rehabbed up to game conditioning by the new year, possibly even back in the lineup sooner than Tuch would have been. So like, they’re GONNA need to figure it out.

Anyway with regards to the 1C thing, I’m really only half joking when I say they should either play Eichel at 3C, or move the Misfits (who I really think work better with each other than any other linemates, but Pete may fight me on this) down to 3rd line and play him as 2C with *hand wavy motion in the direction of some wingers*. Fuck it! Roll 4 lines with relatively equal minutes and let the opposing coaches struggle to decide how the fuck they’re gonna deploy against THAT (who do you glue your Phillip Danault-esque shutdown player/line to now, as an opponent? Stone Pacioretty and good ol speedy Stevie? Marchessault Karlsson and Smith? Jack fucking Eichel? The surprisingly effective Kolesar-Patrick-Dadonov 4th line? you can’t cover ALL of them and SOMEBODY is gonna score on you). I think it would be very VERY funny and just might even work. But Chandler Stephenson has earned the 1C job on this team and is incredibly effective with his linemates (just look at the one game we had this season before everybody DIED for an example), he deserves to keep it regardless of his cap hit. You don’t build lines based on price tag.

The Pens have had plenty of success out of being like “here’s our 2C, fuck you it’s Evgeni Malkin, die” for a long time. I legit double-dog-dare the Knights to try the same.

[beomglocks]

colors ; k.th

part of the badlands series!

colors: “you’re ripped at every edge but you’re a masterpiece.”

based off halsey’s badlands album.

warnings and other: museum curator!taehyun, old money!y/n, mentions of depression and grass smoking, little bit of angst i guess??

taehyun sighed as he took down the 11th painting this week. the museum hadn't been very busy in the past couple of weeks, maybe because the weather was getting colder. one part of him figured that many people just wanted to be bundled up at home watching holiday themed movies and drinking warm drinks rather than appreciating enchanting artworks.

he couldn't fool himself though, he knew the truth. today's generation didn't care about the fine arts anymore. a shame, seeing as everything around them seemed to be inspired by it.

kang taehyun worked at his local museum. he had been offered the position by the owner one night while roaming the place. this should've been a red flag looking back. the owner seemed desperate for someone to fill in the position since the previous employee had left without notice. nonetheless, taehyun took the job and didn't regret it one bit.

open 24/7, the red haired boy was always working on the clock. not that there was much to do seeing as most of the people his age or even a bit older didn't hang around museums purely for the joy of it. actually, his only job was to exhibit the newly arrived collections, clean and dust them off, and conduct regular tours and workshops for the public. due to this and the fact that not many people even came by he would take regular breaks.

once in a while you'd see the occasional old person or art expertee roaming around the small museum. if you were lucky, you'd see the local edgy teens posing next to a piece they didn't understand just to get an aesthetic picture. taehyun would also have the unfortunate job of shooing them away or scolding them for getting just a bit too close.

recently his boss, who was the museum manager and maybe the only other person besides taehyun that worked there, had informed him that due to funds and unfortunate unforeseen events, the museum would be closing down in about a month from now. this caused taehyun to fall deep into a depression since this was his only job and he loved it here. the museum was like his second home. he found comfort in the silent images displayed throughout the building. they always told him a story and when new pieces came in he would sit and stare attentively at the new anecdote being told to him.

taehyun smiled sadly at the piece he had just taken down. it was a painting of 2 people kissing however both of their faces were covered by white cloths. this was his favorite and he didn't even have a clue as to why. probably because of the uncertainty of what the other was feeling or because of the fact that the other couldn't see each other's faces through the cloth, that would've made the kiss more exciting in his opinion.

he stepped out of the museum and into the frosty air of the outside world. it was only autumn so why was it so cold? he thought to himself. he discreetly pulled out a prerolled blunt and his white lighter from his pocket. he lit it and stuck in between his slightly chapped lips.

maybe smoking dope wasn't the healthiest thing in the world, especially for a boy so young, barely 19, but it helped taehyun get his mind off the inevitably of losing his job and being homeless for the winter. he shuttered at the thought. he would have to room with one of his friends, he sighed shaking his head. no, he didn't want to be a burden, yeonjun had helped him enough as it is.

he looked at his surroundings taking in the cold autumn afternoon. the trees had long lost their leaves and were bare. the sky was a murky gray color as if it were threatening to rain any time soon. he noticed a girl bundled up in winter clothes near the entrance of the building glance at him. he smiled at her and she jumped at the eye contact, thinking that he wouldn't catch her. taehyun chuckled as he watched her rush into the museum. "back to work," he said out loud to himself.

once the blunt had been almost gone, he smoked what was left of it and headed back into the empty museum. he was feeling light-headed, the effects of the blunt finally taking action, but taehyun was used to it so it barely affected him as much.

he made his way to the girl who was now starting to take off her jacket and scarf. taehyun tapped on the girl's shoulder to get her attention. "hi," he smiled at the girl, showing off his dazzling smile. "if you'd like, i could give you a tour of the museum." well what's left of it anyways, he thought to himself.

"oh...no thank you," said the girl. she smiled warmly at the worker. "well not to be invasive of your decision but it's sort of in my job description," taehyun replied as he rubbed the back of his neck. the girl sighed in defeat, "i guess i have no choice then."

taehyun laughed as he took her coat and scarf to hang up in the public closet, "yep, trust me. they say im not that bad of a tour guide, im quite fun to be around if i do say so myself. i promise not to bore you too much." the girl nodded, not entirely convinced. "if i do end up bored i will hold you accountable..." she took a moment to take a peek at taehyun's name tag, "kang taehyun," she joked.

as they walked through the museum the girl couldn't help but notice that it was fairly empty. "why are there almost no paintings in here?" she laughed hesitantly. "i thought this was a museum?" taehyun stopped walking, turning to her with a sad expression on his face.

"the museum is expected to close in about a month or so," he stated simply. "oh...that's terrible. may i ask why?" the girl responded. "my boss says we've run out of funds or something like that," taehyun chuckled bitterly. "people don't really give a shit about good art these days anyways."

"that's a shame..."

they continued to look through the various paintings that were still up and occasionally the girl would ask to see the ones that were taken down and left on the floor. it seemed the two were lost in each other's company as night started to approach.

"thank you for the tour of this lovely museum taehyun. it was fun but it's a shame such a nice museum like this is closing down," the girl said softly. taehyun nodded solemnly, he just wanted to get this day over with and crash at his apartment. he didn't blame the girl before him but talking to her reminded him of his harsh reality. a notification coming from the girl's bag made both of them jump as they were both lost in their thoughts.

"ah, that must be my father. he's kind of annoying when it comes to my curfew," she chuckled, digging her phone from her bag. taehyun watched her with a bored expression until his eyes reached her bag. he hadn't noticed this earlier but she had been carrying a louis vuitton bag. his eyes bulged at the expensive item that was so close to him, they got even larger when she fished out the latest iphone from it.

taehyun wasn't poor per se, he had just enough to get by since he was living paycheck to paycheck. however, he had never been in such close proximity to any luxury items. he suddenly felt weird being this close to this girl.

"what do you mean by curfew?" taehyun asks hesitantly. the girl sighs, "my father is one of south korea's richest chaebol's, maybe one of the big three at his point." she rolled her eyes as if this information was nothing. "he's super strict with me because i guess i'm just his show pony daughter whom he can show off to say he's a good father."

taehyun gulped, had he just been casually hanging out with the daughter of one of the richest men in korea? he felt sick at this. she looked up at taehyun's uneasy expression, "oh my god im sorry i just dumped that all on you! i just needed to catch a break so i came here, i didn't mean to drag you into my life story."

taehyun fixes his face, laughing nervously, "no- no its fine really. we all need a break sometimes right? im glad you got to have that time here." the girl smiled up at him, completely misreading his nervous laughter, "im glad i got to spend it here with you taehyun."

"oh before i go!" taehyun watched her pull out a checkbook from her bag and his stomach dropped. he silently watched her scribble some stuff onto the slip and tear it out, handing it to him.

"there's not too much i can take out of my account without my father flipping out but i hope this helps even just a little. whether it be in your personal life or with the museum."

taehyun eyes the check and chokes when he sees 50,000 dollars written neatly on the black line. he swears he can feel sweat going down his face like in the cartoons. "i- i cant possibly take this from you." he moves to hand the check back but the girl refuses to take it back. "taehyun, you love this museum with your entire being. i see the way to look at the paintings and the passion with which you explained them to me. i'd hate to see that taken away."

"plus, if you're gone who's gonna give me the tour when i come back?" she laughs as if this is something casual. taehyun's hands shake as he pockets the check, "i seriously cannot thank you enough...you don't know how much you just helped the museum and m-"

the girls phone dings again and she grumbles, "ugh why can't he just leave me alone. sorry but i think i really gotta go for real before he tracks my location or something crazy like that."

taehyun nods wistfully at the mention of her having to leave. he was really starting to enjoy her company.

"oh by the way," the girl giggles as she pulls her coat on hurriedly.  "was that you smoking weed at the corner of the museum earlier?" the girl chuckled to herself again just remembering it. taehyun furrowed his eyebrows, "why would you say that kind of thing at out loud and at my job?!" he scolded in a playful hushed voice.

"i just thought it was funny and you also smelled of weed the entire tour, i didn't mind though so don't worry," the girl concluded. she was starting to walk away towards out the door now. "i'll walk you out," taehyun offers. "such a helpful employee. is this in the job description too?" the girl jokes, turning to him while a smile on her lips. "well, not exactly," taehyun says smoothly.

she shakes her head, "i'll see you soon taehyun." he watches her walk off into the darkness of the night when he suddenly remembers something.

"hey what's your name by the way?" he shouts after the girl. for some reason taehyun really was hopeful of seeing her again.

"y/n!" came the disembodied voice of the girl he had just met.

[p0gue420]

!Too Young To Feel Numb! (Kie x Reader)

ATTENTION!! There are a lot of trigger warnings in this one! Including: drinking, drugs, talks of feeling alone, depression.

Summary: Y/n started smoking weed at the age of 8, It’s all she’d known; She grew up around it so it was normal for her to start super young, she told herself that’s the farthest she’d go...only smoking weed..never any hard drugs. She thought she could learn from her parent's mistakes, guess not. 

pairing: Kie x female!reader, Rafe x Platonic! reader, JJ x Sister figure! reader

Warnings: Substance abuse, depression, suicidal thoughts, marijuana Underage drinking,(reader is 15),

A/N: Alot of grammar errors because i dont feel like checking it so sorry....not really,hehe

---------

I use to think people were crazy for even thinking about doing anything harder than weed. Yeah...I was like 7 so it doesn’t count.”Yo you gonna babysit that shit or pass it, I mean...I have all day but  would love to do something besides wait for you to pass the blunt.” I rolled my eyes waiting for JJ to hand it to me.”Chill, what’s up your ass today?”

He finally passes it, after what felt like hours. I take a long hit before seeing he’s actually wanting me to answer his question.”Nothin. man, I’ve just got places to be.” I mumbled out hoping he wouldn’t start asking any further questions. He stares blankly awaiting me to pass it back, knowing I don’t share my feelings so he simply lays off. “Hey. You trynna go surfing today….whenever you’re done with your….things..?”

“Uhh, yeah text me and-” I’m cut off by the sound of my phone vibrating...Barry.

Barry:

Meet in twenty? I got extra today

I look up from my phone stuttering my words, and fumbling.“Uhm, I gotta go do something, but I’ll text you later to surf, yeah?” I say nodding towards JJ as I began walking out.”Uhm yea sure, hey-” I was already out the door.”-be safe.” he muttered to himself left wondering why I left so fast. On the way to my bike, I ran into Kie and Pope laughing about something before Kie began to make her way over towards me.

“Hey, Y/n! Heading out so fast, are we?”Kie pouted her lip out mimicking a whimpering sound.” heh, yeah sorry bub. I gotta go handle some things and I’ll be back later.” I peck her lips in a swift movement as well as pull up the front of her crop top, covering her exposed cleavage.”Those are my love,keep them covered” I wink at her. She laughs and heads inside after blowing me a kiss,that I catch and pretend to place in my heart..Wow im so whipped.

My thoughts cut off by a loud vibrating noise.

Barry:

You coming?

Read: 46 sec.ago

Me:

Omw now!

Read: just now

I hop on my bike heading over to Barry’s place knowing a shortcut I found a few days ago.

It only takes 10 minutes before i’m in front of his house walking up the steps of the porch.My clean oxygen is immediately replaced by the smell of cigarettes,weed,and...Is that burnt hair?I scrunch my face in disgust at the awful smells.”Aye look who it is!” Barry calls out after seeing my face, He’s standing beside..Rafe cameron.

Now...I’m not friends with Rafe but i also don’t exactly despise him.I babysat wheezie all summer last year,most the time he’d join..keep me company;I don’t think he knew i was with Kie but he’s not all bad.He’s helped me more times than I can count,only because i've done the same for him though.

“Yo waddup.I didn’t expect to see you here.” I share a short handshake with Barry and side hug Rafe,he seems unprepared for it so he stumbles a bit but eventually hugs back quickly.”uh yeah.just doing some..business” Rafe says avoiding eye contact,looking everywhere except my face.”anyway i'm gonna head out, i'll catch you guys later.” Rafe walks towards,im guessing his bike;I head inside following barry so i didn’t really catch what he drove in.

“So like I said I've got your usual ,and then I got a little extra something I thought you may like.”He continues on but I'm so wrapped up in the fact that I want to consume something soon,anything;I don’t know exactly what he's saying.”Sound good?” He asked “Uh what?sorry I zoned out a bit.”I shook my head pushing my long hair out of my eyes.”Look,Usually altogether this would be alot of money but considering I stole the pills,I'll spare you the oxy,wadda yuh say?”, “Yeah sure,80$?”

He nods his head holding his hand out as i hand him the money.He hands you a bag full of coke in a plastic baggy, along with the pills in its original container it was prescribed. “Ight,thanks man.Ill see you later next week!” I wave goodbye as I show myself out, shoving the ‘things’ I had bought into my bag and swinging it back on my back.

~Incoming call from:Bubbs<3

I instantly pick up not wanting to worry her.

I instantly hear the boys laughing and playing in the background,but wait for her to say something.”Hey baby, you heading back yet?” Kie questioned sounding bored of the childish boys we spend our time with.”Not yet,i promise im almost done,ask the boys if there's drinks at the chateau please.”She turns her head away from the boys asking what there is to drink besides sink water.

I hear a chorus of “We just stocked up”,”All good momma bird.” and other sayings coming from the overly hyper boys.”Did you hear that,or need me to repeat?” She hesitantly says, making sure I’m still listening ”Gotcha,I'm headed your way now,see you there” I say quickly hanging up without giving her time to respond.

I hop on my bike and drive towards…...the opposite of the chateau,instead deciding to go to the Camerons.I drive,stuck in thought of what ill do when i get there,not quite sure why i decided to come.I had been so lost in thought I didn’t realise I was suddenly at the Cameron residence. I park my bike and began walking up to the door,but before I can knock,Rafe walks up behind me.

“Y/n?” I swiftly turn around being scared for a minute before realizing who it was.”Oh!uhm. yeah...hey” I ‘smoothly’ say”what are you doing here?” he asks..The whole conversation was a blur and before I knew it I was walking up to his room to hang out.I sit on the bed laying back asking about what he wants to do.”I don't know,you came here,what'd you have in mind?” He asked curiously.”I'm not sure.” I snorted at my inability to maintain a conversation.

I dig into my bag as he starts up about how he broke his bed frame the other day, because he put too many boxes on the bed while getting rid of some old things. I finally found what I was looking for,the baggy of white powder.I lifted it up smiling widely.”Can I do this here or no?”I question,feeling my body begin to sweat at the thought of getting to snort the white powder.

“Uh,I mean.. yea sure,didn't know you did that kind of thing.. but I mean go ahead.” He rambles. He stares into space as I do a few lines, my eyes opening wide at the sensation of sudden adrenaline;I look over to see him trying not to stare.”Oh my bad,You want some?” I ask holding up the dollar folded into a cylinder shape , gesturing to the lines of coke spread on the dresser.

---

Hours go by,giggling,cracking jokes with rafe as well as doing oxy and maybe overdoing it with the coke seeing as the bag was almost gone.Rafe hasn't done much.I on the other hand was feeling VERY shaky and everything was just so hilarious..until it wasnt.My high started to get bad and overall scary.I must've did too much in such a limited amount of time.I look at my phone .

17 missed calls from Bubbs<3

8 missed calls from John B:)

9 missed calls from Popey boi

11 missed calls from JJ

Incoming call from Bubbs<3

“He-h-hello ,hi,hey.”

“DON'T ‘HI’ ME!” Kie instantly began screaming into the phone making me move my face away from it as Rafe looked at me with a worried expression on his face.

“Y/n,Where have you been! I’ve been so worried! I’ve-” I Blanked out again not in the mood to be yelled at.”Yeah,hey I nee-need,will-can youcomeandpickme up” I say jumbling all my words together. “Are you okay?Why are you talking like that?''She ask worried about my state of mind.

“Yeah am- I fine,Yes” I say yet again struggling to sound normal. I guess I was on speaker because JJ immediately began yelling into the phone asking about where I was.”Rafes house” Rafe sat silently waiting for them to break out into hysterics about me being with him.The phone went silent for a moment before the call ended.”So does that mean they not-....Vodka” was all i said before heading downstairs Rafe was sober enough to be able to notice what i was doing.I quickly went downstair searching through the freezer.

“Yessss.”I exclaimed before chugging the vodka.”Rafe continuously asking me to give him the bottle.I chugg at least half the pint bottle before having to give it up because Sarah comes down the stairs.”Y/n what're you doing here?” She asks excitedly until she saw me tripping over my own feet walking towards her,”Woah!” she caught me just before I hit the floor.

She turned to the door hearing someone pull up.Kie.”Rafe what did you do to her?” Sarah asked, holding me up scared of how out of it I was.”SHE BROUGHT COKE HERE,i did a bit with her, but she did A LOT. I legit did nothing this time I swear on everything!”He trailed back up the stairs not caring about the situation now that Sarah was there to take care of you. 

I began to sweat, tears running down my face. scared of what's happening to me.John b and Kie rush through the front doors asking where I am.”IN HERE GUYS!” Sarah screamed for them to hear her.My eyes rolling to the back of my head as I went in and out of consciousness.

“BABYYYY!!!” i exclaimed making grabby hands at Kie as i started crying harder

Sarah helped me stand up shakingly as I tried to walk to my girlfriend,She came running towards me with a concerned look on her face. She grabs my face pecking my lips,”Bub. I need you to listen to me, okay?” I nodd in awe of the gorgeous girl in front of me.”John B is gonna take you to the van,we need you to tell us everything you took to get in this state, okay?” I drowsily  nodded,growing tired.

Just as she said,the tall boy picked me up bridal style carrying me out to the twinkie.

I take notice to seating arrangement so i can close my eyes and know whos talking ,JJ being in the passenger seat,Pope watching From the bench behind the driver's seat.Kie stepped up into the van sitting on the floor of the vehicle waiting for John B to place me down beside her.As he did I sat up enough to lean my back against her chest.

JJ was surprisingly silent.Too silent.Pope looked so worried at my sweating body and dripping wet hair from  sweat,tears,and vodka mixture.”Okay,Y/n,What did you take?” my girlfriend sits grabbing my face turning me to face her, my legs straddling her thighs on the floor as I nuzzle my head into the crook of her neck,but she pushes my head up making me pout but not being able to maintain due to the dizziness. “I took a few oxy,uhm when I -then i did a few lines of coke,and…..i chugged half a pint of vodka..” i said tears filling my eyes trying to not look into anyone's eyes,

Silent JJ was no more .”Are you fucking kidding me.Y/n Y/m/n Y/l/n.You’re not supposed to take oxy and drink alcohol together.much less do oxy or coke at all.ARE YOU DUMB!” JJ began turning around. A Quiet ‘im sorry’ came from my mouth.John B finally pulled into the chateau.

Kie carried me while my face stayed nuzzled in her neck still crying due to my,still,VERY high state.she sat me down on the couch out on the porch as everyone except her,went to get a few things.Pope came back with water and a wet rag to place on my head.JJ brought a blanket,John B came back empty handed because he only went inside to pee.

“Kie?” I whispered scared she was mad.”Yes baby?” 

“Are you mad at me?” I questioned hiding my face in her shoulder due to the amount of dizziness being insured. She leaned her head on mine with an unknown amount of emotions,not quite sure of how to fully answer. “No I- I just don’t know what you were thinking I just- Well I figured you wouldn’t ever do anything like this considering what we talked about-and -and what you went through with your parents..” 

“I know-I wanted to feel better tho..I just feel like i have no one-”

Shortly realising the guys were still in on the conversation as Pope cut in.

“Y/n, you have,and always will have us..” I lift my head from the girls shoulder  before slowly looking at Pope in his sad worried eyes.

“I guess, I like-I dont know guys what you want me to say..Im trying to be better for myself for everybody,but nothing was working and i ran into barry one day and we talked and he offered a way to help,of course i was hesitant but its really not that bad...Im actually fine!” I said standing up as John b followed me.

“y/n, you were just saying you need help,so what the fuck are we supposed to do ,one minute you need help and having to be ushered here so you dont die! And-and-the next thing you’re yelling at us about how your fine,you’re not fine and you know it!” I stopped as I watched the long haired boy fight back tears trying to explain how all of them feel.

“Fuck you guys honestly,Im not a child i know how i feel,this is all just bullshit!” I yelled at them all, I ran to the spare bedroom covered in sweat,tears,and vodka; I slowly sink into the bed as tears fall down my face crying myself to sleep,what i didn’t know was that my bestfriend’s and girlfriend were all huddled up outside the door awaiting me to fall asleep so that they could come in and cuddle me to make me feel better.Sometimes things get better, but i dont think this is one of those times atleast for now anyway..

[regrettablewritings]

I really love all your Bruce Wayne writings, so i'd like to request numbers 7, 17, 18, 29 for him.

Aaawww! Thank you so much!!! Stuff’s below the cut!

7. What do they get up to on a night out?: Given that Bruce is the closest thing Gotham has to royalty, there’s only so much the two of you can get into without a few pitfalls. While Bruce isn’t against giving back to the community by supporting small businesses, he can’t always just march into the local greasy spoon -- no matter how much he wants to. He used to be able to do that in his youth but sadly, expectations became a bit heavier as he got older. Plus, given that he has to play the part of the owner of a billion-dollar corporation in addition to moonlighting as a local vigilante, date nights aren’t exactly a thing that can just spontaneously happen.

But when they happen, Bruce does whatever he can to make it count. Sure, dinner at the finest restaurants in Gotham or Metropolis is a given. Yes, a night out at the Metropolis Ballet is a nice treat. There are even occasions you’re able to convince Bruce to accompany you to the local donut hub for artisan baked goods. But the truth of the matter is that even when these things manage to get off the ground, there will often be a risk of watchers. Paparazzi. People sneaking photos and videos on their phones. It’s an absolute headache.

During which cases, the con of Bruce’s fame and wealth can also be used to your advantage.

It’s amazing what strings can be pulled just to get a night at the Gotham City Museum of Natural History to yourselves, for example.

It’s absolutely freeing: Security and management allows you both to freely roam the grounds, wandering from exhibit to exhibit. You’re free to dress as you like, talk without any airs that might’ve been posed in the public face. Jokes can be shared, absurd trivia dispensed, and you needn’t worry about how your displays of affection could be interpreted and broken down by the local tabloids and media. (Though let’s be real, you’ll be too busy holding hands because who wants to kiss when there’s model towns to look at?!)

Nights like these don’t happen very often. Not because Bruce doesn’t want to do them, but because of time. And because the both of you don’t want the magic to die off too quickly. Normally, ventures like this are reserved for when you need a pick-me-up from your favorite exhibit, or when a traveling exhibition makes the museum its temporary home. But you don’t mind: Every time is magical. (Plus, every time you go, Bruce lets you go nuts in the gift shop.)

17. When they find a time machine, where do they go?: While the immediate expectation would be that Bruce takes the machine back to the night his parents died in order to thwart the attack, that’s actually . . . not likely. He may consider going back to stopping Robin from dying, but even that falls flat. The reasons are both the same: Time is a very fragile thing. Even if a bullet were mere centimeters away, something could change for the worst down the line. He barely trusts Barry to rewrite timelines, and that’s Barry’s actual thing!

As tempted as Bruce would be the entire while to undo everything, to undo something that would change everything, he just can’t bring himself to do it. It’s too risky.

18. When they fight, how do they make up?: Bruce has had many girlfriends in the past. And just about every one of them expected the same things: Bags, dresses, grand gestures to show just how far he was willing to go to earn their forgiveness (even if they were in the wrong). It became to frequent that towards the end of certain relationships, he just couldn’t be bothered anymore and would just send out assistants to do it. It had become a chore, a new way of exhausting him and making him feel less like a boyfriend who was wanted and more like a piggy bank that was tolerated. He hadn’t meant to lump you in with the lot, but it had become nearly second nature to him. In hindsight, of course, this was not the best way to go about things after your first fight. You’d never chased after his wealth after all, why start now? Nevertheless, he found himself acquiring gifts for you: Dresses in your favorite color, jewelry made form your favorite minerals, at least two more Switches so you could have even more Animal Crossing (“That’s how that works, right?” “Master Bruce, please -- ”). But he found himself at a loss when, even after presenting you with the bounty, you still didn’t seem to be happy, nor voice your forgiveness. Instead, you sighed deeply. “Bruce . . . Thank you. I appreciate the gesture. I really do. But can we please just . . . talk?” He blinked. That . . . wasn’t what he’d been expecting. Of course, it was an adjustment: He had to avoid the impulse to go about grabbing things he thought you’d like; and then there was the fact that if you knew you were wrong, you’d eventually come to him with an apology. That just wasn’t a thing Bruce was used to in his date mates. And as painful as it could be to open up in some respects, he does appreciate it after the fact to some degree. It forces you both to confront your faults and face maturer ways of dealing with the problem. From it, you can grow together as a couple, into a relationship Bruce actually feels is good for him.

29. Why do they fall a little bit more in love?: For Bruce, it’s when you prove to him more and more that maybe not everything in Gotham has been corrupted. Bruce loves his city but he would be lying if he said it was the most embracing in the country. His parents saw potential in Gotham before their untimely ends, ans they took special care to help Bruce see it for himself. But as time went on, things got harsher. Harder. And in order to combat it, Bruce himself got harsher. Harder.

Maybe he didn’t need to, but that’s what he became convinced he needed to do. As a result, as he grew older, more cynical. Even when he wasn’t going about in a bat suit, he was still surrounded by less-than-pleasant company: Fair weather friends, sugar babies, people who wanted something from him. Nobody really saw him as a person after a while so much as they did something to siphon time, energy, and money out of. And it drained him of his patience, happiness, and hope. But then you came along. And you were like a flower blooming out of the dim, grey cracked Gotham City sidewalk: You were bright, you were patient, you didn’t want anything from him. But when you wanted his time, it was so you could get to know one another or talk. When you wanted his energy, it was so the two of you could go check out a strange, new exhibit at the aquarium or so he could help you run errands without getting bored. And the only thing you wanted with his money was for him to just pay for his own half of whatever meal you two had had while on a date.

You didn’t fetishize him or laugh at him or with him for your own benefit. You weren’t afraid to tell him when he was being too stiff or tell him that you needed to “eat the rich.” He appreciated that kind of honesty. But most of all, he appreciated that you made him feel . . . seen. He feels like he’s actually present now. Seen. Felt. Loved. And he wants you to feel that way, too.

The good news is, this sort of give-and-take is almost symbiotic in a sense: You making him feel seen and loved makes him want to open up to you even more. And when he does that, you can’t help but love what you’re seeing. Bruce has spent so much of his life putting on facades, be it to present himself as a playboy to the unassuming, or to be a stuff, rigid businessman so nobody would suspect debatable lunacy, or whatever’s going on with the whole Batman situation. So when he chooses you to be one of the few people in his life he wants to open up to, you can’t hep but welcome what he gives with open arms and an supportive mind.

When he smiles, it’s not the same, rehearsed grin he gives at press conferences; when he puts his heart into something, it’s not for the benefit of the company; when he laughs, it’s husky and tinged with genuine mirth and not canned and stale. He doesn’t talk to you like there’s a business proposal on the line because he actually likes talking with you. It’s a sign of trust and an effort being made on his part to communicate more, and you can’t help but be excited for what his true self will reveal next!

(Also, when he actually wears the Scrooge McDuck cuff links you got him as a joke, you know love is real.)

Thank you for asking!!!

[cosmiclatte28]

TEMPO (racer! reader x sehun, nct and exo) #1

This is a 5 part story of Racer!you x Sehun, however your squad is made up of NCT members.. so this is kinda exo x nct x you! 

ENJOYYY I HOPE THIS 5 PART STORY DOESN’T LET YOU DOWN... The parts will be posted every day.. so watch out for Thursday to Sunday 

WARNING : WILD RACING, SMOKING (DON’T OKAY PLEASE, EVEN I do not smoke.. ps my reader here uses “hyung” to address men because she is raised like a boy.

NCT boys here are Jaehyun, Taeyong, Yuta, Johnny

*******************************

Sehun dishevels his dark brown locks once again as his fingers constantly press a button on his remote control. The screen in front of him blinks and shows different pictures which fail to grab his attention.

Sehun sighs in agony. It’s Saturday night and he has nothing to do, no one to get laid, and no reasons to sleep yet. Now he realizes how lonely he is after he broke up with his previous girl friend who sneaked behind him to get into his best friend’s (Kai) pants. Yes Sehun dated her for a good two years and in the last three months she slept with Kai. He caught her red handed when he came to Kai’s room; unplanned, to take the homework he left. That day ended his relationship with the girl and his friendship with Kai.

Sehun has been doing well the past few months forgetting the memories, leaving Kai behind, and moving on. He is thankful for Johnny and his friends who accept him nicely into the gang. Sehun does not meet his fellow friends: Chanyeol and Baekhyun as frequent as he did before mainly because Kai shares an apartment with them. Sehun met Johnny from his philosophy class and they happen to have the same hobby, therefore they start to be best friends.

Usually on Saturday nights, Sehun has some fun with Chanyeol and the others; probably catching on with their games, talking about some girls here and there, Baekhyun challenges them for a match in PUBG, Suho annoys them with his dad jokes, Lay and Chanyeol might work on their music, and Kai? He’ll be with Sehun laughing their ass off when Baekhyun lost a game. Hufth he really misses Kai, but at the same time he hates him with all his heart. How could a best friend do that?

But truth is : best friends are the ‘best’ back-stabber right?

Sehun turns his TV off when he heard a knock on the door. Lazily he proceeds to grab the door.

“Yeah-“ he opens the door to see the person disturbing his peaceful night- “Oh, it’s you.”

Sehun steps aside to let the man behind the door in.

“What is it Johnny?” Sehun questions when the tall man makes his way to his cooler and ponders over the glass to pick which drink he wants.

Johnny grabs a can of Carlsberg, pops it open and quenches his thirst. Sehun rolls his eyes then snaps, “If you’re only here for my drinks… put some dollars there and leave.”

Johnny takes his time to finish the last drop and after applying pressure to crumple the can he finally speaks up.

“I see you have no company tonight. The TVs are boring, mind to follow me?” he asks while tossing the unformed can between his hands.

“What? Where?” Sehun deems more explanation.

“Somewhere you might never have been before-“ he glances at his wrist and back to Sehun “the offer’s short. Are you coming or not?”

Sehun looks puzzled. Johnny out of the blue knocked his apartment door, finished a can of beer, and suddenly asked him to join him.

“It will be interesting I promise. At least more interesting than sitting in your dull apartment crying over your ex.” Johnny shrugs his shoulder playfully and tosses the can to the bin.

“Fine. I agree just because I have nothing to do, and seeing you made time to come and pick me up… it better be something good.” Sehun jogs and grabs his denim jacket and jumps into his boots. Judging by Johnny’s fashion he knows a sneaker won’t do good.

“Nice choice. You’re quick in observing eh?” Johnny slaps his back and walks out of the small flat.

“Walk faster please.” With that one sentence, Sehun locks his door and catches up his friend’s long steps.

Sehun finds out that they are not alone. He sees Taeyong, Jaehyun, and Yuta lounging over the basement smoking a stick of cigarette.

“You’re finally here! Took you almost one box of this.” Jaehyun playfully shakes the half empty cigarette box. (The four shares them, duhh)

“Where’s your manner-” Sehun smirks and opens his hand to which Yuta quickly places a bar “-thank you! Now shall we get going?”

Taeyong laughs at his arrogance. “I don’t promise you will like where we’re headed. Note that it’s our job-“ he points at himself then to Yuta and Jaehyun “- Johnny is only accompanying us and we think you’ll be lonely after your drama… so let’s see how this goes.”

Sehun keeps his mouth close and follows them into their car. After an hour drive out of the city, they reach a vast crowded area on the outskirt of the busy streets. There are no tracks or path there, but judging by the numerous two wheeled vehicles and spot lights exposing a route, Sehun knows they are in a wild motor tracking area. He did not know these 4 calm looking guys are into this kind of sport, but that explains their fashion style! Lots of leathers, tight pants, chains, and that smoldering look.

Sehun jumps off the car and looks around for a while; just to realize he is no longer with the gang. He lost them, but before catching up, he decided to look around for a little while.

The brunette is mesmerized by the shining slim bodies of the motors. There are several bikes displayed nicely side by side, each one having their own personal strikes of colors and styles. One motor caught his attention, the simplest one, with just a sticker of 127 in a bold neon green prints. He carefully runs his finger through the neat numbers then quickly pulls them back when a small voice calls him.

“Hey-“ the person taps his shoulder “- I believe we are not to touch any thing used for the race. People might claim it for cheating if something goes wrong later.”

Sehun bashfully keeps his hand together and apologizes “Oh! I’m sorry.” He brings his hand to his neck and slowly makes an eye contact to the girl, who called him off, in front of him.

“No worries, no one saw it except me. Besides you look new here.” She runs her eyes scanning him from top to bottom. She smiles when the flustered man gives out his hand “Sehun. Yes I’m new here. And you? You yourself looks a bit out of place here.”

Sehun clearly lost control of his mouth. How can he made such a blunt comment about this stunning girl across him. Yes she looks young, without her height people will definitely ban her to be here.

Right within his vision is a girl not taller than him, slightly shorter, wrapped in a comfortable ripped skinny black jeans and a white tee shirt with black leather jackets. Her long hair is neat under her cap. Her eyes are calm, her hair is strangely the cute hue of cotton candy, and her cute dimple smile defines the title of “nice cute girls you wish you can date” Sehun envies her eternal young genes. And yes he wonders why the hell is she here.

She seems taken aback by his comment, but plays along quickly “I’m also surprised I’m here. What brings you here?” She smoothly drives the conversation.

“I’m tagging along my friends… and I lost them when we arrived here-“ He cranes his neck over the crowds to look for his squad “-Johnny is over there. The others I don’t see them. No worries.”

She smiles and Sehun melts. “So you really don’t know what’s happening here?” she asks.

Sehun nods then darts his eyes to his surrounding. The crowd is moving to the sides when 10 motors are growling their engines on the starting line. The MC shouts some opening remarks.

Guess the first round is starting in 5 minutes. “I sense it’s some wild racing?” He returns his vision to the girl beside him.

“Right. As clear as a day. They do wild race here. Practically like Moto Gp but without the sponsors, live cam, and rules. It stands to its name. Wild race. No rules, just start from the starting line and find your way to the finish line.”  without much emotion she explains it to Sehun.

“I don’t get it.. why are they doing this?” Sehun wonders. The first race started and he saw how dangerous this game is. “How do you determine the winner?” Sehun earlier saw someone walking around the crowds collecting moneys and he puts them under one box and gives it to the judge. Which they did not keep directly. He wonders if that is the betting money.

“The one not under drugs or booster, the one who reaches the finish line, and the one who performs best in the eyes of the judges. There’s some scoring system that I also don’t quite get it. Worry not there are medical team and a professional judge.” She looks into the distance: the dusty and dirty race track.

“What does the winner gets?” Sehun asks.

“Money. They win money and fame maybe. I am also like you. I don’t get this whole thing.” She shrugs her shoulder acting like she also doesn’t get why this thing is allowed.

Sehun secretly smiles at her comment. Funny how the two of them doesn’t like being here and happens to bump into each other. Just as he is about to dive deeper into the conversation, Johnny calls him and walks towards him.

“Looks like your friend is looking for you Sehun, I’ll be going. See you.. somewhere else.. I think you don’t like this thing and won’t be coming back!” she turns around.

“Yeah. It’s not my style… hey you haven’t tell me your name.” Sehun yells a bit. She successfully heard him and turns around her heels, “It’s (y/n)! See you on another chance!” she smiles, walks through the crowd and disappears.

“You’re here! I’ve been looking for you around. Come on let’s get ready the real deal is starting in 7 minutes.” Johnny grabs his hand and drags him to one side of the audience area.

They are simply standing by the opposing sides of the track. Between them are the racers and their motors. Sehun’s surprised when he sees the motor that caught his attention earlier. The 127 motor is there. “Where are Taeyong and the others?” Sehun raises his brow to Johnny.

“Right I forgot to tell you. Taeyong is a manager.. Jaehyun is the mechanic and Yuta-“ Sehun cuts him off “Yuta is the racer?”

“Yes but not for tonight. You’ll be surprised to know our racer.” Johnny speaks a bit louder to match the voice of the crowds and the engines. “They have the best player.. it’s that one.. the one with 127 printed on the jacket.” Johnny points at a person.

Sehun’s eyes widen when he coincidentally exchange gazes with the girl behind the helmet. She shoots him her playful shrugs and after putting on her helmet, she jumps over her seat and roars her engines. “(y/n)?” Sehun accidentally lets her  name slips.

“Oh you know? Yeah it’s her. She’s been playing for three month and Taeyong has never been this proud. She’s the best he ever had.” Johnny comments while having his eyes locked on the racers and to the MC who begins to announce tonight’s line up.

“This race is open for all genders. Don’t be surprised. Oh tonight’s opponent is easy Sehun! It’s a real piece of cake.” Johnny claps excitedly on the contrary, Sehun is worried sick. Why must a girl like her compete in something dangerous and dirty like this.

The whistle is blown and the flags are down, the ten motors wildly accelerates through the dark dusty road and 300 meters to the race, three contestants are knocked down. 500 meters into the dark night another two falls. Sehun can’t see which one in the dark is (y/n) but he hopes she is not falling behind. He hopes with all his might she is okay and alright. Sehun knows falling down from a high speed motor cycle is not something small. He knows the danger and he is worried sick (y/n) will end like that.

“Johnny… tell me who are the competitors tonight.” Sehun tries his best to concentrate on the shadows in the dark. The lack of constant lighting made it hard to keep track of the racers. Only under the glowing street light can they see what’s happening. “Majority it’s men who are usually knocking each other down. No worries, (y/n) can easily win tonight.” Johnny seems to smell something from Sehun. He knows Sehun is interested at her. He’s not the type to get worried sick for someone he doesn’t care.

Finally Sehun can let go the breath he doesn’t know he’s been holding. Just like what Johnny said, he saw (y/n) made it first to the finish line and Taeyong and the rest cheers into a group hug. Johnny is also over the moon. Sehun made a mental note he doesn’t like this and he is not coming back. No! This is so dangerous for his heart. He isn’t in the race but he can feel the adrenaline and he hates that.

On the side next to the judges, Taeyong Jaehyun and Yuta hug each other and collected the money from the judges. He took a small number for his team and hands the rest to the champion.

(y/ n) took off her helmet, placed it on one of the bike hand and she counts her money happily. Her breath is still quick and short. Sehun can see it from the distant how adrenalines must still take over her body. She keeps her money inside her jacket and walks to the side to have a discussion with Taeyong. While Jaehyun takes over the motor to examine the damages, Yuta checks on her condition.

“Some scratches here and there… nothing dangerous.” Yuta smiles in relief.

“Jaehyun I think there’s something missing. Someone kicked me but I managed to keep my body on the jock. But please tell me something is missing coz I heard something drop.” (y/n) goes to bend beside Jaehyun who’s busy examining.

Taeyong pushes a bottle of energy drinks to her lips and she diligently finishes half of it.

“Whoah. Indeed someone managed to kick some parts away.. but worry not I’ll get this fixed. Your next race you’ll be the fastest again.” Jaehyun brings her bike to a carrier truck.

She can’t go home with that dirty bike. Besides the bike is modified for races not for daily use or even used in town.

“Okay. Good bye!” she bows and turns to rejoins her friends. They welcome her nicely and Taeyong Jaehyun Yuta returns to Johnny and Sehun.

“How is it Sehun? Surprised?” Jaehyun interrogates when they are on their way back home. They live in the same unit apartment. Sehun lives alone with his brother while the four shares a big house.

“I did not know these things are happening in real life. I thought I’d only see them in movies.” Sehun snickers.

Yuta laughs “I think you’ve talk a word or two with our Ace racer. What do you think of her?”

Sehun tries to keep his cool image but fails, “She doesn’t look like she belongs there. She’s cute.” He admits that.

The four boos him and teases him.

“Our Sehun will finally move on!” Taeyong screams.

“No! It’s not like that! I just met her.. that’s just my first impression. Besides I’m not returning to that hellish place.”

“Said the man who really gets nervous during the race.. asking me constant questions to ensure she is alright.” Johnny mocks Sehun. This stirs the car to laugh and Sehun quiet in his place. Blushing all the way home.

--

Sehun gets home with butterflies in his tummy. The short encounter was too short of his liking, but definitely planted deep inside his memory. His brother, Luhan, welcomes him home with tons of questions.

“Where are you from?”

“What makes you this weird?”

“Don’t tell me you found someone new?”

“Sehun you’re not answering me?! You’re not drunk right?”

“Hey Sehun! SEHUN! Come to your senses!”

Luhan upon Sehun’s arrival has bombarded him with questions. Hey Luhan knows the heart break Sehun went through and he knows that earlier he left Sehun for his date and when he returns quiet late, Sehun is not home yet. His mind quickly think where can he be. Probably a club? Or maybe the guys’ house. But seeing how Sehun’s shoes are dirty.. Luhan knows he is not drunk or back from playing PS.

“Hyung. I’m not drunk okay. I’m totally in my right mind and I’m just happy for tonight.”

“What do you do?”

“Fine if you insist. I watched a wild motor racing. Happy? Just because Taeyong is working there.”

“Right. Did you win or lose the bet?” Luhan expects his brother to gamble since he’s there.

To which surprisingly Sehun denies “You know I don’t gamble.”

Luhan rolls his eyes “Who knows something gets into you. Anyways since you’re home.. I’ll be sleeping. Nighty night big baby.”

“Please if you’re doing your business keep the moans low. I  want to sleep without nightmares Sehun.” Luhan winks to his pants and closes his door.

Sehun grunts. Gosh why is he even having a tent right now between his tight pants. Gosh Luhan is really teasing him max. Why did he even have this boner right now?!

CONTINUE TO PART 2 

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior 5/7/21: WRATH OF MAN, HERE TODAY, THE UNTHINKABLE, MONSTER, THE WATER MAN and More

It’s a new month, and I guess going by previous years pre-COVID, this weekend would normally be the start of summer. This year, we’re instead getting a summer with a lot of movies that would normally be dumped into April or February or some other uneventful month. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t or won’t be any good movies, but really, there’s nothing that feels like a summer movie until A Quiet Place Part II and Disney’s Cruella open on Memorial Day weekend.

There’s been lots of great developments, though, including the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn reopening this Friday and then in a few short weeks, theaters may be allowed to be open with no capacity rules although social distancing and masks will probably still be in place. Believe me, it’s been a confusing week as the city that got used to being on the backburner when it comes to reopenings, especially with movie theaters, is now dealing with arguing politicians competing to see who could throw open the then most doors fastest. It’s actually pretty embarrassing.

That aside, this week’s The Weekend Warrior column is brought to you by the new album “Coral Island” from Liverpool band The Coral, which I’ve decided to listen to on loop until I finish this column, because it’s taking me so long to get through it. (Eventually, I switched to Teenage Fanclub’s “Endless Arcade,” since I hadn’t had a chance to listen to it yet…. And to an old standby, Royal Blood, with their own excellent new album, “Typhoons.” At least the record business seems to know it’s the summer!)

Before we get to this week’s new movies, a couple tidbits. First of all, I’m thrilled that my friends Larissa Lam and Baldwin Chiu’s documentary FAR EAST DEEP SOUTH can finally be seen by the entire world, or at least the United States. It debuted on PBS World Channel on Tuesday night as part of the “America ReFramed” series, but for the entire month of May until June 3, you can watch it On Demand HERE, and that is huge! (There will be other ways to see it that you can read about here.)

This is an amazing MUST-SEE doc that looks into the little-known Chinese communities that took root in Mississippi in the early 20th Century and how they became such a huge part of that area with their markets, also bonding with the African-American communities that were similarly dealing with racism from the typically white post-Civil War South. It’s not just a history lesson, and it’s an incredibly moving story about a family trying to find its roots in the most unexpected places. There was a good reason why the couple’s short “Finding Cleveland” won the Oxford Film Festival while I was on the jury that year, and Far East Deep South similarly won an award there last year after its World Premiere at Cinequest was almost scuppered by COVID. It’s amazing how much more relevant and important this film has become since I first saw it last year, since both Asians and African-Americans are dealing with serious racial issues, and this movie shows that more than anything, they should be working to boost each other rather than fighting. Do check it out On Demand this month if you get a chance!

Another musician making movies is Mr. Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters. I mentioned his documentary WHAT DRIVES US last week, but I actually only got to watch it on Thursday, and like his previous film Studio City and HBO mini-series, Sonic Highways, it’s a fantastic look at the music biz, this time through a variety of artists who began their careers by piling into vans and driving around the country. That is, except Lars Ulrich from Metallica, who mentions that the band was never so small or indie that they didn’t have a bus. But Grohl has used his vast connections to bring in a lot of great musicians including The Edge from U2, Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and more, making this a very entertaining movie both for fans of the various bands but also live music fans in general. I gotta admit that as much as I loved What Drives Us, it did bring me down a bit since it’s been almost 14 months since I’ve seen any live music, and I really miss it. This is now streaming on The Coda Collection, which you can subscribe to through Amazon Prime Video.

Guy Ritchie is back with his latest movie, WRATH OF MAN (Miramax/MGM), which reunites him with Jason Statham for the first time since 2007’s Revolver, I believe. Statham plays the enigmatic Paul “H” Hill who works at cash truck company Fortico, responsible for moving hundreds of million dollars around Los Angeles each week. Fortico has recently been hit by a lethal robbery, and H’s team soon learn that there’s a lot more to their new coworker, who happens to be looking for revenge against the man who murdered his son.

(Unfortunately, reviews for the movie are embargoed until Thursday at 6pm, so I can’t tell you whether it’s any good or not. Until Thursday night. Sorry!)

But I will talk about the movie’s box office prospects, because why not? Ritchie’s last movie, The Gentlemen, opened in January 2020, during the “before times,” with $10.6 million, but that was more of a classic Ritchie ensemble crime-comedy. Wrath of Man is more of the type of movie Statham has been making over the past few years, a cross between a revenge thriller and a heist flick. In fact, Statham has done a pretty good job creating his own brand through a variety of action-thrillers as well as a number of franchises including “The Transporter” movies, “The Expendables,” and eventually joining the “Fast and the Furious” franchise as Deckard Shaw with Furious 7 in 2017. Statham then went off to make Hobbs and Shaw with Dwayne Johnson, which didn’t do bad with $174 million. Before that, Statham starred in The Meg, a summer shark attack movie that grossed $145 million. Statham going back to help his old mate i.e. the director that gave Statham his start is pretty huge.

But as I said earlier, those were all in the “before times” and with the box office the way it is, it’s hard to imagine that the exciting reunion of Statham and Ritchie can open with more than $10 million but maybe closer to $8 million, because MGM/UA just doesn’t have the marketing clout of a Warner Bros. or Universal. Even so, that should be enough to be #1 this weekend as both Mortal Kombat and Demon Slayer continue to fall away. Unfortunately, if the movie *is* any good -- and I can’t tell you one way or another -- then by the time reviews hit, people will already have other plans for the weekend than to go see the movie. So yeah, that’s pretty dumb on the part of MGM, huh?

UPDATE: MGM is putting the movie into 2,876 theaters and maybe I'm being overly optimistic, because, as you'll read below, the movie IS pretty good and reviews have remained positive with the American reviews rolling in last night, still at 70% Fresh at this writing. Maybe that'll help the movie do a little better, maybe as much as $9 million, although I'll probably owe MGM an apology if it cracks $10 million, and I don't think it will.

Mini-Review: If you’ve seen the trailer for Wrath of Man, you might go into Guy Ritchie’s latest thinking you know what to expect, because it’s sure being sold as another typical Jason Statham revenge thriller. Don’t be fooled by the marketing, the movie really is Ritchie’s chance to make his own version of Heat, an L.A. heist movie that owes as much to Rashomon as another movie being released this week.

Wrath of Man begins with the heist of an armored truck that turns deadly with the wanton murder of a couple guards. From there, you might think we know where things are going when Statham’s “H” company whose truck was hit, and on his first day, he stops a similar heist by killing the truck’s attackers. H is immediately the hero of the company, although he still has quite a few suspicious coworkers and the feeling is quite mutual. Ritchie’s film then slips into the second episodic chapter which goes back five months to that initial heist where we learn that Statham’s son was killed by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I don’t want to go too much deeper into how the movie and story play out, because like The Gentlemen and some of Ritchie’s more intricate films, there’s a lot that purposefully isn’t made very apparent at the beginning. To many, this movie will be seen as even more macho than most of Ritchie's films, to the point where even the only woman guard, Dana, being just as macho as the men. As the movie begins, there’s a lot of joke-cracking and crotch-grabbing, all while Statham’s character silently observes and only acts when necessary.

The film’s shift to more of a classic Ritchie ensemble does slowly take place, but by the third chapter, it shifts to the group perpetrating the cash truck heists with an “inside person,” taking the movie to yet another place that makes it more obvious that this is Ritchie’s attempt at delving into the L.A. heist genre that other filmmakers have done so well.

Oddly, Statham doesn’t have too many lines, acting almost like a Terminator in his determination to right wrongs, but as always, Ritchie puts together a fantastic ensemble cast including a number of great American character actors who we rarely get to see in such great roles. I was particularly impressed with Jeffrey Donovan, who has appeared in a number of otherwise forgettable crime films this past year. The same can be said for Holt McCallany as H’s truck driver “Bullet,” but Ritchie also cast the likes of Josh Hartnett and Scott Eastwood in smaller yet still significant supporting roles, all of whom become more interesting as you start figuring out who all the players are.

Like I said, the movie is fairly macho and the few women play very small roles, but it’s how things are set-up in the first few acts to then change course and build to an absolutely amazing third act that will undoubtedly bear comparisons to Heat. And yet Wrath of Man (which is actually based on a little-seen French crime-thriller) does branch away from some of Ritchie’s standards, first of all by being far darker and even more violent with any of the wisecracking humor that pervades a lot of Ritchie’s work to counterbalance such violence disappearing once the flashbacks begin. It’s all punctuated by a fantastically tense score by Christopher Benstead, which seems a bit much at first but eventually settles into the perfect pace and tone for the action.

Despite disappearing for a good chunk of the movie, Statham is still great, basically killing everyone as his characters are wont to do, but watching how all of the different ideas come together leads to such a satisfying conclusion that one hopes those who might be put off, thinking they know where it's going due to the somewhat pathetic and obvious marketing will give it a chance to see how Ritchie has changed gears as effortlessly as he did with Aladdin a few years back.

Rating: 7.5/10

After even a longer time since he directed a movie, Billy Crystal once again takes the helm for HERE TODAY (Sony/Stage6), a movie in which he plays comedy writer Charlie Burns, whose chance encounter with Tiffany Haddish’s lounge singer, Emma Payge, leads to an unlikely friendship, as he struggles with early stage dementia.

I’ve known about this movie for over a year now, and I was pretty excited to finally get to see it, since I was such a fan of the other movies Crystal has directed, 1992’s Mr. Saturday Night and 1995’s Forget Paris, and it’s just amazing to me that he hasn’t directed a movie since.

At first, it seems like it’s the type of meet-cute we’ve seen so much in Crystal’s past filmography, but his pairing with Haddish isn’t something that might work on paper, but in fact, their comic styles mesh so perfectly together that it’s amazing that no one thought of putting them together before.

Crystal wrote the film with comic Alan Zweibel, who adapted it from his own short story “The Prize,” which refers to Haddish’s character winning Charlie in an auction for a lunch. Actually, her ex won the lunch, and she decided to use it because… free lunch! It’s a pretty simple set-up but one that allows the filmmakers to explore some of the odder things that happen in life.

Much of the movie’s humor plays upon the differences between the two characters, and how unexpected their friendship is. I can totally relate, because I have a lot of good long-time friends who most people might never expect us to be friends, but Crystal, Zweibel and Haddish pick up on that and create a movie that’s very funny but has enough other characters around the duo toa allow their characters to show how they’re just really nice people. We see that with how Charlie takes a young writer at his late night show under his wing or how Emma livens up the bat mitzvah of Charlie’s granddaughter. Oh yeah, and Haddish sings. She actually has a number of great performances in the movie, and seriously, anyone who watches this movie is gonna wanna see a smart filmmaker put Haddish in a musical immediately.

The film also acts as a truly touching tribute to Crystal’s friend, the late Robin WIlliams, who was diagnosed with the exact same type of dementia after his suicide death, and knowing that fact, makes the film even more poignant. More importantly, it doesn’t use Charlie’s condition for laughs, and for that alone, I feel like this is ten times better than that overrated Oscar winner The Father.

Here Today’s biggest problems come in the third act when it feels like the movie is starting to over-extend its welcome, even going into somewhat expected places, but it recovers from that rough third act to land a really nice ending. Crystal has always proven himself to be a really strong mainstream filmmaker (ala Rob Reiner and others) who makes crowd-pleasing movies, and it’s so nice seeing him going behind the camera for a movie that’s obviously very personal but also highly relatable.

As far as box office, I certainly have high hopes that Crystal still has an older audience of fans who might want to see him on the big screen again. I’m just not sure if this will be in more than 1,000 theaters, and though I’ve seen quite a bit of marketing, I just haven’t seen Crystal or Haddish do nearly as much in terms of getting out there that would be necessary to reach an audience that might want to venture out into movie theaters to see the movie vs. waiting until it’s on cable/streaming. There’s also Tiffany Haddish’ fanbase, and there could be some benefit for the movie coming out the same week as her new CBS show “Kids Say the Darndest Things.”

I’d love to be optimistic with this making $4 to 5 million but it’s probably more likely to be closer to $3 million especially with capacity limits still in place for most theaters and the audience generally being older.

UPDATE: Maybe I was a little too optimistic, because I enjoyed the movie so much and it will probably be closer to $1 or 1.5 million since other reviews aren't as great.

Next, we have two movies finally being released many years after their festival premieres…

The Swedish apocalyptic thriller THE UNTHINKABLE (Magnet), directed by Victor Danell, is finally being released after playing genre fests in 2018 and 2019. It stars Christoffer Nordenrot as Alex, a young piano virtuoso who ran away from home due to his abusive father Bjorn (Jesper Barkselius). Years later, he returns home for his mother’s funeral after she’s killed in a terrorist attack on Sweden. At the same, there’s a virus that’s erasing people’s memories, but Alex is still in love with Anna (Lisa Henni), the girl he had a crush on when he left, and the three of them will have to help each other face all the horrible things hitting their home at the same time.

As I was watching this movie, a lot of it felt eerily familiar to me, but I couldn’t figure out why. The more I watched it, the more I realized that I actually HAD seen the movie before. Sure enough, I saw this movie over two years ago at the “What the Fest?!” in New York two years ago, and I honestly don’t remember loving it. Still, I decided to give it a fresh look, hoping to get more out of it on second viewing.

Some of the same things bothered me on this second viewing, because it’s really hard to figure out exactly what is going on and whether the horrific events are natural, man-made or a combination of both. For some time, we get so mired into Alex’s lame relationship with Anna, and when he returns home, his conspiracy theory-driven father is busy protecting a bunker that’s being invaded by foreign military troops he thinks are Russians. We cut between these two disparate scenarios while sometimes returning to the capital of Sweden and throwing in a few big set pieces. It’s so disjointed that you feel like you’re watching a lot of random unrelated events, maybe a bit like last week’s About Endlessness -- maybe it’s a Swedish thing?

There are aspects of The Unthinkable that are quite commendable, particularly those action moments and how the mystery about what is happening develops as the film goes along. Eventually, the film does find a more consistent pace, and things start becoming a little clearer, which makes the final act better than much of what we’ve watched earlier. Even so, it’s still quite annoying how long it takes to figure out what’s going on, even on a second viewing, and for most people, that may already be far too frustrating to get through it.

Hitting Netflix on Friday over THREE years after it premiered at Sundance is music video director Anthony Mandler’s directorial debut, MONSTER (Netflix), based on the novel by Walter Dean Myers. It stars Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Waves) as Steve Harmon, a 17-year-old film student put in jail, accused of murder in a bodega robbery. His defense lawyer (Jennifer Ehle) is trying to help him be released, but he’s fighting against the odds of a judicial system that sees him as a “monster” because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I have to be honest that I did go to see this at Sundance the week it premiered, and for whatever reason, I just wasn’t feeling it, so I only really caught about twenty minutes of it. Watching it now with more time and a little less weary than I usually am towards the end of Sundance, I was able to appreciate Monster more for what it is. On the surface, it’s just about Steve’s case and how what really happened unfolds before our eyes and we learn more about those around Steve and how their influence may have pulled a smart and studious young man into the criminal world that now has him in prison with much more violent life-long criminals.

We already knew that Harrison was a great actor, but Monster shows us that he was already on his way to greatness with this movie that for whatever reason got buried even as it dealt with issues that have been in the headlines almost every day since this debuted.

Mandler takes an interesting approach, both non-linear and also with blatant nods to Kurosawa’s Rashomon, which is even cited by Steve’s teacher, played by Tim Blake Nelson. Jeffrey Wright and Jennifer Hudson are decent as Steve’s parents, but they’re generally smaller and non-showy roles compared to the moments between Harrison and Ehle. Much of the film takes place in the courtroom with flashbacks showing what happened through the viewpoint of whomever is on the stand, which eventually includes Steve himself.

The way Mandler handles the material may lean more on the artiness rather than something more mainstream -- Michael B. Jordan’s Just Mercy comes to mind -- but it’s just as powerful in showing how someone like Steve can be othered by society into being a criminal. Sure, there have been other handlings of this sort of material that I thought were better films, but if you know anyone who has ever had dealings with the “justice” system and know how unfair and horrible it can be even to the innocent, then Monster will certainly strike a chord.

Also hitting Netflix this week is the new series based on Mark Millar and Frank Quitely‘s comic books, JUPITER’S LEGACY (Netflix), another kind of twist on the superhero genre ala Amazon Prime Video’s series based on Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson’s The Boys. I love the comics, and I can’t wait to finally get around to seeing Netflix’s first adaptation of a Millarworld property.

David Oyelowo makes his directorial debut with THE WATER MAN (RLJEfilms), a movie about a young boy named Gunner Boon (Lonnie Chavis), whose mother (Rosario Dawson) is battling leukemia. In an effort to cure her, Guner goes off on a journey along with a teenage girl named Jo (Amiah Miller) to find the mythical Water Man, who can provide them with a magic token that might save Gunner’s mother’s life.

I’ve interviewed Oyelowo a few times before, and I really like him a lot, so I had really high hopes for him as a director since I feel he’s just a terrific actor. Unfortunately, the material here is just not strong enough that I think even a far more experienced filmmaker could make something out of it.

Set in PIne Hills, we meet Gunner, a bright kid who loves drawing comic books, but he has trouble connecting with his father (Oyelowo), so when he has an idea that might help his sick mother, he goes off with a head-strong teen named Jo, in search of the Water Man, a summertime adventure permeated by a lot of very bad low-budget visual effects.

Honestly, I’m not even sure where to begin with where The Water Man falters, because Oyelowo has such a great cast, including Alfred Molina and Maria Bello in tiny parts. The story is a problem, as is the writing, which is just so bland and dull, that there’s really nothing in Oyelowo’s direction or any of the performances that really can salvage it. Neither of the child actors have much charisma or personality, and even Dawson’s performance, which would normally be a showstopper is repeatedly lessened by the constant cutting back to the kids. (And as someone who beat leukemia myself, I’m never a fan when cancer is depicted in movies as a death sentence rather than just another hurdle in life that needs to be overcome.)

Oyelowo himself may be one of his generation’s best actors, but he brings so little to the role of Gunner’s father, maybe to not take away from his younger star, but it hurts that he doesn’t do more to create a stronger conflict by making the character more horrible to drive Gunner away. The actual Water Man doesn’t improve things when he finally shows up, essentially talking like a pirate but not even remotely paying off.

Honestly, The Water Man seems like such a misguided venture -- Exec. Produced by Oprah, no less -- and it might have been totally forgettable if the characters didn’t keep saying the title of the movie every five minutes.

Hitting theaters Friday after a festival run is Tran Quoc Bao’s action-comedy THE PAPER TIGERS (WELL GO USA), starring ALain Uy, Ron Yuan and Mikel Shannon Jenkins as martial artists once known as “the three tigers but now middle-aged men must set aside old grudges and dad duties to avenge the murder of their teacher. I’ve had a screener of this since last summer when it played at Fantasia Festival in Montreal, and I just never got around to watching it, but if I’m able to squeeze it in before the weekend, check back here for my review.

Streaming on Shudder this Friday is Ryan Kruger's South African comedy-thriller FRIED BARRY (Shudder), starring Gary Green as Barry, a violent street junkie who is abducted by aliens who take over his body in order to… well, actually… they do a lot of drugs, have a lot of sex and other craziness. It’s a pretty strange and bizarre movie that reminds me a little of movies like a lower-fi Under the Skin or Beyond the Black Rainbow, and much of it is driven by the insane and unique performance by Green and the odd characters he encounters that I think will find its fans for sure, but it will definitely be for a very select audience of genre festival fans, as this is by no means a mainstream genre film.

Speaking of which, another movie out this week which I wasn’t allowed to see in advance is Gia Coppola’s MAINSTREAM (IFC Films), starring Maya Hawke as a young woman seeking internet stardom by making YouTube videos with a charismatic stranger, played by Andrew Garfield, until “the dark side of viral celebrity threatens to ruin them both.” Yup, it’s one of THOSE movies. It also stars Nat Wolff, Jason Schwartzman and Johnny Knoxville, but I haven’t heard anything good about it, and I’m not sure my curiosity is piqued enough to spend any of my own personal money to check it out.

Hitting Amazon on Friday is the doc THE BOY FROM MEDELLIN (Amazon) from Matthew Heineman (City of Ghosts, Cartel Land), a portrait of musical superstar J. Balvin, as he prepares for a massive sold-out stadium show in his hometown of Medellin, Colombia, which is hindered by the growing civil unrest in the area.

Lots of other movies this week, but a few that i just wasn’t able to get to this week, including:

ABOVE SUSPICION (Lionsgate) INITIATION (Saban Films) ENFANT TERRIBLE (Dark Star Pictures) QUEEN MARIE (Samuel Goldwyn Films) SILO (Oscilloscope) CITIZEN PENN (Discovery+)

That’s it for this week. Next week, Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson star in SPIRAL: FROM THE BOOK OF SAW (Lionsgate) and Angelina Jolie returns for the thriller THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD (New Line) and Timur Bekmambetov’s thriller, PROFILE (Focus Features). That’s right. This will be the first weekend in over a year where we’ll have three or maybe even four new wide releases.

[imgoingtohellsofuckit]

How He Saved Iris

Izuku Midoriya x Quirkless! Reader

Warnings- Mentions of suicide and suicidal thoughts. 

Summary - She was at the end of her line and he was determined to save her

Notes - Hi when I’m in bad places I write fics and this was a result of that so it’s a little rough but please enjoy!

"You never think about the consequences" God if I had a dollar for every time I heard that.  I'd probably own UA by now.

"You never think about anyone else! You're so selfish!" Selfish isn't the right word. I just don't care. It's as simple as that. I'm in a hero society with out a quirk. I can't be a hero and I can't be anything else. Quirkless is worse than death in this world.

The breeze hits my ankles as I stand on the railing. My body waving back and fourth slightly. The sun shines above me. It's a nice day not too hot and not too cold. Birds chirp as the fly above me. I lift my foot up hovering it over the empty sky. A step into nothing. A step and then it's over.

I always wondered how I'd die. I always assumed I'd die a hero. Too bad I couldn't. Too bad I die like the bad ending. A path no one wants to travel.

"Mama I'm coming home," I mumble softly. Another step and the ground beneath me disappears.

Before I can fall I feel someone desperately grab my arm. They pull me back on to the roof. I hit their chest. Feeling their racing heart agaisnt my back.

"You okay?" A soft voice asks. It doesn't match the muscular form I feel against my back. As I turn to face the person I see soft green hair and a face littered in freckles. He's looking at me waiting for an answer. I simply nod.

Okay doesn't try to hop off the roof of the school.

He's wearing a UA uniform. Apparently we go to school together.

"You could have gotten seriously hurt," He says finally, "it's lucky I grabbed you when I did."

"Lucky," I repeat.

He looks tensely at me. Not knowing what to say or do. His green eyes look to my uniform.

"You go to UA? I haven't seen you around," He says softly. "What class are you in?"

"Class 1C general studies," I explain, "no one really remembers us."

"General studies?" He asks. I nod.

"What about you?" I ask him, "I've never seen you around so I assume you aren't general studies."

"Yeah I'm class 1A Hero course," The boy replies. He offers me his hand. "I'm Izuku Midoriya." I wait a couple seconds before taking the hand tensely.

"No one class me by my name," I tell him, "they all call me Iris."

"Iris?" He asks me.

"My nickname growing up," I share.

"Hey Midoriya you coming or what?" A guy shouts from the door way. Midoriya looks back to me. His expression is soft and full of concern.

"I should get to my dorm," I reply. I wave off before past him to the door.

"You can't be a hero you quirkless nothing"

80% of the world has a quirk. How unlucky do you have to be to be in the 20%. When all my life I just wanted to be a hero how is it fair that I get nothing?

No quirk. No future. Not in this society.

At 5 years old they gave me my diagnosis. No quirk. Despite my parents both being hero's with great quirks I was deemed a nothing. A nobody. And as if the fates decided my life wasn't bad enough mom got the diagnosis three days later.

My dad died the day I was born. An villain killed him while he was trying to save someone. He and I never got to meet. My mom and I were left alone. But she never let that worry her. She still faced the world with a bright smile.

I was 7 when she died. The concept of death was so hard to understand. I thought it was my fault. I couldn't save mom. Her funeral was hard. I don't think I talked for months after it. They moved me in with my grandma. The old lady had many faults her biggest was loudly telling the world I was a stain on her sons legacy. How someone in her family line would never be quirkless.  I suppose that's when I started the idea. The only way to be happy was to not be. That's when I started to want to die.

The truth is I didn't exactly want to die rather I want everything to end. I wanted to stop being so sad. I thought the worst of it was then. But then saddens turned to nothing. It turned to feeling empty. Feeling numb to everything.

"Hey It's you," I hear a soft voice say. I look up from my book to see the messy green hair and face full of freckles. "Iris."

"And It's you Midoriya," I reply, "in the library interrupting my reading."

"Oh sorry you just looked lonely," He says softly, "I wanted to invite you over to study with my friends and I." He points to a full table to bright colorful hero's students. All beaming with joy and excitement.

"No," I say reply, "I just want to read alone."

"Come on you can't want to be alone," He tells me, "we'd love to have you join us-"

"I said no," I say firmly. He nods then stands from the seat. His eyes remain on me. "Can you leave already?"

"No," he says, "I'm gonna stay here with you. You can't make me leave." He sits back down. "I won't make you talk or listen. But I'm not leaving you alone." I roll my eyes and look back to my book. He pulls a notebook out working on some math problem. I find it hard not to sneak glances. Why won't he leave me alone? Why can't he take a hint?

The next day he's there again. Waiting at my table working on his homework as I try to read.  My eyes focus on the numbers he's scribbling through. He skipped a step.

"That 7 is wrong," I reply boredly

"Really?" He asks.

"Yeah It's supposed to be a 9," I tell him as I flip through my book.

"You're right. Thanks," He says giving me a big smile. I scoff looking back to my book. I shouldn't have helped him. I don't want to encourage him sticking around me.

The next day when I get to the library he isn't there. I smile in relief thinking he's forgotten about me.

Who would have imagined? A girl so full of emptiness would finally want to put that to an end? I have nothing to say. No why to give. No one here deserves my last words. No one ever tried to care.

"What are you writing?" Midoriya asks as he sits across for me. I scoff ripping it from my notebook. Shoving the note in my pocket.

"Doesn't matter," I growl, "why can't you just go away?"

"No you still look lonely," he tells me, "as a hero it's my job to help people. To make them smile."

"I don't smile," I snap back, "and I don't like it when people try to help me. And I especially don't like heroes."

"How Can you not like heroes? They are so cool!"

"I don't have a great experience," I growl.

"I wanna be just like you mommy"

"Quirkless loser! Quirkless loser!"

"I wanna save the day"

"You just haven't been around the right heroes," He tells me, "a lot of them are so nice and so cool! Like All Might! You have to at least like All Might."

"No i hate all heroes," I say harshly, "now leave me alone."  I raise the book to cover my face. He looks down.

"I know a kid who didn't like heroes," He tells me, "his parents were heroes and they died when he was really young. It took him being saved by one to realize how great heroes are." I keep trying to ignore him. But he moves pushing my book down to make eye contact with me. "I'm gonna save you. I'm going to make you like heroes."

You better move fast then Midoriya.

"UA academy for a hoax."

Grandmother was never very nice. Her whole family came from heroes. The longest line of heroes ended with one mistake. After my mother died she changed my last name. Said she didn't want her sons legacy to be connected to me. I lost my parents, my dream, and my name all before the age of 10.

"You want to drop out of UA?" Nezu asks me. I nod calmly. I feel the eyes of teachers around the office on me. No one drops out of UA. Its the best of the best. You get expelled sure maybe even transfer departments. Maybe. But to drop out all together. It's unheard of. "Well this is certainly unexpected."

"Do you have another school in mind?" Aizawa asks me.

I have half a mind to make a joke about a special school in hell. But they wouldn't find it funny. Instead I make up a lie. They sigh before telling me I'd have to stay til the end of the week. I nod.

"Thank you all," I say softly before excusing my self from the room.

3 days. My last day is when I'll do it.

"You look very pretty today," Midoriya says as he sits across from my in the lunch room. I had myself so tucked away in the corner most people never found me. How did he? I don't reply to him comment. Instead I watch as he sits down his tray then looks to my napkin holding a hand full of crackers. "No lunch?"

"Nah heavy breakfast," I lie. He moves handing me half of his sandwich.

"If you eat that I'll be quiet for a whole 5 minutes," He says to me. I take it from him. Half to get him to leave me alone and half because the aching pain in my stomach is eating away at me. I rip up the pieces and take the tiniest bites. However upon noticing his careful glare I finish it off. "Five minutes," He tells me, "so why are you over here by yourself?"

"I don't keep many friends," I reply.

"I see," He tells me, "I don't see why not. You are kinda nice when you aren't glaring daggers at people."

"Don't mistake me helping you on a problem for me extending my friendship to you," I say harshly, "I don't want nor need any friends."

"Everyone needs friends," He tells me.

"Well I don't," I scoff. I move standing from the table tossing my crackers away and march from the cafeteria through the empty halls.

"You were a failure from the start. If you had just died the world would had been better off."

"I'm worried about her," Aizawa says to Nezu, "I can't see her just dropping out."

"Iris has always been a bit of an odd one out," Mic adds in, "maybe she was finally tired of feeling less than everyone else.  Think about it her parents were heros and she's just a general studies kid."

"Her grades have been slipping for the last couple months too," Nezu says to the group.

"I'm worried," Aizawa repeats, "maybe we should call home."

"She's dropping out?" Midoriya whispers. He's been hiding outside the door. He didn't mean too but he heard Iris and felt the need to listen. Dropping out? Why would she do that?

Take away everything for someone and what are you left with? Nothing. I have nothing to gain or lose. Nothing to feel. Nothing. Besides no one will miss me.

"You're late," Izuku says watching me carefully. I move sitting down across from him in the library.

"Why do you keep sitting here?" She asks finally.

"I'm gonna save you remember," he tells me. I roll my eyes. "Why are you dropping out?"

"I don't fit here any more," I tell him, "it's not my place ya know. I'm not a hero kid or support kid. I'm just kinda here."

"But what about your friends," He says softly:

"I don't have those," I reply as I open up the book.

"I'm your friend."

I scoff at the notion.

"You don't even know me," I say sternly.

"You've only read romance novels this whole week. The ones where it's star crossed lovers," He tells me, "you read fast about 16 pages every 3 minutes. You skip lunch every Tuesday to walk the gardens. I learned that from Shinso. You water the lilies because you don't think the garden ever remembers too. Aizawa is the only teacher you've seemed to bond with because he used to train you."

"So you're a stalker," I say simply, "we still aren't friends."

"I'm trying to be," he says softly, "if you'd just let me in."

"After Friday you can pretty much forget about me," I reply, "I'm not important."

"When I met you- I thought you looked familiar," He blurts out, "you're mom she was DragonWing! And your dad was Dragoner! You had hero parents so why do you hate them so much?" All the emptiness turns to anger.

"God you follow me around you watch my every mood dig into my past and you wonder why I won't talk to you!" I shout at him, "I don't want to be your friend. I don't want to be around you! So until I leave UA leave me the hell alone!" The entire library had turned to look at us. Anger radiates off of me as I glare down at the boy. "Don't bother me anymore." I yank my bag onto my shoulder and march off. The day couldn't end fast enough.

I didn't realize I left the note behind.

My life was always destined to end in tragedy. From my parents death to the quirkless marking. I could never catch a damn break. And man did no one stop. Kids are mean sure but adults were the ones who crushed my dreams.

I hope in my next life I'm a butterfly. Or something that can fly. I just want to be free you know. To not feel empty and helpless. All I've ever wanted was to feel again.

'No. She wouldn't?' Izuku thought to himself. Denial filling his bones. She'd never kill himself. But it really seems like it. Oh no. What do you do in these situations? He didn't know.

"Mr. Aizawa!" Izuku shouts. He catches the time. He won't make to the pro in time. Instead he focused all of his energy into his legs. One shot.

3:30 the last bell rings and by 4 the commons is cleared. I've chose this to be the perfect time. Not witnesses no unintended harm. Just like the day Izuku found me I'll toss my self off the roof. Maybe I'll learn my quirk is to fly? Or maybe I'll realize I have a immortality quirk. Naive thought. Better than the thought that' keeps playing in my mind of how my body will look on the pavement.

I place my shoes on the ground. My letter was missing so I had to quickly write up another one. I rest it in on the heels of my shoes then move stepping up on the railing.

My mind moves to my mother. Her soft hair and gentle face. She loved me more than she ever had time to express. A pro hero who even though her daughter was quirkless told her she could become a real hero. The stories she told about her and my father. They way they met in school. They way they were happy.

It almost makes the emptiness worse.

3:28 3:29

3:56 3:58 3:59

The last kid leaves the walkway.

She takes her first step.

"Goodbye"

She starts to fall

"It's the end"

"Not yet!" The voice is strong. Powerful even if it's high pitched. He dives off to grab her. His arms clutching her tightly. The lack of gravity catches them. Uraraka. She smiles at the two. Iida and Todoroki at her side. The two guys help pull the jumper and her saviour back onto the roof.

Tears stream down the girls face.

All I wanna do is die

"Why did you do that?!" I sob helplessly, "It wasn't almost over I was almost free!"

"No you almost made a terrible mistake," The blue hair boy says looking at me.

I look to Midoriya still holding onto me. I move burying my head in his chest.

"I wanna die! Just let me die! Please! Why did you do that?"

"I told you I was gonna save you," He says to me as he strokes my hair, "I meant it. I'm gonna save you from yourself. I'm gonna help you."

"I don't want your help!"

"I know but you're gonna get it," He says to me, "something drew me to the roof that day and since then I made it my goal to help you. So let me." I meet his eyes. Green. Bright and full of life. He's so positive. So bright. It's not fair.

"I'll just keep jumping," I say at once.

"And I'll keep pulling you back," He tells me, "but you and I both know there is a better way to solve this."

"How?"

"Let's start off with telling a teacher," He says softly. He offers his hand to me and helps me from the ground.

We do just that. We tell Aizawa about attempt number one and two. He asks questions I don't want to answer. I answer them anyway. We reenroll me into school then I'm admitted to the hospital. It's lonely at first but Midoriya visits a lot. He helps me feel better.

My grandma gives up custody of me. Aizawa takes me in. I get back in school with better grades and better health. I befriend class 1A. I make heroes good again in my mind.

I still feel jealous. But I remember I don't need a quirk to be a hero. I decide to become a consoler. To help people in a different way.

Midoriya becomes my best friend. Then my boyfriend. After a couple more years my husband. He explains the story about him and All Might. And tells me we probably won't have a kid with a quirk. I smile at him. Saying we'll still love them. Our baby is born with Izuku's mothers quirk our next kid has a dragon transformation quirk like my mother. Midoriya tells them the stories of how he saved millions. He leaves the most important one for last. How he saved Iris.

[ladyreapermc]

Fic: Catching Feelings 5/? (Keanu x OFC)

Summary: AU in which Keanu is down on his luck after he comes to  Hollywood   trying to be an actor. To earn some money, he joins this app for   escorts and meets Steph, a rising star who hires him to try to forget   her ex. Neither of them are expecting to fall in love and all the   problems it brings.  (Previous parts: 1 2 3 4)

Author’s notes: For the first time in this series a smut free chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it and as always, feedback is appreciated.

Wordcount: 3880

Warnings: mentions of alcohol and inebriation; hangover

Steph bit her thumb as she surveyed the mess of clothes on top of her bed. Her flight was tomorrow night and as usual, she left packing for the last possible minute since she absolutely hated doing it. Especially for long trips because she never knew what to take with her and she would be spending two months in France.

Should she take that new gown in case she had to a gala to attend to? Or that grey pencil skirt in case she gets called to an interview? How many sweaters were enough? Should she take that faux fur coat?

It was her personal nightmare and that was why she recruited Gwen's help, but her friend hadn’t arrived just yet, leaving Steph to contemplate her mess and the empty suitcase.

Well, not really empty. There was one item of clothing that made its way into the bag before any other. That one shirt Keanu left behind. It was grey and had the logo for the bike custom shop he worked for, Arch motorcycle. Steph wasn’t proud to admit that she had worn often in the last month. It was her way to keep herself close to him.

Everything was going so well; she was loving the time she spent with Keanu and that night she had been so happy that he was the one she was celebrating this new accomplishment in her career. Of course, it had to be Kevin to ruin everything.

He caught her dancing when Keanu excused himself to go to the restroom and the only reason Steph agreed to go to the VIP lounge was to avoid making a scene in front of everyone. But she came to regret that decision because from afar it looked like she and Kevin were having an intimate moment, maybe even getting back together, which was exactly how the tabloids published the pictures and what Keanu had thought.

From afar no one could see the way Steph rolled her eyes at Kevin's weak attempts of seduction. She even wondered what she had seen in him in the first place. He was all talk, no action. A leech. She could tell right away that he somehow found out she was gonna be in the next Fincher movie and he wanted in.

Unfortunately, by the time Steph managed to tell Kevin to go fuck himself, Keanu had already seen everything and jumped to the wrong conclusion. He left her alone at the club and ignored her requests at Mars and Venus. Steph never hated the fact that she never bothered to get his number as much as at that moment.

She hated herself even more for thinking she could keep things casual when Keanu was such an amazing guy. At some point, something changed and Steph really started to care for Keanu. It hurt that he didn’t want to see or talk to her, but she needed to respect his choice.

Instead, she turned her focus on returning the bike to him. She knew how important it was to Keanu. That was the only reason she tracked down the shop he worked for. She really didn’t expect the way they desperately fucked that night, but it had given her a glimpse of hope that maybe they could fix this.

Until he mentioned his client and Steph nearly threw up right then. She had been stupid to let herself get involved. He was an escort, not her boyfriend. He stayed because she paid him to, not because he loved or something stupid like that.

Those words were supposed to be the wakeup call Steph needed to shake herself out of this. Focus on her career. And for the most part, she managed to do just that. She didn’t send Keanu any more requests and resisted the urge to drive by the bike shop like a crazy stalker.

At most she googled his band, finding out their website and YouTube channel. Steph watched a few of their videos, really enjoying their sound and not just because it was Keanu’s band. That was why she sent their channel to Mike; he was a music producer married to one of Steph's friends.

She only asked him to check them out. It was his own idea to go to one of Dogstar's live performances. According to him, any garage band could make themselves sound good on video. A live performance was harder to fake.

The sound of the intercom started Steph from her thoughts and she moved to get the gate and door open for Gwen, who had brought along a bottle of that cheap wine they used to drink in college when they were too broke to buy anything else. After an hour, Steph was tipsy, laughing and joking with Gwen and zero progress had been made on her packing endeavor.

“How about this?” Gwen asked, showing her a skimpy set of lingerie that still had the tags on.

“And when exactly do you think I’m gonna wear that?” Steph asked with an arched eyebrow and Gwen shrugged, sipping her wine.

“Maybe you’ll meet a hot French man?”

“It’s a work trip, Gwen,” she said with an eye roll and her friend shrugged.

“You never know. Your co-star is pretty hot. Maybe...”

“Noooo! No way!” Steph said shaking her head. “I’m not dating another actor ever again. Learned my lesson with Kevin.”

“No slutty lingerie for you then,” Gwen said, putting it aside and Steph chuckled, reaching for her phone when Mike’s name flashed across the screen.

“You were right, they’re good,” Mike said as soon as she answered. “A little rough around the edges, but nothing I can’t work with. I gave them my card.”

“You didn’t mention me, did you?” Steph asked, heart on her throat.

“No. Should I have?” Mike asked with hesitation and she breathed a sigh of relief.

“No, no. I’m glad it worked out,” she said with a smile. “Thanks, Mike.”

“No, thank you.”

They said their goodbyes and Steph hung up with another sigh. She was happy Mike liked them. Maybe Dogstar could grow as it deserved. Like Keanu deserved.

“Mike, music producer, Mike?” Gwen asked an eyebrow raised. Steph just nodded. “Did you asked him to sign up with your hooker boyfriend band?”

“What? No!” she glared at her friend. “One, I would never do that and two, Keanu is not my hooker boyfriend.”

Gwen was the only person that Steph had trusted enough to tell about everything that happened. She didn’t judge Steph, but she wasn’t above making mean jokes.

“You miss him, don’t you?” Gwen said with a smirk. “Bet you keep checking up his profile on M&V.”

“I deleted the app actually,” Steph confessed. She wanted to avoid temptation.

“Well, if you want to know, he upped his price again,” Gwen said, glancing down at her own phone. As the owner of the company that made the app, she had access to all information on clients and workers. “7K. And he’s still getting requests every day. The guy is good.”

Steph only hummed noncommittally. She didn’t want to think about how good Keanu was and how she knew a night with him was worth every cent of those 7 thousand dollars.

“And he changed his profile picture. Looking good with the short hair.”

“What?” Steph couldn’t help the shock in her voice as she all but yanked the phone out of Gwen’s hand.

The new profile showed him with shorter hair, pushed to the side, longish dark locks falling over his eyes; his jaw showing a faint stubble. He still looked amazing. He always looked amazing, but Steph really liked the longer hair and she knew he loved it too. She wondered why he did it.

“Oh, honey…” Gwen sighed, giving Steph a sympathetic look as she handed the phone back. “You really liked him, don’t you?” she just nodded, the lump on her throat preventing her from speaking. “Then call him.”

“I don’t have his number,” Steph said, shifting her attention to her open suitcase, the real reason she called Gwen here.

“I’ll get it for you,” her friend replied with a snort, but Steph just shook her head.

“And then what, Gwen? We go out on dates that I’m paying for?” she asked with a snort of her own. “I can’t, ok? If the press got a word of what he does…”

“So what? It’s legal now,” Gwen pointed out. It was the whole reason she made the app in the first place and why it was so popular. Solicitation was no longer a crime. “It’s just a job like any other.”

“Tell that to the rest of the world!” Steph rolled her eyes. “It would ruin my career. Studios and directors wouldn’t touch me with a ten-foot pole. Let’s just drop this, please? I really need to get this suitcase ready.”

She saw the way Gwen hesitated, but in the end, she just nodded, lips pressed together in a displeased line.

“I will just say one last thing,” she started giving Steph time to protest, but she didn’t. “Do you really want to work with studios and directors who judge an actress not by her talent or work ethics, but by who she sleeps with?”

Steph didn’t have an answer to that, and Gwen knew it of course. That was why she said it. The conversation died as the two friends turned their focus on the task at hand, opening a new bottle of wine.

When Steph woke up the next day, her head was pounding in that way only cheap wine could do. Her suitcase was all packed and ready to go, Gwen was nowhere in sight, but there was a slip of paper under her cellphone with Keanu’s name and phone number.  Steph stared at it for a long time in consideration, before pocking it and heading off to the airport.

----

Steph didn’t expect to enjoy her time in France this much. It wasn’t her first time in the country, but it was her first time spending this long in Europe. At first, they only stayed a week in Paris, getting everything already before the entire cast and crew traveled together to the countryside. Most of the movie would take place at the lovely town of Cluny and Steph was in love with the beautiful architecture and the abbey where the story would take place.

Caught in the process of the movie, time seemed to fly, and Steph managed to push away all the troubles of her personal life to a secure corner of her mind. It was one of the things she loved the most about being an actress: the way she could immerse herself in character, feel like a completely different person for a few months.

So, when Steph saw the news of Kevin’s engagement she wasn’t sure if the strange detachment she felt over it was due to her character usually frosty demeanor or her own indifference. She still called Gwen to talk about it, trying to sort out her feelings. It was strange to realize, after weeks of hurting over him, that she barely cared that he was getting married to a woman he met only three months ago.

She hated the way everyone in the crew seemed to walk on eggshells around her when the news broke as if they expected Steph to break down at any second. The only one that seemed to be acting pretty much the same was her co-star Vincent and Steph started to gravitate towards him more and more just to catch a break from the stares and whispers.

They were staying at the same inn, rooms right next to each other and they would have breakfast together every morning, chatting up about everything and nothing. Then they would drive to the set together, singing obnoxiously loud to pop songs. When they finished filming for the day, they would stop by this little bistro for dinner, which was quickly becoming their favorite, before heading back to the inn to call it a night.

Steph knew more than a few pictures of them had hit the press already, wondering if the onscreen chemistry and romance had been transferred offscreen. She wouldn’t mind if that had happened because Vincent was great. He was also gay and in a happy and committed relationship with his publicist. Since he wasn’t out yet, he didn’t mind the rumors any more than Steph care about playing his beard for a couple of months.

One particular weekend his boyfriend came to visit and he, Vincent and Steph went out to dinner. It was the most fun Steph had in a while. They were hilarious and snarky and absolutely smitten for one another. Seeing them together made her heart clench with jealousy. She wanted what they had, the easy banter and silent conversations with one single look and sheer happiness of having someone that just got you and loved you not despite your imperfections, but because of them.

Maybe it was that nagging jealousy that made Steph drink way more than she should during dinner, especially considering she was such a lightweight. Fortunately, they were perfect gentlemen and took her back to the inn, all but tuck her in bed, a glass of water and a couple of aspirins on the table for her when she woke up.

She cuddled with her pillow, squeezing her eyes shut to fight the queasiness on her stomach. All Steph wanted was for the pillow to magically changed into something else. Someone else.

She missed Keanu so much. His cheeky grin and cute little laughter that he always seemed to hide behind his hand whenever he was embarrassed. The twinkle in his eye whenever he talked about something he was passionate about and his exaggerated hand gestures… The way his hands could cover most of her hips; how he could lift her up like she weighed nothing, pin her against the wall an do the most wicked things to her. The taste of his mouth, with that lingering hint of nicotine underlying everything or how he always seemed to smell like leather and steel.

It felt almost like Steph was watching from out of her body as she kicked the covers off herself and dug her coat pockets until she found that slip of paper. She punched in his number, saving it on her phone before she made the call, which went straight to voice mail. Steph felt like crying at the sound of his deep voice asking her to leave a message.

“I know I shouldn’t be calling. I know you don’t wanna see me or hear from me, but fuck I miss you, Ke. Like crazy,” she slurred, flopping back in bed. “I wish you were here with me or that I was there. And I don’t even care anymore if you’re a hooker and you’re sleeping with half of LA. I want you so much. Shit. I’m gonna throw up…”

When Steph woke up the next day she really thought the pounding she was hearing was just the throbbing headache making her dizzy and nauseous. It took her a moment to realize it was the knocking on her door and she had to all but dragged herself out of bed to pull the door open, wincing against the light of the hall.

“You’re alive, good!” Vincent joked, pushing his way inside and all Steph managed was a weak groan as she closed the door as quietly as she could and staggered after him, every step making her stomach churn.

“What time is it?” she croaked, walking to the bathroom to wash her mouth, trying to make the foul taste on her tongue disappear.

“A little after 10,” he called out and Steph flinched at the loud tone of his voice. “We were supposed to go shopping but I take you’re not up for it?”

“You think?” she deadpanned, downing the aspirin she forgot to take last night and crawling under the covers again as Vincent dropped beside her. “I just want to sleep.”

“I bet,” he chuckled, “you were downing that wine like it was water.”

“I’m never drinking again,” she groaned, burying her head under the pillow, faintly hearing her phone beeping, but decided to ignore it. Whatever it was it could wait until tomorrow.

“This Ke person really wants to talk to you,” Vincent commented, and Steph’s eyes snapped open. Fuck! She didn’t dream that?

She snatched the phone out of his hand, squinting at the screen. Even that amount of light was jarring against her eyes. There were five missed calls and fifteen text messages from Keanu, the level of panic in his words increasing at each one, wondering if she was alright?

Steph, please call me or I’m gonna start sending ambulances to every hotel in Paris!

“Oh shit!” she mumbled, hitting redial. Keanu picked up at the first ring.

“Thank fuck! Are you ok?” he asked with a sigh of obvious relief and Steph’s heart did an acrobatic flip in her chest at the same time her cheeks burned.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Just hungover. I’m so sorry I called you,” she rubbed her forehead, grimacing at her own pathetic drunk self.

“It’s just your message cut out all of a sudden and you weren’t picking up and…” he let out a heavy sigh. “I was worried.”

“I know. Thank you,” she couldn’t help but smile despite everything. Keanu really was such a good guy. “And I really am sorry.”

“It’s ok. Get some rest.”

“I will,” Steph sighed. “Bye, Ke.” She hung up before she could say anything else that would embarrass the hell out of her and dropped her phone to the side, covering her face and groaning.

“Ke, huh?” Vincent asked, his tone curious and Steph could almost picture the smirk on his face. “Did you drunk-dialed your ex?”

“Worse,” she moaned, pulling her hands away and looking at her friend. “I drunk-dialed the escort I’ve been fucking to get over my ex.”

“Whoa!” both his eyes and smirk widened. “Tell me more!”

And because Steph didn’t have any sense of self-preservation, that was exactly what she did. She told Vincent everything. The sudden and messy breakup with Kevin, his dick move of letting himself be photographed with a lingerie model a day before her new movie’s premiere; getting drunk and requesting a night with Keanu and everything else. She only spared the sex details because well, even Steph wasn’t that crazy, but all else hung in the open, including her unrequited feelings for him.

“Steph, doll, if they were really unrequited, he wouldn’t have called back…” Vincent checked her phone, “five times. This guy is clearly into you too.”

“He’s not. He’s just that nice,” she sighed, staring at the ceiling once again. “It’s one of the reasons I like him.”

Steph could still see the disbelief in Vincent’s eyes, but he didn’t argue anymore, which she was grateful for. She also felt a little better for getting it off her chest. Lighter.

“Do you wanna see a picture of him?” she offered and Vincent grinned.

“Hell yes!” She opened her favorites and pulled up Dogstar’s website, handing the phone to Vincent.

“He’s the one on the left,” she pointed out and he whistled.

“Damn! He’s hot! Like seriously hot. Like should’ve been a model hot,” Vincent said, handing the phone back. “No wonder you’re hooked. It almost sounds like Pretty Woman, only you’re Richard Gere and he’s Julia Roberts. Uhh! We should watch it.”

“You know what? Why not?” Steph shrugged, grabbing the remote and flickering the TV on. It wasn’t like she was planning on getting out of bed anyway. Watching some stupid rom-com with a friend sounded like a perfect way to deal with her hungover.

They ordered all junk food they could get from room service and just spent the entire day in bed, watching movies and laughing together. By the time Vincent said his goodbyes and head out to his own room, her headache was gone and her heartache had been dulled a little. The only thing missing was a nice warm bath to make her feel human again.

As Steph soaked in the tub, Hozier playing on her iPod, she nearly jumped at the sound of her phone, Keanu’s name flashing across the screen for a facetime call. Taking a deep breath and making sure nothing too compromising was showing, she accepted his call, breath catching on her throat when his face appeared.

“Hey,” he greeted, the sound of his baritone making her shiver.

“Hi.”

There was a moment of awkward silence in which they only stared at each other. Steph noticed the shorter hair really suited Keanu, but it was hard not to miss the long locks that framed his face so well.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Better, thanks,” Steph managed with a small smile. “I-uh liked the new hair.”

“Thanks,” Keanu chuckled, combing his fingers through it. “I was babysitting Gard’s kid and she wanted to play hairdresser. I had no idea she would use actual scissors.”

A bubble of laughter escaped Steph’s lips as she watched his embarrassed little shrug. Keanu laughed too, that cute little chuckle, hand covering his mouth and she grinned.

“Well, she did a really good job,” she joked. “Maybe I should make an appointment when I get back to LA.”

“She does nails too,” Keanu said, wiggling his fingers in front of the camera to display his black nail polish, making Steph chuckle. She missed this. Missed him. “I saw the news on Kevin’s engagement. How are you?”

“I wish him all the happiness,” she said with a shrug. “I’m over him. Really.”

“Good.” He ducked his head a little and Steph recognized that gesture. When Keanu had longer hair he would often do it to hide behind his dark mane, but with the shorter locks, his eyes remained in full display and what she thought she saw on them made her heart skip a beat. “I missed you.”

“Me too,” she whispered, squeezing the phone a little tighter so her shaky hand wouldn’t drop it. Keanu flashed her that cheeky grin Steph had come to love.

“Oh, I know,” he drawled, leaning back and she noticed he was in bed. “You said on your voicemail. Along with something about wanting me…”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Steph declared, her cheeks burning red.

“Really?” he smirked. “It was between not caring if I was sleeping with half of LA and you announcing you were gonna throw up.”

“Oh my God!” she covered her face, splashing bubbles over the camera. She had forgotten about that, but Steph really wished she could forget everything.

“I’m not, you know?” Keanu said, his expression turning serious. “Sleeping with anyone. I’ve only ever slept with you.”

“Oh.” Steph didn’t really know what to say to that and again they just stared at each other, the silence hanging between them heavy, full of unspoken feelings.

“I have to get ready for work,” he said, clearing his throat. “Talk to you later?” his smile was hesitant, hopeful.

“Yeah,” she smiled and nodded. “I’d like that.”

“Good.”

xxx (tbc) xxx

go to part 6

Tag List (give me a shout to be added or removed)

@toomanystoriessolittletime @meetmeinthematinee @theolsdalova @krazycags01 @beyond-antares @cumberbatchbaps @sgt-morgan @futuristic-imbecile @howtoruin-someones-perfect-day @a-really-bi-girl @fanficsrusz @nonsensicalobsessions @poisonedjoinery @soarocks @penwieldingdreamer​​@baphometwolf666​ @thesadvampire​

[ohblackdiamond]

little t&a (paul/gene, nc-17) (part 16 of 29)

part 1   part 2   part 3   part 4   part 5   part 6   part 7   part 8   part 9   part 10   part 11   part 12   part 13   part 14   part 15   part 16   part 17   part 18   part 19   part 20   part 21  part 22   part 23   part 24    part 25   part 26   part 27   part 28   part 29

Four weeks before KISS gets back on tour, Gene discovers that Paul’s been cursed by a groupie. For the sake of KISS’ finances, Paul’s comfort levels, and Gene’s libido, this crisis must be resolved. Sexswap fic. In this chapter: Paul confronts painful truths in the car; Gene confronts Peter.

          Paul drove for half an hour at least without a destination in mind. He only stopped to get gas, handing the attendant the last five-dollar bill in his wallet. It didn’t even fill the tank completely, but he was past caring.

           He felt like he was going to be sick. His eyes were watering up, and he blinked back the tears. He hadn’t cried this whole time, not since Gene had come. He wasn’t going to cry now.

           Gene didn’t understand. He’d never understand. That was to his credit, really, not having any idea, thinking it was some bullshit about him being afraid, or not wanting to be touched. Poor, stupid Gene, who wasn’t stupid at all, who just had an idiot for a bandmate and a best friend, an idiot who’d decided a taste of what he wanted was better than nothing at all.

           Except he’d been fooling himself. Just like Carol. Paul couldn’t have been happy with a taste. He’d started to realize that as soon as Gene had agreed to fuck him. But it had really hit him when Gene had joked about the photo album. Just—just sticking him in there with all those girls, one more nude Polaroid out of hundreds. Gene wanted him. Sure he did. Wanted him just exactly as much as he wanted anyone else with a pair of tits, just long enough for a lay. Just as long as Paul himself had wanted Carol or any other groupie. Once Gene had him, once the mystery was gone, the curse resolved, there’d be nothing left. Not even residual interest. The only difference was, they’d have to keep seeing each other after. Sitting down at business meetings. Posing for pictures. Leaning into the same mics. Applying makeup backstage. He’d have to live the rest of his life with Gene right there, knowing he’d never want to be with him again.

           He’d been sickened by the thought. He’d wanted to be strong enough to turn Gene down, to—value himself enough to not want someone who’d only want him once, but he hadn’t been. Every time he’d felt like saying something, he’d swallowed it. On the bed, he’d tried to approach it clinically, to hurt himself less, just a series of actions with nothing attached to them. He’d thought Gene might not even sense something was wrong, since he was getting what he wanted, the image at least of a girl stripping him down and promising herself to him, like some old fairy tale. Three days of toting him around, rewarded with an easy lay and a broken spell. But for all Paul had insisted he was fine, Gene hadn’t believed him.

Paul had kept on anyway. Outright begged. And Gene had kept turning him down like the gentleman he wasn’t, for his sake, for the band’s sake, for whatever.

           Better this way anyway. No hard feelings. He’d go to a bar just like Gene had suggested. Get a guy to fuck him, turn back and leave. Gene would get to go home knowing KISS had its frontman back in tour-worthy condition. Paul would get to keep his house and his money and maybe even that visit with his family. And in the end, they’d all go back on the road and forget any of this ever happened. Enough women, enough sane women, Playmates and catalog models, no more starfuckers, and he could convince himself he hadn’t wanted Gene at all, like that was just another side-effect of the curse.

           His stomach lurched in protest. He wasn’t yet enough of a bastard to lie to himself that grotesquely. He’d wanted Gene years before he’d woken up in this body.

           He kept thinking as he weaved through the late-night traffic. Kept thinking, even though he didn’t want to. Their trip to the mountains lingered caramel-thick in his mind. He’d been eighteen. Winter of ’70. He’d skipped school for the chance to hitchhike again with Gene, a fun but pointless trip in the mountains with some chicks they’d met prior. One that Gene seemed to dig, though she wasn’t pretty at all. They’d ended up in the rundown house the girl was renting, spending the night there, and cold as it was, Gene had a plan to at least warm himself up.

           He’d told Gene not to try to make it with the girl. She might not like you. She might get pissed-off and kick us both out, and then where would we be? And Gene had nodded along, but about an hour later, Paul had woken up among the moth-eaten blankets on the floor to Gene gone and the muffled sound of talking from a door or two away. An awful mechanical screech, like a microphone on the fritz. And, a few moments later, the sounds of grunts and low moans. He’d gotten the girl after all. A good time, it had sounded like. Back then, Paul hadn’t had anything to compare it to but his own jackoff sessions. He’d been desperately virginal, never making it past second base with any girlfriend.

           Traveling back home the next afternoon, tired, cold, and hungry, Paul’d asked what that screeching sound was, even though he knew already.

           (oh, that was just her hearing aid)

           (her hearing aid?) He’d repeated it dumbly.

           (yeah. it went off on accident. she was deaf.)

           (oh.)

           He’d waited on Gene to comment. Expected something smartassed. Feared a complaint, or something, something worse, something that would tear into his guts and rot their friendship. Less than a year, that was all he’d known Gene, and Gene was the only friend he’d ever really had. He couldn’t lose him. But Gene hadn’t said anything else.

           (was it okay?)

           (yeah. it was fine. we had a great time.)

           (i—not that. was it… you didn’t mind, did you?)

           (what was there to mind?)

           (that she was deaf.) And then, spilling out like a tipped pitcher of water— (you didn’t think… you didn’t think it was bad, did you, you don’t think—you don’t think people like that are—retarded, or crippled—)

           (why would I think any of that?)

           (i don’t know.)

           (she was just deaf, stan. that’s all.)

           (what’s the matter?)

           He’d told him then. All of a sudden, a flurry of words that just seemed to pour out of nowhere at all. Eighteen, skipping school, carrying nothing but a guitar case—feeling more nakedly vulnerable than he ever had before—he’d told him he was deaf in one ear. He’d told him he didn’t even have that ear. Gene’s eyes had gone to the side of his face, unconsciously, and Paul had cupped his hand against his temple as if Gene could possibly see through the thick mass of dark brown curls.

           He’d waited on Gene to say something well-meaning and trite, or something cruel. He could think of a million possibilities—the hell are you doing, trying to play music, trying to sing, when you can’t half-hear—but he hadn’t. His arm had wrapped around Paul’s back, his hand on his waist, and he’d said five words.

           (that’s okay, stan)

           (you’re okay)

           That was the start. That was the start. Seven years and it hadn’t gone away.

           It had taken so little to want Gene, that was the hell of it. Gene who’d had nothing to recommend himself back then but half a bachelor’s degree and a lot of nerve, Gene who back then didn’t even have the decency to be attractive, conventionally or otherwise. Gene who didn’t even have any idea. But the feeling had prickled through him all the same, scratching into his soul like the most saccharine of lyrics. It was so damn pathetic that he’d never stopped being disgusted at himself. Barely any better than Carol. One low moment, one revelation. That wasn’t why you were supposed to love someone, that wasn’t—

           He took a sharp breath. Fumbled for the Dairy Queen napkins, dabbed at his eyes and smeared away the snot on his face. In the dark like this, he was lucky he hadn’t unconsciously reverted to one of his old cab routes. He was lucky he’d found himself in one of the parking lots near CBGB.

           Too dressed up for their clientele, sure. Sure. No big rockstar holding his hand and shutting up every catcall before it was even said. That was all right. He shut off the engine and got out of the car, dropping his keys and wallet in the pocket of his fake leather jacket. It was a weird ensemble, the punkish jacket with the nice dress—how much had he made Gene spend on all that—how much—he couldn’t think about that now—but that didn’t matter, either. He had what he needed. It was late enough that there wasn’t even a line at the door. No reason to hesitate before striding through, back to the pounding bass and flashing lights of another place he didn’t belong. No reason to hesitate besides his own cowardice, and the emptiness of being without a hand to hold. No reason at all.

--

           Gene had thought, fleetingly, that Paul might turn around and come back. Five minutes passed, then ten, before he realized he was wrong.

           Wrong all the way around. Wrong in how he’d treated him, from the time he’d walked onto his front porch up until right now. He’d directed everything for Paul. Set up appointments. Planned out their trajectory every single day. Thinking that was best. Thinking Paul was too shaken up to do anything about his situation by himself. And Paul had just… Paul had just swallowed down any real protests and let him do it. Just let Gene railroad him over and over.

           He’d hurt him and he hadn’t meant to. He’d eroded Paul’s self-respect. Made Paul rely on him. Monetarily, emotionally, sexually. Like Paul was some hopeless princess in a tower, unable to take anything into his own hands, instead of his friend, instead of his best friend. How awful did that have to feel?

           He wasn’t going to go after him. He’d let Paul have control, finally, the way he should have all along. Let him dictate how to unravel the curse, and who with, because Gene couldn’t do it for him. The one thing Paul had really asked of him and he hadn’t managed it.

           She’s too sweet for all this bullshit. That was what that chick at CBGB had said. Paul wasn’t sweet at all. He was a neurotic mess no matter what body he occupied. He was a vain, pigheaded bag of nerves, nothing like the swaggering Starchild or the cute little flirt he was probably putting on for some guy in a bar right now. He was…

           He was…

           Gene lay on Paul’s bed for awhile. Paul’s side of it, even. Greeted with the same smells as during the dance, Aquanet and Aramis and maybe something else, some heady kind of pheromone. Paul probably wasn’t going to smell like that once he came back. That was okay. He’d feel better, back to himself. They’d both feel better. Back to business as usual with no regrets. Paul’d done the right thing. If he lay there long enough, he could convince himself of that much.

           The phone rang, driving away Gene’s thoughts. He answered it—stupidly hoping to hear Paul’s voice on the other end of the line.

           “Hey.”

           “Gene?” It was Peter, harried as ever. “You’re both home?”

           “No. Paul went out.”

           “Paul went out? Where the hell did he go?” Peter’s sloshed voice was hard to hear over the din of voices and music. He must have still been at Studio 54. “Listen, Ace said he saw him in the basement, said he wasn’t back to normal.”

           “That’s right.”

           “Said he ran off from him! What happened? What’d that girl tell him?”

           “She told him how to reverse the curse.”

           “Yeah, yeah, that’s what Ace said. But he didn’t say how. Is Paulie back yet?”

           “I said he went out—”

           “Is he back yet?”

           Gene hesitated.

           “No.”

           “You let him go out alone as a chick?” The horror in Peter’s voice could have smashed a windshield. “Jesus Christ, Gene! What the fuck is wrong with you?”

           “He wanted to fix it—”

           “I don’t care what he wanted to fix! It’s New York at two in the fucking morning! That poor kid’s a sitting duck!”

           “Pete—”

           “You fucking know better than this! Chicks are vulnerable, you asshole! And Paul—”

           “Pete, don’t scream at me.”

           “Don’t tell me what to do! Paul’s stupid anyway! You remember that fucking photoshoot for Hotter than Hell! He was passed out on the fucking bed! Drank too much ’cause everyone else was! And that guy, he almost—”

           “I know.”

           “Then fucking get him!” Peter was spewing the words. “I can’t—me and Ace, we can’t—you gotta take care of him! You’re supposed to!”

           “I don’t know where he went.”

           “Then find out!” Peter cursed loudly. “Can’t be that hard! Fuck, I thought he meant something to you! I thought you—”

           “I’ll get him! I’ll get him.” Gene’s heartrate was going too fast. “Do… do you want me calling you up at the club? Are you going to be there?”

           “I dunno.” Peter said something Gene couldn’t discern, probably to whoever was nearby. “Call me at home. Leave Lydia a message if you gotta.”

           “Okay.”

           Peter hung up on him without a goodbye. Gene guessed he didn’t deserve one. His throat hurt, all of a sudden. Stupid. Stupid. This wasn’t—he called up the chauffeur again, sweat smearing his fingers. He didn’t know where Paul was. There were hundreds, thousands of bars he could’ve stopped at. Paul knew his way around New York way better than he did, from those years as a cabbie. The more he thought about it, the worse he felt.

           “Where to, Gene?”

           “CBGB,” he said, finally. “Just take me to CBGB.”

[queerebrum]

smoke and mirrors || Deputy Dargent (Jordan x Derek x Chris) || Multiamory May Day 7! Also on AO3 Jordan hesitated for a moment before he knocked on the door to the apartment, knowing full well who lived inside. They’d gotten a callout for what sounded like a fight or a domestic disturbance, and it was somewhat surprising to see the address listed as belonging to Chris Argent. The Sheriff clearly trusted this man, and the quiet young man he’d been with when they were arrested. Argent had seemed like a level headed and reasonable man, even if he did seem to have acquired weaponry that should really not be available to civilians.

Steeling himself, he was about to knock on the door when it suddenly opened, and he was faced with the dark-haired man from earlier. They were about the same height, but the other man – Hale? – was broader than Jordan was, and something about him seemed dangerous. He intimidated Jordan in a way few people did. Currently, he felt trapped beneath inquisitive eyes until Hale finally asked, “Is there a problem, deputy?”

Jordan cleared his throat, “We got a call for a fight at this address. Is Mr. Argent home?”

A small, amused smile cracked across Hale’s face, and he reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “He’s in the shower.” Hale stepped back, motioning Jordan into the apartment. “There was a fight but nothing for you to worry about, deputy…Parrish, was it?” Jordan stepped inside and nodded, “Jordan Parrish.” He smiled at the other man, glancing around the apartment. He could faintly smell some kind of accelerant but if there had been a fight, it hadn’t happened in any of the areas that he could see. The living room was immaculate – it almost seemed like it was hardly used. The kitchen was tidy, and the doors to each of the rooms down the hallway were closed. Jordan resigned himself to the fact that this was another pointless callout and settled in to wait to speak with Mr. Argent.

“Are you from the area?” He asked Hale.

Hale’s face did something complicated, and Jordan couldn’t quite decide exactly which emotion it landed on. “Yeah.” He finally said, his voice underlaid with emotion, “I was born here. I left for a while, I’ve been back for a year and a half or so.”

“Where’d you go?” Jordan asked, trying to move away from talking about Beacon Hills, which had clearly made Hale uncomfortable. He made a mental note to figure out why that was later.

“New York.” That didn’t seem to be a better topic, and Jordan almost watched the emotional walls build themselves up in Hale’s eyes.

He was saved from trying another futile attempt at finding a topic of conversation that didn’t force the dark-hared man to clam up by the door to the bathroom opening and Mr. Argent walking out, dressed in a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. His hair was still wet, and he frowned at the pair of them. “Deputy Parrish, what brings you here? Into my apartment?” The second half of the question was clearly directed past Jordan.

“He got a call for a fight.” Hale answered, and Jordan could almost hear the smirk in his voice, “Just wanted to make sure everyone was fine.”

Argent lifted both of his eyebrows and Jordan watched him make an effort to retain his serious composure. “Well, we’re all fine here, deputy. Just a misunderstanding.”

Jordan nodded, though his eyes strayed to a line of developing bruises on the older man’s wrist. “Well, I guess I can head out, then.” He nodded to each of them and headed for the door.

“Stay safe out there, deputy.” Argent called after him. The tone sounded foreboding, like there really was a threat out there that Jordan needed to worry about. It made him as nervous as Hale’s gaze had. He was happy to leave the apartment then.

It wasn’t until he was back at the station, looking up Hale’s name that he’d realized what an ass he’d made of himself.

Derek Hale. 23. One of the survivors of the Hale House Fire that had killed most of his family.

Jordan sat back against his desk with a sigh, looking at the pictures of the Hale house ruins and trying to put a finger on what it was about Derek’s gaze and Chris’ calm, knowing voice that made him so nervous.

--

The next time Jordan sees Derek Hale and Chris Argent, there are no hidden smiles or inside jokes. Chris is sat at the bar in the local dive, and Derek is beside him, one hand running gently across the older mans’ back in an odd spiral pattern that seemed random but also practiced. Jordan was off shift, dressed down and steeled himself to take the seat at the bar next to Derek.

Days ago, Jordan took the statements from the Sheriff’s son and his friends about the death of Argent’s daughter. He isn’t sure what to say, but turns to the pair of them, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Derek looks at him in surprise, “Oh, I didn’t--” “Don’t you dare.” Chris growls from beside him, looking up with red-rimmed eyes, “We all lost her.”

“Random violence is really a problem. I’ve been trying to talk to the Sheriff about patrolling more consistently and upping our citizen’s watch programs but…” Jordan trails off as Chris Argent smiles at him, chuckling quietly and draining the shifter of whiskey in front of him. “I thought it was a good idea.”

Derek looked uncomfortably from Chris to Jordan and then settled on Jordan, “They’re good ideas he’s just…” Derek blinked, “Drunk, I think.”

“You think?” Jordan asked.

Derek licked his bottom lip and Jordan couldn’t help but watch, “Yeah, I don’t really…drink much.”

Something Derek said made Argent chuckle again, and Derek himself exhaled a quiet almost-laugh from his nose. “Don’t drink…Can’t drink…” Jordan frowned, “You can’t drink? What are you doing at a bar.”

Derek sighed, “Kinda thought that one would be obvious, deputy.” He tipped his head towards Argent.

Jordan blinked a few times and then nodded, “Right.”

Derek looked almost apologetic, “Sorry, we’re not very good company tonight.” Jordan shrugged, “I mean…all things considered if he’s laughed at all, I’ll call that a win.”

Derek muttered something under his breath in Argent’s direction, which caused the older man to start gigglingand then turned back to Jordan. “Thanks, I guess.” Derek gave Jordan a small smile that lit up his whole face, eyes glimmering under the fluorescent decorations of the bar.

They exchange small talk for a while after that, mostly Derek and Jordan, with Chris occasionally jumping in for a joke only Derek gets or repeating something Derek says and causing the younger man to roll his eyes. Jordan finds out that Derek played basketball in high school, that he majored in History at Columbia while he and his now-deceased sister were in New York. After an hour, the pair leave, leaving Jordan alone at the bar and incredibly confused about exactly what he’s feeling.

He can’t tell what they are. Are they a couple? Are they together or just friends. What he saw the day he was at Argent’s apartment showed a level of trust between the two – if Argent was willing to shower while Derek was in his apartment. And the bruises on Argent’s wrists either implied that they were lying and there was some kind of fight, or maybe it was just kinky sex misunderstood by prying neighbors. Neither of them gave much away, and it made it hard for Jordan – even with a the honed perception of a trained officer of the law – to figure out what was going on.

It felt like they were always a step ahead of him in any interaction.

Which makes a lot more sense when Jordan finally finds out that Derek Hale is a werewolf and Argent has been training to hunt werewolves since before he could walk.

--

Watching Derek die was more painful than Jordan had expected it to be, and that seemed to be the case for everyone involved. When he and Chris had arrived and the hunter had realized what he was seeing – Derek Hale, suddenly, inexplicably human, bleeding from the stomach, so similarly to the way he’d lost his daughter, he’d frozen, and Jordan swore he stopped breathing. The chaos hadn’t paused, though, and suddenly they had to fight again.

When Derek comes back to life, Jordan is sure he’s the only one who’s paying enough attention to Chris to see the blanket relief that crosses his face. His own chest loosens in a way he wasn’t expecting, both in relief for Derek being alive and the fact that Chris doesn’t have to go through that kind of loss again.

He also doesn’t miss that just before Chris leaves with the Calaveras, he pulls Derek aside and says something to him, the ‘evolved’ werewolf nodding, and stepping impossibly close to Chris under the guise of whispering something back, but Jordan doesn’t miss the gentle brush of their cheeks together, and the way Derek’s eyes stay fixed on Chris until the hunter is long out of sight.

Three weeks later, though, he gets a text from a number he doesn’t recognize, and all it is is an address to a hotel in San Diego, a room number, and;

‘This weekend, join us?’

He’s a hellhound, so really, even if he’s wrong, and the text isn’t from the only us he can think of, it’s not like it will be particularly easy for his would-be assassins to kill him.

(Plus, the dead pool is over anyway, he’s no longer worth 5 million dollars.)

He’s not sure what surprises him more; that the Sheriff is all too happy to give him the weekend off, or the too-knowing smile on the Sheriff’s face when he does.

--

He’s learned, particularly with Derek, that knocking on doors is incredibly unnecessary, so he’s not surprised – and incredibly relieved – when Derek opens the door to the hotel room at the fancy Oceanfront San Diego hotel. “You came.” The werewolf says, face splitting into the brightest smile Jordan has ever seen from him. He can’t help but return it.

“Sheriff Stilinski gave me the weekend off without any complaints.” Jordan shrugged, tucking his hands into his pockets because he still doesn’t understand what exactly this is.

“That’s my fault.” A second voice calls from inside the hotel room, and Derek motions Jordan in so the hellhound can see Chris Argent relaxing. The sight itself is so out of place that if it wasn’t for the heat he can feel radiating off of Derek at his back, he’d wonder if this was even real.

Chris is dressed in a T-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts, barefoot, leaned against the headboard of the giant king-sized bed in the room.

The only bed in the room.

“Did I need to book myself a room?” Jordan asked, suddenly wondering if he’s misunderstood all of this.

Suddenly, the heat of Derek isn’t just hovering near his back, but is pressed up against it as a voice, close to his ear whispers, “That’s your call.” A shiver runs down Jordan’s spine and he blushes furiously as his dick suddenly decides to take notice of the situation; the way Chris’ ice blue eyes are fixed on the pair of them, face content, lips curved up into a small smile. Derek’s body, well-toned and werewolf-strong, plastered against his back, lips against his ear like this is a perfectly normal occurrence.

“What are you asking me?” He asks, swallowing hard. Sure, he can read into situations like no other, but he doesn’t want to do that here. The two of them seem happy for the first time in so long. He doesn’t want to get in the middle of that.

Or well he does but not in the ‘break them up’ kind of way.

“You’re not as subtle as you think you are, Jordan.” Chris says from the bed, and Jordan has to suppress the urge to groan as he feels Derek nose a line from the sensitive space behind his ear down to where his shoulder and neck meet. “At the very least you’re interested in Derek. I wasn’t drunk enough to miss that at the bar.”

“And I could smell it.” Derek murmured.

“You can smell attraction?”

A chuckle, “No, but I can smell arousal.”

“What does he smell like now, Derek?” Chris asked, and Jordan’s eyes finally tear away from the hunter’s face to follow his arm down to where he’s palming at what Jordan can only imagine is an erection.

“Arousal.” Derek says, and there’s a laugh in his voice. “What…” Jordan pulls himself away from the werewolf, turning so he can look at both of them, pointedly ignoring the plethora of erections in the room. “So, you two are together.”

Chris smiled, and he looks at Derek, “For some reason, yes. He could have had anyone.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “Ah, yes, I’m such a catch with my dead family, recent resurrection and metric ton of emotional baggage.”

“I mean, I think you are.” Jordan surprised himself with his words, but the smile he earned from Derek was worth it. “And you, you’re a good man, Argent. I can see why the two of you would work.”

“We want you, too.” Derek said softly, blushing high on his cheeks, pulling another amused grin from Chris.

The hunter got up from the bed and crossed the floor to stand in front of Jordan, “Derek’s wanted you for a long time. I think you’re a brilliant deputy and I can see the attraction, so, if you’re up to try it, we’d like you to join us.”

Jordan dragged in a breath, studying the relaxed, honest, open face of Chris Argent, silently wondering how small the list of people who had ever seen this face was. Derek was close to him too suddenly, the werewolf also open, earnest, eyes burning with a desire that surprised and delighted Jordan. “Are you sure? I don’t want to mess anything up for the two of you.”

Derek’s only answer was to kiss him, spinning Jordan so he was pressed between the werewolf and the hunter.

Jordan decided when Chris started kissing a line down his neck, apparent invulnerability aside, he might have been one of the safest people on earth in that moment.