#valerie finally picked up a pen

[vanillabeanbabe]

Two kids in a swimming pool.

n/t: hiii, this is my first fic ever…i should also mention that english isn’t my first language so if you notice anything off, that’s probably why hehe. and hey i also don’t know it there’s a pool at the academy but for this fics purposes there’s one okay <3

ingredients: angst (sorry) a bit suggestive? comfort, viktor and reader being brats but they work it out in the remix, a pool, female pronouns. fluff at the end, jayce being a child of divorce until he’s not.

You should’ve known this was going to be a tough day for everyone the moment you walked into the lab this morning.

Sighs and groans were emitted as Jayce, Viktor and you were trying to work in a project that was brutally rejected by heimerdinger, said project was particularly loved the most by viktor, as he was so hopeful to get the professor’s approval.

So him being slumped at his desk wasn’t a surprise for you.

“Viktor, please come join us at the board, the three of us were unsuccessful, so the three of us must resolve this” you said with a slight pleading tone, hoping to lighten up the mood.

No reply, just a shuffle of paper and an expression of annoyance. “Forgive me, but i wish for some lonesomeness” his tone colder than usual, and god was it unbearable for you.

Your pride was already harmed by heimerdinger’s rejection, you sure couldn’t handle Viktor’s today.

Jayce, who was standing beside you didn’t register your nails against the chalkboard, until the sound hit his ears, and you earned an annoyed noise coming from him.

“Hey! calm-“

“Unfortunately, i, wish to interrupt your loneliness, as you are, in fact, not alone in this room, your partners are here, come join them” a bit immature? perhaps, but you weren’t willing to let him sulk right now, not when a solution was needed.

Jayce looked at you and Viktor back to back, the sight straight out of a comedy sitcom, but oh did he wish the next moment was as comedic as one.

Viktor’s gaze burned holes to your back and you couldn’t bare to face his golden eyes, not when they held annoyance directed at you, you heard him take a hold of his cane, walking towards you, making sure you heard his anger through every beat of it.

“I hope you know, we didn’t get approved because of you” he said, immediately paused and you could see him regretting the words instantly.

but the damage was done, in less than a second.

“…What?, you’re trying to blame me for the professor’s stubbornness? we knew what we were getting into the moment you pitched it!” okay, you might’ve not said that in the most calm tone ever, but pride recently very hurt by short professor, remember?

“Woah-woah-woah guys, there’s no need to blame each other for a collective mistake, we are a team after all and things like this happen, the good news is that we can try again an-“ Jayce’s voice getting once again overpowered by his stubborn lab partners, but this interruption was rather harmful, one might say.

“Well, i’m not willing to work on my projects with people who can’t understand and execute them the same way i would, especially people who get calculations wrong” Viktor said referring to your tiny little mistake in the formula, which caused said rejection.

In your defense, there comes a point (usually between five cups of coffee or after your second all nighter of the week) where numbers start to blur, and they start to move on the paper, and you swear you hear them mock at you, laughing at your attempts to solve and perfect them, but you swore you didn’t allow that from happening, you repeated the equation until writing it became muscle memory and your calloused finger started to pulse.

“If anything, i was following your previous calculations, so who’s really the one to blame?” you said with the most condescending tone you could have, letting your accent come up.

Poor Jayce was in the corner like a scared puppy, he felt like he was witnessing his parents fight after three (fake) divorces.

Viktor’s chest started to redden with anger. “Are you saying that my own equation, that i crafted, was wrong?” he said calmly but you just knew his anger was bubbling up to his throat.

Smirking, you replied thoughtlessly.

“Well, if the shoe fits.”

Silence.

A silence that, moments later, would’ve been a life-savior for the actual thing that happened next.

“I’m surprised you get called a remarkable scientist, with your maturity, i’m not sure you even deserve to be called remarkable” Viktor said without much thought, his mouth acting faster than his brain, surprising himself, regret flooding his veins once he noticed Jayce’s eyes widening at his blunt remark.

You turned your head, staring at him, lips slightly parted as you felt tears burn your eyes, and you just couldn’t handle this today, you placed the white chalk you were holding on the board, muttered a broken “excuse me” grabbed your bag, and made your way out of the lab.

Viktor and Jayce being left in a now tense and silent room.

No words were uttered after a few minutes later, Jayce’svoice broke the silence.

“The numbers.” he started. “God, Viktor, your numbers don’t add up”

One could say a ghost had more color than Viktor once Jayce’s words hit his ears.

—

The sound of water splashing echoed in the academy’s gymnasium pool as you took your second round of laps, hoping the coolness of the water would help with the scorching anger inside you after todays altercations, pool hours were already over but you had your ways to deal with the enforcers guarding the academy’s facilities, even if said ways involved you baking a birthday cake for a kid. You pulled yourself to the edge of the pool and sat outside of it, catching your breath as your muscles were already starting to ache from the non-stop movement.

The embarrassing lab scene playing over and over again, Viktor’s words echoed, but you’re sure he didn’t mean that, right? it was just a spurt, an in the moment thing, right?

But you couldn’t help but wonder, does he really think that you’re not a remarkable scientist? Okay, the title itself is a bit…egotistical, but, what if he’s right? what if you’re not good enough? you sighed and shrugged your shoulders, you really can’t control what people think of you but the fact that it’s Viktor really makes your chest ache, you suck in a breath and dive back into the pool, unaware of the steps behind you.

—

Viktor’s pulse was beating through his ears as he made his way to Caitlyn’s room, being told by Jayce that you and her tend to spend time together if you ever managed to leave the lab early, nervously, he looked at his feet, closed his eyes and sucked in a breath before knocking the door. A very-clearly-woken-up-from-a nap Caitlyn opened the door, bed-hair all over her face as she tried to brush it away with her hand. “Oh, Viktor, hi, can i help you?”

“Evening, miss Kiramman, sorry to bother you, but i was wondering if-“

“She’s not here, she’s usually at the pool whenever she’s not stuck here talking her mouth off about her job, you should look for her there” said Caitlyn with slight irritation, after all, an interrupted slumber is reason enough to awake annoyance. Viktor mumbled a soft ‘thank you’ before the door was closed on his nose and he decided that was his cue to go.

—

His arrival at the pool was quiet as he watched you dive into it, his stomach already twisting and turning while he mentally formed his apology, he already knew he screwed up, he couldn’t mess this up even more. He waited for you to come back to the surface. Until, two minutes passed by.

Three…

Four…

Oh. Oh no.

His breath halted, panic rushing through his veins and he never registered the moment he dropped his cane, and jumped straight into the pool, opening his eyes and noticing how yours were closed, and for the smallest moment , a millisecond even , he noticed the way your eyelashes fluttered with the water’s movement, and how at peace you looked, he was starting to enjoy the weight taken off from his leg when your eyes opened abruptly and a noise of something that sounded like his name being muffled underwater came out of your mouth, you quickly swam towards him and held him by his waist, dragging him outside the water and using all your strength, you placed him on the edge of the pool.

You pulled yourself outside the water and layed on your back as you tried to catch your breath, hearing Viktor do the same beside you.

“W…what- what were you thinking, Viktor?!” you asked him, your voice filled with worry? anger? sadness? every adjective in the world would be fitting, honestly. “I- i thought- i thought you were drowning” he said, closing his eyes.

A lightness spread through your tight chest. And you couldn’t help but laugh, your whole body shaking like a fish begging for water.

He’s impossible, annoying. Cute? again, all adjectives work.

“I wasn’t drowning” you said sitting up cross legged “I was building breathing resistance” A wave of embarrassment hit Viktor’s body like a truck, and he could feel the way his ears reddened in shame, warmth quickly spreading, overpowering the coldness from the water.

Of course, -He thought to himself- Why would she drown? she’s smart enough to know how to hold her breath underwater, guess he was willing to give up his life to save her after humiliating her at the lab.

He looked at her as he sat, mirroring her position. She slicked her hair back with her hands, and stared back at him. they shared knowing looks.

“I’m sorr-“ “I want to-“ interrupting each other as they spoke at the same time, earning a laugh from both of them, the environment being so different from hours ago.

“Please, allow me to speak first” said Viktor with a calm voice. She nodded. “I’m sorry, i shouldn’t have said those horrible things to you, i don’t usually allow anger to get ahold of my emotions” he said tracing the puddle of water forming between them. She sighed, “Oh Viktor, i’m sorry too, i should’ve let you sit with your anger instead of trying to…make you feel better? i really wasn’t thinking, i was upset from heimerdinger’s opinion too, i know how much you were looking forward to his thoughts about your project” She said, a pout threatening to form on her lips as she hugged her knees towards her chest.

Hesitantly, Viktor reached for her damp knee, stroking it softly. “You’re wrong, it’s our project, the three of us worked tirelessly to achieve its culmination, said tiredness did…backfire, but it’s nothing we can’t work on, together” he said smiling softly, searching for her eyes.

She stared back at him. And then realized what situation they were in. She then became quickly aware that there was only one layer of clothing separating him from her naked body, the thought sending shivers down her spine. Viktor’s brows furrowed when he noticed the blush on her cheeks, and he couldn’t help but stare at the way her arm muscles tensed. His stare going straight to the ceiling “You must be eh- cold, let me find your- your towel- do you uhm- bring one with you?” he said as he tried to stand up. You quickly got up and helped him to do so as well, speaking soft ‘easy, easy’s in the air. They stood up facing each other, holding each other’s forearms.

He sighed, ready to admit his defeat.

“It was my fault” he paused. “the equation, i did the calculation wrong and i didn’t notice”

A series of ‘i knew it i knew it i knew it’ echoed in your head, but you decided you already gave him enough hell for today, so you let it slide. “I always admire when men admit they’re wrong” you said with a smile. Viktor laughed and you swear you could feel how flowers bloomed at the sound of it.

“I think you’re a remarkable scientist, smarter than me or Jayce, even” he said looking straight at your eyes, really seeing you.

“Oh please, don’t say that in front of him, we have hurt him enough already with our outburst today” You said while you let go of his hand bending over to grab his cane, which was resting in a puddle of water.

He sighed “We really behaved like children today”

You shot a smile at him, his shivers making you realize that you probably looked like wet dogs, but moments ago, you were two kids in a swimming pool.

[five-rivers]

Bring Your Ghost To School Day

AO3

For @phantomphangphucker

Valerie felt pleased with herself.  Sure she would have preferred to catch the ghost dog, or Phantom (take him down a few pegs), but if she was being honest with herself, showing up to the Paranormal Self Defense class practicum with Phantom in tow would have raised way too many questions.  Most of her classmates would probably come in with blob ghosts.  

Although she has heard a few scheming to get the Box Ghost…

Whatever.  Finally catching that slimy, scaly, slippery giant ghost worm nicely straddled the line between what was feasible for her from an outside perspective and what she, personally, considered an accomplishment.  

She walked into the classroom with her head held high and set her Fenton Thermos mk. 10 (the only containment device approved for the class) squarely in the center of her desk.  

Star twisted in her seat to face her.  "Hey, Val, what didya get?"

"Giant ghost worm."

"Nice.  That'll be pretty unique.  Pauli and I tried to tag-team some ectopuses over the weekend but we were only able to get one.  Good thing I had a backup blob ghost, right?"  She sighed.  "They're so fat and cute.  I wonder if they can be domesticated."

Valerie doubted it, but she shrugged noncommittally.  The rest of the class dribbled in over the next fifteen minutes, with Danny sliding through the door just before the bell rang, as usual.

"Alright class," said Mr. Lancer, wheeling forward the class's Fentonworks™ Ghost Glass™ Containment Cube™.  "As you all should know, today, your practicum is due.  You will be coming up one by one and releasing your ghost into the-" he sighed, then inhaled deeply, "-Fentonworks™ Ghost Glass™ Containment Cube™, whereupon you will explain to the class how you located and captured the ghost in question.  When you are finished, you will recapture the ghost and place your thermoses on that shelf, to be picked up by the Fentons for, yes, Miss Manson, ethical release into the Ghost Zone.  Any questions?"

Dash raised his hand.  "Can I get an extension?"

Mr. Lancer turned his gaze briefly towards the ceiling.  "See me after class, Mr. Baxter.  Any other questions?  No?  Then, do we have any volunteers?"

All hands stayed down.  Hey, Valerie was proud, but not volunteering to present first proud.  That was crazy.

"That's fine, I'll just pick randomly, then.  Mr. Gregor, you're first."

Elliot stood up and made his way to the front of the classroom like a man made to walk the plank.  He stuck his thermos into the socket on top of the Fentonworks™ Ghost Glass™ Containment Cube™ and hit the release button.  Blue-white light briefly filled the space.  When it cleared there was…

Nothing.

"Hey!" shouted Dash.  "It's empty!"

"No, it's not!  It's Youngblood!"

"I must confess," said Mr. Lancer, "it does look empty."

"You just can't see him because all of you are adults already, and I don't turn eighteen until July!"

Danny raised his hand.  "Neither do I."

Elliot looked like he wanted to argue for a moment, but then his shoulders slumped forward.  "Aw, man.  You couldn't let me have this?"

Mr. Lancer tapped a dial on the front of the Fentonworks™ Ghost Glass™ Containment Cube™ with his pen.  "The ecto-detector would have outed you–" 

There were a number of snickers from the jocks' side of the room.  

"--in any case, Mr. Gregor.  You can return to your seat, now."  He made a note on his clip board.  "My homework is invisible to adults is a new excuse for the books, though.  Mr. Fenton, you're next."

"'Kay," said Danny, passing Elliot on his way up.  "Prepare yourselves to be amazed!"  He slotted his thermos into place and hit the release button.  

Valerie shielded her eyes from the light and suppressed a laugh.  She was glad Danny had actually gotten something, considering how skittish he was about ghosts, but that intro was–

"Daniel!  Release me this instant!"

Wait, what the heck?

Valerie looked up to see Vlad Plasmius glaring at Danny through the walls of the Fentonworks™ Ghost Glass™ Containment Cube™.  Vlad Plasmius.  Better known as Vlad Masters.  Mayor of Amity Park.  Richest man in the world.  Scarily powerful ghost with a great disguise.

She felt her jaw drop.

"May I introduce to you, the Wisconsin Ghost!"

"It's Plasmius, you insufferable brat!"

Mr. Lancer cleared his throat.  "Mr. Fenton, did your parents help you catch this… Plasmius?"

"I borrowed some equipment from them, but that's within the rules, right?"

"Let me out!"

"Hey, you heard Mr. Lancer.  You'll be released into the Ghost Zone after school with everyone else."

"Speaking of which, you should start your presentation."

"Oh, right.  So, what happened was that I snuck up on him while he was monologuing in his evil lair and hit him over the head with–"

"You did not!  And I don't have an evil lair!"

"That's debatable, but you know what?  Fine," groaned Danny.  "Spoilsport.  Anyway, I started by baiting my trap with cheese–"

"Daniel!"

"I pretended to be the mayor of Green Bay and called–"

Plasmius hissed at him.  

"Okay, okay, what I really did was tell Mr. Lonely Cat Guy that I'd tell him my mom's number if he helped me with a school project."

"Mr. Fenton," started Mr. Lancer, obviously concerned.

"It was a lie, of course!  Guys and girls, the only ghost you should give digits to is Phantom."

"That is not what happened!"

"My man, I'm trying to make this less embarrassing for you.  Work with me here."

"Mr. Fenton, must I remind you that this practicum is a graduation requirement?"

"No, no, I've got it.  But it is, like, super embarrassing for him."

Honestly, Valerie didn't know why she was surprised at this point.  Danny never had normal presentations.  Not since the gorilla thing.  

“What are you talking about?” snarled Vlad.  

“Aw, it sounds like it was so traumatizing he doesn’t even remember it…”

“Mr. Fenton, please.”

Danny shrugged.  “I told him I’d be more likely to consider letting him adopt me if he could win a fight with Fright Knight, because, like, that’s something I could do in Freshman year, and he’s never beaten him, and when he showed up afterward to gloat I snuck up behind him and souped him.”

“Backstabber!”

“The worst part is that I didn’t even think he’d do it.  Like, I’ve made exactly zero attempt to hide the utter disdain I feel for this man.  It was a joke.  I said I didn’t expect him to do it, but apparently he took that as a taunt or challenge or whatever.  I was just going to bring Wade, but then he showed up this morning, so I was like, why not?”

“Wade?” asked Mr. Lancer.  

Danny reached into his hoodie’s front pocket and pulled out the teeniest tiniest blue-green blob ghost.  “This is Wade.  I call him that because I found him in a pool.”

Wade squirmed out of Danny’s grip and flew up to chew on his hair.  

“You know you aren’t supposed to bring uncaptured ghosts into the school,” said Mr. Lancer tiredly.  

“That’s what your focus on?” ranted Vlad.  “And you call yourself a teacher–” 

“And that’s enough.”  Mr. Lancer reached over to hit the capture button and disengaged the thermos.  “You can go back to your seat now, Mr. Fenton.  Mr. Ishiyama?”

Kwan bounded up to the Fentonworks™ Ghost Glass™ Containment Cube™ and gleefully slammed his thermos down into the socket.  “I caught the Box Ghost!”

“Oh, no,” muttered Danny.  

“BEWARE!  I AM THE BOX GHOST AND– Oh, my, this is a lovely box.  Is it for me?  I ACCEPT THIS TRIBUTE!  FEAR ME!”

The Fentonworks™ Ghost Glass™ Containment Cube™ began to levitate.  Valerie pulled her class-approved ecto-pistol from her bag.  Honestly, in retrospect, something like this was bound to happen.  At least, she noted, seeing all of her classmates pull out their approved ecto-pistols, she wouldn’t be the only one stuck fixing it this time.

[punkymonkeehat]

Danny Phantom Cryptid AU! Should I put the fanfic on AO3 or Fanfiction.net? I'm still a new fanfic writer so idk where the hip places are for posting. Let me know what you think though! :) here's a scene of Sam researching a new anomaly!!

-------------------------------------------------

Sam stretched her arms and back, sighing as she felt the pops of her bones. She was hunched over her laptop for hours researching the anomaly they saw earlier that day. Luckily, she would have no distractions due to the boys tracking down information on it to classify it. It had been a while since she was by herself, and she was grateful for it.

Droning goth music danced from her speakers. She kept it low enough so it wasn't too loud, but just enough to fill her head. Music always helped her focus. Sam reached for the veggie platter she bought that morning when they three friends went grocery shopping to replenish the van. She was able to get some oat milk and veggie burgers, finally having a little healthier of a snack than vegan chocolates and veggie fries. It always surprised her how much junk food she could eat with her diet.

Sam scrolled through the website, pausing for a moment. "Interesting..." She murmered, removing the pen from her ear and scribbling down the information. "A dual minded ghost. I wonder...?" She tapped the pen on her lower lip, scrolling again.

"The Ghost of Liberty Library is said to split in two, with different halves possessing its own unique ghostly energy. When split, the entity has been seen with two opposing ecto-signatures, where the one had a somber pulse, and the other had a more aggressive pulse. When ghost hunters have encountered the dual ghosts, they were coaxed in by a crying half, only to be chased out of the building or have strongly negative interactions with the other half. The Ghosts have never been seen completely alone and have often been seen as one singular entity. When combined, the spiritual energy in the location is too intense to bare, and most ghost hunters refrain from entering the premises."

"Hmmm..." Sam thought. "This might be tricky..." She pulled out her phone, ready to dial an expert in entity type, and stopped after spying a familiar number. She couldn't help but smile and open the text

"Miss you 💓🌹💗"

It was Paulina. She also sent a picture of her and her friend Star at a concert, both with big smiles on their faces and peace signs. Sam messaged back.

"Miss you too. Hope you're having fun! Let me.know when you get home safe 🖤🦇"

After a small pause and a sigh, she went back to work, dialing another number. The phone rang about three times until the person on the other side picked up.

"This is Valerie."

"Valerie, hey! It's Sam."

"Oh hey Sam! It's been a while since I've heard from you guys." The excitement in her voice was bright. "Where are you guys now? How are the others? Danny hasn't pissed any entity off from talking too much yet, right? And has Tuck finally worn that new beret i sent with the last care package?" Sam laughed, smiling big. It had been almost two months since their last conversation. With being in so many dead zones, it was close to impossible to keep a good signal. Luckily, the gas station parking lot they settled in for the night at had wifi and a solid four bars.

"They've been fine, but still the same old Danny and Tuck. Luckily, Danny hasn't caused any more issues than he usually does... although, when we were studying a gathering of small gnomes in Northern Nevada, he accidentally tripped on their king. You can't really come back from something like that." Laughter bellowed out from the phone. "And Tuck loves the new beret. He hasn't taken it off since he got it!"

"Good! I paid a good amount for it!"

"We're currently at a gas station in Eastern Colorado. It's probably the most drab place we've been to so far. I didn't know there were some places without telephone poles... im glad this place has some service and decent wifi." Sam could hear the smile and humor in Valerie's response.

"There's a reason you don't hear too much about the area. Tell me when you see a coyote and a roadrunner."

"You'll be the first to know," Sam said, with a half smile. She lifted her paper to look at her notes. "The reason I called is to ask you about a ghost category. We're currently investigating a case out here and got a blip on the Fenton Finder. It's a new anomaly, which means it's from the portal explosion, so we're planning on cleaning up the damage. The only thing is, though, this ghost is a dual-minded ghost. It's two ghosts that are also one. I haven't seen anything like it before and the sites and books I have haven't given me any more information." Sam switched the phone to her other ear. " I'm not sure how we should address it without some kind of idea of what we're dealing with. Have you run into something like this before?" There was a small pause and a ruffling of papers on the other end. Usually a good sign...

"Hmmmm... I'd be lying if I said I hadn't heard of it. There aren't many cases like it. I haven't seen any in my hunts, though, not even in the ghost zone, but according to one of my papers, it's more than likely an entwined energy issue. Now, that could mean they were bonded in real life, past lives, molded together after the explosion, which may be the most likely option, any meddling of other entities, or even an intentional entwining." Sam shuddered at the idea. Two souls forced to always stay together was a horrifying prospect. "How does it respond to the human world?" Sam finished writing down the information before answering. She told the other in detail what she had learned.

"That sounds... intense. My guess is a couple from the past? Maybe some grief between the two? The aggressive part might be what is protecting the somber part from harm? Being able to separate is unique, though... Let me do some more research and ask around. There has to be another hunter that may know about this. Maybe see if Danny could communicate with his ghostly friends?"

"I'll ask him when he gets back. Thanks, Val! I'll let you know if I find any more information that'll help."

"Anytime, Sam, and back at ya. Tell the others I say hi?"

"Of course."

After their good byes, Sam turned back to the computer. Most sites said the same thing over and over again, repeating the same story with the same sightings. She rolled her eyes. "They keep stealing from each other..." She mumbled, scrolling more. After about a half hour, there was a swift knock on the van's back door before it flew open. Danny and Tucker climbed into the back, hauling in their gear.

"Hey guys, I just called Val, and she says-"

"The guy's a loony!" Danny growled, kicking his shoes off his feet. "An absolute fruit loop."

"We seem to keep finding them. I blame you for being half ghost." Tucker responded, opening the mini fridge they hooked up to their makeshift home. Danny gave him a confused look.

"What's that got to do with anything?" He asked, changing his shirt. He threw the dirty one on the coach and wrestled the clean one on.

"Hello? Weird attracts weird!" Tucker said, rolling his eyes. He opened up a container and snagged a spoon. "Dude, I mean, half your friends are also ghosts."

"You're one to talk..." The dirty shirt flew and landed on Tuckers head. "Mr. 'I'm-obsessed-with-technology-and-can't-function-without-even-a-pager'." Tucker tore the shirt off his head and glared at the other. He put his container down and started towards Danny, putting him in a headlock. Right as he did so, and as the roigh housing began, Sam sighed and hit her head onto the table.

And just like that, all of her peace and quietness was gone.

[ear-worthy]

List Envy Podcast: It's The Wish List Listeners Want

People love lists. All kinds. Top ten politics podcasts. Five meanest celebrities. The top 20 comedy movies of all time. Any writer who cares about attracting readers knows that lists work as an attractant, or if you are feeling mean, audacious clickbait.

How about a podcast that caters to list-mania? Welcome to List Envy, a podcast that understandably features lists. 

 Here's the marketing pitch: "What's the most-used emoji? Who's the best Bond villain? Does anyone care that an olive is technically a fruit?

Discover hidden gems from pop culture to pasta, hip-hop to history, and meet the creatives, enthusiasts, and experts who love them.

Each week, host Mark Steadman collaborates with a guest to build a top-5 list on a topic they choose. If you want to know what your next TV binge should be, or where to go on your next trip abroad, List Envy has you covered."

Host Steadman adds: "Whether it was singing karaoke, listening to audiobooks, or devising a radio station in my bedroom, I’ve always appreciated the power of the human voice."

It's admittedly an excellent concept for a podcast. But is it executed well? The answer is an unqualified YES. 

One of my favorite episodes is the June 18, 2024, show where guest Ashley Hammer (Host of Taboo Science, also a terrific podcast) discusses real world inventions inspired by science fiction. Steadman and Hammer make the show informative, funny, witty, and clever. They discuss sci-fi concepts like the mobile phone, autonomous vehicles, credit cards, and even the World Wide Web as current realities often crafted by the sci-fi community.

The July 9, 2024, show with Valerie Paris about James Bond gadgets brought back great memories of Bond, Q, and the often preposterous nature of these MI-6 gadgets that always elicited glee. Here's the show note: Nothing is ever quite as it seems in the world of spies. A watch isn’t just a watch – it’s a deadly weapon. That phonebooth? Also a weapon. Bag pipes? Weapon. This sandwich though, that’s just Q’s lunch. Don’t touch it."

"There's the grenade pen from Golden Eye, the mini-rocket cigarette from You Only Live Twice, and the garrote watch in From Russia With Love."

Through 62 episodes, Mark Steadman has excelled at bringing listeners the unexpected, the funny, the outlandish, and the bizarre -- all packaged with a unique British twist.

Mark Steadman, the creator and host, studied Media & Communication at Birmingham City University, specializing in Internet radio. He graduated the year the term “podcasting” was coined, but it would be a further four years before he’d pluck up the courage to pick up a mic and plug it into the Internet.

But in 2008, the podcast bug finally bit, and he started what would be a 14+ year career helping people make podcasts, first in exchange for beer, and then for money.

In 2016, he founded the media hosting company Podiant, which took him to the British Podcast Awards, and saw him present at International Podcast Day in 2020. The product served millions of listeners across thousands of podcasts, and in 2021 he sold Podiant, so he could focus on working more closely with individuals and small teams, to set them up for podcasting success from day one.

Steadman, in his bio, says: "My love for radio started at a local level, in the glory-days of personality-based breakfast radio. That love affair was sparked at my home city’s famous BRMB, but a succession of cost-cutting measures, takeovers, and technological advances would slowly snuff out that candle."

In 2021, he founded Origin to help impact entrepreneurs build trust with their audiences, and catalyze change. 

Steadman observes: "I do this through a combination of consulting, training, coaching, and mentoring. It centers around driving messages from the ear to the brain, where – through consistency and authenticity – they eventually land in listeners’ hearts."

On List Envy, Steadman has an ear for all kinds of lists, from the typical to the arcane. Episodes have included lists about top five emoji reactions to the Top 5 Korean TV Romcoms." 

On the show, Steadman sounds like he's having fun with all this, and he tends to bring on guests who don't take themselves -- and these lists -- too seriously.

Check out List Envy. It satisfies our evolutionary need to make lists to bring order to our chaotic world. Along the way to this biological imperative, we learn a lot about a diverse set of subjects -- top 5 time-travel romance films to the top 5 ways to eat potatoes -- and enjoy the amiable and quick-witted host Mark Steadman, along with his guests.

Here are some ideas for future episodes:

1. Top Five Beatles Songs

2. Top Five Fast Food Menu Items

3. Top Five Rodney Dangerfield quotes from Caddyshack

4. Top Five BBC podcasts

5. Top Five U.K. current tennis players

[luvneymar]

(2) BABY NAMES & BREAKFAST — NEYMAR JR

SUMMARY: Neymar, Davi & You are picking out baby names for the future daughter & Davi’s future baby sister.

“how about Isabella?” Neymar asked munching on his pancakes getting crumbs all over the white sheets of your king sized bed. After the skincare situation last night you made breakfast to make it up to Neymar for “ruining” his eyebrows.

When you were cooking you, Davi & Ney were picking out names for the baby that’s about to come into your lives. Once you finished cooking Neymar and Davi brought the food upstairs on a cart so you could eat together as a family.

“Mmh, that’s cute. Maybe with an accent? Like ‘Isabélla?’” You also munched on your pancakes trying to brainstorm regular names and making them unique. “I don’t know make it unique or something.” You added before shoving another piece of maple syrup drenched scrambled eggs.

“That’ll give it a whole other pronunciation. Like ‘Isabecghlla’” Neymar laughed imagingi the teacher trying to pronounce her name on the first day of school. Even though the name might be the least of their worries on that day.

“Did you just call our baby an ‘it’?” You jokingly glared at him throwing in of your blueberries from your pancakes at his forehead. You both unconsciously called your baby an it but it was worse when he called her an it because you were carrying her. (Pregnant lady logic)

You both laughed as he threw a blueberry right back at you having it roll down your face and into your shirt in a split second. “Boob-Berries.” Neymar whispered trying to not have Davi hear his perverted joke.

“Mama, what about Camila…?” Davi stuttered out, ever since he’s turned 4 & 1/2 he’s been having trouble pronouncing his C’s, its really cute watching his face light up when he finally is able to pronounce it.

“That’s beautiful Davi, wanna write it on the list?” You hand him the pen and paper we’re the names; Valerie, Sofía, María, Veronica, Selena & Fernanda. They were all really nice but we were looking for something that’ll make her stand out.

A bit more banter and Boob-berry jokes until the boys were done and weren’t talking as much. Davi was picking at the thread of the blanket and Neymar was picking at his fingernails.

“Are you finish with your food guys?” You sighed at Davi & Ney. They both picked at their food the same way whenever they were full but didn’t want to say so. Having you ask them is so much easier than having to wait the next 30 minutes for them to finally rip off the bandaid and scrap their food.

“Yeah, Davi come lemme help you scrape your food.” Neymar and Davi waddled into the hallway and headed downstairs to the kitchen which was on the other side of the condo so it would take them a while.

You finished your food whilst caressing your very pregnant belly & staring into the distance. Hoping that a name would just come to you like 1,2,3, You never knew that coming up with a name was supposed to use so much energy.

You sighed and placed the plate on the bedside table swinging your feet to the side of the bed. They were so swollen you couldn’t wear anything but house slippers in sizes 5x your own. Being pregnant was such a blessing but sometimes you wish you could switch pregnancy shifts with Ney. See if he liked having cantaloupe feet.

Soon after, you heard laughter coming down the hall as Davi & Neymar came back from the kitchen with suspicion grins in their faces. Like they had done something they weren’t supposed too.

“What’s with the grins? Did you guys sneak bites of the Ice Cream in the freezer?” You asked getting up and walking to the powder room to relive yourself from all the food you just ate.

“Me & Davi have found the perfect name for our little kidney bean.” Neymar announced, walking towards the bathroom with you just to have the door slammed in his face. You didn’t like him seeing your pregnancy symptoms like morning sickness, diarrhea, vomiting and more.

Even though he insisted he didn’t mind you still didn’t prefer for him to see it if he could avoid it. “Continue talking through the door. It helps me. Or the baby, your voice convinces her to be nicer to her mommy.”

“Okay well me and Davi thought about the name ‘Valentina Rosa Camíla Santos-[Last Name].” Neymar revealed the name as he fiddled with his hands waiting for your response. “We thought to add the top 2 names on the list as a middle name so it’s not just a boring short name like ‘Valentina-Santos-[Last Name]’.”

Neymar nervously chuckled hoping you would like their suggestion. Last time you guys discussed names it turned into a huge argument. Davi grabbed his hand as he waited for you to answer him and his papa until 10 seconds turn into 30, then 1 minute then 2 minutes.

After 2 minutes with nothing but absolute silence Neymar had gotten worried and turned the door-knob. You stood in front of the mirror with eyes watering rubbing your pregnant belly. It wasn’t even a situation where you should be crying but the name was just so beautiful you couldn’t help it.

“ Valentina-Rosa, It’s perfect. She’s perfect. You’re perfect.” You smiled at Davi who was peeking around the open bathroom door before walking inside when you ushered him too. You hugged them both as tightly as you could.

“Princesa, I love you so much. Thank you for carrying my child & giving me the family I always wanted.” Neymar Hugged you before smiling brightly as his son as they marched out of the bathroom happy with the ending of their mission.

after that sentimental moment you elbowed Neymar glaring at him. “Heyy, Why’s my last name at the back? Shouldn’t it be first? After all I am carrying her.”

“That wasn’t me! It was Davi.” Neymar turns to Davi who has a shocked look on his face. “Papa! Don’t lie it wasn’t meee!” Davi stomped his feet hitting Neymar’s stomach with his tiny fist.

You laughed at the scene in-front of you impatient as to when you could share this amazing life with your daughter; Valentina-Rosa Camíla Santos.

← prev [ neymarsluv! ] next →

[ghostgothgeek]

Chaos.

Another for the Phic Phight! This one kinda combines two prompts and I had so much fun writing it! In this, Danny and Tucker don’t know Sam plays video games yet. 5,063 words.

"What do you mean you don’t feel the same way? We´ve had a mutual crush on each other for years." Sam says angrily after finally confessing her love to him. But Danny´s heart was beating hard for someone else entirely. Prompt by phantomfana. 

Danny wants to ask his crush to the upcoming school dance. Prompt by Rikaleeta.

-----

It was another long night of ghost hunting for Danny. Technus took up the first part of the night, trying to take over the park’s new security system. Tucker was fortunately still awake to help him out with that. Then Johnny and Kitty rolled in, but they weren’t looking for trouble, they just wanted a date night and swore they wouldn’t be a problem. Apparently Fridays were their days off for “everything but each other”. Danny was a romantic, but he didn’t know if this was sweet or nauseating. Ember had put up a good fight, though. He was proud he only had one injury to tend to. He had dodged most of her attacks, but she was still a pretty advanced ghost. And, of course, Danny had caught the Box Ghost six, count them, SIX times. How did he always manage to get out?! He wasn’t difficult to take down, he was just a pest. 

Danny sighed as he sat down at his computer chair. It was only 12:30 am, and it was a Friday. He could sleep in tomorrow and he deserved at least a couple hours of fun. He logged into his online gaming account and saw Tucker was online. Figures. He pulled up the chat anyway. 

Astrohaunt: Hey Tuck. Still up?

Technopedia: You know it. Chaos signed on about a half hour ago and I’m not passing up the opportunity.

Astrohaunt: Dude is so good it’s unreal!

Technopedia: He goes to our school, I tracked one of his IP addresses and he logged in at school a few times.

Astrohaunt: Tucker wtf. That’s creepy!

Technopedia: I just want to make sure Chaos is actually a kid and not Lancer again!

Astrohaunt: I still can’t wrap my mind around Lancer playing Doomed…

Technopedia: Same. But Chaos IP is different from Lancer, so we good. Unless more teachers play Doomed.

Astrohaunt: I hate you for putting that image into my brain.

Technopedia: Sorry dude. But quick come join before someone else gets Chaos.

Danny, Tucker, and Chaos had made a great team. Whenever Chaos was around, they were actually able to progress through the game. They played several rounds until Tucker was caught by his mom and was forced to sign off, but Danny and Chaos kept playing. 

TeamChaos: Hey, what’s up?

Astrohaunt: Omg dude you’re so awesome. 

TeamChaos: Ha, thanks. Gotta blow off steam somehow. 

Astrohaunt: Tell me about it! Between Lancer’s three projects and midterms and...other stuff...this is my only time to actually chill. I’ve been so stressed!

TeamChaos: Same. I did finish one of the projects though. I’m always here if you need to talk, you know. 

Astrohaunt: Wow, I may just take you up on that offer. I’ve had a rough night.

TeamChaos: Lay it on me.

And so Danny, sparing the ghost hunting details, stayed up chatting with Chaos until 5 am. He got along really well with the guy, they had a lot of similar interests. This was just the first of many up-all-night conversations they shared. After a few months, Danny felt a special connection with Chaos, and yet, he didn’t even know his name! 

Astrohaunt: We’ve been talking all these months and I still don’t know your name. I’m Danny. 

TeamChaos: Oh, thought you knew. It’s Sam!

Astrohaunt: Hey! One of my best friends is named Sam! 

TeamChaos: You don’t say!!!

The next day at school, Danny pulled Tucker over to him, whispering, “Dude, help. I think I might be gay....” 

“What?!” Tucker shouted.

“Quiet, Tuck!” 

“Okay, well uh...why?” Tucker sent him a weird look and took a step back. 

“No, not you. Chaos. I think I have a crush on Chaos.” Danny ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know what to do! I never thought I’d be...you know. Chaos and I just have good conversations and he’s always there to listen to me when I need to vent. I thought maybe I found another best friend but...this is different. Chaos is so cool and I’m crushing and I don’t even know who he is or what he looks like! Or if he feels the same way! Maybe I’m just stupid and-”

“Dude, chill. You’re jumping too far ahead of yourself. Whichever way you, you know, swing...I’m still your best friend.” Tucker pulled out his PDA. “Let me see what I can find out. I know Chaos goes to our school.”

“Thanks, Tuck. As if being half ghost wasn’t hard enough! Oh, and he’s in our class, because he’s talked me through assignments and knows what they are and stuff. He’s almost as good as explaining things as Sam. Crap...Sam. Don’t tell her about this!” Danny started fidgeting. 

“Well,” Tucker raised his eyebrows in surprise, “I can tell you with absolute certainty that Chaos is definitely a girl.” 

“You found out who Chaos is?!” 

“What, like it’s hard?” Tucker chuckled. “I traced the IP addresses she uses. I know who she is. So do you,” Tucker smirked, “It shocked me at first, but it makes total sense! And I can totally see why you like her.” 

“Really?” Danny let out a breath in relief. “Okay that makes me feel a lot better...hey, maybe I can ask Chaos to the dance next Saturday!” 

Tucker rested a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “Go for it. Ask Sam. I’m almost positive she’ll say yes.”

“Okay, I will...wait, not Sam! Chaos!” Danny clarified. “Well, actually, I think Chaos told me her name was Sam. Ha, small world. I can’t wait to introduce Sam to Sam. I think they would really get along.” 

Tucker busted out laughing, “Oh, dude. You go ahead and do that.” He left Danny standing there in the hallway, still laughing all the way to his next class.

Danny, a bit confused by Tucker’s laughter, shook his head and smiled to himself. Okay, good. He’d had enough identity crises to fill a lifetime. Chaos was definitely a girl. Now if he just knew Chaos returned his feelings, things might actually work out for him this time and he could actually have a girlfriend.

Meanwhile, Sam was having an internal debate of her own. Sitting in a class where the teacher couldn’t give two shits about what the students were doing, she had always used this class as her thinking time. Usually her thinking-about-Danny time. She nervously clicked her pen as she thought about recent events. 

She and Danny spent so much time chatting online when they weren’t hanging out in person. Danny was a little bit more bold online, probably because he didn’t have to interact face-to-face or risk his pants falling down in public again. Online, they talked about everything. No topic was off limits. Plus, Sam felt like their friendship had only grown even stronger when they could chat online and not have to worry about blushing or getting teased by Tucker. Chatting online took away all the pressure and made it much easier to connect with Danny. 

Danny hadn’t said anything yet, of course. He was probably scared. Hell, she was scared. She was already so in love with him, and getting closer online only further solidified that fact. She had never been in love before, and even though she hunts ghosts, this was more terrifying! She was fairly certain he returned her feelings, but both were too chicken to actually make that final step. They’ve been best friends forever. She didn’t want to mess up their already great dynamic or force Tucker to be the third wheel, though he did insist he was more than okay with that and encouraged them to finally get together. 

Sam stopped clicking her pen as she suddenly remembered it was senior year. They hadn’t picked colleges yet, but whether they ended up going to the same school or not, things were going to change. Danny was very attractive, and going off to college meant girls may actually approach him when they didn’t know his parents were ghost fighters. The fact had never bothered Sam, but she did kind of like how it kept most girls at school from asking him out or giving him attention. Valerie had been a challenge, especially because she was a ghost hunter herself and probably wanted to get tips from his parents. Sam was glad that relationship ended relatively early. It was too hard on her. Joyous or not, though, she was still mad at Valerie for how she broke his heart. 

But that was 2 years ago. They had all moved on and friendships were more or less mended across the board. This made Sam glance at her favorite picture of her and Danny. Tucker had taken the candid picture and it was now her phone’s background. In it, Danny was giving Sam a piggyback ride. Her arms were lightly strung around his neck, legs looped around his waist. Danny had kept going in the opposite direction Sam told him to go, which frustrated her but also made her laugh. She had rested her chin on his shoulder, her face pressed right up against his. Danny was looking at her and Tucker had captured that rare moment when Sam had a huge grin on her face, still laughing. She smiled at the picture. They would be okay no matter what. Their friendship would survive.

Anyway, Sam also realized she had already come close to losing Danny, in more ways than one. Whether it was to other girls or a ghost, there was always that anxiety stirring in her head that she could lose him entirely some day. Life was too short. She needed to take the plunge for both of them and just get them both over this hurdle, and they could finally, finally, actually get together. 

Sam made her decision. It was now or never. She was going to tell him. Today. The trio was meeting up at Danny’s house later anyway, and if she got there early enough, she could talk to him before Tucker showed up and teased them about it. Sam firmly nodded her head to herself, a confirmation of her decision. It was finally time.

After school, Danny was pacing in his room, trying to figure out how he wanted to do this. Asking a girl to the dance wasn’t a huge deal, and yet at the same time, it was. He would rather ask in person, but he still didn’t know what Chaos looked like, so asking in person seemed to be off the table. He could look in the yearbook for all the girls named Sam at their school. He could already omit one Sam Manson from that list. How many Sams could possibly attend their school? It would be easier to ask Tucker, though. Tucker already knew who she was. Sam and Tucker were on their way over right now. When Sam wasn’t paying attention, he could ask Tucker for Sam’s full name. 

Chaos Sam, not best friend Sam. God, this was so confusing. Why were girls so hard for him? Freshman year, Paulina only liked his ghost half and wouldn’t give his human half the time of day. Sophomore year, Valerie hated his ghost half and that hatred was more important to her than her feelings for his human half. Junior year, he had been denying that he was in love with his best friend. And now that he had finally accepted that he did like his best friend as much more than a friend, a new girl entered the picture and he now found himself trying to choose between two Sams. Because it apparently wasn’t hard enough for him already to make the biggest and most important change he could possibly make in a friendship, let’s add another crush to the mix and give them the same name.

Sam. Best friend Sam - that’s who he was planning on asking originally, even if he chickened out and had to ask her as a friend instead. Plus, he and Sam had somehow gotten closer recently, and he was pretty sure she liked him. Sure, it was only because Tucker told him so, but it was a possibility. The thing was, he didn’t want to ruin things. Especially because he truly didn’t know how Sam, best friend Sam, felt about him. She was a tough and courageous girl, surely she would have said something by now if it were true. So Tucker must be pulling his leg.

But he did have another option - Chaos Sam, who may actually return his feelings. Sure, the feelings weren’t nearly as strong as what he felt for his best friend, but the feelings were still there. Plus, if he got rejected by Chaos, it would be less heartbreaking than being rejected by Sam, someone he had known for years rather than months. He could deal with losing a newer friend, but not one of his best friends. Sam was too important and he knew he needed her in his life.

Danny sighed. This was really hard, but he made a decision. It was easier to go with Chaos than risk ruining things with Sam. Danny had enough drama going on in his life already, he needed an easy win. 

He broke from his thoughts when the doorbell rang. He ran downstairs and opened it, only slightly surprised to see Sam there. She was usually early for things. He and Tuck were more prone to being late. 

“Hey, Sam. Come on in!” Danny moved so Sam could enter his house. He shut the door and followed her upstairs and back to his room as she returned his greeting. She was pacing the same path he just had, muttering quietly to herself. She looked nervous. “Something on your mind?” 

Sam was startled out of her thoughts. “Huh? Oh yeah.” She noticed his disheveled appearance, also noting he was fidgety. Was he going to do what she was about to do? “What about you, you look like you’ve been thinking a little too hard about something.” She smiled softly. 

Danny chuckled, “Yeah, but it’ll resolve itself soon. I’ll worry about it after the movies. Tuck should be here any second. Oh, but I’m glad you’re early. Can you help me with something quick?” 

“Of course.” Sam followed him to his desk, smiling and rolling her eyes when he pointed to a homework problem. “I should have known.” 

Danny gave her a lopsided smile and watched as she showed him how to do the problem in her perfect handwriting. It took no more than a couple of minutes. Now, they were just waiting for Tucker to arrive. 

Sam looked at the time. He would be here soon. She needed to do this now. She needed to tell Danny. She couldn’t wait until after the movies for him to tell her. She had already waited long enough and couldn’t bear another second.

“Danny, can I talk to you for a second?” She sat down on his bed and gestured for him to do the same. 

Danny could sense the seriousness in her voice, and nodded anxiously. He was scared when Sam was serious about things. It was usually something bad.

“Danny…” She decided to get straight to the point. “I like you. As in like-like you. More than like, and more than a friend. And we’ve been doing this dancing around for at least 4 years now and I’m sick of it. I just want to be with you already. What do you say?” Sam held her breath as she waited for Danny to answer. 

He stared at her with wide eyes before nervously rubbing the back of his neck and turning his attention to his shoes, avoiding eye contact with the goth. God, why him?! He had stupidly thought, for once, things would be easier for him this time. He had already sent an offline message to Chaos that he wanted to ask her something, and then Sam had to come along and tell him what he had wanted to hear for some time now. But he couldn’t blow Chaos off when he had already somewhat asked. Of course, his life just had to be complicated every step of the way. He really liked both girls and didn’t want to hurt his best friend. Regardless, he had to be honest. He owed Sam that much. “Well, I mean, yeah, but…” 

“But what?” Sam whispered, clearly already upset. Fuck. Fuck fuck FUCK. This was exactly what he didn’t want to happen. He decided to try going with Chaos so he could avoid heartbreak from his best friend. The very thing he had been so afraid of, he was doing to her right now. 

Danny sighed again. “But I can’t. I’m so sorry, Sam.” It was hard to choke out, but he said it, and he felt terrible. He pressed his lips together and kept staring at his shoes until Sam lifted his chin up, forcing him to look at her. 

“What do you mean you don’t feel the same way? We’ve had mutual crushes on each other for years!” Sam said angrily, feeling her heart break as her best friend and love of her life rejected her confession of love. She was so sure he returned her feelings! Especially after all the great conversations they had shared online these last few months. “Or, at least, I thought we did.” Tears swelled in her eyes. Did he lead her on? “I-I need an explanation, Danny,” she quietly stated after he didn’t continue. 

Danny frowned and his heart ached. He didn’t want to hurt his best friend like this. Hell, he really liked her! Of course their crushes were mutual! And if this had happened 6 months ago instead of now, he would have jumped at the chance. But now...now he had Chaos and already forced himself to stick with his decision. It was easy with Chaos; there was no friendship to risk, no denying of being lovebirds or brushing off kisses as fakeout makeouts. Plus, he couldn’t lie to his best friend. She would know if he was lying. And he already told himself she deserved the truth. “There’s...someone else…” 

“What?” Sam whispered before turning angry again, “Paulina? Valerie? Star?” she spat out. 

Danny shook his head, “Ew, no...it’s someone I met online...I’m so sorry, Sam. I like you a lot, I really do, but I think I’ve already come to the conclusion that I like this girl I met online, Chaos, and I have to try to see that through.” 

Many emotions crossed Sam’s face as she pieced together what he just said. At first she was upset, but as he explained himself, she felt disbelief, confusion, anger, and finally, hope. He couldn’t really be that clueless, right? “Show me.” 

“Huh? I mean, I don’t actually know what she looks like, but we message every night and she really understands me! I know it sounds ridiculous, but-” 

“Show me,” Sam repeated. “Show me her profile.” 

“You’re not going to hurt her, are you?” Danny questioned cautiously.

“No, of course not. Just shut up and show me the profile.” Sam was more calm now, and that was kind of scary. Even though Sam said she wouldn’t hurt Chaos, he didn’t want to give her the chance. But he knew how stubborn his friend was, and eventually in whatever way, she would force the information out of him. 

Danny sighed and pulled up the profile to show Sam. “I’m sorry, Sam. I’m still your best frien-” 

“Shut up.” Sam scrolled through what Danny pulled up for her and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Closing her eyes slowly, she took a deep breath. “Didn’t Chaos tell you her name?” 

“Uh,” Danny thought, “oh yeah! She said her name was Sam, because I thought she was a boy at first and I had an existential crisis, but then Tucker told me-” 

“Danny. I’m Sam.” 

“No I know, and sure it’ll be a little weird cause you’re Sam and she’s Sam, it’s confusing, but I-” 

Sam interrupted him once again. She could hear Tucker’s footsteps approaching. She was running out of time to not make this a spectacle. “No, Danny. Chaos. Sam. Me. I’m Sam. I am Sam,” 

Tucker only heard the tail end of the conversation as he entered the room. Never able to pass up a comedic opportunity, he smirked and added “I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like green eggs and ham!” 

It was suddenly silent in the room as his friends seized conversation and glared at him. Oops. 

“Oh, am I interrupting something?” Tucker could see the fire in Sam’s eyes. “Uh, oh wait I forgot my...sock. I’ll be downstairs!” He raced out of the room.

Sam turned her attention back to Danny. “No, you stupid fucking MORON. I am Chaos. You’ve been talking to me the whole time. I thought you knew that!” Danny stared at her blankly until she pulled out her phone and he watched her log into her account, proving it to him. Sure enough, it was Chaos’s profile. He could see all the direct messages between them, including his offline message about wanting to ask her something.

“Wait, you? You’re Sam? I mean, Chaos? I mean Sam?” Danny looked back and forth between the profile and his best friend. 

“UGH!” Sam shouted as she threw her hands in the air. “Yes, Danny. That’s me! Did you really not notice that Chaos was the same age as me and a girl who goes to our school? We have the same name and interests! Didn’t you wonder why it was so easy to talk right off the bat? I thought you put that all together and us just pretending to not know each other was a little bit you were trying to do or something!” 

Danny stared at her as he continued to piece it all together. He was definitely embarrassed. He felt so stupid. How could he not tell that Chaos was Sam, his best friend since 7th grade? Talk about being totally clueless. 

Wait. Clueless? Well, fuck! He got the nickname now! 

His eyes flickered back and forth as he thought everything through. Eventually, he started to crack a smile. “Wait, so I’ve had a crush on you and also you? You’re the same person! This is great! Do you know what this means?!” 

Sam slapped her forehead and began walking downstairs. “I don’t even know if this is worth it anymore…” 

“Wait, how come Tuck and I never knew you played video games! We can enter team tournaments! You’re so good!” Danny chased after her. 

Tucker watched as Sam grumbled about Danny caring more about video games than her. An excited Danny was right on her tail. 

“Tucker! Sam is Chaos! I’ve been in love with Sam this whole time!” Danny explained. 

“Tucker, I need you to refrain me from slapping his stupid clueless face,” Sam started. 

“Wait, you didn’t know Sam was Chaos? Dude! I thought I was obvious about that!” Tucker began laughing at Danny. 

“I know, so did I.” Sam crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Danny, you can calculate levels of rocket fuel and figure out how to get us to Mercury or something,” Tucker started. 

“Mars, actually,” Danny corrected. 

“But you can’t figure out that your best friend and your crush are the same person? You’re more than Captain Clueless, you’re like….Lieutenant Clueless? That’s like, bigger right?” Tucker continued. 

“I don’t think that’s how it works, Tuck,” Sam chimed in. 

“Shut up Sam, this isn’t about you,” Tucker immediately stopped his train of thought when he felt Sam glaring daggers at him. “Heh, uh. Except it does. It actually has nothing to do with me. I’m sorry I told you to shut up, please don’t hurt me!” He threw his hands up in front of himself in defense. 

“Relax, Tucker. I’m more angry with this fucking dingus,” she pointed her thumb in Danny’s direction. 

The halfa was about to protest, then closed his mouth. “That’s fair, I deserve that.” 

“I can’t even look at you right now. You scared me! I poured out my emotions to you. I thought you were rejecting me and that I would have to change my name and move to a different country! Wait, are you still rejecting me?” Sam stopped her pacing to look at him. 

“Of course not, Sammy!” 

“Oh don’t you ‘Sammy’ me! I told you I love you, you stupid fucking idiot!” Sam began throwing pillows at Danny, who expertly dodged them (though as a result, Tucker got hit in the face by one). 

“Technically, you didn’t say ‘love’ you said ‘like’”, Danny offered as Tucker shook his head and slashed finger across his neck, signaling Danny to stop talking. 

“Oh, I’m sorry! This is all my fault! I’m going to go jump off a cliff now!” Sam growled and Danny let out a small “oomph” as one of the pillows finally got him. 

“I’m out. Good luck, bro!” Tucker quickly slipped out the door, leaving Danny and Sam alone. 

Sam was about to follow Tucker out when Danny stopped her, “please don’t leave!” She still had angry tears in her eyes. He frowned. This was not how he expected things to go. She watched him for a few seconds before sitting down on the couch, refusing to look at him. “Sam I’m so sorry, this is just a huge misunderstanding.”

“No, Danny. It’s not. You were going to turn me down to go out with someone else.”

“But that someone was still you!”

“Yeah, but you didn’t know that! We’ve been friends for years, and you were more interested in someone you just met a few months ago! I don’t want to be anyone’s second choice, Danny! I’ve been standing by for years as you continuously chose other girls over me. I thought we were done with that, and that you were finally choosing me first, but you won’t and you never will and I’m so stupid.” Sam put her head in her hands as she tried her hardest not to let tears fall. 

And that was when he finally figured it out. It wasn’t just the moment of rejection, it was years of rejection, and at her biggest confession, she still thought he was choosing someone over her. Not to mention, Tucker witnessed most of the conversation. Sam rarely showed her emotions. She always had her heart guarded, and he knew this. Tucker knew this. Hell, she didn’t even tell them she was rich until after a few years of friendship. It took them a while to get her to open up to them. She was a pretty private person. She was probably already hurt like this before. And now, she was probably embarrassed.

“You’re definitely not stupid. I’m stupid. I should have known it was you. That was actually what I really liked about Chaos, she reminded me of you.” 

Sam forced a small sarcastic laugh, “Yeah, right.” 

“No really,” Danny sat on the couch next to her and grabbed her hand, placing it in both of his. “Sam, you’re absolutely incredible. How dumb would I have to be to not notice?” Sam gave him a pointed look. “Okay yeah but it’s not the way you think it is. I liked Chaos because she was a lot like you. She reminded me of you. And it just seemed easier to go with her because she was basically you, but she and I didn’t have a really great friendship that could have gotten ruined if we broke up or something. I could live without her, but I can’t live without you. You’re always my number one. Always have been, always will be. Even if I did just fuck everything up. I’m so sorry, Sam. I’m ready to be with you, if you’ll still have me.” 

Sam stayed silent and stared at her lap, processing this new information. Of course she would forgive him; she always did. She just needed a little time. 

Danny was getting nervous that he really did fuck this up for good. This was so fucking important! He couldn’t risk fucking this up! Sensing her hesitation, Danny tried one more thing to get her back. One thing he hasn’t done before. One thing he just learned how to perfect.  

“Sammy, I’m sorry,” a duplicate popped up next to her on the other side of the couch, startling her. 

“Please forgive me?” Another duplicate was floating in front of her, hanging upside down, hair flopping all over the place. 

“I know I’m a dummy but,” Sam snapped her head towards a third duplicate. 

“I’m only a dummy because I’m in love. With you,” the real Danny finished. Sam looked back and forth between all the Dannys.  

“We’re sorry, Sammy,” all the duplicates said at once. 

Sam was trying really hard to hold back a smile. “You learned how to duplicate,” she stated simply. 

Original Danny grabbed her hands. “Sam. I will make this up to you. I promise.” 

She could hear the determination in his voice and sighed. “You better.” 

Danny smiled and hugged her. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!! I love you so much!”

Sam pushed him off of her. “I love you too, you fucking idiot.” 

“But I get to be your idiot!” Sam couldn’t hold her laughter back anymore. “Oh!” Danny shouted, “Will you go to the dance with me? Please?” 

Sam pretended to ponder the answer before saying “alright”. 

“Yay!” All 4 Dannys cheered. The duplicates on either side of her kissed her cheeks as the real Danny kissed her forehead tenderly. The final duplicate, feeling left out, squeezed his way in to give her a hug. 

Sam was now roaring with laughter before kissing the real Danny sweetly. “You know, duplicates won’t always get you out of trouble,” she warned. 

“Yeah, but they could come in handy for other things,” he wagged his eyebrows up and down suggestively before passionately kissing her, the duplicates kissing her neck and touching her in near-dangerous places. 

Sam bit back a moan, eyes lustful before smirking, “I think you just found a way to make it up to me.” She began dragging the real Danny and one of his duplicates back to his room. Fuck the movies.

[jojolovenotes]

oh my gods i have a lot to talk about! one, i havent been here awhile... like i have but its just been lurking sjjdjd, hope youre doing well! (apologies ahead of time for the very long ask, and if i make, like, no sense its almost 1 am at the time of writing this, but i also really wanted to talk cuz we havent talked in literal ages snfnn)

two, valerie and i got married! the wedding was on june 15th, and it was fairly small, mostly family and close friends, and it was in the backyard. one of my friends suggested a luau type theme since i wanted to do a garden them and val wanted to do a beachy theme, but we couldnt pick which one we wanted to do. we wrote our own vows and i could barely finish mine cuz i got so overwhelmed with emotion! ive always felt so close to her, but i finally felt like i was truly home, y'know?

and three, im taking swimming lessons again! i didnt do it last year or the year before cuz of quarentine and not exactly knowing what the plans for pools being opened were, but now that pools are finally open, i get to be in the cold, yucky tasting water that i missed so dearly! i asked val, jotaro, and lisa lisa to tag along, partially cuz we get to seim together, and partially because, since its been a while two years since i did it last, i was really nervous to get back in. then, last week, jotaro, with a little extra encouragement from star platinum, helped me with freestyle swimming! im fully away from the wall and i can do it really good (the one day that lisa lisa and valerie werent there to see it sjfhjf)

speaking of which, i have a lil letter addressed to the three of them! (you can just respond as one of them, if you want to to, if its a lil easier to do shdn): *hands you a note on light blue paper that has little seashells and otters drawn on it. written in dark blue gel pen, in somewhat messy cursive reads:* "Hey sweeties! Im not the best at writing letters (or rememebring to actually write them), but I just wanted to say thank you so much for coming to swim class with me! It means so much that you three have been here with me, helping me when i need it and cheering me on all the way! And Jotaro (and Star Platinum), thank you both for helping me do freestyle swimming! With you guys there guiding me through the water and helping keep me afloat (and trying to help me stand up without falling over again), I really think I got the hang of it! I cant wait for the next swim lessons with everyone! I love you guys so so much, and I'll see you three very soon!

Love,

Brie (*＾3＾)/～♡"

Hi Brie! 

Thank you, I hope you’ve been doing well too! It’s nice to hear from you! I know I see you in the server every now and again, but it’s nice to get an ask from you! 

Aww, congrats on the wedding omg... but a luau theme sounds like thats cute hehe. That’s super sweet! I’m glad you two are married now <3 I’m sure it was a lovely time. Small, intimate weddings are so sweet!  Oh, that’s cool! Good luck with your swimming classes... You’ve got this! Jotaro would hands down try to help you with swimming, he gives you a bit of space but not too much. He wants to be able to help you in case you need him around. He doesn’t want anything bad to happen to you of course! Valerie and Lisa Lisa would be encouraging to you too, Val and Lisa Lisa would be cheering you on and offering plenty of vocal encouragement. 

Oh a letter lovely lovely... Let’s see what we’ve got here !

--- 

Hi lovely,

You’re very welcome. You know the three of us always want to be there to support you when we can. I know Jotaro might not have a lot to say sometimes, but he definitely is doing his best to show his support for you as well. You’re doing amazing and the three of us are very proud of you. We all love you too, we’re excited to see you and help you with swimming again. I think we should celebrate with a beach trip when you’re feeling more confident... Or maybe a pool party would be good. Either way, it’ll be a nice time! 

Love, 

Lisa Lisa 

[demigodreading]

Stop Moving and Let Me Braid Your Hair

Summary:  Established Penemily. Based on the tumblr prompt: Stop moving and let me braid your hair. Emily is having a bad day after a rough case and Penelope tries to cheer her up with a full spa day. I posted this early because I am avoiding work right now. 

Series: Penemily Fluff Series

Characters: Penelope Garcia, Emily Prentiss. Mentions: Reid, Lewis

Relationship: Emily Prentiss x Penelope Garcia, Penemily

Fluff Prompt: Stop Moving and Let Me Braid Your Hair

Read on A03

------------------------

Cases involving children always hit Emily hard but they had been especially difficult now that she and Penelope were expecting a baby. Penelope was four months along and had just begun to show. The whole squad knew about the pregnancy within the first week of Penelope getting the positive result. She was too excited to keep it secret even though telling everyone so early made Emily very nervous. She tried to act like she had it all together in front of Penelope but everyone else knew she was freaking out. On every flight she was reading baby books trying to prepare and have Reid quiz her on baby knowledge. Every time she got one wrong she would groan loudly and find another baby book to study. However on the flight home this time the first thing that Emily did was call Penelope before everyone else got onto the jet.

“Hello, my beautiful raven-haired wife. How can I be of your assistance?” Penelope asked as soon as the facetime pulled up.

Instead of responding, tears just began to roll down Emily’s face. Penelope’s heart broke as she watched the love of her life break in front of her, “Oh my sweets, look at me.”

Emily wiped her tears away before the squad could catch her and looked at Penelope, “I just wanted to know you and the baby were okay.”

Penelope smiled, “Mini Prentiss and I are doing great. We will see you as soon as you get home, okay hot stuff?”

Emily laughed at this, “You know we can’t keep calling our baby Mini Prentiss forever. We are going to have to find a name for them.”

“I know but thinking about a mini Emily Prentiss growing inside my belly just brings me immense joy,” Penelope giggled, causing Emily to blush, “Be safe getting home. I love you.”

“I love you too Penny.”

-----------------------

Penelope stood outside of her car watching as the team slowly filed out of the jet. All of their heads hung low as the stress of the case finally began to catch up to them. Emily was the last one to file down the stairs. As soon as she reached the bottom Penelope called out to her. Emily’s head jerked towards the noise and a large smile broke across her face. She immediately ran over to Penelope lifting her high into the air. She twirled her around a couple of times before placing her back on the ground showering her in kisses.

“I thought I was going home with Tara,” Emily said, holding Penelope close to her and curling her head into Penelope’s neck, “This is a much better arrangement.”

“Mini Prentiss couldn’t wait for Mom to come home,” Penelope said, giving Emily another kiss, “Plus I figured you could use a safe space to let it all go.”

Emily nodded and helped Penelope back into the driver’s seat. When she got to the passenger seat she smiled as she picked up her favorite blanket. Penelope always wanted to make sure Emily could be cocooned in her favorite things when they had a long or difficult drive. As she sat down she curled the blanket around her inhaling the lavender laundry beads Penelope insisted on using in every load. Emily would never admit it but it was her favorite smell. Once she was settled with her seatbelt locked into the place she extended her hand out and placed it gently on Penelope’s thigh. Penelope leaned over to give Emily a quick kiss and then started the car. As they drove home Emily sobbed, laying her head against the window. Penelope ran her thumb gently over the back of Emily’s hand calming her down the only way she knew how. Sitting in silence and letting Emily cry it out. When Emily wanted to talk about it she would but all she needed right now was to know that she wasn’t all alone. As the tears slowed Emily’s eyes began to flutter close. The rest of the twenty-minute drive she snored, getting the first good sleep in four days.

---------------------------

Emily had just sat her bag down in the bedroom as Penelope finished filling the bath up with warm water. Emily could already smell the eucalyptus, Epsom salt, and various essential oils Penelope had filled the bath with. She walked into the bathroom wrapping her arms around Penelope and burying her face into the back of her neck.

“I got your bath ready my love,” Penelope smiled.

“You are joining me right?” Emily pouted.

Penelope confirmed she would be joining and shortly after Emily was lifting up Penelope’s shirt giving her belly a quick kiss before helping Penelope out of her sweatpants. As soon as Penelope was undressed she went to work on removing every article of Emily’s clothing. She kissed Emily gently along her collar bones and her neck enjoying the small moans that escaped from Emily’s lips unconsciously. Emily insisted that Penelope sit in front because she ‘didn’t want to squish the baby’. Penelope laughed at this comment but couldn’t deny that there was a certain comfort that always came when she was wrapped in Emily’s arms. While they sat in the tub Emily lazily ran her fingers over Penelope’s baby bump. Penelope loved when she did this so absentmindedly. It was the softer side of Emily that no one else in the world got to see.

“What about the name Kate or Kirsten if it is a girl?” Emily asked as she continued to make small circles on Penelope’s stomach.

Penelope mused over this idea for a while, “I love it. Then it could be Kayden if we have a boy.”

Emily kissed Penelope’s cheek, “Yeah we aren’t having a boy.” Penelope laughed at this comment turning to look at Emily, “Oh and how do you know this? We aren’t going to know that information till tomorrow. Are you profiling our unborn child?”

Emily shrugged, “No it is just a feeling. Kate Garcia Prentiss. That’s our baby girl. Or if we go with Kirsten then Kirsten Valerie Prentiss.”

“You really want to give our baby my maiden name?” Penelope asked a blush coming to her cheeks.

Emily reached her hand out, “Of course I do Penny. I want this baby to be a combination of both of us.”

“I don’t know how I got so lucky to have you as my wife Emily Prentiss,” Penelope leaned forward kissing her gently.

Emily wrapped her hands around Penelope, “I am the lucky one, Penelope Grace Prentiss. Now let’s get out of here before the water gets cold. I can’t have my sunshine sitting in cold water.”

----------------------

Emily wasn’t exactly sure how Penelope had convinced her for the complete spa day experience but here she was. A clay mud mask was pasted onto her face with Moana playing on the tv in front of them. She was even more confused at how she had allowed Penelope to braid her hair. She typically never lets anyone touch her hair. Penelope did her best not to pull too hard on Emily’s hair but after the fifth time, she squirmed Penelope let out a large sigh.

“Stop moving and let me braid your hair, Emily,” Penelope said as she squeezed her legs harder around Emily to stop her from moving.

“You told me this would only take five minutes, Pen. I want to cuddle you already,” Emily pouted, crossing her arms.

“Well my love if you stopped moving I would have already been done by now,” Penelope giggled, “Now sit still and I will be done before you know it.”

Emily pouted one final time and then sat as still as possible. Two minutes later Penelope was done with the braid and dragged Emily to look at it in the mirror. As Emily stood with an excited Penelope behind her she couldn’t help but smile. Her bangs were still covering most of her forehead but her black hair was now twisted into a beautiful fishtail over her shoulder. Emily gently touched her fingers along Penelope’s hard work.

“You know my mom never braided my hair. She never had the time,” Emily whispered, “Will you teach me how to braid our daughter’s hair?”

Penelope grabbed Emily into a hug nodding as more tears began to roll down Emily’s face, “Of course I will my love. You are going to be a great mom.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so. It’s just this feeling I have,” Penelope smiled leaning up to give her a kiss, “Now let’s go to bed.”

Emily nodded and followed Penelope to their bed. As they curled under the covers Emily wrapped her arm around Penelope and curled against her chest. Penelope gave her a kiss on the forehead and squeezed her tightly. Shortly after they laid down Emily drifted off into a comfortable sleep. The case was almost completely erased out of her mind as she listened to the sound of Penelope’s heartbeat in her ear. Penelope stayed awake for a couple more moments enjoying having the love of her life back in her arms. This was the family she had always wished for. And of course, Emily was right… when they went to the doctor’s the next morning they were told they were having not only one girl. But two.

Kate Garcia Prentiss and Kirsten Valerie Prentiss

[elisaphoenix13]

Family Bonds

"Trade you my turkey sandwich for yours."

William stares at his twin as he slurps his soda noisely, ignoring the annoyed look Cassie is giving him from across the table. He had adopted quite a few mannerisms from the family after he finally felt comfortable expressing himself, and the noisy drinking could have easily been learned from Harley or Peter. Thomas didn't even look bothered. He just lifted the top slice of bread to show the fixings of the sandwich and it was enough explanation for his seemingly weird question.

It was devoid of honey mustard. William despised the stuff, but for some reason Thomas loved it. It was disgusting and he had no problem shoving the sandwich in front of him over to his twin. Once he got his blessedly honey mustard free sandwich from Thomas, he finally set his can of soda down.

"Mom probably wasn't paying attention when he was putting our lunches together." Thomas says.

"I don't blame him. He was frazzled this morning because Valerie and Lucy are sick." Cassie points out and then takes a bite of her salad. "Tony has meetings all day today so he can't help with them."

"How do you even know this? You weren't upstairs at all this morning." William points out.

"Dude, she's Mom's underling. Cassie is starting to just know things." Thomas snorts.

Cassie smiles. "Actually, he texted me and asked me to pick up some medicine for them after school. But I'm flattered you think I'm at that level."

"You are." The twins say in unison.

Cassie just rolled her eyes in response and they ate their lunch with the usual chatter. Classes, teachers, assignments, the newest rumor, and what they planned to do after school. The three of them normally walked home together (or William portaled them if he was up to it), and one of the things they knew they were going to do is go buy some medicine. Cassie also said she wanted to pick up some stuff to bake and decorate cupcakes and when Thomas asked about the occasion, she said it was just because. William didn't mind. He really liked her baking, not just because it always tasted amazing, but she also did a really great job decorating them. She even decorated them without going overboard with the icing which some professionals did.

The amount of icing should not equal the size of the cupcake.

"Maybe we can pick up some strawberries and whipped cream? Val likes to share those with me." William says.

"Sure. Mom said we could pick up whatever snacks we want anyway." Cassie replies.

"I need more pens too." Thomas says around his mouthful of sandwich.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Cassie huffs.

William half expected his twin to open his mouth just to gross Cassie out, but Thomas didn't and instead chewed and swallowed his food. Stephen reprimanded him for it on occasion as well, so it was probably finally starting to sink in. When they finished their lunches and tossed their garbage into the nearest trash can, the bell rang for class and they said their temporary goodbyes before they headed to their classes. William had a class by himself next period, but Thomas and Cassie had their next class together. In the past, when he didn't have classes with Thomas or Cassie, he used to feel alone. Now he didn't care. School actually got a lot better for him and his brother ever since Stephen and Tony took them in.

They used to be bullied for jumping from one foster home to another, for the crappy clothes each home barely managed to put on their backs...and they even went days without food, bathing, or adequate sleep. It was depressing. William and Thomas decided they would prefer to live on the streets than deal with more abuse, and it was barely a week later when Cassie brought Stephen to them. At the time, William barely trusted her, but he trusted her enough for him and his brother to go home with them. Maybe it was some kind of desperate hope that it would be different than before, that they would be shown the care and love they deserved.

When it was, William and Thomas didn't know what to do. Right off the bat they were given a hot meal, a hot shower, warm beds, quality clothing...an endless list of things. William was personally afraid that it was too good to be true, but as time went on, nothing changed. Well nothing except him and Thomas being moved up to the penthouse once Tony was done building their rooms. The penthouse was huge and probably had room for five more bedrooms, but it was nice to be close to their new parents and siblings. The twins, of course, still went downstairs to visit Wanda and Vision for movies or lunches, but being upstairs made them happy. At least William. He enjoyed the feeling of family he got from the two men and the other kids. He even felt part of it. He was part of it.

Now he was happily in a relationship with Harley, and he also enjoyed spending time with Valerie. He was one of the few she would spend time with if Stephen wasn't available and it made him feel special. He also liked that she was so easy to please. If he needed to keep an eye on her, he could put on her favorite movie and she would lay with him until she ultimately fell asleep, or she would color while he did his homework. Just like Diana followed Cassie around a lot, William had his own little duckling following him.

When the school day was finally over, he went to his locker to put away the books he didn't need and Thomas and Cassie met him just as he was closing it.

"Ready to go?" Cassie asks.

"Yeah. Maybe I'll help with Val today." William says.

"Mom will probably appreciate it. Apparently Tony has work he needs to do and can't put it off any longer." She says as they walk out of the building.

They walk as quickly as they can to the nearest store, and William has to keep himself from laughing when he notices how antsy Thomas seems to be. He was constantly found bouncing his knee while sitting or looking ready to bolt when standing that one would think Stephen and Tony didn't regularly try to give him a place to run as much as he wanted. Which wasn't the case. Their mother always opened a portal to the lake house for Thomas when he looked ready to vibrate out of his skin or whenever he asked. William was a little luckier that he could practice his magic as long as he was careful.

Cassie was quick to find the medicine Stephen wanted for the little girls, and then the three teens gathered the snacks they wanted before heading to the front to buy everything. Usually they would be picking up Diana by now but she had a half day so someone else picked her up. All they had to do was walk home. William teleported them this time because they had cold items that he wanted to stay cold when he made his and Valerie's usual snack.

"Hey Mom!" Thomas grabs the box of cheez-its that Stephen was already holding out for him when they arrived. "Thanks!" He says before running into his room.

"Here's the medicine." Cassie says as she digs it out of the grocery bag and hands it to Stephen.

"Oh, good. Thank you. It's time for their next dose." Stephen sighs as he digs out a small medicine cup and also a medicine dropper. "I knew I had just enough until you kids got home. Would you mind taking Diana downstairs with you for tonight?"

"Sure!"

William pulls out the strawberries and whipped cream and joins Stephen at the counter to cut the fruit. He could hear Cassie telling Diana to get her homework, toothbrush, and pajamas together and saw Lucy sleeping in the playpen in the living room. Considering that Stephen looked a little tired when they got home, one or both of the girls had been fussing all day because they weren't feeling well, but William was intent on helping him out now.

"Is Val asleep?" William asks Stephen.

"Maybe. She's in bed watching The Little Mermaid if she's not." He replies as he gently places the cup filled with pink gloop in front of the teen. "Don't let her have too much whipped cream and make sure she finishes this please."

"Okay."

William scoops the strawberry pieces into a bowl and some whipped cream into a smaller bowl before gathering them together and grabbing the medicine and juice box that Stephen also set in front of him. He also grabbed a breakfast bed tray on his way out of the kitchen so Valerie would be able to access the snacks easier and not spill. William had put his backpack down on one of the stools at the counter so it was out of the way, but if he didn't grab it soon, he was pretty sure he would find it in his bedroom. Stephen knew he was good about taking it straight to his bedroom, but considering the circumstances, he would send it to William's bedroom through a small gateway. So he left it on the stool in favor of getting up to Valerie.

She was sharing Diana's room now that Stephen and Tony had moved the toddler out of their room, but she was still prone to getting up in the middle of the night and climbing into bed next to Stephen. Once she was past that stage, she would be moved permanently into her own room. It was already ready for her, and she used it to play in and sometimes for naps, but Diana's room was closer to the master bedroom. Valerie's was closer to William's, and he fully expected to find her in his bed when she was in her room.

Diana and Cassie pass by William as he walks into the bedroom, and he closes the door once they leave and turns to look at Valerie in her bed. She was awake and blearily watching her favorite movie as William placed everything on the nightstand so he can set up the tray. When she notices his presence, she immediately makes room for him and he lays on the bed next to her, smiling when she snuggles into his side.

"Hey angel. Brought you a snack." He says softly.

"Berries?" Valerie whispers.

"You know it. You gotta take some medicine first though okay?"

"Yucky." She makes a face when William grabs it from the nightstand but takes it and drinks it anyway.

"You can wash it down with juice and strawberries." William laughs and grabs the juice box and opens it while the little girl sits up. "Here you go."

"Thank you Liam." She says quietly and sips her juice.

"You're welcome."

He then grabbed the two bowls and put them on the tray that he had set up over her legs and she puts her juice box on it to eat some of the fruit. William didn't even have to cut her off from the whipped cream. Valerie didn't seem very interested in eating much of it, and he was able to make up for it since she didn't double dip. He made sure to teach her not to do that when she started sharing snacks with him.

"Can you stay?" Valerie asks softly after a few minutes.

"Like sleep in here?"

"Uh-huh."

The teen looks over at Diana's bed and then back at Valerie. "Sure. Dia is gonna stay with Cassie tonight so I can sleep in her bed."

The smile his answer brought to his little sister's face was worth it. He was almost one hundred percent certain she would crawl into bed with him eventually but he wasn't worried about getting sick. If he did, it wouldn't be a big deal. Stephen would undoubtedly stay home again and make sure William was taken care of despite the fact that he was older than the girls and capable of taking care of himself, but the teen was happy knowing he had someone to go to for something as simple as not feeling well. He didn't really have that luxury when he was in the other homes. The foster parents would basically tell him to suck it up and go to school anyway. He learned to suffer in silence after a few times of that happening.

He and Thomas even did their silent suffering after being taken in by Stephen and Tony, but the silence didn't last long. Stephen very quickly found out (as Harley and Peter warned it would happen) and he gently scolded them for not going to him. The sorcerer dropped everything to take care of them and it was the best thing the twins ever experienced. Stephen brought them soup, medicine, and made sure they were warm and comfortable enough. William hardly noticed he was sick.

Stephen came into the room about an hour later, and halfway through Cinderella, to find Valerie cocooned in her blankets against William and sleeping soundly. The teen had since set the tray aside to get more comfortable and he pointed to the empty medicine cup before the sorcerer could even ask.

"She took it all."

Stephen smiles softly. "Thank you. Tony is finally done with work so he's taking care of Lucy now. Did you want to get up?"

"No. I'm okay for now. I told her I would sleep in here with her tonight anyway." William replies quietly so not to disturb the toddler.

"I'm sure that will keep her from being scared. Any requests for dinner?" Stephen asks.

"Food."

The sorcerer looks at him flatly. "You're no longer allowed to date Harley. He's clearly rubbing off on you."

William smiles. He knew Stephen wasn't actually serious, and the smile his mother gave him before leaving the room was confirmation. He ended up having to eat dinner in the room with Valerie when Harley brought it up for them later that night, and he did his homework on Diana's bed while Valerie watched another movie before going to bed for the night. Fortunately he didn't have much homework and was able to go to bed at a decent time, and he double checked to make sure his sister was asleep and okay before he went to sleep.

As he predicted, he woke up with Valerie in bed next to him, curled against his side, and the plus side?

Her fever had broken.

[vanillabeanbabe]

sorry i’m a little scared, but no one ever really cared.

[recipeforme]

C19: Don't Have To Go It Alone

Book: A Good Kid

After the night that I had told Thomas that I wanted him to adopt me things had gotten busy. Unsurprisingly it took a lot of work to adopt a child, the next few months were full of Thomas doing paper work and making phone calls and going through home inspections.

I had felt really guilty about how much stress I was causing Thomas but Dr Picani pointed out that if he wasn’t willing to go through the work then he wouldn’t have offered to adopt me. I still feel a little bit guilty but not as much as I used too.

By the time everything had been finalized we had all finished up our freshman year of High School. Thanks to Logan helping me study I’d gotten all Bs in most of my classes, except for art which I got an A in.

And after a year of jumping from foster home to foster home I am finally in a home that I feel safe in. And this time, I don’t have to worry about leaving.

------

I stood in front of the mirror in my room, struggling to tie my tie. I had watched YouTube videos on it but I still couldn’t do it. Today was finally the day, the day that I (officially) joined the Sanders family. I was nervous about it all but thankfully Thomas wasn’t making it a big thing, when Patton was adopted apparently they did it all in a formal courtroom and friends and family came to watch.

Thomas said that we weren’t doing that because of my anxiety. Instead it would just be Thomas and I along with the judge, the lawyer, and my social worker in an office going over everything. Then once it was done Thomas and I would go home to eat ice-cream and watch movies with Patton to celebrate.

I heard a light knock at the door and turned to see Thomas standing in the doorway.

“Need help?” He asked, gestring to my tie.

“Yes.”

Thomas smiled and walked over to tie it for me. Roman had made the tie with leftover fabric from when he made my hoodie, which I was wearing over a button up purple shirt Thomas had gotten me for the occasion.

“Are you nervous?” Thomas finished with the tie and took a step back.

“Oh no why would I be nervous?” I asked sarcastically.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I said “but honestly, yeah, I’m pretty anxious.”

“Did you take your meds today?” Thomas asked. Dr Picani had helped me get medication for my anxiety and PTSD.

“Yeah I took them.”

“Everything is going to be fine.” Thomas said “there is no reason why I shouldn’t be approved.”

“Right..” I nodded, sitting down on my bed “yeah of course…” I looked down and began to fiddle with my tie.

Thomas sat down next to me, “do you want to go over what is going to happen again?”

I looked up at my soon-to-be father “can we?”

“Of course!” Thomas said “so we’re going to go to the courthouse where we’ll meet up with Valerie and the lawyer I hired, Terrence. Then we’ll meet with the judge who will go over everything, she’ll then sign the paperwork and the adoption certificate and we’ll go home.”

“That’s it?”

Thomas nodded “yup! The judge will probably ask us a couple of questions but that's the gist.” I nodded, feeling much calmer than I did before. “Right, so are you ready to go?”

“Yeah. Lets go.”

--------

I sat in my chair in the conference room where everything was being finalized at the courthouse. Thomas sat next to me and across the table I could see the Judge who was looking over all of the paperwork.

“Mr. Sanders,” the judge said.

“Yes?”

“Do you agree to adopt and care for Virgil as if he was your own child?” The judge asked.

“Yes,” Thomas said with a smile “of course.”

“Virgil,” the judge turned to me “do you want Mr. Sanders to adopt you?”

I nodded “yes.” I said, surprised that I was able to keep my voice steady.

“Alright,” the judge said “that being said it looks like everything is in order.” She picked up her pen and signed a paper, she handed it to Thomas and then stood with a smile. “Congratulations to the both of you.” Then she left.

Thomas handed me the paper, confused I looked down and my breath hitched when I saw the word ‘Certificate Of Adoption’ written atop of the page in a fancy font along with my name.

“Oh my gosh,” I whispered and it suddenly hit me. I’ve been adopted, I was a Sanders now.

“Virgil?” I heard Thomas say “are you alright?”

It was then that I realized I was crying, I felt Thomas carefully take the certificate out of my hands. I lurched forward, wrapping my arms around Thomas’ neck.

“Thank you.” I whispered “thank you for wanting me.”

I felt Thomas hug me back, “of course! I love you Virgil.”

I buried my face into Thomas’ suit jacket, still crying. “I love you too dad.”

------

A/N: And there you have it, the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed both the chapter and the overall story. I'm sorry this chapter is so short, but I thought that the ending wrapped everything up perfectly and I didn't want to ruin that.

 Even though this is the last chapter I will be posting one more in the form of a author's note answering frequently asked questions. So if you have any questions about me or A Good Kid (or the series overall) please send them to me and I will do my best to answer them. The deadline to send in questions will be the 19th.

Also, the chapter title comes from the song 'Bring On The Monsters' from The Lighting Thief Musical. 

Take it easy Guys, Gals, and Non-Binary Pals. PEACE OUT! -Isabel

[yuengi]

bad boys bring it to you

header credits go to valerie @taendrils !!

pairing: tattoo artist!yoongi /reader warnings: choking, praise kink, dirty talk genre: pwp, smut words: 7.1k

Friends are useless.

You finally learn the truth behind these words when Taehyung and Hoseok corner you after work an unsuspecting Tuesday afternoon, smiles much too wide to mean anything good.

“So,” Hoseok begins, inspecting his fingernails with a smirk, “Remember last Thursday when you said I’d be too much of a wimp to ever get a piercing?”

You roll your eyes, pushing him back a little bit with a shove. “That’s because you are a wim–”

“False!” Taehyung interrupts, eyes glinting. “He is no longer Hoseok, wimp extraordinaire–”

“I resent that!” Hoseok interrupts, voice indignant.

“–but rather, Jung Hoseok, hardcore, punk rocker with an ear piercing.”

You blink. “What.”

“Rocker, juvenile, delinquent, lives on the edge–” Hoseok shrugs. “Take your pick; they all describe me right now.”

And then he turns to the side, a little glint of metal shining and oh–

Jung Hoseok has an ear piercing.

This is bad news.

Very, very bad news.

“Guys,” you plead, voice nervous and desperate. “It’s awesome that Hoseok got the piercing and all, but–”

“No buts! You promised you’d get a piercing if I got one.”

You huff at that; only Hoseok would hold you to a promise you made when drunk.

Taehyung and Hoseok are positively unbearable separately but when they come together, they’re an unstoppable force. It’s how you end up walking to a tattoo parlor on the sketchy side of town, shivering in fear as Hoseok trots alongside, whistling cheerfully.

“No, nope I can’t do this,” you wail, stopping in your tracks when the shabby tattoo parlor comes into view. “I’m too scared, Hoseok. It can’t happen–I’m gonna die.”

Hoseok snorts, one hand latching onto your wrist to prevent you from turning around. “If I can get through this, you can, too, stupid.” And with that, he’s tugging you closer and closer to the establishment, cackling as you plead with him.

The bell rings over your head as you’re pushed in, the sharp smell of antiseptic filling your nose. The shop is completely empty, save for the tanned, black-haired man bent over the counter top, pen cap clenched between his teeth as he doodles onto a white paper. It’s fairly small, a little red counter over a glass case full of piercings and two stout wooden stools. Tattoo designs cover every inch of the wall and there’s a beaded curtain separating what you assume must be the back rooms, but your thoughts are interrupted by the man standing, lanky limbs and bored eyes.

“Sup,” He calls, spitting out the pen cap and straightening. “Here for a tattoo?”

“No,” Hoseok laughs, jerking his thumb in your direction, “but my friend here wants a piercing.”

The man surveys you, plush lips pursed and you stumble forwards, wiping your sweaty and on your skirt and mustering a stiff smile as you stick your hand out. “H–hi!”

He looks unimpressed, eyebrow arched and nose wrinkled, but just as you’re about to lower your hand, he raises his, grasping your hand in a firm handshake.

“Yoongi!” He calls over his shoulder. “We got a client for you!”

The lanky man turns back to look at you, eyes impassive. “Yoongi’s the piercer around here, so don’t get all jittery.”

“J–jittery?” You squeak, fingers shaking. “Who’s jittery?”

Hoseok stifles a laugh with the back of his hand, shoulders shaking. “I’m sorry about my friend,” he offers with an apologetic smile. “She’s scared of everything.”

The man nods, head ducking behind the counter to rummage through the filing cabinets. “We get a lot of people around here who’re scared,” he drawls. “Yoongi’s good at what he does. I’ll just pull out the disclaimer forms for you and we can quickly wrap this up, alright?”

You nod as his head pops back up, a manila folder clenched between his fingers. “And you look plenty old enough, but I can I get your i.d? Just y’know laws and whatnot.”

You rummage through your purse, fingers brushing over lipstick tubes and hand sanitizer. Handing him the card, your eyes scan over the form. Everything looks standard, warnings of infections and standard procedure and liability.

You hear rustling behind the beaded curtain, sneaking a peek out of the corner of your eye to catch a glimpse of a black tshirt and black ripped jeans.

It must be Yoongi, the enigma, the piercer, the man who holds the fate of your life in his hands.

Your mind procures images of a burly six foot tall man, bushy eyebrows and formidable tattoos, tired of whiners and criers. It does nothing to settle your nerves, thoughts of piercings all over his face and rough, angry words.

The man behind the counter leans forwards as you scrawl your name onto the dotted line, scanning the page and filing it away, handing you a copy.

“Hey, Namjoon,” calls a voice from the back room, “where are all the clamps.” It’s deep, rumbly, slightly warm, and you shiver despite yourself.

The man behind the counter, presumably Namjoon, huffs and rolls his eyes, spinning on his heel to shove through the curtain.

“So,” Hoseok begins, “on a scale of one to ten, how quickly are you going to cry?”

You frown at him, crossing your arms over your chest and leaning against the counter, back facing the curtain.

“I’m not a wimp like you, so not at all. Unlike you, Hoseok I’m tough.”

“Good to hear,” chuckles a low voice behind you. “Makes my job a hell of a lot easier.”

You spin on your heel, eyes landing on an amused face, curled lips, and messy brown hair. He’s short–shorter than you expected–with thin, spindly arms and sharp, piercing eyes. Tattoos cover every inch of his arms, swirls of color and ink and climbing up and disappearing into the sleeves of his black shirt, reappearing on his neck.

You’re an adult with a semblance of self-control but your can’t help it when the first thought that runs through your mind is ‘holy fuck, this is so worth the needle’.

“I hear you want to get pierced today?” He offers with a waggle of his eyebrows. “My name’s Yoongi and stabbing with pointy objects is my game.”

You choke, spluttering out wheezes as Namjoon thwacks Yoongi on the back of the head, rolling his eyes. “Stop telling that to customers, dumbass.”

Yoongi cackles, head tipped back in mirth, and you admire the black ink etched into the column of his neck, faintly making out letters and swirling vines.

He shoves Namjoon aside, whisking the paper off the counter. You admire the way his fingers look, crooked and long, thick and rough pads rubbing against the folder.

“Checked her age?” He mumbles out of the corner of his mouth to Namjoon.

“She’s old enough,” the lanky male responds, ren cap back between his teeth, his eyes fixated on the paper in front of him.

Your eyes rake over his form, appreciatively eyeing his thighs, tight underneath the black denim, scanning up to trace over the tendrils of ink–

“You’re being so obvious right now,” Hoseok whispers in your ear, and you can almost hear the fucking smirk in his words, whipping around to throw a sharp glare at him.

“So, what kind of piercing would you like today, m’lady?” Yoongi asks, rubbing his hands together and casting a teasing smile in your direction.

“Tr–tragus,” you respond, momentarily taken off guard by his smile, “but are you the piercer?”

Yoongi’s eyes shift a little bit, lips curling into a wider smile. “Why yes, I am.”

Your eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Not a tattoo artist? But you don’t have any piercings?”

This time he looks even more amused and you catch the faintest smirk on Namjoon’s lips as well.

You can’t exactly breathe right now because Yoongi’s eyes are a little different and it’s making your breath catch a little bit. You’re not sure if the way he licks over his lips, tongue sticking out from between his teeth, is a habit or because of you. The way his eyes scan over you, dragging down your torso and flitting back up to stare into your eyes, leaving your fidgeting, fingers toying with the hem of your shirt.

He steps forward, too close, much too close and shoots you a smile before his mouth pops open. Your eyes catch the glint of a silver stud sitting innocently in the middle of his tongue and you faintly register Hoseok snickering but it’s all lost over the rush of blood in your ears.

“There’s my piercing,” Yoongi says, stepping back and shoving his hands into his pockets with a cocky grin.

“Oh.” The sound comes out as more of a croak. Excellent.

Namjoon seems to derive some sort of pleasure from your reaction, sniggering into his shirt sleeve.

“Alrighty then,” Hoseok chimes from behind you, “I’ve done my work, the rest of up to you. I have to meet up with Taehyung for dinner, so I’ll see you tomorrow, hopefully with another hole on your body.” He winks at you as he backs out of the door and panic flood through you as you leap forwards, scrambling.

“No, Hoseok, no,” you whisper urgently, tugging on his sleeve. “Please just stay.”

“Can’t, darling,” he drawls, lips drawing up into a smirk, “but I think you’ll find someone else here to help you out.”

And with that he skips through the door, a light tinkle in the air echoing as the only recollection of your stupid friends.

“Alright,” Namjoon sighs from behind you, “I’m leaving, Yoongi! It’s closing time in about ten minutes so she’s the last client we’re taking for the day!”

Yoongi appears next to you, hand on the small of your back. “Don’t worry,” he says, voice low and gruff, “I’ll take good care of you.”

A shiver runs down your spine, one you’re sure Yoongi can feel.

“I’ll lock up, so remember to leave the keys!” Yoongi calls over his shoulder as Namjoon shrugs on a jacket, nodding and swiftly leaving.

There’s a sort of silence that rings when the both of you are alone, one that makes your fingers tingle and head rush with too many thoughts.

Yoongi interrupts your thoughts with a gentle push, his hand still firm on the small of your back. “After you, m’lady. Let’s pick an earring first and we’ll go through the whole thing nice and easy.” His voice is deep, soothing, but it drives a shudder through your body, one you try to shake off as you eye the arrangements of earrings in the glass case.

“Since it’s a tragus there aren’t really very many options, but I’d recommend that one,” he says, long finger pointing at a silver stud. “Won’t get easily infected and pretty standard maintenance.”

“I’ll go with that,” you decide quickly, not looking forward to inflicting more pain than necessary on yourself.

“Alright, then,” Yoongi straightens, moving to part the curtains, “follow me.”

You’re led through a short hallway into a back room. Yoongi tells you to wait on the long table, eerily reminiscent of a doctor’s office, with white walls and a long white curtain and white paper covering the examination table that crinkles when you sit on it and it’s too much, too much.

“Relax,” Yoongi hums, standing at the small counter in the room, digging through the drawers. “I promise the pain isn’t as bad as they tell you.” He snaps on a pair of latex gloves

“That doesn’t help very much,” you wheeze, wringing your hands. “This place reminds me of needles and i just–nope.”

He laughs a little, the sound so clear and rich it makes your heart skip several beats. “I understand. I’ll guide you through the whole thing, so don’t stress too much.”

You nod, resigned to inevitable pain when he steps forward, a few pieces of completely foreign equipment in his hands. The first thing he hold up, much to your relief, is not a needle.

“I’m just gonna mark the place I’m piercing, alright?”

He brings his face close to yours, slim flingers gently slipping under your jaw to turn your face to the side. You spread your legs a little to accommodate his frame, the position strangely intimate.

The soft tip of the marker presses against your ear and Yoongi pulls back, an encouraging smile on his face.

“Don’t worry. Half the struggle is already over.”

He rips open an alcohol towelette, fingers brushing stray strands away from your face and the smell of disinfectant rises and permeates your senses.

“I’m gonna clamp your ear now,” he mumbles comfortingly, a sudden pressure on your ear. It makes you gasp and he shakes his head, cooing softly, “shhh, no, it’s alright, we haven’t gotten to the needle just yet.”

His eyes are fixed on your ear and for a moment you panic, fingernails digging into the paper beneath you, a loud crinkling noise echoing in the room. He looks down for a split second, an understanding look on his face. “Hey, it’s alright. Tell you what, if you want, you can hold onto my shirt.”

“W–what?” You stutter, teeth digging into your bottom lip.

“Hold onto my shirt or my waist, whatever, just brace yourself.”

This can’t possibly be normal you wonder, your cheeks flushing as your fingers scramble up to tangle in the hem of his shirt. But it’s something you quite enjoy, relishing in the quick peek of tattooed abdomen that flashes before your eyes. His eyes seem to smoulder, dark and heavy as his his breath ghosts over your lips, face coming closer to yours.

“Can I move on now?” He whispers softly, gently.

You nod, not trusting your voice and clamping your jaw shut.

“Good girl,” he praises, voice dropping several octaves, and your body burns at the words, cheeks flushing and a red heat spreading over your form.

And it definitely isn’t the best time to get turned on, you think, eyes slipping shut. There’s no possible way that this is normal.

“Be still,” Yoongi orders, his breath fanning across your face.

You dig your tongue into your lower lips, biting down when you feel the tip of the needle press against your ear. There’s a pressure first and then a pain that floods your sense, first dull then sharp. It leaves you whimpering, knuckles white as they tangle further into the hem of his tshirt.

“It’s alright,” he coos, lips brushing over your cheek. “We’re almost done.”

Tears collect at the corners of your eyes, threatening to spill over. Your ear burns, like all the blood is rushing to that one spot, head spinning, stomach twisting.

“And, we’re done,” Yoongi mumbles, moving the clamp away from your ear. “You did well.”

When your eyes open, a little teardrop runs down the side of your face, one that Yoongi gently brushes away with his fingertips.

You look up at him, pouting through the tears. “That was really painful.” The words come out breathless, almost in a gasp, too loud in the silence of the room.

Something flickers in his eyes, dark and smothering, but it quickly fades as he slips a hand underneath your jaw and tilts your head up, lips oh so close to yours.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, breath ghosting over your lips. The tension is stifling, pressing down on your chest and swirling inside your stomach.

Your lips twitch.

He steps back, taking the warmth of his body heat with him, and you mourn the loss. Yoongi takes a few moments to gather the materials, snapping his gloves off and tossing them into the wastebin.

“Make sure you clean then every night and avoid sleeping on that side,” he informs you, pacing around the room to clean up.

Your fingers twiddle in your lap, itching to make a move, but not quite sure what exactly. Yoongi is more polite now; there’s still the warmth, but it’s coated by the cloak of professionalism and it makes you pout.

It makes you reconsider everything that just happened, a longing ache filling your chest and you just need to say something, something not stupid, something–

“So how far to your tattoos go?” You blurt out, shoulders hunching as your eyes flit to every corner of the room, not quite meeting his.

Smooth.

His eyes snap to yours and he turns around, leaning against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Like how many do I have?” He questions, smirk playing at the corners of his lips.

“Y–yeah,” you squeak intelligently.

Yoongi stalks forwards, strides long and purposeful, his eyes dark. He plants his hands on either side of your body on the examination table, wedging his form between your legs.

“Want me to show you?”

“Uhm, I mean if you want–”

You’re cut off by him stepping back, fingers gripping onto the hem of his shirt and pulling it over his head and oh my–

Tattoos sprawl across his chest, wisps of ink trailing over his chest, little flowers and drawings that are so intricate you find yourself leaning forward, humming in appreciation when he steps forward again, back into your personal space.

Your hand lifts, almost unconsciously and your fingertips are halfway to his chest when you stop, blushing and looking at him with embarrassment.

“You can touch,” he supplies, eyebrow quirked in amusement.

A sort of happiness spreads through you at his words, fingers greedily moving to press against his cool skin, tracing the lines of ink up his chest, taking in the colorful swirls and carefully etched lines. Your eyes widen at the sight of two glinting silver metal pieces, pierced through his nipples.

A glance up at him with an arched brow only grants you a cocky grin from him.

You feel an involuntary shudder run down your spine at that, turning your attention back to his chest. Yoongi’s chest is really a work of art . . . covered with sprawling tattoos and splashes of colors, delicately balanced with the metal studs that wink at you from his nipples. His breath hitches a little when you drag your nail down the center of his chest, right between where the piercings lie, and you’re suddenly reminded of the compromising position the two of you are in, his half-naked body almost pressed up against yours, your legs dangling loosely around his waist.

It makes your fingers stutter, opting instead to follow one of the vines up his neck. Yoongi hums contentedly, tipping his head back as you follow the swirls, fingers pressing into his jaw and unconsciously dancing softly over his lips.

He brings his head back down, locking eyes with you, and this time his eyes are hungry, needier and it makes the ache between your legs intensify.

“Do you do this for all of your clients?” You whisper, one hand coming back to play with the hairs on the nape of his neck.

“Only for cute little things like you,” he answers, lips quirking, his eyes locked on your mouth.

“Oh.”

You really do have the most insightful conclusions at the best of times.

He brings his face closer, mouth hovering over yours, but he doesn’t seal your lips, and you realize he’s waiting, making sure that you’re okay with this. The last piece of dignity inside of you, of not fucking random hot strangers you meet in tattoo parlors, dies right there and then.

You lurch forwards, teeth clacking a little painfully against his and he immediately melts into the kiss, hands moving to tug you closer by your waist. He doesn’t waste time, licking into your mouth and groaning, pressing and swirling the metal stud on his tongue in ways that have you keening, both hands coming up to tug at his hair.

Your fingers fumble with the button of his jeans, tugging and fretting to pull the fabric away from his body. His cock springs free when you do, hot and thick and heavy, the tip an angry red, and out of the corner of your eye, you see his fingers twitch, once, twice. It’s too much, too overpowering, and you slide off the exam table, dropping to your knees in front of him, eager and wanting and impatient.

A long, black tattoo swirls over his left thigh, peeking out of the fold of his jeans from where he has them folded just enough for his cock to hang out.  Your eyes momentarily flit over it, taking in the image of a wolf appreciatively, but your mind keeps moving, taking in too much sensory stimulus at once. His thighs are spread, inviting, and you’d really like to sit in his lap but you’re a little more than distracted by the dick in front of your face, because dammit Yoongi is hung.

“Can I–” you croak, voice dry and cracked, “can I please touch?”

Yoongi cracks a teasing smile behind gritted teeth. “You’ve been good today, so I don’t see why not.”

You ignore the fire that burns down your spine when he says the words, leaning forward to flick your tongue over the head of his cock. His eyes flash and he practically growls, hands clenching into tight fists by his sides.

Your eyes slide shut, bobbing your head twice as you push the head of his cock past your lips, slick noises echoing in the silent room, coupled with the heavy breaths that are pulled in sharply through your nose. The stretch is wide, the girth of his length stretching the seams of your mouth and a dull ache settles in your jaw, but it’s one you enjoy, relishing in the way Yoongi moans, thighs quivering.

One of your hands come up to stroke at the base of his length, fingers brushing over all that you can’t take fully into your mouth. You try to take in more, relaxing your throat muscles and guiding his cock slowly into your mouth, humming when you hear Yoongi groan.

The sound intensifies the ache growing between your legs and you moan around his cock, fingers moving to claw at his thighs, raking over rough denim. You let out the faintest of whimpers, desperate and whiny and it’s all it takes for the last of Yoongi’s self control to snap.

He snarls, fisting a hand into your hair and dragging you forward, his cock hitting the back of your throat and your eyes snap open. Your fingers scrabble against his thighs, eyes tearing up as he snaps his hips forward, fucking into your mouth with a long, drawn out groan.

Yoongi’s cock stretches your mouth painfully, tears spilling from the corners of your eyes and running down the side of your face. He tips his head back, groaning, the sound painfully arousing, and exposes the length of his neck.

You’ve lost all control of your senses, so you splutter, choking when he drives his hips deeper, trying to pull broken breaths in through your nose when it ends up nestled in dark pubic hair. You focus on relaxing your throat, fingernails clawing into his thighs as your eyes slide shut.

“Good girl,” he praises, voice gruff, and when you flit your eyes up to look at him, teary and shining, his own roll back into his head, hips stuttering, a deep moan spilling past his lips. “That’s it, baby, take it all the way.”

You admire the ink adorning his neck, drool beginning to leak from the corners of your mouth and your lungs beginning to scream. The hand tangled in your hair finally releases and you pull back, coughing and spluttering, trying to ease the sting in your throat.

“Never taken a cock this big, baby?” He asks, voice lilting at the end teasingly, and when you look up, he’s got that smirk back on his lips and he wastes no time in roughly cupping your jaw and pulling you up, backing your body up against the examination table.

“Do you think you can take it?” His voice is gravelly, raspy and it makes you buck up against his frame, desperately searching for some type of release. One of his hands fists into your hair, snapping your head back as he laves the flat of tongue against the column of your neck.

You can only moan in response, fingers coming up to claw at his shoulders.

Yoongi bites up your neck, sucking fresh bruises into the unmarred skin and biting your lips, licking into your mouth. The piercings on his chest brush against you, intense and sharp all at once, leaving you a mess. You whine pathetically, legs almost buckling as you try to reciprocate the actions desperately.

He grunts when your knees give way partially, wrapping an arm around your waist and tugging you flush against his body, his length slipping underneath your skirt and pressing against the insides of your thighs.

“God, I wanna fuck so bad,” he groans, forehead pressed against yours and the way your breaths are coming out in rapid puffs of air is probably not healthy, but you can’t help it. Yoongi dissolves everything else around you, burning the air into a mess of lust. Bursts of pleasure wrack your frame as Yoongi grinds against you, teeth gritted and you can only mewl in response, fingernails raking down his back.

“Pl–please,” you manage, voice cracking as he rubs a hand up your thigh, slipping underneath your skirt. It’s all the permission he needs before his hands latch onto your waist, hoisting your body up onto the table.

Yoongis hands grope at your thighs, his teeth digging into your lower lip, biting and nipping. Your body feels weak and you’re more than happy to let Yoongi lift your arms, pulling your shirt off, his fingers fiddling with the clasp of your bra.

His lips immediately wrap around a nipple, the metal stud sweeping over the bud and leaving you gasping, back arching. One of his hands comes up to toy with the other nipple, tugging at the one in his mouth gently with his teeth.

You keen, bucking up against him and he grins in response, lips curving against the side of your breast.

“You’re so sensitive, baby,” he rasps, fingers slipping underneath your skirt to graze along the edge of your panties, “makes me wanna wreck you.”

His fingers slip past your panties, sliding up against your folds and your eyes roll back as his other hand untangles from your hair and glides down to press against your lower back, bringing you impossibly close. Your fingers claw at his shoulder blades, reveling in the way they shift, but then he pushes a finger into you and your eyes roll back, jaw slackening and a loud moan slips past your lips.

He bites down the length of your neck, laving his tongue over the surface and groaning as his fingers pump into you quickly, bringing you closer and closer to your climax.

“Y–Yoongi,” you mewl, fruitlessly trying to rock back down onto his fingers, “please.”

He practically snarls against your neck, mouth peppering kisses until he reaches your lips, tongue slipping into your mouth.

“Fuck, baby,” he groans, chest rumbling as he pulls away, a string of spit pulled between your lips, “say my name again.”

He curls his fingers, hitting every spot inside of you perfectly and you whine, rutting up against him.

“Yoongi Yoongi Yoongi,” you breathlessly moan, eyes screwed shut. “Yoongi, fuck, yes, Yoong–”

He cuts you off by sealing your lips together again, the hand on the small of your back moving to grope your thighs and spread them further apart, leaving you gasping and squirming underneath him. His tongue piercing rubs against the roof of your mouth, a high keen slipping past your lips at the feeling.

“Fuck, your piercing feels so fucking good,” you blubber, breath hitching and teeth digging into your lower lip.

He pulls his fingers out and you whine in protest, hands coming up to splay across his chest as your eyebrows furrow at the sudden loss.

“Wanna fuck you,” he rasps, voice low and grating, fingers slipping into the waistband of your skirt and pulling it down roughly with your panties. “Gonna fuck you so good.” His words come out in a jumbled slur, tongue heavy with lust.

Your clothes go flying over his shoulders, but you’re too far gone to even care about where they land, dragging your fingernails down the expanse of his chest, fingers hooking through his belt loops as you straighten your back and wrap your legs around him.

He kisses you, lips slick and rough, but surprisingly gentle, hands coming up to push your body down so you lay flat against the table.

“Fuck,” you whine, back arching needily against the table,

“Y’know,” he hums bending down and flattening his tongue along your folds, “my tongue feels good in a lot of places.” There’s a smug smirk across his lips when you wail, fingers threading through the strands of his hair, tugging him closer.

He moans against you, tongue flicking up across your clit and your eyes roll back at the feeling of the little metal ball rubbing against your clit. A chokes off scream bubbles past your lips, tears pricking at the corners of your eyes and you lock your legs around his head, bucking up against him.

Yoongi’s hand presses down on your hip, a growl ripping from his throat as he swirls his tongue around the bundle of nerves, drawing a long moan from your lips. He trails his tongue down, thumb coming to rub at your clit, and pokes his tongue at your entrance, the metal stud pushing in briefly. Your legs shake, body writhing, and he pushes his tongue in, the metal ball pressing and dragging inside of you and all you can do is cry out, shaking underneath him.

His tongue fucks into you lazily, a stark contrast to the pace set by his thumb on your clit, and you moan mindlessly. The hand on your clit moves and now both of his hands are kneading into your thighs, blunt nails leaving thin red lines in their wake. His hands lift your thighs, pushing them flat against the table and you don’t think you’ve ever been this exposed but the dull ache in the muscle takes a back seat to the rush of pleasure coursing up your spine. Yoongi doesn’t waste time, fingers leaving blue-black bruises across the skin and tongue fucking into your so well, your toes curl and your legs shake.

“Yoongi,” you whine, voice needy and desperate, “I can’t–please.”

He pulls back with a grin, lips wet and glossy, standing to plant both hands by your head. “Want you to cum around my cock, baby,” he rasps, his cock rubbing against your thigh, the rough denim of his jeans scratching at your legs.

His hands trail down, latching onto your hips and you squeak as he manhandles you, flipping you over onto your front and bending you over. You can hear him behind you, moving around and rustling, and when you hear the telling rip of a condom wrapper, you arch your back a little bit, jutting your ass out. The crinkled paper on the examination table sticks to the sweat on your stomach, but you can’t find it in yourself to care when the fat head of Yoongi’s cock pushes into you, a hitched gasp spilling from your lips. He rocks in slowly, his length filling you up and pressing against your walls in all of the right ways, leaving you a writhing mess. You can only claw at the examination table, mewling at the feeling and arching your back to pull him in closer, but it proves futile when his hands come to grip your hips, holding you steady.

He bends over, hands coming to press down on top of yours, hot breaths puffing against your neck. Yoongi peppers little kisses there and the act feels strangely intimate, and your heart swells a little but you grit your teeth, forcing it away.

He raises from where he’s bent over you, hands firm on your hips as he rocks into you, painfully slow. It doesn’t take you long to adjust, trying to rock back against his hips, but Yoongi is careful, almost gentle,  fucking into you with shallow thrusts and it makes tears well up in his eyes. You don’t want him to gentle–you want him to fuck you so hard your legs shake and you can’t breathe and you’re screaming.

“Yoongi,” you moan, breathlessly, neck bent at an awkward angle as your eyes slide back to find his, and it’s so utterly filthy, the way he’s staring at you, jaw clenched in restraint, that it makes all the uncertainty inside of you melt away. “Fuck–fuck me, properly. Do it right.”

He snarls at your words and it seems like that’s all it takes for his self-control to snap because he’s pulling his hips back all the way, only the tip of his cock inside of you and then he’s snapping his hips forward so hard your hips slam into the examination table. Your eyes roll back and you’re sure there’ll be bruises all over your body when this is over, but everything fades expect for Yoongi and his dick and the way he feels inside of you.

“Baby,” he groans, voice raspy and gravelly, “you’re so good like this, you take me so well.” His hands come to pull yours behind your back, folding your forearms across the small of your back and holding then there with one hand.

Drool leaks out of the corner of your mouth as he slams back into you, thick and hot and pulsing inside of you. His hips are snapping into you so quickly the examination table is slamming into the wall, heavy pants and stuttered curses tellingly loud in the small room.

His free hand fists into your hair, snapping your head back and you wail, teeth clacking together from the sheer force of his thrusts.

“Gonna let me choke you today, baby?” He rasps, voice tight and strained.

You mouth opens in a moan, the idea so utterly arousing you can’t breathe, the world a spinning mess of colors. Your lips can only blubber back a mess of broken sounds and syllables, and Yoongi’s low rumble of “slow down, baby” doesn’t help.  

When you finally manage to regain some form of coherency, you garble, “Fuck, please, yes Yoongi, please choke me please please please.”

Yoongi calms you down with soft coos, releasing your arms and hair to instead trace circles into the small of your back with his thumbs and groans “yes, anything for you, baby”.

He pulls out of you, a low his slipping from his lips and fingers drawing away from you. Without the support of his hands holding your up, your knees buckles and you nearly fall to the ground, but just as quickly, his hands are back on you, lifting you to instead lay you flat on the examination table, fingers moving to wrap around your ankles and lift your legs until you’re nearly bent in half. The position is exposing, revealing and you feel a warm blush creep up your neck, spreading across your cheeks. Yoongi seems to take note of the blush because he rakes his eyes down the length of your body, a smirk spreading over his lips.

“Pretty little thing, aren’t you?”

You keen at the praise, beck arching and fingernails clawing down his chest. He pushes back into you and your breath hitches when he bottoms out, his cock heavy and thick in all the right ways.

“Y,” you whine impatiently. “Fucking move already–”

He cuts you off by pulling his hips back and snapping back into you, his breath fanning over your lips and when his fingers curl around your neck, where chin meets throat, you can only bite back the moans that threaten to pour from your lips.

The effect is instantaneous: you clench around Yoongi, eyes rolling to the back of you head, mouth open in a silent gasp. You can feel your whole body starting to tingle, from head to toes, and you notices Yoongi has stopped moving, mesmerized by the bliss flitting across your face. The burn in your lungs intensifies and all you can focus on is how good Yoongi feels inside of you, the stretch and burn of every thrust heightened.

His fingers relax, just as black spots begin to dance on the edges of your vision and you cough the sting away, eyes watering.

“You alright, baby?” Yoongi asks, thrusts slowing as he pulls a few sweaty strands away from your face.

You whine at the loss and buck up against him needily. “Yes,” you slur, throat burning, “I’m fine, but please please do that again Yoongi please.”

Yoongi’s lip twitches at this and really, you beg for him so well, he’d be crazy to deny you. His face relaxes and he grins teasingly, hips snapping into you.

“Good girl.”

His fingers curl back around your throat and you bite your lip in anticipating as he tightens his hold, cutting off your airflow.

Your breath cuts off, and as your lungs start to burn, it’s like you can feel everything else more intensely. The rough denim of Yoongi’s jeans rubbing against your inner thighs and the press of Yoongi’s hand on your throat and the drops of sweat that bead up along his forehead, dripping down his temples. You look up at Yoongi and his face is flushed and his lips are parted and he’s staring at your neck with a fascination and desire that makes your eyes roll back and jaw slacken.

It’s too much, the pleasure and the fire burning underneath your skin and it has to peak somewhere.

Your nails rake down his chest, graze over his arms, trace over his shoulder, desperate to mark up every inch of skin as your end draws nearer.

You’re getting lightheaded, colorful spots dancing on the edges of your vision, and you wants to scream, tell Yoongi how good it feels, meet his thrusts, but you can’t.

You’re weak, the tips of your fingers tingling, and you can only lie there in completely surrender to Yoongi’s control, and just take it.

Just when you feel like the pleasure is unbearable, like you’re becoming delirious, Yoongi releases his hold and moves his hands to your thighs, spreading them further apart as his thrusts grow more erratic.

“Come on,” he groans, eyes clouded with lust, “cum for me. Be a good girl and cum for me.”

It’s what has your toes curling, eyes rolling back as a scream is ripped from your throat and you clench around him, impossibly tight. It only takes Yoongi one, two more thrusts before he’s spilling into the condom with a loud groan of your name.

Yoongi sinks forward, elbows catching himself on the examination table and hovers over you. His smile is softer this time, sweet and pretty and maybe it’s the post-orgasmic haze but there’s a sort of beauty that comes with Yoongi looking blissed out, hair mussed.

It has you craning your neck up to seal your lips in a lingering kiss, tongue licking into your mouth and the feeling of the metal stud rubbing against your tongue has you whining.

“That was nice,” he says when he pulls back, a thin string of saliva stretched between your lips. His lips are curved in a smile but it’s not mocking in any way. In fact, he seems genuine and it makes your heart flutter, lower lip caught between your teeth.

“Yeah, that made me way less scared” you whisper, smiling up at him and for a moment, he looks taken aback, but something flickers behind his eyes and he leans down to plant a soft kiss on your lips before he pulls away and stands.

He turns away and rummages through one of the cabinets, shooting a smirk over his shoulder. “Pleased to be of service m’lady.”

You snort, one hand coming up to lay over your eyelids as you try to catch your breath, startling when you feel a cold swipe over your thigh. Your eyes find a sheepish Yoongi holding a pack of wet wipes and cleaning your legs of cum and sweat.

“Hold still.”

The cold wipe cleans over your thighs and gently moves over your folds, cleaning up the slick and he tosses it into the wastebin, rolling his condom off with a hiss and tying the end, throwing it out.

He helps you back into your clothes, mumbling soft apologies about the bruises and hickeys that litter your skin, but you wave them off, blushing a little because it’s not like you didn’t want them.

A few minutes later, you’re both standing in front of the counter back at the front of the shop and he’s leaning across the counter, a mischievous smile across his lips as you pout.

“I’m sore.” you pout, knees still weak.

Yoongi laughs, head tipping back, and you decide you like the sound, especially when it’s paired with his bright grin coming into view.

“I’m sorry about that,” he says, a deep rumble in his chest, “but how about I make it up to you with dinner? Tomorrow night?”

Your words die in your throat and you stutter, because at this point you may as well have the DNA of a tomato what with how mow much Yoongi has made you blush in the past hour.

“I’ll take that as a yes?” He says, eyebrow raised and you nod quickly, fingers twiddling.

He looks a little unsure, lips thin and nose wrinkled so when he steps around the counter with long strides to open the door for you, you stumble after him and lift onto your tiptoes, fingers tangled in the collar of his shirt as you bring him in for a lasting kiss. It’s more tame than your other kisses, more sweet and soft and reminiscent of sunsets and daisies. The blood in your ears thrums and your eyelashes flutter open when you pull back, met with smirking Yoongi.

“It’s been a pleasure,” he hums, leaning back in to plant a kiss on your forehead. “I’ll see you here tomorrow night, then? At seven?”

You bite back a smile and mumble back dreamily, “Yeah, sure, I’ll see you then.”

And when you waddle out of the shop, five kisses later, lips still tingling, you find that you can’t stop smiling as you wait for your bus back home because maybe you don’t mind Hoseok and Taehyung forcing you to get a piercing because of a bet you made when you were drunk.

Yoongi might be worth it.

a/n: helloe! this is ! my first fic!! i appreciate any and all feedback big thanks!

[grapevynerendezvous]

Bobby Hebb - Sunny

In the summer of 1966 the sun warmed the Earth, in part because Bobby Hebb’s compelling song, Sunny, was released that June by Phillips Records. An uplifting ode to celebration of  life and perseverance; it is one the most recorded and performed popular songs. In a 2000 interview with Jonathan Marx of Nashville Scene Hebb estimated that there was some 500 recorded versions of the song. Recorded in February ’66, it entered the Billboard Top 100 at the end of June and in late August peaked at No. 2 for three weeks. It was ranked No. 27 in the Top 100 for the year. It also hit No.3 on the Billboard R&B chart and was ranked No.17 for the year. In BMI’s Top 100 Songs of the Century it is at No.25. In this particular case century represented the period of time that BMI - Broadcast Music, Inc. had existed since the 1930s. The tally also represented those songwriters and publishers that were licensed through BMI, which has had a significant share of artists in rock and roll, blues, jazz, r&b, gospel, country, folk, latin and classical styles of music as opposed to their main competitor ASCAP which has been more focused on pop artists. The ensuing Sunny album was released in September. It topped out at No.17 on the Billboard R&B during a brief period on that chart, but appears to have not broken through the Billboard Top 200 chart. Another track from the album, A Satisfied Mind b/w Love Love Love, was released later in the fall and reached No.39 on the Hot 100 and No. 40 on R&B in Billboard. A non-album song, Love Me b/w Crazy Baby (which was on the album) was released in late ’66 and only reached No.84 on the Top 100.

About the time I graduated from David Starr Jordan Junior High School, and summer days were upon me, radio jocks started spinning Sunny, a beautifully written and performed song with such wonderful positive message. I wasn’t really considering buying 45s at the time and the song lead me to buying the album when it came out in late summer making it the tenth LP of my small, but growing collection. I enjoyed some of the songs on the album and listened to it quite a bit after I first got it, less so as I started getting more records that kept me busy listening to them. It appears that the album didn’t have big sales so it must be comparatively rare these days, although I don’t get a sense that it is collectively in big demand. Since there was no internet back then, and I didn’t know about trade magazines and such, I had always wondered about what happened to Bobby. I basically heard nothing about him after 1966. It turns out that within five years he was basically out of the recording business, but still did some performing, although on a more local basis in the locations where he lived. His song still brings me sunshine when I hear it.

One of the stranger things I’ve ever come upon is that a single of Bobby Hebb’s Sunny was released by a Japanese label in 1971 backed with Summertime Blues by Blue Cheer. As soon as I saw the track times I knew it was for real. I used to put both songs on cassette tapes and have the song lengths indelibly stuck in my brain. Don’t get me wrong, I love both those songs, but I don’t think I would ever play them back to back, let alone expect them to be on the same 45 record. Just to clarify, Sunny is an R&B/Pop song as opposed to Blue Cheer’s version of Summertime Blues, which is arguably one of, if not, the earliest heavy metal songs on radio or anywhere else.

Robert “Bobby” Von Hebb was born in Nashville, Tennessee, one of eight children. His parents were both blind, and they were musicians. Bobby started performing at the age of three when he was introduced to an audience by his nine-year old brother, who was tap dancing at the time. They were both members  of their gospel group Hebb’s Kitchen Cabinet Orchestra which included his siblings and parents. His brother Harold and he continued performing as a song-and-dance team, mostly in local nightclubs. Meanwhile Bobby learned to play guitar and other instruments. Being in Nashville meant that Hebb was also surrounded by “hillbilly music”, which is what later became known as country music. He was about 16 when, after playing on a local TV show hosted by record producer Owen Bradley, he was given an opportunity to perform with Roy Acuff’s Smoky Mountain Boys, playing the spoons among other instruments. He was one of the first African-Americans to play at The Grand Old Opry, performing regularly with the Acuff band, having played there before Charlie Pride.

A few years later he went to Chicago, drawn by the jazz scene, but drawn in by the blues. He ended up hanging out with Bo Diddley and is “said to have appeared on a Bo Diddley recording, Diddley Daddy…singing back-up or playing spoons, but there is no aural evidence of the latter”, according to the Richard Williams’ August 2010 Bobby Hebb obituary article in The Guardian.

By the next year he was in the U.S. Navy and assigned to the   seaplane tender USS Pine Island. He learned to play trumpet while in the band, the Pine Island Pirates. After his stint in the Navy he returned to Nashville where he performed in Nashville jazz and R&B nightclubs playing guitar and trumpet. Hebb recorded his first record, Night Train to Memphis. It was a song written by Owen Bradley and performed by Acuff’s Smoky Mountain Boys. Bobby gave this country song an R&B edge, even a bit of gospel, proving that the hillbilly/country and race/rhythm & blues styles were quite compatible. The song was released on Rich Records by owner/DJ John “R” Richbourg. A few years later Bobby went to New York after he had worked in some sessions with Dr. John and James Booker, where Richbourg got him a gig at Sylvia Robinson’s (nee Vanderpool) Blue Morocco Club. As Hebb put it, “I went for two weeks and stayed for two years.” Sylvia was one half of Mickey & Sylvia and after Mickey relocated to Paris she worked with Hebb for awhile as Bobby & Sylvia.

It was while Bobby Hebb was in New York that he wrote Sunny. It was not long after the death of his brother Harold which occurred outside a Nashville nightclub the day after President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. It has been claimed by some that he wrote the song as a response to the murder of his brother, perhaps to both men, but Hebb put it another way in his interview with Jonathan Marx: “Very few people know what I really meant when I said “Sunny.” The other things, yes, but who I was talking to, or what I was talking about when I said “Sunny”—that still remains a mystery because it can be taken in quite a few ways.” After being asked if it was written for his brother he said, “Everyone seems to think that, because of the love, I suppose. But the love is always there. Sunny is your disposition. You either have a sunny disposition or you have a lousy disposition. Either you’re screaming at someone and angry, or you say, ‘No, uh-uh, I’m not angry. Let’s discuss this thing in a nice and pleasant way.’ Well, that pleasant way is a sunny disposition. Instead of confusing, and building chaos, let’s make this day a nice day for everyone. Spread that type of news so that you can become a little more relaxed and not filled with chaos, because chaos can become a killer.” In a sense, it still was in reaction to the tragic death of his brother, even if not consciously. He wrote Sunny in 1964 and, according to Richard Williams’ obituary article, it is explained, “The song came to him one morning when he had just returned to his home in Harlem from an all-night music session and a bout of heavy drinking, the sight of a purple dawn being its immediate inspiration.”

Not long after Hebb started being represented by Buster Newman, who started shopping the song around to publishers, but kept getting turned down. It did finally get picked up and was first recorded by a Japanese singer, Mieko Hirota, and as an instrumental by vibraphonist Dave Pike. Hebb was finally persuaded by eventual producer Jerry Ross to record it in New York studio Bell Sounds and it was included in an eighteen song demo. The recording of it  was completed in the last moments in the session. Among those who were back up singers for the recording are names that eventually made their own marks in the music world: Melba Moore, and Nicholas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, soon to known simply as Ashford and Simpson. The album was released three months after the single and included two other Hebb-penned songs.

Sunny was Bobby’s only big hit, but it came at a very special moment. So special that he was offered the opportunity to be on the bill as The Beatles toured America. Some have said that he was the opener, but it was in fact a co-bill. At the time of the tour his song, Sunny, was ranked higher than The Beatles’ songs. Here is what he had to say about it in the interview with Jonathan Marx in 2000, “I went on the Beatles tour—but I did not open up for The Beatles. Barry and the Remains opened the show for The Beatles. Then you had The Ronettes. Then you had The Cyrcle—“Red Rubber Ball.” Then I came on, and The Beatles came on. I was the costar of that show.”

Bobby Hebb also recorded three other singles after Night Train to Memphis, one on the Rich label, and two more on a couple of other labels in the ‘60s. In addition to the three singles that charted in ’66-’67 five more unsuccessful ones were released in the U.S, through 1968, primarily on Phillips. Mercury Records released another single that didn’t chart in 1972. The album Love Games was released in 1970 on Epic Records with all songs written or co-written by Hebb. It failed to chart in any manner. In 1975 the last single Hebb released, on Laurie Records, was a disco-ized version his hit called Sunny ’76 which only reached No.94 on the Billboard R&B chart i 1976. After 35 years of non-recording Hebb issued an album on a German label in 2005.

Bobby Hebb wrote hundreds of songs, and as his recording days faded, in a large part due to alcoholism, he begun working with comedian/composer Sandy Baron on a musical that never made it to Broadway. Two of the  songs, A Natural Man (originally titled Natural Resource) and His Song Shall Be Sung, made their way to Lou Rawls after they had done some re-writes to the former one. A Natural Man was a big hit for Rawls in 1971, while His Song Shall Be Sung was the B-side to Rawls’ ’71 single Believe in Me.

Bobby had gotten married and has one daughter who, as of this writing is around 35 years old. He also had a son in the mid-fifties. After a move to the Boston area, where he played in a few clubs, Hebb’s liqueur issues were coming to a head, literally. Per Charles Goldsmith’s UPI article in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Nov. 2, 1987, Hebb said he "was drinking a quart a day, Green Chartreuse, 110 proof.” In 1978 he was arrested for shooting his wife in the shoulder, and served two years for assault. Hebb said, “it was “an accident, my wife and I are still friends,” In the ‘80s he was working a maintenance job with the state Public Works Department and, as a recovering alcoholic, was singing in a lounge in North Boston. He had stopped drinking in 1981. Eventually returning to Nashville, Bobby Hebb died while being treated for lung cancer.

Thank you, Bobby, thank you for the gleam that shows its’ grace.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Hebb

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_(Bobby_Hebb_song)

https://www.nashvillescene.com/arts-culture/article/13004879/one-so-true

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bobby-hebb-mn0000075683/biography

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/aug/05/bobby-hebb-obituary

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1987-11-02-8702030189-story.html

https://books.google.com/books?id=qYtz7kEHegEC&pg=PA159&lpg=PA159&dq=bobby+hebb+and+Dr.+John&source

https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/19991214_bmi_announces_top_100_songs_of_the_century

R&B top albums Bobby Hebb Sunny No. 17 https://books.google.com/books?id=hSIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA43&dq=billboard+top+records+of+1966+december

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_Music,_Inc.

https://www.discogs.com/Bobby-Hebb-Sunny-By-Bobby-Hebb/release/14985370

https://www.discogs.com/Bobby-Hebb-Blue-Cheer-Sunny-Summertime-Blues/release/12366602

Sunny https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-5xGXpNt74

Sunny Live with Ron Carter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRWyxzmNdJc

A Satisfied Mind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shs74PDun2Q

Night Train to Memphis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URYxTHTNKkM

A Natural Man Live with Ron Carter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TYrc3tjePI

Bobby Hebb Playing Sam Cooke’s You Send Me Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=342QerUE-og

LP10

[oh-theatre]

Objection!: Chapter 15

Chapter title: I Get So Emotional

A/n:  Me: Make it angst Also me: But what if he's fine? Also me: More characters to hate?? ANYWHO, I’m love all of them so much? Sorry, it took an extra day! I needed some time! Also, I am seriously regretting this slow burn because I have so many good ideas but they have to be together and I just- fojdosjldjs argh! ALSO, I REALIZE I MIGHT NOT HAVE GIVEN YOU ALL THE LETTERS SO I JUST GAVE THEM TO YOU NOW. Anyway! I hope you enjoy and please do leave me some comments!!

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words: 4973

summary: The precinct runs amok after the discovery of a tense situation

pairings: Eventual logicality, eventual prinxiety, platonic demus, romantic remile

warnings: Murder mention, child murder, Law and Courtroom, swearing, blood, murder, gun mention, guns, hinted abuse, LIAM AND BAD PARENTS, Angst

Ao3 Link  

It was the soft brushing moment, the brief touch as they walked into the courthouse, silent as they connected just for a second. The twins slept peacefully in their stroller, the amber sky yet to awaken to the fresh blue tides. It was a short and quick shock, as the energy from their fingers transferred to one another. The soft giggle escaping his mouth as he pushed the doors open. Not a single word spoken, not that there needs to be.

“Good morning Lo” Patton greets pushing the twin's stroller further in, Logan holds open the door making sure all three members escape the chilly air brought from the November wind.

“Patton” Logan returns, it's almost coy as if the pair share a secret. He turns his attention to the huddled twins, smiling at their sleepy demeanor. “Need a hand?” He offers watching Patton balance quite a few items easily, even so, he wishes to help.

“Oh! I'm alright thank you” He responds, the redness gathering upon his skin subject to Logans offer, although he will claim it was simply the cold extremities. Logan hums in return as they make their way to the desk to check-in, a brisk conversation with Jenny. “What's on the docket for today?” Patton asks, the pair wander down the hallowed halls, the early morning court proceedings spreading a gentle murmur.

“Well, we…” He gives a side glance as he includes Patton, Patton pays no mind simply listening “Have a few hours until the trial...I was wondering if you would want to work on...our case?” They turn the corner towards the offices.

“That sounds wonderful!” Patton pauses “Well not wonderful but good, t-that we are working on it ya know? Together and it-” Patton rambles

“I understand Patton” Logan takes his hand stopping him. A grateful glance is administered while the pair continue walking, Logan leads now making their way to his office. The twins shuffle but ultimately prove to be fast asleep, charging through their dreams with delight. Once they arrive Logan mimics an earlier movement, holding open the door for Patton, allowing him to just barely squeeze the stroller through. He places the twin carefully next to his chair before sitting down across from Logan as he had done so many times.

“Hmm” He hums as he rocks the twins slowly back and forth, Logan watches a small smile spread across his face. Feeling more comfortable than usual, the prolonged time they had been spending together no doubt the cause.

“I have questions” Logan prompts, Patton meets his eyes, his brow furrowed with curiosity. He smiles returning to the soft rocking of the stroller.

“I might have answers” He replies, Logan deems this satisfactory and uses this as an invitation.

“The twin's mother-” He stops himself wondering if that's the right term, it implies the woman had anything to do with raising them which would not be fair to Patton. “Uh…”

“Maya” Patton responds “Her name was Maya, she was very kind” He informs, Logan nods.

“Maya did she...was she…” Logan begins to realize he might not have been as thorough or organized as he had hoped. Patton takes a deep breath, his gaze still fallen on the twins.

“She was very very kind” Patton begins, Logan looks towards him allowing him to push forward “She didn't want kids however and well...I did.” Logan had mastered how to take notes quickly and hidden, it was useful. “She picked me right away and it was…” Patton sighs, his eyes stay planted on twins. Logan accounts for the singular perspective, no ‘we’ or ‘us’.

“Did she name them?” Logan wonders, he knows some details but the circumstances surrounding the day they were born were always a little cloudy. Patton laughs carefully, oozing sweetness.

“Oh no no...Maya was very sweet but she didn't want anything to do with them. Not in a malicious way, of course, she simply just didn't want children. I named them” Logan can picture it perfectly. “I miss her sometimes, she was so sweet. We wanted to stay friends but we agreed that we didn't want her to be apart of their life.”

“You know you haven't mentioned Liam once” Logan reminds, Patton gives a coy smile, a glint of pride in his eyes. “That's...I am proud of you Patton” Logan declares, Patton finally meets his eyes. A slight tint of red spreading across his freckles.

“I am too” He agrees

“He isn't...technically-”

“No, he has no legal claim over the children. He ...well he refused to sign the papers which I am grateful for. It made the split a lot easier for them” He explains “I have sole custody over the children…” Patton trails off, he purses his lips “Lo, show me your notes” Logan coughs, tapping his chest lightly.

“W-what...I” Patton continues his stare, it's one he uses on his children. Logan sighs handing his notepad to the lawyer, Patton smirks as he reads them, his words scribbled on the page.

“You could have just told me it was for the case, I did come to you for help” He assures, Logan bites his lip taking his notes. “Although, I don't think the twins will be a pivotal point, as I said, there was no issue with them. He can't claim custody or parental claim over them” He hates to admit it but sometimes Logan forgets Patton himself is a lawyer.

“True but even so…” Logan hands him a couple of files, opening his own copy on his side. Patton skims through recognizing them instantly. “He has tried to fight you for custody before”

“Yes he has, and lost almost immediately” Patton leans back, melting into the chair. “I see your point however, do you mind?” Patton asks hovering over the pens, Logan gestures allowing him to take one, they continue looking over old files for a while somehow ending up slightly fiddling with each other's fingers over the desk. It's soft, almost playful... However, the twins soon become restless as their minds itch for a taste of reality. Remus wakes first, sitting up grouchy on his side of the stroller. Patton wishes he had seen it coming, the little pout that forms...it always leads to-

“Dada!” Remus cries sniffly tears run down his cheek. Patton bounces out of his dazed state recoiling his fingers from Logans touch, a disappointment to both. Remus continues crying, Pattons used to it. Valerie was better about it but something always set the little boy off. He always awoke to a bad dream, rushing for his father's comfort.

“I've gotcha” Patton strains as he lifts Remus out of his stroller, cradling him in his arms. He wraps his small arms around his father, crying gently into his shoulder.

Logan awaits on the side, he understands. He once read a study that thoroughly described the many reasons that a child might wake up crying. ‘Inappropriate’ sleep onset associations, as explained by Doctor Ferber deemed that a child might become used to sleeping circumstances that are not later present causing them to feel unfamiliar. A set schedule is another reason, a child has had the same sleeping schedule for too long and it no longer fits their needs, causing them to feel uncomfortable. And finally, environmental factors. Doctor Ferber described how things in the environment can unsettle a child, a TV, various noises, the temperature, etc.

Logan expected the crying to stop or falter, he didn't mind but he would like to see Remus happy. However, it continued, possibly growing louder. Patton sighs rocking Remus back and forth, clearly trying every method that usually works. Remus mumbles incoherently and Patton does his best to listen but nothing seems to soothe the child.

“Patton” Logan gains the lawyer's attention, he extends his arms cocking his head slightly. Patton hesitates for a moment before placing Remus into Logan's arms, the lawyer takes him not sure how to hold him at first. It doesn't seem like he’ll need to figure it out as Remus takes his cue to adjust cozily in Logan's arms, he sniffles as Logan begins a careful hum. Patton stops his body sending a striking shiver down his spine, he’s heard Roman sing and heard his own musings but this was different. The voice was so quiet, an angelic tune carried, not that he noticed through his entrancement but Remus slowly fell calm. Logan finishes stroking Remus's cheek lovingly as he does so.

“That was amazing Logan” Patton compliments, if hearts could pulse from his eyes they would. “You have a beautiful voice” He admits, Logan stares up at him.

“My mother used to do that for me, while my mom was at work” Logan recalls, Patton nods listening, he had met Logan's mothers before. Patton adored them, and though unknown to Patton, they loved him. “Is this a frequent occurrence?” Logan ponders

“A little lately, I think he's just been having some bad dreams,” Patton says reaching over the desk to hold Remus’s hand as he makes silly faces up at Logan. “I wan-” He wants to finish his sentence but the door swings open quite abruptly, three figures overshadowing the desk. Patton turns to face them his face drops in dripping fear. “Mom? Dad?” He whispers

“Hello Patton” They confirm

~~~

“Morning Emile” Virgil yawns his greeting as the doctor slumps his way into the precinct. He turns facing Virgil's desk now, his eyes darting around Remy's area. “You ok?” He checks

“Have you seen Remy? I called him last night but that was about it. I thought he might be here with you, or still working on the case” He rambles checking his watch. “We have a pretty important lunch today” Emile accentuates, Virgil nods. He's known Emile long enough, he was less worried about the lunch and more worried about Remy.

“Why don't we go ask Carlton? He was the last person to see Remy” Virgil suggests, the room is quiet as the department awakens to the sound of fresh coffee and early morning perpetrators. Though not part of his plan, Haley striding by was also a good option. He stops her gently grabbing her arm, she turns disheveled, her eyes sunken. “Hey uh...you good?” She purses her lips, Virgil rushes “We were looking for Remy, do yo-

“You haven't heard, have you? No makes sense, we just got the news” Emile fidgets harders as Haley's words fall from her mouth.

“Haley” Virgil questions, his face darkens as the possibilities race through his mind. Imprinting themselves into his brain. He shakes them out, they couldn't be that bad, they just couldn't.

“We have a hostage situation” Haley mutters, Virgil's grip loosens but he can't hear anymore. Just simple mumblings as Haley describes something even worse. Virgil picks on a few words, each making his blood boil. “Carlton...mole...Remy...crime scene...Emile!” Virgil spins just in time, catching a very pale Emile. He regains his posture fanning himself, whispering a very timid apology.

“I want to help, please” Virgil begs, Haley bites her lip, clicking it.

“Fine, but I'm warning you, Virgil. You cannot get emotional” Haley threatens, Virgil nods about to follow her towards the conference room. As though a chain, he feels his arm grabbed. “Emile?” He fears knowing what he will have to decline.

“Please...get him back” Emile begs, Virgil's eyebrows raise, his face softens. He isn't...he doesn't...he pulls Emile into a brief hug. Something they both needed. “Make that son of bitch pay” He jokes sadly through tears, Virgil nods as they pull away. Virgil gives him a last glance before rushing into the room, the clamoring of people would typically overwhelm Virgil but he has more important things on his mind.

“Alright, where do you want me?” He asks Haley adamant to do anything, the captain finishes her conversation turning to the detective. Her face drops slightly, Virgil understands.

“Look, I'm letting you help but you can't be apart of-” Virgil taps impatiently, Haley continues “I want you to unscramble these goddamn letters. They might have something in them” Haley moans, handing him a board with neatly printed letters.

“Well, guess I should tell Patton his clients innocent” Virgil sighs, a dry laugh caught in his throat. Haley tilts her head pulling out her phone.

“This doesn't take George off the table” Haley declares, she opens up her phone clicking play. Virgil was not prepared to hear his voice.

“So...its you” Remy's voice, though muffled, remains calm.

“Not necessarily” Carlton replies, his voice dripping with evil. Not to be dramatic of course. “I had to, unfortunately, take care of a few...bodies. But fret not, I'm no killer” The line goes dead and Virgil can't help but smirk.

“Fucking brilliant” He marvels “His call with Emile, he added you on didn't he?” Virgil questions, Haley joins his smirk nodding.  “So George could still be guilty but have Carlton do some of his dirty work?” Haley shrugs unfortunate “Alright, letters” Virgil snaps, he races towards his desk, avoiding looking through the window in Emile's office. He just can't look at him, not now. He will look at him when he can cause a smile to spread, pointing him towards the direction of a hopefully unphased Remy. He returns fast setting up magnet letters upon the board, ordering them alphabetically first, nothing proves of them so in order of how he got them.

“E, L, I, T, A, L, W, S, L, I, A, A” Dylan lists, Haley had instructed he help Virgil. “It's like a really dark game of scrabble” Virgil's eyes widen, he turns to Dylan aware of the slight murderous look on his face.

“Not Latin, not secret code, no it's simple” Virgil mutters, Dylan will admit, he's frightened. “It's so so simple” And he sets off for the next moments no one could see what was happening. Virgil works quickly rearranging the letters in every possible way. Some words appear, but nothing, nothing makes a sentence, nothing gets him a step closer. The frustrated grunt he releases confirms his failure. Not like it matters, he was sent on a fool's errand, a distraction. He knew this from the moment Haley asked him to do it, the letters, while they might provide something, were not relevant. Remy would disagree.

“But what if they reveal the name of the murderer? Or the final murder? Or why he's doing it?” Remy rambles, clearly recovering from a coffee high. Virgil moans, plopping his head into his arms. His desk feels cold, like the pillow once turned over.

“Or maybe you've been watching too much-

“Don't! I have not! I have not! Nopety nope!” Remy bounces scrambling the letters they have once more, Virgil groans spinning in his chair. “Bet you twenty bucks it's gonna reveal something!” Remy shoots out his hand awaiting Virgils.

“I'll take that bet, I think it's just a final message or a game” Virgil shakes his hand, instantly regretting it as his hand bounces. “Oh my god, can we go now? I'm exhausted and Dam-

“Shush! I'm having an epiphany” Remy decides, he sits on the ground crossing his legs. His eyes shut as he begins to hum.

“No darling, you're having an energy rush” Emile points, Virgil thanks him with a gesture. The doctor leans over kissing his partner on the forehead softly, he takes his reluctant hand leading the detective away. Virgil waves them farewell with a smirk.

“Hey! We got it! We found our entrance!” Haley calls, Virgil turns towards her, she sighs…”Detective Tormine, you coming or not?” Virgil claps delighted, grabbing his things.

~~~

“What are you...doing here?” Patton stands, Logan can not read his face. Its morphed so much in the past few seconds, Logan stands with him. He clutches tighter to Remus as he stares the figures down. He had met Patton's parents a few times, but they never said much to him. And honestly? Logan had a hard time staying around them for a long time, he cant listen to them talk about Patton in such a way, which seemed to be the only way they talked about him. Remus yawns squirming softly in Logan's arms.

“Oh, he's precious” Patton's mother, Gloria, compliments. “Is he yours?” She wonders Patton releases a desperate breath.

“No, he's...he’s mine” Patton begs, Glorias sighs recoiling, disappointed. Logan struggles to restrain himself, he baffles at the two of them. “Mom?” Patton's voice is so soft, he can't manage the words.

“Patton, don't get emotional” Gloria warns, Patton flares his nostrils, the phrase was spoken so much it was seared into his mind. “I didn't recognize your son, it is not a big deal” Logan...needs to walk that off. He can't fathom…

“Yeah guess that happens after five years doesn't it?” Patton quips, finally another voice pipes up. Liam stands behind Patton's parents, he laughs a sickly smile across his face. Patton laughs regretfully, a scoff escapes. “You called my parents? Are you five? I-” He stops himself “I'm not doing this in front of my children” He declares

“Why is this man holding your child?” Patton's father, Arlo, questions. Logan wonders if he really doesn't recognize him or if he's being petty. Logan goes to speak but Patton's ready.

“His name is Logan and he is…” Liam peaks over, a knowing coy smile “Doing more than you have ever done” Patton claims staring pointedly at his former partner, Logan asserts his posture. “Lo?” His voice shifts instantly, it's quiet and gentle. Logan would've swooned had he not been staring daggers, at...certain people. Logan understands however, he moves around the desk placing Remus carefully into the stroller, assuring the boy is secure. He starts to roll away stopping in front of Patton who takes his hand. “Thank you” He whispers, Logans not sure how to express how he would do anything in a heartbeat. He squeezes Patton's hand, lingering only slightly as they pull away. He pushes past the trio without giving them a single look, leaving his office he decides to settle in Patton's office, knowing the twins would be able to play there.

“I'm disappointed in you” Gloria hasn't moved, her hands stay crossed in front of her, her gloves in her hand as she takes a less than happy look around. “And is that man your new boyfriend? Is that what you chose?” She insults, Patton ignores it, he’d rather not go into what he...feels for Logan at the moment. (Or the fact that she would ever degrade him in such a way when he means...everything...)

“Oh, that's new” Patton replies dryly “Moms disappointed everyone! Gather around while she tells you everything wrong with you” Patton mocks, he realizes how much he's bottled up. Five years has caused so much and staring in the face of the woman who has caused more agony than should ever be set upon a person. “Oh! And don't forget the yelling match she’ll have with dad later while you and your sister cower in fear” Patton adds, Gloria's face might as well have been dipped in red.

“Patton Hart, you will stop right now” Gloria demands, Arlo nods warning his son.

“Five years mother” Patton states, he keeps steady, precisely picturing images of his children smiling, Logan doing his rare laugh, Roman and Virgil and…

“Yes I see that that was not a good decision now” Gloria looks around, Patton hates how she views his office. Logan's office was one of Patton's favorite places, how dare she see it with such contempt, what right does she have? “Patton you're going to come home with us, Liam is going to help you through this and-” Patton almost laughs, almost.

“Uh, that's super interesting mom” Patton smiles nodding a little to ecstatically “That's great, you know, I'm just gonna squeeze by you and go uh...anywhere else” He decides pushing past his parents, nudging Liam maybe a little harder than needed. Ignoring the seized calls for his name he marches through the courthouse. He stutters a breath before walking faster until he lands outside his office. He knows it's his, but he was programmed to knock. If his parents refused to teach him anything about kindness, he was going to stay up, sleepless nights, learning about what to do.

“Come in?” Logan supposes, Patton trembles over the knob before turning it open. Logan stands as he enters closing the door behind him. “Hi” Logan whispers, Patton gives a small wave, his eyes falling on the twins in the corner. They play excited with their toys, building mountains and palaces.

“Hi” He smiles at them, they smile back demonstrating their talent. He feels an overwhelming sense of warmth wrap him, the room becomes brighter. He allows the moment to work its way into his lungs, his breathing matches the steady pace of the world. It's ok, take a breath, it's ok. The twins return happily to their game sending Patton to sit across his desk, Logan watches frozen.

“Are you alright?” He checks, its the standard question something he's been asked many times. Its starts something, it gives way for Logan to continue without misinterpretation or danger of making it worse.

“I just wish...things were easier” Patton admits, Logan gives a soft laugh “You know that's the first time they've seen the twins, in person?” His voice is hushed, allowing the children sleepy serenity. It's also the first time Patton has seen his parents in five years, besides elongated silent calls and the sparse photos online, it's been distance.

“And they thought he was mine” Logan recalls, Patton taps his fingers on the desk, a smile hinted. “Not that I'm complaining” Logan adds, Patton gains a small twinkle, barely visible behind his glasses.

“Neither am I…” Logan being seen as the twin's father was far from bad, it hurt that it was his parent's own mishap. “I think they should adopt Liam” Patton sighs firmly, Logan releases a scoffed laugh, a glint of amusement upon his face.

“Ah, I don't think you should do that to Barbara” Logan retorts, Patton snaps his fingers lazily “It wouldn't be fair to her, what a downgrade, might I add” Patton chuckles, a sweet smile across his own lips. “Not to mention, Marcy would implode” Logan brings up many good points and many good distractions. And yet again, somehow, the pair meet across the desk. As if the only thing they can hold on to is one another, the soft twiddling of each other's hands and fingers, the excitement of the tickle.

“Oh! That's my phone, sorry” He pulls away, not expecting to feel so cold as their fingers part. “Patton Hart!” He greets, his face turning quickly sullen. Logan braces for the worst, his position becomes alert. The call finishes, Patton lowers his phone. “Its Remy”

~~~

“Carlton its been a day, I'm exhausted” Remy moans, he's tempting fate but if he's right…”Either kill me or let me go or get me food or coffee” His eyes widen at the mention of caffeine, anything to feel a buzz.

“I always found you so strange” Carlton muses, Remys impressed. He's been holding the gun almost all night, directed at Remy. Neither has dared move, but both felt the agonizing sore all over themselves. “More so, your partner” The same all night, he was looking, aching for a reaction. Emile seemed to be his way in but Remy used that, its fuel that he's going to get the hell out of here.

“You can't kill me can you?” Remy quips, Carlton tilts his head craving more “Waiting for mommy to give you permission?” Remy pouts mockingly, he hopes his chest emanates a steady pace.

“You got a death wish Nyx?” Carlton questions, further assuring the position of the firearm, Remy can't help but wince. Far from it, he thinks. He feels his heart pulsate in his ears. He takes a heavy breath, allowing his lungs to restart, it's harder than he thought it would be. A new trial as he stares down his death, hard to breathe, stay conscious.  

“Just a little longer” He whispers while Carlton checks his phone for what seems to be the umpteenth time. He can feel his knees grow weaker under him, the need to buckle growing only as time goes on. “Hey, what's my letter gonna be?” He asks, quickly shaking his knees before Carlton turns back.

“Are you kidding?” Carlton faces him, Remy smirks now feeling an entire breath released from his body.

“Nope, I'm stalling” He states dropping to the ground. The door swings open as cops pile in, he can hear shots fired but he feels himself intact. Incoherent shouting bruises his soft ears as something grabs him, a moment of panic sets in until he's hoisted into a hug. “Virgil” He barely whispers, tightening his grasp. Now, in the arms of his best friend, he just allows himself to fall away. Tears stream down his cheeks, staining his cheeks in permanence. He pulls away being led out of the apartment into the hall.

“Are you ok?” Virgil questions checking every inch of his friend, Remy lifts up his shirt revealing a small bruise, Virgil traces it. Remy expects the cold hands, but not the seized chill causing his body to vibrate into itself. “Did he…?” Virgil inquires, his eyebrows furrowed, a pinch of anger.

“I got cocky” Remy admits shrugging, Virgil sighs, a smirk on his face. They make their way to Virgil's car, heading to the precinct. Meanwhile…

“Emile!” Patton cries running towards him, the doctor accepts his hug instantly. Anything to stop him from chewing his nails down, until there's nothing left. “Are you alright?” He checks once they've separated, Logan catches up giving him a light squeeze.

“I think so” Emile stutters a breath, Patton keeps his hand on Emile's shoulder “I just really miss him” He admits with a sweet smile, Patton nods understandingly. “Distract me, please,” He asks softly, Patton coughs but agrees.

“Um...my...parents are back?” Patton tries, Emile looks at him clearly interested. “They want to take me- I'm sorry, Em are you ok?” Patton continues feeling awful doing so, Emile laughs dryly waving him off.

“Please, I just-” His eyes widen quickly, he slithers out of Patton's brace rushing towards something. Patton and Logan spin quickly, both faces light up as their eyes befall unto the pair hugging. “Remy!” Emile cries burying his head into the detective's shoulder. Remy falls into the hug quickly, grasping his partner tightly. He moves his kisses all around the cheek, Emile giggles through his tears. Virgil pats his friend on the back before joining the others. The pair pull away “Are you ok?” He whispers, cupping his face as he checks his partner.

“Em, I'm ok” He assures taking Emile's hands in his own, Emile sighs content landing a kiss on his lips. Remy gasps quickly, hitting himself on the forehead “The lunch! I missed the lunch, god I'm sorry” He rushes, Emile laughs wiping away his tears.

“Only you, my darling” He states shaking his head “I called the people, they understood and we rescheduled” Remy smirks, Emile shoots an ever grateful glance towards Haley and Virgil as he leads a slightly shaken Remy to his office, closing the door behind them.

“You alright Virgil?” Logan checks, Virgil releases a pented breath but nods.

“I've heard that question so many times today...but I'm good. I'm just happy he's ok” Virgil says watching the pair through the window, his eyes emanating adoration. Patton releases a squeal, Logan nudges him softly, it's playful.

“Excuse me, Mister Hart? Mister Tolentino? Mister Tormine?” The trio turn, they nod as their names are recited. “I apologize for the interruption” The man states, he holds out three golden letters, each beautifully imprinted with their names. Patton takes his, bouncing on his heels. Virgil, approaches warily, taking it nonetheless. He groans reading the insignia in the corner, Logan sighs as he reads his.

“Eek! The gala!” Patton squeals reading his invitation. Coyly he reads the letter. “Dear Mister Patton Hart” He pauses looking to Logan “That's me!” Logan's resilience crumbles away as the bright figure smiles up at him. “We cordially extend our invitation to you for this year's annual Cordenza Court Gala” He does a quick shimmy as he reads it, Virgil scoffs happily. “We hope to see you there, yours truly” He finishes, the mystery hangs with the name.

“I hate the gala” Virgil groans, Logan tilts his head in agreement.

“You just don't want Roman to ask you” Logan slips, both his and Patton's eyes go wide.

“Logan!” Patton exclaims, hitting him carefully on the shoulder. Logan sucks in a quick breath, Virgil turns to them, they can't tell if he's mad or shocked.

“What?” He starts slowly. Patton giggles awkwardly.

“Nnnnnothing, we were just talking about-” Virgil furthers his glare and Patton stomps his foot pouting. “Romans planning to ask you to the gala” He moans disappointed in himself, Virgil joins his moan shutting his eyes tight.

“I can't do this right now” He sighs waving them off as he retreats to anywhere else, Patton waves goodbye weakly. Logan turns to him, a dry smile upon his face, Patton pouts, his fatherly side apparent.

“Forgive me?” Logan hopes a slow smile spreads across the opposing lawyer’s face.

“Fine…” He says unable to continue his pout. “Now come! Preparations to be made!” He incites gallantly striding away, Logan sighs following him. Knowing he would do just the same no matter the situation. At this moment, he wishes he had Romans confidence…

Would you...like to…

He pauses watching Patton make his way out of the precinct.

Come...to the..gala...

“Lo? You coming?” Patton asks holding the elevator open for him.

...with me?

“Yes, of course”

[elenatria]

That moment in the 1x02 Chernobyl episode when Bryukhanov attacks Legasov because he can't tell how the reactor can explode, then mocks him, and Legasov is troubled, so Boris steps up and asks Bryukhanov about the graphite on the roof, and he's like "How dare you? Only I can yell at Valery. Am I clear?" And my heart bursted.

HHAHAHAHHA omg it never occurred to me to see it that way?? Brilliant. A want a ficlet on that scene.

You know what, it’s about time people got to know why this pairing is so hot and tragic and inspiring and and… And I mean I’m not crazy for shipping them, am I?? I mean ok ok “real people with tragic destinies” etc etc but but b-but the writer and the actors are doing SUCH a great job giving us the enemies-to-friends (or lovers) trope so effortlessly in a matter of, like, two episodes (btw I didn’t need two episodes, just the first time they met was enough for me to ship them hahah am I nuts or am I nuts). 

Alright, SPOILERS.

So at the end of the first episode Boris Shcherbina, the head of the Bureau for Fuel and Energy (aka aggressive, unapologetic apparatchik and bureaucrat), is calling Valery Legasov,  the first deputy director of the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy (aka awkward nerdy idealist scientist), to bark some orders at him and essentially tell him “We don’t want your opinion, nerd, you’re here to answer questions, nothing more, kbye.” So at their very first contact Boris is rude, entitled and arrogant to Valery, even hanging up on him.

In the second episode Valery reads Boris’ report and freaks out. When he joins General Secretary Gorbachev’s committee, Boris tries to downplay  the disaster, his arms sprawled out all over the armchair as if nothing happened. and looks at Valery in utter disbelief when the scientist tries to convince everyone how serious things are. Obviously Boris would rather be home with his wife or something. Btw in the show Valery doesn’t have a wife, he only has a cat, cat=loneliness, geddit?

When Gorbachev orders them both to visit the power plant Boris cannot believe his ears. He’s stuck with this annoying nerd, a scientist for crying out loud, a know-it-all, the kind he obviously hates because, as an apparatchik, he probably climbed the social ladder through his connections in the party and not through studying. So he obviously loathes anyone who knows more than him. He’s an alpha and wants to remain one.

Look at his face and body language when they’re left alone, he’s totally blaming the Nerd for becoming a burden. His burden.

Here it is, the “unlikely partners” trope. 

And now things start to get interesting.

As they walk towards the helicopter Boris is totally ignoring Valery. They’re not exchanging a single glance.

In the helicopter Boris asks Valery how a nuclear reactor works. Valery finds it difficult to explain and Boris quickly shows how inferior he feels to anyone who has studied more than him, so he puts on his aggressive and arrogant facade.

He acts SO entitled that he even threatens Valery that he’ll have him killed if he doesn’t explain how the reactor works.

At this point Boris inspires nothing but fear and disgust.

HOWEVER when Valery fidgets his pockets trying to find something to write on Boris is quick to give him both a pen and a piece of paper. Even if he has his poker face on, his gesture is clear. He’s helping Valery for the first time and not just because he wants to learn about reactors.

When Boris quickly catches the metaphor of the neutron being like a “bullet” Valery seems startled. Apparently Boris is a good student, who would have thought!

But as soon as the explaining is over Boris shuts Valery out once more saying he doesn’t need him anymore. Entitled and arrogant af.

Now it’s Valery’s turn to seethe internally because he’s stuck with this total asshole. 

Aaaaand then we get to the part when I totally flinched in surprise and I was like… “Okayyyyy do they want us to ship them now or what?…”

Because Valery, in a state of panic, finds the courage (or might I say, has the nerve) to call Boris by his first name (back then Soviet people would call each other by both names as a sign of respect). Valery probably mimicked Gorbachev using “Boris” in the previous scene but Boris simply. Won’t. Have it. 

He instantly snaps at the unexpected intimacy and I’m over here fangirling like crazy because who else would snap at terms of endearment and intimacy but a man who’s not used to it - and is probably craving for it. But not from this carrot-headed Nerd. Definitely not from him, he loathes the guy, okay??

Boris exercises his power once more threatening to have the pilot shot if he doesn’t fly over the reactor and for the first time Valery manages to “outrank” him by explaining to the pilot why he’d rather be shot than fly over the reactor. Valery convinces the pilot to disobey Boris - power play at its best. Boris is clearly defeated, maybe he’s never been defeated before.

And this is the first time Boris touches Valery (hopefully not the last).

As the helicopter turns to avoid the reactor Valery trips and almost falls on Boris’ lap. Notice how Boris doesn’t push him away but he rather steadies him and helps him sit. For a man who loathes his partner and is not used to intimacy he’s rather… well-behaved.

Of course the look on his face when the scene ends says it all: “You’ll pay for this, nerd.”

We’re 25 minutes into the episode and we finally see a glint of doubt in Boris’ eyes when Chief Engineer Fomin and the plant’s director Bryukhanov mouth off to Valery, disrespecting him and questioning his expertise and patriotism. For some reason something clicks inside Boris. Maybe he too had dealt with too many people doubting him and treating him like shit in the past. Maybe he feels Valery, for all his obnoxiousness, doesn’t deserve that kind of behaviour. Maybe the proud Head of the Bureau for Fuel and Energy will lose face if his partner is disgraced. Another nanosecond of doubt and he decides to step up. He uses Valery’s observations to talk about the core exploding.

At first I thought “Oh goooood I can’t believe this asshole is ripping off Valery’s observations to act all clever in front of his inferiors. What an asshole.”

But it turns out that he’s siding with Valery and starts to trust his judgement and expertise. Maybe because, for all his lack of formal education, he’s too clever to not know suck ups, cowards and liars when he sees them.

Next he challenges the two men to prove Valery wrong. Perhaps he does want to prove Valery wrong and ridicule him. Or perhaps he’s rooting for him already.

When Valery pushes him to evacuate Pripyat, Boris snaps again. He’s not here to follow the Nerd’s orders.

But the very next minute Boris walks away with the promise to get Valery as much boron and sand as he needs to put out the fire, like a king eager to impress his betrothed. “I’m going to get YOU.”

As soon as Boris leaves, General Pikalov is quick to offer Valery some help.

Because they both know they have long days and long nights ahead of them.

I will come back to the subject of the hotel in my next post. There’s another fanfiction trope right there, two unlikely partners forced to stay in the same hotel (or hotel room if you want your imagination to run wild). YESSSS.

Cut to the hotel room. An exhausted Valery massages his own neck (oh baby I’m sure you would like someone else to massage it for you.)

Boris enters his room (*their* room..?) without knocking - apparently someone doesn’t feel the need to lock his door. 

Boris is happy to announce they’ve been successful at dropping sand and boron into the reactor but Valery doesn’t share his cheerfulness.

AND THIS IS WHEN BORIS STARTS CARING ABOUT VALERY’S OPINION AND FEELINGS. The “what?” cliche when someone is not reacting while his friend/lover is begging for a response. Because. Boris. Needs. Valery’s. Approval. That’s why.

Valery insists that the city should be evacuated and Boris reassures him that they’re staying there “so it must be safe.”

But the way he utters those words in a hoarse whisper, shaking his head confidently, is almost like he’s saying “I’m glad we are staying here. Together.”

When Valery gets carried away and slaps Boris in the face with the horrible truth, Boris loses the ground beneath him.

But he doesn’t look just shocked. He looks hurt. Hurt that Valery didn’t sweeten the pill for him. 

Valery instantly regrets his bluntness and takes a step towards Boris as if to comfort a helpless child. Or a very good friend. But he can’t really hug him, shush him and tell him everything is going to be okay, can he? So he takes a step back.

“I’m sorry”…? What?? You just met the guy and you hate him and he hates you! Get a grip!!!

Boris feels so horrible that it takes him ages to pick up the phone.

When they join Gorbachev’s committee again to brief him on the crisis Boris seems totally lost, a fact that doesn’t go unnoticed by Valery who stares at him, concerned.

When Boris finally comes to terms with his own mortality he steps up once more, taking control of the situation. Valery fails to convince the workers to go to the basement and open the valves and that moment…  I just knew it was Boris’ turn for a glorious inspirational speech. And boy, does he deliver. Best, most laconic, most convincing inspirational speech I’ve ever seen. He appeals to the workers’ patriotism and self-sacrifice and he succeeds. So he’s not educated and he’s not as clever as a scientist but his true talent shines here, that of leadership. Inspiring people to do the right thing, like a true general. They’re at war and Boris knows he’s the man for the job. 

And now it’s Valery’s turn to look at him in utter awe.

“That’s him. That’s my guy.”

And I haven’t even talked about episode 3 yet. 

Oh god, ep 3, I mean…

[ecto-american]

Period Pains

The things @ghostgothgeek inspires me to write

On AO3

Warnings: Talk of periods

The fluorescent humming of the lightbulbs and soft music seemed to be the only background noise of the local store. Danny's eyes scanned the shelves hard, growing confused as he struggled.

Maximum absorbance? Ultra thin? Flex foam? What? What the fuck do any of these even mean?

He scratched his chin, giving a curious hum as he tried to remember the brand name Sam told him. Danny reached into his pocket to pull out his phone to try and compare the picture of the tampon box he took when Sam first made the request. He heard a store cart wheel past the aisle before abruptly stopping.

"Danny Phantom?" a confused feminine voice called out. Danny froze before remembering. Oh yeah. He really didn't wanna be seen buying these as Fenton, or even being in the tampon aisle.

"Hello, citizen," he tried to greet cheerfully, but it came out weak and timid as the reality of his decision fully hit him. He glanced to see a confused middle aged shopper staring at him with wide eyes, pushing a cart full of items. She quickly hurried past, and Danny returned his attention to the shelf.

What the fuck, none of the boxes matched. He stared, dumbfounded. Was he at the wrong store?

He nervously walked down the aisle towards the wall, and his face lit up with relief before flinching. There was more. Holy hell there were so many options! How did girls know what kind to use? Sports? Security? Click compact? What?

He held his phone up and compared the boxes to the picture. Oh thank Pariah Dark, one finally matched. He eagerly snatched the box up, tucking it under his arm. He paused. What if Sam needed two? Wait, how many were in a box? He glanced and read the box, recognizing some of the new buzzwords that he had learned about feminine hygiene products. Holy shit 36!? ...Wait was that even enough?

Danny could feel eyes boring into him, and he turned to see a couple staring at him in absolute disbelief. He felt his cheeks burn a dark green.

"It's-it's not mine," he stammered out. "It's for my girlfriend."

"You have a girlfriend?" the guy asked curiously. Danny nodded, and he glanced at the shelves. Sam didn't bleed enough to warrant a second box, right? Well she did run out. But did that mean she was almost done? "Dude! You're Danny Phantom!" Danny winced.

"Yeah, yeah, I know who I am," he muttered.

"Can I have your autograph?" the girl blurted out. Danny forced a smile.

"Got a pen?" he asked.

The girl immediately began to dig through her purse and produced a small handful of pens, as well as what looked like a study guide for some class. She offered both to Danny. He picked a purple sharpie.

"Um, hold this real quick."

He traded her the tampons for the paper, and he used a shelf to quickly sign. The girl's face brightened, and she happily took the paper back.

"Thank you so much!" she chirped, and she showed it to her boyfriend while putting the pens away. Danny took this as his chance to quickly walk away.

He stuck close to the wall, keeping the tampons between him and the wall to avoid anybody seeing. He prayed that he wouldn't run into his parents, or worse, Valerie. Both would immediately be guns blazing, assuming he was out to...steal tampons. For some reason.

"Is that Danny fucking Phantom?" a surprised voice called out. Danny walked faster, and he slipped into an aisle.

Sam didn't ask him for it, but Danny had a sister. He knew the deal. Not the whole deal, but enough to know that he would be the world's best boyfriend if he picked up a little something extra for his beloved. After some careful searching, he found what he was looking for. The vegan chocolate Sam loved the most. He smiled in relief as he picked up a bar of it.

"Danny Phantom!" a child's voice gasped. Danny turned to see two boys, no older than seven, staring at him in absolute disbelief. He felt himself relax a bit, giving a friendly smile and wave. Kids were so much easier to interact with than judging adults or lovestruck teenagers.

"Hey," Danny greeted. One boy was shyly tugging on the hem of his shirt, which Danny noticed had his logo on it.

"Hi," he replied shyly. Danny glanced up to see a woman turn into the aisle with a shopping cart. She looked surprised and paused when she saw him before quickly wheeling up.

"Danny Phantom?" she seemed so confused. Danny nodded in confirmation. She smiled a bit. "Jason loves you. Jason, did you say hi, honey?"

She reached out to put her hand on her son's head, the one in the Danny Phantom shirt. He just stared at his feet. Danny knelt to his height.

"Hey, Jason," he greeted him again. He held out his hand, allowing it to glow lightly. Some ice began form. Jason and the other kid began to stare at it in absolute awe as the glowing powers soon finally faded and left in its place a small ice sculpture of the Danny Phantom logo. Danny offered it to Jason, who happily took it.

"I want one!" the other kid blurted out.

"I gotcha, dude," Danny promised him, and he repeated the process. This time the kids were nearly bouncing in place at being able to see such an event up close. The other got a logo as well.

"Thank you!" the other kid practically shouted as he snatched it up eagerly.

"Thank you!" Jason quickly spoke up.

"Of course, just make sure you stay clear of ghosts. A lot of them aren't very nice, and I don't want to see you get hurt," Danny explained. They nodded, and both began to shove them up to their mom to show her, both chattering a mile a minute.

"Yes I see, they're very nice, be careful with it," their mom began to try and calm them down, but to no avail. "Boys, go pick out your candy." The words were like magic, and the two began to run up and down the aisle trying to find what they wanted. The mom sighed lightly. "Thank you," she told Danny, and she cocked her head curiously. "No offense, but why are you here?" Danny flinched at the unintentional reminder. He held up his items for purchase.

"Girlfriend," was all he said. The mom nodded understandingly.

"Getting chocolate's a good move," she told him. "Smart man."

"Thanks. Have a good night," he told her, giving a small wave before quickly exiting the aisle.

It's almost over. It's almost over. Danny exhaled deeply as he headed towards the self check out. He was so close. He just had to make the purchase, and then he could immediately fly out, invisible all the way back to Sam's.

Oh no. Oh no.

His heart sank as he saw the dreaded rope of doom stretched across the self check out area. Closed. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

He stared at the line. It wasn't too bad, but given his items of purchases, he'd rather go through the accident again. Danny exhaled deeply. It was for Sam. He could do this. Boyfriends bought their girlfriends tampons all the time. Hell, his dad would constantly chuck what his mom and Jazz needed into the cart with zero fucks. Why couldn't he be more like that? Danny felt ashamed of himself. He and Sam were nearly twenty. They'd been together for almost a year, and he can't just go and get tampons for her in his own human form like an actual good boyfriend? Well, way too late to back out of this now.

The ghost went to stand in line. The man in front of him, an older man with a mustache and thick glasses, glanced behind to see who came, and he immediately did a double take before staring. Danny gave a shy wave. The man frowned, narrowing his eyes at him. Danny began staring off to his left, but he could still feel the man staring at him.

"What the fuck is a ghost doing here?" the man finally spoke. Danny's eyes locked back onto the man's.

"I'm buying tampons and some chocolate for my girlfriend." It came out a bit more raspy and weak than he wanted it to, and he coughed a bit at the end to clear his throat. The man stared hard at him.

"Ghosts need tampons?" he sounded skeptical, and he took a step forward as the cashier finished checking out the person before him.

"She's human," Danny explained. The man's face darkened as he scowled. He raised a finger up to Danny.

"I think it's absolutely disgusting that you would take advantage of a human like that, and you should be ashamed of yourself," he told him. "I hope the Guys in White destroy you one day."

Danny just swallowed nervously. How do you even respond to something like that? He just bit his lip and stared off to the side again. The man, to his relief, turned to the front and refused to say another word to him. Although he did shoot him a nasty glare as the cashier gave him his receipt.

He wordlessly put his stuff on the conveyor belt, and the bored cashier began to ring him up.

"Is that all for you today?" she asked. Danny cleared his throat.

"Uh, yeah," he murmured. The cashier hummed in acknowledgement as she read out the total, and Danny handed her the cash. Something hit him, and Danny blinked. "You know, you're the first person to not say something about me doing this." The cashier gave a breathless chuckle as she handed him his change.

"You're far from the weirdest thing I've seen this shift alone," she told him. "But ignore the other dude. He's just being a pissbaby because he doesn't have a girlfriend to go buy tampons for." Danny snorted in amusement. "Tell the Mrs. Phantom I said hello."

"Will do," Danny replied. He grabbed the plastic bag of tampons and chocolate, tossing the receipt inside. He didn't bother walking out the door, but instead seized the chance to turn invisible and fly far, far away.

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"You're such a dingus!" Sam's voice scowled through the bathroom door. Danny sighed from where he laid on the bed.

"I'm sorry, it's just, embarrassing," he tried to justify his weird decision. A few moments later, Sam came out of the bathroom. She looked miserable, and Danny offered up the candy bar he got her. She accepted it, immediately tearing off the wrapper.

"No. I mean, yeah. That was stupid. But you got the wrong box," she told him. Danny's eyes widened in horror.

"So do I-"

"Yeah, you need to go back." Sam took a bite of the chocolate bar.

"...Fuck."