#wait what weather app do you have where you have ads

[okcoolthanks]

The weather app???? What is olive oil Doing bro

Olive oil reblog chain

https://www.tumblr.com/okcoolthanks/764368160216498176/oh-dear-lord

It’s also in the classics post in my pinned ifyou wanna find it there

oh my god ive seen ads like this but mostly on like. my weather app for some reason??

[dira333]

Who am I and where? - Sero Hanta x Reader

for @kovu-bunnbunn

The giant poster of a peeled Banana above his bed is missing.

It’s all Hanta can see at the moment, blinking against the light filtering in. Wait… 

Everything starts spinning when he moves, so he slowly, slowly, eases his head to the left to check.

Yeah. There’s a window. 

There’s not supposed to be a window. 

Where is he?

Blinking, he moves a little further until he can grasp the edge of the futon, reach the phone that’s resting innocently on the nightstand.

The interface is unfamiliar but he’s got no problem perusing through the apps.

It’s a Sunday, eight in the morning. The weather app tells him that he’s still in Musutafu.

But where in Musutafu?

The phone pings with an incoming message, it flashes by for just a second, but long enough to read the greeting at the top.

That is not his name.

Is this even his phone?

Or… or… is he even Sero Hanta, Hero in Training? 

Hanta gasps, regretting it immediately because the pain in his head makes him want to throw up.

A door opens and he fights against gasping again.

There’s a woman standing in the doorway and he’s not sure what your face is trying to tell him. Are you mad? Shocked to see him?

Softly he calls out the name from the message. You perk up and he frowns.

“Is that me?” Hanta asks, putting all his faith in a random person. What if you lie to him?

Your mouth opens, slowly first, but then all at once as you laugh, the noise ringing in his ears until he flinches.

“Sorry,” you whisper, “Sorry.”

“My head hurts,” he whines, “Where am I? Who am I?”

“Here,” you take a few steps until you’re at his side, offering him a glass of water and a bright pink pill. “Take this?”

“Are you giving me drugs?”

You chuckle low. “Painkillers.”

He frowns once more before taking them. It can’t get worse anyway, right?

Up close Hanta can tell how attractive you really are. Way above his league, he’s sure.

But you don’t seem to mind, tucking him in instead.

“Who are you?” Hanta asks.

You smile and repeat the name from the message. “That’s me,” you emphasize, noticing his confusion.

“And who am I?”

“Sero Hanta,” you smile, “Hero Cellophane.”

“I’m a Hero already?”

Your smile widens. “Have been for a year now.”

“And where am I?”

“Your apartment.”

Hanta considers this.

“Nope,” he finally comments. “Not possible. My posters are missing.”

“They’re in the living room,” you point out like it’s nothing. I could take you there but I think you’re still a bit wobbly on your legs.”

“Why’s that anyway?” He harrumphs. He’s never been this dizzy before.

“You got wasted,” you tell him with a laugh, adding to it when his brows pull together yet again. “Weird Quirk. It’s supposed to make you feel drunk. I think you got hit three times, so you must have the worst hangover imaginable.”

“And you are?”

“What do you think?” You ask, smiling like you hold all the secrets of the universe.

He considers this, the curl of your smile, the teasing flickering in your eyes. Maybe… But then again, how awkward would it be to assume only for it to be different?

“Hanta,” you whisper his name like a magic spell, leaning in. “Who do you think I am?”

“Don’t make me guess,” he whines, unable to hold back. Your laugh is soft, rippling around him.

“Fine,” you smile, “I’ll let you figure it out on your own. Do you want to sleep a bit more or are you getting hungry?”

He groans and you snicker.

“Sleep it is. Drink your water, I’ll check in on you in an hour.”

-

The giant poster of a peeled Banana above his bed is missing.

Hanta glares at the bare wall. It would look so good there, he can’t help but think, stretching a little.

There’s a dull pain at… everywhere in his head. It feels like being zapped by Kaminari so he pats around the nightstand, looking for his phone. What he finds, however, is yours, his face smiling back at him from your Screensaver. He grunts, moving through the contacts half-blind, before landing on Kaminari.

“Dude, you suck!” He types before dropping the device back on the nightstand. 

The door opens and he groans again, eyes closed against the pain.

“Feeling better?” You ask.

“No,” he whines. “Why are you not in bed with me?”

You chuckle. “I was making breakfast.”

Hanta sniffs. “Are we eating it in bed?”

“If you want?” 

“Awesome,” he groans when pumping his fist only intensifies the pain in his head.

“How’s the head?”

“Awful,” he exclaims, sighing in delight when he feels you slip under the blanket, thighs pressed against each other. “Hey…”

“Hey,” he can hear the smile in your voice, hums low in his throat when you hover just an inch above his face.

“Are you going to kiss me or not?” Hanta asks, unwilling to open his eyes. You snicker. “I was wondering if you’d let me.”

Instead of answering he lifts his head, finding your lips by touch and smell and all those other senses, never once needing his eyes.

There’s a familiarity to it, to kissing you, that he thinks he’d know you out of thousands by the taste of your lips, the feel of them against his own.

But then again, he wouldn’t want to kiss thousands just to find you. Kissing you is more than enough.

“So you remember me now?” You giggle against his lips. 

His eyes flutter open at that.

“What?” Hanta asks, a little confused.

“You thought you were me an… yes, an hour ago.”

“No way.”

“Yes,” you grin like a chesire cat. “And I got it all recorded.”

“But your phone’s here.”

“Ah,” you smile. “So your brain’s still not up to date yet.”

Hanta huffs. 

“You know, I don’t even wanna know. Can we just eat?”

“Sure, you were the one kissing me, oh hungry boar.”

He pinches your hip and kisses the yelp from your lips.

-

“Baby?” You ask hours later, his head in your lap. “Why did you tell Kaminari that he sucks?”

“Because he does.”

“Any particular reason?”

“He zapped me.”

“Oh,” your hand moves through his hair, scratching at his scalp. “No, he didn’t.”

“What?”

[psblooms]

"난 너한테 뭐길래?"

now playing: ghosting ↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺ 1:24 ───ㅇ───── 3:43

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིˎˊ˗ angst sim jaeyun x fem! reader works word count: 754 content: implied drinking, situationships, ghosting (obviously)

note: my first official song fic (this was actually written like 2 years ago but not as a fic and I decided too put it here I hope you like it)

it was 2 am on a rainy summer night. and while everyone was enjoying their last month before going away for college, you were rolling in the warm comforter far from asleep. it can be blamed on the humid warm weather, or the noise of rain hitting the window. or rather, in the fact that the “person you were seeing in a maybe romantic light” had not answered your last text from eight hours ago and hadn't seen him in the previous two days.

in any other moment, this situation wouldn't be of importance to you and your overthinking mind, both you and jake were not the type to talk every day and be in constant contact with each other; but this time, you knew (or both of them knew) it was something different.

"are we okay?" said the last text you sent on the chat.  

you knew you had to give him some time, after all, you were the one who brought up the situation you were stuck in now. but still, the uneasy feeling in your insides was making rounds in your mind:

"Were you in the right place to bring it up?"

"what's going to happen to us now?"

your friends told you it was the right thing to do, they were on her side after plenty of sleepless nights wondering; but now, she had started to question everything. you did it to stop with the uncertainties of this relationship, to know where the both of you stand. and right now, you can no longer know if there is even a both of you.  

"what are we?" you asked finally in a loud enough voice trying to sound confident in an unpredictable place.

the night and the moon in a random house party were the only witnesses of the question, of the nervousness you felt, and of the surprised expression in jakes face.

you have always been an overthinker, everybody was aware of it.

it was not enough for you to open the messaging app every thirty minutes after sending that text, just to pretend she didn't care to not find an answer after trying to busy herself in those few minutes.

your brain refused to shut down for the day just as every night for the past two days hoping to catch a glimpse of the idea of jake thinking about you. even if you wanted to get used to waiting for an answer and consoling yourself thinking that maybe he was not using his phone and was not avidly ignoring you, the fact that you got to see a photo of the sunset sky before the rain came into town in his new post with the caption "the sky is so beautiful tonight". only added to your insomnia and overthinking.

it could pretty much be a coincidence, but after many sleepless nights on the phone with him talking about your fascination with the sky and your constant existential questions he was a listener of; it felt like he was talking to you.

which was a stupid thought to have, if he wanted to talk to you he would've answered that text.

you really started to regret ever even asking that question because here you are now - not talking- but deep down you knew it was the thing you needed to do. "what am I to you?" was the only thing you could think about after he kissed you last week.

It's three am now, and your mind is still replaying the last conversation you had, wondering if there was a sign of a breakup in it, honestly you didn't know where to find it. you didn't even know if that was a break-up.

what was there to break?

you were never something formal, and that was the problem. there were some dates, some kisses, and some drunk I love yous; there were the holding hands and the driving you home late at night, there were the midnight facetimes and the sleepy soft encouraging words. but there was never any implication of a committed relationship.

"are we okay?" you re-read the text for the hundredth time.

and at that moment, you found it, the sign you were looking for was right there, you spent so many minutes hating and blaming yourself for the situation you were in that you weren't able to see there was in fact, an answer.

"no answer" and "unread" that was it.

just like that. he had disappeared from her life,

just like a ghost.

[nipuni]

Time for an old school blog post, Hello!

Just various updates about life and shows and clothes and some photos! Adding a read more cut because I talk too much 😊

Happy equinox everyone!! The mild weather has been wonderful for daily park walks. We have been taking our meals outside as often as we can to make the most of it before summer scorches the land and all life. The longer days allow for a lot more wandering too but the imminent return of the heat is also making the longing to move up north worse by the day. We miss the choppy ocean and seaside cliffs 😭 We love the silence and the rain and the nippy sea breeze!! it's like being suspended in early spring for half the year and a rainy autumn the other half, Ideal if you don't mind humidity, but that's what wellies and flat caps are for. We have been looking for properties to rent to show up everyday so for now we lie in wait.

Speaking of nature, a few months ago we discovered a free app called Plantnet that you use to take and upload photos of plants, trees, flowers and it will identify them for you. You keep a log with their locations and can share them too to help contribute to each local biodiversity database. It feels like a pokedex for plants. There are many apps like this one to choose from too. It's been so fun learning what all these plants are called and memorizing them! I recommend it, is like a little educational side quest to take on while stretching your legs and getting some fresh air. This is not an ad I promise lmao I just think it's neat! kind of sad feeling the need to clarify that.

This weather is also making me want to start making outfit posts again! It's been so long since I made any!! my winter wardrobe is mostly long wool coats or capes and boots so the inspiration wasn't there but now I'm ready to pull out all my stuff back from under my bed storage and experiment again 👏 I've also been meaning to share some of Nicolas outfits for ages too so there is more variety, could be fun!

Speaking of clothes, lately I've grown more and more frustrated with how poorly most clothes fit me to the point where I'm considering learning how to make them from scratch. I usually have to take in the tops and hem the bottoms but most things I try on are just built weird even if I fix the size, or maybe I'm built weird! I think it may be both. Nicolas also said he would love to learn along with me so we will probably embark on that adventure soon. OH and on a short tangent, I got myself a sort of binder-like top that flattens the chest a bit and I'm loving it! I'm very flat already but what little bust I do have has always bothered me when I dress and I've found I feel a lot more comfortable in this type of top. I'm glad I tried it out so if you feel similarly you may want to give it a go too, see how it feels!

On the media side of things we have also been watching more of David Tennant's work. We are still very much in love with him to an embarrassing degree, you can probably tell if you follow me anywhere, my likes on twitter alone give me away alksjdf and Nicolas isn't any better! if he used social media his would look the same lmao.

Since my last report we have watched and absolutely LOVED "There She Goes" we already want to watch it again honestly. The family dynamics for all his characters are always so real and refreshing!! Their relationship with their wives especially are always so believable in every series we've seen, the comfort and camaraderie, the banter and just friendship! You can tell they enjoy each other's company, it feels true. I love it so much!!

We also watched "Inside man" which was..a very stressful mess but David was incredible as always, also very hot and very pitiful which is always great, and Stanley Tucci was on it! so that's also fun.

Then we rewatched season one of Good Omens and the first 4 seasons of Doctor Who, with all the extra content like the Confidentials, deleted scenes, video diaries and more, they are just so good!! our list of favourite episodes keeps growing, season four is incredible, we are loving all these seasons even more the second time around!! Now we are probably going to start watching either Classic Who or Torchwood, along with more of David's work. We were trying to pick what to watch during dinner the other day and Nicolas was like 'damn, David is not in this though, I miss him' and lmao same so now we just watch one show without him and one with him right after to cope 😂

OH we have also been doing more historical reenactment! Since the last one in the 20's we jumped back to Regency times. We have been putting our outfits together for a ball soon and hopefully another one in autumn in the UK 😊 1800 is the farthest back in time we've been yet so it's been fun doing research, finding pieces and learning the dances in class but also very hectic. I'll share more about this soon!

Then we also have a couple of 1900 events coming soon, so I'll be sharing more Edwardian looks as well, our favourite era!!

Anyway I think that's all for now, thanks for reading to whoever is doing so!! I know this is long and not a popular blogging format anymore but I enjoy it a lot, maybe some of you do too 🥰 I will reply to some messages soon, I'm so sorry I'm so bad at keeping up with those!! I've read them all and cherish every word 🥺 Thank you for supporting my art and shenanigans as always!! I hope you have a great week!!

[strawberry-cowmilk]

the last day of summer

-> asmodeus x mc (romantic or platonic though maybe a little more hinted towards romantic)

-> your last day of summer didn't go as planned

a/n: based on a real experience that happened to me today (heartbreaking) and decided to use it as inspiration for writing (my creativity is at its limit help me help me) also I realised I kinda messed up halfway through writing this but let's just pretend like the devildom has sun

mc's gender is not mentioned, not proof read

content warnings: mc has certain personality traits like enjoying warm weather, mc wears nail polish, hand holding

-----

Summer was ending, any warm day could be the last before you'd have to wait some long months before the weather is sunny and warm again. Before you went to bed, Asmo sent you a screenshot of today's weather forecast. Your relationship has come to the point where he could literally send you a screenshot of the weather app saying 'high chance of sun and warm temperatures' and you'd know what it meant: you're skipping the RAD lectures tomorrow, you're going to spend the potential last day of summer outside. Lucifer can get mad later.

The day was supposed to be a perfect end to a good summer. You and Asmo, dressed in light clothing, were going to spend the day outside at the mall in open air and the beach. When you two left the house, the weather was already nice and warm. Not a single cloud in the sky and a pleasant breeze in the air. To get to the mall though, you'd have to take the subway. Of course Asmo suggested you'd get fancy drinks at the coffee place to take with you on the ride. Everything was so perfect: the subway was quiet, the weather was amazing, the drinks were good, your outfits look perfect and none of you had recieved any angry texts or calls from Lucifer demanding to know where you are. Little did you know there would be a nice surprise waiting for you after getting off the subway.

'This is a joke.' Asmo said as he stared at the sky with wide eyes from surprise. 'It's cold too.' you added, regretting not taking an 'emergency jacket' with you. Somehow, while you were on the subway, the sun had evaporated, there wasn't a single speck of blue to be seen in the sky and there's cold, pretty strong wind, great weather for the beach. 'Let's look on the positive side, we now have an excuse to buy matching sweaters.' the lust demon suggested. You let out a little laugh before thinking about what to do, maybe you should just make the best of it.

You and Asmo just ate something at the mall before returning home after an hour of being there. And guess how the weather was when you got off the subway again? It was literally back to how it was before. What a joke. To enjoy the sun anyways, you and Asmo just decided to take a walk instead.

'Hey, Mc?' you turned your head to look at the demon next to you. He smiled at you and held out his hand, asking you to take it. How could you refuse when he was looking at you like that? Asmo held your hand contently and tightly while walking with you. Eventually he started speaking again. 'You know, I'm really glad we met.' He gave your hand a little squeeze. 'I don't know where I'd be or what I'd be doing if I didn't have my favorite human here.' You glanced over at him before focusing your eyes on your hand clutched in his and smiled. 'Yeah, I'm glad we met too.' Maybe knowing that summer's ending is making you feel a little extra sentimental right now, or maybe it's Asmo but you're feeling something you can't quite describe. It's like a genuine caring for someone, and you're pretty sure the avatar of lust is feeling it too.

'Oh, Mc your nail polish is chipping... I'm gonna have to redo them when we get home, okay?'

[writeforfandoms]

It’s a Marshmallow World

find my masterlist

Fresh off a bad breakup, you go on a vacation out to a ranch to go horseback riding, get out of the apartment, and get some fresh air. You deserve a vacation, after all. Except everything goes wrong, leaving you just about ready to pack up and call it quits until Jack comes to the rescue. 

Warnings: Swearing, emotions, I threw an OC in because why not (but he only appears over the phone), brief mention of alcohol and drinking, Jack is too charming, fluff. So much fluff. I chose the title for a reason. 

The place described is based off a place I stayed a few years back. However I did take artistic license with the horses. 

Word count: 5.6k

Jack Daniels x f!reader

Part 2 will be up by the end of the week

Prologue 

You stared at the calendar app on your phone, fingers numb, heart rabbiting in your chest. 

You had nearly forgotten, with everything else happening. 

But the blocked out dates showing "Vacation time!!!" taunted you with the truth. And, honestly, added more things to add to your to-do list. 

The vacation was supposed to be a one year trip and holiday celebration with your now ex-boyfriend Todd. The two of you had figured everything out together, although looking back on it now you realized you'd done the lion's share of the work. But you'd paid separately, sharing the cost of the room. 

Clearly, he wouldn't be going on that trip now. 

You huffed out a breath, staring at the still-empty half of the room where his shit used to be. Before you kicked him out. Lying piece of shit. 

Well. Time to make a decision. 

A few quick taps on your phone got you to Dev's contact, and you called. And then waited. 

"'Lo?" He grumbled into the phone, sounding half asleep still. 

"Hey. I need your opinion on something."

Dev made a rough noise of amusement. "You sure? Last time you asked my opinion, it led to you ending your relationship." 

"That was a necessary kick in the pants," you excused, waving a hand absently. "That's fine. Besides, I trust your judgment." 

Dev yawned. "Hit me."

"Remember that vacation Todd and I booked? Back in August?"

"Yeah?" Dev sounded faintly confused. 

"I never canceled it. Totally slipped my mind with everything else going on." 

"Shit, really?" Dev laughed a little. "Well, damn. You should go. The deposit is probably non-refundable. And it'll be good for you to get away for a few days, get out of the house for something other than work."

"I know," you admitted, sheepish and nervous and stressed. "I just… what if I don't like it? What if I'm still too caught up in my own head?"

"Sweetie, I say this with all the love in my cold black heart. You are always too caught up in your own head." 

You snorted. You couldn't help yourself. He wasn't wrong exactly. 

"Listen. You're going to go on this trip. You're going to have fun. Play with some horses, find someone pretty to flirt with, have a few extra drinks. You deserve it." Dev sounded both firm and amused, because he knew you too well. 

"I mean…"

"Nope. No arguing with me. Or I'll come over there and kick your ass." 

You laughed finally, and it felt like some vice around your heart relaxed, just a little. "Alright, alright. Fine. I'll go on this trip. But if I don't have a good time, you'll be hearing about it forever." 

"If you don't have a good time, I'll take you to the Bahamas myself," Dev told you. "Is that your only existential crisis for the day? Please say yes. I'm still exhausted."

You snickered. "Yeah, that's all. Get some more sleep, you vampire." 

"Uh huh. You're welcome." Dev hung up on you. 

Snorting in amusement, you dropped your phone back to your lap. Well. Looks like you needed to do some more research. You still remembered everything about the property and the ranch and all that, but you needed to look at the weather and accommodations again. So you could pack sufficiently. 

Despite yourself, a little spark of excitement started, sheltered snug in your ribs. This could be fun. 

Part One 

You were this close to crying out of sheer frustration. The drive had been too long and quiet by yourself, even with one of your favorite playlists on. Traffic had been bad and it had taken you an extra hour, because of course the holiday traffic had started more than a week before the actual holiday. Then you got to your cabin and discovered that the heating hadn't been turned on, so your cabin was freezing. Not quite literally, but it felt that way. 

And, to top it all off, you couldn't get the damn fire going. 

You stared in utter betrayal at the logs in the fireplace, hot tears pricking your eyes. You took a deep breath. No, you were not going to cry. You refused. You just weren't going to do it. 

One more deep breath, and you felt steady enough to call up to the front desk. 

"Front desk, how can I help?" The voice on the other end of the phone was definitely not the soft-spoken young woman you had checked in with. 

"Um, I can't get the heat turned on," you said slowly, unreasonably embarrassed. "And I'm trying to get a fire going, but uh…" 

"I'll have someone come down to check on the heat right now," the man assured you soothingly. "Apologies for that, ma'am."

"Thank you." You hung up and buried your face in your hands. 

This was really not going your way. 

Fortunately, you didn't have to wait longer than two minutes before there was a knock on your door. You let a young man in, and he nodded to you before going straight to the fireplace. In moments, he succeeded where you had failed, the logs lighting with soft crackles. 

"You said the heating wouldn't turn on?" He asked with a very southern drawl. 

"That's right." 

"Huh." He walked over to the heating unit, tapping it a few times and then messing with the buttons. When nothing happened, he turned to you with a sheepish look. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I'm not sure what the problem is. I'm gonna run 'round back to check the unit, but the fire should warm ya up in the meantime."

"Thank you." Well, the fire was warm, and apparently the heating issue wasn't just you, so you felt a bit better. 

He nodded, lifting one hand as if to tip a hat to you, and walked out the door with as little ceremony as when he'd entered. Well. Okay then. 

With a soft huff, you sank down into one of the chairs in front of the fire, starting to thaw out. Unless something drastically changed, you were tempted to call this entire trip a wash and go back home. 

One more day. You'd give it one more day. This was just the stress of traveling, and having to explain to the nice lady at check in that no it was just you. This was just hunger and cold. 

Tomorrow would be a better day. 

You slowly relaxed as you warmed up, picking up your information packet to look through. Dinner was a sit down affair in the main building every night, and you'd need to get going soon to make it in time. The first horseback riding session was early the next morning, but that was a big part of why you'd chosen this place, so you'd do it. You'd just have to dress warmly. 

Dinner did indeed help - you felt better after you'd eaten. It helped that dinner was frankly delicious, possibly some of the best food you'd ever had. (Although that might have just been because you hadn't eaten anything since breakfast…) 

The heat still wasn't on in your room, which you knew because there was a note taped to your door. 

Terribly sorry, the heater still isn't working. I've scheduled a tech to come out tomorrow. For tonight, I've left extra blankets and lots of logs for the fire. I'll take some off the reservation price, too.

It was signed, simply, management. Not that helpful. Oh well. 

It wasn't even that late, not yet, but you were tired, and the stress from the day was catching up to you. Your cabin was finally warmer, and you made the executive decision to read a bit and then go to bed. Changing into your pajamas felt wonderful, and you arranged another log on the fire and the extra blankets on your bed before you picked up your book. 

You were asleep before you'd read half a dozen pages. 

Music from your phone woke you, and you groaned softly. The fire had gone out overnight, of course, and the room was cold again. 

"Fuck," you hissed, scrambling out of bed and yet again trying to light a fire. You gave up even more quickly this time, just washing your face in hot water and dressing in the warmest clothes you had for the trail ride. 

The walk from your cabin to the main building was nearly silent and very pretty. The sun was just rising, frost on the grass sparkling on either side of the pathway. Light spilled out from the windows of the main building, warm and inviting. The blast of warm air that greeted you as soon as you opened the door was even better. 

"Good morning," the nice lady from yesterday greeted you. This morning you finally had the mental energy to notice the decorations - garlands with tasteful ornaments ringed the room, and a small tree hung with tinsel and candy canes stood in the corner. 

"Morning," you responded, flexing your hands. "Feels good in here." 

She chuckled. "Yeah, it's a chilly walk in the mornings. We've got coffee, tea, and hot cocoa, as well as breakfast just through there." She pointed. 

"Excellent. Thanks." You smiled at her, glancing at her name badge. Ginger. You could remember that. 

Breakfast was delicious, up until you realized you were running late. Then you chugged the last of it and walked briskly off towards the barn, which Ginger had pointed out to you yesterday. 

You slowed as you approached, a bit confused. You didn't see anyone else around, didn't hear anything. But you peeked into the barn anyway. 

A single man stood in the barn, brushing out the mane of a beautiful bay horse. He looked over when he heard you and smiled. 

"Mornin', ma’am." He tipped his head to you. 

"Hi again." You smiled a little more easily, recognizing him as the one who'd started the fire for you yesterday. "Are you leading the trail ride this morning?"

He blinked and paused, hands stilling on the horse. "Oh, uh, there's a tree down in the middle of the trail," he told you. "The ride’s been canceled for this morning, 'til we can go clear out the tree."

"Oh." You wilted. 

"I'm real sorry," he said, looking a little distressed. 

"It's not your fault," you managed, a little faint. "I'll just head back to the main house." You backed out of the barn before he could say anything else, though you didn't start walking immediately. Instead you stood there, staring up at the sky, willing yourself not to cry. Again. 

A deep breath in burned, the cold air a little too brisk, and you hurried back to the main house. You'd find a quiet place to sit for a while, read on your phone maybe. Or maybe you'd run back to your cabin to grab your book first. 

"Dev is definitely hearing about this," you muttered to yourself. "He owes me a vacation." 

The main house was still warm, and you shivered a little. Well. You might as well get something warm to drink, maybe one more nibble. 

A little wandering found a perfect little nook, and it was even decorated. A single white candle sat on the little table next to the cozy armchair, the candleholder red and gold and sparkly. You settled there with your drink and your phone. You didn't feel like running back to your cabin, not right now. Maybe later you would. 

But for now, you had reading material on your phone, a warm drink, and a comfy spot to sit. That was good enough. 

"Oh," a deep voice startled you out of your reading some time later. "Can I get ya anything, ma'am?"

You looked up from your phone at one of the most handsome men you'd seen in your life. Dark brown hair just fell over his forehead, his mustache neatly trimmed. Big brown eyes focused on you, warm and almost puppy-ish. 

"Oh, um, thanks, but I should check in with Ginger," you answered shyly. "See if the heat has been fixed." 

"Is that your room?" Recognition lit his eyes. 

"Yeah." You grimaced. 

"Well, I've got good news and bad news on that front." The man shifted his weight. "Bad news is the heat isn't fixed. Good news is we got a couple space heaters in there to keep you toasty warm." 

"Oh." You didn't wilt this time, but you did frown. So far, you were quite underwhelmed with this entire experience. It was very tempting to just cancel the rest of your reservation and go home. 

"I know it's an inconvenience," he offered with a sympathetic smile. "Why don't I pour you a drink, and we can talk about how I can make it up to ya?" 

You blinked. "I mean, it's not your fault, you didn't do it." 

"I'm the owner," he told you. "Jack. Pleasure to meet you." 

You shook his hand, offering your name in return. "Well, in that case, I guess I could go for a drink." 

"This way." Smiling, he motioned for you to follow him, leading the way past the dining room and further back, to a small bar. It was deserted at the moment, not even a bartender behind the counter. "Have a seat, anywhere you like. What can I get for you?" He lifted the partition and stepped behind the counter. 

"Just a glass of red wine." You shrugged, sitting at the bar in front of him. 

"Comin' right up." He moved with easy competence, pulling a glass up from beneath the counter and pouring your wine without a single drop spilled. "Now. What can I do to make it up to you?"

You hesitated, fingers curling around the stem of your glass. "I'm gonna be honest," you managed, feet tapping anxiously against the bar stool. "I'm thinking of just going home." 

His smile turned into a frown. "That bad? I can see if there's anywhere else you can stay, I'll call into town if you want and put you up there."

"No, it's not just the heat." You shook your head, frowning down into your wine. "It's… this whole trip has been bad. The drive, the cold, just all of it. And I really wanted to go riding, that's half the reason I chose this place, and then this morning the trail was closed and I just…" You trailed off, unwilling to get into your own baggage with someone you'd just met. 

He closed his eyes briefly, sighing. "Well, can't blame you for being upset," he agreed lightly. "But I'm gonna make you a counter offer." 

"I'm listening." You took a sip of your wine, which was actually very good. 

"I'm not gonna charge you for your stay," Jack started, ducking his head a little to meet your gaze. "You can have the room for your full stay, no charge. And I'll personally take you out riding every morning." 

Your jaw dropped and you were idly glad you hadn't been drinking right then. "What? No, that's too much!" 

"I insist." Jack smiled. "Can't have you going home unhappy. Besides, the room wouldn't be available for anyone else, since the heat isn't working, so it's not fair to charge you for it." 

"Well… I don't know what to say." You laughed a little, shaking your head. 

"Say yes." He leaned down on his elbows on the bar, charming smile aimed at you. "Gimme a good reason to get up every mornin' while you're here." He winked. 

You warmed and clapped a hand over your mouth, trying to hide your grin. "Okay," you agreed, a bit muffled. You cleared your throat and removed your hand, repeating, "Okay." 

"Excellent!" Jack grinned. "What time do you wanna go in the morning? We can leave before the trail ride, after, same time. Whatever you want, darlin'." 

The easy pet name made you even warmer, and you couldn't even blame the wine. "How about a little later?"

"Sounds good to me." Jack's smile widened. "Any requests for our first ride? Any limits I need to know about?"

"I've been riding before, but it's been a few years, so nothing too crazy," you admitted. "Other than that, I'm fine with whatever." 

Jack nodded. "Got it. I'll make sure you have a beautiful ride, then." 

You nearly choked on your wine, though there had been no double entendre in his words. But the playful gleam of his eyes caught you. 

"I don't doubt that," you managed to say without squeaking or choking, which was quite the accomplishment. 

Jack grinned. "Dinner starts in an hour," he informed you, standing up straight again. "Feel free to sit here, or take your wine with you. Unfortunately, I have to get back to work. But I'll see you in the morning." He winked at you again before he lifted the partition once more and walked away. Well. Walked may have been a mild word. He kind of… sauntered. Like he assumed you watched him go. (Which you low-key did, but that wasn't the point.) 

You finished your wine and left the glass there at the bar before going back to your room to change for dinner. 

Once again, the food was delicious. This time, though, you spotted Jack making his way around the room. He chatted with a table full of men, completely at ease. Not twenty minutes later, he was sitting with an older couple, smile warm and posture easy as he chatted. 

He was a kind of social chameleon, matching the energy of every table he visited, able to talk to anybody. Something you would have considered stressful seemed easy for him. 

Honestly, he made great entertainment as you ate your dinner. 

But you finished and left before he made it to your table, content to go back to your room for the night. You even drew yourself a hot bath, relaxing in the water while the space heater in your room chugged away, keeping the chill at bay. 

You did end up texting Dev, though. 

Not sold on this place. Been lots of problems. But the owner comped my room so I'll stay.

Dev texted back immediately, being the utter night owl that he was. 

Lay all your troubles at my door so I can laugh and then console you.

You laughed at him, shaking your head, and gave him the abbreviated version of events. You already felt better about things after talking to Jack. 

What the actual fuck, was the immediate reaction text once you'd finally sent the entire saga to Dev. How the fuck, came the next text. You snickered. 

And then waited, as Dev typed out what must be an entire rant. 

First off, I'm almost bloody sorry for telling you to go now. That is a lot to happen, and it is incredibly frustrating. I can't believe you have no heat. Are you okay? You can always go buy more clothes if you need to, you're not that far outside of town. But I'm glad he comped the room, or I would have called and had strong words with him on your behalf. Now… is he hot? You sound like you like him already, so I hope he is hot. Flirt with him. You'll have time. Flirt with him like I would. All the flirting. 

You groaned and dropped your phone on the bed next to you, covering your face with a pillow. "You ass," you growled. But you did pick up your phone again to reply. 

I won't flirt with him, he's the owner. He is nice, at least. No need to call. I'm fine. He also left me extra blankets. I'm gonna go to sleep now. 

Huffing to yourself, you put your phone on the bedside table and got ready for bed. It didn't take long, fortunately, and then you laid in bed and relaxed. 

At least tonight you were plenty warm enough. 

You woke before your alarm, feeling very awake. And you even knew why, after a moment.

You were excited to go on the trail ride. And not just for the trail ride. But for Jack, too. 

That could be problematic. 

But you got up and ready for the day, dressing warmly again. Your room was not freezing today, thankfully, so you had no problems. 

Breakfast was a little quieter, and you didn't feel so rushed, giving you more time to enjoy yourself. 

The walk to the barn was still cold and quiet, but you could see evidence of other people this time: trampled grass, a piece of trash, clear hoof prints. 

Cautiously optimistic, you stepped into the barn. 

Jack had his back to you, jeans clinging to him like a second skin, coat pulled tight across his shoulders. This morning, he also wore a black cowboy hat. You swallowed hard, gaze straying. Oh dear. 

"Morning," you called before you could make a fool of yourself.

He turned and grinned at you, just as warm as last night. "Good mornin', sugar. You all ready to go?" 

"I am." You smiled as you walked over closer. "Which one am I riding today?"

"This beautiful girl here is for you." Jack patted the shoulder of the palomino next to him. "Her name is Buttercup, she's a nice, easy ride. Responsive. You need a hand up into the saddle?"

"Probably," you admitted, eyeing the distance carefully. "It's, uh, been a while." 

Jack chuckled and nodded. "C'mon over here," he murmured, motioning you over closer. "You're gonna put your foot in my hands, and I'll help boost you up. Grab the saddle too, that's the way. You ready?"

You hesitated, foot in the air above his linked hands. "You sure this is fine?"

Jack chuckled. "I'm sure. Darlin', I've boosted Tequila up many a time. You're no trouble." 

"Tequila?" You asked, even as you rested your foot on his linked hands, your hands grasping the saddle. 

"Up we go." Jack boosted you up, and you squeaked and scrambled the rest of the way into the saddle. "He's the one who helped you out with the fire, and reported the heat non-functional." 

"Oh." You settled in the saddle, tucking your feet into the stirrups. 

"How do those feel?" Jack tapped your ankle gently, gaze assessing. 

"A little long, maybe?"

"Lift this foot out, I'll fix it for you." Jack winked at you, stepping closer. "Good girl." He smirked as your heart fluttered and adjusted the stirrup for you with deft movements, getting the adjustment done quickly before he moved to the other side. "There. How's it feel now?" 

"Good." You tested your weight against the stirrups and nodded. "Definitely better." 

"Good." Jack took a step back and smirked. "You look good there, darlin'." He patted Buttercup's neck before striding over to his own horse. One foot went in the stirrup and he lifted himself up and onto the saddle like it was nothing. 

"So, who are you riding today?" You asked, to cover up your absolute flustered over watching him. "Westley?"

"Nah, he's actually out on trail right now. This here is Inigo." Jack patted his horse's neck, grinning. 

You laughed. "Well, that's good enough. Do you have a Fezzick too?"

"Oh yeah. Big draft mix, we don't take him out on trail rides as often. But he did help us move the downed tree yesterday." Jack smirked and nudged his horse into a walk, leading the way out of the barn. 

"Are all the horses named after The Princess Bride?" You asked curiously, hardly paying attention to the ride for now. 

"Nah. We've got a bunch'a different names. All pop culture, though. I've got a few horses names after characters from Labyrinth." Jack glanced back at you. "Not my idea, Ginger did it." 

"I love Labyrinth," you admitted with a grin. "It's so much fun. And David Bowie." 

Jack laughed, shaking his head a little and tipping his hat against the glare of the early morning sun. "True," he admitted. "You can see where the trail ride goes off to the right there," he pointed out, motioning to the ground. "Their ride takes about an hour and a half. We, however, will be going this way." He turned Inigo to the left, and Buttercup followed. 

"We're going off on our own adventure?" You asked, surprised. 

"Mmhm." Jack sounded pleased. "Trust me, you'll get better views going this way. It's not a hard ride, but it is a longer one, which is why we generally don't bring people out this way." 

"Sounds like fun." You smiled, leaning back a little in the saddle. 

The silence between the two of you was comfortable, easy. And you didn't mind it. The quiet gave you a chance to listen to the world around you, taking in the nature and the beauty. And it was beautiful - though you hadn't gone far yet, you couldn't see any buildings in sight at all, and everything was lush and green. Sunlight sparkled off the remaining morning frost. 

"Lake or forest?" Jack called back to you, half-turning in his saddle to look at you. 

"Um." You blinked, unprepared for a choice, and bit your lower lip. "Forest."

"You got it, sugar." Jack faced forward again and nudged Inigo into a faster walk, turning him just slightly. Buttercup followed her companion without any prompting from you, which you honestly kind of loved. "You been out this way before?"

"Not much," you admitted. "I've been to the town before, for a couple days trips, but I've never stayed in the area. Honestly I didn't even know the ranch was out here until I was looking for a vacation spot."

"Well, I'm glad you found us." Jack looked over his shoulder to wink at you. "There's a lot of good things out here. The views, the quiet, the horses… the company."

You warmed again, tugging at the collar of your jacket briefly. You were quickly learning that this man was an outrageous flirt. "Yes, I'm learning that." 

Jack chuckled. "You have any plans for later today?"

You shook your head. "I intentionally didn't make any plans, figured it would be better to see what I felt up to doing after the riding." 

Jack nodded, tipping his hat up to scratch at his forehead. "Well, if you're amenable, I'd be happy to show you 'round a bit more," he offered. 

"We'll see how I feel after we get back," you hedged carefully. He seemed fun, but realistically, you knew next to nothing about him. And after Todd… well. You needed some time, that's all. You weren't ready to just jump into something. 

"'Course," he agreed easily. "Ah, look up ahead. We're gettin' close to my favorite spot." 

You looked around and smiled. The trees were growing thicker together now, most of them rapidly losing their leaves to the cold, leaving a brown carpet of dead leaves around. "This is beautiful," you agreed softly. 

"All part of our property," Jack told you. "The ranch owns a lot of the surrounding land, so we've got plenty of space to roam." 

"How did you get into this?" You asked, nudging Buttercup a bit faster so you pulled up even with Jack. It was easier to talk this way. 

"I've been working here for years, bought the place when the previous owner decided to retire." Jack shrugged. "He still comes 'round and visits, especially at holiday times." 

"Oh that sounds nice." You smiled. "I bet you get a lot of people just after Christmas." 

Jack shook his head, glancing over at you. "Nah, we close down, actually. You're one of the last to check out. Not a lot of people wanna go riding when there's more than an inch or two of snow on the ground, easier for us to just close for a coupl'a months." 

"Oh." You shifted in the saddle, chewing on your lower lip. "Do you stay here? For the holidays?"

"Sure do." Jack shrugged. "This is home, now. Don't have much family, so might as well stay and take care of the herd." He patted his horse's neck. 

Your heart clenched in sympathy, even though your holiday plans were… lacking. "Well, I'm glad you're open at least this long. It's way prettier here than at home." 

"Oh?" Jack smiled encouragingly at you. 

"The shops are all decked out, of course, but we don't have any snow. And when we do get snow, it turns gray and slushy within a day." You made a face. You had opinions about that awful gray slush. 

"Ah yes, the slush. Don't miss that about living in the city." 

"It's pretty gross." You hesitated for a moment. You didn't usually share, and definitely not with handsome cowboys you were pretty sure you were crushing on, but… "I didn't put up any decorations at home. So all the decorations in the main house are extra nice to me. Super pretty." 

"Thanks. I don't do much of it, Ginger kinda takes that over. I tried one year and she called me hopeless and redid it." 

You laughed quietly, grinning. "Really?"

"Really." Jack grinned. "Swore she'd take over if I tried to do the decorating again." 

At that, you tipped your head back and laughed. It felt good to laugh like that. Honestly, you felt like you hadn't really laughed since before the fiasco with Todd. Grinning, you looked over at Jack, catching his wide smile and sparkling eyes. "Well, we can't have that." 

"No indeed." Jack pulled Inigo to a halt, and you followed suit a moment later. "Now, this is one of my favorite spots. It's real pretty in the fall, when the trees have turned, but it's still a good spot." 

You looked around, already smiling, and had to agree. The trees formed a natural semi-circle, with leaves and twigs littering the ground, along with some small bushy plants. Sunlight shone off the remaining frost and water on the trees, making the whole area sparkle. 

"Oh wow." You turned slowly in the saddle to look around more. "This is beautiful. I bet it's gorgeous with fresh snow, too." 

"Mmhm. Maybe we'll get some snow and you can see for yourself." 

You smiled at the thought. "Maybe. We'll have to wait and see." 

Jack sat quietly, letting you look your fill until you nodded to him that you were ready to go. Then he clicked and nudged Inigo on again, once again taking the lead through the trees. 

"There's a stream up here," he told you. "Feeds into the lake I mentioned earlier. We'll go a little ways beyond that, then loop around back to the main trail and head back. Sound good?"

"Sounds good," you agreed, resting one hand on the pommel of the saddle, reins loose in your hand. 

"Can I ask you somethin'?" Jack called back after several minutes of quiet riding. You had been busy taking in the views and the air and the quiet sounds of nature around you. 

"Sure." You turned your attention back to him. 

"How come you're here alone? Don't often see people by themselves." 

You sighed. You'd known this would come up eventually, one way or another. "I was going to come out with my ex," you told him, speaking carefully, like the words might bite you. "But things ended poorly, so here I am." 

"I'm sorry." He glanced back at you over his shoulder.

"Not your fault," you assured him. "Besides, I made the choice to come." 

"I'm glad you did." Jack turned to look at you, and you warmed. Again. This was becoming far too frequent around this man. 

"I'm getting there, too." You smiled. "Now that I'm warmer and am getting to go riding."

Jack chuckled. "Oh don't worry, darlin', there's plenty more riding to be done." He faced forward again. 

Which was a good thing, because you were pretty sure your jaw dropped. Oh this man. This man was absolutely outrageous. 

You kind of loved it, even though it also made you very flustered. 

The rest of the ride was quiet. Jack glanced back at you every so often, but didn't ask anything else. Which was fine. The ride was very pleasant, and reminded you just how much you loved riding. 

Jack dismounted first outside the barn, holding Buttercup's reins so you could get down too. 

"Thank you." You smiled at him. "For all of this, really. I appreciate it."

"It really is my pleasure, sugar." Jack smiled. "I'll be around all day. Come find me in the main house, or ask for me, if you want to do anything else, or need any suggestions." 

"I will." You stepped away from him and Buttercup carefully, stumbling just a little. Jack shifted, leaning closer, one hand reaching out, but you recovered. And ducked your head, a little embarrassed, even as you walked away. 

You ended up back in your cabin to grab your book. But you stopped there. Because you needed a minute to sit and think. 

You'd had a lot of fun on the ride with Jack. With anyone else, you wouldn't worry about it too much. Sure, it had been fun, but you only had a few days left here. 

But Jack was clearly a flirt, and handsome, and you liked him. You could very easily see that turning into something more, given an opportunity. 

And you couldn't. You just couldn't. Todd had been bad for you, hadn't been out of your life for very long yet, you weren't ready for anything more yet. You weren't. 

But your damn heart was thinking about it, thinking of the fall but not the landing. 

You resolved to talk yourself out of this craziness. You didn't need it in your life. You needed time to yourself and stability. You were absolutely not going to fall for the charming, handsome cowboy.

[peachywritesstuff]

Ok so I said that i was gonna be on a hiatus but I just wanna speak some more since I woke up to more stuff so one here and on Twitter. I'm just gonna use my blog to talk about this more. Again, my messages are open but state your opinion kindly as I am stating mine and my status.

Being neutral means that you are in the middle. You are seeing both sides of the story but in this case we only know one side, the victims. Some of yall are reslly quick to throw around the word rapist apologist when people just wanna stay neutral and wait for his side. Sorry that some people don't wanna go off of Twitter and wait for a official statement. And I'm sorry it makes them seem like heartless beings but that are being neutral

NEUTRAL:not helping or supporting either side in a conflict, disagreement, etc.; impartial.

Some of yall are being w e i r d for saying people who are neutral are defending him and are delusional and blind like what??? Sorry that some people want to wait and hear Percy's side before debating anything. Yes there is 'evidence' but quite frankly as i said in my last post it all seems thrown together. And one person doesn't want to release more evidence because its scary and he is a celebrity but also wants people to share and repost it?? Hate to be that type of person but its too late for that now so you might as well release ALL of the evidence ao everyone can see it. What's the point of keeping the evidence to yourself?? That confuses me. NEUTRAL people are not helping,yes they hear them and their thoughts are with them but they are not going around saying how Percy belongs behind bars,or saying anything about Percy. They are just simply pointing stuff out.

We haven't heard shit from nobody on Percy's side. People are taking his silence for guilt but people can't seem to use their noggins and put together that his social media is out of his hands now. Yes he is an asshole we know that now, he said a slur we know that now, he played with a girl's heart we know that, the sa part is where things are iffy.

Everytime I go on Twitter and there is something else that has been added and then another part not adding up. THIS is all we got ok guys? TWITTER is all we got. And one person doesn't even want to release more evidence. TWITTER is what we will have for a few days which sucks because Twitter is becoming a hot mess EVERYTHING IS A HOT MESS! So some of yall can not blame people for being neutral. Because on Twitter everything is become iffy.

Some of yall think they are ignoring the victims. Which is not the case. They are acknowledge their stories and experiences BUT they are also acknowledgeing their own OPINIONS. Idk if some of yall like to hear this but weather you like it or not but...SOME STUFF DONT ADD UP!! Which is why they are waiting for the OFFICIAL STATEMENT. That's not a bad thing at all. Some of yall just throwing the word racist apologist around with ease when people just genuinely don't want to pick sides until both sides have statements. Some people don't want to follow things from Twitter or dont feel comfortable taking the information from an App where things are known to be.... off, and THATS FINE!!!

I mean I don't blame them at all. I myself is neutral and everything is just a mess. Let's just accept that we are not going to change people's opinions on the matter but they ARE allowed to voice it and it's your decision if you want to interact with it. As i said before, some stuff aint adding up so people are waiting for Percy's side. Nothing wrong with that at all. I'm tired of people calling other people who are remaining neutral awful names for not automatically going on the victims side. Stop calling people heartless or rapist apologist just because they haven't picked a side. Because they are remaining NEUTRAL. Not everybody is taking the situation the same way and some of yall are gonna have to respect that and not blow up when they don't have the same opinions or status as other people do.

People WILL have their opinions and their own status on where they stand and no matter how wrong it looks or how stupid it sounds you can not change it.

[trashpandacraft]

when we last saw our hero (me, in this instance), they had just run out of photos on their sheep and wool post because apparently the accursed tumblr app has a ten-photo limit. fear not, though, because now i'm on my actual computer!

so: bendigo sheep and wool pt ii: the fibre!!

i bought a couple silk hankies, because i've never spun one before and it sounded fun, and they were cheap. couldn't find any undyed, alas, but surely someone on the internet does that, right?

i also bought some dyed mulberry silk. i've got some tussah that i'm going to dye, but these were pretty and relatively inexpensive, and i'm a sucker.

aaaaaand then i bought some sari silk, which i've never used before! several of you have been doing some gorgeous stuff with sari silk recently, though, and i'm a copycat, so here we are.

i have no idea why my phone decided that all of these needed to have ~depth~ added to the shots, but i'm not hauling all of this out again, so here we are. you get the vibe.

i also got a little coil of bamboo fibre, because i've never spun bamboo on its own before. (i don't know if i'll actually spin this on its own or if i'll blend it, but now i have the option!)

i also got a thing of optim fibre (incredibly poorly formatted post from 2011, but explanatory), which i've never used before—it's merino that's been processed to stretch it out, making it even finer and softer. it's sort of weird to touch—it feels more like silk or created fibres than it does wool, but it seemed like it would be fun to try.

moving on to even more exciting stuff, we bought some castledale top. castledale isn't a breed yet, but is being developed as one, and i've heard that it's a delight to spin.

obviously it was important that we get both the plain and the kind with silk in it.

and, see, that was important because we hadn't yet done the most exciting thing we did all weekend, which was finding some gorgeous, affordable, locally made hand combs!

if you're in australia and want fibre tools, you should absolutely check out their website, and honestly, even if you're not, the shipping might be worth it. they were so, so nice, and the tools we got there are just gorgeous. (they're less yellow than this, in person, but my phone doesn't play nicely with the purple light in my bedroom at eleven p.m.)

we ended up getting mini combs, because as we were talking, the guy who makes them noticed my heavily kt-taped wrist and pointed out that the mini combs are less wear on your wrists, which sold me.

they also had some wonderfully designed lazy kates, which will hopefully let me avoid ever having to do this again.

the cleverest part is that it flat packs—the bobbin holders just lift out, and the orifice (it has an orifice!!) is held in place by the little screw up front. the tension is controlled by turning the knob, just like on a spinning wheel.

can't say enough about what lovely people they were, and i'm so excited to have enough fine motor control that it feels safe to assemble the cards. this weekend, hopefully.

and you might be thinking 'ok but are you just like...using those for blending?' and the answer would be no!! because we also bought these!

i went in thinking 'oh, i'm going to get something that's not an incredibly fine wool,' but like...what was i thinking? we're in australia. the only thing anyone produces here is fine wools! which isn't at all a complaint, because this looks gorgeous. so we got 1.5 kilos of corrie, and 1.7 of a bond/merino cross. the cross in particular looks absolutely stunning, and i cannot wait to start playing with them.

the rather elderly (80-ish?) woman working at the north east yarns booth gave us a lengthy talk about spinning in the grease, which i might try. one of the really interesting things to me here was that i've only ever looked at raw fleeces in the northeastern us before now, where the weather concerns are...uh, somewhat different? these fleeces don't have the dirt that i've seen on raw fleece before, just dusty bits—they're almost more like what i would associate with alpaca with regards to actual dirt/vm, but with bonus lanolin. so that's a nice bonus, and makes the idea of spinning in the grease was less offputting. (yes, i know that you can buy cleaner fleeces in the united states, too, and you can coat your sheep or have dry weather or whatever, but that's not an experience that i personally have had.)

this concludes (mostly) the list of things i bought at sheep and wool (also i bought slippers), and illustrates both why i cannot be trusted and also incredible restraint on my part.

[delicris]

lavender

july 18th | grass | 766 words | for @jegulus-microfic

warnings for depiction of anxious thoughts and behaviour

--

Okay, the thing is… he and Regulus have been dating for quite some time, but James is still nervous. Regulus makes him nervous, and he doesn’t want him to think that he’s some overbearing mother rather than his partner, but they're going on a picnic later today, and James doesn’t know what to bring with him. What if he has some allergies? What if it starts raining? It shouldn’t; he’s already checked the weather app multiple times, but what if? He’s picked this quite pretty meadow, a grass field full of different flowers and herbs to collect because Reg likes those and whatever Reg likes James treasures. What if they run out of beverages?

James looks at the basket that’s already overflowing with food, drinks, and every single thing they could possibly need, it even has a little first aid kit. His brows furrow in concentration, going through every item he’s added so far, making sure he hasn't missed anything.

“You’re going to drive yourself crazy, James.”

Oh, that’s right. He looks up at the voice, Regulus sitting on James’s bed and no longer reading the book he’s brought along--this time it’s one of Čapek’s plays. There’s a slight smile playing on his face and the look in his eyes is gentle, comforting. James starts fiddling with his hands from where he’s standing awkwardly in the middle of his room and lets out a short sheepish laugh.

“I just—I want you to like this,” he says while not being able to think much about what’s coming out of his mouth. "Because like…" an agitated breath and then a quick, “do you have any allergies?” He can hear the scared edge of his own voice cutting through his nerves. Regulus’s eyebrows rise a little bit, almost in an amused way before he shines James one of those bright smiles which have now started to creep up to his face a lot more often. Just that almost makes James forget his worries. Almost.

“Do you have any star fruit in there?”

Oh.

“No? I—fuck, did you want some? Should I get us some? I can run to the shop down the street and look there—"

“James—"

“—if they have some. I can call someone and ask if they have some. I’m sorry Reg, it must’ve slipped my mind or something, I don’t know. It’s—if you don’t want to go, that’s okay, I get it—”

“James!” It’s not often Regulus raises his voice in any capacity, and it makes James shut his mouth in an instant. He’s standing now and his face looks more alarmed than angry, but at this point, he doesn’t think he can trust his own ability to be right about anything. Fuck, he really did forget about the one thing Regulus told him he wants, didn’t he? How can he be so fucking incompetent, he thought he had it all, but apparently, he can’t even do this one thing right. He turns his body towards the basket and starts slowly unpacking it.

“Wait, wait, wait, what are you doing?” Regulus asks as he crouches rights next to him. James can feel his own hands stilling and his eyes beginning to water. “I don’t want these to go bad,” his voice comes out as this thick whisper, almost like he’s choking on it.

It takes Regulus a few seconds and then he’s speaking, his tone collected and warm, not angry or mocking, “You asked me if I’m allergic to anything, right? I’m allergic to star fruit, but obviously, you won’t have any because it’s difficult to get around here. It was just a joke, love.” And then, “I’m sorry I made you spiral like this.”

And so, they pick themselves up, take that large and heavy basket with them and finally get out of the house. Regulus lets James talk about how he feels when these accidents happen, how he often gets into his head and how it always seems like he’s just disappointed the entire world. And Reg makes sure to hold his hand and listen, sometimes jumping in when he feels like his partner is getting trapped in his thoughts again. The picnic is lovely, the weather stays beautiful, the sun shining through the white fluffy sheep-looking clouds occasionally. And if they run out of food to eat and beverages to drink, it’s because they never run out of things to talk about. And if the cold creeps upon the dreamy meadow and they stay a bit longer anyways, it’s because their love keeps them warm.

[gliyerabaa]

For fanfic writer asks: 8 and 17 :D

8. What projects are you currently working on?

Ahhhh i LOVE getting to talk about my projects!!!!!!!! <3

Per Aspera Ad Astra: Also known as the kansas au, this has been my pride and joy over the past 4 1/2 years. The premise of the fic is essentially capturing the experience of growing up queer in rural america. I've posted 23 chapters but I have the entire fic outlined, it's just a matter of writing it. I'm probably about halfway to two-thirds way done with the fic. It's been a beast but like I said earlier, it really is my pride and joy

Thank Goodness (smutfic series): Currently only a oneshot but I plan to add one or two more installments in the series. What I intended to be a quick, slightly smutty character study on Glinda accidentally turned into 6k of messy, raw gelphie smut. Definitely my best interpretation of the canon gelphie dynamic, both in terms of emotional dynamics and how that carries over into the smut. I'm really proud of this fic, it's definitely getting a sequel and maybe even a part 3

untitled gelphie 'wedding' series: this one is still a true WIP. I was reading a few scholarly journals about queer themes in the stage version of Wicked and how it both adheres to and subverts typical midcentury theatre tropes. For example, so many 'traditional' musicals end in the marriage of the two leads, and 'For Good' can be seen as the fulfillment of that trope when viewed through a queer lens. I adored that analysis and it's inspired me to create a sort of miniseries exploring those themes a little more. it's a fun idea, and I have some outline framework going, we'll see if anything comes of it

17. What's something you've learned about while doing research for a fic?

Honestly, I haven't done a ton of research for Wicked fics due to the fictional nature of the world. Years and years ago I wrote a lot of Frozen fics so I had done a lot of extensive research on Norwegian/Scandinavian culture.

WAIT no duh, I've done SO MUCH research for Per Aspera Ad Astra!!!!!!!!!!! Including:

researching different high schools in Kansas (to come up with ideas for a mascot for the fictional Tri-City high school)

learning the state motto of Kansas (it's Ad Astra Per Aspera, which I stole and rearranged for my fic title, and I think I'm so clever for that)

also the state flower of Kansas is the sunflower and the state bird is the western meadowlark and the state mammal is the bison but those have yet to be relevant to the story

deep dives into the climate and weather patterns in Kansas (I have a tab saved on my phone's weather app for a city in Kansas in the approximate location I imagine the fictional town of Shiz to be. I check it regularly)

about three different drafts for the Road Trip in chapters 20 onwards. like extensive planning of how long to drive, where to stop, etc. etc.

research into radio stations in Western Colorado for That One Scene in ch. 20

extensive research into colleges in California, including which ones have good architecture programs since it's canon in this fic that Glinda is an architecture nerd

[doodles-bi-tea]

I saw that your request and just saw that you write for Mythic Quest so here we go.

Brad and the reader work at HQ and have a fairly cordial relationship (I mean we are talking about brad what do you expect), that day they both stayed late to work, Brad because he always does and the reader because they are waiting for the rain to stop a bit, they usually walks to work and that morning the weather app didn't say it was going to rain, so they didn't take an umbrella. Even though they waited so long the rain hasn't stopped and it's getting worse. Brad asks the reader why they doesn't go home, they tells him what's going on, and he offers to give them a lift, something very uncommon for Brad to be cordial but what other option is left for the reader (I know is really cliche but I want some comfort, fluff -slightly annoying- Brad).

When they get in his card he lets them put them music, so they feel more comfortable, while the reader was doing it, a notification of the weather app shows up that says to be careful driving on the road, which makes the reader worried that something is going to happen to brad when he drops her off at their house, and he has to go to his alone (does that make any sense?) so in the end Brad, to stop the argument, tells them that if they are so worried they can spend the night at his house that he has a guest room, obviously they accepts the proposal, and they go on their way to the house.

Once there, they realise that the electricity has gone out because of the storm, but they solve it with some candles that he has there. Then Brad shows them where the bathroom is in case they want to take a shower and the guest room, he gives them a change of clothes so that they will be comfortable at bedtime (it's his clothes duh) and he goes to put on comfortable clothes and prepare dinner, after getting out of the shower the reader goes to the kitchen and sees that Brad has everything ready, and they start to eat dinner. While they have dinner by candlelight they have a conversation and the reader sees that deep down he is not so bad, he just has his reasons and realizes that they might be developing a crush on him. After that each one goes to his room to sleep. The reader because of his fear of the dark added to the thunder of the storm can't sleep and ends up deciding to go and ask Brad if he can give them a candle to put in the room (let's ignore the mobile flash light or let's say it's so the battery doesn't runs out) but there is a sudden thunder and the reader jumps a lil’ bit so he offers to sleep in the his bed and put some candles in his room, and they end up cuddling and falling asleep.

Aaaaaand that's it, it's really cliche but I have been having trouble sleeping because of nightmares and my fear of the dark doesn't really help, I also added the storm because it's so freaking hot where I live and I miss winter so much. I hope you understand everything English isn't my first language 😅

Thank you beforehand I really like your works and sorry if it's too long of an ask, summarizing is not my forte and feel comfortable skipping if you don’t like it.

-🌱🫖

OMG ANON I LOVE THISSSS!! ty for such a detailed description, I’ll try to write this to the best of my ability :) it will take a little bit but in the mean time have this silly little gif of brad being sassy that I found while getting clips for an edit

UPDATE: the product!

[hggaragedoors]

Garage Door Opener & Springs: Essential Services In Newark

Living or operating a store in Newark has its responsibilities that come with the ownership and one area that is often neglected is the garage door system. A functional door gives security to the garage but at the same time, it serves as added convenience. It is made up of the Garage Door Opener Newark and the garage door springs which are significant parts of this system. Basics about such problems as well as knowing when to seek professional help is very important if you are in Newark or facing such challenges. What Are The Garage Door Openers? A Garage Door Opener Newark is ideal in its own right, depending on the degree of noise level tolerance, the durability and overall, the cost factor. Some garage door openers are: • Chain-Driven Openers: These are also very long-lasting and sometimes cost even lower as compared to fibre-reinforced plastics. However such Garage Door Opener Newark is noisy, which may not suit best if the garage is located right within the house.

• Belt-Driven Openers: These are less noisy than the chain-driven ones, but normally will be a little more expensive.

• Screw-Driven Openers: These are in between fast and noisy but they appear to provide more or less sound and speed proportionate to the other two categories. For instance, in Newark, many homeowners are investing in smart Garage Door Opener Newark that can be controlled using a Smartphone and come with a monitoring feature. Some of these models can be operated through an app downloaded from a Smartphone, thus making them easier to operate and secure to use. However, similar to any other mechanical system, garage door openers are bound to experience some problems. Issues are as simple as the door not opening fully or closing completely, new sounds coming from the garage, and failure of remotes to work properly, among others. For instance, when such issues occur it is important to solve them as early as possible. Inadequate openers are a security issue and a source of uneasiness for the homeowner since it will be an added problem in their day-to-day lives. What Does The Garage Door Springs Do? Garage door springs or the garage door opener is the control centre. Without springs it means the opener is immobile and can in any way open the door to the car. • Torsion Springs: These are common types that are located above the garage door and are wound tight to create rotational force. They are known to have a longer lifespan than the extension springing and they are more easy to operate.

• Extension Springs: They are fitted on both sides of the door and extend to give the lifting capacity. It can be identified that overall, they are cheaper variants but might bear a higher frequency of replacement. It is important especially in Newark since the weather changes frequently so the garage door springs may deteriorate faster. This is due to the fluctuating climatic conditions where extreme cold is followed by extremely hot weather which normally affects the metal springs through a process known as expansion and contraction and this may lead to breakages. One should ensure he or she takes the Garage Door Springs Newark for a routine examination by a professional. Only when the symptoms have progressed to a point of endangering the life of the people involved or when the condition has become unbearable to manage. This is especially dangerous when you’re facing a faulty garage door opener or broken springs and so on when you attempt to fix it yourself. Garage doors are heavy, the Garage Door Springs Newark are normally under a lot of tension and therefore handling them poses several dangers. So, if you live in Newark or you can reach it, and you are suffering from any garage door problems, don’t wait and seek expert help. Most of the local firms indeed offer their services in garage door opener and Garage Door Springs Newark services. They will see to it that what was wrong with the system is corrected and most importantly, ensure that the system will run optimally for the longest time.

That is why the garage door’s opener and Garage Door Springs Newark are an important part that needs close attention and maintenance. To the Newark residents, such parts should be in proper working condition and will afford a sense of security to your property. If it is a new system you would like to install or if there is a mistake with the existing one, get the solution from the experts to make sure your garage door is in good condition.

[nelweensfic]

Always with you

Chapter 1 : Introduction to a boring day

“Yes, sir. The green spots in your concrete are totally normal,” I say to the phone for the third time in less than five minutes. “It’s almost spring and the cold weather and the rain are the perfect conditions for algae to start growing. Once the temperatures get warmer and the sun shines more often, you should be able to just brush the algae off with a broom.” 

I start drawing on an empty post-it note on my desk, waiting for the man to stop yapping at the other end of the line. I hate finishing work late and being the one to close the office. Since I’m the only one left, I get a lot of weird guys on the phone.

“If you want someone else’s opinion, sir, I would recommend you to call back tomorrow. I’m sure one of my colleagues could help you with a technical solution to your problem because this is not my area,” I continue and this time the person sounds in a better mood. “Thank you, sir. Have a great evening.” 

I put the phone back with a sigh and keep drawing. My own phone lays on my desk next to me. It’s unlocked with the Discord app open on a recent message I sent. 

[Me] : Are you free for a game tonight?

It’s the message I sent to Maeva over an hour ago. I usually don’t mind her not replying quickly. She could be busy with another gaming session to train for the Spring Championship coming in two months, but it’s been three days since we last talked and I already miss playing with her. 

I look at the clock. Five thirty-four. There’s still another twenty-six minutes left before I can leave to go home. It’s been calm today so I don’t have much left to do, except for continuing my little drawing of the Vulpir from the game Dragonitia. 

Dragonitia is a multiplayer online battle arena game, also known as a Moba. It’s a five versus five game. Each champion of the team fights in a different part of the map, with four different paths called lanes. There is the top lane, the mid lane, the bottom or bot lane and then the lane called the Jungle. There, you have to kill monsters in the rest of the map instead of minions or other players. 

Maeva and I have been playing the game for maybe nine or ten years now. She’s good at it. So good that she joined a professional team five years ago called the Dragons in Pyjamas or DiP for short. They’ve been the third best European team for two years now. She’s living her dream. Our dream.

Ping. 

The sound of notification on my phone echoes around the room. My eyes immediately look at my phone screen, a hopeful feeling filling my chest. Unfortunately, it’s not a message from Maeva. Instead, it’s from Justin, Maeva’s coach, who is also an online friend of mine. 

I sigh, not even trying to hide my disappointment as I read the message.

[Justin] : Mae is going out with us tonight. We’re celebrating our win! 

Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that. I vaguely remember her talking about an upcoming scrim against the number two team in Europe. A scrim is a way to play against other teams without being ranked or judged. It’s a practice moment where the players can test new strategies and learn other ways to play with new members of the team. It doesn't matter who wins or loses, but a victory is always rewarding.

Dragonitia is really becoming more popular and serious compared to when we all started playing it.  

[Me] : Congrats coach! Though, tell her that I want to play with her again soon, too. I need my support player!! 

My main role in the game is a Carry AD, or ADC for short. I mostly deal physical damage from a distance. Though I also always need a support character, usually one that can heal or one that does crowd control to help me out. 

Maeva is a support player. We’ve always played together since the beginning using the bottom lane. It’s what we call a duo lane, where two characters fight another two characters of an opposing team. The midlane and the toplane are both solo lanes, where you only have one versus one matches. 

I prefer playing Dragonitia with Maeva because playing with a random support is always uneasy. 

Suddenly, I hear another notification on my phone.

[Justin] : Hey! Maeva’s a pro. She has obligations. You should become a pro gamer, too!

I pout as I read Justin’s last message even if no one can see me, before I reply again. 

[Me] : Two girls in the same team? Do you want to lose credibility? 

Being a girl in the gaming industry is hard. I envy Maeva a lot. She’s tough enough to have a job there. But I’m not like her… 

[Justin] : I know you don’t like your job, Ruby. Plus, you’ll see Maeva more often. You guys are childhood friends, no? 

I hate it when Justin is right. Yes, I despise my job. Why would anyone like to spend eight hours a day with a manager who expects you to do more work than you’re actually paid for and who constantly complains that you’re too introverted to talk to clients face to face? 

I sigh again. Unfortunately, I don’t have the required skills to be a pro gamer. I’m only ranked as a Master. The required level to be a pro gamer, however, is Challenger. Besides, Maeva is the only person I play regularly with, and even then, it’s barely two hours a day at most…

I turn back to my phone, typing out my reply, trying to not sound touched by his words.

[Me] : Doesn’t mean I want to play under your supervision ;)

After several minutes without a reply, I put my phone back down and go back to my little drawing. Justin must be busy with his team right now. 

Just then, the phone rings again. Slightly reluctant, I pick up, greeting the person on the other side with a faux-happy voice. I can’t wait for the weekend to start. And hopefully I can play a game or two with Maeva, too.

Edit : chapter 2 here!

[wykwryt]

playing through oxenfree and i think i'm finding new additions (or at least new to me. possibly for the netflix edition specifically?), keeping a record here, will edit:

[indicates some sound, action, whatever] {indicates distorted audio i'm not sure about}

104.5 @ beacon beach at the top of the stairs to the adler estate before going to the caves (10pm? also 11pm.): okay, it's on. status? or statuses? two seconds... boom on. i think i got it. it's uh flashing? it shouldn't be. then i think i don't got it. that's uh it's a safety thing, just press- [interrupted] the red button yup got it, we're good. pressing mine. is this safe? i hope not. [alarm] is it raining for you guys? nope. no. there's a drizzle... whatever. my weather app said there was like a 10% chance [thunder] whoa! everyone okay? that wasn't near me. me neither. i'm okay. are you okay? [static, thunder] s-shut up both of- [voices? whispering? swirling?] what's happening over there? take her out. i'll tell you all about it. just stay tuned everyone. [end]

107 @ harden tower right after waking up (11pm): {a blink? i tried and pressed 30 point.} over. what happened? what happened? where did everybody go? {the ??? is} keeping the portal closed. it's not working yet. we're not. we're not getting through. .. .... ..... . ..... . . .... . . .... ... . .... ...... (idk morse code man) [end tone] -> this one makes the radio glow a little when you get to it.

103.3 @ harden tower (11pm): some funky ass distorted voicing. very creepy.

105 @ the very top of harden tower BEFORE interacting with tower things (11pm): recording. attempt 4 successfully. 60 and 6 degrees, eh jesus who cares. it worked. i'm staring at everything we ever wanted. the looks aren't everything. i'm stepping inside. no you are not! we decided- one foot in. no, no, no! oh my god. guys relax it's [distorted repeat x2: guys relax it's...] wait, wait! [end] -> oh my god i think all this new stuff has to do with lost signals. i think they said they added new stuff having to do with it.

101 @ out on the edge by the sentry in epiphany fields (11pm): {last night i had a nightmare. ????????? blood from the sky make the planet shine. blood on the dirt makes the planet shine. drizzle. whatever. agreement. how did it get here? hello? hello! can anyone hear me. blood from the skies make the planet shine. blood on the dirt makes the planet shine. if i'm... sorry we couldn't- are you two mobile? i'm just waiting for a monkey to pop out. no. nope. [noises] oh my god. all alone/i'm alone. [noise of something winding down... the end]} <- this one's super distorted, may be very incorrect. also lost signals prolly.

106 @ beacon beach by the campfire (11pm): i know where to go. no more hopes, no more dreams. bad or otherwise. i know where to go, how to get there, and what's inside. we're making one more deal. you know how mine work. you keep listening and that's your name, written in red right next to mine. so if you're interested, don't be surprised... when things get bloody. still there? good. i'm not lost anymore. i don't need to be found. so when i'm gone, be happy for me. that's the deal. please. let me be happy. i'm not lost. [end] <- lost signals? wondering about those cult kids since we're at the beach. i think this is the same girl from the end of 104.5.

noting this twitter thread for hints on all the lost signals messages. yep the new stuff i'm finding is showing up in these vids. total of 8? yes i know i'm over a whole year late in looking for this stuff, how has it already been nearly two years since the announcement jesus.

107 @ the beginning of towhee grove (11pm) (huh, maybe i wasn't supposed to hear this one before, it sounds a little clearer now. radios still glows a lil): i'm at uh, a bridge? a sign says charity point. over. what happened? what happened? where did everybody go? the {????} is keeping the portal closed. it's not working then, we're not, we're not getting through. … . . - …- . - --. --. .- …- --.--.--. (guessing at the morse code ://////)

based on several tries listening (a compilation: … . . - …- . - --. --. .- …- --.--.--. // … . . -. // . …. . - --. // … . . - -.. -. - --. ---. - ---. --.--.--.) and putting it through a translator, something about seeking something? i'll look up someone's youtube video compilation of all of these eventually for answers

92 @ towhee grove (12pm): i just don't remember this random wind

92.7 @ the camp grounds at the top by the edge of the cairn (gotta really stand at the edge to hear properly, i stood listening to shitty audio for ages like an idiot) (12pm): okay, you've had a minute. i don't know, it was really dark... i felt red light... i don't know. i don't know what i saw either. really? you were there for so long. i don't know, okay? i don't know and i'm not going to know until we try again. what?! i- ugh, {???} i'm not done talking! i thought the problem was voltage, {and} i thought right, {let me/and when we} get more equipment, i'll- I'M NOT. DONE! {jeeper girl!} whatever it was, whatever i... whatever we saw, if it was anything, it was close. we're going to get closer. we are not done climbing. that's the deal, take it or break it. you guys know it. how pathetic is it if i say it's all i have left? the most pathetic... but here we are, time to be the most pathetic. just stop. blood from the sky makes the planet shine. blood on the dirt makes the planet shine. blood in the ground makes the planet shine. [end]

93.7 @ relay point by the wishing well (12pm): why did you... nevermind. uh, yeah try again cowboy. why did i what? he wants to know why you said that thing on your tape. about not wanting to be found. so you found that huh? i mean, you did just leave it out. maybe you didn't wanna be found but you had different hopes for that tape. yeah. maybe i did. definitely you did! it doesn't matter. are we nothing to you? no. then what? 3 2 1 go!, what are we to you? so since you're saying nothing i can only guess- ok stop, just stop. i didn't think aaanyone would hear that, okay? i didn't think it would work and just. i didn't. think. i was without thinking. you're not nothing. then what? not nothing. okay. you guys should go home. what about you? i'm... going home too. [end] <- this is def riley.

ok the stuff i'm finding is not in those tweets, hunting down more night school studio tweet here: (red for stuff i've already found at this point in time, other crosses as i go)

89.1 electric fence harden tower

105.2 top of tower

97.3 epiphany fields by entrance to ft milner

101.4 the sentry

106.1 at the top of that tower in the lil town area beneath the fort

99.4 inside the fort by one of them lock posters in the middle of some stairs

93.3 inside the spooky scary room in the fort

104.2 next to building with 'he volunteered submarine' graffiti before climbing down ladder

90.2 somewhere in the woods? above the roosting tree where the grounds keeper hung himself

91.3 on the rock in the middle to hop over to the smallest cemetery beneath the cable bridge

92.4 the one by the top by the cairn

93.5 the wishing well

oh god this video's fast

104.0 at the edge of maggie adler's dock

105.0 the attic? in maggie adler's place

106.0 the campfire

107.0 by the lighthouse??

89.7 in a caption?

this list doesn't make sense with what i have unless they scrambled the numbers for just some of them. and/or switched it up since over a year ago. i am putting in an unreasonable amount of effort into chronicling this but it's fun lol, i missed this game.

[localgenius]

The Romance of the Pear 

Sorry I’ve been mia for the last couple of months! I’ve just finished high school so that has been taking up most of my focus, but in the meantime I’ve been working on this! I don’t really know what it is tbh, but I’ve enjoyed writing it and I hope that you’ll enjoy reading it!

A story about Spencer being in love with the reader, and the reader being in love with Spencer 

tw: mentions of rape, murder, horrific actions towards women, swearing

Spencer Reid x fem!reader (13.2k) (the app might crash, so it can be an idea to read on a browser!)

The sky outside of the windows was painted a gloomy grey, raindrops falling and hitting the glass of the windows, making them the only noise in the otherwise quiet office.

Y/N was sitting at her desk, her hand fiddling idly with one of her pens as she read over one of the cases she was designated to counsel on. The knitted cardigan around her shoulder helped her to not feel the impending chill from the poor weather, and her feet had abandoned the heels and had found purchase under her body on her chair.

“Good morning sunshine,” a voice pulled her eyes away from the details of horrific killings of prostitutes in the case files.

“Morning Emily,” she smiled back, feeling her mood brighten just the slightest.

“Why are you in so early on a Monday?” Emily asked as she dropped her things down by her already cluttered desk, before she made her way over to take a seat on the edge of Y/N’s desk.

“Oh, I had to talk with Knightly down at sex crimes about this case,” she pointed down at the open case file, not protesting when Emily moved to lift it up to have a look. “And he’s going to Texas at nine, so I had to come in earlier.”

“He carves hearts into their chests?” Emily asked with disgust in her voice after she placed the file back down on the desk.

“Yeah,” Y/N dragged out the word, as she leaned forward to rest her face in her hands. “But not before he rapes and sexually mutilates them. Charming fella.”

“Sounds like a real prince charming,” Emily laughed before she moved to the kitchenette.

“Good morning Prentiss, Y/L/N,” a third voice entered the conversation as Hotch made his way through the glass double doors, rain droplets decking his coat, in a way that reminded Y/N of the way flower petals looked after a storm.

“Morning sir,” Y/N smiled at him and watched him close himself into his office for the day. 

“Why hearts though,” Emily said as she came back to reclaim her spot on the edge of the desk.

“I really don’t know,” Y/N grumbled while she leaned back in her chair, “there’s the obvious correlation with love, but the way he treats them screams anything but love and affection. So, my guess is that it has something to do with the view of prostitutes and sex. You know, maybe he believes that sex is a sin, and the only right way to have sex is in marriage, and these prostitutes just throw out their love every time they’re with a new john. But I’m honestly as lost as you are.”

“That’s a good theory,” Emily bounced back, “many people do call it ‘making love’, so if the unsub thinks that the prostitutes are just selling their bodies without a care about love, he might do it to symbolize the love that they could never have.”

“Right,” Y/N was quick to scribble it down on the page as a possible motive for the signature, “thanks Em.”

“Did you know that the shape of the symbolic heart as we know it today originated in the bottom corner of a manuscript called ‘The Romance of Alexander’ dated around 1340?” a voice spoke behind them, as it moved across the room.

“Good morning Spencer,” both Y/N and Emily said, Y/N’s eyes still locked on the file she was scribbling in. “And no, I didn’t know that” Y/N said when she was done writing, letting her eyes meet his across the divider between their desks, as Emily scurried back to her own desk to avoid being a part of the incoming info dump.

“Yeah, and the first illustration of the amorous heart was in 1250 in a picture called ‘The Romance of the Pear’, where a pear, eggplant or pinecone, there is some debate, is an allegory for the heart,” he continued as he dropped his satchel by his desk and sat in his chair before turning on his monitor.

“A pear?” Y/N asked softly, letting her fingers start to mess with the pen again.

“Hm,” Spencer continued, his honey eyes meeting hers. “In western culture the pear is also a symbol of female erotic.”

“Ooh,” Derek’s voice interrupted the quiet moment, breaking the sweet gaze between the two profilers. “Female erotic, my field of expertise.” 

“Jesus,” Y/N laughed and turned away from Spencer to face Derek as he draped his jacket over the back of his swirly chair. “Have you just dropped chivalry all together now, or what?” 

“What?” Derek asked, as Emily joined in Y/N’s laughter, “I’m just being honest. What are you and pretty boy doing speaking about female erotic at 8:30 on a Monday morning anyway?”

“I was just telling Y/N the symbolism of pears,” Spencer said, not removing his eyes from the monitor, where he was checking his emails against his will.

A smile tugged on Y/N’s lips when she remembered him coming back from being called to Hotch’s office and telling her that he was being forced to get an email account by the bureau. Both Y/N and Penelope had helped him set it up, and he had countless times sheepishly asked Y/N to help him write out a reply.

“Ah yes,” Derek teased as he took a seat in his chair, “symbolism of pears. Just a regular conversation topic on this gloomy Monday morning.”

“I don’t even want to know how on earth you got around to that topic,” Rossi added when he came walking past the clutter of desks.

“It was just-“ Y/N started to explain the obscure conversation topic as Rossi moved up the short flight of stairs.

“No! Don’t wanna hear it,” Rossi called back as he closed his office door.

The four agents shared a look of amusement as they all started on their designated work for the day, the raindrops still trailing down the planes of glass of the windows.

After an hour of silence, only occasionally being interrupted by an agent coming or going or a phone call, Y/N felt herself becoming more and more disheartened by the case on her desk. After having worked at the BAU for approximately a year now, she would have thought that she would have gotten used to the evil the team faced on a daily basis. But something about this guy, ruthlessly raping and killing innocent women, hit her a bit different than she had anticipated.

Letting her feet down from her chair she put them back in her shoes before walking over to the kitchenette to make herself a cup of tea as a comforting hug.

As she stood idly twirling the spoon around in the hot water while waiting for the sugar to dissolve, she heard the signature sound of heels thumping against the floor.

“Good morning my dear angel,” Penelope greeted cheerfully as she came in with her pink octopus mug. Penelope had seemingly decided to take it upon herself to be the sun on the gloomy day; her bright yellow dress making Y/N smile and momentarily forget the case that was patiently waiting for her back at her desk.

“Good morning Pen,” Y/N said and leaned against one of the cupboards as she watched Penelope make her daily green tea. “How was your weekend?”

“Oh, it was lovely,” she exclaimed as she poured hot water into the mug, “I babysat Henry which is always a blast, and then I went shopping and I found the cutest earrings in this small shop. I have to take you at some point!” Penelope said, letting her words come out a mile a minute, only making Y/N’s heart grow lighter. 

“I would love that Pen,” Y/N said as they started to make their way back to Y/N’s desk.

“Morning baby girl,” Derek said as he swirled his chair to look at the two girls coming back.

“Morning chocolate thunder,” Penelope said as she perched herself on the edge of his desk. “What did my wonderful Captain America replica do this weekend?” 

As the two of them lost themselves in their daily flirtations Y/N made her way back to her desk, only to find the dreaded file missing from its place. She looked around confused, before seeing the familiar pictures over on Spencer’s desk, where he was writing at lightning speed.

“Spence?” Y/N asked softly, but before she could continue, he closed the file and handed it back over to her. He simply gave her a quick, tight-lipped smile before he turned back to his own mountain of paperwork.

Slowly, not taking her eyes from the genius across from her, she opened the file, and saw how he had completed the file for her. His chicken scratches took over where her handwriting had stopped. The time pressure he had been under was clear in the simple short sentences he had scrawled down at the bottom.

Before she could exclaim her gratitude, a bimble came from Penelope’s cell phone and she let out a sad sigh before getting up from her seat on Derek’s desk.

“Duty calls avengers,” she said as she moved to Hotch’s office, while the others started to go to the briefing room. 

Before Y/N could get up, Spencer had already bounced up the flight of stairs and was quickly making his way to the briefing room.

-

“We have an icky case on our hands this time, my dear crime fighters,” Penelope said as she stood by the screen, remote ready in her hand. “Last night, a civilian found a leg wrapped in garbage bags when she took out the trash in central Indianapolis. The leg belonged to Louise Obsen, a 28 year old accountant. The remaining parts of her body were found wrapped in a similar way, dumped in various dumpsters around the block.”

The silence stretched across the briefing room as everyone took in the gruesome details of the murder.

“The dismemberment could be a forensic countermeasure,” Spencer said as he glanced over the file, “it’s easier to hide parts of the body than a whole body.”

“Do we know how the unsub dismembered the bodies?” Emily asked as she flipped through the pictures.

“Yes,” Penelope said as she swallowed harshly as she pressed a button on the remote. “The coroner says the limbs were removed with a standard saw, nothing special. But all of this happened postmortem, the COD was a gunshot to the back of the head.”

“Execution style,” JJ mumbled, “is this the only victim?”

“No,” Hotch said, eyes focused on the case file, “two weeks ago the Indianapolis PD found a young woman, Emma Day, dismembered and discarded in the same way. She was 29”

Penelope clicked on her remote, but she kept her eyes looking straight ahead. Y/N noticed the clear look of discomfort in her eyes, and silently reached down under the conference table and gave her hand a gentle squeeze of comfort.

“They certainly look alike,” Derek chimed in as he looked at the two women on the screen. “Pretty girls with black hair in their late twenties; they’re probably surrogates for the unsubs' real target.”

“What did Emma do for a living Pen?” Y/N asked, her hand still wrapped around Penelope’s.

“She worked as a caretaker at a residential facility, by all accounts she was very well liked there. Both of them were, in fact.” 

“Both low-risk victims,” Rossi pondered as he closed his file, “that means that he probably doesn’t appear as a threat.”

“Which makes him all the more dangerous,” Hotch said as he collected his files, “wheels up in 30.” 

- 

The plane ride was mostly silent after the team had gone over the case once more.

Y/N was sitting by the window, book laying open in her lap, but her mind was flying with the fluffy clouds outside of the window.

One of her hands was fiddling with the pendant of her necklace as she observed the way the ground was moving underneath the jet.

“Metamorphoses,” a gentle voice pulled her out from her reveries, and her eyes drifted away from the window to see Spencer take the seat across from her, holding a cup of strawberry tea out to her.

“Excuse me?” she asked softly, still a tad too lost in her own head to be able to catch up with him.

“Your book,” he said, gesturing to the book in her lap. “You’re reading Metamorphoses.”

“Oh yeah,” she laughed, moving to shut the book and rest it on the table in between them. “I uh,” she started as she straightened up in her seat, “I took a class in classics at university, and I found my notes a few weeks back, and I remembered how much I loved Ovid’s writing and his stories, so I went and bought it this weekend.”

“Which one is your favourite?” Spencer asked softly, taking a sip from his own mug, undoubtedly filled to the brim with a concussion of coffee and sugar.

“Do you promise you’re not going to judge me?” Y/N asked, as she teasingly raised her eyebrows as she also took a sip of her mug.

“I promise,” Spencer laughed incredulously, “I would never judge anyone who voluntarily reads Ovid.”

“Okay fair enough,” she said and let both of her hands wrap around the mug to get some heat into her hands. “It’s probably ‘Apollo and Daphne’, very unoriginal, I know.”

“No, no uh-,” Spencer was quick to sit up straighter and lean on over the table while I cleared his throat, “that one’s really good. I love it too actually.”

“You do?” Y/N asked, unconsciously leaning in closer to Spencer.

“Yeah,” he said breathlessly, “I find that there’s something beautiful in loving someone who will never love you back.”

“Beautiful?”

“Yeah, you see, it’s kind of like the oldest story known to man. Unrequited love. And I don’t know, I guess I just know the feeling. To love something that’s so far out of my reach,” he explained softly, letting his eyes fall to the coffee in his mug.

“Spencer,” Y/N mumbled softly, letting her hand creep closer to where he was gripping his mug tightly. “Nothing will ever-“

But before she could finish her sentence Emily popped up and interrupted the two of them.

“We’re landing in ten, Y/N you’re with me, we’re going to go to the different dumpsites.”

“Yeah, okay,” Y/N said breathlessly, as she watched Spencer quickly regain his posture and leaned back in his seat as he fastened his seatbelt, pretending that he hadn’t just shared something that would now be permanently engraved into Y/N’s brain.

-

“What were you and Reid talking about on the jet?”

The question pulled Y/N out of her thoughts as she was reading over the case fil once more before they arrived at the first dumpsite.

“Huh?”

Emily turned her head to quickly glance at the younger agent next to her, her sunglasses covering her mischievous eyes.

“On the jet,” she further went on, “you both looked like you were seconds away from imploding from feelings.”

“Oh,” Y/N laughed awkwardly, straightening up her back, trying to square up a bit unconsciously. “We were just talking about this book I’m reading. He just gave an interesting input on one of my favourite stories.”

“Really,” Emily teased, carefully driving into the parking space next to the alley. 

“Yeah, just talking about books,” Y/N said as she jumped out of the SUV, shutting the heavy door behind her.

The gloomy weather had thankfully stayed behind in D.C., leaving the team to soak up the lovely spring sun that shined overhead in them in Indianapolis.

“What was that about unrequited love then?” Emily continued to press on as they walked over to the group of policemen standing by the dumpsters.

“It’s the theme of the story,” Y/N grumbled before swiftly putting on a smile as a young man headed towards them.

“You must be with the BAU,” the man started as he held out his hand for the two of them to shake. 

“Yes, agents Prentiss and Y/L/N,” Emily said as she shook his hand, “Are you the lead detective on the case?”

“Yes, detective Michaels,” he said as he lifted the yellow police tape for the three of them to step under.

“Nice to meet you,” Y/N said softly smiling at him, while Emily softly laughed and shook her head to herself at the young agent when she saw Michaels already developing what the team had dubbed ‘Y/N eyes’.

One of the things that the team noticed when Y/N Y/L/N had joined the team was her extreme kindness. It challenged even Penelope’s something that they hadn’t thought was possible. When they all first had been introduced to each other Y/N had made sure to look at each individual team member like they were the sun, her attention focused solely on the profiler in question. On every case the team had worked Emily hadn’t once experienced Y/N kindly greet the detectives working on the case, and often gave them her sweet smile that made everyone melt in their spot – often resulting in them giving her ‘Y/N eyes’ the rest of the case.

Her kindness had especially seemed to do a trick on the resident genius of the BAU; a fact abundantly clear for all of the team members except for the two of them. While the remainder of the team never was rude or unkind to him, they never seemed to engage with him the same way she did. There was a willingness to hear him ramble on about the most obscure things, a gleam in both of their eyes when they would talk about their favourite books in hushed voices on the jet when they thought everyone else was asleep.

“How long had the leg been out here before it was found?” Emily asked, breaking the detective out of his gaze locked on Y/N.

“Uh,” he said as he started to fumble with the notepad as Emily and Y/N shared a quick smile as they survived the dumpsters littering the area. “The coroner says about 24 hours.”

“So he dumped it in the evening the previous day,” Y/N said as she glanced around the alley. “How many buildings have access to the alley?”

“Three, these two facing this street,” the detective said as he pointed to the street Emily and Y/N had come from, “and then the other one facing that one,” he said as he pointed down the alley to the street at the other end.

“There’s a good chance that he owns a van,” Y/N said as she moved her sunglasses to the top of her head as they got deeper into the alley where her vision wasn’t obscured by the sunlight. “He could back in, get out, take the limbs out from the back and discard them quickly before being on the move again. It would just look like a guy throwing out trash for anyone passing by at that hour.”

“You’re right,” Emily said as she walked back over to Michaels and Y/N. “He discards them like trash, no signs of remorse of any kind.”

“What does that mean?” Michaels asked as they walked out of the alley and on their way to the next dumpsite.

“That he hates women,” Emily and Y/N said in unison, as they continued their tread down the silent street.

-

“It would be a good idea to have your officers make a door to door on the surrounding buildings of the two dumpsites,” Y/N said as she and detective Michaels walked into the precinct. 

“Why?” He asked while holding the door open for her.

She shot him a small grateful smile as they made their way to the conference room the team had made their office for the coming time. “There’s a chance that some of the residents saw or heard something without knowing its importance, so just have them ask if they remember seeing or hearing anything on the evening of the 15th.”

“Will do agent,” he smiled back at her, and held the door to the conference room open for her as well. 

As they walked into the room, they saw the entire team sitting around it, all with their heads deep buried in their case files, or in Spencer’s case, a map, and a plethora of coffee cups covering the table. 

“What did you get from the dump sites?” JJ asked when she lifted her head to take a generous sip of her coffee. 

At the sound of JJ speaking the entire team turned their heads to see who had joined them in their small room.

Y/N smiled and moved to take a seat in the chair between Rossi and Spencer. “We think he might own a van; the alleys are big enough for a van to back in there and block the view from the street. Emily stayed back to interview a woman that said she remembered a loud noise that evening.”

“That’s good,” Hotch said without lifting his eyes from the case file. “He might work as a carpenter, if he has a van and that his preferred method of dismemberment is with a saw.”

“But wouldn’t that still be a huge number?” Morgan asked as he sat back in his chair while twirling a pen between his fingers. “In a city like Indianapolis the number of carpenters must be quite significant.”

“You’re right,” Rossi mumbled before pulling his phone out, before pressing the familiar buttons.

“The oracle of Quantico at your service sir,” the chipper voice of Penelope blasted through the speakers of the phone, making everyone around the table break out a small smile.

“Garcia, how many carpenters are there in the hunting zone of the unsub?” Rossi asked.

“Uh, quite a bit sir,” Penelope said as she typed her fingers off on her end. “Do you have any other parameters so I can narrow this down?”

“Based on victimology he would be in his late twenties to early thirties, white and would own a dark van.”

“I will do my best sir,” she said as adieu, before she hung up.

The team went back to looking over the case files after Hotch directed Michaels to start door-to-door, silence taking over the room as they all looked over the clues hidden in the papers.

“Guys,” Emily said when she hurried into the room half an hour later, “I talked to a woman who said that she heard a noise the night the unsub dumped Louise’s leg, and she said she saw a dark van just like Y/N theorized, and she said there was a logo on it. So, I called Garcia and she tracked down the carpenter firm to be ‘Better Builders’.”

“Okay,” Hotch said, going up the board before looking over the collected evidence. “Reid, Y/L/N could you go talk to the owner of the firm? Go see if there are any employees that match the profile.”

“Yes sir,” they both said in unison as they started getting up from their chairs. 

Spencer held the door open for Y/N when they walked out of the room, shy smiles exchanged between them as they moved through the precinct. The sun was still shining bright when the two of them exited the station, silence stretching thin between them, leaving them trapped in the space of their own minds.

“Have you gotten something from the geographic profile?” Y/N asked to break the silence between them as Spencer turned on the car and started to drive away from the station.

“Huh?” Spencer asked, seemingly too lost in his own head to having registered that he had been asked a question.

“The geographical profile?” she asked softly, letting her eyes trail over his profile.

“Right,” he exclaimed softly, “and no, not really. Just uh, that he probably lives or works in the area between the two dumpsites, but unfortunately-”

“We won’t be able to be more specific until we have another victim,” Y/N finished for him, letting out a sigh before turning her gaze out of the windshield. 

“Yeah,” Spencer said softly, letting them drive in silence for a while.

Y/N sat with her head leaning against the headrest as she saw the city of Indianapolis pass them by, visions of mutilated women flying through her mind. She thought that after a year of working at the BAU she would have developed a thicker skin, just like the rest of the team. But she was still feeling nauseous every time she saw women being brutally mutilated and felt her heart break and tears press on when a child fell victim to the horrible desires of adults.

“Are you okay?” Spencer asked softly when he noticed how silent she had become on the drive. 

“Yeah,” she mumbled back softly, mind still sifting through the awful images haunting her mind. “Just thinking about what kind of monster could do this to innocent women.”

“That’s the question that keeps us in business,” Spencer joked light-heartedly, trying to get rid of the tension inside of the SUV.

“You’re right,” she joked along, “as always.” She felt the corners of her lips twist upwards when he barked out a laugh. “And I guess,” she continued softly, “I’m just wondering when I will stop being so soft.”

“What do you mean?” he asked genuinely when they stopped at a red light, cars piling behind them.

“It’s just,” she tried to gather her thoughts to the best of her abilities, feeling the pressure of his gaze on the side of her face. “I’ve been with this team for almost a year, and I still feel sick on cases like this. I still sometimes cry in the bathroom,” she laughed, hoping to reduce the melancholy air in the car. “I wonder if I’ll ever develop thicker skin like the rest of you guys.”

Her words hung in the air for a moment too long for her liking, before Spencer cleared his throat.

“Y/N,” he started softly, gently starting to step on the gas again, “you don’t have to develop thicker skin. You don’t have to do anything. Your gentleness and kindness are great virtues, that makes you who you are. Your empathy and love for everyone around you makes you the wonderful person that you are, and I think that they make you such a good profiler,” he explained, never letting his eyes stray away from the road. “I think sometimes the rest of us become immune to the monstrosities that we see, but you, and Penelope,” he interjected quickly, making a burst out a small laugh while her eyes glazed over with tears, “reminds us what it’s like to be human. To just want to make the world beautiful for everyone else.”

She kept her eyes fixed on him as he spoke. His gentle eyes still fixated on the road before them, his hair curling delicately around his ears. His lips had formed a kind smile as he spoke, and his hands were gripping tightly on the steering wheel as he navigated through the foreign city.

“That’s very nice of you Spence,” she whispered softly, “thank you.”

“There’s no shame in being soft,” he continued while he drove around to find a parking spot. “It’s a gentle reminder that you’re human, that we’re all human. And I’m very happy that you are the way you are, and I wouldn’t want you to change yourself for anything.”

He parked the car and the two agents just sat in the car for a moment longer. Each one basking in the softness of the love filled moment, each pair cheeks flushed red and fingers tingling with amorous sparks.

“Can I hug you?” Y/N asked gently, breaking the delicate silence.

“Uh,” Spencer cleared his throat before nodding his head, “yeah, yeah you can.”

She slowly undid her seatbelt before cautiously moving over the centre console and let her arms wrap around his shoulders.

She felt his arms slowly but surely slither their way around her waist, before he let his head fall and rest in the crook of her neck. His hazel curls were tickling her soft cheek, emitting a small giggle from her from the joyous sensation. He started to giggle softly along with her, their laughs dancing together in the vast space of the SUV.

“Thank you for finishing my consultation,” she whispered into the fabric of his cardigan, letting the scratchiness bring her comfort. She felt him scrunch up the fabric of her cardigan, before he nodded against her shoulder.

“Of course,” he mumbled before starting to release her from his grip, “any time.”

“We should go out there,” she said when they had pulled away, dopey smiles painting both of their faces. “And find that monster.”

“Yeah,” he said and opened his side door, “let’s get him.”

-

“It turned out that there weren’t any carpenters working for ‘Better Builders’ that matched the preliminary profile, yet the owner of the firm could confirm that one of their vans had been stolen about two weeks prior to the first murder,” Spencer said as he and Y/N walked into the room where Hotch and Morgan was sitting. 

“Did they report it?” asked Morgan with his hands resting on the back of his head as he leaned back in his chair. 

“Yeah,” Y/N said, as she took a seat on one of the swirly chairs, “I asked Michaels if he could pull up the report to see if there are any leads.”

“Good,” Hotch said before the sound of his ringtone cut the conversation short, “what do you have Garcia.” 

“Sir,” she started, the sound of her clicking on the keyboard clear through the mic, “I found something funky regarding the two victims. So at first I couldn’t find any connection between Louise and Emma, but then I did some sleuthing and I found out that in the days leading up to their deaths day had both gone on a date. Not so weird you probably say, I say it’s weird when the date is with the same person, and from the looks of it they both met him on a dating app.”

Silence took over the room as the four team members processed the information. 

“Can you find out who the prince charming is, baby girl?” Derek asked as he leaned on closer to the phone. 

“Oh, I’m already ten steps ahead of you sugar, and the prince charming is Sheldon Green, but here’s the kicker. It’s not Sheldon Green.” 

The room was once again silent, the puzzle pieces laying spread all around them, refusing to be put together. The silence was broken when an officer came in and handed Spencer the case file on the stolen van. 

“What do you mean Pen,” Y/N asked, confusion clear in her voice. 

“I’ll tell you what I mean sweetums,” Penelope continued, the tapping stopping on her end of the call, “I did my thing and pulled up the profile from Louise’s phone and quickly matched the person on the profile to Mr. Green, but the actual Mr. Green has a very legit alibi for both times because the first time he was at his boyfriend’s parent’s house for family dinner and the second time he was at a work conference two towns over.” 

“So someone has used Green’s identity to lure the victims onto a date?” Y/N asked, still confused.

“It would appear so. I have successfully hacked into the account, and I have tried to track down the phone the creep has used but have come up blank. He is using some weird firewall, incognito thing that I have trouble working my way around it but trust me I’m trying.”

“Okay,” Hotch mumbled, deep lost within his own head. “Can you see if he’s arranged any upcoming dates on the app?”

“I can’t see any based on the messages he has on this app, but sir he could be on a lot, there’s so many dating apps and websites out there, and I have no way of knowing if he uses Sheldon Green as an identity on those as well, or if he uses another one,” she said already back to tapping away. “And by the way, all the women he has matched with look very similar to both Louise and Emma, so he definitely has a type. They were just the unlucky ones,” she said with sadness seeping clearly through the speaker

“Keep taps on the Sheldon Green profile and let us know if he starts to talk to anyone on there.”

“Aye aye captain,” she said before hanging up, leaving the room in silence once more.

“Fucking creep,” Y/N mumbled before standing up and abruptly leaving the room, an uncomfortable chill running down her back. The precinct was buzzing with phone calls and voices trying to talk over each other. Y/N was quick to move in and out through the clutter of desks and officers milling around, before she finally got outside.

The sun had set, in its place the moon was shining bright over head of her, a few stars visible from the bright lights of the big city. There were cars zooming by; fathers desperate to make it home and kiss their babies goodnight, mothers tired from an evening of soccer matches, husbands buzzing with flowers in the front seat and wives crying searching for refuge at their friends’ houses.

All so blissfully unaware of the monsters hiding out in the night. A blessing she didn’t have anymore.

She let her back rest against the cinderblock wall behind her and let her eyes drift shut for just a moment, letting her pretend she wasn’t in the midst of hunting down a monster. Pretending that she was 19 again, somewhere, still like the rest. Still so wonderfully naïve.

“You okay?” a voice pulled her from her silent reveries, and she quickly opened her eyes to see JJ, Rossi and Emily before her, all three of them with concern in their eyes. 

“Oh yeah,” she brushed their concern off with a swift, dismissive wave of her hand. “Just tired.”

“Well,” Rossi started, moving forward to get a good grip on one of her shoulders, “it’s been a long day, hopefully we can all head back to the hotel soon.”

“That would be great,” Emily said as she and Rossi opened the door to the station, leaving Y/N and JJ out in the open air.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” JJ asked, leaning against the wall as well, hands folded together in front of her. 

Y/N let out a deep sigh before letting her eyes fall shut again. “Penelope discovered that he uses a guy’s identity to get them to go on dates with him via dating apps,” she started to explain. “And she has no way of knowing if he uses the same identity on other dating sites, so we basically don’t have any way of getting to him.”

“But we will,” JJ encouraged softly, her hand rubbing up and down Y/N’s shoulder softly, “just like we always do.”

“You’re right,” Y/N smiled gratefully, before quickly taking her phone out of her pocket and checking the time. “If you hurry, I bet you have enough time to call Henry and Will and read a bedtime story.”

They profilers shared a small laugh before JJ took her leave and moved inside, already pulling Will’s number up on her phone.

She let herself close her eyes for the third time, feeling how exhaustion was slowly making its home in all of her limbs.

“I brought you some tea,” a voice said gently, as if careful to not startle her too much. 

She peeked one of her eyes open to see Spencer standing bashfully by her side, a paper cup filled with tea in one hand, and his worn, wool blazer in the other.

“They don’t have strawberry tea, so it’s just earl grey,” he said carefully as he carefully handed it over to her, making sure she didn’t spill any in the transfer.

“Thank you, Spence,” Y/N smiled sweetly, before giving the beverage a gentle blow before taking a sip. 

“And uh,” he continued, looking down at his converse that seemed to try to bury themselves in the cement beneath them, “Emily said it was pretty chilly so I thought you might like a coat, and I know that you’ve said that yours isn’t very practical for chilly nights so I thought you might like mine, but it’s totally fine if you don’t, I just didn’t want you to be cold-“ he said, his mouth running 100 miles a minute, flustered cheeks blazing under the pale moonlight. 

“Spencer,” she said, laying a careful hand on his forearm, “that’s very sweet of you. I would love to borrow your jacket if that’s okay with you.” 

“Of course,” he was quick to exchange the jacket in his hand for the cup in hers so that she could put on the coat. He handed her back the cup silently, letting himself loose himself in the vision of her standing under a combination of streetlight and the gentle glow of the moon, all the while wearing his coat.

“Did you get anything from the police report?” she asked gently before moving to sit on the curb, he knees up to her chest and the cup resting on one of her kneecaps.

Spencer followed, looking apprehensively at the curb before joining her by her side, with his knees in the same position but his arms wrapped around his legs and his hands clapped together in front of his shins.

“There was a witness that had said that they saw a man lurking around the street for about an hour or so in the time frame of when the van was stolen,” he explained looking at her as she took sips of the tea while looking at the passing cars. “They gave a description, so we have turned that over to Garcia.”

“That’s good,” Y/N mumbled before taking another swig of her tea.

“Are you okay?” he asked gently, scooting an inch closer to her on the dirty curb.

“Yeah,” she sighed, her eyes meeting his gentle ones, “this case is just hitting a bit close to home, I guess. No idea why though.”

“We all get those,” he said, letting his eyes rise up to look at the mighty moon.

“Thank you for bringing me a cup of tea Spence,” she mumbled, scooting an inch closer to him on the dirty curb.

“It helps you calm down,” he mumbled, eyes now no longer on the moon but rather at the shrinking space between their bodies.

“It does?” she asked, breath caught in her throat.

“Yeah,” he said, eyes flickering up to her face, “every time you drink tea you become calmer, and generally when you hold a warm cup, no matter the beverage, you pulse slows down.” 

“I didn’t know that,” she said, letting her eyes flicker over his face. 

Spencer just shrugged with a small smile before letting his eyes fly down to briefly take a glimpse at her lips before they went back to her eyes.

“Is that why you always bring me tea?” she inquired, letting her own eyes fly down to his lips, where his tongue is gently poking out.

“Yeah,” he laughed gently, subconsciously leaning into the heat that was radiating off of her.

She leaned into him as well, their noses barely brushing, their soft breaths mixing together, “that’s incredibly thoughtful.”

He swallowed around the lump in his throat before he dared to speak, “it’s what you do for the people you care about.”

They both leaned in closer, their noses now brushing up against one another, lips only a breath away from touching, “it’s what you do for the people you lo-“

His words were caught short from the sound of the door to the station bursting open, resulting in them pulling away from the moment in time they had created together. The team came bustling out, all of them looking mere minutes away from collapsing on the pavement from exhaustion.

“Y/L/N, Reid we’re done for the night, we all need to get some rest,” Hotch said when he noticed the two young agents sitting together on the curb.

“Oh,” they both said, hurrying to stand up and brush away any dirt from their time on the ground.

“I need to go grab my satch-“ Spencer started to say, already moving towards the door, but Derek was quick to lift up the worn satchel that he was carrying in his hand.

“Nope,” he said, turning Reid around and directing him to one of the SUVs as Emily linked her arm through Y/N’s and led her to the other one holding a bit further down.

“Nice coat,” Emily mumbled into Y/N’s ear, laughing quietly when the young agent’s ears started to turn red.

“Shut up,” Y/N said, hiding her smile behind the paper cup of lukewarm tea, as she watched Spencer pile into the black after Derek, a small smile shared between them, only for them to know about. 

-

Her boots were clicking against the floor of the station as she made the first stop of the day at the coffee station. A few officers and detectives were there at the early morning hour, and the team was already setting up in the conference room, bracing themselves for the day to come.

She poured four packs of sugar into a cup, quickly dozing it in the hot coffee stirring it as she started to walk through the room to get to the team.

The weight of a blazer was heavy on her arm and the heat from the coffee cup warmed her entire body in the early morning hour as she discreetly opened the door and moved to take a seat next to Spencer as Hotch was talking.

“We need to go over victimology again,” Hotch started, and the team started to list all of the facts of the two victims.

“Here,” Y/N whispered softly, sliding the paper cup over to Spencer.

He averted his eyes away from where Emily was talking about the unsub having had a relationship with a woman that bore a resemblance to the victims.

“Excuse me?” he asked, his eyes drifting over her still sleepy features.

She nodded down to the paper cup between them, steam flying up and dancing between them. “Don’t worry,” she smiled at him, still keeping her voice low, “I made sure to put loads of sugar in.” 

He smiled softly down at the cup, before looking up at her again with his lips pressed tightly together in a smile. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she smiled back, finally letting the conversation between the rest of the team get her attention.

Unlike Y/N, Spencer’s attention was now nowhere near the conversation about who knows what. All he could focus on was the warmth radiating from the cup between his slender fingers and from the person sitting next to him.

He could still perfectly see her face and her sleepy morning smile as he stared down in the coffee. He could feel a smile pull at the corners of his lips as he went over the sweet interaction multiple times in his head.

An elbow to the ribs from his other side was what brought him out of his daydreams, and he lifted his head to see the entire team staring him down.

“What?” he asked, taking a sip of the steaming brew.

“Have you come further with the geo profile?” Hotch asked from where he stood by the bulletin board.

“No,” Spencer said, sitting up straighter in his chair, “I’m waiting for Garcia to look into the night where the van was stolen.”

Hotch made a sound of approval before he started to give out orders for the team. Y/N and Emily were to go join the officers in the door to door rounds along with the local officers, Morgan and Reid would go and take a look at the crime scenes and visit the morgue to see if they had missed anything and JJ, Rossi and Hotch would stay put and look through the details again.

Spencer caught the eyes of Derek over the table as they all started to move around, a teasing glint in the older agent’s eyes and a mischievous smile on his lips. 

Spencer furrowed his brows in question, which only deepened when Derek nodded to the coffee in Spencer’s hand. Derek simply shook his head and laughed silently to himself as he shared a quick glance with Emily, who was sitting on the other side of Spencer. She also simply just laughed and waited for Y/N to finish the conversation she was in the midst of with JJ.

Derek was quick to walk around the table, grab Spencer around the shoulders and direct him out of the stuffy conference room and out of the station.

“Now,” Derek said as they had made it halfway through the precinct, “is there a reason why Y/N brought you, and only you, a cup of coffee?”

“Uh,” Spencer fumbled over his words as he stopped in the midst of a step at Derek’s words. “What do you mean?” 

Derek simply laughed as he took a stance in front of Spencer, efficiently blocking Spencer’s only escape route. “Now don’t get me wrong, Y/N is a very sweet girl, but in the year that she’s been on the team, she has never brought a coffee for just me, if you know what I’m saying.”

“I don’t.”

“Of course not,” Derek just laughed again, and nodded his head to a thing over Spencer’s shoulder. When Spencer turned his head to look, he was met with the sight of Y/N that was still talking to JJ. “Did anything happen between the two of you last night?” Derek tried to reiterate his question when Spencer turned his eyes back to his friends after a moment off blatantly staring at Y/N.

“No,” Spencer said, brows deeply furrowed.

“Are you sure?” Derek continued, “there was nothing going on between the two of you when we went home last night? When you were sitting on the curb?”

“Oh, that,” Spencer said, a red flush covering his cheeks and ears at the fact that the rest of the team had witnessed the intimate moment that he had thought had been strictly between the two of them. 

“Yeah,” Derek laughed and clapped his hand down on Spencer’s shoulder as he started to guide the younger agent out of the doors.

“She was just feeling a bit out of it, so I brought her some tea,” Spencer started, his mind running faster than his mouth could compete with, “she calms down significantly when she drinks tea, or just generally has a warm beverage in her hands. Actually a study has shown-“ Spencer started to ramble on as they got out of the precinct, the early morning sun shining down on them.

But before he could distract Derek any further, a voice called out behind them, cutting Spencer short.

“Spence!” she called as she hurried out of the double doors, with Emily tailing behind her with a smirk on her face.

“Yeah?” Spencer said and both he and Derek turned towards the other two agents. 

“I uhm,” she started, slightly fumbling over her words, anxiously glancing from Reid to Morgan, who was also standing with a big smirk on his face. “I forgot to give this back to you yesterday.”

She reached her arm out between them, offering him the battered blazer. Spencer looked down at it for a minute before slowly taking it into his hand that wasn’t holding the coffee, images of her wearing it the prior evening flying through his mind. 

“Right,” Spencer said, nodding his head.

“And I just wanted to,” she trailed off, quickly looking at Derek before looking back at Spencer.

Derek seemed to get the hint, because he silently made his adieu and joined Emily, who was standing and waiting by the parked SUVs.

“I wanted to thank you for yesterday,” she said, her voice light and feathery in the spring morning. “You were very sweet, and it made me feel a lot better.” 

“Oh, it was no problem,” Spencer said, the blush returning to his face.

“Still,” she continues, taking a miniscule step towards him, “it meant a lot to me.”

“You’re my friend,” Spencer said softly, letting his eyes glide over her face, letting himself bask in the way the sun made her eyes gleam. “I just want you to be happy.”

“I am,” she was quick to reply, sparing a quick look over to the two older agents that were watching them like hawks.

“I’m glad,” Spencer smiled down at her, tightening his grip on the blazer in his hands. 

The spring wind was ruffling his hair around, making locks fall into his eyes. Before he could let a hand run through his curls, an unfamiliar hand beat him to it. 

Her hand ran gently through his hair, making the curls fall back into the righteous place. She let the hand glide down to the side of his face, holding gently onto his soft cheek. Before he could fully grasp what was happening, she was throwing her arms around his shoulders, giving him a tight squeeze. She pressed a quick kiss to the cheek she had previously been caressing, before she pulled away from his body, his arms still hanging rigidly by his sides.

“Thank you,” she whispered again, before hurrying over to Emily.

Spencer watched her walk away, eyes following her retreating form as she dragged Emily into one of the SUVs, flipping Derek the bird when he called out a comment after her that Spencer didn’t hear because of the ringing in his ears.

“Pretty boy,” Derek called out, a know-it-all look painted all over his face, as he watched the young agent standing baffled in the middle of the sidewalk. “Are you sure nothing happened?”

Spencer could still feel the ghost of her arms around his neck, could still feel the pressure of her body against his and the softness of her lips against his cheek. His ears, that were a colour of red that challenged roses, were ringing, and his eyes were firmly locked in the place she had previously been.

“Reid!” Derek called out again, a loud laugh on the verge of spilling from his lips.

“Huh?” Spencer was finally pulled out from his reveries, making him acutely aware of the fact that Derek and Emily, and potentially many others, had witnessed the small moment between the two of them.

“Nothing happened between the two of you huh?”

“Shut up,” Spencer mumbled as he quickly walked over to the car, hopelessly hoping for a silent car ride, his mind already drifting back to just a moment before.

- 

The room was cold. 

She could feel her colleagues’ eyes on her from behind the one-way mirror behind her as she leaned back in her chair.

Her heels were clicking on the floor as she tapped her foot as she kept a firm gaze on the man in front of her.

Emily was sitting beside her, flipping through a folder as she was repeating the rights to the person in front of the two of them.

“Do you understand?” she finished, and her eyes joined Y/N’s and looked at the man on the other side of the table.

The silence stretched across the room, the only sound being Y/N’s heels and Emily’s ruffling through the file. 

“Do you understand your rights?” Y/N repeated, brows furrowing as she stared down the man. 

He continued to stay silent, his gaze locked on where his hands were cuffed to the table. His dirty-blonde hair was a mess and the glasses on his face were slightly broken from the run-in he had had with Morgan.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Emily sighed and let the folder drop down onto the table surface. 

“So, Elliott, do you know Louise Obsen?” Y/N asked, her hands folding together in her lap. 

He continued to stay silent, eyes never drifting away from their safe spot as the two agents continued to stare him down. 

His baby blue button-down was wrinkled and the more Y/N continued to observe him the more she thought about how un-special he was. Nothing about him was noteworthy and she wouldn’t give him a second glance if he were to pass her in the street.

A murderer hiding in plain sight.

“What about Emma Day?” Emily took over and leaned across the table to get closer to him. She slid two pictures across the table to him; the faces of the two young, beautiful women staring back at him from where he cowered within himself.

“Nothing?” Y/N asked and stood up to get rid of the restlessness that was starting to sink into her bones and started to walk around the room slowly. 

“Never heard of them before,” he finally grumbled but his eyes remained downcast. 

Emily and Y/N’s eyes met from across the room, both pairs of eyebrows lifting in disbelief.

“Oh really?” Emily prodded.

“Yeah,” he said slowly, and Y/N moved to stand behind him and glanced over his shoulder at the two pictures.

“That’s a shame huh,” Y/N said with her arms crossed across her chest, “they’re two very beautiful women.”

“Oh yeah,” Emily agreed as she leaned back in her chair.

“Actually,” Y/N said as if the thought had just hit her, “they kind of look like you Em.”

“Yeah,” Emily laughed a bit, “they kind of do.”

They waited for Elliott to react. From where Y/N was standing she could see the tenseness in his shoulders. His leg was bouncing up and down with a rapid pace and she was sure she could see a small bead of sweat trail down his temple.

Y/N glanced up at the one-way mirror that was behind Emily and could almost feel Spencer’s eyes catching her from the other side.

“But it doesn’t really surprise me,” Y/N continued and moved from her place behind him to lean up against the chair that she had previously been sitting on, “that you don’t know them I mean.”

“What do you mean?” he asked slowly, taking the bait just like she had hoped.

“Oh, you know,” she sighed, lifting her head up to glance at the ceiling quickly before letting them fall back to the man in front of her. “Why would two young, beautiful women know you? You’re just an engineer at a random tech company.”

“You’re right Y/N,” Emily continued and looked up at her colleague.

“Like, would you pay him any mind Emily? If he came up to you in a bar or something?”

“No,” Emily laughed loudly and glanced at the man that was slowly starting to simmer in his own anger. 

“Not even entertain him for the fun of it?” Y/N continued, knowingly rubbing salt in the newly created wound.

“I have standards Y/N,” she played along, her eyes also locked on the man.

“That’s a shame,” Y/N said as she moved to sit down again, “I think you’re his type.” 

From across the table the two agents could see the way he was gritting his teeth together and how his hands were wringing together in anger. 

“I bet you would love nothing more than to take agent Prentiss home,” she continued slowly leaning across the table to get into his personal space. “Lure her with the promise of a good time.”

“And, when I would turn him down,” Emily started to participate and mirrored Y/N’s pose, “he would spend the rest of the night watching from afar.”

Elliott finally lifted his gaze and was met with two agents fake smiling at him from the other side of the table.

“He would wait until you were alone,” Y/N continued, making sure to maintain the eye contact that she’d finally established.

“But he wouldn’t have the guts to confront me,” Emily drawled on, fiddling with the many papers in the file. 

“So he would attack you from behind,” Y/N took over, “like a coward”

“And he would put me in a car,” Emily said as she pulled out a photo of the ‘Better Builders’ van, “one that wouldn’t be able to be connected to him, because despite being a coward, he isn’t stupid.”

“Then he would take you somewhere isolated,” the other agent mumbled, letting her hands run through her hair. “Like a cabin or something.”

“Something like this?” Emily asked and pulled out another photo, this one of an isolated cabin they had been able to connect with Elliott.

“Yeah, exactly,” Y/N laughed and pushed the picture towards him. “Do you recognize this place, Elliott?”

“No,” he grumbled, eyes refusing to look at the pictures in front of him.

“Are you sure?” Emily asked, “because that cabin belonged to your father, and from what we have been able to find, said cabin now belongs to you.”

He just shook his head as Emily talked, eyes burning holes in the table beneath his hands.

“So he would take you somewhere isolated,” Y/N tried to get the conversation back on the prior path, “somewhere no one would hear you scream.”

“And then he would play around, terrorising me for God knows how long,” any kind of playfulness or teasing had left Emily’s voice and a sadness and anger had taken their place.

“And then, to finish it off,” Y/N said, her voice low and sad, “he would shoot you in the back of the head.”

“But he knows a body is too difficult to get rid of and even though the cabin is isolated the body would be found if he were to just dump it,” Emily continued, hard eyes looking at the suspect. 

“So he would have to cut you up,” Y/N mumbled, “and discard the limbs and only hope that they won’t be found.”

Silence stretched across the room again. The two agents staring down the man before them. The man, who was shaking and whose face had become beat red.

“See Elliott,” Emily said, starting to collect the pictures that were laid out on the table before them, “that’s what we think you did to Louise Obsen and Emma Day.”

“And when we get a search warrant for your cabin, which is in the process, we will find something in there that confirms that you did this.” Y/N said moving to lean back in her chair. “A hair, a piece of a nail or a little drop of blood that confirms that you killed two innocent women.”

“And when that happens,” Emily continued, “you will get locked away for a long time. And trust me,” she paused and leaned in closer to him, “you won’t survive long in a federal prison.”

“But,” Y/N drawled out, “if you cooperate we could do something for you.”

He continued to stay quiet, eyes still not looking at them.

“Well,” Emily sighed and moved to stand up, Y/N following suit, “suit yourself.” 

The two agents moved to walk out of the interrogation room, before a voice stopped them. 

“I’ll tell you,” he said slowly, causing them to turn around and look back at him staring at the two of them. “But only you,” he stared at Emily with intent.

Y/N glanced at her co-worker and was met with a confident nod as she moved to take a seat once again. 

Y/N looked back at the pair one final time before leaving the room to watch from behind the glass. 

Once she stepped out into the hallway she was met with Rossi and Spencer shifting their gazes from the interrogation room to her as she closed the door behind her. 

“Good work kiddo,” Rossi said, walking away from the glass and clapping her gently on the shoulder before moving past her, probably to find Hotch and inform him of Elliot being willing to cooperate.

“Thank you, sir,” Y/N mumbled as she watched him walk back into the hectic precinct.

“You did really well,” Spencer said as she moved to stand beside him and watch Elliott talk with Emily.

“Thanks Spence,” Y/N said, looking up at him as he looked down at her at the same time.

They stood there for a while, just listening to the confession that was pouring out of Elliott. From where she stood beside him Y/N could feel the heat radiating from Spencer. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his dark purple tie matched the light purple shirt perfectly.

Y/N shifted her eyes back to the interrogation but could still feel his eyes on the side of her face. As they stood side by side Y/N could feel a soft motion of a finger slowly moving across the back of her hand.

As she glanced down, she saw Spencer’s pinkie moving slowly across the plain of the back of her hand; she could feel the heat slowly spread across her face.

She slowly manoeuvred her hand around so she could rub her finger against his as well, before a loud voice forced their hands apart.

“Y/L/N,” Derek called from behind them, walking across the precinct and the two other agents turned around to see him approach them. “Rossi said that you got him to cooperate.”

“Yeah,” Y/N coughed as she cleared her throat and moved to fold her arms across her chest to try to delete the prior moment from Derek’s mind.

“How’d you do it?” he said as he moved closer to the pair and stood between Y/N and Spencer as he spied into the room with a knowing grin on his face. 

“We just tried to get under his skin,” Y/N explained as she looked back into the interrogation room again and saw Emily scribbling down notes as Elliott spoke. “Showed him how much of a coward he is.”

Derek laughed and laid an arm around her shoulders and gave her arm an affectionate clap.

“Well, at least this one went pretty smoothly.”

Both Spencer and Y/N hummed their agreement, two pairs of cheeks burning from an erased moment in time.

-

“Garcia said that you were hungry,” Spencer said, making Y/N’s attention divert from the case file in front of her to the genius standing with a paper towel in his hand, “so I thought you would like this.”

He gently placed the paper towel on her desk, making sure that it didn’t land on one of the many files that were scattered on the desk. The paper unfolded and inside was a pear, cut up in four pieces, just waiting to be eaten.

All the while she gathered the pieces of fruit and tugged the paper towel closer to her, Spencer was standing, more like hovering over her, a nervous smile tugging at his lips. His hands were tangled together in front of his body, eyes following her every move as she started to munch on the cut-up fruit. 

“Thank you, Spence,” she said, half a piece of pear already in her mouth, “this is just what I needed.”

“You’re very welcome,” he said with a big smile on his face, before he gathered a case file from his desk and bounced up the stairs to Hotch’s office.

“He’s never brought me a pear,” a voice pulled Y/N’s attention away from the now closed door, a smile ever so present on her lips as she slowly chewed on the piece of fruit.

“What?” Y/N asked, confused, turning to see Derek and Emily sitting with shit eating grins on their faces.

“Pretty boy,” Derek elaborated gesturing to Hotch’s office, “in the many years I’ve known him, he has never brought me a sliced-up pear.”

“Me neither,” Emily said as she twirled around in her chair.

“Well,” Y/N started to say, very much confused at where the direction of this conversation was going, “maybe he doesn’t know that you guys like pears.”

“I don’t think that’s why,” Derek laughed, throwing the pen he had been playing with in his hand down on his desk.

“What do you mean?” Y/N asked unconsciously, reaching for another piece hidden in the paper towel.

“What are we discussing?” Penelope broke into the conversation, a happy smile on her pink painted lips. 

“Nothing,” Y/N was quick to say as she turned her chair back to face her desk, in hopes of ending the conversation before it even began.

“Pretty Ricky had heard from you that dear Y/N was hungry, so he cut up a pear for her,” Derek said, and even with her back to them she could practically hear the smiles on all of their faces.

“I haven’t talked to Reid all day,” Penelope said, happiness practically radiating off of her by the news.

“You haven’t?” At this revelation Y/N was quick to turn her chair around, confusion clear on her face.

“No,” she dragged out the word, letting a giggle slip out at the end.

“Then why would he say that?” Y/N asked as she chewed on another piece, her brows furrowed in confusion.

“Because,” Emily dragged out as she got up and moved to sit on Y/N’s desk, “he needs a middleman.”

“A middleman?” Y/N asked, even more confused.

“Someone to make it seem like he wasn’t noticing that you were hungry based on your behaviour,” Derek explained, sliding his chair closer to Y/N’s desk.

“He’s a profiler,” Y/N mumbled to the rest, “if my behaviour was showing that I was hungry, why would he be embarrassed to just give me something to eat. We’re friends.”

“Actually,” Penelope piped up, finally seeing it as her time to make an input into the conversation, “giving snacks to someone is something many consider a love language.”

Y/N choked on the last piece of pear in her throat and turned around to cough down into the paper towel that was still laying on her desk. Emily laughed as she clapped her between the shoulder blades.

“Guys!” she exclaimed once she had gotten everything under control again, “he just gave me a pear. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Emily sighed as she shrugged her shoulders up to her ears as she looked down at the younger, oblivious agent. “I remember a guy saying that once the pear was an allegory for the heart.”

Silence took its place between the four agents. Three of them with giant smiles on their faces as the fourth was simply staring out in space, trying to solve a puzzle that she didn’t even know existed. Her ears were ringing from the realisation, cheeks heating under the scrutiny from the three others as her mind slowly started to fill to the brim of all of her shared moments with Spencer. 

“You think he likes me?” she asked quietly, only daring to let her eyes fall on Penelope, whose face was almost splitting in half from the giant smile on her face. 

“Oh, I think ‘like’,” Penelope said as she brought her hands up and made citation quotes around the word, “is an understatement.”

“He said,” Y/N started, keeping her eyes locked with Penelope’s as she started to fiddle with her hands that were resting in her lap, “He said that he knows what it’s like to love something that’s out of reach.”

The group fell silent as they took in the revelation, the three of them waiting for Y/N to continue. “Do you think he was talking about me?”

“Duh!” Penelope practically yelled, which gained the attention of the agents dutifully working around the quartet. “That boy has been in love with you since you first joined the team. And I may not be a profiler,” she continued making her way over to stand next to the chair Y/N was sitting on, “but I think that his feelings are reciprocated.”

Before Y/N had the chance to say anything, the sound of a door slamming shut brought them all out of the small moment they had created between themselves. As she looked up to the landing, she saw Spencer walking down the stairs again. 

“What’s going on?” he asked curiously, letting his eyes flicker from Derek’s smirk, to Penelope’s sparkling eyes, to Emily’s suppressed grin and finally to Y/N’s wide eyes.

“Oh nothing,” Penelope was quick to say, “just talking about the upcoming weekend.”

“Oh,” Spencer said as he took a seat in his chair, and let the folder he had with him drop to the desk, “do you have any special plans Garcia?”

“Uh,” she sputtered, clearly not ready to talk herself out of her lie, “yes, I’m going to go antique shopping with Emily.”

“We are?” Emily was quick to but in, disdain clear in her voice from the mere thought of going antiquing.

“Yes! Remember we talked about it a while ago,” Penelope mumbled before dramatically gesturing to the watch hanging on the wall, “would you look at that, I have to go back to my office to do,” she dragged out the words, as the four profilers looked at her with amusement on their faces, “to do hacking things. Bye!”

And before they knew she had hurried out of their eyesight, her blonde hair bobbing up and down as she moved as fast as her heels allowed her to.

“Weird,” Spencer said, sharing a quick smile with Y/N before they all went back to their work. Or, three of them went back to their work. 

Y/N spend the rest of her afternoon sifting through every interaction she had ever had with the young doctor, from the moment they had met in this very bullpen, to the first time she had made him laugh over a joke, to the time she had successfully dragged him out to celebrate a successful case with the rest of the team. In the small year they had known each other they had created so many small moments together, so many fond memories that lived in her heart.

And at some point, in the small year, Spencer had managed to worm himself into a part of her heart that she herself didn’t even know existed. Sparks flew out of her finger tips every time they gently touched him. Her heart started to beat faster every time he would smile at her or she would hear his joyous laughter. She started to get lost in the depth of his warm eyes every time they made eye contact, drowning in a sea of honey that she refused to get saved from.

And, unknown to her, she had made herself a home in Spencer’s heart. Her gentle touch seemed to light a fire in him, making him burn to the bone every time her delicate fingers grazed his skin. His smile had become more frequent, and his laughter more boisterous ever since she had joined the team; her mere presence lightening up any gloomy day.

So, there they sat the rest of the sunny afternoon; a boy and a girl so oblivious about the love that flowed so effortlessly between them. She could still taste the lingering taste of the fruit, and she swore her heart fluttered in her chest every time. He could still see the joyful look she had given him when he had handed her the folded-up paper towel, and his heart sang every time it flowed through his mind.

And without either of them noticing, the sunny day ticked by minute for minute. The bullpen had started to empty out for the day, leaving them some of the few agents left.

She could still hear Derek and Emily typing away on their monitors and have occasional chit chat, and out of the corner of her eye she could still see Hotch and Rossi in their respective offices.

As she was finishing up one of her last files, she noticed how Spencer slowly started to pack up for the day.

After a year she had learned his routine for when he would start to head home. Firstly, he would turn off his computer, secondly, he would stack all of his files into a neat pile, ready for when he came in tomorrow, thirdly he would start to pack his bag, double checking he had everything, before finally rising from his chair, putting on his coat and saying goodbye to those who stayed longer than him.

He was in the midst of the fourth step, coat being ready to be put on when they made eye contact over the divider between their desks.

He slowed his actions, taking his time to adjust the lapels on his jacket and picking up his satchel. It was as if everything that had been left unsaid by the two exploded in that moment. All of the gentle touches and the burning fires. All of the loud laughter and the timid smiles. A year worth of love combined into just a five second glance.

“Have a good night,” she said softly, eyes firmly locked with his.

“You too,” he said as he slowly walked by her desk, “see you tomorrow.”

She smiled at him, feeling all of the air leave her lungs when he smiled back.

“I’ll see you tomorrow as well genius,” Morgan called after him loudly, making Spencer walk faster out of the bullpen, and even from where Y/N was sitting, she could see the tips of his ears turn red.

“Y/N,” Emily said firmly when Spencer was out of ear shot. 

“Emily,” Y/N said back, refusing to give the two cocky agents what they wanted from her. 

“Go after that boy,” she said, walking over and hovering over her with her hands on her hips.

“What?” Y/N asked, still looking down at the paperwork in front of her.

“Are you kidding me? I just saw the two of you practically declaring your love for each other with just one look! And for some reason, you refuse to accept the fact that you two are in love with each other,” she said, one of her hands coming down on the younger agent’s shoulder. “Look, okay, I’m no expert at love or anything, but what the two of you have is something special. And I get it, okay. Love is scary, and with our job we see how easily our loved ones can be torn away from us, so I get it more than anyone that it’s scary to succumb to it. But, and this is just my opinion, it would be foolish to let a love like the one the two of you have go to waste.”

After her monologue Emily made her way back over to her own desk, eyes locked with Morgan, desperate to get him to help him. But before he got the chance, Y/N spoke up timidly.

“If I don’t come back will you finish my paperwork?”

“Yes,” both Emily and Derek said without hesitation, smiles spreading wider and wider when they saw the girl hurrying to grab her back and coat before quickly walking out of the office. 

“Fucking finally,” Derek mumbled, letting his eyes follow the young agent out of the double glass doors.

Y/N stood by the elevator, repeatedly pressing the button in hopes of making the machine work any faster. When the doors finally opened, she was greeted by an out of breath Spencer, who looked like he had just run across the parking lot.

“Hi,” he mumbled softly, slowly stepping out of the box as she took a few steps back.

“Hi,” she said, “did you forget something?”

A moment of silence hung between them, both unsure of how to approach the inevitable conversation.

“I-“ he cleared his throat into his fist before continuing, “I don’t know.”

“Oh,” she said, feeling the burning stare of two pairs of eyes on her back.

“I,” he started, his hands hidden in his coat pockets and shoes shuffling around nervously on the floor, but she was quick to interrupt him before he could go on. 

“Emily just reminded me of something,” she said, her voice small but confident. “Someone once told me that the pear was an allegory for the heart.”

At her words Spencer’s eyes widened the slightest, and a pretty blush started to paint over his cheekbones.

“That someone would be correct,” his voice was low but clear, intending to keep the conversation strictly between them.

“And you gave me a pear,” she continued, her hands wringing together in front of her. “And someone would say that means that you, in some way, gave me your heart.” 

They both stared at each other, oblivious to the gathering that was happening in the bullpen behind them. Emily and Derek had now been joined by Penelope and JJ, all eyes set on the two of them, and even from their distance they could feel the tension between the two almost lovers.

“That’s one way to understand it,” he said, taking a miniscule step closer to her.

“Is it the right way?” she asked, mimicking him and tipping a millimetre closer.

“I think,” he started, letting his hands come up from his coat pockets and let them slowly intertwine with hers. “I think that I gave my heart to you a long time ago.” 

“Really?” she moved closer towards him, letting her fingertips spark at the feeling of his gentle touch.

“Yeah,” he nodded, curls falling into his gentle eyes.

“Can I kiss you?” she whispered, squeezing his hands before removing them from his when he nodded his head nervously. 

She let them slide up his arms before they found their place on his jaw, soft skin meeting her cold fingers. His arms found their purpose around her soft waist, giving him the opportunity to pull her in closer. She let her eyes roam his face for a second, before she leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips. His nose was cold against hers, his lips chapped from the colder weather, but none of it mattered. They stood no comparison to the way his hands were grasping at her waist, or the way she could feel a smile on his lips against hers.

They pulled apart slowly, both of their eyes still closed, both of them just existing in the moment they had created between them.

“I gave you my heart a long time ago too,” she whispered to him, letting her arms wrap around his neck and gave him a tight hug. “But I will be happy to give you a pear as well.” 

He laughed at her comment, before he pulled her into another kiss, letting himself taste the sweet taste of pear that lingered on her lips.

“Pears cannot ripen alone. So we ripened together” - Meridel Le Sueur