#we support each other and my boss is super sweet and today she told me that she's really happy that i'm there 🥺

[niallandtommo]

.

[cherryobx]

Environmentalists//Kiara Carrera x reader

request:

summary: You are an environmentalist who moves to the Outer Banks. When Kiara hears about you, she knows she has to meet you.

warnings: language (1 word lol), fluff, kissing ig

WC: 1,7k

(not my gif, creds to the owner!!!)

You had been planning on moving for a while now. You wanted a quieter life away from big cities and cars honking every two seconds. You hated it. You absolutely hated it. You had known since you were a little girl that this wasn't the life for you.

You were luckily quite wealthy and you had enough money to start a new life somewhere else. When you talked to your parents about moving, they were very supportive of the idea. You told them about where you wanted to move and that you wanted to build your own house there. You had enough money so why not.

So, you quit your job in the city, packed most of your belongings with you and moved to the Outer Banks. Kildare to be specific. The decision to move there wasn’t hard. You had visited the place a few years back and you fell in love with it. It was the most beautiful place to you in the whole world.

When you first arrived there you checked out the property you had bought. The work there had already begun and the fundamentals of the house were already there. It was a good idea to start the process of building before you had even arrived. Your dad had helped you hire a group of people who knew what they were doing but you wanted to hire a few locals as well.

The one thing you decided on was that you wanted to stay on your property while it was being built. So, you rented yourself a caravan to live in.

When JJ and John B saw that there was a really good job opportunity, they decided to take it. The place they needed to work at wasn’t even far away from the chateau so it was the perfect job for them.

“Hey! You’re JJ and John B, right?” you asked the two boys who were walking up to you. They both gave you a confirming nod.

“Yay, I remembered your names,” you giggled. “So the guys are already working over there,” you pointed towards them, “so go over there and ask them what you have to do. And if you want to drink some water or eat some snacks, I set up a table for you all as well. If you have any questions I’ll be in that caravan.”

John B and JJ gave each other a look. It was their first day, they hadn’t even done anything yet, but you were being so unbelievably nice to them. It was something new for them since their other bosses in the past had treated them like shit.

A few months passed and the house was coming together. You had some finishing touches you still needed though. Like solar panels.

You were an environmentalist and doing everything in your power to change the world for the better. But it was hard because humanity had already done so much damage that it was really hard to make anything happen. However, you really tried. Change happens with one person at a time - a sentence you liked to live by.

“Yes, just put them over there for now. We’ll deal with them on Monday. It’s too late anyways. Go home, get some sleep.” You stood by and gave orders as the builders carried the panels one by one. Once they were finished, everyone went home.

“How does she have that much money though? That’s my question,” JJ said, opening the fridge and taking out two bottles of beer, offering one to his friend.

“Her parents are probably rich.” John B shrugged as he took the beer from JJ and popped the cap off.

“Yeah, but like solar panels?”

“What solar panels?” Kie asked as she walked into the kitchen. It was Friday night. That’s when they got together with the pogues to just drink and hang out. Pope was on his way as well.

She hopped onto one of the counters, very interested in the answer that was about to come. “You know that girl who moved here a few months back, our boss?”

“You mean the one who’s building her own house?”

“Yeah, her. She bought solar panels and they arrived today. We’re setting them up on Monday.” Suddenly Kie became very fascinated by her friends’ boss.

“What is she like?” she asked.

“Really nice. The best boss ever, for sure,” JJ said, taking a swig from his bottle.

John B continued. “Umm she’s a few years older than us. Sometimes she sits close where we are, watches us work and just talks to us. She’s an environmentalist, so the house we’re building is really energy efficient. And yes, she’s the best boss. She pays us generously and we get the right amount of breaks. She even gets us snacks and water. I don’t really know, that’s about it.”

“She sounds really cool. Can I come with you on Monday?” Kie asked, a hopeful look on her face. As soon as John B said that you were an environmentalist she knew she had to meet you. There weren’t many girls like you on the island. Plus, you seemed to be super awesome. She could use someone like you in her life.

“Uhh I don’t know.” John B looked at JJ and he looked back at him smirking. “Kie, you haven’t even met her and you’re already crushing on her.”

Kie rolled her eyes. “Ugh, shut up. Can I come or not?”

They agreed, so on Monday Kiara walked to work with them. She was nervous to say the least. JJ had been right. She hadn’t even seen or met you but she was already hooked. She had fixed her hair at least 10 times before getting there.

“Calm down, Kie,” JJ chuckled, patting Kie on the back.

Then she saw you and she swore her heart stopped beating for a second. You were nothing like she had imagined. You were even more beautiful. She loved the way your hair was moving in the light morning breeze or how you smiled and gestured with your hands as you were talking to your employees. It was like your smile was brighter than the sun. She was so invested in watching you, she almost tripped.

To her luck, JJ caught her just in time. “Relax, Romeo.”

As they walked closer, you finally noticed them coming towards you. You were a bit confused, seeing a girl with them. You smiled and waved at them. They waved back.

“Good morning, John B and JJ!”

“Good morning!” The boys said in unison, making you laugh.

“And who are you?” you turned to Kiara with a warm simile. “I’m Kiara,” she introduced herself, offering you a hand to shake which you did.

“I’m Y/N.” Kiara smiled as she repeated your name under her breath.

“Well, we better go...you know...do some work and stuff.” JJ and John B ran off as you and Kiara stayed back.

“So, what brings you here today?” you asked.

“Umm, I’m friends with John B and JJ and they told me a little about you. They told me that you are an environmentalist?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Me too! When they told me about you I knew I had to meet you. There aren’t many activists around here so…”

“They told you about me?”

“Yeah. I heard them talking about some solar panels and then it led to the conversation about you. They told me great things about you.”

You and Kiara talked for almost an hour before she asked if you’d been to her parents' restaurant. You told her that you hadn’t.

“Well, I can take you there if you’d like to.” She was really hoping that you want to.

“Sure, I haven’t had breakfast yet anyway.”

You grabbed your bike and told Kie to sit on the rack of your bicycle. You didn’t have a car and the reason was simple. You didn’t need one. Why buy a car and waste money on gas (which is harmful to the environment) when you could just use your bicycle to get around. The island wasn’t that huge.

Kie was hesitant at first but you told her that you’d get there quicker. Then she finally agreed to get on the bike. “Wrap your arms around me.” Kie’s heart started beating faster as she did so. You were so close to each other now.

You two rode to the Wreck in about 20 minutes. The silence was comfortable around you two. It was like you’d known each other for years. In reality, it’d been an hour. Well, that’s probably what it was like to meet someone you’re so similar to, someone you connect with.

After eating, Kie took you to her favourite places on the island. You two spent the entire day together. You really liked her. She had this specific energy that matched yours. You felt like you had found the one.

The day ended with you two sitting on the edge of a dock, watching the sunset. You leaned closer to Kie and rested your head on her shoulder. It was a beautiful moment. A one you were sure you’d cherish forever.

Kie smiled. She was happy. Like really happy. She hadn’t felt like this in a while. She liked you as well and really hoped that the feelings were mutual. It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing to find a person you liked like this. She had known you for only a day but she could imagine a future with you.

So when you rose your head to look at Kie, she shot her shot.

She pressed her lips against yours and gave you a short and sweet kiss that left her wanting more now once she’d tasted your lips.

When she pulled away, you had a shocked expression on your face. You weren’t expecting that. But you liked the butterflies it gave you.

“Oh shit! I’m so sorry. I thought-”

You shut her up by kissing her again, but this time deeper. The butterflies in your belly flew at a rapid speed as your lips moved against each other. She placed her hand on your cheek to pull you in even closer.

The kiss ended when you ran out of air and needed a breath. Your foreheads rested against each other as you were catching your breath.

This felt right. All of it. You couldn’t wait for what destiny had planned for you two.

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[five-rivers]

Interview with a Ghost (part 5: Buried)

(PART 1) (PART 2) (PART 3) (PART 4)

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.

.

"What?" said Captain Jones, as Collins and Paterson finished explaining their understanding of the situation to him. "What? What?"

"That was my reaction, too," said Paterson. "Just, you know, internally."

Jones waved one hand, the other supporting his forehead.

"Er, sir?" said Collins, leaning forward, trying to catch the captain's eye. "How should we, you know, proceed on this? I don't think there's any precedent."

The captain bit back a groan. "No, there isn't. He was insistent that the Fentons, his parents, didn't do anything to him?"

"Yeah."

"But it still can't be- can't be healthy for a ghost or- or whatever he is to be there," said Jones. This was making his head hurt. "They have weapons, and even if it was an accident, he died and they- No one noticed!"

"That is pretty messed up," agreed Paterson.

"That's got to be child neglect, at least, right? Negligent homicide?"

Collins nodded. "We can't really charge them with that, though, can we? Not without revealing he's a ghost and getting the GIW and whoever stole the body coming down on us."

"That could just be something Phantom's saying, though," said Paterson. "We don't know if it's true or not."

"It felt true," said Collins. "He sounded like he was actually scared."

"But can we just let a kid- two kids, with his sister- be in a situation like that? Even if one of them is dead. Especially if one of them is dead. Or whatever Fenton, Phantom, whatever, is claiming to be."

"He didn't really claim to be anything, really," said Collins.

"Look, I already have a headache as it is. What it comes down to is, I don't want a kid to be living under the same roof as people who regularly and publicly shoot at him."

"So, what do we do?" asked Collins. "He doesn't want to leave, and I don't think we can make him, physically."

"No, we can't. But does he know that?"

"I think he's aware of his laser murder powers," said Paterson.

"He kept coming to talk to you, though," said Jones. He massaged the bridge of his nose. "There's something here..." Suddenly, it all came together. He clapped his hands. "He wants to keep his secret from the public, right? That's our leverage."

"Leverage?" asked Collins, dubiously. "Captain... he is still a teenager."

"I know, I know, but hear me out. We tell him, he has to let his parents know, and his parents, they have to make their house safe for him. If they're reasonable, they'll do it. If not, we can get them for, I don't know, going crazy and thinking their kid is a ghost, or having weapons all over their home. Obviously, he isn't. That's the position we'd maintain." Jones took a deep breath. "No need to expose him publicly, and, as long as he isn't, he'll have to act like he's human, right? If he wants to maintain the illusion?"

"I guess that would work," said Collins. "But... do we have to get child protective services involved? I don't see that going well."

"Not if everyone is reasonable," said Jones, a crazed look in his eyes.

"Hold up," said Paterson. "Doesn't this hinge on getting him to, you know, tell his parents?"

"Weapons. Home. Around children. And- We'll agree to bury the rest. Tear up documents. Hide everything. Cover for him. We already know what killed him. What's the point of bringing it into the light?"

Collins and Paterson both nodded slowly. "I'll call him," said Collins.

There was a knock on the door. The three glanced at each other.

"Come in," said the captain.

One of the officers stuck her head in. "Sir?" she said. "The mayor is here to see you."

.

Danny would have been at home, plotting with Jazz about how to get his body back, but, no, Skulker had to show up, again. He should have wrecked his suit instead of just sucking him into the thermos last night.

"Hah! Ghost child!" shouted Skulker. "Today I will have your pelt! I have new-!"

Danny screamed in frustration, the harmonics of his voice almost touching a ghostly wail. "Can you leave off about my pelt for like five seconds?" demanded Danny, attacking more aggressively than was his usual wont. One of Skulker's arms flew off his body, clattering on the tiles of a nearby roof. "Didn't you have enough of that, helping Vlad steal my corpse yesterday?" There, after days of dancing around the word, he had finally said it.

"Wait, your what?" asked Skulker, pirouetting awkwardly to avoid another barrage of ectoblasts.

"My. Corpse!" screamed Danny. "You helped him steal my corpse!"

"You don't have a corpse, you're still alive!"

"Shut up!" It was a good thing they were so far up. Even at the volumes they were speaking, they wouldn't be overheard. "You don't know anything! I'm half dead, so I have half a corpse, and I had to bury it, and then the police found it, and you helped Vlad steal it!" Danny was basically in tears at this point, hands clenching the metal of Skulker's chest so hard it buckled and warped, holding the unfortunate ghost above his head.

A number of complicated emotions passed over Skulker's face. "Uh," he said. "Time out?"

"What?" snarled Danny. He was more than ready to rip Skulker apart.

"Your body, whatever there is of it, did Plasmius really take it?"

"He basically gloated about it to my friends," said Danny.

Skulker's face twisted up, the metal plates it consisted of glinting in the sunlight. "Disturbing the remains of another ghost is... distasteful, at best." He shifted, obviously trying to get out of Danny's grip. Danny held on, tighter. "Let me go," he said. "I'll spread the word. There won't be a ghost in the Zone who'll work for Plasmius after this."

Danny sniffed. "I want it back," he said.

"Of course you do," said Skulker, nervously. "Just- let me go, alright, ghost child?" He paused. "Phantom?"

Danny relaxed his grip. Before Skulker could recover, he whipped out the thermos and sucked the other ghost in.

"I'll let you go," he grumbled. "Right into the Ghost Zone."

.

Jones did not like Mayor Masters. A complete outsider, a stranger to Amity Park, the man had somehow wormed his way into the mayor's office. Jones had always suspected bribery, but had no evidence.

This visit of his... it was suspicious. Incredibly suspicious. The timing felt rotten. Masters had barely set foot inside the station before this.

Well, the timing and the questions he was asking. Jones was glad he had told everyone to deflect questions about the body and Phantom beforehand, no matter who was asking.

Jones fixed a grin onto his face. "I'm sorry, Mr. Masters," he said. "We can't discuss ongoing investigations."

"I think," said Masters, "that, as mayor, I am exempt from that rule. I am, after all, your boss."

"That's true," said Jones, "but this case is especially sensitive, and everyone is a suspect."

"I can't possibly be," said Masters. "I didn't even live here two years ago. I believe you are dancing around the subject, sir. Let us not have our personal feelings get in the way of things, hm?"

This bastard- There was no way he should have known that particular detail. Not without suborning the ME or her assistant.

Or stealing the records. The initial reports had gone missing with the body, and the computer system had been hacked.

Jones pressed his teeth together so hard they ached. He could feel them grinding inside his head.

"Why don't I give you an overview of what we know so far?" he asked, voice as sweet as he could stand to make it. "We'll start with Cameron over here. He's the head of our cult division, and a real wizard with computers."

If anyone could drive the man off, it was Cameron.

.

"I didn't think babypop even had a corpse," said Ember, crossing his arms. "Are you sure he isn't just delusional?"

"He could be," said Skulker, "but that's not the point. He believes it. Do you really want to be dealing with him as a restless spirit?"

"Oh, god, no. He's already such a spoilsport. Can you imagine?" The blue flame her hair was drawn back into shuddered.

"I don't have to imagine," said Skulker. "He tore my arm off."

"He always tears your arms off," said Ember, dismissively.

"He's only going to get worse though," said Skulker, "if it really is his body. If Plasmius is doing anything to it. That anxiety. A person's body should be taken care of properly, not messed about with."

"Hey!" said Technus, who was on the other side of the room, fixing Skulker's mechanical body. "I donated MY body to SCIENCE! I'm perfectly fine."

"Yeah," said Ember. "Some people would disagree with that, but the thing is you chose to do that. Those're the rites you wanted."

"Do you think I, the great TECHNUS, master of all things technological and-"

"No, actually, I don't think you knew," said Ember.

"Ohhhhh! I'll alter all your auxiliary cables, you little-!"

"Can we get back on topic?" asked Skulker, his high-pitched voice cutting above the argument. "We need to get Phantom's body back! Otherwise he'll be completely unbearable!"

The ghosts looked at each other. "Agreed," they said.

.

Danny leaned over Tucker's shoulder. "Are you sure?" he said.

"Positive," said Tucker. "Sorry, man, but Vlad's super secret super villain stuff isn't online. Your body isn't mentioned at all. Nothing is. His internet enabled stuff is all pretty bland, compared to what we know he's doing. I mean, some of it is kind of sketchy, but it just isn't the same level."

"Anything we can blackmail him with?" asked Sam.

"Not really. We can't exactly say how we got it, after all, so he'd have plausible deniability."

Danny groaned. The groan turned into a long plume of blue mist. Danny growled. "Whoever is interrupting this time-"

"Whoa, calm down, man," said Tucker. "This is pretty normal."

Danny's phone began to ring. If this was those detective he was going to-

It was Jazz. "What?" he asked.

"The ecto-exodus alarm is going off," said Jazz. "Where are you?"

"Tucker's," said Danny. "I'm going to check it out."

"Be safe. Mom and Dad are out there with blasters, and they've notified the GIW."

"Noted," said Danny. He hung up, then turned to Sam and Tucker. "This is a big one, apparently. You might want to stay in."

"Good luck with that," said Tucker, pulling a ecto-rifle from beneath his desk. "I've been wanting to try this baby out."

"Please don't name it," said Sam.

"I think I will!" said Tucker.

"Just don't shoot if we're not fighting, okay? They might not be here to cause trouble. Don't give me that look, I'm trying out some optimism."

Before his friends could say anything about that, he flew up through the roof. From there, he had no problem picking out the crowd of ghosts who had just passed by.

Skulker was leading them. Danny scowled, and flew forward to intercept them, too angry to process whether or not confronting a group of ghosts that large was wise.

"Hey!" he shouted. "I thought you said you'd leave!"

"Chill, babypop!" shouted Ember. "You're a cold core, aren't you? We're here to get your body back."

That brought Danny up short. "Wait, really?"

The other ghosts, largely the rabble of the Wastes, the region of the Ghost Zone right outside the Fenton portal, gave a ragged sort of cheer.

"Yeah. And trash Plasmius's crap."

"Oh," said Danny, taken aback. "He has a ghost shield around his mansion, you know. A human shield, too, before you say I can get past that."

Poindexter floated up, over the mass of the crowd. "He can't keep them up all the time, can he?" he asked adjusting his glasses.

"No, I guess he can't. One sec." He pulled out his phone. "Hey, Tucker, can you find out where Vlad is right now?"

.

"... and these are the cults that believe ghosts are divine messengers, there's a lot of variety in them, too," Cameron was saying, pointing eagerly at his computer screen.

"Excuse me," said Vlad. "But I don't see how this is relevant. At all. To anything."

"Oh, it's very important," said Collins, nodding sagely. "We got some of our best leads in this case from the cults."

Cameron beamed.

"I am myself quite familiar with the local cults," said Vlad. "If they become relevant, I'm sure I can come back to-"

"No, no, Mr. Mayor," said Paterson, "you won't understand without context."

"I-"

Several dozen ghosts suddenly entered through the roof. Everyone dove for cover.

"Hiya, grave robbers!" shouted a ghost with fiery blue hair. Ember McClain. "Or one grave robber in particular."

Actually, come to think of it, she'd masqueraded as a human for a while, too. Collins was going to have a crisis about how easily ghosts could blend in with humans at some point in the near future. Not today, but before the end of the week. He'd need to talk to a shrink. Preferably one who wasn't a ghost.

Oddly, the ghosts weren't attacking.

The sound of Mayor Masters clearing his throat issued from behind a sizable desk. "What are you here for?" he asked.

"You know, grave robber. We've got a bone to pick with you, until you give back what you took."

A few feet away from Collins, Jones inhaled deeply. He stood up. Collins resisted the urge to drag him back down.

"We don't have Phantom's body," said Jones, "if that's what you're here for."

"We know," said Ember. "That's what this's about. We know who took it, and we don't want to deal with Phantom while he's freaking out over some jerk having his body. So. We're giving an ultimatum-"

"Hey, guys," said Phantom's voice. "I found the shield deactivation button. It was in his car, next to his garage door opener."

"Oh, cool. You trash his car?"

"Nah, I let these little gremlin dudes do it. They looked like they were having fun."

"Whatever, babypop. Let's go get your body!"

As quickly as they came, the ghosts were gone.

Mayor Masters swore, and started for the door.

"Hold up," said Jones, putting a hand on the taller man's shoulder. "Where exactly do you think you're going?"

"To call some competent ghost hunters, since those menaces are clearly after my belongings!"

"Nuh uh," said Jones. "We've got some questions for you."

"Yeah," said Collins, "like why you seem to think that they're going to your house, when they could have been talking about anyone."

"Wow!" said Cameron, smiling. "That was exciting! I'm glad I was livestreaming, like you told me to, Paterson!"

"Well," said Vlad. He paused. "I need to call my lawyer."

"Better make sure they're a competent one," mocked Jones.

.

Collins was surprised when Phantom materialized in the middle of the room with a long, dark plastic body bag in his arms. So were most people. Across the room, next to the coffee machine, one of his more caffeine-addicted coworkers do a spit take, and Jones burst out of his office in an avalanche of paperwork.

"I want a burial," said Phantom, finally. "A real one, this time."

Silence.

"I think I can arrange that," said Captain Jones.

[asexual-hugger]

Allison McQueen arrives on her parents’ front porch with her boss, Detective Ernest Sinclaire, in tow. Before the trip, Sinclaire had asked Allison what he was supposed to bring with him.

“Something lightweight and your own sweet self,” she had responded. “It’s a farm, so you won’t want to wear anything heavy. It can get hot out in the fields.”

“Am I expected to do any physical labor?” he’d asked. “Not that I wouldn’t be open to it, but I thought your mom wanted your help.”

“Don’t worry; she’s going to get it,” Allison had said. “When I mentioned getting hot out in the fields, I meant being outside. Our porch is fairly big, and we have some VERY comfortable lounge chairs set out on it. You and Kade are here to relax, and I’m here to be the farm girl I was raised as. If anything confuses you while I’m working, you can always ask Kade.”

Now the two of them stand on the large porch Allison had described, and Sinclaire’s eyes keep roving over the chairs and table with awe.

Not long after Allison rings the doorbell that the door opens, and the face of Lady Eleanor McQueen pokes through the crack.

“Allison! You came!” She swings the door open and wraps her only daughter in a huge hug.

“Yeah. I came. Hello, Mom.” Allison squirms slightly in her mother’s strong grip, forcing out the words.

“I didn’t think after our phone conversation the other day that you would make it.” Lady Eleanor releases her and Allison steps back, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and looking flushed as she meets Detective Sinclaire’s gaze.

“Please. What kind of daughter would I be otherwise?” Allison asks. “Yes, I made it, and I, er, brought someone.” She nods behind her.

“Oh!” Lady Eleanor appears to notice the newcomer for the first time, and she lets out a low gasp. “Forgive me; I didn’t see you there!”

“No worries, Lady McQueen.” Sinclaire boldly steps forward and manages a proper bow. “Detective Ernest Sinclaire, Private Investigator. I’m your daughter’s employer at work.”

He holds out his hand to her, and when she takes it, he turns it over and kisses it in his gentlemanly fashion.

“Oh!” Lady Eleanor says again, only this time it’s almost girlish. “Why, aren’t you becoming! It is such a pleasure to meet you, Detective. I feel as if I know you already by the way Allison gushes about you all the time. I didn’t think you would be so young, let alone dashing! Come in, please, both of you!”

She holds the door open while the two of them pick up their suitcases.

“I’m very sorry to come by unannounced into your home, Lady McQueen,” Sinclaire says, his face flushing. “Allison invited me, and I couldn’t turn her down. I do hope it’s all right if I’m here.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Detective; of course it’s all right!” Lady Eleanor waves a hand at him dismissively. “I trust you have been taking very good care of my daughter. Any friend of hers is more than welcome into this household.” She nods over his shoulder at Allison, mouthing, ‘he’s CUTE!’

“I appreciate that.” Sinclaire hesitates and looks back at Allison as if waiting for her cue.

“Go ahead,” Allison urges. “I’ll catch up.”

“So Allison has been ‘gushing’ about me, has she?” Sinclaire looks at Lady Eleanor, and then back at Allison, with amusement. Allison looks at the ground, face hot and unable to meet their gazes.

“Oh, most definitely,” Lady Eleanor tells him, grinning slyly. “She sings your praises all the time. Until today, I never would’ve imagined such a handsome fellow. Her description of you certainly did not lie. Are you absolutely certain you are her employer? Because you don’t look a day older than she.”

“I can assure you, Lady McQueen, I am most definitely her employer,” Sinclaire explains. “And I do wish to hear more about what she has told you regarding myself. I hope she has said encouraging things?”

“Nothing but encouraging,” Lady Eleanor answers. “Every time we talk she raves about her job and how much she’s enjoying it. I take it you are keeping her busy?”

“As much as I can,” Sinclaire replies. “Allow me to state that she is the best assistant I’ve ever hired. You raised a good one, Lady McQueen. She’s dependable, reliable, punctual, and has an excellent attitude. Yes, we may not be all that far apart in age, but I built my detective agency from the ground up all on my own, and until Allison entered the picture, there wasn’t much joy in the business. Your daughter has that presence that fills a whole room with light.”

“I am thrilled to hear you say that, Detective,” Lady Eleanor beams. “Our Allison has always been the light in the darkness. After having two older boys, I begged for a girl, and somehow, after she was born, I just KNEW. I knew she was something special. She brought joy everywhere she went.”

“I have to agree with you on all accounts, Lady McQueen.” Sinclaire tosses glances at Allison as he speaks. “Thank you for being so accommodating.”

Allison grips her suitcase tightly and walks through the door, and he follows soon after. Lady Eleanor calls out into the living room the instant they’re inside.

“Sebastian! Kade! Guess who just arrived!” Her tinkling voice echoes through the house.

“Hey hey hey!” Allison’s father, Lord Sebastian, enters the room carrying a glass of wine. “Is that our little lady?”

“Hi, Dad.” Allison lets him place a fatherly peck on the cheek before he turns and spots her guest.

“Oh, hello. Allison didn’t say she was bringing company.” He seems to be examining Sinclaire from head to toe.

“Er, I’m very sorry, sir,” Sinclaire apologizes, his gentlemanly manners always making him even more adorable. He stammers at the sight of the large man. “Your daughter invited me to stay here while she helped you with the farm work. I hope you don’t mind. I’ll stay out of the way as much as possible. My name is Ernest Sinclaire. I’m a private investigator with Ledford Park Detective Agency. Allison is currently my assistant, and...”

“AHA!” Lord Sebastian utters the word so loudly that both Allison and Sinclaire jump. “So YOU are the famous Detective Sinclaire that my Allison can’t stop raving about! I should have known the second you set foot into this room!” He grins widely and holds out a beefy hand for the private eye to shake. “Welcome to House McQueen, my ever-loving detective friend!”

“Oh, er, yes, I’m that Detective Sinclaire.” Sinclaire shakes his hand. “As I was telling your wife just now, Allison is the best assistant I’ve ever had. She works hard and makes sure everything is done thoroughly...”

“Say no more!” Lord Sebastian downs the wine and thumps the glass on the coffee table. “I am Lord Sebastian McQueen, Allison’s father, and you’ve clearly already met my wife, her mother, Lady Eleanor McQueen. I am very sure my girl is working hard and well at her job. As the man of the house, I say: make yourself at home.”

“Thank you, Lord McQueen.” Sinclaire places his suitcase in the hall out of the way and seems to look less intimidated by Lord Sebastian’s large form.

Good god, he thinks. Allison’s father is a mountain man!

Allison certainly did not get her delicate, waif-like ballet dancer’s body from him. “Mum, where’s Kade?” Allison’s voice lifts Sinclaire from his thoughts.

“Oh, yes.” Lady Eleanor leads her to the family room, where the Hide-A-Bed is set out. “He’s in here. Come say hello.”

“Come on, Detective,” Allison urges, taking Sinclaire’s hand. “Come meet my brother.”

“Big sister!” The boy on the bed gives a joyful yelp when he sees Allison. He’s lying on the hideaway bed surrounded by blankets and pillows, and his foot is wrapped in a heavy cast.

“Hey, Kadeo.” Allison leans down and very gently wraps him in a hug. “Looks like you really took the spill this time, buddy.” She eyes his cast and cringes slightly. “That looks a lot worse than Mum described it.”

Kade McQueen shrugs. “It’s no different than last time,” he says indifferently. “Last time it was the stool in the stable. That was super freaky.” His eyes travel over her shoulder and his face brightens. “Oh, hey there! I’m Kade, Allison’s brother. Allison didn’t tell me she was seeing anyone!”

“Actually, this is my boss,” Allison corrects him quickly.

“Hello, Kade.” Detective Sinclaire approaches and smiles at the boy. “I’m Detective Ernest Sinclaire. I’m a private investigator currently working with your sister as my assistant. How’s the foot? Allison told me you fractured it?”

“Yeah, jacking up the plow,” Kade tells him. “It’s no big deal, really. I’ve had a lot worse than this. My family calls me Kade the Klutz. Which, of course, fits me to a T.” He grins widely at Sinclaire before giving him a good long look. “Are you absolutely CERTAIN you are my sister’s boss? Cause you look kinda young, almost like you could be her boyfriend.” He turns to Allison. “Don’t deny that you wanna eat him alive with your eyes right now. You look like you could rip each other’s clothes off any second.”

“KADE!” Allison gapes at her brother, horrified.

“What? I’m not judging!” Kade insists. “You two make a cute couple. If I had any say in this relationship, I’d vote Boyfriend-Girlfriend over Boss-Employee any day. The Titanic of Love has just set sail from the Southampton docks. Woo woo!” He makes a boat whistle noise and pumps his fist.

“Ughhhhh.” Allison covers her madly-flushing face with her hands and groans. “I am so sorry about that, Detective! He must be on some new medicine or something. There’s no way he would act like that if he weren’t high.”

“There’s no apology needed,” Sinclaire assures her. “I actually think it’s kind of cute. Your little brother apparently supports my being here just as much as the rest of your family. I’ve never felt more welcome or loved by anyone before. Do you think we make a cute couple, Miss McQueen?”

“Yes, of course I do,” Allison answers. “But you’re my boss. You even said it yourself. That kind of relationship is forbidden. Business first, personal second. I know you told me you didn’t have a girlfriend.”

“I don’t,” Sinclaire says. “Not at the moment, anyway, but that’s only because I haven’t found the right person yet. It’s not because I’m not ready to start dating. However, I do know the right person is out there, and she’s much closer than I ever would’ve imagined.”

He sneaks a glance at Kade over Allison’s shoulder, and when he’s sure Kade is watching, he winks at him.

“Titanic of Love, baby!” Kade swoons. “Titanic of LOVE!”

“Yeah, yeah, buddy, we all know how much I love the Titanic,” Allison says matter-of-factly.

[userseokkie]

Met Gala, Stony, 2.3k

In honor of the Met Gala tonight, I whipped up this quick fic. It’s so self indulgent but it’s fluffy and short. No smut, but I might be persuaded to do a follow up. Enjoy!

***

The flashes of the cameras were the first thing Tony could notice even before the limo rounded the corner. The paparazzi were swarming the entire entrance and media vans were parked well down fifth. 

While Happy was busy cursing every poor reporter that dared get in the way and mumbling god knows what, Tony checked his phone one last time, thumbing a quick email before sliding it back in his pocket. He glanced over at Steve. 

“You know, if you’d only let Carla style you-” 

“I’m fine, Tony. What? This is just a gala.” Steve peered out the window, his brow pinching slightly the way it always did when he got nervous.

“Jesus, I already told you, this isn’t just another gala, this is the Met Gala and Anna trusts me to carry this event-” 

“Just say it. Just admit you’re embarrassed by me and that I’m hideous and not worthy of being your date,” Steve said with that deadpan tone he used, and god his jaw could cut through glass. Tony bit his lip unconsciously, trying to get rid of inappropriate thoughts. This outfit was too tight to be getting hard.

Through the honking, Tony shrugged and smiled despite his efforts. “You know you’re the only one who could be my date, stud.” 

Steve’s eyes softened, a glint on his blue eyes as they focused on Tony. 

“I mean, Natasha and Clint are going together, Thor is bringing Jane and I’d have more luck convincing Bruce to smoke up with me than bringing him to one of these things. You were the only one left, obviously.” 

“Tony.” Steve rolled his eyes. “I just don’t see what the big deal is, we go in, we have dinner, we donate some money to keep the museum funded.” 

Tony was about to object to how Steve casually referred to 1.5 million as some money, but their car came to a stop. “We’re here, boss.” Happy announced. 

Steve looked at him once more, an expectant look on his face. “Do I really look bad?” 

The theme for this year was Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology, which, duh. Of course it was important, when Anna had called Tony and asked him to host, it was a no brainer. This was practically made for the Futurist, and the media had gone ballistic when they announced Tony was co-hosting. This entire thing was built on the Mark LVII. Not to toot his own horn, but Tony had really outdone himself with this one. 

Dragging his gaze up and down the super soldier in front of him, it was hard to be objective. But Steve certainly didn’t look bad, he just looked... like himself. The Met Gala was meant to go outside your comfort zone and push the envelope on what fashion meant, if Jan had taught Tony anything, it’s that fashion is for the brave and bold. And he was anything if not ballsy. Steve, however, in his all black suit, head to toe Dior, looked like a devil put on Earth to tempt Tony into unspeakable acts. Did it scream fashion and technology, though? No, it didn’t. 

“Honey bunch, you look like sin incarnate.” Tony slid across his seat, making to get up. He leaned in, grabbing onto Steve’s bicep for support. “And I’ll make sure to let you know just how crazy you are making me with that outfit right after this thing is over.” His whisper made Steve shiver, and when he looked at his face, Tony could laugh at how big Steve’s pupils had become. He counted it as a win. 

He slid his sunglasses on and turned to the door. “But now, it’s showtime.” 

***

The steps in the main entrance were covered in a plush red carpet that felt thicker than some floors, and Steve appreciated the decoration lining up each side. People must have worked real hard for this event. 

“Tony! Tony, over here!”

“Tony, who’re you wearing?” 

The photographers were going nuts over Tony. Steve could swear a woman had fainted in the entrance. 

“This is a Stark original, darling,” Tony drawled, and twirled to let them get a good look.

And boy, was it a sight for sore eyes. 

The celebrities coming in were starting to gather around, some walking slower to let the photographers get a good shot, some talking with the cameras over on the steps. But not a single person had so many people focused on them as Tony. He had worked with those designers real hard, and what they’d come up with was a piece of pure technological genius that managed to look amazing and unreal at the same time. 

Nanotech, Tony had called it. Steve had sit through the entire explanation about the nanotubes and how Tony “would be damned before he let another ant sized fucker get into his suit,” but he’d only use it to design a new Iron Man armor until last year. When he received the news he’d be hosting the Met Gala, Tony had called one of those world famous designers and they’d work on this outfit for seven months. Versace, Steve thinks. 

The result was a nanotech armor that felt like fabric and looked like fabric, with the density of a hair and the resistance of a Falcon 9 spaceship. The suit managed to look slick and bulletproof at the same time, and well, the way it hugged Tony’s ass was reason enough to be here. 

Steve saw Tony’s arm reaching for him, and he walked up to join him in front of the cameras. “Dazzle them, Steve.” Tony grinned at him, and Steve felt his heart grow a little bit. God, he loved this man so much. 

The flashes were getting a bit too overwhelming for Steve, the way they always did, but even he had to admit it felt kinda good to have Tony on his arm and the whole world to see them. He had always admired Tony’s philanthropic nature and his tech genius, and the world needed to admire it too. 

“A kiss, give us a kiss!” 

The guys with the cameras egged them on, and since Tony liked to put on a show so much he figured he could do this for him. Tony looked at him and shrugged slightly, as if saying “it’s your call, Cap.” 

Good thing Steve’s reflects were so fast. He slid his arm behind Tony’s back and with the other one he held his left hand, putting his leg behind Tony’s thighs quickly.

The photographers started dog whistling and cheering when Steve swooped Tony and dipped him into the ground, kissing him softly. 

He felt Tony sighing and his lips parting, and it took all of Steve’s will to keep the kiss short and sweet, instead of doing what he really wanted to do. But he couldn’t resist swiping his tongue over Tony’s plush bottom lip once. 

He parted the kiss, but remained with Tony dipped like a princess for a second. The chocolate eyes he loved melted and blinked up at him. “Woah, you’re pulling out all the tricks tonight, Captain.” Steve felt inner pride swell at Tony’s slightly dazed expression when he said that.  

“Well, I have to make up for my terrible outfit, don’t I?” 

After that, they continued their stroll down the entrance, stopping to talk to reporters and saying hi to some of the other guests. Tony stopped to talk with George Clay? George Crowley? Whoever, he was familiar from that movie they went to see last month. 

“Hey, Steve,” A voice behind him said. “You look awfully ordinary today.”

Natasha came with Clint in tow, as Tony had said. Her red dress reminded Steve of a knight’s chainmail, but he couldn’t tell if it was made from the same material. “Nat, you look like a fairy tale. Where’s the charming prince?”

“Hey, right here.” Clint piped in. Well, he was wearing a suit just like Steve was. Except he had put on a type of metal prosthesis over his arm. Great.

“No, really, where is he?”

“Very funny, Cap,” Clint punched him with his metal arm. “You might wanna stop the banter and make sure someone doesn’t steal your man.”

Natasha arched an eyebrow, looking over his shoulder. 

Steve turned around to see Tony chatting with a different guy from the movie actor. This man was tall and blonde and- well, he looked like a real dickhead if Steve was being honest. But Tony didn’t seem to mind, as he was deeply in conversation telling a very entertaining story, judging by the man’s laugh. 

He shrugged. “I might have to take some measures.” 

Nat smiled at him, knowing he was joking, and pat him on the shoulder. “I’m sure he can fend by himself any potential suitors.” 

“Hey, did you see Thor?” Clint turned his head, cackling. “Holy shit, he’s gonna start summoning thunder soon.” 

And Thor was a few meters behind them in the main photo stand with Jane by his side, the media couldn’t get enough of him. He was swinging Mjolnir around, his cape glistening with the camera flashes. 

“Hey, that’s cheating.” Steve frowned. “He’s just wearing his regular battle outfit.”

“Well, how much fashionably avant garde can you get when you’re an Asgardian god?” Natasha tilted her head. “I think they look cute.”

“Yeah, just wait til he pours a storm over them. One of the paparazzi almost pushes Jane out in the curb.” Clint said. 

Tony appeared right beside Steve, his suit catching the light. “Hey Barton, lost your Robocop helmet back there?” 

“For your information, this is Armani. Not all of us can get a custom made armor suit.” 

“Miss Romanoff,” Tony kissed Nat’s hand. “You look particularly deadly today.”

“Thank you, Shellhead. I was going for that.” 

A reporter asked them to pose for a group photo, and then when Thor joined them they had to go through another eight rounds of posing for every media outlet in existence. Steve was getting a little bit antsy, but luckily the dinner came after this. He could eat. 

The darlings of the night were Tony and Nat, obviously. They posed for some duo photos and Steve had to admit, the sight of the two of them together could probably turn any man or woman, no matter the sexuality. 

Nat’s firey red hair was styled into a short, disheveled bob with bangs reaching her mid forehead. Her dress, now that Steve had seen it properly, was part dress and part chainmail indeed. She looked stunning. 

But Tony, Tony was on a whole new playing field. Right after the announcements and the opening speech, the media asked for some last photographs. Tony humored them and as the crowd rose into applause, he tapped something in the arc reactor (or nano case as he had called it), and the suit transformed right before them.

Steve had seen the way the tubes formed over Tony’s body many times, how it looked almost like a living entity, swallowing Tony, spreading around him to protect him. He must admit, he had been a weak man more than once and dragged Tony right after a debriefing into the nearest closet or conference room and, well. Let’s just say it’s incredibly easy to fuck someone wearing nanotech tubes, as they need to just open up around the right parts. 

And now the crowd was going crazy with it. The suit formed arm gauntlets, and then in the back, something that resembled the flight stabilizers that the armor often had came up, forming a circle of long spikes framing Tony’s head, with an almost regal nature. The suit went from a steel gray to the classic red and gold colors, and Tony smiled. Steve was getting as hyped as the crowd with this, honestly. 

“He’s born for this, it’s ridiculous,” Steve heard Clint say behind him. He thought of other adjectives rather than ridiculous, but whatever. 

***

The dinner was good, but it wasn’t shawarma or some greasy spoon’s cheeseburger. “God, I’m so getting burgers after this,” Tony mumbled, placing the fork and knife over his plate in a cross. 

“Tell Thor that, he just asked for doubles and the head chef had to come and tell him they don’t do ‘doubles’,” Steve chuckled next to him.

Things had been surprisingly well. The exhibition was exquisite, as always. Tony had to go find Anna for the final speech, but things were sailing smoothly. 

“Hey, how are you holding up?” Tony placed his hand over Steve’s on the table, turning to glance at him. “I’ve been so busy mingling and being the MC, I hadn’t checked up with you.” 

Steve smiled at him, nodding. “I get it, don’t worry. You’re the main attraction. I’ve been perfectly alright just sitting back and watching you.” 

Tony definitely did not blush at that. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, well, it’s easy to just stand back and look pretty when you have the experience.”

Steve put his hand on Tony’s thigh under the table, squeezing slightly. “Yes, it is. But I might have to stop sitting down and be right behind you, like a bodyguard. What with all these men coming after my fella.” 

Tony snorted. “Like a bodyguard, huh? Like Whitney Houston and Costner?”

“Have we seen that one?”

“No, I don’t think you have,” Tony tried to remember. “Doesn’t matter. It doesn’t end well for them.”

Steve’s hand felt warm and solid even over the nano layer of the suit. 

“But yeah, I might have to step up. I’d hate to cause scene at this fancy event, though.” Steve said, looking at Tony sideways. His smile was charming as ever.

“Captain?” Tony arched an eyebrow. “Are you getting jealous over here?”

Steve lowered his head, looking down at his hand on Tony. “I mean, I can’t blame them. You’re a vision in that outfit tonight.” 

Tony felt himself getting hot under the collar. Steve praising him always did things to him, weird, mushy things, dammit. 

“Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself.” Tony peered at Steve through his eyelashes. “Remember what I told you in the car? Cause I’m good on my word, soldier.” 

He enjoyed so much getting Steve riled up in public. His lips parted slightly, his eyes always widened and his jaw started clenching when he tried to control it. Steve never looked more attractive.

“Well, you better sweetheart. Because I have some ideas for this suit of yours.” Steve said quietly, his hand moving higher up Tony’s thigh and squeezing right before taking it away and turning his body, acting like nothing had happened.

Tony almost combusted. Right before he could suggest taking things to the restroom, he heard a voice in the speaker call his name. It was Anna. 

Dammit, time for the closing ceremony. 

Steve chuckled as he made his way up the chair. “You’re so paying for this, Steve,” Tony said, getting up behind him. 

“I sincerely hope I do,” Steve replied, biting his lip. He put his hands on Tony’s shoulders and patted him, a big smile on his face. “Now go get them, tiger.” 

Tony was adding this to the list of Reasons Why Steve Isn’t America’s Boyscout And He Has Everyone Fooled.

[thatanimenerd101]

Story time...…..

Now I know I said I would take a break but, Welcome to story time. Today topic will be..... my first love. (I was super naive so bear with me.) Get your snack and get comfortable. FYI my real name is not Kayla, it’s my main OC’s name and the name I use at the coffee shop. My real name is not common. Now this is a personal post and this is NOT edited, so WELCOME TO CRINGE TOWN!

Okay so these are the roles of the people in the story. I have changed their names so that if they find this, I can laugh my ass off. By the way if you see this, the person that fucked the way of how I see love, oh hello. I’m about to tell the world of how much of a dick you are.....😈 you’ll find out soon.

Boy I fell in love with: we are gonna call him Don (sorry if your name is Don)

My best friend: Miko

Don’s best friend: Matt, oh this one I wanna slap across the face.

Now, everything I am about to tell you did happen to me and my one friend was ready to beat the shit outta Don.

Now this happened in my second year of high school, I was the mom friend of the group, I was the friend you would go to for advise and someone to talk too. But before we get into the TEA of the story quick flashback to Halloween before all this happened. Well not really a flashback but it is how everything started. Sort of.

Miko invited me to a Halloween party her church was having. So I thought sure, I've been working hard in school so why not? She told me she was inviting an old friend from grammar school, she told me his name was Don. I was like okay cool, maybe him and I could become good friends. So when I first met him he was a good guy, now Miko is almost two years younger than me so she was still in middle school at the same, same with Don. All three of us had fun, hell Miko even dragged me into a haunted house. I hate those things, I almost punched one of the people inside. So at the end of the party Miko’s mom drove us all home, Miko and I said by to Don. I though that was the last I would hear from him. 

Over the next few months Miko and Don would text back and forth. I thought nothing of it, all I thought was they haven't talked much in years so what could go wrong? That was until he sent a nude photo of himself, because he thought it was cool. When Miko told me about this, I was grossed out. I told her to tell him off and that photo was uncalled. Don said he was sorry and that he was not thinking. Miko forgave him and they continued being friends

Time went on, the end of the school year was coming up it was the end of April, two months before final exams. I was in my room scrolling threw Netflix when my phone dinged. 

New message request from Don Smith. 

“Hey, is this Miko’s best friend?”

At the time I did not think anything of it 

“Yeah, that's me. What do you want?”

“Woah, I just wanted to chat with you. Is this not a good time?”

“Now is okay, I just did not expect you to message me out of the blue.”

For the next hour we did some small talk, I don't really care for small talk unless I want to get to know the other person. He told me he played football and that he broke up with his girlfriend. Then he made a comment of how I looked like her. I saw a picture of her and yeah I did look like her. All threw the rest of April and May we texted all the time,  we even video chatted a lot. But the second week of May he told me he liked me and he wanted me to be his girlfriend. I told him that I was not interested in dating at all. Plus we did not know each other for long. I thought and still think that relationships are a serious thing and not something to play around with. He would still flirt with me, a lot but I would just push it off. I never had someone flirt with me before, yes I have been cat called before. But it made me think maybe I do like him?

I talked it over with Miko and she said that it was okay. But she told me not to let a boy get in the way of our friendship. 

One day he stopped talking to me, I thought something bad happen because he told me he was really depressed. So I blew up his phone with texts. 

I did not hear anything from him for a week, I told Miko and she told me that Don had been texting her non-stop for the past week for no reason. He kept asking her for nudes and to video chat. She showed me her phone we decided something. 

I video called him and he picked up. 

The look on his face once he say Miko with her phone. She screamed at him and I was crying a lot. I never been in love before so yeah. Anyways this sounds like something out of a movie, that’s because it was. 

Now I wont go into too much detail but I made him feel guilty because he had heard me crying. Now I don't cry much unless something is wrong. 

Matt, Don’s best friend would hit on me as well which let the two getting into fights. He would call me “Babe” or “Baby” I did not like being called that so I stopped talking to them. Now Don and Matt went to different school from Miko and I. 

One day I had enough of Don talking to me one day and then not bothering to say two words to me for weeks. My friends told me this is not how love works or how a friendship works. 

I sent him a long message telling him of how I did not like being treated like I was nothing to him. He only called me when he was sad. All he liked about me was my body. Now I never gave him any chances to see my body at all. I had and still struggle with body-image. He blocked me and I thought it was over. 

I was heart broken because this was the first person outside of my family those three words. I love you. He never said it back, he would just say “me too “ or “You too cutie” 

He tried to get me to talk to him over the summer I would just leave him on read or tell him to go talk to a wall. In August he stopped all commination and I blocked him on everything Facebook, etc.  

I was slowly healing from him. He used my feelings just so that he could get inside my head and mess with me. I was the girl he would use to talk too if he was sad. But when I needed him, he would leave me on read and say that he did not have time to deal with me. 

It was the next school year, a new start. I was still heartbroken but my friends stayed by my side. 

They even planed to go to his house with a bat, TP and shaving cream. They told me they would kick his ass while I waited in the car eating a gallon of ice cream while I laughed. Now my friends are very protective of me, I am the sweet one. 

One night well I was giving my rabbit a bath I got a message on my smartwatch saying that an unknown number sent me a photo. I thought nothing of it because I just though one of my friends I'm not very close with  sent me a meme or something like that. A lot of people had my number because I had done a lot of group projects and I would have to give my number out. So I finished giving Junior a bath and opened the text. 

The text was a picture of a note. The gist of it was that Don was sorry and that he did not know what he was doing. He said that he should've never let me go because he loved me. 

Oh god, I never screenshotted something so fast in my life, I made a group chat with five of my close friends. One of my friends mom was all ready to call his mother and have a “Nice talk” But I did what I thought was right in my heart. 

I called him a child for waiting six months to apologies. I also gave him 24 to call me and leave a voicemail of him actually saying what he wrote in that awful love note. I could barley read the note and it was poorly written. He was a freshmen in high school and I was about to take an SAT. Which I was supposed to take in the spring. This was in December, he waited six months. I cried when I read that note because of what he put me through. I thought I blocked him on everything but not my regular texting app, I forgot I had his number in the first place.

He changed the way I look at love. He was a toxic person and no one should tell you when its okay to speak. But here's something he did not like about me. Now this happened to me when I was 15, he was 14. Don't ever let someone boss you around and use you. I’ve grown a lot since my second year of high school.

But now I am happy to say that I am happy and that I will wait for something who loves and cares for me. Now anyone who does not treat me like Kirishima, or Hawks, they can leave. I don't need m heart to be broken like glass, my friends and I have been gluing the broken pieces for a while. I’m still healing, but now I know what is okay and what is not. I am unsure of when I will find love, all I can do is hope. Who knows, maybe my future love will read this. Who knows? I sure wont know.  I don't know what will happen in the future, but all I can say is BRING IT ON! But before I end this post I just want to say,

LOVE IS LOVE! NO MATTER THE GENDER OR SEXUALITY! I support the LGBTQ+ community with my heart and soul. I don't care if your a girl, boy, non-binary, genderfluid, or anything else. As long as your nice to me, I will be nice to you back. I have not been on Tumblr long but I have made some friends on here. It’s really fun reading other peoples writings and chatting with them.

I hope that during tough times that we all can stay safe and sound. I also did not post this for the oh I'm sorry of what you went threw, it is for me to share what I went through. Maybe it will help someone else. Let me know if you want me to do more story times.

I will start working on a something new soon! I did make a promise to someone that I would write something just for them, but all I can tell you is that it will be fluff and cuteness. If you are the person I made that promise too, then HI! I hope the fic I will write makes your heart melt...….

[whoreforfanfiction]

Late Night Calls (MM Preferences)

Yoosung

Yoosung usually stayed up pretty late playing LOLOL with his guild friends. It annoyed you at times, but you stayed up until he was finished so you guys could chat about how your day went. Right on time, you heard the buzzing of your phone and instantly picked up.

             "Hey M/C I just caught the most rare boss monster in the game!!" You smirked because he says every monster is a rare boss monster. You think it was his attempt to impress you.

        "Is that right? I knew you could do it! That's my brave warrior," you cooed back at him feeding his ego. His giggle echoed through the phone and played like music in your ears. 

        "I want you here to play with me. It isn't as fun without you by my side cheering for me. You help me play better." His words made your heart melt. "Can you come over tomorrow? I don't have classes." You nodded vigorously until you realized he couldn't hear you and was still awaiting your response.       

        "Of course, cutie. Wouldn't miss it for the world." His excited giggles pierced your ears again. Yoosung wasn't much of a casanova or a super good sweet-talker like Zen, but he always found ways to make you feel needed and special. 

        "I should probably go. I gotta make a snack run to stock up for you tomorrow. I'll go to Seven's and beg him for some Honey Buddha Chips since we both like them."

        "You'd share those precious chips with me?" you giggled knowing this was a high compliment coming from Yoosung, "You're total husband material." You could feel him blushing and he tried to comment back, but his stutter got in the way and you couldn't understand him. 

        "I gotta go now, bye!" the awkward but adorable baby hung up. You smiled with excited thoughts about what was to come tomorrow. 

Zen

Zen had some late rehearsals this week. His got his desired role in a new movie called Killer Clowns where he played the main clown. You thought it was creepy and stupid, but he saw it as an opportunity to practice and get out there. Plus, he wasn't used to doing darker horror movies, so it was a good opportunity all around. The downfall of that was, you didn't talk to your boyfriend at all until the late hours of the night. You HATED the drowsy conversations because he was always half-asleep and could never hold a decent conversation. You dealt with it though knowing that this role was important to him. He was a couple minutes later calling than usual, so you decided to dial his number. After a few rings, he picked up.

        "Hey babe my beautiful girlfriend/boyfriend. How was your day." His voice was husky and deep and sounded like you just woke him up.

        "I'm sorry honey, were you sleeping?" You felt bad knowing that he was constantly exhausted from working. 

        "I know I haven't been the best boyfriend recently. I would hate if you did this to me too. I just want to prove to you that I am hard-working and I want to make enough money for me to support both of us. So if doing this role can provide some of that, I need to do it," he stated reading your mind.

        "I don't hate it, we just don't feel as close as we usually do. I'm missing you more and more each day. I already know you're hard-working honey, you don't need to prove it to me. I am already so insanely proud of you." You tried to raise his spirits since you knew he felt guilty about how little he was talking to you recently. 

        "That's so like you. Reading my mind knowing exactly what I need to hear. I miss you more than you miss me. I have a billion pictures of you hanging up in my dressing room. I promise after this is all over, I will make it up to you. I would do anything to hold your beautiful face in my hands and give you everything you want and desire. I will be with you soon my love i promise. You know you're the best cheerleader and your support means everything to me. I am forever greatful." 

        His kind words warmed your heart and made you feel like your sacrifices were being noticed and appreciated. You started to talk again, but his snores cut you off. You decided to let him sleep. You muttered an I love you before heading off to bed. 

Jaehee

Bless this girl's soul, she works so much she's been coming home from the office way past normal buisness hours. However, she always made sure she called you before heading off to bed. Never late, she called you at the exact same minute on the dot everyday. Your phone rang and you jumped onto your bed to answer it.

        "Hello M/C. How has your day been?" She began the conversation.

        "I'm worried about you. All this work can't be healthy and I'm afraid it's going to start taking a toll on you." You didn't answer her question and got straight to the point you wanted to discuss with her.        

        "I know, but Mr. Han asked and I must listen to him."

        "I know you get paid a decent amount, but Jaehee, you could work literally anywhere else and be respected more than you are there."

        "I need the money in order for you to move in with me and for me to be able to support us comfortably. I hope you can see that my sacrifices are for the better." 

        "Jaehee, I don't care about the money. I care about your happiness and well-being above all else. I know you'd feel the same if the roles were reversed." She paused for a moment and didn't answer. 

        "My love, I am exhausted, but I do understand your point of view. How about we get coffee tomorrow and discuss alternatives. I am not trying to end our conversation short, I simply want to be fully awake when we do discuss this since it is an important matter." 

        "Yes, that would be lovely." You smiled excited to see the love of your life tomorrow. 

        "Thank you for always worrying about me and caring about me more than I care about myself. You've been a huge help in my life and I hope one day I will be able to show you how much all your actions helped me." 

        "Goodnight, Jaehee."

        "Goodnight, M/C. I love you." 

Jumin

His dad keeps throwing more and more responsiblity at him in the company. You could tell Jumin was stressed, but he never conveyed it. It started out slow, him coming home an hour later, then two hours later, then three. Soon enough, you didn't get to talk to the cooperate heir until the early hours in the morning before he got his few hours sleep before doing it all over again.  Jumin told you multiple times not to stay up and wait for him to call since it would be a waste for both of you to lose sleep. However, you still stayed up and called him every night knowing that he secretly appreciated the light conversations you shared.        

        "Jumin! I missed you!" You decided not to prompt him on work since you could tell he didn't want to talk about it. 

        "I missed you too M/C. My day was slightly better than usual since my cook decided to create your favorite dish. It reminded me of you and brought a smile to my face." 

        "Jumin, I know this might not be socially right for me to ask this but, can I come stay with you for a bit? It's very upsetting not being able to stay with you and I think if I were to be at your side for a little more of the day, it could go faster for the both of us." You were nervous to hear his reply. There was a long silence between you two and you became fearful that you said something wrong. He hung up and your fears grew worse. After a couple minutes, he called back.

        "Forgive me for that. I have completed the arrangements to have you come over. Assistant Kang will send a car for you tomorrow at 6 AM. I hope you can forgive me on the early hours, I was being greedy and wanted to see you as soon as I wake up. I have alerted the staff that you will be moving in with me." 

        "Moving in?" You didn't remember asking that.        

        "Yes, I understand that you only asked to spend some time with me, however regarding my feelings towards you, I feel like having you by my side constantly will enhance my mood even more drastically. If you object, please let me know." He sounded confident, but you knew he was scared that you would say no.

        "Of course I'd love to move in with you. I do have one request though." 

        "Anything."        

        "Tell the cook not to make breakfast. I want to cook with you in the morning before you head off to work. It'll give us some time to hang out before you have to leave." You could hear the smirk in his voice.

        "Well, then I have to make a request also."

        "Yes?"

        "You have to sleep the night in bed with me"

        "Is there a specific reason you're requesting this?" You questioned curious to hear his response. You smiled to yourself becoming excited about your life to come.

        "Because I am being selfish yet again. I feel my sleeping will improve with you laying between my arms. You make me feel comfortable and put me at peace." His compliment made your cheeks blush.

        "I love you, dork." 

        "I love you too, M/C."

Seven

The Defender of Justice? Getting no sleep? That's all he ever talks about. He tries to joke about it playing it off like it's his duty to protect the justice, but in reality, he misses you more than you can possibly imagine. All his work has been piling up more and more recently and it makes his head spin. All he wants to do is hold you and make jokes and tease Yoosung. But, he can't and it depresses him. He still tried his best to call and keep in touch with you. He watched you constantly on the CCTV, but he knew it wasn't enough for either of you. Sometimes, he'd call every day for a week. Other times, he called once every two weeks. His irregular schedule also stressed you out, but you knew it wasn't going to change so you tried to cope. Today, you were surprised to hear your phone ringing. 

        "Drum roll please!" He began. You made a drum sound with your mouth, playing along with his little game. "I, 707, the brave defender of internet justice, just put off work yet again to come rescue the princess from her/his sheer boredom!"

        "Awww!! My hero!" you cooed back at him. 

        "If you want to better show your love and affection, blow a big ol' kiss to the security camera outside your door!" You jogged outside, the cold air nipping at your skin. You got on your tip toes and delievered a kiss to your boyfriend. Virtually at least.

        "Kyahhhhhhh! Cuteness overload!!! Can't take much more. Going to implode." Seven overexaggerated. You made a mwah sound and he totally lost it.

        "Program 707 has stopped working. Over heating. Lack of ventilation. Pure nosebleed central. Please restart by saying the words, Seven! I love you!" 

        "Seven! I love you!" You giggled while saying it.

        "Ahhhhh. My darling 606 has resurrected me. So my little kitten, how was your day today?"

        "The usual. Thinking about you. Looking at pictures of you. Wondering how you look so hot in LOLOL cosplay." You knew you were making him blush almost as hard as he made you blush earlier. Your relationship was filled with playful flirting and you loved it. 

        "Seven," you started back up again being more serious this time, "are you okay? Like, are you safe? You've been getting worse recently and I hate seeing you lose yourself. I need you here, however selfish that may be."

        "I know I've been sucky recently, but everyone is counting on me. And would I be your knight in shining armor if I let you and others down? I love you my little shortcake and I am working hard so that this torture will be over for you soon enough."

His attempt at reassuring you was sufficient for now, but you made a mental note to finish talking to him about this later. 

        "I'll let you get some rest twerp. You know I love you right?" 

        "Yes, M/C. I love you too my sexy little kitten. I'll try my best to call you tomorrow okay?" 

        "Don't make promises you can't keep. You won't defend the promise justice that way and I'd have to strip you of your title."

        "That would be the ultimate KO for me!! Unimaginable damage! I will call you tomorrow. I love you." And with that, he hung up and you returned to day dreaming about going to a space station with a certain red-headed male.

[tobashiarg-blog-archive]

Turns Out Being a Super Hero Is Actually Really Gay! - Chapter 5

Hey kiddos, I’m back! Your main bitch here has NOT been in the best mental health as of late :) My boss at my current job is driving me up a wall and I may need to find a new one since he might not be able to pay me for the hours I do, my depression is kicking my ass, and my dog was going to have puppies but then had a miscarriage and it turns out she can never have puppies again or risk dying next time. Soooo yeah, I’m probably not okay, but that’s okay because we are back with another chapter of your fav spiderbois! Again, huge thanks to @sugarglider9603 and @ask-spiderverse-virgil for their wonderful au! Also shout out to @khadij-al-kubra for helping me appropriately write Logan and his family! They gave me some awesome advice and insight into Muslim culture and you should totally check out their blog and read their Thomas In Wonderland fan fic, it’s super cute! Anyways, now with that out of the way please ENJOY!!!!

Master Post

Beginning

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

The boys collapsed on to the couch in Thomas’s living room in one heaping pile of uncoordinated limbs and groans. They were absolutely exhausted, aching joints and sore muscles which they were careful to move slowly. Thomas, meanwhile, leaned over the back of the couch, suit still intact but mask off, smiling amusingly at the tired teens.

“So, third day of training went well,” Thomas snickered, the boys groaned in response causing the older man to laugh again “yeah, you’ll get use to it eventually. Just because your muscles are stronger doesn’t mean they aren’t prone to getting tired when worked out.”

“I take back every nice thing I said about you,” Virgil murmured, face down across the couch “you are the absolute worst and I’d rather take Ms. Green’s Saturday day classes.”

“I ache all over.” Patton whined.

“The body takes about a week or so to get used to routine work out,” Logan groaned out “but as you do you adjust it so that you don’t get used to it and extend your bodies limit. But even so this training fucking sucks!”

“Agreed,” Roman grunted “I have so many regrets.”

“Toughen up boys, you all wanted to be super heroes,” Thomas tutted “besides, we haven’t even gotten to the hard parts yet.”

“The worst!” Virgil hissed “Terrible mentor! Zero out of ten!”

Thomas chuckled, “If it helps, you all are doing great. I’m really proud off all the effort and hard work you’ve been putting into this. Now, weather that’ll stay throughout the entirety of your training is to be determined but I have faith in you all.”

The boys stayed quiet for a long while, faces flushed red though it wasn’t from the intense work out they just had, mostly. They’ve all been doing their damnedest to show how serious they were about becoming heroes, wanting to prove to Thomas and everyone else that they weren’t messing around. And even if it’s only been a short while it was nice to know that Thomas had faith in them and wanted to see them succeed. It was pretty fucking sweet to know that your hero and now mentor had your back.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get too sappy, you still suck.” Virgil grumbled, but the blush on his cheeks plus the smile he kept trying to hide told a different tale.

“Oh well, if I’m the worse them I guess you guys wouldn’t be interested in any of the ‘after work out’ sandwiches I made,” Thomas said innocently, turning to walk towards the kitchen “plus, a banana and strawberry milkshake but it’s probably not that great cause, you know, I’m the worst and all.”

The boys were silent once more before suddenly jumping off the couch and racing after Thomas towards the kitchen.

“Best teacher! Twelve out of ten gold stars!” Virgil called out.

“I’m not all that achey!” Patton said, a slight wince in his step.

“Well really the body shouldn’t ever get used to a work out too much,” Logan informed “and the routines you’ve set up for us will really balance out our bodies.”

“Best decision of my life! Absolutely, no regrets!” Roman cheered.

---

The boys lazed around in the kitchen, chatting as they ate their mountain of sandwiches and delicious milkshakes and Thomas couldn’t help but feel kind of domestic. He didn’t usually have much company besides Joan and Talyn and even then, he was sometimes too busy to properly hang out with them. But they understood, even before they found out about him being Rainbow Weaver Joan and Talyn were always supporting him and Thomas will forever be grateful for that. But there was just something about having a room full of people, chatting and laughing, with a mutual understanding of each other’s situation that made Thomas feel…less alone.

‘Welcome to parenthood fucker!’ A voice in Thomas’s head, that suspiciously sounded a lot like Joan, cackled.

“Shush.” Thomas mumbled quietly as he shook his head to silence the voice before returning to the conversation at hand.

“The whole movie is basically a promotion on Stockholm syndrome!” Virgil exclaimed.

“She stayed on her own accord so she could save her father!” Roman shot back “Plus he did let her go after she went into the forbidden room only SAVE her when she was in danger! She could have left after he passed out but no, she went back again WILLINGLY to nurse him back to health!”

Roman and Virgil had been arguing about the story line of various Disney movies for the better part of an hour now. Thomas, Logan, and Patton sat as the audience, occasionally throwing in their own opinions but staying out of it for the most part. Even if the debate seemed intense it kind of looked like the two were having fun in their own strange way. Currently they were discussing the elements of Beauty and the Beast.

“Yeah, because it’s either get mauled to death and freeze in the woods or be trapped in solitude!” Virgil quipped “She just chose the better half of a bad situation that would provide her with food and shelter!”

“But they fell in love!” Roman cried.

“Yes, because a prisoner falling in love with their capture is totally healthy and cool if you add bunch of dancing silverware!” Virgil snarked.

“Ugh! You are impossible!” Roman groaned “How is it you claim to like Disney but have all this bad to say about it?”

“Because it’s literally the whole reason I like it in the first place,” Virgil snorted “there are so many dark elements to it that people over look. Especially if you read the original fairy tales that inspired them.”

“You just want to make everything dark and edgy,” Roman grumbled “not everything has to have a dark side.”

“Everything does have a dark side, Sir Sing-A-Lot.” Virgil smirked.

“Ha, I like that nickname and I’m gunna use it!” Roman huffed.

“Not that it isn’t great that you two are getting along,” Logan said sarcastically, finishing his milkshake and grabbing another sandwich “but me and Virgil got to get going or we’ll be late for dinner and I would rather not endure my mother’s wrath.”

“Oh shit, that’s today?” Virgil asked as he began to pack his stuff.

“What’s today?” Patton asked curiously.

“My brother is coming over for dinner,” Logan replied dryly “we haven’t seen him in a while.”

“You don’t seem too excited.” Thomas said.

“It’s not that I’m not excited to see him after so long it’s just…” Logan paused, fidgeting over uncomfortable feel of emotion running through his brain, wondering if he should even bother discussing this any further. Eventually, he chose not to, “Nothing, it’s just, you know, tired from all the training and…stuff.”

Thomas knew there was something more to the whole situation, as did Patton and Roman, but out of politeness nobody said anything. They instead looked to Virgil to see if he could clue them in on something, they were missing but the purple clad teen only shrugged and shook his head. So, they were quick to change the subject.

“What are the rest of you doing this evening?” Thomas asked.

“My brother Alex said he was gunna take me and Georgie, my other brother, out somewhere,” Patton sighed, rolling his eyes “that’s usually code for he wants to impress a girl by showing what a ‘cool and caring’ brother he is and will fail miserably. But hey, I’m not gunna look a gift horse in the mouth, usually he takes us to cool places.”

“My mom and sister are working late again so I have to pick up and babysit the twins,” Roman replied before suddenly remembering something and turned to Virgil “Virgil what are you doing?”

Virgil paused, giving Roman an odd look, “Uh, besides dinner at the Quinn’s, nothing much afterwards. Why?”

“Good, because you need to come over so we can finish up that stupid essay due on Monday and I can’t have you over on Sunday because we have church and a baby shower to go to.” Roman said as he casually munched on another sandwich.

“Shit, that’s still a thing,” Virgil groaned, looking to Logan for help “have you even started on that?”

“Oh yes, me and Patton finished it recently.” Logan replied coolly.

“We video chatted since me and Lo had other stuff to attend to and couldn’t come over to each other’s houses.” Patton added.

“That’s why you flaked out on movie night yesterday,” Roman said in a moment of realization before pouting “you chose a study date with your boyfriend over me?”

Logan choked on the sandwich he was still munching on whole Patton squeaked and flushed a dark red. Virgil snickered as he went over to pat Logan’s back until he stopped coughing while Patton blubbered and waved his hands around, shrieking how “it’s not like that Roman, you know that! We just- we study a-and – we aren’t, uh…” Logan was soon to join in once he got the proper amount of air in his lungs, face just and red and sputtering just as embarrassed.

Thomas bit back a laugh while Roman and Virgil, the little shits, out right smirked in that smug way all best friends do when they see each other suffering. It was painfully obvious that Logan and Patton a “thing” for each other but were just too shy and awkward to acknowledge it. It was easy to push their buttons and was also extremely entertaining to watch. Still, Thomas was merciful and kindly decided to redirect the subject again.

“Well, while you kids enjoy your evening plans, I’ll be out on patrol,” Thomas said, stretching out a bit “so if you need to contact me and I’m a little slow to respond you’ll know why.”

“Might pass by that ally way again while patrolling?” Virgil asked innocently, though the devious smirk on his face was a dead giveaway “You know, just to make sure there’s no one in danger?”

“Yeah, like a certain cute barista?” Roman snickered.

Thomas’s cheeks colored pink and he regretted his previous act of mercy because those little vipers turn head so fast it’s as if they planed it. “You know we could just spend a whole day doing laps next training day?”

“We could, but that still wouldn’t erase the fact that you’re too gay to function around attractive males.” Logan smirked.

“Aw, but wouldn’t it be cute if they went out on a date?” Patton gushed, his comment was genuine but that didn’t make Thomas any less flustered. “You should try and talk to him, like for reals. Maybe ask him out on a cute little coffee date?”

“I am like flashing back to so many Coffee Shop Au fics it’s not even funny,” Virgil laughed breathlessly “anyway, Roman, text me your address and I’ll swing by after dinner. See ya gays later.”

“Don’t you mean guys?” Patton asked.

“I know what I said.” Virgil replied as he and Logan made their way out of the kitchen.

Roman shrugged, “He isn’t wrong though.”

---

They arrived at their apartment building in record time, Vigil having informed his parents before hand that he’d be at Logan’s for dinner before heading out to Roman’s to finish up the essay. Though at the moment neither of them were in any hurry to get to where they were going, taking a dramatically long time climbing up the stairs instead of taking the elevator.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to tag along with you and Morgan after dinner?” Virgil asked for the tenth time that day “I really, really don’t mind flaking out on Roman.”

“As much as I would like that you really do need to finish your essay,” Logan sighed “it counts as a major grade for your science class.”

It wasn’t that Logan’s brother was a bad guy, on the contrary he was actually really cool and easy to talk too, but the constant comparisons made between them by their parents made Logan kind of resent him, just a little. Don’t get him wrong, Logan loved his older brother and wouldn’t mind spending more time with him but as of late the closer Logan got to graduation the more his parents…“pushed” him to follow in his brother’s footsteps. He couldn’t even mention about applying for colleges around them because then they’d go into a spiral about all the colleges Morgan got excepted to at his age and how he should apply for those and go for this program that Morgan did and maybe he could study abroad like Morgan did. It’s not like they did it on purpose, Logan knew his parents loved him and were proud of him, they only wanted what’s best for him so that he could succeed and gain opportunities that they couldn’t when they were young. But sometimes it just…got a bit much.

“Come on, let me procrastinate,” Virgil whined, though it was more to make Logan laugh then being serious “I don’t want to spend my whole afternoon with Roman.”

“It’s not my fault the teachers chose him as a partner for you,” Logan chuckled “at least he’s willing to do work and not slack off like others. Plus, better him then Dolion.”

“Mmh, true,” Virgil grumbled “but stiiiill! The only reason you’re not complaining is because you got to be all buddy-buddy with Patton and make heart eyes at him all day.”

As expected, Logan was a blushing, sputtering mess, “I-it’s not like that!”

Vigil continued to tease his best friend all the way up until their destination, then everything got tense again. Logan took a deep breath, slowly letting it out as he went over the most likely scenarios that would happen during dinner, none of them were good. But Logan just had to get through dinner then an awkward night out with his brother and after he could just sulk in his room the rest of the night. His train of thought was broken by a gentle hand squeezing his own and he turned to find Virgil smiling at him sympathetically.

“I got your back if that means anything?” Virgil shrugged.

Logan gave him a tiny, appreciative smile, “It means everything.”

“Great,” Virgil turned towards the awaiting door in front of them “let’s face Hades together.”

“You know, Hades wasn’t an evil god,” Logan began to explain “he was just god of the Underworld and-”

“You know what I mean.” Virgil scoffed as he opened the door to Logan’s apartment.

Inside, Mr. and Mrs. Quinn were in the living room enthusiastically entertaining their special guest of the evening, Morgan Quinn. Looks wise, Morgan and Logan looked pretty similar, tall lanky build, neat trimmed hair, and thick square glasses. Personality wise, they couldn’t be more different, Logan was always the more serious of the two while Morgan tended to be the more goofy, social butterfly. Despite being polar opposites, they got along pretty great, Morgan was the one that introduced Logan to his love of space and it was that mutual love that formed an incredible bond between them. They’d always go up to the roof and look at the stars through their telescope, read up on NASA’s latest discoveries and plans, or just binge watch a bunch of space documentaries. But lately, Logan’s been looking at the stars less, it’s been moths since he’s looked into what NASA’s been up too, and he’s kind of been avoiding space documentaries all together if he’s honest.

“Lolo!” Morgan exclaimed excitedly as he rushed to hug his brother “Salaam alekum!”

“Waalekum salaam,” Logan replied, a small smile appearing on his face despite his internal conflict “welcome home.”

“Geez, you sprouted up like a bean stalk,” Morgan laughed as he pulled back to look over his little brother “what are Ummi and Babá feeding you?”

“All required nutrition regiments,” Logan quipped “though I can only assume your stunted growth is due to the college dietary restrictions of coffee and instant noodles.”

“Quit exposing me,” Morgan chided playfully before turning to Virgil with his arms open wide for a hug “Virge, salaam alekum!”

“Waalekum salaam,” Virgil replied, tentatively accepting the hug though Morgan knew he wasn’t one for physical affection so he didn’t linger long “how you’ve been?”

“I’ve been great, tired but great,” Morgan chuckled “and you still haven’t grown? I though Ummi was stuffing you down with the same thing she’s been feeding Logan?”

“Gunna take a lot more then forced self-care to make me into a functioning human being.” Virgil smirked.

“Speaking of eating,” Mrs. Quinn cut through the chatter as she made her way to the kitchen “I made your favorite Morgan, kufta and rice. Shall we eat now?”

“Please,” Morgan half begged “I’m a starving college student.”

They family plus Virgil gathered around the table, filling their plates with the lamb meat balls, rice and side salad put in place. It was all pleasantries at first, catching up on each other’s lives and reminiscing on the past and how it compared to the present. It was nice, laughter and chatter filled the room as other’s ate to think of more conversation topics.

Then Mrs. Quinn asked, “How has your internship been at Oscorps?”

And so it began.

“Oh, it’s been amazing,” Morgan gushed “I’ve been learning so much about bioengineering and genetic research. There’s been so many advances made in the medical field and it’s just fascinating to see the behind the scenes of everything.”

“You know, Logan and Virgil went on a field trip to Oscorps this week,” Mr. Quinn said, unknown to him that Logan’s eye began to twitch waiting for the inevitable “I would have hoped they’d see you there in action.”

“Oh no, I’m usually in the back with the researchers,” Morgan explained before looking to his brother “but if you would have texted me earlier, I could have given you and Virge a secret tour of the latest project we’ve been working on. It’s awesome, you would have loved it Lo.”

“I, um…” Logan began, fiddling with the food on his plate.

“Logan, I thought we told you to call your brother and ask about the internship requirements?” Mrs. Quinn asked.

“I forgot.” Logan said lamely.

“Babá you can’t afford to be forgetting these things,” Mr. Quinn scolded gently “you have to build up a good college resume and a company like Oscorps will get you accepted into any school you want.”

“Yeah, I know.” Logan mumbled, having stopped eating all together and was now just staring at his plate.

“Well, he’s still just a junior in high school,” Morgan cut in before more could be said by either of his parents “an internship like this is not easy to come by. Some people are on a waiting list for years and even then, they might not get accepted.”

“But didn’t they offer you a position when you were in high school?” Mrs. Quinn asked “Surely if Logan took an extra class or two, he could have one too.”

“What they offered me was an errand boy that made print outs and got coffee,” Morgan explained, secretly watching as the tension in his brother’s shoulders relaxed just a bit “they’re not gunna let a high schooler into a research lab no matter how smart he is. Maybe once he hits college but even then, he could get a much better offer from somewhere else. I hear the robotic engineering program in Carnegie and Brown are real buddy-buddy with Stark Industries.”

Logan smiled, just a little, tentative and quiet, “Really?”

“I don’t know,” Mrs. Quinn butted in, and just like that the tension in Logan’s shoulders returned “Stark Industries is sketchy at best, especially with all that Avengers mumbo-jumbo going on. Besides, wouldn’t a job in the medical field be more secure financial wise? All I ever see that Tony Stark do on the news is make new toys for him to play with and destroy the city.”

“Saving the world from an alien invasion and government corruption,” Morgan explained “pretty sure that’s kind of important Ummi.”

Mrs. Quinn shrugged, “I guess so.”

“But what about that whole mess with the Avengers?” Mr. Quinn asked “Or whatever’s going on there? There’s always some kind of conflict with them.”

“It’s been cleared up now,” Morgan informed them “plus I hear Stark Industries are partnering up with a famed research facility in Wakanda. They’re supposed to have technological advances years beyond us. I’m sure Logan will be snatched up in an instant.”

Mr. and Mrs. Quinn seemed sort of swayed but they surely still had more questions and probing statements to say. Thankfully, Morgan was quick to jump in and change the conversation. “So Logan, Ummi and Babá were telling me how you, Virge and some friends made a club together, how’s that been going?”

Not a topic Logan wished to discuss in great detail but he’d chose that over the previous one. “Uh, great, we’ve been making excellent progress.”

“And what of the other guys in your group?” Morgan asked, genuinely curious “How are they like?”

“They’re…great,” Logan chuckled awkwardly “just two classmates from our school, Patton and Roman, we all head a group project together and we got discussing on some issues and of course one thing led to another.”

“Yeah, they’re pretty cool,” Virgil added “and we’re getting…stuff and things done. It’s small but nice.”

“That’s good,” Morgan smiled “I hope to meet these new friends someday, I’m getting kind of tired of just Virgil at our house all the time.”

“You know we all thought the same thing with you,” Virgil rolled his eyes but gave an easy smirked “thank god you left for college.”

Morgan laughed, “Geez, Virge, tell me how you really feel. Also, I heard you guys were being sponsored by Thomas Sanders, unless Ummi and Babá got the name mixed up?”

“Yeah, we didn’t believe it either at first,” Logan chuckled nervously, him and Virgil sharing a knowing look “but the school district recommended him and he accepted so it was only logical of us to accept as well.”

“How hard did you and Virgil fan girl? Be honest.” Morgan teased.

Logan pouted (though he’d deny it till his dying day) and promptly returned to his dinner, “Suddenly, I don’t remember the details.”

“It’s like it never even happened,” Virgil added dramatically “Thomas Sanders who? What club?”

“Aw, come on guys!” Morgan chuckled, playfully shoving his brother’s shoulder “I’m only kidding…mildly, though seriously how hard did you fan girl? Cause I’m pretty sure Virge has a fan about him that’s just as big as Rainbow Weaver.”

“You know what, go back to your internship and shove your head in a toxic waste tank,” Virgil quipped with flushed cheeks “nobody wanted you here anyway.”

“Hey, you never know, I might gain powers like Rainbow Weaver,” Morgan smirked triumphantly “then I’ll be the one meeting him.”

Logan smirked mysteriously, “Doubtful.”

---

Roman had just finished cleaning the last of the dishes when a buzz was heard throughout the apartment. He was quick to wipe his hands as he moved pasted the kitchen table where the twins were doing homework, ruffling Marco’s hair in the process. The younger gave off an annoyed whine as he swatted his older brother’s hand away who chuckled to himself as he reached the buzzer box and pressed the call button.

“Who is it?” Roman asked.

“It’s Virgil, buzz me in.” The voice responded.

“Sure, give me a minute,” Roman replied, pressing another button before heading off towards his room to retrieve his backpack and set up in the living room. He did not for the life of him trust the twins by themselves, little demons could get into loads of trouble the second you look away from them.

“Who’s that?” Jenni asked, inspecting over her macaroni art project.

“A…friend?” Roman said tentatively “We’re gunna do homework, that’s all you need to know so keep the noise down to a minimum when you guys are done, okay?”

“Is it Patton?” Marco asked excitingly, he always liked when Patton came over, Patton usually spoiled the two with homemade treats.

“No, it’s not Patton.” Roman said, rummaging through his back for the notes Logan gave him.

“Then who is he?” Jenni asked, curiosity finally pulling her away from her glittery macaroni art disaster. Roman groaned at the thought of having to clean that up later.

“Just, uh, guy from a club I’m in,” Roman explained begrudgingly “we have to do a project together, that’s all.”

“Why didn’t you pick Patton as your partner?” Marco asked, half disappointed he would be getting sweets but also curious as to who this new person was.

“Because the teacher chose them for us.” Roman responded bluntly.

“Why?” Jenni asked.

“Because the school system is a dumb-dumb.” Roman said tiredly.

“Why?” Marco asked.

“Why are you guys so invested in this?” Roman snapped, he didn’t mean to but he was already on edge as it was. Virgil and him had a rocky relationship as it was, they were co-workers at best after the whole spider power thing, but even so he had no idea where he stood with him. He knew exactly where he stood with everybody else; Patton was his best friend, Thomas was his mentor and Logan was a nuisance though still fun to poke at. Virgil was just a wild card, sometimes they got along and sometimes they didn’t, it was a weird line they walked and Roman had no idea what step was the wrong step and which one was the right.

“Is he your boyfriend?” Jenni sang, Marco giggling beside her as Roman’s face lit up in red hot flames. “Absolutely not!”

---

Vigil found himself once more taking his time climbing up the stairs when there was a perfectly functioning elevator. The realization of what he was doing and where he was going finally hit him after seeing Morgan and Logan out after dinner. He was going to Roman Marigold’s apartment, Roman Marigold, quite possibly the most annoying human being in the entire school next to Dolion.

It’s not that Roman seemed like a bad guy, he was actually pretty decent when his giant ego was in check and wasn’t jumping off buildings unexpectedly. But for some reason he just got under Virgil’s skin and knew what buttons to press to get a reaction out of him. Though he had no ide if he was doing it to be mean or it was just this weird thing between them. When Roman fought with Logan you always kind of got this vibe that they…not liked each other though it seems like they had mutual respect. But when he and Roman fought it varied on what the situation was, sometimes it could be Disney banters, playful bickering, full on heated debates, or just poking insults. It was weird and Virgil had no idea what to do with it.

He finally reached the door and just as he was about to knock, he heard giggling and a high pitch screech. “Absolutely not!”

Maybe this was bad time, he should probably go back, Virgil didn’t want to be caught in the middle of any family disputes if this was what it was. But he didn’t move to leave, nor did he move to knock again, he just stood there frozen in perpetual confusion and panic, listening to the conversation beyond the door.

Tiny voices sang in a jumpy school yard tune, “Roman’s got a boyfriend! Roman’s got a boyfriend!”

“I do not!” Came the embarrassed reply that Virgil could only guess was Roman.

Virgil clasped a hand over his mouth so as to repress the giggle threatening to slip. It was absolutely hilarious to hear the pristine ego maniac that is Roman Marigold get flustered and loss his cool due to, what sounded like, a bunch of little kids taunting him. Even so it wasn’t very appropriate of him to be eavesdropping on people’s conversations, no matter how hilarious or ridiculous they may seem, so he made quick work of knocking on the door.

It opened almost immediately, a red cheeked Roman staring intently at him, “Oh, you’re here.”

“Yeah, I buzzed you like five minutes ago, remember?” Virgil smirked “We’re you talking to someone?”

“No! No, just…you know,” The flamboyant teen made a vague gesture with his hands “things?”

“Things?” Virgil echoed with an odd look.

Roman nodded and it was suddenly quiet for a long time. Virgil awkwardly standing in the hallway while Roman fidgeted against the door frame, both staring intently at each other without blinking. Finally, a cough from behind Roman snapped them both out of their stupor. They turned to find two smirking children peeking out from behind the living room couch, no doubt Roman’s siblings, they were practically mini carbon copies.

Roman glared at them while Virgil gave a shy wave before asking, “Can I come in now?”

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Roman stuttered, quickly stepping aside to let Virgil in.

---

Morgan had gotten them tickets to the planetarium viewing of Dark Universe at the American Museum of National History as well as general passes for the rest of the museum. Logan was admittingly excited to go, it’s been a long time since he’s been to a planetarium especially one as grand as the Hayden Planetarium. But on the other hand, the awkward silence between Logan and his brother during the entire taxi ride here was very heavy and uncomfortable. Not that Morgan wasn’t trying to make conversation it’s just that Logan was snubbing them out as quickly as he was thinking them.

Dinner with other people was one thing, an outing by themselves was another. There weren’t other people to buffer out the awkward when things got slow or stale. They use to go on outings together all the time, talking endlessly for hours and hour far into the night, discussing the universe, life, and anything else they could think of. But that was then, this was now, and as of now they haven’t hung out properly in a long time plus Logan’s parents weren’t really helping him warm up to the whole situation. Regardless if Morgan was able to diverge the conversation near the end or not there was still that…tension.

“So…have you ever seen Dark Universe before?” Morgan asked as the lazily walked inside the building, the display of planets across the outside of the planetarium quiet distracting. There were two entrance into the museum, at the front where the famed t-rex statue was displayed and the back where the Earth and Science exhibits were.

“They were going to take us last year for a school field trip but the bus broke down and we missed the showing.” Logan shrugged, looking around at all the displays of planets, stars and solar systems.

“Ah, well that means it’ll be a first viewing for both of us,” Morgan said cheerily, dramatically raising a fist in the air “a bonding experience we shall never forget!”

Logan raised an eyebrow at his brother’s weird display who in turn shyly put his hand down, “Uh, anyway, how’s life? How’s school? How’s that club you got going?”

“It’s fine,” Logan said simply “everything is functioning as it should, it’s only the beginning of the first semester so nothing much has happened. Well, except for…a complication.”

“Yeah, mom and dad told me what happened,” Morgan sighed, a bitter sneer on his face “I still can’t believe there’s jerks like that out there.”

“Indeed,” Logan nodded “but it’s nothing to get worked up over, it’s not like it was the root of the whole ordeal. I was merely…defending a friend from certain public humiliation.”

“Who were they anyway?” Morgan asked before clarifying “The friend you helped out, are they in that club you made?”

“Uh, yes,” Logan said bashfully, a light pink dusking his cheeks “his name is – Patton?”

Logan froze in his tracks, his brother taking a second to notice, because there near a display of Halley’s comet was Patton Foster. He was wearing a stunning high waist space print skirt, black leggings, a soft looking baby blue crop top sweater, and black boots. He also wore sparkly silver star droop earrings and a matching moon neckless, as well as glittery silver clips in his hair. Patton had yet to notice Logan staring, too enraptured in reading over the little facts beside the display, and the genus will forever be grateful for that.

“Who’s that?” Morgan asked, snapping Logan out of his daze.

“Uh, no one,” Logan said much too quickly “l-let’s take a short cut another direction, I think I saw a map that showed the way.”

Morgan smirked deviously, “They don’t look like no one, you obviously know their name.”

Logan was screwed.

“H-he’s just a friend from school, I don’t want to bother him,” Logan sputtered nervously “let’s just go somewhere else so we won’t disturb his evening.”

“Hey, there’s no harm in saying hi,” Morgan chuckled, grabbing onto his brother’s arm so he wouldn’t scurry way “plus, he’s looking this way already.”

“What?” Logan squeaked.

True to his word, Patton had seen them and was now waving at them with that big, bright, beautiful smile of his. Morgan, the devil, waved back just as enthusiastically as he dragged Logan along with him because he’s was half certain Logan was frozen stiff. As they got closer Patton seemingly decided to meet them half way, bright eyed and springy as ever.

“Hey Lo, I didn’t think I’d see you here,” Patton smiled, he looked to Morgan curiously “is this your brother?”

“So, he does talk about me,” Morgan joked and Logan died “all good things I hope.”

Patton giggled, a pleasant bell to Logan’s ears, “Only in passing conversation but being that your brothers I can only assume you’re just as smart and amazing as he is.”

Morgan smiled big and wide, leaning down near Logan in an exaggerated whisper, “I like him, keep him around.”

Logan wasn’t a violent man by nature but annoying sibling could just so easily get under your skin and drive you to murder. “What brings you to the museum Patton? It was my assumption you were on an outing with your brothers.”

Patton pouted, blowing out a huff of air, “Yeah, Alex went to flirt with receptionist lady and Georgie left to drag him back. Alex won a raffle at work and won tickets to this show at the planetarium called Dark Universe. I’m honestly kind of nervous, I don’t really know what it’s about and the title doesn’t seem too pleasant.”

“No need to worry Patton,” Logan assured “it’s simply a documentary displaying the wonders of our universe while providing commentary. Nothing scary or abnormal, I promise.”

“Oh good,” Patton sighed in relief “I was worried that-”

“Ahk, Georgie! Put me down!”

“Stop behaving like a child and I’ll think about it. Where’s Patton?”

“I think he’s over there? Hey! Hey, Pat! Yhoohoo! We’re over here!”

Patton’s face morphed into something between embarrassment and annoyance as he reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. He seemed to be actively avoiding making eye contact with the two squabbling giants heading towards them. They looked to be the perfect size for professional football players or basketball players or both, point is they were huge compared to petite Patton who landed just under Logan’s nose. Then again, Logan was pretty tall though not as tall as those two…where were they?

---

Out of all the places and times to run into Logan outside of school and/or hero training this would have been the perfect place but it was simply just the WORST time. Patton didn’t mind evenings out with his brothers, he liked spending time with them and the outings were usually fun. Their antics, specifically Alex being troubling making dork while Georgie forcefully drags him out of trouble and Patton watches helplessly by the sidelines, were amusing at best but annoying most of the time.

Don’t get Patton wrong, he loved his brothers with all his heart but sometimes they (*cough*Alex*cough*) had no shame what-so-ever. Great for Georgie who wasn’t afraid of a few staring eyes when pulling his brothers out of trouble, not great for Alex who is such a drama queen he makes Roman look tame. Outing with his brothers were not meant to be witnessed by anyone but the strangers of Manhattan who they’ll never see again, NOT cute boys that Patton kind of sort of had a crush on.

Patton gave Logan and his brother his best smile, though it was very obviously forced, “Excuse me.”

He quickly whizzed around to face his brothers, forced smile still displayed on his face, “I heard you the first time Alex, everyone could.”

Alex, who was hazardously draped over Georgie’s shoulder like a sack of flour, simply pouted as he wiggled out of his elder brother’s grip, “Just making sure, you seemed distracted. Who’re the nerds?”

Georgie smacked Alex across the head, “Be polite.”

“Ow, geez,” Alex whined, rubbing his sore skull “you can kill someone with those hands Georgie. Like in that movie Green House!”

“Green Mile.” Georgie corrected cooly.

Alex snapped his fingers, “That’s the one, anyway, back to the nerds.” Another smack “Ow, hey! I didn’t mean it, it was a joke! See they ain’t bothered!”

Patton took a deep and steady breath as he turned back to the Quinn brothers with an embarrassed smile, “Logan, Morgan, these are my older brothers: Georgie and Alex. Georgie and Alex, this is my friend Logan and his older brother, Morgan. They came to watch the space show too.”

Georgie nodded while Alex gave a false salute, “Sup.”

“How do you do?” Logan said politely as he and his brother stuck out their hands to shake.

Georgie was quick to shake both their hands as was Alex but he paused when he got to Logan, leaning down to intensely stare at him. Patton wanted to scream, truly he did, but that would just let Alex figure everything out that much quicker as well as cause a scene.

“Logan, huh,” Alex hummed as he leaned forward and Logan visibly gulped as he leaned back “where have I heard that name before? I know you ain’t related to that Paul guy from YouTube because you actually look respectable.”

Patton slapped a hand over his face, “Oh my god…”

“He’s one of the boys in the club Pat’s help make.” Georgie said helpfully, not at all fazed by his brother’s borderline interrogation on poor Logan.

“Oh yeah,” Alex nodded, finally letting go of Logan’s hand and giving him proper personal space “you guys made that, uh…what’s the politically correct term for this? I don’t wanna offend anyone.”

“To late.” Patton mumbled grimly.

“LGBTQ+ Youth Group.” Georgie provided.

“Jesus that’s a mouth full,” Alex sighed before pondering once more “nah, but other then that I swear I heard Patton mention that name before just…can’t remember.”

Patton sighed in relief, Thank god!

“Wait I know!” Alex exclaimed.

Shit!

Alex became giddy with excitement, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that just spelled doom for Patton. “He’s that bo – mmhf!”

Georgie was swift yet casual as he slapped a large hand over Alex’s mouth and began to drag him away, “The show is starting soon, we should grab seats together.”

Internally Patton was crying, Georgie was a saint and he definitely deserved a special cake baked in his honor. Externally Patton sighed tiredly once more, giving Logan and Morgan an apologetic smile. “Sorry about them, well, mainly Alex. He’s…a lot sometimes.”

Morgan shrugged, “Brothers, what can you do about them? This guy was a terror when he was younger, he would use his diapers as – oof!” Morgan groaned in pain as Logan elbowed him in the stomach, eyes shut in annoyance and left brow twitching.

Patton giggled, glad not to be the only one being teased by his older brothers, “Older brothers huh?”

“Quite unfortunate are we, huh?” Logan chuckled breathlessly.

“Seriously, what are mom and dad feeding you? I almost puked my guts out!” Morgan wheezed.

---

This was a terrible idea! This was a terrible, awful idea! Why did Thomas think this was a good idea? Why was he even listening to Patton’s advice, he was pretty sure the kid was mostly joking? But here her was at that same damn alley way, in civilian clothes, looking across the street into a familiar little coffee shop with a familiar red headed barista taking down orders behind the register. Thomas groaned, scrubbing his heads over his face, he looked like a fucking stalker, seriously!

He had convinced himself to take a quick brake before heading out on patrol again, maybe grab a cup of coffee to wake him up a bit. It wasn’t his fault the shop just so happened to be near by and hey if that cute guy just so happened to be working there at this time it wasn’t like a big deal. It wasn’t like he knew who Thomas was so he could just be casual, order a coffee, strike up a conversation, nothing big. But now he was here across the street and he saw the guy smile and laugh at something his co-worker said and Thomas just got weak in the knees.

“Why am I here?” Thomas groaned, leaning back against the grimy alley wall “I don’t even know his name! All I know is that he can’t seem to stay out of trouble!”

He looked back into the coffee shop, it seemed to be a slow day, only three or so customs lounging around in the sitting area as cute red head wiped down the counter. Okay, so the good news was there wasn’t much people so Thomas didn’t have to rush when he inevitably stuttered out his order. Bad news was he still had to muster up the courage to go in and talk to him and that was never gunna happen.

It was then he noticed a shady looking guy walk past him and across the street, his hood flipped up and shoulders scrunched in. He looked like the typical grumpy New Yorker that only seemed threatening but Thomas is spidy sense told him otherwise. Plus, he was definitely not hiding that gun, which was tucked in the back of his jeans like some stupid idiot wanna-be gang member, very well.

Thomas was quick to sprint across the street without the hoodlum seeing him, just beating him to the door by a moment. Thomas swung the door open at about half strength smacking the criminal right in the face. An audible crack was heard sending the criminal falling backwards with a bloody nose and maybe a minor concussion. Thomas made sure to ham up his clumsy civilian act.

“Oh gosh man! I’m so, so sorry!” Thomas gasped, helping the man up right with the intention of sneaking a hand around to disarm the gun “Are you alright?”

“Do I fucking look alright you stupid idiot!” The man snapped, much to distracted with the pain of his face to notice the faint clicking noises behind him. Talyn had shown Thomas how to dismantle a gun with one hand their freshman year of college, he doesn’t know why they know that but he’s thankful for it because it makes his job so much easier.

“Sorry dude, can I do anything to help?” Thomas asked in an artificially sweet voice.

“No, fuck off!” The man growled, quick to turn head with his tail between his legs, embarrassed by job never done.

Thomas watched him leave down the alley way, depositing the bullet clip he swiped into a nearby trash bin before heading inside. He noticed the speckles of blood on the glass door as he entered and grimaced with guilt. Once fully through Thomas finally noticed that the red head was staring at him and it dawned on him that he probably witnessed the whole ordeal and though he was a clumsy oaf.

“Uh, sorry about the door,” Thomas said, rubbing a hand behind his neck “If you got some paper towels, I’ll, uh, clean it up for you guys if you want?”

The red head’s eyes were wide with shock, steel blue eyes piercing into Thomas is soul, “That guy was gunna mug us.”

Thomas sputtered in response, “Uh, he – um…”

“I saw him across the street openly stalking the café all day today,” The red head scoffed “he wasn’t really subtle about it. He was probably waiting for us to wind down for the night.”

“Wait,” Thomas squinted suspiciously “if you knew he was gunna rob the place why didn’t you call the police?”

The red head rolled his eyes, “We did, but to them he wasn’t doing anything wrong until now. Stupid cops…” He smiled charmingly “but you came down here pretty quick and practically bashed his skull in. What are you, some sort of vigilante?”

“N-no!” Thomas gulped “I-it’s just I…I saw his gun and I couldn’t just stand there!”

“Well, you could have gotten yourself hurt too.” The red head countered.

Thomas gave a breathless chuckle, “Trust me, I’m not as defenseless as most people think I am.”

The red head giggled, placing his chin to the palm of his hand, “Oh yeah?”

“If it helps, I disarmed his gun before anything?” Thomas said bashfully, fiddling with the sleeves of his jacket.

The red head’s eyes went wide again, “What, did you do it with one hand?”

“Yeah?” Thomas said hesitantly, this guy was way more observant then Thomas previously thought “If you wanna check, the gun clip is still in the trash bin.”

The red head laughed joyously, a beautiful melody to Thomas is ears, “You really are something! So, what can I get my hero tonight? On the house of course.”

“Oh no, I don’t want to bother-” Thomas began only to get cut off by another joyful laugh “Bother all you want, you just saved my ass from being mugged.”

“It was no trouble,” Thomas shrugged, a goofy smile surely on his face “it-it really wasn’t a big deal.”

“Well it was a big deal to me, practically saved my life,” The red head smiled, grabbing a large cup and a sharpie “so what’s your name Tiger?”

Thomas’s stomach filled with a million butterflies at the mention of the familiar nickname before clearing his extremely dry throat, “Uh…Thomas…Sanders.”

The red head paused a moment, sharpie delicately poised over the edge of the coffee cup as he chewed over his bottom lip in thought. A ghost of a smile formed across his face, that seemed very familiar now that Thomas thought about it, giving out a breathless laugh. “Thomas Sanders, huh?”

“Uh, yeah?” Thomas knew that he got recognized often but by fans but it was usually by his face not by his name. Not to sound vain or anything but a lot of times he didn’t need to tell people who he was for them to recognize him. But this guy didn’t seem like he was a fan…still, he looked vaguely familiar.

“Well, I’m MJ, in case you didn’t notice.” He pointed to the name tag on his chest that Thomas was now just recognizing because he was too gay to look at anything else but this guys cute face.

“What does that stand for?” Thomas asked curiously.

He paused again before that same smile returned to his face, “Matthew Jones…Watson.”

“Matthew Jones Watson,” Thomas said aloud, rolling the words of his tongue as if testing out how they sound in his voice “MJ…I like it.”

And obviously that was a stupid thing to say aloud because it made him sound like some sort of weirdo who goes around judging names. But MJ giggled, light and airy, with a smile that could light up all of Manhattan. “Thanks…I’m glad.”

Tags: (sorry if it doesn’t work, Tumblr is stupid)

@immortaldystopia @metaphoricalpluto2 @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @misunderstood-shadow @fairytailtwists @0callmevirge0 @blenderkit17 @galaxy-lilies-main @lumi-1 @paint-in-flames @i-have-n0-idea-what-im-d0ing @superwholocked-for-life @generalfandomfabulousness @oakskull@scarletnoiryt @softnic @asiagotea3890 @enteryourfandomhere @saltwithrandomfandoms @ninjago2020 @average-human @hecksupremeart @teepee-honesty @perfectly-precautiously-gay @a-weirdo-with-a-computer @itsashtronomy @khadij-al-kubra @maryjanewolf @icequeenoriginal @ocs-and-chapters @lilyfond @palepanfandomtrash @always-in-a-fandom @boxofsushi

[connan-l]

Game Evening

Fandom: Rose Guns Days Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Rose Haibara & Stella Maiougi & Meryl Tanashi Summary: Rose, Stella and Meryl come back late at the Maiougis’ apartment after a long day, and decide to kill time by playing a simple game…

Content Warning: This should be obvious given the story and characters but, there are mentions of prostitution, and some crude conversations about sex/sex jokes. Nothing really explicit though.

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Link on Archive of Our Own

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Notes: This is just a short story I wrote on impulse when I discovered that there was a Rose Guns Days section on AO3 but got saddened by how empty it was. The main lady trio is great and it was the easiest relationship to write about for me!

I have to precise that I read RGD only once and it was… something like three years ago, thus my memories of the VN are a bit blurry. So I’m sorry if there are some details I missed or that I don’t really have the characters exactly right.

This takes place before Season 1, shortly after Rose became the madam.

Also, I have no idea if truth or dare was a thing that existed during 1930s Japan, but you know, whatever.

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The first thing Rose did after entering the apartment was to collapse into the sofa, her long, beautiful pink hair scattering all around her like a sumptuous veil. Her body was numb, her mind dazed, her eyelids heavy. If she stayed like this for a few more minutes, she would probably fell asleep. Never had she felt so tired after a day of work. A mischievous giggle from behind her managed to drag her back to reality though.

“Being the madam is not easy, huh?” She heard Meryl say in a teasing voice.

“Leave her alone, will you?” Stella added. “She worked hard today, she deserves her rest.”

“I wasn’t trying to be mean!”

Rose sighed, her mind unable to bring itself to keep up with her friends’ familiar bickering. Both Stella and Meryl had the night off today — something pretty rare — but Rose had spent the day running around because of all the work she had to take care of. It has only been a couple of months since she’d taken the title of the madam of Primavera, and she already felt overwhelmed. Thankfully,  all the ladies of the night had been exceedingly supportive of her so far — even Amanda seemed not utterly disapproving of her choices — and of course, Richard had been by her side to help her at every steps. He had a business meeting tonight, to which Rose had wanted to accompany him, but he had told her he and Cyrus would take care of everything, so she needn’t worry. Stella was supposed to be the one to go home to babysit Yuuji tonight, so both Meryl and Rose had chosen to stay with her.

“Anyway, I’m going to make some tea,” Stella said. “Or do you want something else?”

“Nah, tea’s good,” the blonde woman replied. “Right, Rose?”

“Hmm…”

Stella exited the room, and Meryl crashed into the armchair next to Rose — who was still motionless, her face sunk into the cushion. From afar, she’d look almost dead.

“C’mon, Rose,” Meryl said, before starting to poke at her with her finger. “You can’t fall asleep here. At least make the effort to go to a bed.”

“Hmmm…”

“Roooose…”

“Hmmmmm…”

Meryl sighed and rolled her eyes… then an impish smirk stretched her lips. She stood up, slowly advanced towards her friend like a cat, trying to make the less noise possible (not that Rose would have heard her given the catatonic state she was in)… and then she jumped on her.

“Take that! Goozy, goozy, goozy!”

“Ah— W-Wait, what are—”

Rose squeaked, but Meryl didn’t let her have the time to react that she was already straddling her and tickling her. The madam tried to resist, but despite being a really petite woman, Meryl was very physically strong, so she ended up having no other choice than to explode in laughers as the other kept attacking her.

“Hey, be quiet a little!” Stella scolded them while entering the room, a tray full of scalding tea in her hands. “Yuuji’s sleeping just next room!”

She had an uncharacteristic stern face and motherly tone — the one she took whenever her baby nephew was concerned. Stella wasn’t as overprotective of their little boy as Richard, but she would still definitely bare her fangs at anyone who would try to cause troubles to the child.

Meryl moved away from Rose and smiled awkwardly with an apologetic expression on her face, while the other guilty one instantly whispered a soft, full-of-remorse “I’m so sorry” — and as always with Rose when she looked at her with those big, innocent clear blue eyes, it was impossible for Stella to stay angry at her any more longer than that.

“It’s fine,” she said, before putting the tray on the small table in front of them. “But please be careful. Yuuji may be adorable most of the time, but if you wake him up, then he becomes a true little demon. It’s a nightmare to get him back to sleep afterwards.”

“Right, sorry,” Meryl said. “I really don’t wanna deal with a crying baby tonight.”

“Then learn how to be quiet.”

“Sheesh, I said I was sorry! Plus I wasn’t the only one making noise, Rose was super loud too!”

“Y-You’re putting the blame on me?” Rose exclaimed.

Meryl shrugged. “Well, at least now you’re awake.”

“Ahh, whatever,” Stella intervened, rolling her eyes. “Drink your tea before it gets cold.”

She sat next to Rose all while talking, while the other two women grabbed their cups and silently started to sip the hot beverage. Stella’s tea was always very refined and delicate, just in her image. Rose took another gulp of the drink, its sweet flagrance tickling her nostrils, and then she let out a long yawn. Stella smiled gently at her.

“You’re going to go to sleep right after, you, right?” She said softly in an affectionate tone, while putting one of her friend’s pink hair behind her ear. But to her surprise, Rose shook her head.

“No, I think I’ll be fine. I prefer to stay up with you and wait for Richard.”

“You sure?” Meryl insisted. “You can go snooze off while Stella and I take care of everything. We know you’re exhausted. No need to play tough with us, Rose.”

“I-I’m not playing tough, I’m really fine,” she argued. “You truly did wake me up earlier. Furthermore…”

Rose looked down on her laps, her gaze falling into the dark, auburn liquid in her cup of tea.

“I am the madam now… so…”

That was the only sentence she said, no further explanation. Meryl and Stella looked at each others, a clear look of concern they both shared for their friend. But neither of them spoke up about it. Instead, Stella just sighed.

“So what do you want to do in the meantime?” She said. “Play a game or something?”

As soon as she pronounced those words, Rose’s blue eyes lit up like a child’s. All of her sleepiness from a while ago seemed to instantly disappear, so maybe what she had just said hadn’t been a complete lie. “Oh yes! What a good idea. I just have the perfect thing!”

“What?”

Just as the two other ladies of the night exchanged a surprised look, Rose grabbed her purse and began to ransack it. After a few long seconds, she finally took a small box out of it, as a triumphant smile spread on her round face. “There it is!”

“What… What is that?” Stella questioned.

“You proposed we play a game together, right?”

“Well, uh, not really…”

“Well, I have a nice game idea! Let’s play truth or dare.”

“Truth or dare?” Meryl repeated. “Oh yeah. I used to play that when I was a kid.”

Rose flashed an impish smile at her two friends, which made her look at least ten years younger, then opened the box. Inside was a bunch of scattered pieces of paper, with seemingly handwriting scribbled on it.

“Claudia gave these to me this morning, as a gift,” Rose explained. “She said it’s a game she and the other ladies made together.”

Her two friends narrowed their eyes at this, the exact same suspicious expression placarded on their faces.

“What?” Rose asked.

“Well, it’s just,” Meryl started. “You know…”

“Don’t you think Claudia and the others made this as a new way to pick on you?” Stella finished for her.

Rose had always been really beloved amongst the ladies of Primavera, and everyone cherished her as a colleague and a sister. Her natural kindness and sincerity was a big part of it, but she also had a strange charisma that instantly attracted others to her. And now that she was the madam, it was even doubly so. However, she was still Rose, and she tended to often be a little bit… on the naïve and innocent side. Which meant that, while the other women were quite fond of her, they still often loved to tease her. Nothing too mean, of course, just enough to have a good laugh out of her, and Rose was just so easy to tease. Meryl and Stella sometimes took part of those little good-natured pranks themselves. Rose had never seemed to take offence at their habits of gently making fun of her, but she always ended up falling for it.

“Now, don’t be like that,” Rose said. “Claudia even said that she and the others played it quite a few times before. It sounds fun, really. So? What do you think?”

Meryl and Stella exchanged a dubious look. “Fine, I don’t care either way,” the latter said, shrugging.

“Sure? Why not,” Meryl added. “It’s not like we have anything better to do anyway.”

Rose’s smile widened. “Let’s start with the first question, then! So… ‘What’s the—’”

But then she suddenly cut herself short, her enthusiasm vanishing and her cheeks getting redder and redder. Stella and Meryl exchanged an interrogative glance, then stared at their boss expectedly.

“So?” Meryl pressed her. “What’s the question? Come on, we’re waiting.”

“That… That is…”

Rose fidgeted, her discomfort clearly increasing, but she finally managed to blurt out in a very small, trembling voice: “‘What’s… what’s the size… of your… penis…’”

The other two women blinked at her in silence for a moment. And then, finally, they both burst out in laughers.

“I knew you were going to react like that!” Rose exclaimed, halfway between embarrassed and angry.

“Oh my God! That’s a good one!” Meryl blurted out between two chuckles.

“Yeah, they definitely got you fine, huh!” Stella added while wiping the corner of her eye.

“Stop laughing now! Geez!”

“So? We’re waiting, Rose!” Meryl replied. “What’s your size?”

“Ooooh, I bet it’s huge!” Stella said.

“True, true! Rose just has those big balls! I’m sure her meat is even bigger than any of the regulars at Primavera!”

“The clients would be so ashamed if they were to see hers!”

“That’s enough!”

Rose screamed, now as red as a tomato, before throwing at them a few pillows which directly crashed into the women’s faces, but that didn’t stop them from laughing with all of their souls.

“Well, if it’s like that, let’s take the next one!” Rose continued, fumbling among the pieces of paper. “It’s your turn now, Stella! Truth or dare?”

“Hmmm… Truth!”

“All right… er, so… ‘Who in this room you’d like to have sex with—’ Wh-What on earth are those questions?” Rose shouted.

Meanwhile, Stella and Meryl exchanged a look, and stared at their pink-haired, blue-eyed, too-innocent-for-her-own-good friend from head to toes, before replying in the same voice:

“Rose.”

The concerned lady gasped, her cheeks the same color as her dress and hair. “Wh-What?”

“I mean, that’s kinda obvious, isn’t it?” Meryl said. “You’re pretty and cute, and the only other choice I have is her, so really.”

Stella snorted. “Hmph, that’s what I was gonna say. I’d rather die than sleep with you.”

“Hey, I’m glad we’re on an agreement for once!”

“N-Now, now, no need to fight… It’s your turn now, Meryl.”

“Truth.”

“All right, then…” Rose looked at the question, then lightly rolled her eyes, which told the two of them that it was yet again going to be an inappropriate one. “‘What’s the biggest age difference you’ve had between yourself and a sexual partner?’”

Stella chuckled while she was drinking her tea, and she had to put the cup of tea away from her mouth to not spill it over.

“Ohh, that I know!” She exclaimed.

“Ugh, did you really need to remind me of this?” Meryl said.

“I-I’m not the one who choose the questions! If you have a problem, go complain to Claudia and the others!”

“Ah, fine,” Meryl replied while crossing her arms, a clear annoyed look on her face while Stella still struggled to contains her giggles. “It was around two years ago, I think. Some old dude showed up at the brothel. A really old dude. And he was… probably around seventy.”

“Stop lying! He was way into his eighties!” Stella added. “And you never know the best thing about it. When he got into the room with Meryl, he couldn’t even get up his—”

“All right, it’s okay! I’ve heard enough,” Rose quickly cut her off. “S-So, um, anyway, it’s my turn now, so… ‘Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?’ Oh, that’s actually a pretty normal question this time.”

“Huh. So? Do you?’” Meryl asked.

Rose frowned. “What? No, I don’t.”

Meryl and Stella exchanged a glance. “You don’t?”

“Of course not! I’m not a child! Why would you even think that?”

“Well, I had just pinned you has that kind of person,” Stella replied.

“Well, I’m not!”

“I bet you did sleep with a plush as a kid, though!” Meryl argued.

“W-Well…” Rose hesitated, her cheeks slightly. “Yeah… A pink rabbit. B-But I don’t even know where it is anymore! And that’s normal, every kids does that, right?”

“I didn’t,” Meryl answered, almost proudly.

“Well, if you have troubles sleeping tonight, Rose, Yuuji has tone of rabbit plushies, if you want!”

“Oh, shut up!” A red Rose yelled back at her two chuckling friends. “It’s your turn now Stella, so let’s see if you’re gonna keep laughing for long… ‘Take a shot of vodka.’”

There was a long, awkward silence following this.

“No!” Meryl and Rose exclaimed at the same time.

“But… that’s the rule—”

“It’s just a game!” Meryl said. “There’s no reason to do everything it says at the letter!”

“R-Right, you can just, uh, take a shot of your tea. That’s perfect.”

“We’re supposed to look after Yuuji, right? We really can’t deal with a drunk Stella Maiougi right now!”

Stella stared at both of her friends, then let out a heavy, defeated sigh all while grabbing her cup of tea. “Fine,” she grumbled, and Rose was pretty sure she looked… almost annoyed? Did Stella actually enjoy drinking? Or maybe she just had fun getting on everyone’s nerves when she was drunk? Both possibilities were probable.

“A-All right, your turn, Meryl!” She exclaimed, avid to switch the topic before Stella change her mind.

“Right! Uh, uh, truth!”

“Er… ‘What do you appreciate more — love or money?’”

“Money,” both Stella and Meryl answered at the same time, without even an ounce of hesitation.

“Wh-What, really?” Rose exclaimed.

“You’re talking to a bunch of prostitutes, Rose,” Meryl replied. “What did you expect?”

“Actually, she’s technically a prostitute too,” Stella added. “So wait. Does that mean you prefer love, Rose?”

The concerned blushed. “O-Of course I do! That should be obvious.”

Meryl and Stella exchanged a smile, which was halfway between amused and endeared — like something two big sisters looking after their youngest innocent sibling would have.

“Of course, Rose’s always the romantic one,” Stella commented.

“Ahh, it must be nice,” Meryl added, sighing.

“Don’t act as if I’m a kid,” Rose replied, annoyed. “We’re all about the same age.”

Then she paused, her expression more pensive.

“You don’t think love is important?” She finally asked.

“I don’t have anything against it,” Stella clarified. “But having money, food and a roof on top of my head are the most important things to me.”

“Yep,” Meryl agreed. “I already have everything I need, honestly. A good job that pay well, great friends. Love is just a complication in my life that I don’t need right now.”

Their respective answers made sense, given both of their personalities and past life experiences… but for some reason, a part of Rose still felt… a bit saddened by this. Did that make her naïve after all?

Her feelings must have shown on her face, because right after Stella added:

“That’s only for us, though! For you, it can be different. Don’t worry, I’m sure one day you’ll find love. I want to be the one to walk you to the altar, actually!”

“Ooh, me too. Though we’ll be there to make sure the guy you chooses treat you with the respect you deserves.”

“For sure! Otherwise we’ll kick his ass.”

“Oh, we’ll do far worse than that. If he ever hurt Rose, dude can say good bye to his tail!”

Both women started cackling like witches, and Rose smiled awkwardly.

“I… I’m starting to feel sorry for my hypothetic future husband…”

“Anyway, it’s your turn, Rose!” Stella said, while grabbing the box this time and picking one of the papers. “Would you rather be smart or pretty?” She read out loud.

Meryl let out a snort, and Rose cocked an eyebrow. “Um… Smart, I think?”

Stella giggled. “What a silly question. Why would I choose? I’m already both.”

“Ohh, really now,” Meryl commented. “Are you certain about that?”

“I am way smarter and prettier than you, at least, that’s for sure.”

“Wh-What did you just say?”

“Aaall right, next question! S-Stella, it’s your turn! Truth or—”

“Truth.” Stella sighed, and while she still took the time to throw a glare in Meryl’s direction, she turned around towards Rose, who proceeded to read the question out loud.

“So… ‘If you had a time machine, to which time period would you go?’”

“Huh? Uh…”

Suddenly, Stella’s face became pensive, then… slightly nostalgic.

“I…”

She looked at Rose and Meryl, seemingly hesitant to answer. And then, strangely enough, she looked over towards Yuuji’s room, where the door was half-closed. There was no sound coming out of it, suggesting the boy was still profoundly asleep.

“Stella?” Meryl asked, a bit of concern in her voice.

“Ah, sorry, I…” She sighed. “I think if I could do that, I would… go back before the war. Before…” She swallowed. “Before my parents and sister’s deaths.”

Rose and Meryl’s expressions changed to a more somber one, and the ambiance in the room became a lot drearier. Stella’s purple eyes, usually bright with grace and malice, were now dark and focused on her laps, as if she couldn’t bring herself to look at anyone while speaking.

“I’d like for us to be together again as a family like before, even just once. Just the five of us… And especially… I wish Yuuji could meet his actual parents…”

She fell quiet, her words echoing and hanging in the room, while none of them dared to disturb the heavy silence that had taken place. Finally, Stella was the one to cut through the awkward atmosphere, chuckling softly and smiling at her friends.

“Ahh, sorry about that! I didn’t mean to make everyone feel gloomy, hehe.”

“No, it’s fine,” Rose murmured, and she reached forward to gently take Stella’s hand in hers. “We’re not gloomy.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Meryl replied sharply. “There’s nothing wrong about reminiscing about the past from time to time. It’s okay.”

The other two stared at her with wide eyes, and Meryl puffed out her cheeks. “What? Is that such an odd thing for me to say?”

Stella blinked, and she and Rose exchanged a smile. “No, not at all,” the former replied.

Meryl sighed and rolled her eyes, before leaning over on the table to grab a piece of paper. “Anyway! Better to change the subject before one of you starts crying.”

“As if you’re not the one who cries the most easily out of the three of us,” Stella commented.

“Shut up! So, uh, it’s my turn now. Dare! Uhh… ‘Kiss your closest neighbor on the cheek.’ Oh, okay, that one is cute. Come here, Rose!”

“Hey, wait! It says your closest neighbor. Stella’s closer to you than me!”

“What? She’s closer to me from what, a millimeter? C’mon!”

Rose arched an eyebrow and grinned. “That’s what the rules says,” she simply replied.

“Ugh… since when did you become cocky like that?”

“Becoming the madam really did a wonder on her, huh,” Stella remarked.

“The point is that I’m right,” Rose replied. “So. If you have to kiss someone, you kiss Stella.”

Stella and Meryl both looked at each other defiantly — the expressions on their faces clearly telling that they’d rather kill each other than kiss each other. But the two of them also knew better than to try arguing with the madam of Primavera. Rose may be a sweetheart most of the time, but she was a hardened, hella stubborn sweetheart. So, slowly, Stella moved towards her blonde-haired colleague, leaned towards her, and pressed a brief, soft kiss on her round cheek. Then she immediately pulled apart, and crossed her arms — which Meryl mimicked.

“Happy, now?” Stella asked begrudgingly.

Rose giggled. “Yes, very.”

“Fine, well, it’s your turn now,” Meryl quickly added.

“Oh, right! Uh, truth! So, let’s see… ‘Where do you want to be right now?’”

Rose stared at the piece of paper for a moment in silence. For some reason, this question gave her a pause, and she felt as if her mind had blanked out. It wasn’t a hard question, though. She’d always liked the idea of traveling. Across the country, of course — going to Kyoto, or Sapporo, or Nagoya. Since she was a child, she’d always wished to visit Greece too – her father’s hometown, which she had only heard about from the few tales he had told her. There were a lot of places where she would love to be, a lot of people she’d love to be at the side of… But none of these answers seemed right to her now.

“Rose?” Stella called out quietly.

“Ah, uh…”

“Where I’d want to be, huh?” Meryl repeated. “Personally, I’d really love to have some vacations at the beach. Just spending my days lying on the sand and listening to the ocean…”

“Oh yes, vacations like that would be nice,” Stella added, followed by a heavy sigh. “If only we had enough money for that.”

“What about you, Rose?”

“I…”

Rose looked up at the two women in front of her, and smiled softly.

“I want to be here.”

Both Stella and Meryl stared blankly at her. “What?”

“I’m fine with where I am right now. I really don’t want to be anywhere else. Sure, it may be a pretty difficult life at times, but… I love this town, and this country, and all the people who live here. I love you two, and Richard, and Wayne, and all the ladies of Primavera. And… I would exchange it for nothing in the world.”

For some long seconds, a silence took place in the room — which made Rose anxious. Surely her answer wasn’t that weird, was it? But then, all of a sudden, the other two began to laugh.

“Wh-What is it?” Rose exclaimed. “Did I say something that funny?”

“No, no, that’s not it!” Meryl replied. “We’re not laughing at you. It’s just…”

“That’s such a Rose thing to say,” Stella continued. “Really, here we were, fantasizing about vacations at the beach, and you answer this kind of mushy tirade!”

“I-I didn’t mean to diminish your wishes,” Rose replied. “I mean, I think it’d be nice to have some vacations too…!”

“Nah, it’s cool, we get it,” Meryl said. “Actually… I think I agree with you. Vacations sure would be great, but… at the end of the day, I’m fine where I am right now. It may not be an ideal life, but it’s mine and I like it nonetheless.”

Stella didn’t say anything, but the wide smile on her face was more than enough to tell she shared those thoughts too. Meryl giggled again, and then she ruffled Rose’s hair in that big sisterly kind of way she often had towards the women of Primavera. Stella got closer to their madam before affectionately resting her head on her shoulder, and Meryl, sitting on the other side, imitated her.

The three of them stayed snuggled together like that for a quiet, peaceful moment.

Like a way to prove themselves that they were, indeed, all of them happy to be here right now.

Like a quiet prayer that their lives would continue as such, with all its ups and downs — but that, either way, they would always have each other’s backs.

[iminyourhandskara]

A Second Schott At Love - Final Chapter.

Kara almost jumped outside the elevator, clearly impatient to hear all about Eve’s version of the date night: obviously, she was a bit scared that she misread everything and that she wasn’t happy with how it went, but she wanted to be faithful in her match making abilities. “Oh, Eve isn’t here yet.” Kara whispered to herself, looking around the office. James’ staff reunion was about to begin, when the sound of Eve’s heels clicking on the floor echoed in Kara’s super-ears; she waved at her enthusiastically, perhaps a bit too much, but they couldn’t even get close because all the employees were now walking towards the boss’ office. “We’ll talk later.” Eve mouthed from a distance, and Kara replied with a thumb up.

 “Sooooo?”  Kara slid at Eve’s side. “How was it?” “It went really well.” She smiled, “I had a lot of fun.” “Aw, I knew it! Tell me everything.” “At the beginning, I was terrified because I don’t do small talk, but then I felt really comfortable and relaxed, we talked about our jobs, our lives in general, we both like blue, technology, books, Harry Potter specifically, and chicken nuggets.” Kara laughed, that was Winn in a nutshell. “But I have something to say, promise me you won’t get mad.” She suddenly felt alarmed, “Of course.” “The dinner was delicious and the restaurant was so nice and elegant, but..we were still hungry after eating there. So, we drove to Big Belly Burger right after.” “You had two dates in one night?!” Her voice went a little higher than the usual. “Shh, technically it was one big date, but I have to admit that the second part was even more fun, we ate a lot and I didn’t feel judged once. My cousin doesn’t even eat carbs in front of her dates, I have no idea of how she does that. Are..are you mad?” “No, it’s the complete opposite! I’m so happy for you two, especially after those previous dates, you deserve all the fun.” Eve smiled at her friend, “Thank you for arranging this.” “No problem, actually I apologize for not thinking about this before. So, are you gonna see each other again?” “Oh, yes, I forgot to mention we already exchanged numbers…and we texted a lot..and that might be the reason I was late today.” “Woaaah.” “I don’t even know how we managed to text until 5 AM. I haven’t felt this traumatized by my alarm clock since the college days.” “This definitely exceeded every expectation I had. Also, I should probably text Mike that if Winn isn’t replying to his calls, it’s because he’s still asleep. He should be up by lunchtime, though.” The two girls laughed again. “Like I said already, I’m extremely happy for you,” Kara said going in for a hug “but we should get to work, now.” “Right, do I look too disheveled?” “No, you’re perfect.” “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you one last thing..” “What is it?” “…I might’ve kissed him..” Her voice was lower than a whisper, Kara’s mouth was now agape. “Eve!!” “I could not help it, he was so sweet to me..” She was now as pink as her blouse. James called his assistant, she winked at Kara and then walked into the office.

 Mon-El was afraid that calling Winn so many times could’ve made his phone explode—it was his first smart phone  and he didn’t want to break it after just a few weeks, Kara would’ve definitely killed him. He was about to push the call button again, when he suddenly got a text from his girlfriend: “Winn is still asleep, he spent the entire night chatting with Eve ;), you’ll see him later at the DEO I think” “Oh, that explains it! So, does she like-like him?” “YESSS! We’ll talk about it later, are you going at the bar now?” “Yep, I’ll see you at the DEO as soon as I’m done L” “Ohhh..okay, I’ll see you later babe” “Later, babe!” Mon-El grinned at the screen, she called him babe again and he still couldn’t believe it.

 Mon-El and Kara arrived at the DEO and immediately noticed that Winn still wasn’t there. “That boy sleeps like a rock.” “I’m here! I’m here!! Mon-El, 75 calls? Seriously?” “Good morning, champion!” His friend joked, “About time. How long did you sleep?” “Less than you think.” Kara walked into their conversation, “Go straight to the point, how was the date?” Winn smiled gleefully, scratching the back of his head, “It was..awesome, honestly one of the best dates I’ve had, though the bar is pretty low. But I have to thank you, guys.” He chuckled. “Ah, don’t mention it..Eve told me you went to Big Belly Burger!” “Oh, yes, sorry about that.” “You don’t need to apologize, Winn, it’s great!” “What did you guys talk about all night? I can’t even hold real life conversations for that long.” Mon-El wondered. “Literally anything, it was like a third part to our date. It’s great that we share the same sense of humor, look, we sent each other memes.” Winn picked his phone from his pocket to show the two aliens the funny images: too bad Mon-El looked perplexed and highly confused, “You’ll get it one day, my friend.” Winn said with a pat on his back. “One day I’ll show you all the vines you need to know.” “Aren’t those in India? Or was it Africa? I can’t fly you there like Kara.” Winn covered his disappointed eyes with his palm, “Hey, is Eve a good kisser?” “Really good- She told you?!” “She’s good, from what I remem-“ Mon-El had just learned a new fact about his super girlfriend: apparently, she could throw flames with her gaze without heating up her eyes. “I shouldn’t have said that.” “Anyways..Kara?” Winn interrupted the awkward couple exchange. “Yes?” “Did you tell Alex yet?” “No, I didn—wait, you told him?” “Oops, yes. I forgot to mention it, we were so invested in this date that I completely removed that from my brain..I’m just gonna go to the bathroom before I mess up even more.” Kara bit her lower lip and then looked back at Winn, who despite his past crush for his best friend, was now looking at them with so much love and support, “Not that she needs more confirmations, because you know, Alex Danvers always knows everything, but you should tell her soon.” “Tell me what?” Silent as ever, she walked closer to the three friends. Kara and Mon-El became red as tomatoes, Winn just found the scene really funny, “Whatever it is, it can wait until later: there has been an attack near the fire station.” With a perfect timing, J’onn interrupted the big revelation. “Ahh, I think I’m gonna tell her tonight.” The girl of steel thought. “I guess I’m gonna have to hold my pee for a little longer.” The hero in the making sadly realized.

 Kara invited Alex to her place to eat some pizza and watch a movie, and of course, tell her the truth about her and Mon-El: now sitting on the couch, munching her slice, Kara interrupted the silence: “Hey Alex, I wanted to talk to you about something..” “Is everything okay?” “I know that the past weeks have been a wild rollercoaster, for both you and me, and we’ve talked about it on my Earth birthday, but then I told you things weren’t as easy as they seemed..” “Go straight to the point!” “I’m dating Mon-El!” “Oh, thank goodness. Finally!” She let out an exasperated sigh. “And I know about your bet with Winn, he owes you 30 dollars.” “So who else knows? Me, Winn, and?” “Eve. That’s it.” “Wasn’t she going out with Mon-El?” “Now she’s dating Winn.” “Okay, what? When did that happen?” “Well, we set them up this weekend.” “We?” “Me and Mon-El.” “Ahh, right. There’s already an ‘us’, I see.” Kara grinned, she was really happy she didn’t have to hide her relationship to the most important person in her life. “I’m so glad I finally told you.” “It didn’t take a lot to see the chemistry between you two, I’m glad you finally got together! You know I’ve been rooting for you.” “So am I obvious too?” She asked her big sister, referring to when she told her about his confession. “Eh..Sorry. But changing subject, how was it?” “How was what?” “The sex, Kara.” “Alex!!” She covered her face, red as the tomato sauce on the pizza and then she started giggling. “I’m taking that as a good sign.”

  6 months and 12 double dates later, the two couples were hanging out at Eve’s place for a game night: “Guys, can I please have your attention?” Winn called Mon-El and Kara “I wanted to tell you something, uhhh, it’s not really that much of a big deal to me because it doesn’t change much—“ “We’re moving in together!” Eve squealed excited, seeing that her boyfriend was now taking too long to reveal it to their friends. “Yes, we found a place that’s pretty close to the DEO and not too far from CatCo, however this little genius right here might have a new job soon..” “You’re leaving CatCo??” Kara seemed to dread her future days at work without her favorite colleague, her eyes went wide. “I sent my curriculum to the DEO.” Now both Mon-El and Kara were shocked and pale, thinking about what it would mean for their superheroes identities. Winn started talking to save the situation: “If you guys didn’t already know, my girl has an impressive brain and a even more incredible resume, even J’onn was impressed. And I know what you’re thinking about—“ “Your secret is safe with me.” Eve took Kara’s hands in hers. “And yours too, Mon-El.” She looked back at who she used to call ‘Mike’.

“He told you.” Kara’s voice was still a bit shaken. “Oh, no, no. I figured it out about a month ago, I only told Winn last week and he just confirmed my suspicions.” “You really are full of surprises.” Mon-El spoke, getting over the initial stupor. “Can I ask how?” “A few months ago, I found myself in the same place as Supergirl and she had just saved something or someone, anyways..I was looking at her hair and I was like ‘Wow, to get those waves you either use a  curling iron everyday or you keep your hair braided all the time, like Kara.’ And then I just connected the dots.” “Jeez, I’m starting to believe Alex when she says that glasses aren’t that good of a disguise.” Kara shook her head. “Well, then, if the secret is safe, I really hope the DEO hires you: we would be really lucky to have your brilliant mind in our team.” “Thank you so much, Mon-El. I have my fingers crossed.” “Let’s have a toast, to Eve!” Kara passed the beer bottles to everyone, who echoed her toast. “Cheers!”

Mon-El leaned in to whisper something to Winn: “Hey, are you sure you’re not going a little too fast? Moving in so soon?” “Haven’t you been living with Kara since you started dating, literally?” “Hey! It’s different! I was living at the DEO and it’s not a really comfortable living situation.” “Whatever..I know you’re concerned, but trust me when I say this..She’s different, my life has been different since I met her and I love her, truly. So I have no doubt in my mind.” Mon-El smiled, knowing exactly what he was feeling, “I trust you. For the record, if I’m not your best man next year, I’ll be really offended.” Winn laughed heartily, “Of course, of course.”

 Little did Mon-El know that it was exactly what was going to happen in a year. There was no other choice for Winn and Eve than to have him and Kara next to them at the altar; after all, none of that would’ve happened if it wasn’t for their best friends who let them give a second shot at love.

[chrisodonline]

On Mosley, Redux

As I mentioned in my loooong post earlier, I had thoughts reflecting on the Joelle episode and Mosley over the course of this season.  

About a month ago, the lovely and sweet @aprylynn spammed me with the best asks in the world because she knew I needed some distractions.  There was one I never answered because it was impossible not to write a treatise to answer it.  I never stopped thinking about it, though, and working on today’s post reminded me of it.  

The question was essentially about what I thought would have helped Mosley’s character be more consistent over the season.  I’ll touch on that, what I would have liked to have seen (more) in the character -- purely subjective preferences, and why I feel like the Joelle episode wasn’t as much of a drop off before next season as it seemed at first -- even to me.

For the record, I don’t need to see new characters love and adore our core team players, especially if they are the boss.  Enabling is not a form of support, and you can be supportive and constructive -- in fact, that’s better for everyone.  It would make sense for a boss to come in and be supportive but not enabling.  Friction is inevitable, but need not be the only plot contribution of the new boss.  Your mileage may vary, and that’s always fair.  People are not all a hive mind, or all TV shows would be the exact same thing. 

I would have liked to see Mosley do more rather than just say what she wanted to do and what her expectations were.  She could still be the super confident and classy lady, which would be a fun contrast.  I felt that’s where they were aiming, but they had Nia hit some notes that just weren’t right when setting up Mosley’s classiness. She came off as more haughty and superficial at times, again, to me.  Moving on.  So, a classy but sassy new boss who truly takes the team to task by making them all do psych appointments, reviewing their old files and talking to them one-on-one about past performance reviews, what she sees could be improved, and making them do paperwork/reports on old cases and missions -- mostly theirs but some from other teams, perhaps old cases, to get them to review how to improve. Send them to some professional development opportunities with training -- mix up the dynamics of who goes while there’s a mission -- allowing for the cast to work around their needed schedules.  Ask reasonable, straightforward questions that needed answers after each case, etc.  Obviously, this would be strewn across multiple eps -- office things aren’t made for a whole hour of TV.  She could have been someone who just really loved rules or who had seen firsthand in old roles the dangers of not being careful enough or when agents aren’t given the proper guidance, etc. 

Mosley didn’t do that, though. Again, she was a lot of talk and no show on taking issues with the way team does things, what her goal was, her disagreements, etc. She would then intermittently support the team when they’d least expect it and flaunt how helpful and deserving of trust she was -- despite not really earning it.  She was owed their respect as the boss, but trust takes time.  These are people always on edge and not easy to get to -- they have to be for their jobs.  It’s also very common in this line of work. She gave them a figure harder to pin down than Hetty, whether intentional or not.

Back to the Joelle thing.  Throughout her episode, she kept talking about how she was doing everything for her family.  Even when she lied and G pretended to fly off the handles to test her, he noted to Sam that she was telling the truth in that moment.  The most consistent thing she said was her motivation was her family.  She was all over the place at times, and it seemed to be her using her spy craft moment to moment to figure out what move would be the best to get what she needed to keep her family safe, especially her son.

Cut back to Mosley.  We know how much her son has motivated her to do things.  If you look back at everything, you can see a very, very consistent figure if you see someone who is doing what it takes to get her son back -- with shrewd knowledge of how these organizations work and the ability to be what’s needed at any given time.  The threats to the team, constant voicing of issues, call for improvement, insistence on a weird glass office to watch over everyone more effectively, bringing someone who is on her side and could slide into a position if she gets someone transferred, etc. It begins to look very performative. Now, anyone who’s ever worked for a highly formalized and structured organization -- whatever the entity -- knows how much saying the right thing gets you a lot further than doing the right thing.  Mastering that empty/vague admin-speak is a skill, and people who can do it go far. Mosley can do it.

So she works really hard to make connections, she knows how to be one with the higher ups.  She works to find out where her son is, or speculate it.  She looks for opportunities, and she finds one.  She comes from a Secret Service background, so it makes you wonder how much she’s been looking into this particular opportunity.  Has she scoped out other nearby agencies with LA offices? It’s been years since she’s seen her son, and she knows how to do a long plan. 

She starts doing the NCIS angle -- if anything it’s an agency that might not deal with her ex enough to have a red flag about her, but it’s one with access to various locales.  She eventually gets to this job.  She’s heard about the team, they’re the best, they’re a bunch of cowboys who can get stuff done; G Callen’s reputation surely precedes him in all agencies he’s worked with.  The legendary Hetty Lange’s does, as well. And, hey, all these people have been trained by her!  Hidoko, at one point, tells her these are the people she’d want to have her back if she were ever in grave peril.  I don’t think she needed convincing.

She sells herself as someone who can shake things up and make things right in the OSP, and the higher powers believe her.  She says the right things to make it look like she’s doing power moves and what she was sent for, and she says them continuously with audiences -- no one has any reason to suspect she’s not there to do the job.  She tells them she needs time to figure the team out and see where they’d be better fit, trying to get them to improve in certain areas while also building their trust. Again, the higher ups all think this is well and good.

Of course, she has to keep two sides happy: the higher ups and the team.  She slides whenever she can, when the stakes are low or when it’s reasonable to say yes.  She has to gain their favor while also keeping the favor of the higher ups.  She’s going back and forth, not always well, but she’s probably learning gradually that her son really is nearby.  The stakes are high.  She’s also not the best people person, so knowing the right ways to gain personal not professional favor is not her strong suit.  She, like Joelle, is a woman with a mission. She plays the cards she needs for her own purpose. It is a very understandable purpose.

The question going into S10: Will having achieved that purpose make her leave OSP? Will she get the boot for not doing what she was told, while the team is also seeing some temporary consequences? Will they be able to explore this more and give her a quasi-reboot, now that she’s no longer dealing with the high stakes of her son?  

Again, though, all just theories/thoughts. 

I promise I’m done for the day!

[davidcarner]

Hotel California Ch 1, Bartowski, IT

A/N:  Fanfic community after canceled intervention:  Thank God, we've got him down to four ongoing.

Me:  NEVER!  *pushes publish to get reaction from everyone on this being an ongoing and skips out of the room*

A/N 2: A few notes before we start. This fic will be (not this chapter, but down the road) a little more…saucy, spicy, than things I've done before. It's still T but, I'm going to take it up one or two notches. This fic takes place current time, Chuck is approximately 26 years old. Welcome to Hotel California Ch 1, Bartowski, IT

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but I do own several copies of Hotel California.

He felt the eyes on his back watching his every move. This had required more than he thought it would when she brought him the laptop. Most men were scared of her beauty, but he wasn't. It was a weird friendship, but one just the same. They teased each other….well, she teased him, and he laughed about it. They were on the same page about the important things. He felt her over his shoulder.

"What's wrong, Chuckles," Carina said breathily into his ear. Her breath was making it hard to concentrate, but that was Carina's game. She loved making Chuck uncomfortable. She probably loved making all men uncomfortable, but he had no empirical data to support that theory. "Have I corrupted the hard drive? Please don't ask me to turn off, because you already have me so turned on." Chuck turned toward her slowly.

"Carina, I'm pretty sure that's sexual harassment," Chuck said, an amused smile on her face.

"What you gonna do, report me to myself? I am HR," she replied, bending back over his shoulder to watch him work on her laptop.

"Carina, you are in benefits until they hire someone," Chuck said, chuckling. "You're the Director of Operations."

"And I'm trying to let you enjoy some benefits," she said with a smirk. Chuck stopped in mid turn of the screw on her laptop. "Well, finish screwing me."

"I swear I keep walking right into these," he said, finishing putting the case back on. He plugged it in, hit the power button, and sat back, bumping Carina because she was so close.

"Chuck are you trying to touch me?" Carina asked.

"Keep it up and I won't fix this," he said. She jerked her hands back in a defensive posture. He paused, unsure if he should say anything or not, but it was her, so he went ahead. "Carina, there was some interesting porn on there." She looked at him. "I'm pretty sure it wasn't yours."

"Chuck, you think you know what I want to see?" Carina asked, with a coy smile. He looked at her with no humor on his face.

"It was furry porn," he said. She closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Let me guess, some guy you were seeing used it." She nodded, opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Explains why he wanted the costumes," she mumbled under her breath. Chuck shuddered. The computer started up, and she hugged him. "You are the best, Chuck. Can I pay you?"

"Nope," he said, unhooking everything, giving her the laptop, standing up, and walking with her to the door. "You could tone down the innuendos."

"But then how will I see you blush?" she asked. "I love to see you blush, all the way down to the roots of your hair." She looked him up and down, slowly, and not even trying to hide what she was doing. "I wonder if you blush…everywhere?" With that, Chuck began to blush. "Hmmmm." She gave him a grin that looked nearly predatory. "Hey, I have an idea."

"Nope, no, not a happening," Chuck said, shaking his head. She reached up and moved his hair around, fixing it the way she wanted it. He looked up at her hand, back at her, and she finally stopped, satisfied with how it looked. "No blind dates, especially when they're probably with you," he said, grinning.

"You don't know the blind date I was gonna set you up on was gonna be with me," Carian said. He gave her a look and she bounced a shoulder. "Fine, but you're missing out." The look on his face was "here we go again." "I swear one night with me would ruin you for all other women."

"Is that what you really want, Carina, me at your door step every night playing bad love songs to win you?" Chuck asked, amused. She rolled her eyes.

"You would too, wouldn't you," she said, laughing. Chuck leaned against the door frame and gave her a look. She thought she might melt.

"Well, you want to ruin me," Chuck said, waggling his eyebrows. She gasped.

"Chuck Bartwoski, are you flirting?" she asked. Chuck grinned at her, and winked. She hugged him, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and watched as he turned and started back to his desk. She couldn't help herself, and slapped him on the back side causing him to whoop and high step for a second.

"Seriously, HR!" he said, with a grin. She winked, spun, and strutted out of the room as only Carina could. Chuck shook his head. "That woman is twenty pounds of crazy in a five pound bag," he said to himself.

-ooooo-

Carina returned to her office and shut the door. She liked Chuck, he was a sweet guy, but he was also one of those forever, with a house, 2.3 kids, a dog, and a white picket fence. Carina was not in to that, today. Someday, maybe, but today, today she wanted to have fun. She sighed and pulled out a folder that she needed to turn in before the day was over before Zondra gave her grief. Well, not too much grief, because Zondra knew Carina would get things done. Her thoughts returned to Chuck. She felt bad for the guy. It was a few months ago that she was talking to Martin in the kitchen, or was it Morgan, she wasn't sure. Whatever his name was, he had told her how his friend Chuck had been screwed over by Bryce. Bryce had framed Chuck at Stanford and gotten him kicked out of college. Bryce denied it, but Martin swore Chuck wasn't that guy. They needed someone in IT, and Carina was intrigued. She thought Bryce was a tool as well, so that's why she went to scope out Chuck at the Buy More. She tried to flirt with him, but he basically was nothing but super professional and excused himself when some idiot father forgot to load tape into his camera to record his daughter's ballet recital.

Carina told Zondra about Chuck, but left out everything about Bryce. Zondra called him, offered him an interview, and Carina asked if she could take care of it. She and Chuck had a long talk more than an interview. The reason for hiring him was two-fold, one, it might upset Bryce. Two, he was good, real good. She had called around and asked those who used the Buy More if there was a technician they would recommend, and all the recommendations came back as one Charles 'Chuck" Bartowski. She had to admit, she was pissed at Bryce for hurting Sarah, and if this would upset Bryce, all the better. Bryce might be the Hotel General Manger, but Carina wasn't scared of him. His parents loved her too much to fire her, and that's who she was worried about, the Larkins.

Zondra tried to remind Carina that they needed to keep their personal lives out of this, and it was somewhat Sarah's fault for dating the boss. Zondra thought Sarah knew better, and she did. But, Carina had encouraged Sarah to date Bryce, and that had been an absolute disaster. Sarah thought they were in a relationship, and Bryce thought they were casual. She caught him with someone, Sarah never would say who, and that was the end of Sarah and Bryce. Sarah refused to date coworkers now, and since she didn't want to go clubbing much anymore, Carina was determined to find her someone. Chuck wouldn't bite, Sarah wouldn't bite, so somehow she had to get the two together. How? And that's when it hit her. She picked up the phone and made a call.

"Hey, Reg, it's Catrina," she said smiling. "Did I say Reg, I meant Rick, sorry." Whoops. "So, I got my laptop fixed. You know the one you visited the furry porn site with. Yeah, Rick, that one. Well, there's a real simple way to make it up to me. Tell me the site name. No, I'm not kidding. I met a cute IT guy and I want him to come scrub my hard drive. I know that sounds dirty, I said it." She wrote down the website address. "Thanks Rick. No, I don't want to dress up. Good-bye." She hung up, a grin on her face. She knew just what to do.

-ooooo-

Sarah came in the next morning, tired. She had stayed up most of the night watching old movies on the old movie channel. She liked her job, loved it actually, and especially the people she worked with. She liked them all, except for Bryce Larkin, the biggest cheat that ever cheated. "We're causal," she said, in a low mocking voice, twisting her face. The thing was, she didn't miss him, she was upset at how bad she had gotten burnt. She swore it would never happen again. No guy was going to hurt her, and definitely no guy at work. She turned on her computer and waited for it to warm up as she drank her coffee. Maybe she'd get lucky and someone would pull the fire alarm today and she could watch the firemen come in. She always enjoyed that. She shook her head as she logged into her computer. She waited a minute and realized it was acting very weird. There was a strange icon on her desktop. She double clicked it to see what it was.

"OH GOD!" she screamed and turned off the monitor. She looked around to see if anyone had seen that and then she remembered she was in her office, and no one could see what had happened. The backs of the monitors were facing the doorway…what was that noise. THE SOUND! She turned the monitor back on, found the sound bar, and muted it. She took a deep breath, and nearly jumped out of her seat when there was a knocking sound on the door.

"Hey," Carina said. She took a good look at Sarah and had to fight not laugh. Sarah looked beautiful as usual, her blond hair just past the shoulder with that slight curl, the simple blue top and the black jeans. She looked elegant, and frazzled as can be, all at the same time. "Something wrong?"

"Uh, well," she began.

"Oh, before I forget, there's been a slight porn problem on some computers. If you have any problem, call down to IT and ask for Bartowski," Carina said. "Skip is a good guy and all, but Bartowski is the one you want."

"Have you had any problems?" Sarah asked, nervously.

"Oh, no," Carina said. "Gotta run," and she was gone. Sarah took a deep breath and composed herself. She picked up the phone, put down the phone, walked over to her door, shut it, locked it, and called IT.

"Bartowski, IT," the voice on the other end answered. Sarah smiled at the soothing voice.

"Hi, this is Sarah Walker," she said trying to have steel in her voice.

"Hello, Sarah Walker, are you okay?" he asked.

"Why do you ask?" Oh no. Was she so shook up over this that this guy could tell? What was he gonna think? She had to get control of the situation. "I need help and so help me God, if you tell me to turn it off and turn it back on, I will come down there and…"

"Well, that answers that question. You don't sound like things are going well, and that's never good," he said. "What's wrong?"

"There's this weird thing on my computer," she said with a low voice, still snapping. She didn't care if he thought she was an awful person, but she couldn't have him thinking she was looking at porn at work. "Carina told me to call you to get it off."

"Carina Miller?" he said with a hint of laughter. "Okay, so we're probably going to be at this for a bit, my name is Chuck."

"Chuck?" she asked, her tone changing to curiosity.

"Yeah, my parents were sadists," he said. She laughed. She couldn't help herself. "But, I've managed to make my way in this world despite it." She was wrapping the cord around her finger, and feeling better just talking to him.

"Chuck, I'm sorry," she said. "Things….well…"

"Something went wrong, you snapped and I happened to be the first person you talked to," he said. She winced. She bet that happened a lot.

"No one calls you to say thanks for making everything run smooth, do they?" she asked. Chuck laughed.

"Nope," he said quickly. "So, what happened?"

"Well, I started my computer, and it was running weird, slow," she began. "There was this weird icon…."

"You clicked on it didn't you?" he asked. She heard the humor in voice.

"I was very tired and not thinking clearly," she said waspishly. She huffed. "Again, I'm sorry, I'm just having a very bad day."

"Hey, I'll fix it," Chuck said. "And I won't judge." She looked guilty and was glad no one could see her. "You have no idea how many people get things on their computer and call me wanting me to fix it and are in the foulest mood because they think I'm going to judge them."

"I don't watch that stuff," she said softly.

"You said Carina told you to call me?" he asked. "Is it a certain type of porn?"

"Yes," she said, burying head in her hand.

"Well the good news is I can fix it quick," Chuck said. "But I'm going to have to come up there."

"I've got a meeting, do you think you do it while I'm gone?" she asked.

"Sure," Chuck said cheerfully. "Go to your meeting, and when you get back it will be fixed. Sound good?"

"Sounds great," she said. "And, Chuck, I'm sorry I was a jerk."

"Don't worry about it," Chuck said. "Bye," and with that, he disconnected.

-ooooo-

Chuck pulled up today's calendar and made sure and waited five minutes after the meeting started before he headed to Sarah's office. The last thing he needed was to be yelled at by some crazy woman because she had double clicked an icon that wasn't on her desktop the night before. He had already reformatted a hard drive and loaded her backup from the night before. This would literally take minutes, and then he would reformat the original hard drive and use it down the road. He checked his watch, saw he had some time, and accessed the log-in system. Her computer had been accessed last night by Carina after Sarah had logged off for the evening. What was Carina doing? Chuck thought about the blind date thing Carina had mentioned yesterday. He closed his eyes and had a bad idea as to what was going on. She was going to try to pawn another insane person off on him. What did he do to deserve this?

He appreciated all that Carina had done for him, most of all getting him this job. He sat back in his chair, wasting ten more minutes. He thought about that day they met for the interview, and how she told him about her friend who Bryce had screwed over. Join the club, he though. She told him about how she wanted someone she could trust in IT. She wasn't saying Bryce was doing anything wrong, but she wondered how he had some of the ideas he came up with. Bryce was a lot of things, but his new hotel security internet system made her scratch her head. Chuck's ears perked up when he heard that. He had been working on a project for a class. It was unfinished, but the security system would have been full proof by the time he was done. He asked if he could see it, and with a grin, Carina told him she couldn't allow him to see it unless he was hired. He took the job immediately. When she logged him in and let him access the system, he became sick to his stomach. It was his system, exactly the way he left it, and more importantly it wasn't finished and there were security holes. He told Carina and she could only shake her head. She told him to keep his head down and do his job.

A few days later he got walked up to Bryce's office by Casey, head of security. Chuck figured he was fired. When he sat down Bryce grinned at him like they were old pals. Bryce said he was glad he could give Chuck one last chance, and he really hoped Chuck didn't blow it. If Chuck did well, Bryce could give him all the recommendations to clear that little snafu at Stanford and Larkin Hotel and Resort would gladly pay his tuition to finish up his degree. Chuck started to say something, but realized it was his word against Bryce's, again, and that had gone so well last time. Bryce told him if something happened here like it did at Stanford, the Buy More would be the only place he would work for the rest of his life. Chuck just stared at him, but knew he couldn't win this fight. He simply nodded, thanked him for his time, and got up to leave. Bryce had asked him how Ellie was. Chuck stopped, turned, smiled, and said, she hates your guts and if you ever enter her house she knows over one hundred painful ways to kill you. Bryce blinked and Chuck walked out, grinning.

He looked at the clock, got up, and headed upstairs to the offices. He entered Sarah's office, and quickly took apart her computer, swapped out the hard drive, put it back together, turned it on, check it out to make sure it was alright, logged off, and started to leave. He paused, that was unprofessional. He left her a note to say if anything was wrong, make sure and call and ask for him. He looked at it, smiled, and started out the door, when he nearly ran into the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. Chuck was tall, but so was she, only a few inches shorter than he was. She had blond hair, and stormy blue eyes. He was transfixed.

"Chuck?" she said again.

"Hey, that's me," he said, grinning. "Got your corrupted old drive here," he said, holding it up. "Give it a whirl and if you need anything just give me a jingle," he said, holding his hand up to his ear like a phone and internally wincing. Jingle? Who the hell says jingle?

Sarah meanwhile was trying to hold down a giggle, wondering when the last time she had giggled. Who had hidden tall and dark-haired curly down in IT? Get ahold of yourself, she thought. She scolded herself. No more interoffice relationships. Besides, what could they possibly have in common. He was a nerd and she was a conman's daughter who was lucky enough to get out of the life her father had tried to drag her into and make her way through college working odd jobs.

"So it's fixed?" she asked.

"I believe so," Chuck replied. He stood there staring at her, and that's when he realized he was standing in her office. "Soooo, guess I'll be going," he said, pointing out of the office. She was blocking his way.

"Oh, yes, of course," she said, and stepped aside. "If I need anything I'll give you a jingle," she said as he was walking away. He paused, looked over his shoulder and saw her biting her bottom lip so as not to laugh. He smiled and headed on, determined to have words with Carina.

-ooooo-

"What do you think you're doing?" Chuck hissed, coming into Carina's office.

"Well hello to you too, Handsome?" Carina said. "Miss me?" she asked with a wink.

"Carina, why did you put porn on Sarah's computer?" Chuck asked. Carina studied him a minute. "I have log-in access," he reminded her.

"Oh, yeah," she said, grinning and shrugging. "So, how was it?"

"She's crazy," Chuck said. "She double-clicked the icon you installed on her computer and then yelled at me about it."

"But, Chuck," Carina began.

"No, no, no," Chuck said. "I am not dealing with a crazy lady, no matter how attractive she is and how soothing her voice is."

"Her voice is soothing?" Carina asked, an eyebrow raised. Chuck glared at her.

"Carina, I'm telling you, NO!" he said, and headed out her door. Carina sat there a minute, thinking.

"Well, I'm just gonna have to try this a different way," Carina said, grinning.

A/N: Shrugs...Welp...that one has been sitting in todo folder for months.  I finished chapter 2 yesterday and thought I'd give this a test run.  Like Chuck V2 (the previously known as Chuck 2.0) I'm just putting it out there to see...I have two more fics in reserve as well...Reviews, PMs, and anything, are always appreciated…take care…see you soon…til next time.

DC

[witchxng]

I’ve had a bunch of new followers lately, so I wanted to do a get to know the blogger tag!

1. What have you eaten today?

I had eggs and fruit for breakfast, and I’m making a salad for lunch rn

2. Who was your last kiss with? Was it pleasant?

It was with my ex, and it was delightful, but thinking about it makes me sad

3. What color shoes did you last wear?

Black, big surprise there

4. Who has made you laugh the hardest in the last week?

My best friend, Kaelyn!

5. What is your favorite scent?

Pine needles

6. What is your favorite season? Why?

Autumn, it is so beautiful

7. Can you do a handstand or cartwheel?

Neither, nope!

8. What color are your nails?

They are currently baby blue

9. If you had to get a tattoo on your face to save your life, what would it be?

I would get a crescent moon, I kind of want that anyway ha

10. What is something you find romantic?

Long walks at dusk

11. Are you happy?

I think so

12. Is there anything in particular making you happy or sad?

Adding to my crystal collection always makes me extra happy!

13. Dogs or Cats?

Cats!!!

15. Which do you prefer:a museum, a night club, the forest or a library?

The forest, I identify as a green witch!

15. What is your style?

Witchy :)

16. If you could be doing anything you like right now, what would it be?

I would be in a cottage in the woods, working on an altar

17. Are you in a relationship or single?

Single

18. What makes you attracted to the person you like right now?

He’s nice to me at work, but that’s about it. Super high standards, ha.

19. If you could replace your partner/best friend with a celebrity of your choice, would you? Who with?

Hell no

20. Are you holding on to something you need to let go of? If so then what? 

I’m holding on to a lot of resentment and regret, I hope I can let it go soon

21. How did you celebrate last Halloween?

Did some tarot readings and handed out candy to the kids!

22. Have you recently made any big decisions? 

Not really, life has been pretty mundane

23. Were you ever in a school play?

No, I was always too shy in school

24. What movie would you use to describe your life?

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

25. Is there something you have dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?

I’ve dreamed of owning my own flower shop, but you know, money

26. Complete this sentence, “I wish I had someone with whom I could share…”

I wish I had someone with whom I could share my passions with

27. What are two things that irritate you about the same sex?

Girls can be very catty, and superficial

28. What are two things that irritate you about the opposite sex?

Boys can be very rude, and aggressive

29. What is the best thing that has happened to you this week?

My aunt found out she is pregnant!

30. What is something that makes you sad when you think about it?

Oh, there are a lot of things.  Thinking about how I can barely afford rent is currently making me sad.

31. How long was your longest relationship?

A year and a half

32. Have you ever been in love?

Yes, I miss it

33. Are you currently in love?

I don’t think so

34. Why did your last relationship end?

A lot of reasons. He was mean to me, he found someone new, I didn’t make him happy.  The list goes on.  It was a mess.

35. What jewelry are you wearing right now, and where did you get it?

I’m wearing an amethyst pendant that I got off of etsy, and a couple rings I’ve gotten from different craft fairs!

36. When was the last time you cried and why?

Yesterday, because of Jacob ha

37. Name someone pretty.

I think Emma Watson is so pretty

38. What did you receive last Valentines Day?

Sunflowers and a very sweet note

39. Do you get jealous easily?

Unfortunately, yes

40. Have you ever been cheated on?

Again, unfortunately, yes 41. Do you trust your partner/best friend?

I don’t currently have a partner, but I trust my best friend with my life

42. Ever had detention?

I did fairly often in high school, I was a little shit

43. Would you rather live in the countryside or the city?

COUNTRYSIDE

44. What do people call you? 

Hannah, Han, Anna, Hannah Banana, Han Solo

45. What was the last book you read? 

The Book Thief! It was so good!

46. How big of a nerd/dork are you? 

The biggest nerd

47. What kind of music do you listen to?

I like indie/acoustic music!!!

48. How tall are you?

5′3″, I’m a shrimp ha

49. Do you like kids?

I like babies, but kids stress me out

50. Favorite fruits?

All of the above, ha. My top favorite though is pineapple.

51. Do you wear jeans or sweats more?

Black jeans :)

52. What’s your earliest memory?

Running around my grandma’s yard during the spring

53. Ever had a poem or song written about you or to you?

I wish! That would so romantic

54. Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

Behind it, I am so shy

55. Do you have a collection of anything? 

I have too many collections!  Crystals, tarot cards, shells, postcards, and pressed flowers are my biggest collections

56. Do you save money or spend it? 

I try to save when I can, but I have so many expenses to keep up with

57. What would your dream house be like?

Tiny cottage in the woods, covered in ivy with a wildflower garden (I’m a basic witch, I know)

58. What top 5 things make you the angriest?

Animal abusers, people who litter, bigots, people with no respect, out of touch wealthy people

59. What top 5 things always brings a smile to your face? Witchcraft :), my best friend, cats, rainstorms, good movies

60. You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?

Save the dog, every time

61. 72: You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?

I would tell only those closest to me, I would spend my remaining days do whatever I really wanted to do that day, and I wouldn’t be afraid at all.

62. Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart.

December 7th

63. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

I’m going to Salem!!!

64. Do you like the beach?

I do!

65. Ever sleep on the couch or a bed with someone special?

I used to all of the time.  I miss it, I hate sleeping alone.

66. Do you have a middle name? If so what is it!

It is Amelia!

67. Do you talk to yourself?

All of the time, I probably look crazy

68. Describe your hair.

Shoulder length, fading from box dye blue to an ashy gray

69. What is the meaning of life.

The meaning of life is to live

70. What is your ideal partner like?

Kind, faithful, funny, passionate, and supportive.

71. Do you want to get married?

Maybe one day, if I can find the right person

72. Do you want to have kids?

I don’t think so

73. Like or dislike your family?

They try their best, but my family is dysfunctional and it can be hard to get along with them

74. Are you Chunky or Slim?

A lil chunky

75. Would you consider yourself smart? 

I would say yes

76. What would you change about your life? 

My financial situation, ha

77. Religious or Not?

I’m a practicing wiccan!

78. You’re drunk and yelling at hot guys/girls out of your car window, you’re with?

My best friend, Kaelyn!  She’s the outgoing/outspoken one between the two of us

79. You’re locked in a room with the last person you kissed, is that a problem?

It would be a HUGE problem, I don’t think Jacob and I can be in the same room anymore

80. Does anyone regularly (other than family) tell you they love you?

Kaelyn does :)

81. If the person you wish to be with were with you, what would you be doing right now?

We would be in his car, parked somewhere late at night, and just talking and laughing

82. So, the last person you kissed just happens to arrive at your door at 3AM; do you let them in?

My better judgement would say no, but I know I would always let him in

83. Do you like when people play with your hair? 

YES

84. Do you like bubble baths?

I do, but I like oil baths better!

85. Have you ever been pulled over by a cop?

Yes, I drive way too fast :X

86. Have you ever danced in the rain?

I try to whenever I can

87. Do you trust anyone with your life?

I trust Kaelyn with anything and everything

88. What was your first thought when you woke up this morning?

“I want to go back to bed”

89. If money wasn’t an issue, what top 10 places would you travel to? (You get to stay at each place for a week) 

Salem, Paris, Dublin, Yosemite, Amsterdam, Brussels, Montreal, Sicily, Switzerland, London

90. How was your day today?

It’s been alright, just kind of boring to be honest

91. Play an instrument? 

I used to play clarinet in school

92. Describe the what you think of the ocean.

It is breathtaking

93. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts?

Both!!!

94. Honestly, are things how you wanted them to be? 

NOPE

95. Do you have a mean bitchy scary side?

No, I’m a big softie

96. When are you vulnerable?

Um all of the time ha

97. How much free time do you have?

I work two jobs, so not much

98. Do you like to go hiking?

Absolutely!

99. Odd or Even Numbers?

Odd 100. Would you ever go sky diving, bungee jumping , cliff diving, wing suit gliding, parasailing, snorkeling, or other extreme activities?

Yes to all of the above!

TAG 15 FOLLOWERS TO DO THE GET TO KNOW THE BLOGGER TAG:

@woodland-lullaby @mysticnymphmagic @lookingforsummerland @floofypeach @forest-elf @shethinksoutsidethebox @pop-punk-dre @sugarmoonwitch @forgetmehots @meishallaneous @grimlilli @paganomicon @basil-witch @throwinstonesnc @starlightorchestra 

[hoodie-at-the-bar]

and as soon as possible, it ended

Steven said ASAP a lot, especially when dealing with getting back to me. After the movie night we still texted daily. I knew his birthday was coming up on the 23rd, and I had mentioned to him I’d love to take him out for his birthday. I mentioned it a few times.

He was always saying things like, “Aw thank you! that’s so sweet -” but then would never follow up with a commitment, of yes he was free for me to take him out. At one point, I felt I was being fairly clingy asking him constantly, if he was free or if he knew what he was doing. He wasn’t sure, but he’d get back to me ASAP.

The day before his birthday, he finally said his dad was coming up to stay with him but that he’d get back to me ASAP. At this point i had to call the lifeline - this was just too weird. Is he blowing me off?

I finally pulled the trigger and asked Loren what she thought. She said and admitted he was a bad communicator, that he actually had no plans and last minute asked Blaine and the guys if they wanted to hang out and have dinner. Ok that’s fine - maybe he just didn’t want to confirm with a girl he barely knew, but wanted to keep his options open. I love a guy who likes keeping his options open. 

Then I saw on his Snapchat he had a few friends over, and I overheard a girl's voice. Was it his friends’ girlfriend or a girl he was into? I became that girl who was uncertain and started going down the rabbit hole of a story I created: he didn’t confirm because that day was for girlfriend #7. The bummer part is, in most of my experience when your radar goes off (via photos of your guy standing a little too close to some girl or the sound of a girl’s voice) - it often means something’s up.

I tried to keep a distance and only texted “Happy Birthday” or “Hope you have a great day!” type messages. His birthday was on a Tuesday so I waited until Thursday before reaching out. I asked him what he did for his birthday and he said it was “chill”, and that he just “had dinner with his dad and played golf”. Why omit the truth that he had dinner w/ Blaine and friends? Was there more to hide? it just seemed odd with how he didn’t mention hanging out with his friends, knowing I’m friends with Blaine and can see his Snaps. Spidey senses went off.

The second time ASAP was in full effect was the camping trip we casually planned. Back in June when I was in Key West, I told him we should go RV camping sometime. Yes, just he and I: I had plans for us. He said he had a EDM musical festival at the end of July, so the first weekend in August he was free. Cool - as we get closer we can figure out if we want to do Friday to Sunday or just one night. 

Before his birthday I had asked him if he got the day off, he said he forgot and he would ask his boss. When I texted him that Friday morning after his birthday before his weekend at the Gorge, I asked him again if he had scheduled the day off. He said no, but told me we should still go so “reserve the date” - okay that was something. I got a bit concerned that the camping weekend was just a week away, and he would be at this music festival for the next 4 days. He said he couldn't request it off until he gets back to the office on Thursday, which was 24 hours prior to the trip.

What? He gets back on Monday, and has Tuesday and Wednesday off - he can’t ask then? He has to wait until he’s physically in? If he really wanted to go camping with me, or knew how to problem solve, he would just go in on the day after he returned, but maybe that’s just me.

“Oh dang it I forgot to ask. I’ll have to ask when I get back on Thursday.”

“Damn! Think they’d let you off so close to the ask? The Motorhome sales world is foreign to me”.

“Yeah it all depends on how much I’m selling really. If I’m selling a lot they don’t really care.”

Ok, so… do you think they’ll care? It’s Friday bro, you are going to wait six days before asking if you can have the following day off? Can you at least guess the chances of your boss approving? I grew tired of this game. 

“Snap - then good work on all your selling.”

“Ha, thank you!”

“Have fun at the Gorge this week. Drunk texts welcome”

I was being too nice and supportive and just kept thinking: you’re not his girlfriend, you don’t have the right to dig in to get him to commit to camping. I didn’t want to come off as a nag offering a solution for every sentence he made, especially over text. Most people are not that direct so it can be taken as abrasive. I tend to continue a conversation until there is a solution, getting creative and asking questions, but often times when a guy doesn’t want to do something and they don't know how to articulate, then they just end up getting frustrated that I keep hounding. Then I thought no, even if he was just a friend, you don’t blow off people or act non-committal, it’s just rude!

At this point I was half annoyed and half bummed that I was feeling ghosted. Saturday night while I was at a birthday party he snapped me “Miss ya”. The “ya” part wasn’t as romantic, but it made me feel a bit better about the anxiety of whether or not he was into me. It all went downhill from there.

Monday: he returned from the Gorge. I didn’t reach out

Tuesday: I texted him welcome back. I also asked how his dad was because he posted something cryptic about his dad’s well being on Instagram . I told Steven I was going to a concert tonight and asked if he wanted to come. He did the usual slew of fake interest, but no action.

“What concert?”

“Oh yeah! That’s cool!!”

“Haha, still famous!”

“Ok will do”

Then finally, 

“I’m feeling super chill today so most likely going to hang out here. But if I’m feeling a little cray I’ll tell ya”

Why? Just tell me you’re out, better yet, before all the “oh cool!” texts. For some reason I kept trying. Now it was just a vendetta to get this guy to say : I’m not into you. I did get him to say “most likely going to hang out here” - it was a carrot to keep me going, to win at him saying something finite. 

“ALSO I know we “may” hang out on Saturday [since he still hasn’t asked for the day off] but you wanna 2x that and do something fun tomorrow?”

“Like what??” 

False excitement, phantom enthusiasm. This reeled me in, I got joy from it, to only realize it was a stalling tactic.

“Discovery Park? Ever been?”

“Uh uh. Is it cool?” 

Was I speaking to a toddler?

“It’s very neat. It’d be a flat hike that leads to fun views and stuff”

“Ooh” 

What. What ooh?

“Anywho, I’m not as pressed about tomorrow as the weekend so you can make game day decisions. I’ll be doing some adult things around the house and relaxing.  (But if something comes up and I’m not free I’ll let you know) - I’m a communicator, it’s a thing.”

Do you see what I did there? I tried to not be overbearing about hanging out on Wednesday, while also letting him know I really needed to know about the weekend. Lastly - let him know what good communication looks like! I had a friend who’s birthday was on Saturday and I had to say I’m not sure if I could go because I ‘may’ be camping? I normally plan more than a month in advance, here I am, three days prior and have no idea. This should have been a clear indicator that Steven and I were not compatible.

“Oh for sure. I will let you know about both ASAP”

I should take a shot every time this kid says ASAP - to be fair, I don’t think he knows what it mean.s

Wednesday came, and I got sassy. It was the end of the workday and I hadn’t heard from Steven if he was up to go on a city hike.

Clearly we seemed like two people who didn’t really feel like hanging out with each other. I wanted to see him, go on a hike to see if I can get to know him better, or even go to his house and have an adult conversation about our communication styles, and how it wasn’t working for me. But being an afterthought to hanging out with him and his friends wasn’t appealing. Again, this would have been a great point to say something to the extent of, “Hey Steven, I wanted to spend time with just us, so I can have a conversation with you about us” - but the thought of it sounded more and more exhausting. I may have a high bar and assume if I ask a guy to hang out, he knows it’s me asking him to hang out together in a date-like fashion. I could be more explicit and say I want to hang out with you and only you because… but then at that point, it’s a compatibility issue for me and someone I need to use 2x more words than I’d like. For Pete’s sake can you just get it? I’ve had conversations with humans who did. There is a limit to explicit communication - and pass that limit is hand holding.

I had told some friends I wanted to ask him what he wanted out of this - figured we had slept together and it was a fair question. My friends reminded me that I myself wasn’t sure what I wanted, or if I even liked him (enough). So, did I need to rush into things? I said no, but the anxiety of not knowing what my plans are was enough for me to raise a flag. He didn’t have to say if he wanted to be together exclusively, but I did need him to communicate better as to whether or not he is committed to hanging out, if we planned to continue progressing.

Thursday came and he texted me about the RV. 

I didn’t want to press. Examples of what a guy would say if he actually wanted to spend time together, in no particular order:

“But we can still go tent camping if you’re down?”

“Sorry i couldn't get the day off. How about we do dinner?”

Something, anything - instead he just sounded whiny about his RV privileges. I didn’t care. I even asked a question that made his text conflicting: His second sentence said no employee can use RV’s, but said his privileges got taken because he broke a window? I was confused if the broken window mattered, or if he piled on the reasons to ensure we couldn’t hang out, the age old “I can’t go out because it’s late, I mean I don’t have any money, I mean I have plans.”. I didn’t even try to solve the problem, I just left it at that.Eight days past, and neither of us texted. I knew I would eventually have to get closure and call it off. Then he messaged:

He kept asking me questions to move the conversation, and I was trying to give short answers because I was annoyed this fake enthusiasm is coming up again. I had invited him to a BBQ at my house a while ago. He RSVP’d during the eight days we hadn’t spoken, but I assumed he wasn’t going to show up. Afterall, he couldn't’ commit to a birthday dinner, a hike at Discovery Park or even camping - why would he show up to a party with just under 100 people he didn’t know?

Then he texts me to see if he could bring a friend. I’ve been in scenarios where a guy brought another girl in daft fashion, but at least Steven did not. It was an older guy who dressed just like him and smelled of axe body spray. My friends thought they were a couple. Steven knew no one at the party and it was awkward.

I felt anxiety during the party because I wasn’t enjoying his presence, but also didn’t want to ignore him - and I was hosting. I felt I had to give him attention, but it reeked of obligation. Weaving through a crowded house, I didn’t know how to introduce him: this is Steven, we were sort of hanging out but now we're not - then he showed up to the party. Who wants a refill??

Why couldn’t I just say “this is Steven?” Because all of my friends knew each other through the parties I hosted, so if anyone is new into the picture, it's very apparent and the details get shared of the origin story - it’s a classic big party ice breaker. This is even more apparent since I haven’t had a boyfriend in eight years, all eyes on deck when an unknown man walks through the door.

A couple hours later, he found me to say goodbye and I apologized for not being around. He said he got it because I was hosting, and he left. Weight was lifted off my chest, and I could finally start to enjoy the party.

Gareth asked me if I thought I was dating down - I always thought due to my attraction to Steven I was dating up, but I didn't know anymore. So Gareth told me to be direct - that neither of us wanted to continue seeing each other. So I texted Steven, in my own writing style, to ensure there were no hard feelings. I didn't hate the guy - I’d be happy to hug him at a party in the future with a smile - but I was done talking to him one on one.

Another eight days went by and I decided to call it off, or give it closure. My first draft was to tell Steven that our style of communication wasn’t working for me but I am open if he thinks I’m wrong for any reason. My therapist told me I should be honest with myself: it wasn’t working, for either of us, period. Gareth, my therapist, said it was clear neither of us wanted to continue spending time together, so call it what it was.

Gareth had also asked me during this time, what it was about Steven I liked, and I had to think about it. I knew a good foundation was the story: I noticed Blaine and Loren’s friend five years ago, I was infatuated, and I got to have him, even if for a little while. His messages always seemed happy, positive and enthusiastic, to only find out he was like that for all things, and had a density I hadn’t realized. He was also Blaine's best friend, and I respected Blaine: Blaine was a solid guy and his wife Loren, wouldn’t tolerate anyone not worth my time. 

I was confused - I gave him a friendly out! I was done! How should I have responded?

If I said no, I’d feel like a dick.

If I said yes, it would appear I was playing games, fishing for him to want to talk to me.

My honest answer would have been, “No not really, but if you need to then I’d be happy to” - but I still didn’t know him enough for that to not come off as hurtful. This is a foreshadow by the way.

So I settled on “Sure” - with a shrug and a circular head motion behind the scenes.

Even Gareth laughed when I told him Steven’s response and didn’t know how to respond to that. Was Steven just trying to be nice? Or did he actually want to talk.

I never heard from Steven... well, for six months.

I found out months and months later from Loren that Steven thought I was mad at him. I laughed and said I purposely put emoji’s in my message and said I’d smile and wave. Can you imagine if I actually wrote “Not really, but if you want to I can” - he would have pissed himself. 

She said he wasn’t used to women who were direct and upfront. Well, I don’t know what to tell you - I was trying hard not to be as direct because I didn’t want to stress the delicate petals of this sensitive flower with my direct sunlight, but even with sunglasses on a smile, the guy thought I was mad. 

Six months after his last message, he sent me a happy birthday text, and I said thank you.  It grew more and more apparent we had different lifestyles, his social media streaming him taking videos of young women in short dresses touching each other at night clubs. I never engaged.

A month later he sent me another message, responding to a post of me cooking.

Again, I was polite and said yes with a smile. I imagine these sporadic messages will come though, but it’ll be treated now as an acquaintance saying hi.

Goodbye Steve

[vsplusonline]

A Guide To How Celeb Couples Are Spicing It Up In The Lockdown

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/a-guide-to-how-celeb-couples-are-spicing-it-up-in-the-lockdown/

A Guide To How Celeb Couples Are Spicing It Up In The Lockdown

Highlights

Deepika has been exploring her culinary skills for Ranveer

Saif and Kareena are busy with Taimur

Anushka and Virat have been sharing goofy selfies

New Delhi:

Let’s take our minds off the lockdown for a bit and appreciate all the love that’s painted Instagram red, courtesy some of Bollywood’s most popular couples. Needless to say that celebrities have super hectic lives and hence they are making the most of the lockdown by doing everything couple-y with their better halves and partners. From Kareena Kapoor-Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone-Ranveer Singh to Anushka Sharma-Virat Kohli and Sonam Kapoor-Anand Ahuja – all of them have opened up on social media even more and been sharing slice-of-life glimpses of their everyday life. In case you have missed out on all the happenings in the celeb corner of the recent past, just keep calm and keep scrolling. Also, did you know Sussanne Khan has temporarily shifted to ex-husband Hrithik Roshan’s house so that the kids can be with both the parents? That’s cool, huh?

Kareena And Saif’s Happy Place:

Kareena, who made her official Instagram debut only recently, loves to browse on her phone, especially with a view of husband Saif reading a book right in front of her. When they are done admiring each other, couple things that Kareena and Saif do also include parenting for a large part – while Saif teached Taimur gardening, Kareena loves to click away! In a recent interview, Saif also said that he has been asking Kareena to teach him yoga. Now, we are eagerly waiting for Kareena and Saif’s couple yoga pics.

Deepika, Ranveer Are Couple Goals:

Deepika and Ranveer are on a eat-sleep-repeat kind of a mood. Deepika is literally spicing up the lockdown by creating yummy delicacies in the kitchen with Ranveer documenting each and every moment of Deepika’s culinary skills on Instagram. Nutella is a particular favourite in the Ranveer-Deepika household. When they are done being cute together, Deepika and Ranveer are also trolling each other on Instagram – she posted a photo of him sleeping while his “sweet revenge” came in the form of Deepika sneakily having Nutella. They are also working out together to burn those lockdown calories.

Always Something ROFL On Virushka’s Instagram:

Virat Kohli trusted Anushka with his haircut and she kept her promise. “This is what quarantine does to you. We allow things like this to happen,” Virat said in a video. Anushka is beating Virat at Monopoly like a boss. The couple also spend their lazy days playing with Anushka’s pet and clicking goofie selfies. Take a look.

It’s from our primary care givers – family that we learn how to tread the journey of life, how to walk, how to eat, how to socialize & then face the world. This forms our initial conditioning that has a lasting impact on us. In the world we inhabit today, there is a lot of uncertainty and I’m sure a lot of you have found that solace & sense of familiarity with your families. Stay at home to take care of everyone precious in your lives. And also make the most of these moments … smile, laugh, share, show affection, clear mis-understandings, develop stronger/healthier bonds, discuss life and dreams and pray for a better tomorrow. We all have been moved deeply, we all have been affected deeply and hopefully we will carry forward these lessons in the days to come. And hopefully, we have all conditioned ourselves to relook at the world we inhabited before all of this happened… P.S. : It was a super close game of Monopoly and the competitive side of everyone was out there. Any guesses who won??

A post shared by AnushkaSharma1588 (@anushkasharma) on Apr 6, 2020 at 10:30pm PDT

Every dark cloud had a silver lining. And this time, while it may seem like the worst time and in so many ways it actually is, has also forcefully made us all stop and deal with things we might have been running away from because either we were ‘busy’ or it was convenient to say we were ‘busy’. If this time is respected for what it is, it will enable more light to shine through. This time has also made us all realise what’s truly important. For me just having food, water and a roof over my head and the good health of my family seems MOST important. Everything else is a bonus that I bow my head in gratitude for. But, that which we call ‘basic’ is not so basic for everyone after looking at all the people who struggle for just those few things. My prayers with them and their families. May everyone be safe and secure. This time has surely made me more reflective. This need to stay at home with your loved ones has been forced upon the entire world but there is a deep lesson for us all. There is a lesson to strive for work and life balance ( I’ve valued and strived for this dearly for many years now ), there is a lesson to devote more time in things that actually matter. Today, when I’m surrounded by all the blessings in my life, I just want to tell everyone how much compassion I feel for everyone who I see suffer. I want to help as many possible in the best of my abilities. I feel pride in our resilience to be better human beings. I can instinctively feel this in and around me. We will all have our individual and subjective lessons from this time and hopefully, such lessons will continuously stay with us all.

A post shared by AnushkaSharma1588 (@anushkasharma) on Mar 31, 2020 at 10:29pm PDT

Twinkle’s Funny Tid Bits About Akshay:

Meanwhile, Twinkle Khanna and Akshay Kumar’s couple diaries included a trip to the hospital because Twinkle hurt her foot. Ahead of that, Twinkle was trying to work on her new book but Akshay is just not helping. All Twinkle wanted him to do was to keep Nitara occupied for a bit and all he did was “chatter away” with the little one.

Sonam And Anand’s Everyday’s Phenomenal:

While most celeb couple are in Maximum City, Sonam and Anand are in their Delhi residence. The lockdown was imposed when they were in self-quarantine after returning from London. Now, Sonam and Anand are spending their days talking about their love for sneakers, adorably failing at TikTok videos and posting love-up moments on Instagram. The cute couple are also debating on social media whether or not Anand should opt for a buzz cut (Sonam says no but shhh….).

Shibani Dandekar And Her Foo:

Shibani Dandekar and Farhan Akhtar’s couple activities include cuddling their pets and baking cookies. “I am a baker,” Shibani declared on Instagram recently after a few failed attempts. Since the lockdown started, Shibani and his “foo” often shared glimpses from their couple diaries on Instagram and for one such post, Shibani explained that’s because they didn’t get the social distancing memo. Aww, how cute is that?

Keeping Up With Malaika And Arjun’s Social Media PDA:

New couple on the block Malaika Arora and Arjun Kapoor may be living in separate houses during the lockdown but are setting major PDA goals on Instagram. Arjun and Malaika were spotted together on Janta Curfew, clapping from their balconies, after which they have only been spotted exchanging cute comments on Instagram. “You know I smile in my sleep nah,” Malaika told Arjun when he tried to point out that she’s smiling in her sleep. For another post of Malaika captioned “What to do next”, Arjun wrote: “Thinking where to sleep next.” LOL.

Arjun Rampal And Gabriella Share The Workload:

Arjun Rampal and Gabriella Demetriades, parents to a baby boy named Eric, have divided their work duties. “Who knew how good he was at vacuuming?” Gabriella wrote for a post. They also turned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 9 pm-9 minute challenge into a candlelight date night. Apart from being excellent at vacuuming, Arjun is also Gabriella’s personal photographer during the lockdown.

Meanwhile, Hrithik And Ex-Wife Sussanne Are Lockdown Buddies:

Hrithik and Sussanne may not be couple goals but they sure are setting parenting goals higher every day. Hrithik and Sussanne, who divorced in November 2014, continue to remain friends and their status changed to partners in lockdown only recently. Sussanne not only has shifted to Hrithik’s house during the lockdown period but has also set up office her temporary address. In a recent post, Hhrithik revealed that his interior designer ex-wife has taken up the job of eradicating “design irregularities” in the house. Earlier, Hrithik had shared a thank you note for Sussanne, writing: “Thank you Sussanne for being so supportive and understanding in our journey of co-parenting. Our children will tell the story we create for them.”

My temporary ‘home work space’ was interestingly put together to bring a little element of play while I work. The funny thing is, my time on this ‘put together’ desk (made of flat cushion seats from an existing sofa seating composition that we had in this space, and then we put a low lying coffee table on top and…there it was, my perfect desk!) with a view of the glorious Arabian Sea and an isolated Juhu beach, this is a visual which honestly I shouldn’t get used to! As I sit and ponder over the ghastly effects of what this dreadful virus has had on each one of us, and what it may continue to have on the entire planet in general, I must say I can’t help but feel along with the uncertainty, an inner peace. There will be a diverse amount of good, that its post effects will bring on all of us. The kind that will remind us to grow a little each day, to produce better solutions for our projects, to be more giving for the less fortunate and most importantly, to be better contributors in our daily lives towards this beautiful planet. Stay home, stay safe and design your thoughts. #architecturaldigest #letsmakethiswork #lovewhatyoudo #ADindia #mybestfriendsgorgeoushome #thelabellife #workfromhomewear #designyourthoughts #prayingfortheplanet #stayhomestaysafe #thankfulforhavingahome #oneplanettoprotect credit @hrithikroshan

A post shared by Sussanne Khan (@suzkr) on Mar 27, 2020 at 3:49am PDT

Which of these Bollywood couples is your favourite one? Tell us in the comments below.

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[all-about-wannaone]

Coffee Shop Love [Part 2]

Words: 2882

Genre: Romance, Fluff, Angst 

Characters: Park Jihoon x Reader (Y/N = Your Name) 

Plot: This might sound like your typical Korean drama scenario (cue coffee prince) where a barista finds himself falling heads over heels for a customer and vice versa, or at least that is what Y/N thought. Who knew that she might actually have met her first love in a place as simple as a quiet coffee shop off the streets of Hongdae?

A/N: And this is the second part of the fully written one shot from me as a gift of appreciation for all my readers, followers or people who have reblogged and liked my content. :’) Just wanted to say that I am super grateful for all the positive feedback so far ( @commedestae and @jihoonslattee ) and it really did make my day after a tiring day at school! Hence, here I am again with the second part and I hope that you guys would enjoy it as much as the first one! ^^ Once again, happy reading! 

PART 1 | PART 2

Warning: Mentions of sexual harassment 

From that day onwards, it turned out that we did see each other more often, apart from going to the cafe. When he was off work, we would find ourselves back in the cafe anyway, but this time, instead of being the one serving me, he became my study buddy. Despite the occasional coos from his co-workers, he would brush them off and shake his head. If I did have a problem, he would help me straight away and would explain the solution thoroughly and easily.

Apart from studying, there were days when we would casually hang out after school. He would pick me up and we would have lunch together, either at a traditional fast food restaurant or even a hearty meal of street food. During the weekends, we would decide to take a walk at the Hangang River, ordering fried chicken when we finally stopped to take a rest and sipping on icy cold cider to beat the heat of the up and coming summer.

From the time spent together, I started seeing him past his looks and realised that it was only a bonus that the Almighty had probably blessed him with. True enough, he was a very sweet and loving boy, putting his friends and family first before himself. He was not much of a talker, but his company was enough to make one feel comfort and ease, and one could easily talk to him about one’s problems. He would not interrupt and would simply stare at you and listen to what you would have to say before giving his input.

He was also caring, making sure that I was always okay whenever we went out. If I made a statement saying that I was hungry or thirsty to no one in particular, he would come back with food and drinks in hand, to my surprise. Also, he would tend to pick up my favourite foods when I was simply craving for them and occasionally treated me to almost everything. Of course, there were many days (after much protests) and we would go dutch, but we always shared with one another anyway, whether it was food, thoughts or simply casual conversation about everything and anything under the sun.

The months passed and despite the stresses of our CSATs, we had managed to pull through, encouraging one another to keep pressing on. We met each other more often during that period because his boss had given the final year high school students a month’s break to study and consolidate all the material that they possibly needed to sit for the “most important examination of our lives”. Jihoon was a little less confident than usual, but we became each other’s support system and hoped for the best. When I could not sleep, he would pull off all-nighters with me, or come to my place with energy bars and drinks (not like my parents minded since they love him so much).

Hence, there came the day when my friend had convinced me to confess to him. It was a gamble that I was taking, but she said that I was already “too far gone to be saved” and it was up to me now to decide what I wanted to do with my feelings.

“Go big or go home.” That was what she always told me.

Unfortunately, I got a call and ran late due to the fact that my part time job employer had arranged for an interview and there I was, not exactly showing up in the most proper attire for the interview but I had no choice. I mean, who would not want to be the photography intern for Cosmopolitan Korea? It was crazy if I wanted to give it up because this was not an opportunity to be missed and hence, I threw all caution to the wind and showed up in smart casual attire. The interviewers were not surprised, and said that I was probably the most simply dressed one for the day.

By the time I was done with my interview, changed and ready to go with my plans to confess, it was already sunset and the area was bound to bounce back to life at night time. It did not help that it was a weekend and it was nearing Winter soon, explaining the reason why most people found themselves frequenting bars more often due to the cold. I had arrived in the district and tried my best to put on a brave front, even though there was numerous catcalling from some clearly drunken men down the bars that I had walked past.

To my shock and horror, there was a sign outside Angelinus Coffee and it read,

“We are having a staff meeting today and hence, Angelinus Coffee House is closed earlier for the day. Do come back again tomorrow and we apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you have any enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact 82-445-354-92! If you happen to be looking for anyone (why would you?), he will be done by 10pm. Thank you very much!

Sincerely,

Angelinus Coffee House team”

It was an adorable note and I had a feeling that it had to be written by one of the baristas, just by the tone of it. It was already 9pm, so it won’t hurt to wait another hour right?

Hence, I took refuge outside the door and watched the world go by. I saw a couple of cars come and go, with some of them blasting music so loud that one could clearly hear the bass and the beat of the music. There was no way that I would have walked back to the line of bars, even if it was more lively and less secluded.

Little did I know that I was actually being followed from the row of bars and I was soon confronted by 3 young men dressed in suits, looking like they were barely 25 and reeking of cigarette smoke and alcohol; it was revolting to say the least.

“Isn’t this the girl who played so terribly hard to get just now?” One man spoke (or more like slurred) and stepped even closer, looking down at me with clearly hazed eyes and a drunken mind that could not think straight, “What about you accompany us back tonight? We could have soooo much fun and you would never forget a night like this.”

“Thank you for the kind offer,” I replied sarcastically, “but I am waiting for a friend and he will be out soon. Leave me alone please.”

I tried to steel myself but I could feel the chills down my spine and my hands were starting to become clammy and uncomfortable as they started to sweat. At this point, I did not know whether my pupils were actually shaking because of the fear, but I definitely tried to hold my ground, standing firm. This was not a Korean drama, and I definitely did not believe there would be a knight in shining armour coming anytime soon.

Little did I expect a push to my head and a relatively light slap and I could tell that the man was livid with anger. His friends looked like they could not give two hoots about the situation and only laughed, before one of them said, “I suggest you come with us if you actually do want to see the sunrise tomorrow.”

And I soon found myself being gripped by the wrist and dragged away from the cafe. I tried, I really did, to break free from his grasp but he was way too strong for me.

“LET GO!” I shouted, but he only gripped my hand harder and I will definitely not be surprised if I found my wrist bruised tomorrow with the shape of a palm and 5 fingers.

“Hey!” A familiar voice shouted from across the road and I heard quick footsteps behind me, almost like the person was running, “What do you think you are doing?”

The men turned around, and they refused to let go of me still, but I turned around only to be faced with an angered and stern Jihoon. It was dark, but the streetlights did shine a little on his face, and he was found to be staring daggers into the souls of the men with his fists and jaw clenched tightly.

“Oh look who we have here. It’s a kid and a teenager too! Haven’t you learnt how to respect your elders, you young and insolent boy? She’s ours now and she’s gonna bring us so much entertainment tonight. Pity you can’t join because you would have to go home before momma scolds you.”

The rest of the guys were ready to go after Jihoon, but he clearly had enough backup to take down the 3 men when 10 other boys walked out curiously (looking confused and lost for some), but stared down at the men with the same intensity that Jihoon had initially, or perhaps some were even scarier and more intimidating after when they grasped the situation; one example being Seongwoo, known to be a charmer with the older ladies, but is not someone to be taken advantage of.

“Listen punk, in case you are wayyy too drunk to think,” He spoke with authority in his voice while grabbing the man's collar, “We are definitely not appreciative of the fact that your lackey peed in front of our cafe. What did your parents teach you and how dare you waste your parents’ money? Also, how could you even have the audacity to touch a friend’s girl?”

I was a little surprised by the last question, but if I was smart, I would not complain and protest, standing quiet but ready to run when the situation allowed for it.

The men were clearly shaken by now as I felt the grip on my wrist loosen but he only gave a smug smile, before he attempted to use his leg and possibly attack him while his hands are not free. However, Seongwoo had quick reflexes and avoided the attack, before taking his wrist and pinning his arm on the man’s back. The man screamed in pain while his lackeys ran away and by then, he had already let go of me due to the pain that Seongwoo had just inflicted.

“I could break your arm if I wanted to, but I love this place a little too much to end up in jail for something that I did not do. Hence, I suggest you run along instead of being so stubborn and wanting to take us all down. I can warn you that there is absolutely no way in hell that you will be able to do that. If I see you again, God knows what I would do but I guess we would not want to find out, would we?”

And he ended off by pushing the man away with the latter running along, cursing under his breath as he turned his head occasionally to look at the team of baristas.

“Are you okay?? Did he hurt you? Did he do anything… you know… illegal?? I’m so sorry Y/N. You should have told me that you were coming and I would have come to see you straight away!” Jihoon asked with concern laced in his voice, dropping the facade of a fierce and angered teenager to the usual gentleness.

I chuckled sheepishly, still a little shaken from the entire incident before I found myself pulled into a hug. Jihoon’s grip was firm but secure, as his arms wrapped around my entire being with his head resting on my shoulder. I did not know what to do with my hands initially, but I wrapped my arms around him too, reciprocating the hug.

“I can’t believe that something dangerous almost happened to you, just like Kwonhyeop hyung. I’m glad you are still alive and well and you are not hurt. I cannot bear to lose you and what would I do if I did not come out of the meeting in time to notice a damsel in distress? What if---”

“Hey hey,” I responded, while patting his back, “I’m here now right? Stop worrying. I’m fine. I truly am, except with the fact that I might end up with a bruise on my wrist tomorrow from the jerk’s grip but I am okay, Jihoon. Thank you for coming out in time?”

“You don’t get it Y/N.” Jihoon said curtly, before letting me go and making eye contact with me this time around. His stare was a little intense but one knew that it was of no harmful intent. I looked at him in confusion, and raised my eyebrows, tilting my head to wonder why he would be so worked up all of a sudden.

“I like you Y/N. I really do. I’ve noticed you ever since you walked into the cafe for the first time and I made it a point to come every day at one point so that I could see you again and perhaps get the chance to know you a little better. You were a nice, gentle and sweet girl, and was equivalent to a ray of sunshine. You listened to me, tolerated my playful antics and accepted me for who I am, despite my difficult past. I did not plan to tell you this, but I was the one responsible for all the drinks you woke up to when you fell asleep at the cafe, except that I asked my co-workers to bring them to you so that you would not think I was a hopeless romantic or anything---”

With that, I mustered the courage to give him a quick kiss on the lips and he was stunned with his eyes open wide, while I was tempted to run as fast as I could from the embarrassment that came shortly after and I was grateful for the fact that it was in dimly lit alley so I could hide it well, but he pulled me back and kissed me again; longer this time. His lips were soft, a little chapped, but it was as if we fitted like a puzzle piece, like we were made for each other.

“WOAH. I didn’t come here to the back to see this. Congratulations kid, I’m so proud of you!” A voice was heard, and Jihoon broke away quickly, glaring at Jaehwan who pulled off a sheepish grin.

“Please continue and pretend that I’m not here. I don’t wanna be the cause of the anti-climax.”

“Hyung, you ARE the anti-climax.”

“Oh? Oops, didn’t mean to but I’m so glad this happened Y/N, he would not shut up talking about you. If he put all that description and sentiments in a book, it would be thicker than the entire Harry Potter series combined.”

Jihoon said nothing, but only stared at Jaehwan with the best death glare that he could muster, but Jaehwan only laughed a maniac-like laugh and walked back, saying, “Geez, calm down lover boy. I’m just confirming that the feelings are mutual.”

I laughed heartily at Jaehwan’s comment but proceeded to hug Jihoon tightly again and he did the same.

“I wanted to confess to you actually, and hence I brought these for you.” I said, and showed him the contents of the brown paper bag that I had been carrying for the longest time, consisting of my favourite soft baked chocolate chip cookies and my love letter that I had painstakingly written the night before.

“Awh Y/N, you shouldn’t have, but I do have something for you too. I was supposed to ask you out tomorrow actually, but the florist called and said that she would be closed tomorrow so I had no choice but to pick my bouquet and teddy bear up today. I hope they have not died yet.”

“They are still well and alive!! And by the way, it’s really pretty.” Another voice was heard, before laughter ensued and Jihoon slapped his forehead before looking back at his co-workers.

“Seriously guys, why do you have to ruin EVERYTHING for me?”

They only shrugged their shoulders, before getting excited all over again, as if they had never seen a couple get together before. In fact, they probably felt like they were watching a drama in real time and I only said, “Guys, we do feel a little bit uncomfortable so do you mind giving us a little time? We will join you, don’t worry!”

“See Jihoonie, all it needed was a little kindness. See you Y/N!”

“How did you even do that?” Jihoon asked and I shrugged my shoulders with a mischievous smile and all he did was laugh, ruffling my hair again for the nth time since I had met him. With that, he put his arm around me and walked me into the cafe, opening the door and trying his best to be a “gentleman”.

“Come on, get inside and I’ll prepare something warm to drink. Perhaps we can consider this our very first official date? I’ll prepare some hot chocolate or whatever you’d like for the both of us and we can go to the park to catch the stars, don’t you think?”

Missed Part 1? Fret not because it’s right here!