#when I say this cafeteria is empty I mean I am the only one in here

[floral-hex]

Spending the night at the hospital. Seeing someone you love really going through hell is a rough thing to watch. Still, I’m being hopeful. Things are looking up. Now I’m sitting in this empty cafeteria, eating a terrible microwavable calzone for dinner. Could be worse, I suppose.

[sageyxbabey]

Hospital Food | COD x Reader

MDNI

Summary: Your ex-husband (the biological father of your daughter) shows up when said daughter is admitted to hospital. Your current partner (and your daughter) put him in his place.

aka: stupid man gets verbally wrecked by a 17-year-old girl and a SAS soldier. Inspired by the time my stepdad and i roasted my bio dad.

For @the-californicationist 's Nameless Challenge! This means you have to guess which of the delicious war criminals I'm writing about below. (This has inspired a series, so you'll find out who I was thinking of when the second one comes out. ;) )

WC: ~700 words (oops, forgive me cali)

Pairing: f!reader x tf141 member (but who? 👀)

Your ex-husband stood at the foot of his biological daughter’s hospital bed, watching her tap salt out of the little sachet onto a piece of buttered bread. His face was full of condescension, and you knew yours was full of barely contained disgust as you stared at him. God damn the child support agreement that required you to tell him when she was admitted to a hospital. At least you had otherwise full custody of her, you’re sure your ex would’ve been murdered by now if you’d been forced to see him semi-regularly – either by you or your wonderful (deadly, military-trained) partner who hated the man in front of you almost as much as you did.

God, you wish he was here right now. Unfortunately, he was wonderful enough to have gone down to the cafeteria in search of lunch for the both of you – and something sweet to sneak back in for your little girl. He spoiled her rotten, and it made you love him more every time he did. 

“That’s a lot of salt,” your ex rumbled. If looks could kill, the stare your 17-year-old daughter levelled him with would’ve evaporated him where he stood.

“Yes. It is,” she spoke. 

Tap tap tap, she resumed shaking the sachet.

“They put salt in bread when they make it. White bread is about 3% salt,” he said. As if there was some important point your daughter was missing.

“I know. I’ve made bread before.”

Tap tap tap.

It was taking every fibre of your being not to laugh with sheer joy and vindication as your daughter, the blood of your ex-husband, so casually eviscerated him in the middle of this tiny white room.

“Which is to say, you don’t need to be adding salt to it.” You didn’t think the man could sound any whinier. You were about to step in, but your daughter let out a deep sigh beyond her years (definitely picked up from the soldier who shared your home) and threw the empty salt packet onto the bed tray.

“Tell me, why shouldn’t I eat that much salt?” Her arms crossed in front of her, your ex-husband looked to you for help. He would get none.

“Because… it makes your body retain fluid and raises blood pressure–”

“Correct. I am in this hospital because I have low blood pressure caused by a low volume of fluid in my blood. They give me the salt packet on purpose. I am prescribed literal salt tablets,” she shook the bottle in the man’s face, “because I need to raise my blood pressure up to normal levels.”

Silence. Blinking.

“So I am going to eat this bread because it is what the doctor ordered.” Her head snapped to you, with a chaotic glint in her eye only teenage girls could possess. The next words out of her mouth would stay with you until your dying breath;

“Hey, Mum. When’s Dad coming back?”

You could not fight the grin that spread across your face, the elation jumping in your stomach. A quick glance at your ex-husband’s sour face made it clear that your daughter’s point had struck true – You are not welcome here. I do not need you. I have a real father where you failed.

You opened your mouth to reply, “He’s–”

“Right here, love!” The warm, gravelly voice of your partner filled the room, your daughter’s eyes lighting up with his presence. He stopped to press a tender kiss against your cheek, passing you a toasted sandwich, before he made his way to stand over the shoulder of your precious daughter.

“And I got you something special,” he whispered playfully, “Don’t tell the nurse.” He pulled a poppy seed muffin out of the bag he was holding and placed it on the bed tray in front of her. 

“Sorry mate, who are you?” Your partner turned and cocked his head at your ex. 

Your man knew exactly who the snivelling creature across from him was. Your boyfriend was just deciding to be a little shit, and it was one of the sexiest things you’d ever seen him do. 

“Dad, this is Marcus. You know, the man who got Mum pregnant with me?” Your daughter’s voice was poorly disguised venom. 

“Oh, right! Of course. I suppose I should thank you for your part in creating my wonderful daughter.” He stretched a hand out to your ex-husband who, for once in his life, made the smart choice to shake it and give some poor excuse for why he was needed elsewhere.

As soon as he was out the door, you had your arms around your lover, pressing endless kisses to his cheek as your daughter laughed. 

“Did you hear what I said, Dad?” 

Your partner leaned down to hug the girl – his girl – tightly. He grinned.

“Every fucking word.”

----------

I LOVE MY STEPDAD SO MUCH HE'S MY REAL DAD and my mother and he are truly couple goals. I was on the phone with him the other day when I asked if he remembered this happening. he let out the most fatherly cackle of pure, shit-stirring joy I've ever heard. It was magnificent.

forgot the TAGLIST: @frogtowne @teenagellamaangel @universitypenguin

[loveinhawkins]

Thinking about Eddie, who’s known he’s gay since the first inkling of burgeoning crushes in middle school, but who still has partial blinkers on when it comes to how he views Steve.

Because to him, Steve fits right into the picture perfect story of high school. It’s easy to play a game of self-denial whenever they cross paths by the lockers, and Eddie’s eyes are drawn to him; easy to say it’s just because it’s the Steve Harrington, everyone takes notice if he’s around, it’s just the way it is, it’s…

And Steve in The Upside Down, listening to Eddie weave this lyrical picture of an archetypal popular boy, feeling a tinge of amusement and a growing vulnerability, an ache in his chest; he smiles when Eddie enthuses, like a reverent narrator, about tales of The Harrington House, where his parties were apparently the stuff of legend.

And Steve kinda laughs a bit, even though he feels… not sad exactly, but…

The thing is, he’s only ever had one proper party: in freshman year, just a kid, so eager to be liked. It had been gatecrashed by seniors and college students who took advantage of a large empty house with no authority figure.

Since then, sure, he’d acted all cocksure, still called them parties even if it was just him, Tommy and Carol.

In Steve’s eyes, he’s sort of always been a little try-hard, perhaps—reaching for something he could never quite grasp. Something he wasn’t even sure he wanted in the first place.

He doesn’t know how to express that yet. It’s too much to chip away at, while him and Eddie are tiptoeing over vines. Tiptoeing around each other.

It comes out as a scoff, “I don’t think I’m as cool as you think I am,” which isn’t what he means, really.

“But people adored you,” Eddie says sincerely, and he’s off on another tangent, another one of his stories.

But this one feels a little different.

He’s talking about winter, about how some teachers would ask Steve to help set up Christmas trees in the cafeteria, how girls would watch him with stars in their eyes; how Steve would pause and hold up the ornaments, in a world of his own, waiting for them to catch the light.

When Eddie’s finished, Steve realises that somewhere along the way, he’d started holding his breath.

“Yeah, I, um. I really don’t think people noticed all that, Eddie.”

“Well, they should have,” Eddie says, almost indignant, thinking, why the hell wouldn’t they? There’s so much to notice about you.

And then he stumbles, narrowly missing a vine; Steve flings out a hand to keep him upright, and oh.

The story—the big one—falls away.

“I noticed,” Eddie says softly.

Steve’s hand is still on his forearm.

“I know,” Steve says, struck by the thought that he’s been seen by someone—perhaps before he even really knew himself.

[schumachersricciardo]

Shiver

Chapter One - We Were Just Kids

♡ Mick Schumacher x Reader, Best friend!Danny Ricc x reader (I mean, come on, how could I not?)

♡ TW: Swearing, inaccurate timeline of F1/F2/F3, badly translated German using Google, blood/injuries (not graphic, but there is are mentions of it!), mentions of being on a diet, not proofread, angst, young love, unrequited at some point, smut at some point, but ya know. but let me know if I missed any!

♡ She/Her pronouns are used, nothing descriptive about reader except that her hair is long enough to pull back into a ponytail or braid, no reader insert, timeline skips. ALSO: WARNING!!!! I will barely be mentioning Michael Schumacher. I do not presume to know what he is thinking, or would say in these fictional scenarios. I am trying to be respectful of their privacy and not make any assumptions!!!!!! He will be mentioned here and there, but I do not believe any dialogue will be associated with him. If you do not like that, then do not read it. :)

♡ 3.9k words

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Age 7

Everything was changing. Your mind, your friends, your school, your family, your home. And not for lack of trying, but you had already had been at three different schools and you were only seven years old. (Almost eight, you would remind your parents and your older brother incessantly.) Yet, here you were, a stranger to anyone and everyone. And to make matters worse, you were also in a completely different country… on a completely different continent. At least when you’d have to move again in the states, you’d have something in common even if insignificant, with whatever person you were sat next to in your class. This time around your father was moved to Germany of all places. You had heard about the country and the pretty castles that they had there, but you couldn’t feel more out of place here.   So there you were, standing in the cafeteria of your new school, surveying the new land like a lion looking for its new prey. It seemed like all the seats were taken, and that all the schoolchildren already had friends of their own. This was your first luncheon at the new school. For the past year, your mother made sure you and your brother learned a few German words and phrases; enough to get around and make sure you didn’t get lost. She promised she would teach you more once you arrived in Germany. To say it was a difficult language to learn would be an understatement, but you tried your best and actually caught on fairly quickly. Sure, you weren’t fluent, and you probably still would get lost in the supermarket… But you knew enough to get you to point B at school. You took a deep breath with a scrunched up nose, and finally your eye-line landed on an empty spot. All the way in the far left corner which seemed miles away, was an empty seat at the end of a lunch table.

Begrudgingly, you stomped your way over there with your sack lunch and peered at the table. The other children were laughing with one another, sharing their cookies or juice boxes. Your heart ached for the friends you had made in your home country, and while they knew it was temporary, it still had such a lasting impression on you. You pulled your lips into a tight line and hoped that you’d at least be in this country, at this school, long enough to make one friend. A lasting one at that. 

You cleared your throat, trying to get the attention of the boy at the end of the bench. He didn’t move or flinch. Maybe he was stupid? With another huff, you cleared your throat louder and squinted your eyes in his direction. 

“AHEM.” 

Suddenly, the boy’s head whipped in your direction. He had bleach blond hair, and bright blue eyes. Frankly, his eyes seemed too big for his face. His facial expression was easy to read, too. Unblinking, he glanced down at your paper bag filled with whatever your mother packed for you, and then back up at you. 

“Do you mind moving over just a smidgen? There’s nowhere else to sit, and I’m hungry.” 

The doe-eyed boy remained silent. His cheeks were chubby and his blond hair had wisps that had fallen on his forehead. He finally blinked a few times. 

“Hello? Are you deaf? Can you move over just a smidge?” 

You repeated your question with more emphasis. A part of you felt badly for yelling at the poor boy, but one - you were hungry, and two - well, maybe he just didn’t speak English. His eyes fell to the partially empty seat beside him. Shaking his head, he looked up at you again with the same dumbfounded face he had originally greeted you with when you first tried to communicate with him. Rolling your eyes and sighing so loudly you were sure your friends in America could hear you, you exhaled all the air in your lungs and looked up at the cafeteria ceiling. 

“Kannst du… rüberrutschen… damit ich sitzen… und essen… kann? (Can you slide over so i can sit and eat?)”

Your German was horrendous. It was broken and filled with nerves. Yet, you tried your best and after that horrific attempt at trying to speak to the clueless boy in front of you, you made eye contact again. He couldn’t help but let out a laugh, before covering his mouth. He immediately felt guilt wash over him and looked up at you again. 

“Sorry. I did not mean to laugh.” 

Your eyes widened and your stance hardened. 

“You speak English?! All this time?!” 

“Ja. (Yes.)”

“Then why didn’t you scoot over when I asked you?!”   You slammed your lunch bag down on the table and sloughed off your backpack. With a full on glare now, you crossed your arms over your chest and began tapping your foot impatiently. You hated this school and all the kids that came with it. And clearly, the boy could practically see the steam emanating from your ears because he quickly surrendered, scooting over and moving his own lunch tray out of the way.   “I am sorry. I didn’t understand the word… Uh… Smidgen?” 

“Oh.”  

You took a seat next to the boy and unpacked your lunch. It was nothing glorious, but it would satiate your hunger. The boy gulped and took a bite of his apple. Chewing and then swallowing, you could feel his big blue eyes scanning you as if you were a foreign object awaiting your turn at customs. 

“What is smidge?” The boy croaked at you. “Smidgen?”

Taking a bite of your sandwich and a sip of your water, you looked at him with a raised brow. 

“It kind of means… Like… A small amount? Just a smidge.” 

You shrugged your shoulders and continued eating. Moments later, the boy returned to eating his lunch and reading his book. You couldn’t help but see the tiny smile that emerged on his face as he peered down at his textbook. His cheeks were a faint blush. From then on, you knew that this boy was either going to be your best friend or your worst enemy. 

“Smidge. Okay.” 

Age 10 

There was something peaceful about your father being gone for work and it just being your mother and brother home. Okay, maybe it wasn’t something, and more like someone… But, you enjoyed the weeks as they came and were saddened when they left. Regardless, this was the longest you had ever been in one place and you were absolutely loving it. You actually made friends at your school that you could see on weekends and didn’t have to tell them you were moving away again. It seemed like this was going to be your life for the time being and you loved it. Your brother was thriving at his school and your mother seemed to be in a good routine of her own. Everything was going fairly well. 

“Smidge! Come on, I don’t want to miss the movie!” 

Suddenly, your best friend’s voice snapped you out of your content little thought bubble. His hair was longer now, but his eyes just as blue. He was wearing a simple red shirt with FERRARI printed on the front, with blue jeans and white Converse. It was your typical 11 year old boy’s outfit, yet it looked humongous on him. Maybe he’ll hit a growth spurt or something, but maybe not. You shrugged off the thought and got up off the sidewalk. Grabbing your scooter and your helmet, you began making your way to the boy who was halfway down the street already. 

“Wait for me, Mick!” 

You always tried to get him to wear a helmet, yet there he rode without one. You made a mental note to make sure and tell his mom later. 

“Come on, Smidge! You gotta scooter faster than that!” 

“Stop going so fast, Mick! I’m scared!” 

Your voice was shaking as you tried your best to catch up to your friend. And while his clothes were huge on him, he was still bigger and taller than you. It seemed like he was miles ahead of you. Your legs could only scooter so fast. Mick was on a bicycle too, which didn’t make catching up to him any easier. Why does he always have to go so fast? 

You also could hear him laughing. And knowing him, he loved the feeling of the wind in his face as he biked harder and faster with each pedal. It was a surprise that his tires could catch up to the speed he was going. Soon enough though, everything came to a screeching halt. 

The scooter you were riding on had hit a piece of loose gravel and had sent you flying. Luckily, you were wearing a helmet when you collided with the sidewalk. But your elbows and knees were not so fortunate. Damn you, for forgetting your protective gear this time. Nursing your elbow and trying not to think of the inevitable amount of blood that was going to come out of your knee, you took in some very short breaths to try and keep yourself from crying. It seemed like years had gone by before Mick noticed you were no longer behind him. Soon enough, you looked up through tear filled eyes and saw his bike rushing towards you. Mick did a tiny burnout as he braked hard and hopped off his bicycle. He rushed by your side and was trying to take in all of your injuries. 

“Scheiße! (Shit!)” The boy exclaimed as he gently took your helmet off of your head. 

“Language, Mick!” You scolded.  Tears were falling down your cheeks as he propped you up to the fire hydrant that was luckily there. Taking his shirt, he lifted it and began wiping your face with it. Then, he took his shirt and with all the force his 11 year old body could muster, ripped a part of the bottom so he could press it to your knee. Pressure. Pressure. Pressure. He could hear his father’s voice in the back of his head while he pressed the fabric to your knee. 

“You’ll get blood on your shirt!” 

“It’s already colored red, Smidge. It won’t hurt it.” 

If there was one thing you’ve learned about Mick Schumacher it was that his smile could make anyone feel better. His eyebrows were pulled together and his mouth in a tight line as he concentrated his energy on making sure your knee stopped bleeding. You couldn’t help but feel a weird feeling in your stomach as you looked at your best friend tending so carefully to your wounds. And truth be told, you had suffered a lot worse wounds - but with every time you got hurt he would always be there to make sure you were alright. 

“I need to get home, so I can get my mum here to help.” 

“Wait… You’re leaving me here?” 

You almost wanted to begin crying again. Mick looked up at you from where he sitting in front of you and shrugged. 

“Do you think you can make it back to my house with this knee?” 

You nodded fervently, taking him by surprise. He smiled, his lips still touching each other as he glanced around the sidewalk. You would say anything at this point just to make sure you weren’t left here alone. 

“Okay, leibling (darling). I don’t think anyone will steal my bike. How about I scooter back with you?” 

Mick had called you that before, but you never questioned what it meant. You assumed it was a nickname that he made up that had to do with your clumsiness. Because this was definitely not the first time your knee has bled. 

“How will both of us scooter?” 

Mick’s smile turned into a toothy grin as he grabbed your helmet from beside him. Taking one last look at your knee, he nodded to himself and grabbed the scooter. Propping it up against the hydrant, he helped you to your feet. Mick placed your helmet on your head, clipping it under your chin with the most gentle touch. You never knew an 11 year old boy could be this gentle… Considering you remember when your own brother was eleven, and he treated everything like a WWE wrestling match. Smiling at your best friend, he grabbed the scooter and motioned for you to get on it. 

“You just stand on it - if you can, and I’ll walk beside you, and push it - So you don’t have to.” 

Nodding his head again in a matter of fact way, you got on the scooter, wobbly as ever and held onto the handles with dear life. His right arm reached around your waist and his hand fell onto the right handle. His left arm crossed his body and he grabbed the other handle with the other hand. As he slowly guided you on the scooter, you couldn’t help but notice how quiet it had suddenly become. Neither of you were uttering a single word to each other, and neither of you really wanted to. This was hands down one of your best memories of you both that was in the making. 

“You think you can move over just a smidge so I can get a ride too?” 

Age 16 

The air was crisp and cool as you headed to the cool down room.  You were currently in Formula 3 alongside your best friend Mick. After having a great race and placing second, you knew you were too excited to sit down. You were just waiting for Mick to come in and join you. 

“Smidge! We did it!” 

Mick engulfed you in a big sweaty hug, spinning you around the cool down room like no one was watching. He had placed first and knowing that he was under more pressure and scrutiny than you ever were/and would be, you couldn’t have been more ecstatic for him. 

“We? No, YOU did it!” 

Pulling the ponytail holder out of your hair to try and get some relief to your scalp, Mick handed you an already half open water bottle as he took a towel and a water for himself. He always would open up y your drinks for you. Sitting down in the chair, he leaned back and sighed happily. His smile was practically bigger than his entire face. And it seemed as though he finally grew into those blue eyes of his. Mick shut his eyes and took in the serenity. He knew that the press would be all over him as soon as cool down was over, and you knew that this was his time to reflect and relax. 

“You’re going to be in Formula Two next year, you know.” 

Mick just hummed, his eyes still shut. 

“You won’t forget me, right?” You awkwardly laughed.  Opening one eye and turning to you, his smile was imminent and his cheeks pink with hard work. 

“We’re meant to be together forever, Smidge. Ich könnte dich nie vergessen. (I could never forget you.)” 

“Versprichst du mir das? (Promise me that?)” 

Quickly, Mick’s head shot up and excitement washed over his face. Grabbing your hand in his, he fully turned his body towards yours and scrunched up his face. And there was that fluttering feeling again in the pit of your stomach. 

“Somebody’s been practicing their German!” 

And with a smirk, you mimicked his scrunched up nose and smiled softly. This boy was going to be the death of you. 

“Just a smidge.” 

Age 21 

The news was everywhere. You couldn’t catch a break from it… And not that you didn’t want to, you just would’ve preferred it to be more personal than it was. 

In all truthfulness, you and Mick had drifted apart. Maybe it was inevitable, or maybe it was just a phase you two were in - but it didn’t hurt any less. Once Mick had gotten through F2, you struggled in the sport. Soon enough, it was all about gender politics and how your gender played a role in motorsports… Or didn’t. And you were proud of Mick, oh god, you were so proud of him. But deep down inside you knew that your lives were now separate, and his was progressing exponentially faster than yours. 

You were currently trying to hardest to get into Formula One. After being in Formula Two for much longer than you would’ve liked, it seemed like an impossible task. You knew you had friends in this sport, and you knew you were an inspiration to other women who wanted to be in motorsports, but you couldn’t help but feel unsupported in other ways. Mick was off doing whatever he was doing… Your brother followed suit and was stationed somewhere overseas. And your mother… Well, she had passed and you barely interacted with your father. Mick and his family were really all you had in terms of a close relationship. 

Retiring to your apartment for the night, which was a rare occasion to be in your own home, you quickly discarded your clothes and went into the bathroom. It was a hard day of practice, hot too. You just wanted to shower, crawl into bed and watch something trashy on the tv. Turning on the shower, you hopped in, washed yourself and hopped out. You were never one for long and unnecessary showers. You changed into whatever clothes you could find that could be considered pajamas and made your way into the kitchen. You were hungry, yet you were supposed to be on a diet… So you weren’t actually allowed to eat at this hour. Sighing longingly, you shut the refrigerator and sat on your couch. You stretched your neck and had a pretty good circular motion going on before your phone dinged and so rudely interrupted you. 

MICKEY🐭: Schätzen! I miss you. 

You peered down at your phone and tapped the message. The last time Mick had texted you was three weeks ago, and he was even then too tired to talk on the phone. 

YOU: I miss you too, Mick. 

MICKEY🐭: Ouch. Just Mick? 

YOU: Sorry, just had a long day of practice. How are you? Enjoying the view from up there? 

MICKEY🐭: I’ve barely started here, but it’s definitely different. When can you come visit? 

YOU: Unsure, but I’ll let you know when I have some free time. Ya know, if you’re not in Baku or something. 

MICKEY🐭: I’d always make time for you, even if I were to be in Baku or something. 

YOU: I’m going to hold you to that, Schumie. 

MICKEY🐭: I would not expect anything less from you, Smidge. 

Suddenly, you were pulled from the conversation at hand and trying to decide if the knock on your front door would be worth answering or not. You hung your head for a few seconds and groaned. You let out an audibly sigh as you headed to the door. You looked through your peephole and there was nobody standing there. You shrugged your shoulders and thought maybe someone knocked on the wrong door and realized it before you could answer it. Trudging your way back to the couch, your phone began to ring. It better not be- 

“Smidge!” 

“Mickey?” 

“Did you get my delivery?” 

You swore you were just thwarted into an alternate universe where the language of the region was like, Swahili, because you could not comprehend what was just said on the phone - audibly, mentally, emotionally… Nope. Nothing. 

“Smidge?” 

The all too familiar voice repeated the question as you pulled the phone away from your ear. You looked at the phone screen and squinted. Sure enough, the name on the phone matched the voice repeating your nickname through the speaker. 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m here. What did you say, Mickey?” 

“I said, ‘Did you get my delivery?’” You could hear Mick’s soft laughter in the background. He always had a great laugh. 

“No? Also, why are you having things delivered to my apartment? Don’t you have multiple addresses?” 

“Ja, das tue ich. (Yes I do.) But that is not the point!” 

“Mickey-“ 

“Oh for fuck’s sake, just go open your door already!” 

And if it weren’t for his goddamn giggling, you would’ve hung up the phone right then and there. You took a deep breath and exhaled before making your way to the door again. 

“I don’t hear you opening the door, Leibling!” Mick shouted through the phone. Frankly, he could hear your eyes roll on his side of the conversation. Soon enough though, you opened your front door and looked down. 

Sitting right outside of your door was a takeout order from your favorite local restaurant and a bouquet of your favorite flowers too. Picking up the items, you made your way back inside and placed them on the counter. 

“Really?” 

You couldn’t help the blush that flooded your cheeks, and you were so glad this conversation was over the phone, but you swore up and down a long time ago you would not get feelings for him. He was making that quite difficult. 

“Gefällt es dir? Sind Sie überrascht? (Do you like it? Are you surprised?)” 

“Natürlich gefällt es mir. Dies ist jedoch unnötig. (Of course I like it. This is unnecessary, though.)” 

“Ich würde alles für dich tun. (I would do anything for you.)” 

A deep and profound silence loomed over the conversation now. The only things that you could hear was whatever was going on outside on the street. For the first time in awhile too, Mick was completely silent. It was just now a matter of who was going to break the silence first. 

“I’m sorry you’re having a tough time.”  Mick’s voice was quiet, reserved. His tone was sincere and you knew he wished he was there to keep you company.  “Thanks, Mickey. I am proud of you, you know. I’m really, so very proud of you.” 

Mick again just bummed in response. You glanced down at the flowers and did your best not to cry. It was as though he could sense it from all the way… Well whatever he was. 

“One day, you’ll come and join me, and we’ll be the best damn team the world has ever seen.” 

“One day.” 

You repeated as you put the phone down on the counter and on speaker. Truly, you both could just sit on the phone for hours in silence. But you knew that he was busier than he was before, and you were more tired than you had ever been. It was nice to feel like you still both could just enjoy each other’s presence. 

“Are you going to eat any of that Thai food?” 

“I wish. I’m on a diet.” You scoffed. 

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, you tried your best to savor the sound of his voice and the memories you held so dearly to you. You truly didn’t know when the next time was going to be that you’d see him, or even speak to him on the phone like this… But you’d be fooling yourself if you weren’t taking in every second of this interaction, and putting it in your pocket - saving it for a rainy day. Closing your eyes, you smiled slightly to yourself and breathed deeply one last time. 

“Just eat a little bit of it.” 

“No.” 

“Just a smidgen, then?” 

Your small smile had turned into a grin as you finally decided to open up the takeout bag. Mick chuckled and you could practically hear his own smile through the phone. God, did you miss your best friend. But god, did that takeout smell so heavenly. Pulling out the plastic cutlery that came with it, you opened up the first box and sighed happily to yourself. Yeah. You owed him one.

“Fine. Just a smidge.” 

And so much more. 

[svechnikovvv]

little secret

pairing: jack hughes x fem!reader

warnings: profanity, a bit steamy (but not smut)

summary: secrets can only be secrets for so long

a/n: i have one request left. i can see the finish line from here

masterlist: here

messing around with a jock was not on my agenda when i transferred here. i was supposed to focus on my studies, be top of my class, get my diploma, and get into my dream college. yet here i am. with jack fucking hughes of all people. the school’s renowned womanizer.

i crack open the empty classroom door and do a quick scan of the hallway to make sure nobody would see us. once making sure the coast was clear, i turn back around and point a finger at jack.

“if anyone asks, this never happened.” i go to walk out the door, but jack grabs my wrist and pulls me back, spinning me around. he then captures my lips into a heated kiss and cages me in against the wall. he then pulls back and he’s panting, looking down at me. a stray hair of his falls in front of his face and i move it.

“afraid someone’ll find out i’m your little secret?” he whispers

“something like that.” he softly laughs and goes in for another kiss. i feel his hands place themselves on my hips and he pulls me into him, humming in satisfaction before he pulls apart again.

“you taste like oranges.” i let out a laugh

“oranges?” he nods “must be my chapstick.” he absentmindedly nods

“jack, i really have to go.” he sighs and i slip out of the classroom, adjusting my shirt. i rake my hands through my hair and make my way back to the cafeteria. i take a seat back by my friends at the table and they smile at me.

“where were you?” they ask

“had to use the bathroom really bad.” they nod and go back to the conversation they were in. one of my friends that i was much closer to in the group was sat to the right of me and he tapped me on the shoulder. i looked at him and he nodded at the table where the hockey team sat.

“what were you doing with jack hughes?” my brows furrow

“what do you mean?” his face goes flat

“y/n, be so serious right now. your hair is all tousled and jack’s is too and he entered the cafeteria after you.”

“fucking hell. i can’t have anything nice around here.” he points a finger at me

“i knew it!” he whispers “you sly fox. sneaking around with jack hughes!” i hit him in the arm

“tell anyone and i’ll slash your tires.” he holds up his hands

“calm down, i’m not gonna tell anyone. it’ll be you, me, and jack’s little secret.” i groan and rest my head on the table.

“you make me sound like a whore.” i sit back up and look at him. he just shrugs his shoulders.

“i mean, if the shoe fits.” i gasp and he laughs “you did this to yourself. wait- how did you two even start this?”

“spin the bottle.” he starts to connect the dots and his eyes widen.

“jack was the guy you were talking about?” i wince and nod and he has a big smile on his face.

“this is like christmas.” i roll my eyes and rest my head in my hands.

“what did i get myself into?”

“probably some of the best hookups of your life,” he says, shoving a fry into his mouth.

“i can’t argue with you there. he’s a great kisser.”

“see. there’s pros and cons to every situation.” i throw one of my fries at him and he dodges it.

“thank god you didn’t make the softball team. you have shit aim.”

“who’s the one that got cut from the soccer team because he couldn’t kick the ball properly?” he gasps

“you did not go there!” i nod my head

“i definitely did. and i will continue to go there for as long as i live.” i take one of my fries off my tray, stuffing it in my mouth.

“these fries are so good.” i continue to munch on them and my friend’s gone quiet. i look at him and he’s looking at me.

“what? what is it?” he nods his head to something behind me and i turn around to see jack standing there. my other friends have gone quiet too, and are watching.

“jack, what do you need?”

“this,” he says, cupping my face in his hands and kissing me. i hear some gasps around us and he pulls away, giving me a smile.

“missed the taste of orange.” i roll my eyes

“you are so stupid.” he laughs

“maybe i am, but you like me. why else would you have kept me around this long?”

“yeah, yeah, you’re cute. just stop smiling at me like that.” he pulls out a chair and flips it so that the back is in front of him and he takes a seat beside me. he traces shapes on my jeans and i go back to my friends only to see they’re all looking at me.

“what? you act like you’ve never seen someone kiss someone before.” i shrug and eat another fry. jack then takes one and i gasp, looking at him.

“hey- keep your hands to yourself.”

“mm, you seemed to like it five minutes ago.” my friends gasp

“you weren’t at the bathroom. you were with jack!” i sigh

“she sure was.” jack says, pulling my chair closer to his. he rests a hand on my thigh, letting out a content sigh.

“i can get used to this.” he whispers so only i can hear

“what does your little posse think?”

“who cares what they think? right now, it feels like it’s only you and i in here.”

“do you always sweet talk the ladies like this?”

“just you.” he presses a kiss to my shoulder and i hear gagging.

“can you guys not fuck right in front of my food?”

tags: @goldenbrokenheart @liquidflyer @alhanna05 @woodruff-edwards @i-padfootblack-things @fanboysfangirl @hughesx3 @austinbutlerscaresme @theywantedplayer @jackhughesily @jackhues @marauderzkinnie

a/n: secrecy makes me giggle and kick my feet. i also realize i keep tagging the wrong people for the wrong player and i’m pissing myself off with it💀

[dido-reblogs]

Hi could you make a story where yeonjun and the girl are academic rivals and then ended up in the same shower room (you could do what you want before this happens) and they do things lol

i couldn't find a way to wrtite this without lots clichés and gender neutral reader. and sorry if it feels rushed. and the part where smut starts has no chemistry but i tried my best. but i am really disappointed in myself in general. but i shouldn't, right? it is just a fanfic it can have clichés and low chemistry from time to time. it happens.

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!

warnings: slight mention of food, mentions of a handjob(yj receiving), nipple play(reader receiving), reader also receives some pleasure with yeonjun's hands but it is not detailed to keep it gender neutral so yeah, also the rivalry is kinda one sideded

looking up the results of your midterms with worry since it seems like you will not be on top of your major and that means no scholarships for you. and it is not because you are a bad student. there is a person to blame. it is because choi fucking yeonjun. as you feel your blood boiling, you just scream at the screen. choi fucking yeonjun, he doesn't even need that scholarship and just studies this major to "learn" which meant he already has a job ready in his father's company and he is just here to socialize so it is not like he needs to be valedictorian.

you hate him, you definitely hate him. you also hate your so called progressive school that only gives scholarships to selected few and only does gender neutral dorms and bathrooms to make themselves look progressive. doingjust one thing is not enough though. especially if you have struggling students who can't pay tuition.

you decide to go to cafeteria as you are starting to get hungry due to energy you lost with having a tantrum over your grades. filling your tray more than usual as you fell like you are starving.

as you are carrying your tray to closest empty table, you lose you ballence which causes you to drop your tray resulting with ruining yours and the person next to you's clothes. as you rise your head to see who it is, you see the most annoying face. "aren't you going to apologize?" he asks. "i am not going to apologize to a scholarship stealer."

you leave for showers without saying anything. you quickly get undressed. yeonjun has to ruin everything. if he didn't, your life would be actually peaceful. you think to yourself as if you aren't the one who dropped the tray.

you take your time to get clean. hoping the shower will calm you. but you suddenly flinch as you feel presence of someone else. to your surprise, it was yeonjun. you call out to him. "aren't you too fancy for communal showers?" he just roles his eyes and answers back. "for your information, i faileda class due to low attendance rate so the scholarship is yours and i am not a stealer. also i am not too fancy for anywhere. and aren't you tired of the rivalry you made it up in your mind?" you admit that he had a point. "maybe you need to relax." he suggests. "how?" your innocence amuses him.

he laughs before he says. "for such a smart girl, you sure have trouble getting the hints." you think you start to get what he means when he puts it this way. "i pleasure myself on regular basis." he laughs again. "yeah but it starts to get frustrating after awhile."

he might be right. "i can try to be assistance if you give me your concent." his boldness makes you cringe but you also find the hottest guy in campus attractive like any other person. you can continue to hate him after this. " okay. you have it. you have my consent. i say yes."

he walks towards tour cabin. his hands immediately finds your nipples and starts to play with them. as it only makes you ticklish rather than aroused, you just whine.

"be patient, it will help you feel good i promise." he says while his other hand comes dangerously close to your between your legs.

as he starts to also play with it his mouth kisses one of your nipples. he is rather slow and sensual unlike how you imagined him. yes you imagined him. soon you start to feel the pleasure. as he focuses on playing with your breasts, you slowly start to moan implying your pleasure.

his one hand piching and caressing your nipple while the other works wonders that you, yourself, could never achive.

"that's it. such a sweet voice to hear." he says when your moans get louder. you are glad that it is not the time where it usually is crowded.

"yeonjun, i am about to cum." you say and his hand fastens to help you reach it. as you shiver while orgasming he laughs in pleasure.

him about to leave, you call his name. "what about you?" you ask. "no worries, you don't have to do anything back. i just felt like helping out." but you insist which eventually makes him confess that he would love a handjob in return.

[ritcchamadayo]

pls..

I BEG!

SECOND PART OF PUNK JADE 😭 (no pressure)

LET ME BE FR THAT I CANT GET ENOUGH AND FLUSTERED SO BAD MAKES ME GIGGLED IFDHODDN

ngl tho the teasing got me so bad 😭

THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME A REASON TO WRITE MORE AKGJSJFNAJDJS PUNK JADE IS SO AHHHHHHHHHHHH HES SO SILLY

A Look Into the Past (Pt. 2)

Jade Leech x Reader ;

After finding out that Jade had pulled out all his past piercings and put them back on, you just can't seem to get enough of it. Jade, on the other hand, is really enjoying your attention on him.

(I'm so happy the original fic got so much love and support from you all <3 thank you so much!!)

Reader is a Sophomore in this fic, just like the twins!

Read Part 1 here! Read Part 3 here!

One thing you told yourself after the encounter with Jade yesterday was, "It was a once in a lifetime sight." You really wished you sneaked in a photo or two, perhaps that would help your currently jumpy heart calm down a little bit more? "...Nah," you said, rolling around on your bed. Even if it was only yesterday evening, you should just count your blessings and be grateful you bore witness to it, right?

Oh boy, were you wrong.

You didn't expect to see Jade still wearing his piercings in class. On one hand, it's a much less amount than what he wore yesterday since he still needed to look proper for school, but it definitely didn't help your case as you find yourself needlessly staring at the double helix snugly on top of his right ear and another two on his left ear's upper lobe, right beside his sturgeon scale earring.

He's received few asks and light warnings from the professors, especially Trein, but the rest seem to agree that he's okay wearing it as long as it's nothing too striking. His hair was back to it's usual neatly combed style too, but you reaffirm to yourself that the piercings really made his hair color pop even more, especially the black strand on his left. You wonder how he managed to act like a complete gentleman while still looking like the hottest guy in the universe in your opinion.

"Heading to class?" "Y-Yeah, I am." (You cursed yourself for the slight hitch in your voice.) "Would you let me join you for the walk, then? I believe my class is towards the same direction you're going to." "Sounds great!"

The two of you walked between the empty hallways, with most of the student body spending their break outside or at the cafeteria. You talked about mundane things, like classes or the weather- but it seems like Jade is purposely steering the conversation so that you'd bring up his piercings. What can I say, he could be quite the huge tease if he knew which buttons to press to gauge a reaction out of you.

You were reminded of your conversation with Floyd before you left the lounge yesterday. "Hee, if you're really interested in him then why not try to pull some moves~?" "No way! I'm not brave enough, you know that Floyd." The eel-mer pouts, humming to himself and thinking. "Then what if I tell Jade to pull a move on you~?"

Your hand shot up to grab on Floyd's sleeve, giving him the most menacing glare you could put out. (It probably looked cute on his end though.) "Floyd. Don't you dare pull any fishy stuff."

"Eeh... Boring. Imma go back to bothering Azul instead." He said with a sinister smirk, walking away from you.

Well, casually chatting doesn't count as pulling a move, does it? "Speaking of," you start. "Did the professors really not care about them? I mean, I think I've seen a few people getting reprimanded for extra accessories." "Ah, Professor Trein did express a little bit of dislike, but he said it wasn't too distracting. Though, Professor Crewel on the other hand started giving me fashion tips, fufu."

You laugh at the little fact. "Yep, that's Crewel alright. Maybe you can show me his fashion tips when we're free?"

A smirk grew on Jade's face. "Oh? Is this your way of asking me out?" "N-No! I'm just curious, okay?!" You half-yelled, hitting his arm with as much power you could exert. (Not much, since Jade didn't even bother to dodge or look hurt.) You threw a couple of jabs at him, and Jade was more than happy to reply with his witty remarks.

Jade glances around the corridor. They were currently on the third floor of the school building, with most of it being empty and a slight updraft could be felt.

"Are you not interested on trying to touch them though? I've seen a lot of people try to get a closer look." He said, a sly smile on his lips. "Eh? Can I?" You ask innocently, perhaps too innocently for Jade. The male nods, slightly leaning into you to let you have a closer look.

"They're pretty.." You say, holding the metal on his left ear. You cupped his earring inside your palm to make sure it doesn't accidentally get pulled, lightly caressing the pierced flesh. Jade leans into your touch, a slight fondness in his eyes as you focus fully on the feeling of his accessories in your hands until you felt soft lips pressing onto your own.

!! "E.. Eh...?"

Your hands gently pull away from his earring, and your eyes met with his pair of heterochromic ones. His lips were mere centimeters away from yours, a small smirk showing his teeth forming on his face. The realization dawns on you as your realize he just kissed your lips while you were distracted.

"HE KISSED ME?!" You freak out internally, your entire face turning a dark shade of red that could rival Heartslabyul's roses. You knew Jade was eating up your reaction- with the most smug expression on, of course.

"Oh my, excuse me. Did you not want that?" He asked, lightly holding your chin between his fingers. “I feel a slight obligation to act more boldly in this getup.” The fact that he could pull such moves so casually is messing with your head as you struggle to give an answer. Your free hand trails over to his tie and you pull him back down towards your lips, letting him properly slot his lips on yours.

Jade gladly kisses back and chuckles as he pulls away, letting you go and straightening himself up before continuing the walk towards your classrooms as if nothing had happened with a satisfied smile on his face. You stood stunned for a few seconds and shaking it off before chasing after him, stumbling over your own feet.

"H-HEY! JADE, THAT'S NOT FAIR!!"

[munsonnbaby]

love to see you blush

the one where eddie is a little shit, knows you like him and likes to see you get all flustered.

warnings: fluff, a little angst. reader thinks eddie doesn’t actually like her, eddies a little tease. that’s all! enjoy pretties <33.

my first eddie fic, pls leave feedback in comments and send me requests through inbox! love you mwah.

eddie munson is a massive tease. he was before, but after finding out through my “friends” that i may or may not have a massive crush on him, i knew he was going to tease me about it.

he’d gone to robin and steve two nights ago, friday night, interrogating them about why i’d be acting differently around him, he bugged them for a while and in their defence they managed to keep my secret for a while, until they broke and told him everything. and i mean, everything. they had immediately found me after they finished work, profusely apologising at my door. immediately i was humiliated, just knowing that eddie knows that i like him. i was extremely worried because how on earth am i ever going to be around him now? he probably doesn’t feel the same, because it’s now sunday night and he hadn’t come over, texted me or anything. i think if he felt the same he would’ve been excited right?

monday morning came and i’d never been more anxious to go to school. and to make it worse? first period i have english, the class where i sit right. beside. eddie. the second i walked in, his eyes were on me, an amused glint in his eyes as a smile slowly grew on his face. i sighed, furrowing my eyebrows as i quickly sat beside him in my seat. i could feel his eyes on me, so i turn to him and sighed.

“can you please forget about it?” i beg, letting out an anxious breath as my hands shake as i grip onto my pen.

“why would i wanna do that beautiful?” he said with a smirk, the nickname flushing my cheeks almost immediately. his smile widened, “look at you all flustered? damn you must really like me” he giggled.

“it’s not funny!” i say back, looking away and keeping my head down.

“you don’t need to be all shy, and you better still sit with us all at lunch” he says, reaching over and pushing a little bit of hair from my face, his thumb brushing my blushed cheek.

“stop.” i say, pushing his hand away. luckily the teacher soon arrived, so eddie shut his mouth and left me alone.

it’s bad that he knows my feelings for him, but it makes it ten times worse that he’s neither rejecting me or saying he feels the same. its almost like hes mocking me for it. i’d much, much rather he just straight up tell me he doesn’t feel the same i can go ahead and start getting over him. he knows i get shy and anxious when i’m uncomfortable, so why would he purposely make me feel uncomfortable?

much to my despair, the teacher screwed me over and said we were to pair up and research about the topic from textbooks. i turn to look at eddie, as he grins, pushing his table close to mine and scooting his chair far too close to me.

“so when did you develop this massive crush on me?” he says, leaning his head in his hand and grinning at me. i feel the heat rush to my face, avoiding eye contact with him.

“stop it, eddie” i frowned.

“i do actually want to know, because i really had no idea you felt the s-“ i cut him off,

“about 6 months okay?” i say, “now can we actually do this research?” i gulped, looking away from him as he smiles softly, nodding.

soon lunch came around, and i’ve been dreading it all morning. i walk into the cafeteria and see everyone already sat around the table. eddie, the kids, robin, nancy and steve. i frown, slowly walking over as the anxiety builds up once again. i sit in the only empty seat, right beside eddie. and immediately that shit eating grin returns to his face as i sit down, facing away from him.

“hello gorgeous” he purred, and everyone smirked at the table. “hi” i mumble, pulling out my water bottle and having a few sips. he scoots his chair closer to me, tapping my arm so i look at him. reluctantly, i do. it doesn’t help that he just looks extra good today. his skin is all perfect and glowy, his hair fresh and fuzzy pulled back into a man bun which takes my breath away, his lips look extra red and plump and soft-

“like what you see?” he says, snapping me out of my trance and turning away from him again with red cheeks. “i thought you blushing over a nickname was bad, but from just looking at me?” he grins.

“stop it, please” i say, looking over at robin and steve with a sad look. they both look so guilty, and good, they should.

“i don’t want to stop because you are extremely cute when you start blushing” he says, resting his head in his palm and smiling. i gulp, putting my water away in my bag.

“okay fine, yes i blush a lot when i’m around you or when i look at you or when you talk to me because yes. i do like you, but that doesn’t give you the right to tease me and humiliate me in front of my friends. if you don’t feel the same, i’d rather you just tell me rather than mock me for it.” i snapped, standing up and walking straight out of the cafeteria and straight to my car. i can’t handle another minute of his teasing, the anxiety too much for me.

third prsn.

“not cool eddie. not cool” steve says, shaking his head. “you know how anxious she gets!” robin adds, as the whole table stares angrily up at eddie.

“i don’t know what i did wrong?” he says, furrowing his eyebrows, genuinely confused by y/n’s outburst.

“she’s right, if you don’t like her then you should just tell her” dustin says, nodding his head at his curly haired friend.

“but i do like her! i am crazy about her! i thought i was making that obvious to her” he says, stressed out and rubbing his face. everyone is confused. “what by teasing her? mocking her? making her uncomfortable?” nancy says, annoyed at eddie for upsetting her best friend.

eddie frowns, “i didn’t want to do any of those things, i really do think she’s cute when she blushes”.

“then make her blush by telling her how you feel about her!” robin exclaims. “and do it fast because i swear if a single tear falls from that beautiful girls eyes i will not hesitate to kill you”.

eddie laughs, locking eyes with robin as she keeps a straight face. his smile dropped. “damn, okay, okay i’ll go now” he says before running out of the cafeteria and to his van.

back to y/n pov

i plop myself onto my bed, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. i held it back the whole drive home, not wanting to breakdown whilst driving. i got into my pj’s, putting on a movie and finally that i’m sat down and relaxed, i couldn’t hold them back. i feel so embarrassed. embarrassed from my feelings, embarrassed from my outburst earlier. just humiliated. my friendship with eddie is now effectively ruined, i doubt he will want to speak to me again, and i can’t be around him anymore.

i sit up, cuddling into my covers and blankets as i lean against the headboard. i stare at the tv, trying to focus on the movie and stay out of my own head.

i was snapped soon out of my trance as i hear a massive bang near my window, my heart jumping out of my chest. i hop up and fun over to the window, pulling open the curtains, seeing eddie hanging off of my windowsill, motioning towards the window. i sighed, opening it and letting him climb inside. “you know i have a door, right?”.

“well i wasn’t sure if you’d answer me” he says, standing there looking at my sad face, furrowing his eyebrows.

“look if you’re here to tease me more i’d much rather you just go home-".

“no, no no sweetheart i’m not here to do that” he says, rushing over to sit on the edge of my bed right beside me as i curl back under my covers.

“then why are you here.” i ask softly, staring at him as he scoots a little closer.

“i’m here to apologise for today, i did not want to humiliate you or embarrass you, and i most certainly wasn’t teasing you” he starts, his hand coming up to wipe away the tear stains on my cheeks. “i was just trying to, i don’t know… flirt?” he says nervously, cringing at himself.

“flirt?” i say, raising my eyebrows.

“yeah, i know. stupid isn’t it?” he laughs dryly. “clearly i’m not very good at it” he sighed. i let him continue. “when they told me you liked me, i was really, really happy. i mean i was so happy i got home and didn’t know what to do with myself. all weekend i was thinking about you and i wanted to come over but i was really nervous. fuck, i even did a whole routine monday morning, i did my hair and shit and scrubbed my face and stuff i don’t know”. he trails off of his ramble with a chuckle.

i sit up straighter, my face now closer to his. “why did you do that?” i say, fresh tears poking at my eyes. he sighed,

“because i… like you”

i widen my eyes, lips parting, staring at his pretty doe eyes. “you like me?”

he sighs and nods, “i’m crazy about you” with his own blush.

“well look who’s blushing now” i say, smiling a little with a small laugh. he rolled his eyes, “shut up” he lets out a breath, before leaning in and catching my lips perfectly in his for a soft kiss. he smiles against my lips, hands trailing down from my face to my neck, over my shoulders and around my waist. i feel starstruck, my hands on his biceps, squeezing as he presses his lips a little harder on mine. i let out a shaky breath as he pulls back for a second to look at me, before re connecting our lips.

i eventually pull back before i pass out, staring at his eyes as he looks at me a little in a daze himself.

“sooo, do you wanna be my girlfriend?” he says, looking at me with wide eyes, waiting nervously for my answer.

“yeah, yes, i do” i breath out, a smile breaking out on my lips.

“yeah?” he says, confirming it for himself.

“yeah” i say back, nodding.

“i have to go tell robin, she keeps sending me threatening text messages”.

[moon-witchs-world]

The Chosen One

Harry Potter x fem!WitchReader

Fluffy short story  

820  words

Summary:  A year after the Second Wizarding War, when the Chosen One defeated Voldemort, you meet Harry Potter at Auror training. You can’t help but feel drawn to him, but not for the reasons he expects. 

His green eyes were so bright you had a hard time focussing on anything else. 

Sure, he had a scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt that had made him famous before he could even talk, but that was not what interested you. He looked kind, a bit lost and you couldn't deny he was very attractive. He sat a few seats away from you, drinking in every word your instructor spoke. You tried very hard to focus on what the instructor was saying, but you were distracted by the man with the messy hair and bright green eyes. You knew you should focus, it was just your first day of Auror training and it had always been your dream to become an Auror. After leaving Hogwarts with Outstanding grades you knew this was the career for you. 

‘Thank you for listening. Please enjoy your lunch, we’ll continue in an hour,’ the instructor suddenly said, which was followed with the noise of people talking and chairs being pushed back. You waited for the room to empty and then walked to the cafeteria. You suddenly felt very vulnerable and alone. You knew no one here and everyone else seemed to have made friends already. You passed several tables where people were sitting together, talking animatedly. Then you saw him again, sitting by himself, chewing on a piece of toast. You hesitated for a moment and then decided to sit down, you quickly introduced yourself and he shook your hand politely. He didn’t say his name, obviously used to the fact that everyone in the Wizarding World knew his name already.

‘Harry, can I ask you something?’ you had gathered all your courage to ask the man with the messy raven hair a question. 

‘Yes, I did defeat Voldermort. I was the Chosen One and killed him. I don’t want to talk about it, okay?’ he said angrily.

When you didn’t respond right away, he looked at you. 

‘Wow, you obviously have anger issues. I wasn’t going to ask anything about that. I wanted to ask if you wanted to help me with the Patronus Charm. I heard you’re really good at it and it’s the only charm I’ve been struggling with,’ you snapped back. You got up and were ready to walk away when he grabbed your wrist.

‘I’m sorry, Y/N. It’s just.. Three people already asked me about Voldemort and I just don’t want to talk about it anymore’

‘I understand. I’ll leave you alone then,’ you answered coldly. Harry didn’t let go of your wrist. 

‘Please, forgive me. Sit down. I’ll answer your questions about the Patronus Charm.’ You hesitated for a moment, but you couldn’t resist the pleading look on his face. 

‘So I guess you’re not used to having a normal conversation anymore. You know, being the Chosen One and all,’ you said teasingly after you had sat down and Harry had poured you a cup of coffee. 

‘You’re the first person I meet to ask about something other than Voldemort in a long time,’ he replied with a smile. 

‘Honestly, I don’t really care about that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m obviously very grateful you defeated him and all, but I mean, you probably talk about it all the time.’

‘Not when I can avoid it. Everything has been said. Multiple times. It’s time to look at the future.’

‘I agree. I am surprised though, to see you here, training to become an auror. I can imagine you’ve had enough of fighting the dark arts for a lifetime or two,’ you said, it was something you’ve been wondering about ever since you saw him this morning. He grinned. 

‘My friends say I’m addicted to danger, that I am always looking for trouble,’ he explained.

‘Are you?’ you asked. 

‘I feel like trouble always finds me,’ he replied with a smirk.

‘Well, I’ve been called worse,’ you answered quickly. 

‘I… didn’t mean. I.. I’m sorry,’ he mumbled. You put your hand on his arm and gave a reassuring squeeze. 

‘I’m kidding, Harry.’

The relief on his face made you laugh. For a moment you both ate in silence. It felt like you had known him for much longer than just today, there was something familiar about his presence. 

‘You know, the Patronus Charm is quite complicated actually. It would be best if we practised it for a while. You’ll learn a lot faster that way than just talking about it,’ Harry suddenly said. You looked into his green eyes, not sure what to say. 

‘We can start tonight, if you want to,’ he added. 

‘Sure, if you are free tonight,’ you answered quickly. You had no idea where you had picked up the courage. Usually when you saw a cute guy you didn’t say anything and hoped he wouldn’t notice you, but with Harry things were easy, it felt nice and comfortable to talk to him. 

‘We can go to my house, I have plenty of space. I live alone, you see,’ he explained.

‘Okay, that’ll be great,’  you answered. 

‘I look forward to it,’ he said with such a beautiful smile it filled your stomach with butterflies. 

[marauderundercover]

us against the world

“Now this might sound controversial, but I think that went well.” Jagged says cheerfully, sticking the key into the ignition. Marinette huffs out a laugh, shaking her head. 

“If by well you mean the school is still standing, then sure, it went well.” She says. Jagged frowns, pulling the car away from the curb. 

“What’s wrong, M?” He asks, his cheerful tone switched for a serious one. Marinette frowns, turning her attention out the window. 

“I just- I don’t think I’m going to fit in at that school. It’ll be like being around a bunch of Chloes, and I just- I don’t know.” She sighs. 

“Just- just give it a chance, yeah?” He asks softly. Marinette nods, silently. She would try to like Gotham Academy. Just like she would try to like Gotham itself. “You start tomorrow, but I’ve got an interview I’ve got to get to in New York. Penny’s gonna stay behind and make sure you get to and from school okay.” Jagged adds. Marinette turns to him, raising an eyebrow. 

“You’re going to go do something without Penny?” She asks. He nods. “You know I’m fourteen, right? I can take care of myself for a few days.” Jagged frowns. 

“I’m not leaving you alone for your first day of school, Mari. I know- I know that I’m not your dad, and that I’m not the best person to try and be a parent for you. But I’m trying, kid. I really am. And part of that is making sure you have support when you need it. Starting at a new school is definitely something that you need support with.” He says.

“I think you’re doing fine.” Marinette says softly.

“Thanks, kiddo.” Jagged says, just as softly, as he turns the car down the excessively long driveway. Gotham, Marinette had decided, was odd. But she would try to enjoy it. 

---

Staring up at the building looming over her, Marinette tries hard to not panic. It was just school, after all. Sure, she was transferring in two months after everyone else had started. And she was in a new country. And she was alone. But that was fine. Everything was going to be fine. Sucking in a deep breath, Marinette pushes through the front doors. And immediately runs into a person. 

“Mon dieu, er, I’m so sorry. I just kinda shoved the door open and I wasn’t really looking where I was going because I’m so early and I thought that no one else would be here yet and-” Marinette begins to ramble, nervously wringing her hands. 

“Tt. If the doors to the building are unlocked, there is usually someone else inside.” The boy says stiffly. Marinette glances at him, trying to figure out if he was being serious or sarcastic. Deciding to just count her losses, she nods. 

“Right. Well, sorry again.” She says. The boy simply hums in acknowledgement before walking away. Pushing her bangs out of her face, Marinette sighs. The first classmate she’d met and it’d gone horribly. Go figure. Hopefully once she had her schedule, things would go better. And who knows, maybe mystery angry guy wasn’t in any of her classes. 

---

Marinette was going to have a long, long talk with the kwami when she got home. Theoretically, they probably had nothing to do with her horrible luck. But not only did she share almost every class with the angry guy, but she was also assigned to sit next to him in said classes. Including being assigned his lab partner in biology. You would think saving France from a crazed meglomaniac would give her enough good karma that she wouldn’t have to worry about sitting by grumpy boys who refused to talk to her in every class. Apparently not. Walking into the cafeteria, Marinette can feel her panic creeping in once again. Tables were full, or nearing full, and she had no friends. It wasn’t easy when everyone else already knew each other, and had routines that they’d been following since August. Scanning the room, she spots a fairly empty table, but pauses. The guy from earlier was sitting there, angrily tearing apart his sandwich while another boy talks animatedly to him. It was the last thing she actually wanted to do, but seeing as it was the most empty table, she’d have to just go with it. Better to sit away from the two boys quietly than sit at a table where people were going to ask her a million questions that she didn’t want to answer. Stopping at the edge of the table, she clears her throat and tries not to flinch when the boy from earlier sends a small glare her way. 

“I promise I won’t talk to you guys, there’s just- most of the other tables are full. Could I sit here?” She asks, direcitng her question to the talkative one instead of the angry one. His eyes widen slightly, but he nods. 

“Oh, uh, sure, of course. Um, you can sit closer to us if you want.” He offers, nodding to the chair at the end of the table closest to them. Marinette hesitates. 

“Oh, well I wouldn’t-” She starts, but the angry boy cuts her off. 

“Just sit. Lunch is only twenty minutes and you’ve already wasted nearly half of it.” He says, his voice lacking the venom she’d expected. Marinette sits and pulls out the lunch that Penny had packed her, her lips twitching up at the note. 

“What’s that?” The talkative boy asks, leaning slightly in. Marinette feels herself blush involuntarily. It’s not that she was embarrassed that Penny had left the note but- well, she was in high school. 

“Oh. Er, my-” Marinette pauses, trying to think of a good word for Penny. “Guardian put a note in my lunch. I think she was worried since it’s my first day.” She says, shrugging. 

“Guardian?” He asks. Marinette winces. 

“Yeah. Guardian.” She says. He opens his mouth, probably to ask another question, but his friend cuts him off. 

“Harv, cool it with the questions.” He says. His friend- Harv?- pouts, but nods. 

“Sorry about that. I’m Harvey, by the way. Harvey Dent.” He says. Marinette smiles. 

“I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” She says, glancing at the ‘angry’ boy. She raises an eyebrow to him and he snorts. 

“Really? You don’t know me?” He asks, and it didn’t sound pretentious. Instead, he sounded shocked. And a little tired. Marinette shrugs. 

“Haven’t been in Gotham for very long.” She says. 

“I’m Bruce.” He says. “Welcome to Gotham Academy.” Marinette smiles back at the boy. Maybe Gotham Academy wouldn’t be as bad as she thought it would be.

Next

***

So this idea came to me and wouldn’t leave my head. Let me know what you guys think! I have a general idea for where I want to go with this, and once I have a little more, it’ll move to AO3 (as is typical for my stories). 

Permanent tag list: @stainedglassm  @laydeekrayzee @doll246 @queenz-z @deathssilentapproach-blog @literaryhiraeth @unoriginalmess @crazylittlemunchkin @buttercupsbitch @toodaloo-kangaroo @kking13  

[eightlightstar]

Besties with Bangtan

pairing: bangtan x afab! reader word count: 2.3k genre: fluff, crack/humor, series warning(s): swearing, mentions of anxiety summary: Snippets from Juliet Hong/Jules/Hong Jia (Joshua Hong's [Seventeen]) sibling's life who happens to be BTS's neighbour, best friend, and an employee at HYBE (currently working for BTS). Written in first person but other characters call her Juliet/Jules/Jiah/Miss Hong.

Min Yoongi

Part 1 - Genius Lab

"Goddd, I don’t think I can do this”, you groan for the umpteenth time. You know in the back of your mind that you can do it, that you can finish it before the deadline, but you feel sick to the stomach if you even think about it. You are on the verge of tears when you decide it’s no good to sit here and whine to yourself. You step out of the office and go straight to the elevator after getting an Iced Americano from the cafeteria. You pause. You turn to the right and smirk to yourself while opening the stairwell door, ‘Gotta tell Mingyu & JK, they'll be so proud’.

When you reach the 16th floor from the 11th floor, you're not as exhausted as you would have been. 'Looks like working out with the guys paid off!', you muse. You head off towards the end of the corridor and pass by many studios – Hope World looks empty for now and the woofer is on full blast when you near RKive. Even with the soundproofing, the vibrations are hard to miss. You chuckle to yourself and go towards Genius Lab which is located at the very end of the corridor and punch in the passcode.

You hesitate before opening the door but open it anyway and slowly poke your head inside. Yoongi is directly staring at you, and you give him a sheepish smile. “Come on in Jiah! I hope you at least got me coffee if you’ve come to whine,” he says. “How could I even think about coming to see you without an Americano in my hand? Here you go,” you say and hand him the Iced Americano and sit on the couch while he swivels around in his chair and focuses his attention back onto something he was obviously busy with before you had decided to barge in.

“Yoongi, I did not bring you coffee so that you could turn your back on me!”, you nagged. “Well, you’ve obviously come to whine. And I never respond until you’ve finished ranting. So, I might as well write a song in the meantime”, Yoongi replies coolly. “Thanks for the coffee by the way, I feel like I’m alive again”, he grins. “And before you berate me, this is only my 5th coffee and I slept in the afternoon”, he finishes. “I wasn’t gonna say anything. But I’m surprised you slept even after downing that much caffeine”, you quip mockingly, and he chuckles. “Anyway, I’m here because I’m scared”, you say and pause to look up at Yoongi.

But he gives no reaction and continues working, knowing that you don't need prompting. “I have to finish the pet project that I took on and the Chairman expects it by the 20th. I’m not even close to finishing it and that’s why I’m scared. I know in the back of my mind that I’ll mail it to him before 11:59 PM on the 20th but I’m still anxious. I don’t regret starting the project per se, but I regret not doing anything for the entire year and then racing to finish it in the last 10 days. I don’t even know why I was given a year’s time to finish it if I was capable of finishing it in 10 days. I mean, it could be reasoned that usually a year is given so that one can think and formulate their ideas and collect resources and plan extensively so that it can be finished in the last few days. But yeah, you get my point. Don’t you?” You let out a huge breath and lift your head up, expecting to look at the back of Yoongi’s head again.

But surprisingly, he is facing you with a small smile. “What do you want me to say? You’ve obviously got everything sorted out, so I don’t see any reason why you had to come here and whine”, he pauses. “Unless… your reasoning was not helping you finish it, and you were on the verge of tears when you decided to come here. Am I right?”, he asks with a triumphant smile. You give him a smile that doesn’t reach your eyes and affirm that he is right with a nod of your head. “That’s usually why I come to you or Joon. Today I came here because I had already picked up an Iced Americano and because Joon is busy – the floor right in front of his studio was vibrating”, you say and let out a dry laugh.

“Okay, see. You’re obviously distressed and it’s okay to be. I am not saying everything is going to be okay because I don’t know if everything is going to be okay. But what I do know is that you’re more than capable of finishing it. I suggest that you stop coming to the office. Stay home, finish it and step into the office and resume your duties on the 21st. Speak to the Chairman and maybe add in that I suggested this break”, he grins cheekily. “Thankfully, I live right next door and can still barge in on not just you, but all of you whenever I want, provided y’all are at home”, you say in a much cheerful tone. “Thank you, Yoongi! Coming to you has always yielded good results. I’ll go speak to the Chairman and then head home. Do you want to come with me, or will you come later with Joon?”, you ask as you get up to leave.

He looks at the clock on his screen and says, “It’s past 1 AM, I think I’ll come with you. And we can drag Namjoon away too. You go to the Chairman and come down to the parking lot. Me and Namjoon will be waiting”, he says and stretches his arms and legs before getting up and turning off his elaborate system set up. "Oh wait. Josh is in the building too. I'll tell him I'm taking a break from the office", you say as you remember your brother's existence. "Okay but be quick" says Yoongi as faux threat.

You walk out of the studio and he locks it behind you. He stops in front of RKive and knocks while you wave to him and walk off towards the elevator to get to the 19th floor. You keep rehearsing what you're going to say to the Chairman, and you are brought back to Earth only when the elevator dings open. You move to step out but stop when you see the Chairman and the Pledis CEO getting in. “Oh! Miss Hong! Were you coming to see me?” he asks as he peers at you from above his glasses. “Oh yes, Mr. Bang. Hello Mr. Han!" you bow as you greet them and turn to face Mr. Bang. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about my pet project. I was thinking…today is the 13th and I need to finish it by 20th, but I’ve barely managed to do anything. Would it be okay if I worked on the project at home and resumed office from the 21st?”, you ask him nervously. “Oh…and it was Yoongi's idea that I work at home”, you add as an afterthought.

“Did he really tell you to say that? Wow I can’t believe this guy!”, Mr. Bang and Mr. Han share a laugh. “Of course, you can have the time off. I would have given it regardless of Yoongi suggesting it or not. You took this on, and you want to finish it – I appreciate that. Now that you’re going to be working at home, I expect nothing less than an amazing project. Okay?”, he says and smiles genuinely at you. “Yes, okay Mr. Bang. I’ll do my best. Thank you so much!”, you smile and bow your head slightly.

“You’re going to the parking lot too, right?”, Mr. Han asks you. "I actually need to stop by the practice floor. Jisoo's still here so...", you trail off. "Ah of course!", exclaims Mr. Han. "Give them my regards and if you can, get them out of the building. Please." Mr. Han pleads. "I'll try my best, but you know the guys. I'm sorry to say but you made them that way!" you surmise. He chuckled while nodding woefully and all of you finally get into the elevator. The elevator ride is silent. You bow to the men as you exit at the practice floor. As you walk towards Seventeen's practice room, you realise that they are the only ones in the entire floor!

"Hi?" you say as you peer hesitantly from the door in case you disrupted them mid-practice. But to your relief, they were all sprawled on the floor breathing heavily - the telltale signs of an exhaustive dance practice. "Oh, hey Jules!", Vernon sees you first. "Hi Vernon!", you holler and motion to your brother. "Josh, can I talk to you for a sec?" "You're anyway gonna jabber in high-speed English that we won't understand. Might as well say it out loud?" giggled Seungkwan. You almost cursed at Seungkwan but didn't go through with it as Seungcheol was staring right at you. "Thanks Kwan! I didn't even realise", you jeer and turn to your brother.

"So, the thing is, I'm taking a week-long break from the office. I'll be holed up at my place working on my pet project. Just wanted to let you know", you announced monotonously. "Wait...you STILL haven't finished it???" Hoshi shrieked as got off the floor. "Yeah, it's a whole thing. That's why I'm taking time off, to finish it." you blurted hurriedly. You turn to Seungcheol, "Also, I bumped into Mr. Han on the way and he basically implored y'all to go home", you say and give him a saccharine smile.

Joshua turns you to face him, "Honey, are you going to be okay? You end up not eating or sleeping properly when you work like this" he questioned with worry. "Don't worry Josh, Seokjin will kill me before I starve myself to death", you voiced with amusement. "Okay, call me if you need anything and don't forget to call Mom", Joshua lectures you as he hugs you. "Yeah, yeah whatever, Oppa!", you leer at him. "Anyway, Hoshi, please let's go come on", you urge him. Everyone looks hopefully at Hoshi, and he grins cheekily as he says, "Okay! Let's go".

The elevator to the parking lot is chaotic as all 14 of you try to talk to each other. As you reach the basement, Seventeen head off towards their Carnivals while you hurry off towards the Black Palisade, one of the cars that the Tannies use to commute. Yoongi is standing outside the driver’s side, and you see Namjoon sprawled on the backseat. “Was he that tired when you went to get him?”, you ask as you approach Yoongi. “Yeah, he looked like he was about to pass out. I had some coffee left and thanks to that, I was able to haul him till the car. He passed out as soon as he sat down”, Yoongi sighs and motions you to get into the front seat. You both get in and soon you slowly emerge from the basement of Hybe and drive off into the night towards home.

You fall asleep as soon as you hit the road and only wake up when you hear Yoongi struggling with Joon. “Yoongi! Yoongi wait!!! I’ll call Jungkook or someone wait”, you whisper yell at him. “Fine but be quick! He really did buff up due to countless hours at the gym and now I have to suffer,” he tries sound annoyed but ends up sounding endeared as he always does when it comes to his members. You call JK and thankfully, he picks up in 2 rings. “Listen, can you come down to where we park the Black Palisade? Joonie passed out and me and Yoongi alone can’t heave him till the elevators”, you croak out tiredly. “Oh, sure I’ll be right down!”, he says and hangs up.

You and Yoongi lean on the car and sigh at the same time due to which you end up laughing together. “Mr. Bang was amused at you telling me to name-drop. And Mr. Han regrets being strict with Seventeen”. "You bumped into them together? Well, it would be surprising if Bang PD wasn’t amused. And Mr. Han should be happy, honestly. Their choreos are so much harder to manoeuvre than ours!”, Yoongi says and laughs. “Also, I needn’t have asked you to name-drop, but it was a safety measure since you looked very miserable” he adds on. “Anyway, thank you for the suggesting it and now I can peacefully work at home and finally be done with this project. Afterall, writing about BTS and their ARMY is a fun but tedious work”, you smile at him. "Don't forget to call your mom. She usually ends up calling one of us when you don't call her for more than a week" he fretted. "Gosh you're worse than Josh!", you exclaim as you hear the elevator open.

With rushed footsteps, JK comes into view. “Is hyung alright?”, he asks. “Yeah, he just needs to rest more, like we all keep telling him”, Yoongi says, shaking his head. JK opens the door and lifts Namjoon on his shoulder and walks towards the elevator. Yoongi locks the car and both of you follow right behind them. You reach the 6th floor soon enough and Yoongi walks ahead to open the door to their dorm so that Jungkook can walk in without stopping. He opens the door to 601 while you open the door to your home, door no. 600. It still feels like a dream – being Bangtan’s neighbour – even though it has been over 5 years now. You turn back to see Yoongi waiting by their door to say goodnight. “Goodnight, Jiah. Breakfast at ours tomorrow!”, he says cheerfully, now that he’s back with his members. “Okay, cereal tomorrow. Got it.”, you grin, and he looks sheepish. You wave at him and add, “Have a Sweet Night!"

[winryofresembool]

Jily one-shot: Sex Education

A Jily Valentine Gift Exchange fic for @athenasparrow!

@jilymicrofics

Summary: A trainee ob/gyn Lily Evans isn't very impressed when she's invited to teach sex ed at a local sixth form college and she finds out that the students' knowledge of the topic is rather lacking. Enter James Potter, a fellow doctor, who manages to make teaching sex ed more interesting.

A/N: This fic is very different from the stuff I usually write but I ended up having a lot of fun writing it! I am by no means an expert on sex education nor UK school system in general so please be kind if some term isn't 100% correct.

A lot of inspiration for this fic were taken from Grey's Anatomy S19E03 aka the episode Athena mentioned in her wish list, and from Mama Doctor Jones' youtube vids. Also, shout out to @wearingaberetinparis​ from whom I borrowed the kitty name Merlin.

If you have read this far, you are probably aware there will be smut in this fic, but if you want to avoid that and read the rest of the fic, the smut part is in the last quarter. Also, while this Jily is English, there is a brief reference to the Roe v. Wade overturn in one part of this fic, just to warn you in case that’s something that may trigger you. The James and Lily of this fic are very much pro choice and if you don't agree with that, this fic is not for you.

All that being said, I hope you enjoy!! And don't forget to let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not agree with any of the author-who-shall-not-be-named's views.

Words: 10667

Rated: E

AO3

...

Lily Evans sighed as she threw herself down on a sofa, lifting her feet up in the air. As a part of her training to become an ob/gyn, she had been invited to teach sex ed to Year 13:s at a school located a few hours from her workplace, but she was already regretting agreeing to do it with only half of the lectures behind her so far. It was unbelievable to her how little even those who were about to apply for universities knew about basic human anatomy; many had confused terms like vagina, uterus and ovaries with each other and someone had even claimed that the human egg cells were the size of a chicken egg. She hadn’t been sure whether to cry or laugh at that comment. Biting her lip, she had tried to explain the facts but she wasn’t sure how effective her lecture had really been.

Now she had an hour-long break, which she was planning to embrace fully. 15-30 minutes of resting in the empty staff room (most of the teachers were already at the school cafeteria or still teaching), after which she’d head back down for lunch. As she leaned her head against the backrest, her mind went back to a specific moment during her latest lecture. While she had been talking, she had noticed a – rather attractive, she had to admit – man of presumably her age, also wearing a doctor’s coat, watching and listening to her intently. There had been something familiar about him but she wasn’t sure what. However, she hadn’t had a chance to ask before he had already left.

Secretly hoping that she would eventually find out who the man was, she finally snapped out of her daydreams when she realized she’d have to rush if she still wanted to get her lunch. She got up, straightened her doctor’s coat, and also fixed her ponytail quickly before leaving the room.

Her lunch plans came to a halt when she walked past the classroom where she was supposed to lecture next, overhearing a student asking his teacher:

“So, basically, you’re saying don’t have sex or you’ll die, like those videos our parents were shown when they were kids?”

The teacher sounded really awkward when he tried to respond: “Uh, that’s not… I just… You gotta be careful! STI:s are no joke!”

Lily sort of felt pity for the man who clearly wasn’t made to teach about sex, and she decided to step in, even if it meant she would probably miss her lunch altogether. At least she had some snacks in her bag she could resort to if need be.

“You’re right in one thing,” she said loudly enough that everyone could hear her. “It never hurts to be careful when it comes to sex. However…” She addressed the students now. “Don’t be afraid of it. There’s such stigma around STI:s even though they are way more common than you’d think. Medicine develops and we learn more about treatments and the way certain viruses are transmitted all the time; for example HIV is very much manageable these days and with only a few simple precautions you can avoid it and other infections altogether.”

“I’m sorry, but who are you? And why are you interrupting my class?” the teacher stopped her rambling.

“I’m Lily Evans, a trainee ob/gyn and here to lecture about these exact things. As a matter of fact,” she checked her schedule from her phone, “does this happen to be the class 13 B?””

“Yes, that’s us,” the teacher confirmed, still a bit flabbergasted.

“In that case, I’m supposed to teach this group in a bit anyway, so I can take over if you’d like.”

The man didn’t protest but his mouth still hung open as if he would have liked to say something. Lily decided to ignore it and asked: “So, what are those precautions you can take, one might ask. I’ll tell you. You may consider some of these obvious but I don’t think repeating them can hurt: 1) use condoms. It doesn’t only prevent pregnancy - when you’re having sex with someone who can get you pregnant - with a fairly high accuracy but it also protects you from so many infections. Boys, don’t come complaining to me ‘they are so uncomfortable!’ Trust me, it’s a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things. 2) talk with your partner, or partners. A good relationship is one where you can talk about these things openly. Really, it never hurts to ask. And 3) have regular checkups at a doctor, especially if you are unsure about whether you or someone you have sex with might have an STI. Don’t be ashamed of it. Trust me, we’ve seen it all, and we don’t shame anyone. It’s life, sometimes things happen and that’s fine. Now, these are just some basics; there’s more you can do but that’s a lecture for another time.”

At this point everyone was staring at her with rather similar expressions on their faces as their teacher had had a moment earlier. She realized that her open way to talk about this topic surprised many; it really was a shame how little pupils were taught about sex at school.

To break the silence, she reached for her backpack and said: “Alright then. Who wants some free condoms?” She started throwing the small foil packages at the students, some of whom caught them rather eagerly, some a bit bashfully.

“So, are there any questions?” she asked once all the packages had disappeared. A silence filled the room again. “Alright, since there are no questions… unless your teacher has something to add… “ she glanced at the teacher who just shook his head, “feel free to go and have a 10 minute break while I get prepared for the next lesson; we’ll continue with other topics after the break.”

The group left, and after exchanging a couple of words with the teacher, Lily was left alone to check if she had everything she needed in her bag. Only, there was still someone watching her.

“That was quite an impressive way you just shut that teacher’s mouth,” a man with messy, black hair, glasses, and a long, white coat told her. It didn’t take her long to register it was the same man she had already seen earlier that day. He was leaning against the wall casually and the grin on his face made her feel like he was up to no good, but maybe it was just the way he smiled. “Really, though, that’s exactly why they should let the professionals do the sex ed part; those poor kids won’t learn anything otherwise.”

“And who are you?”

“Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Potter, James Potter.”

Lily rolled her eyes but took his extended hand and shook it. The grip was firm and warm. “What is it with blokes called James and wanting to introduce yourself that way?”

“Just admit it, Mr. Bond is the coolest guy in the UK.”

“If you say so, Potter. I’m Evans, Lily Evans, by the way. And I’m curious about why I’ve caught you watching my lectures not once but twice today.”

“Who doesn’t want to listen to a beautiful woman talk about sex?” Lily couldn’t help herself, she blushed at the compliment. “From a scientific point of view, of course. I’m a trainee surgeon and I’m here to help my colleague record some of his lectures so they can be used at later dates when needed. I just happened to walk past this classroom when I was heading to the staff room and got curious when I saw you lecturing. My friends always say one day my curiosity will get me in trouble.”

“Alright. I suppose your explanation makes sense,” Lily nodded. “I mean, the same sort of happened to me.”

“Guess we’re both curious natures then,” James stated. “So, um, we literally just started talking and this is probably going to sound like a crazy or weird suggestion to you, but… since I’m having the next hour free, can I join your lecture? My colleague is off to who knows where so it’s not like I have better things to do. I could even help you if you wanted to.”

“And why would you do that?” Lily questioned, narrowing her eyes. “Didn’t you just say you were impressed by how I handled that class?”

“I really was, and I would never underestimate your skills to teach those kids everything they need to know about sex. But it can never hurt to bring some male perspective with you, right?” He gave her a lopsided smile that somehow managed to make her heart beat a bit faster.

“Err…” she mumbled, “I suppose you have a point there.”

“I promise I won’t step on your toes.” He made what Lily could only describe as ‘deer eyes’ and she couldn’t help but smile back.

“Good.”

Lily took a moment to inspect the other doctor more closely, and the feeling that she somehow knew him got stronger.

“Excuse me, but I can’t shake the feeling that we might have met before.”

“That’s because we have,” James noted. “Truth to be told, that was the real reason why I stopped to listen to you.”

“We have?”

“Yeah. Hogwarts university med school. We were there at the same time, even though for whatever reason our paths never crossed properly. But I would never forget that red hair on the other side of the hall.” He stepped closer and seemed like he wanted to touch her hair, but finally decided against it. A part of her definitely wanted to tell him it was OK for him to touch it, but she stopped herself, instead thinking back to her Hogwarts university days.

“Potter… Potter… Hey! Were you a part of that group that called themselves the Marauders? You sometimes sabotaged the lectures on purpose… and I also heard some rumors about some pretty interesting campus parties... There was also that Black guy… and two others…”

“So you remembered Sirius’ name but not mine,” James huffed. “Typical. And for your information, we only sabotaged lectures when it was necessary; some professors were just straight out nasty or gave us misinformation on purpose.”

“That’s what you say but now I’m starting to suspect you’re here to ruin my lecture.” Lily accused, but not seriously.

“I would never. Marauders’ honor.” James put a hand over his heart. “Besides, that was literally like 8 years ago; I’d like to think that I’ve grown out of those habits by now.”

“Well, I’ll give you a chance. But if you try to pull off something weird, I will find out who your supervisor is and ask them to reconsider making you a surgeon.” Her index finger poked his chest playfully. A pretty solid chest, she realized.

James raised his hands in mock surrender. “Geeze, Evans, playing with the big guns already? As I said, I would never overstep my boundaries; you’re the one who gets paid to do that lecture. I’ll just add some things if I see an opportunity.”

“Alright.” Lily accepted. “Sorry, I simply remembered that one time we got living rats in our lab class – which I now suspect was your doing – and I don’t want a repeat of that today.”

“Yeah, we may have gotten a bit overboard with that prank,” James smiled sheepishly. “You’re free to check my bag for rats if you feel the need for that.”

“No need for that, I trust your word – this time. Anyway, if you’re going to do this, maybe we should quickly go through the topics I was planning to cover during this lecture so you’ll have an idea what we’re supposed to talk about.”

As they did that, Lily started to feel like maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to bring James along. He had surprisingly good ideas to add into her ‘script’ and he also seemed to be a natural performer; at least he wasn’t a single bit ashamed to talk about sex in front of strangers. … “Alright,” Lily clapped her hands to get the class’s attention. “I know you’ve already covered STI:s and various contraceptives earlier today with other people, but now we get to the truly exciting part: what you should know about sex itself. Laugh ahead; I bet you will learn something during this lecture. First, I’d like to ask you a question: how big a percentage of women or people with internal reproductive organs do you think can get an orgasm simply from penetration, no foreplay involved?”

The students yelled their guesses:

“90 per cent?”

“85?”

“80?”

“That’s not right.” Lily shook her head. “I’ve seen some articles claim that it’s roughly 60%. However, as a woman and someone with plenty of female friends, I would say it’s actually even lower than that. This is a topic that is difficult to research so the sample is small.”

“You can laugh now, boys.” James was glaring at a couple of boys who had been chuckling at Lily’s commentary, as if they didn’t believe her. “But I bet your partners aren’t laughing if you just completely choose to ignore the foreplay. They might make you think that they enjoy what you’re doing but in reality a lot of the moans and other reactions are fake. Just repeating what you see in porn movies and stuff like that does not make you adept in sex, am I right, Evans?”

“Yep, you’re correct. Saying that real sex is like porn is like saying books and their movie adaptations are the same. Some people may believe in that, but…” Lily left the rest for the listeners’ imagination. James continued: “I’m not ashamed to admit that as a teenager I may have had that kind of mind set too, but thank – apologies, I just can’t not use the next word in this context - fuck I went to the med school and learned a thing or two about the secrets of human anatomy. I mean, I may have known some basics earlier than that but my exes would probably tell you that there was some room for development.”

That made the group of students laugh out loud.

“Oh, I’m curious now, Potter,” Lily told him, unable to stop her mouth from twitching. “What exactly did you learn at med school?”

“I learned that real men - cis, trans, whatever label you yourself want to use - give their partners orgasms. Real orgasms. So, if you want to be a real man… you better learn how to please your partner. And doctor Evans, I believe you are the better person to answer questions on how to achieve that.”

“Hmmm, thanks Potter. For one, it’s extremely important to remember that different things work for different people. Sometimes a bit of experimentation is needed to find what works for you, both in regards to how you personally like to be touched, and who you want to be intimate with. Maybe you’re still on your journey to discover your sexuality, maybe you only want to have sex with a very specific person, maybe with several people, or maybe you don’t want to have sex at all. All of those are completely normal, valid situations. If sex is not something you want, there’s absolutely no need to rush it, nor do you need to feel ashamed if you enjoy it a lot. That is everyone’s personal choice and no one else’s business.”

Lily took a quick swig from her water bottle and glanced at James from the corner of her eye; he gave her an encouraging nod.

“Anyway, you guys are around 18 now, right? That means some of you have already had sex and some of you haven’t. The media often makes it seem like the first time is such a huge deal, but my personal view is that it should be treated similarly to any other experience you have during your life. You gained something. Great. Now let’s move onto the next experience. ‘Losing virginity’ is a horrible phrase that you will not hear me use in other contexts except this. I mean, too many people still think that sex is all about penetration and 'virginity' is something you 'lose' when a cock breaks the hymen. But here's the thing: not only are there many ways to have sex that do not involve penetration, but there's a lot of misinformation regarding hymens too. It’s a small piece of tissue surrounding the opening of the vagina that can come in many shapes and sizes and can break for a large variety of reasons. It does not tell you whether someone has had sex or not. So, if someone tries to tell you otherwise… Please know they’re wrong.”

She waited for a moment to see if someone wanted to comment or ask something before continuing.

“What else should you know about first times? Well, it’s often messy and awkward and nothing like books or movies make it sound, but the good news is: it gets better. And the best part is that you can practice on your own and learn to know your own body.”

James took over: “By masturbating. Which, by the way, is also totally normal and shouldn’t be something to be ashamed of. What happens in your bedroom, stays in your bedroom.”

“That’s right.” Lily agreed. “And when it comes to mutual pleasure, as I already said, there are other ways to reach it besides penetration. It’s good to learn what other erogenous zones you personally find enjoyable besides the obvious ones, and let me tell you, there are many, and some of them might be rather surprising. Some of the better known ones are for example ears and neck and inner thighs… But, how many of you knew that for example the backs of the knees or armpits are erogenous zones? Or hands? Or feet? Yep, you heard that right. Having your partner rub your feet can really help you get off.”

“Ah, yes. My personal favorite, armpits,” James joked.

“Don’t make fun of armpits, Potter. This is serious business.”

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t. Well, does anyone have questions at this point?”

Surprisingly many students had (Lily had a feeling that James had a big role in breaking the ice between them and the students), and once those questions had been answered and the students had been given pamphlets about the previous topics, she took 3D models of internal reproductive organs and external genitals from her bag and wanted to know if the students could name the various parts. Turned out, their knowledge was quite lacking; many didn’t for example know where the clitoris was located and a couple were even surprised to find out that urine and period blood come from different holes.

A bit later Lily stopped the discussion: “So, now that you know the names and locations of the spots that can give you pleasure, it’s time to move on. What else is important in good sex aside from knowing where to touch?”

“May I answer this question, Doctor Evans?” James winked at her.

“Aha, I see what you did there, Doctor Potter. What he just demonstrated here was asking for my consent. And indeed that is something that should never, ever be ignored when discussing sex.”

Lily cleared her throat and continued: “So, you all should at least in theory know what consent means. But how does it show in practice during a sexual encounter? Well, here’s one red flag you should pay attention to: if you, or your partner, need verbal persuasion or convincing it is not consent. You are not supposed to feel uncomfortable in that situation. Tell your partner how you feel, and ask them how they feel.”

“Trust me, everyone. Spoken consent is hot,” James chimed in. “A simple question like ‘what do you want to do?’ or ‘is this OK?’ can make a big difference.”

Lily’s mind went to an entirely wrong place for a moment as she pictured him saying exactly those things at her, in private. It took her a moment to collect herself and continue talking.

“Ahem. Anyway. Some people have higher tolerance than others, but regardless, sex is something that should be enjoyable to all involved, so you have every right to stop your partner if you’re not feeling comfortable.”

“And if your partner doesn’t respect your boundaries, it’s a sexual assault. Your partner is committing a crime against you and it should be immediately reported and you should also get medical treatment if needed. The sad fact is that many victims of sexual assault are too afraid to do that because sometimes it can be hard to prove it happened and they might feel guilty, ashamed or humiliated. But, if it does happen to you, please seek help. You’re not alone in that situation and there are people out there who want to help and protect you.”

At this point Lily absolutely hated herself for finding James so attractive when he was talking about something so serious. Withdrawing her eyes from him, she added:

“Exactly. That's what we healthcare workers are for. Also, something that I as a future gynecologist want you to know is that sometimes our body and mind don’t cooperate during a sexual encounter. Sometimes your body might be turned on even though your mind knows what’s happening is wrong and doesn’t know how to stop it. A rapist can claim the other party was willing simply because their body reacted in a way a body usually does when being touched. That doesn’t give them a right to do what they do.”

“Any questions? Our pamphlets have some useful phone numbers and websites that you can use if you’re ever in a questionable sexual situation.”

Once the pamphlets had been shared, they kept discussing consent with the students till the lesson was about to end.

“Let’s finish this with a happier note: done right, sex is a wonderful thing, and we hope that you got something out of this lecture,” Lily addressed the class once the discussion died down.

Apparently James couldn’t resist an opportunity to crack a joke: “Yep, even if it was simply that armpits can give you sexual pleasure.”

This made the students laugh again, and Lily glanced at her ‘partner in crime’ to see how he was doing. He seemed so at ease in front of the curious students and she couldn’t help but admire James a bit for handling a topic that too many people liked to avoid so calmly, with a glint of humor in his eye.

“Well, that went pretty well, don’t you think?” she asked when the students had left the room and she had started collecting her papers from the desk in front of her.

“Yep, I think so. Although I believe their teacher would have been scandalized had he been listening to our lecture.”

Lily couldn’t help but snort. “I probably shouldn’t say this but I was happy he chose to let us handle it on our own. I think the students were more at ease too.”

“Well, you’re not wrong there. It was honestly great to see this group so active.”

“Yeah, I rarely get this many questions when it’s just me lecturing,” Lily noted.

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short,” James bumped her arm with his elbow. “You did most of the work there and I think they really enjoyed the way you presented things. I was just the goofy comic relief person.”

“No, I think they loved you,” Lily protested. “I swear to God that those two girls that were constantly whispering in the back of the room had a crush on you, they kept staring and giggling at your jokes…”

“You seem to have paid a lot of attention to what the others thought of me,” James pointed out and Lily felt her face heat.

“Yeah, well… Of course I needed to see how they’d react so I’d know if you’re worth having as my assistant in the future.”

She turned to close her bag, mainly to hide her blushing, but before she managed to move far from the desk, she felt his fingers catch her wrist.

“Well? Was I?” he asked with an earnest expression on his face.

“Were you what?”

“Worth keeping as your assistant?”

“Hmmm… I might need a bit more convincing,” she grinned at him, hoping he'd get the hint.

“Oh.”

James froze for a moment, and Lily was almost out of the door when he practically exclaimed:

“Hey, Lily?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I try to do more convincing over dinner tonight?”

Lily could feel her smile widening.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

…

“… And then my cat managed to climb on top of the fridge and didn’t know how to get down from there so my roommate Mary and her date spent like an hour trying to help him while he sang the song of his people. He’s not very trusting of other people besides me. You can probably imagine that Mary wasn’t very happy with me or Merlin the next day,” Lily finished the story of how her cat had once escaped her room and climbed on the top of the fridge while her poor friend Mary had been trying to have a nice date in the kitchen of their old flat.

“Your cat’s name is Merlin?” James asked once he managed to suppress his laughter. “Like the wizard. I like that.”

“Yep, he was named after him,” Lily confirmed.

“Do you have photos of him? I’d like to see what this culprit looks like,” James inquired.

“Cat person, are you?” Lily asked, happy that she had immediately found something to bond over with James.

He shrugged. “Alright, I am, but don’t tell that to my roommate. I’d love to have a cat but unfortunately Sirius has a dog – and he claims he’s allergic to cats – so no can do. Maybe I should kick him out of my place; the guy definitely earns enough these days to be able to live on his own if he wanted to.”

“Maybe he’s just living with you to piss you off,” Lily suggested.

“You know, I wouldn’t be surprised. Anyway, here’s Padfoot.” James showed a picture of a big, black dog from his phone. “I tried to make him respond to the name ‘Elvendork’ when he was still a puppy but sadly that attempt failed.”

“Elvendork?” Lily repeated, unsure if she had heard the name right. “Why would you want to call a puppy that?”

“Why does everyone keep asking that? It’s a nice, unisex name!” James exclaimed with fake annoyance.

Lily put a hand on his arm as a peace offering of sorts. She wondered briefly how touches like this already felt so natural with this man. “Hey, you do you. But please don’t name your future child that, if you’re ever planning to have any.”

“Watch me try,” James declared, something about his mischievous grin only making him more endearing in Lily’s eyes.

“Poor future spouse of yours…” Lily tutted, shaking her head. James only chuckled at her. “Anyway, Padfoot looks adorable! “

“The looks can be deceiving,” James assured her. “I swear he’s capable of just as much mischief as Sirius when he’s feeling like it. Sometimes I’m not entirely sure they’re not one and the same…” Lily laughed. “I’d love to meet this Padfoot one day.”

“Maybe you will,” James noted, and Lily’s mind went to picture him playing with the black dog during a future date of theirs. She found herself wishing that it would happen. “Here, this is Merlin”, she showed James a photo of a handsome ginger cat lounging in front of a fireplace lazily.

“Seems pretty harmless to me,” James observed, referring to Lily’s earlier story. “But I guess it’s the same as with Padfoot. You never know what they are up to. I have to admit, I have a soft spot for gingers.”

He looked up from the photo, his eyes messaging her that he may not be talking about cats anymore.

“Oh,” she said, biting her lower lip shyly. “Yeah, they are pretty great, ginger cats.”

“Not just cats,” James confirmed her suspicion, taking a strand of her hair between his fingers and twirling it there. She hated how he somehow managed to make her feel like she was back in secondary school. She definitely hadn’t been prepared for the butterflies that were currently flying restlessly in her stomach.

When Lily’s brain started functioning enough for her to realize he was probably expecting some kind of response, she eventually asked: “Are you always such a flirt, Potter?”

“No,” he said firmly, looking into her eyes. “Only when I genuinely think the other person is interesting.”

She wasn’t sure what would have happened next if the bartender hadn’t picked that moment to come to ask them if they wanted something more to eat or drink. James lifted the hand he had momentarily set on her knee and ordered simply a glass of water (they had already had a couple of glasses of wine), saying he wasn’t fancying having to work the next day with a hangover. Lily decided to follow suit. “So,” James continued their conversation while he was chewing a nacho he had ordered earlier. “This isn’t exactly the most original question out there, but was there some specific reason why you chose to become an ob/gyn?”

“I think I’ve always considered this branch of medicine as really important. Periods, pregnancy, labor, those are things that about half of the people in the world have to deal with at some point in their life yet somehow I feel they are still horribly overlooked when we are talking about the bigger picture. I mean, you only need to look at what’s happening in the States; politicians make horrible decisions that restrict women’s rights to control their own body, and I personally believe that the lack of information is a huge factor on why that’s happening. There are too many examples where those politicians fail to answer even the simplest questions about for example how periods work. It is fucking maddening and I want to do my part that the people here, like the students we just taught, DO have some information. Well," her tone softened a bit, "obviously as an obstetrician I also get to help babies arrive into this world and that’s something that never ceases to amaze me… But I do consider the info spreading almost equally important because if we don’t do it, who will?!”

“My mother would probably have jumped onto that bar counter over there and yelled ‘you listen to that girl!’ if she had just heard your talk,” James said with amusement. “Her name is Euphemia Potter, she used to be a women’s rights activist when she was younger. Of course she’s still passionate about women’s rights still, just a bit old to participate in the marches and stuff anymore. Anyway, you’re of course right in everything you just said, and to be honest, I feel like I should be the one to jump onto that bar counter right now.”

Lily guessed her expression must have been horrified because James was quick to add: “Don’t worry, I won’t! But I just wanted to let you know my mother didn’t raise me to be a so-called ‘pro life’. My view is: you’re allowed to have your own personal beliefs but what someone else chooses to do with their body should be their and their choice only.”

“Yeah, it’s… there are no words for it,” Lily sighed. Even though she was getting upset thinking about the women’s situation on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, James’ speech had convinced her that she had made the right decision when she had agreed to join him for that dinner. “I’m sorry, this got a bit heavy. I don’t want to ruin this date so maybe we should move on to something lighter. So, why did you choose to be a surgeon?”

“Do you really want to know?” James asked, frowning for some reason.

“Of course I do.” Lily felt a bit confused about James’ reluctance to talk about it.

“Alright, then, but I have to warn you that this isn’t going to be the uplifting story you’re looking for. Nor something heroic like ‘I’ve always wanted to save people’s lives’. I mean, I do, but it started from more selfish reasons.”

“That’s fine. You can still tell me if you want to,” she encouraged.

James exhaled deeply and his hand went to muss his already rather messy hair. “Okay, so. My dad, who was my big idol growing up, died in a surgery when I was 18. It was just before I was supposed to start applying for unis. He had a cancerous tumor in his brain and when they tried to remove it… well, there were complications, and he didn’t make it. I got so mad. Back then I still had a child’s faith; I thought that once the operation was done, everything would be fine and dandy. I knew the doctors had talked to my parents about the possible risks, but I refused to accept such a possibility. So, afterwards, I desperately wanted to understand how something like that could happen. I kept reading book after book, article after article, about surgeries, and cancer, and somehow I wound up in Hogwarts med school. Yep, it was my pettiness and bitterness that got me there.”

“I’m sorry, James.” Lily covered his wrist with her hand. “I shouldn’t have made…”

“No, it’s fine.” He shook his head. “I mean, I’ve had time to come to terms with all this. Maybe… as horrible as it may sound, it may have been the push I needed. Up till then, I had always gotten everything I ever wanted, and just breezed through my life while many around me were struggling. I’m not going to deny that I could even be downright nasty when I felt like it. But that incident was a big wake up call to me, and these days I obviously have nothing but huge respect for the people in my field. It’s tough… really, really tough at times, but when you succeed… it’s worth it.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s the same in my field." Not feeling like dwelling on her personal work issues, she chose to change the topic: "If you don't want to talk about this, I understand, but seeing as you said that your father was your idol, I'd like to know more about him. What did he do for a living?”

“He was a chemist. He loved inventing new things.”

“Really?” Lily got excited. “I used to think that if I hadn’t decided to become a doctor I may have become a chemist instead. What sort of things did he invent?”

At this point James scratched his neck, as if he was a little embarrassed to admit something.

“You may or may not be familiar with Sleekeazy’s hair products….”

“No way! I love their conditioner!” Lily exclaimed. “You have no idea how difficult it would be to get the knots out of this mane without it.” She pointed at her hair needlessly.

“I honestly doubt your hair could look anything but nice, Evans.”

“Thanks, Potter, even though you’re wrong there.” She smiled at him shyly.

“Am not. My hair, on the other hand, can’t be tamed with any amount of Sleekeazy’s. Trust me, my mum has tried.” He combed his hair with his fingers and it stuck in all the possible directions.

Lily snorted. “Hey. I like it the way it is.”

James’ eyes widened slightly. “Really?”

“Believe it or not, yes. I do.” She leaned in to ruffle the dark locks, and was happy to find out they felt surprisingly soft. James closed his eyes at the touch, and Lily wondered if his cheeks had just gotten some extra color.

“Well… I’m glad you like it?”

Once Lily sat back down on her chair, she felt the need to say: “Thanks, James. For telling me all those things. I feel a bit silly now, to be honest, because I may have expected you to have a pretty different kind of answer to my original question.”

Even though she hadn’t elaborated on what kind of answer she was talking about, James seemed to understand: “Such as: ‘the money is good’? At some point I might have said ‘well, it’s a nice bonus’, but years have taught me that money doesn’t bring you happiness. Lame, I know, but it’s true. My dad wasn’t happy because he had money, he was happy despite it. He worked hard, and loved a lot and I suppose he’d want the same for me.”

The guy was attractive, smart, good with his hands, he spoke lovingly about his parents, and so on. Lily couldn’t help but wonder if she was dreaming this whole scenario in her head. “Um, this can be a horribly intrusive question, but how does a guy like you not have a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend?”

James chuckled awkwardly. “I suppose I could ask you the same question.”

That was yet another response Lily hadn’t quite anticipated. “What? Why?”

“Have you seen yourself?” he gestured at her. “Obviously I consider you really pretty, but that's simply the surface. Based on what I’ve heard today I’d say you’re…” he rested his chin on top of his fingers, pretending to thinking hard, “caring, very passionate about things that matter to you, sharp-witted – I only needed to listen to you lecturing today and I can say that – the type who doesn’t give up easily… or have I gotten that all wrong?”

“Oh… I guess I don’t really think of myself that way,” Lily muttered. “I’ve had a few people in my life tell me I’m a freak and way too ‘liberal’… presumably for advocating basic human rights. The worst part is that they were people I cared about deeply.” She thought about her sister and her childhood friend whom she had thought she could trust, but who had shown his true colors when she had started talking about her world views and found out that his were almost the exact opposite. “Maybe on some level I’ve started believing them… I tend to withdraw easily when I sense a potential relationship, because I don’t think I’m worthy enough.”

James covered her hand with his. “I do think you’re worthy enough. Those people were bloody idiots who don’t understand what’s good. As for your question, I'm single because work is keeping me busy and because I’ve had some… bizarre relationship experiences in the past. One only saw me as some magazine cover boy, one cared about my money a bit too much, one was seeing someone else behind my back, one told me we were better off as friends just when I thought it was getting serious… That was when I decided, ‘fuck it, better be single than whatever the hell that was’. Sirius has tried to get me out every once in a while but that’s usually been a waste of time.”

“That’s… too bad,” Lily said sympathetically. “Maybe the right person just hasn’t showed up yet.”

James brushed some strands of hair off his face, his eyes on his glass as he said quietly: “Or maybe the right person shows up when you don’t expect it… Like, at a random school?” Lily’s face was positively burning now.

“Are you saying…?”

“You look adorable when you’re flustered.” James’ face lit up when his eyes met hers again. “Hey, would you like to dance?” he asked before Lily could react to his statement. “This song is great.”

“Oh, sure,” she managed to stammer before he already took her hand and dragged her onto the dance floor.

The song was a fast one and Lily couldn’t help but giggle as James kept twirling her around. He wasn’t the best dancer she had ever met, but she found she didn’t mind one bit; the laughing was worth the risk of getting her toes stomped on in the process.

When the song changed, James pulled her closer and muttered into her ear: “I have a confession to make.”

“What kind of confession?” Lily asked curiously, not quite sure why her heart kept beating that hard only after one dance.

“When we were at med school… I may have wanted to ask you out.”

Lily’s eyes widened at that piece of information. “Why didn’t you, then?”

“Hell, you were way too good for an idiot like me. Top grades, the professors' favorite, always a lot of people around you… I didn’t want to know how I’d feel if you had said no to me. Besides, I was quite sure you must be seeing someone anyway.”

“You seem to have paid more attention to me than I did to you,” Lily observed, her voice apologetic.

“It was honestly quite hard to not to notice you,” James responded, his eyes finding hers. Again Lily felt her heart skip a beat. How was this guy so smooth? “I also don’t blame you for ignoring me; I was obnoxious as hell and I’m not even gonna deny that. Um. That is not to say that I’m some perfect prince these days because that’s far from the truth but you know. I try to learn. Keyword: try.”

“I think you are doing better than you think you do,” she gave him a smile that she hoped was reassuring.

“You know, when you look at me like that…” James started, but didn’t seem to know how to finish his thought.

“Yeah? Go on, you can tell me,” she encouraged.

“Well, I think it will make having to listen to Sirius whine about me ditching him for another doctor tonight worth it,” he settled on even though Lily had a feeling he had probably wanted to say more.

“So Sirius Black dragged you to film his lectures,” Lily chuckled. “I feel like I should have guessed that.”

“Er, yeah. I was supposed to have a couple of days off this week but I may have owed him this for ruining our chances at winning the pub quiz the other week,” he grinned sheepishly.

“Do I want to know how exactly you ruined that?” Lily raised her eyebrow, but her mouth was twitching.

“I’m not so sure you do,” James laughed, shaking his head.

Lily bit her lip to keep herself from laughing as well. She couldn’t help but notice that James noticed the gesture… and her eyes involuntarily went to his lips as well.

“Anyway…” he continued more quietly. “If he somehow knew that I’m thinking about kissing this lovely girl I met thanks to him… he would say that I owe him even more.”

“Yeah?” Lily said expectantly.

“… But I would argue it’s a risk worth taking,” he finished. His eyes were definitely on her lips now and Lily had absolutely no plans to stop him. “Since I may have told a whole class today that spoken consent is hot, I’m going to ask: may I?”

“You most definitely may,” she answered and before she had even properly finished her sentence, his hands had already found her cheeks and she was tiptoeing to give him easier access to her lips. Finally, their lips met. It started almost tentatively, but soon Lily felt her entire body tingling when he sucked and gently nipped her lower lip, a small sigh escaping her mouth. He took advantage of that and slipped his tongue in, and she happily followed suit.

Lily barely even registered them leaving the dance floor. The next thing she knew, they were making out in an empty hallway of the hotel where she was staying, their hands and mouths exploring all the available skin, and Lily could feel the heat build up inside her as he propped her against the wall, the increasing hardness in his pants telling her that he wanted this just as much as she did.

Somehow, they managed to stumble to the entrance of Lily’s hotel room. They both were panting when they stopped the snogging for a moment, and James leaned his forehead against hers.

“I want to let you know that I don’t usually drag the first doctor who happens to stop to watch my lecture into my hotel room during one of these events… But… I may be willing to make an exception this time,” Lily whispered. “That is, if you want to.”

James had an almost mischievous twinkle in his eye when he said: “Hmm… I really need to consider this for a moment…” Lily rolled her eyes. “This lovely woman whom I happened to have a crush on years ago asks me to come into her hotel room…”

“Oh, shut up…” Lily said but her eyes and mouth probably betrayed her.

“Good luck shutting me up. I’ll have you know that I can be rather talkative in the bedroom… or hotel room…” he whispered into her ear, hot air from his mouth tickling it.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she muttered and claimed his mouth with hers again while one of her hands was fumbling in her pockets, trying to find the card key to the room.

“Yes, it’s definitely a yes.” He smiled against her mouth. She managed to find the card and pulled him into her room. …

Some minutes later, they were laying on the hotel bed with notably less clothes on, facing each other as their hands wandered on each other’s bodies.

“I know we already did our fair share of warming up but… what would you say if we took that to the next level?” James asked, pushing a strand of her hair that was threatening to fall on her face behind her ear.

“What do you mean?” Lily raised her eyebrow. One side of her might have been happy just lying there staring into his hazel eyes, which she could see more clearly now that he had taken his glasses off. The other side of her, however, was burning and demanding his touches, and it became harder to ignore it.

He seemed almost bashful when he said: “I would be interested in seeing if those erogenous zones you kept talking about today are worth the hype.”

“Oh, were you one of those guys who just go straight below the belly after all? I must say, I’m disappointed,” Lily teased.

“Oh, no, no. I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just like you said, different things work for different people, and I must admit I’m kind of keen on finding out what works for you.”

Lily felt like fanning her face with her hand like one of those girls she had seen in the Regency era films. When had she last slept with someone who had actually cared about what she liked? She didn’t remember.

“Mmmh. Go ahead, show me what you got, then,” she encouraged, instead of saying her thoughts aloud. … And did he ever do what he had promised.

He planted a couple of kisses on her temple – a gesture which Lily found surprisingly and adorably soft – before he moved his focus to her ears. She could feel him puffing a bit of hot air into one of them before he gently nipped her earlobe. Then he tentatively nudged the back of her ear with his nose and after finding a spot that made Lily bend her head to give him better access he kissed her there. She had to stop herself from moaning immediately.

Even though Lily had enjoyed the kisses behind her ear, James made sure that he didn’t focus on one spot too long. The nape of her neck had always been one of Lily’s favorite places to receive kisses on and when she felt James’ soft lips there she couldn’t stop herself anymore. Her fingers dug into his hair and her hips thrust against him on their own accord.

“Oh,” James smirked against her neck. “I think I’m starting to get a hang of it. But this is just the beginning.”

His words made something hot pool straight to her core and she had to close her eyes to keep herself together.

“Big promises, mister,” she muttered as her hands slowly moved from his hair to his nicely shaped shoulders.

“Well, I never do things by halves, that’s for sure.” He was now hovering above her, carrying his weight with his arms, and she got a chance to admire him from close. Lily made a mental note to ask him about what kind of working out he did whenever she had a chance, because the guy was /fit/. She herself did also try to make sure she was in pretty good shape because working the long hospital shifts was no joke and exercising did help her keep her mind clear, but James looked like he was a professional athlete. She had to resist the urge to squeeze his biceps and run her hand on his abs right then and there, although given the situation they were in, he probably wouldn’t have minded.

Her ogling did not go unnoticed by James whose grin bordered on cocky, but somehow he managed to make even that look attractive.

“Like what you see?” he asked while his lips brushed her collarbone.

“Hmm. The evaluation is still underway.” She let her fingers lightly trace those exact places she had thought about a moment earlier, and felt his breath hitch on his throat.

“I can make your evaluation a bit easier… or harder, depending on how you see it,” he murmured and bowed down to give one of her breasts a teasing kiss over the fabric that was still covering them.

“Just take it off, will you?” Her frustrated tone made James laugh.

“You are impatient, Evans,” he teased but reached for her back when she arched it slightly so he could untie the clasp more easily. His fingers found it fast and once he had stripped her free from the bra, it was his turn to stop to admire her. The way he lightly bit his lip while his eyes traveled up and down on her body was quite adorable, she had to admit.

“Like what you see?” Lily mocked his voice, but in reality she was trying to hide how flustered she was feeling. It had been a moment since someone had last watched her that way, and something about those hazel eyes that looked almost golden when the light hit them made her even more conscious about herself than she usually was.

“I’m not even going to try to deny that yes, I do,” he said firmly, his cheeks also gathering some color. “You are bloody beautiful, Evans. I’m gonna have to buy Sirius chocolate or something as a thank you for dragging me to that school.”

“Wow,” was all Lily could respond because when James lowered his lip onto her breast, she nearly forgot how to form words.

“I’ve heard that it’s possible for a woman to get an orgasm from touching breasts,” James mumbled as his hands and mouth were working to rile her up even further. Lily buried her head into a pillow to muffle the sounds she was making; he was way too good at what he was doing. “However…” he lifted his head and his hand stopped kneading her other breast, his eyes glinting mischievously when she dared to take a quick look, “tempted as I may be to try, I think we are gonna want to get further than that.”

“Mmm-h” Lily hummed against the pillow, not having anything against his plans.

James took her hand into his and lifted it to meet his lips. Lily hadn’t known before that feeling someone suck her fingers that way could send such sensations down her spine; maybe the researchers who had written those articles about erogenous zones were onto something. And it wasn’t just with the fingers, but also the palms of her hands and that sensitive spot on her wrist…

From there James moved to press open mouthed kisses down her belly and over her knickers, but just when Lily thought he might finally be ready to finish the slow (but wonderful) torture he was doing, he sat up on the bed and Lily shot him a disappointed look.

“Why did you stop?” she asked.

He cocked his eyebrow. “Patience. I believe I said I want to explore as many different erogenous zones as possible and I’m a man of my word.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“One second. I’m going to pick up a couple of things that should be useful in a bit.”

He got up from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom of her hotel room. Soon he reappeared with a damp looking small towel in his hands, stopping to search for a condom from Lily’s work bag, where he knew she still had a few left from her lectures. Lily watched him with mild confusion when he threw those things to the bedside table.

“Umm… I can understand why you see the condom as useful – I appreciate you listening to that part of my lecture, by the way – but what do you plan to do with a wet towel?”

“You’ll see in a moment,” James said. Then he looked at her with a soft expression. “Now, I know I’ve made my intentions pretty clear, but I still want to emphasize that if at any point you want to stop, please just tell me. I want you to feel comfortable.”

“Thanks, James.” She nodded at him. “That’s… good to hear.” She briefly wondered if she should confess a thing that had been in her mind quite a bit that day and finally decided to go for it. “I’ve been in a couple of situations in the past where my ex didn’t…“ She noticed James’ worried expression and rushed to continue: “he didn’t really care about what I wanted or how I felt… That did leave a mark on me. But you’ve already proved today that you do care about how you make me feel…So know that I do want this.”

He pecked her cheek reassuringly.

“I’m really sorry about that bloke. Guess some of us can be bloody idiots. I feel like a hypocrite when I say this but to me sex is something that both parties involved should enjoy and I intend to stick to that mind set.”

“But… we’ve been focusing on me so far…” Lily frowned.

James just grinned. “Trust me, I get a huge kick out of getting off someone as gorgeous as you. And, if that’s what you want, you’ll get your turn with me soon enough.”

“Looking forward to it,” she chuckled before resting her head on the pillow again.

James sat back down on the bed again, near her feet. When he put her feet on his lap, Lily looked up at him with mild confusion.

“You’re really going to stick to your word, huh?”

“Yep,” James popped the ‘p’ with his mouth. Without further exchange of words, he took one of her feet into his hands and began slowly massaging it. Lily was almost going to protest, wishing he’d massage a different part of her body already, but then he found a spot in her foot that felt really damn good and an involuntary moan escaped her mouth.

“That good, huh?”

“I… really wasn’t expecting that. But keep on doing what you’re doing.”

“I will.”

By the time James switched to her other foot, Lily was imagining what else he could do with that magic touch. At that point she couldn’t even make herself care that she was probably making ridiculous sounds. After a rather loud whimper James seemed to decide it was time to move forward and he laid down on his stomach between her legs while his fingers and lips kept traveling up her thighs, eventually stopping to squeeze them. Lily’s hips kept trying to go upwards to find some friction, which James noticed, because he rose and climbed back on top of her. Only the thin underwear was separating them when their hips met over and over again while James was snogging her, her hands clinging to his back like her life depended on it.

“Lily, fuck… we need to slow down a bit or I’ll…”

She, able to feel the hardness against her thigh, understood. James attempted to calm himself down for a moment before he returned back to the space between her thighs. He sucked the skin of her inner thighs, his nose almost nudging the spot where Lily wanted his mouth the most, but again he stopped just when she thought he’d go for it.

“James!” Lily groaned impatiently and she could basically feel him smirk against her thigh. He pressed one final kiss there and got up.

“You’re a real pain, I hope you know that,” Lily muttered, disappointed by the lack of his skin on hers.

“And you’re still impatient. I was just planning to show you what the towel is for.”

“Oh.”

James picked up the towel from the bedside table and returned to her, sitting between her legs again before leaning down to kiss her on the mouth. She hummed happily into it, but soon James’s mouth left hers as he continued his path down her body. The towel was following his mouth, the wetness feeling nice on her heated skin.

At very last James returned to the spot where he had been earlier, looking up once more to ask her permission to remove the knickers, and she nodded greedily. Once James had removed the last piece of clothing she was wearing, he set the towel over her lower abdomen and Lily started to understand what it was good for. That part of her had always been sensitive to touch, and the warm water made the sensation even stronger.

Before fully going for it, James snuck his index finger inside her and tested what kind of movement elicited the strongest reaction from her. Lily thought she shouldn’t be surprised he found it so fast when she started riding his hand before she could stop herself.

“Looks like the lesson didn’t go to waste,” he muttered, his finger glistening with her wetness when he removed it from inside her, only to replace it with his mouth. Kissing, licking, sucking and helping with his hand, he drove her positively crazy, and she wished it would never end.

“Is that good?” He asked against her.

“Fuck, James, what do you think… please don’t stop!”

James responded by deepening his movements.

It didn’t take long to get her over the edge after that. When she could feel the waves of orgasm coming, she opened her eyes just a bit to see the raven mop of hair between her legs, her fingers reaching to comb it, and for a moment she thought she had never seen anything hotter. But soon even that thought vanished from her mind because he reached a particularly good spot and she finally let go, her whole body trembling in pleasure as she came against his mouth.

“Fuck,” she finally managed to say when her breathing slowed down and a satisfied bliss took over. James had crawled next to her and covered them both with the sheets. “I will always ask for a foot rub from now on. And that towel thing? Where did you learn that from?”

“It was mentioned in an article I saw on the internet… I may or may not have gotten curious and looked up more info on erogenous zones after you talked about them during the lecture… Turns out even I still have some things to learn.” He had a mischievous glint in his eye as he said that.

“Well, I’m glad you did your research,” Lily chuckled. “And if you learned something else you want to share… You know I’m always up for some new ideas.”

“Does that mean you want to do it again?” James asked, a mixture of awe and amusement.

“Don’t sound so surprised.” She pulled him closer. “After what you just did… You’re not gonna get rid of me so easily.”

“Oh, I’m scared now,” he teased.

“Besides… I think we need to do something about this…” Her hand wandered down to his boxers, “… situation here.”

For once he went speechless, and Lily took advantage of that and kissed him on the mouth before sneaking her hand inside his boxers.

…

“Good morning, beautiful.” Lily woke up to the feeling of someone brushing some strands of hair from her face. It took her a moment to remember where she was and with whom she was and what exactly had happened. Her first reaction was: ‘Did I really do that? 3 times? With someone I met yesterday?’ Lily usually preferred to know the person she was dating well enough before jumping into bed with them, but she found that in this particular case she couldn’t really care less about that now. She also wasn’t one to believe in love at first sight but she had a weird feeling that this may be the beginning of something much more than just a work acquaintance.

“Good morning, you. What’s the time?”

“Just 6:45. You don’t have to be teaching before 9, do you?”

Lily sighed; the reality of her having to work in only a couple of hours setting in. But she would definitely try to get the best of the time she had before that.

“You’re right, I don’t. Although a shower and a breakfast before that would be quite lovely… Someone had me up doing some exercising till like midnight so I’m feeling a little sweaty… and hungry…”

“Someone had, eh?” James grinned. “Sounds like a lucky bloke.”

“Hmmm… I suppose he did get kinda lucky.” She let her hand wander on his bare chest before resting it on his shoulder. He rose partially on top of her so he’d have an easier access to her lips.

“Real talk, though, Lily.” Something about the way he said her name so softly made her heart melt. “I had a really, really good time with you last night. And I do consider myself very lucky that I happened to run into you here.”

Lily had been hoping she was already past the blushing phase with him, but turned out that wasn’t the case.

“I… feel the same way,” she replied bashfully. Her hand was stroking his neck and jaw now. “Can you imagine? We could have learned to know each other better back in med school… But looks like some force decided that no, now is the time.”

“And I still curse that med school me for not being braver and approaching you. Back when I was a kid everyone always used to say I was brave… Lies. But… you know, I would like to make up for the lost time.” “Oh? How would you do that?”

“I would start by kissing you…” He kissed her. “... and taking a shower with you… and having breakfast with you, preferably here in the bed… after that I’m afraid I’ll have to go find Sirius because otherwise he’ll murder me… I only sent him a really quick text last night saying that I'll see him tomorrow… But before anything else, there’s something I’d like to ask you…”

“Yeah? What is it?” Lily asked, hoping she knew what was coming.

“I’d like to know if you’d like to meet up again next weekend?”

“I already promised Mary we’d hang out on Saturday…”

Disappointment flashed on James’ face for a moment.

“... But… on Sunday I should have time.”

His smile couldn’t have been wider when he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

“It’s a date then.”

[im-not-a-l0ser]

Hi, today sucked, lemme tell you all the reasons it sucked in chronological order

I woke up at 1 am and read for a while. I did not get back to bed until 5 am.

I woke up approximately 15 minutes before I had to be out the door, so despite my planning to take a shower and wear a Victorian esc clothing today (for throwback Thursday, dumb school thing) I couldn't.

I didn't eat last night, so for the first time this semester I got breakfast from the cafeteria and it was not good.

We were practicing hand and arm massages in class for state board and wow, I fucking hated the smell, feeling and all around company of the lotion we were using.

I didn't charge my phone last night so I had my phone (and laptop) plugged in for my last two periods of school.

It was warm enough that I didn't need my jacket (a comfort item) so I took it off and put it over my backpack. It fell on the dirty bus floor while I was napping through the half hour bus ride.

My laptop wasn't plugged in properly so it was nearly dead when I got home.

Dad said we were going to the library to file my taxes. Okay, gotcha, I won't change into my home clothes, I'll just switch my binder out for a bra.

My sheets were dirty and I didn't want to lay in my gross bed with clean clothes on so I stripped my mattress and brought the sheets downstairs, where I find the washing machine on a self cleaning cycle. It was at 0, but I guess that's not done?

I notice that my little siblings who had lice for a couple days have put clothes in the laundry basket downstairs, which has my prom dress in it. Prom is on Saturday and I am literally too afraid to dig through their shit to find the dress.

I return to my room and work on chapter two of a story, but it's getting late and my dad hasn't called me out to the van yet.

I only learn my dad is home when he sends a picture of dinner to the gc. I leave my room to ask when we're doing taxes; he tells me he's eating and that I should eat too.

Twenty minutes later (like 7:50 pm at this point), we finally start my fucking taxes.

Very long annoying process, to learn that state taxes should not be filed through this site for me. It worked just fine for my sibling. I ask dad if we can do it tomorrow and he says taxes are due in four days. Whatever.

We go to a different site to file my state taxes where I try to register twice and it denies me both times for my laptop having a VPN. I do not control that; it's my school laptop and it didn't even process that's what the issue was for like 10 minutes.

Dad tells me to go to bed. He's tired. That's when I'm allowed to go to bed, when he's tired.

I return to my room and realise my sheets have never been put in the wash, and I can't sleep without a blanket. And for obvious reasons, I only trust that one blanket right now.

I shove it in the wash for a half hour load, but it doesn't fucking matter because my sister's shit is in the dryer at 45 minutes. She doesn't have an empty basket in the bathroom to put the dry stuff into should it finish and someone else needs to. Her shit is going on the floor in about 20 minutes.

I'm laying on my bed, very cold, just waiting for the fucking wash to be done so I can go to sleep. Except, I know it won't be because my sheets take like two hours to dry at high heat, which also means I won't have my comfort jacket for tomorrow.

I just want to go to sleep and can't because I'm stressing over the idea of going to school in not my comfort jacket.

Honorable mentions: My cosmetology textbook has really misleading information regarding synthetic wigs and its pissing me off. I was supposed to go to Walmart today so I could get breakfast for tomorrow. We had a test in English that gave me a lot of anxiety.

[chronicbeans]

If you are in the mood to write. I’d like an update on the illustrator one or anything your heart wants to write . I just love your writing and you inspired me to write.

Okay! I'll write something original down, simply because all of the fanfiction that I write is meant to work as a practice for a possible career in making original stories! OwO my main goal is to try to bring awareness to chronic illness, so I'll make this one based on one of those ideas.

Meeting Aluminum

TW: Chronic Illness, Hospital Settings, Mentions of Medical Procedures

It was so odd when I first woke up here. This large, looming hospital covered in off pinks, purples, and whites. The grass beneath me was red, instead of green, and the leaves on the trees were green. The hospital itself looked much more like a mansion. In fact, I wouldn't have known it was a hospital if it weren't for the sign on the front.

"The Iolite Hospital for the Mentally and Physically Unwell - We will keep you Here for as Long as You" the rest was scribbled out, before someone wrote "ARE SICK" to replace whatever was originally said.

I was then found by two odd men in white coats. One had no eyes, but seemed to see through an eye on his necktie. The other had four eyes on his face. The two of them tried speaking to me, which didn't work. I can't talk, unfortunately. I can only write down my words. The one with no eyes turned to the other, whispering to him. I could make out only a little. "Mute... Probable long-term... Yes, long stay."

I was then brought into the cafeteria, which is where I am now. They had given me a notebook before I got here. I look around, too nervous to sit with others, but there are no empty seats. I hear some talk about one of the many patients, as well as people turning to look at him for a few seconds, before quickly turning back to their groups.

"Did you hear about Aluminum? They say he's going to be a long-term patient. Possibly lifetime patient!" "I heard the doctor backed out of his endoscopy when they saw how narrow it was. Can't believe it got back to being that bad within just a year." "I heard his family is glad they won't have to deal with him anymore." "Well, I heard they never took care of him in the first place."

I look to the man everyone is looking at. He is sitting all alone, picking at his food. He seems to be like one of the men outside, as in, he has no eyes. Unlike that man, he seems to see through the various eyes he's scribbled onto his hospital gown with black marker. He can probably see everyone who is talking about him from the literal eyes on his back. That doesn't even account for how loud they are. His skin is a pale peach, with his cheeks dotted with blue freckles. The most notable part is his full head of orange, curly hair, and the two white wings floating above it. They seem to bop and bob as he moves his head from side to side, fluttering whenever he swallows the food he is eating.

I decide to walk over and sit with him. In part due to his table having the least people, as well as to just keep him company. I sit next to him, taking a few bites of my food, before picking up my notebook. He turns his face up to me, as if he only just noticed that I sat next to him. I turn the page to face him. He softly mutters to himself, reading aloud. "'Hello, my name is Derek. I'm sorry, I can't talk. I hope the others aren't getting to you'... Hey, Derek. It's alright. No need to apologize. The others are rather loud, but I'm used to it. They marvel at the other... Ahem... "Long-term patients", too. They can't seem to understand the meaning of a lifelong illness."

I write again, before turning it to him. "'Sorry to hear that. I heard I might be a long-term patient, too. Can we be friends?' Umm... sure? Just know that I tend to vent, alot. Most of the others do, too. I guess it is a mutual understanding that venting about our frustration at the doctors here is a good thing for our mental health. They don't have psychologists or psychiatrists here. Not even a therapist. Well, they have physical therapists, respiratory therapists... just not MENTAL HEALTH therapists. So, there isn't anyone else to talk to, besides each other. You get me?" I nod. "Good. I guess, since we are friends, I might as well show you the ropes of this place..."

[auroragehenna]

No matter how much you squirm you won‘t get out ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AI-less Whumptober

Day 13 (Words carved into skin)

TW/CW: Deranged whumper vision, creepy whumper, pet whump, defiant whumpee-trying at least, scared whumpee, sadistic whumper, intimate whumper, carving, owning, cconditioned pet whumpees, magical whump, electrocution, lady whump Word count: 2'031

When Harmonia woke up, she did not expect to see Electra wait for her. Sitting on an armchair next to her at the fireplace. Where the fuck did that Ash bather get that chair now?! She quickly sat up, wings flapping a bit. "What are you doing here? So early.”, she asked.

Electra raised an eyebrow.

“I mean-good morning, Ma’am. ", Harmonia quickly corrected her mistake.

Electra smiled. "Well, I am here to sweeten up your morning and I have some good news for you."

"What are they, Ma'am?" Did I finally make it?!

“You're allowed to eat in the cafeteria with the other dolls. For good behaviour!" she replied, still smiling.

“Really? Thank you, Ma'am!" Stupid idiot.

Electra got up and waited for her angel to prepare herself and follow her outside. She led her through the labyrinth of hallways in the mansion until they arrived at a big double door. Two guards were placed on either side. “Now, go inside. Eat. And then wait for me afterwards. Don’t cause me any trouble. Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes, Ma’am. Thank you.”

Electra nodded contently and walked away while the guards opened the door.

Harmonia walked a few steps into the gigantic room until her brain could finally process what her eyes were seeing. Her legs gave in under her and she fell to her knees. There were rows and rows of creatures. Tables filled with them. Barely any empty seats. She couldn’t even clearly see the end of the hall. I never knew there were so many… But before more despair could sink in she was pushed hard into the small of her back by a guard. She had to keep moving. As if in trance she got up, went to get her food-and it looked way better than what she had eaten so far-and searched for an empty seat. Finally she found one towards the end of the hall. Harmonia sat down on the wooden seat and was glad that her legs carried her this far. She felt sick but she knew she needed to eat. Otherwise she would only regret it later.

Next to her was a boy that looked like he was a fae. With short, fluffy hair and elegant clothes. Opposite of her were a centaur laying on a special furniture and a girl that looked like she was a cupid. Or had been a cupid. But definitely an angel.

Harmonia gulped. She scanned the girl’s red hair and her pink dress uniform. Her white wings were smaller than Harmonia’s but way fluffier. She eventually noticed something was off, looked up and met her gaze. She looked terrified and instantly ripped her gaze away.

“You should really eat.”, the fae boy said. “There’s not so much time and you’re already late.”

That’s not wrong, she thought. “Thanks. You’re right.”

The three were loosely holding conversation while Harmonia was eating. They were talking about what they would do today. The fae boy wanted to go outside. Cupid wanted to talk to the others if she could. Specifically to one in particular and the centaur just wanted to lay near the fire, their once broken legs were aching badly today. But they all said the same thing. As long as Electra didn’t need them.

“Aren’t you tired of this?! How can you just accept that that’s all there is? She’s a monster! How can you be okay with that?!”, Harmonia interrupted them with silent urgency.

“Be okay with it? We love her. And she loves us. She’s given us everything. You’ll see.”, Cupid said.

“But you can’t say things like that!”, the centaur said.

“It’s rude. And mean.”, Fae-boy added.

Harmonia was just sitting there in shock but she didn’t want to give up yet. “She tortured you!! Kidnapped you from your old lives and imprisoned you! When was the last time any of you-“

“Quiet!”, Cupid now said sternly. “You’re talking non-sense. And I don’t want to get into trouble only because you’re in denial! The world outside has hurt you but trust me she can make it better. She will make you right.”

Harmonia just sat there, staring at her emptied plate, and trying not to throw up. Then a loud bell sounded and instantly all the creatures around her got up and walked orderly out of the hall. Harmonia followed, again as if in trance until she was held back by the guards.

“You wait here.”

Harmonia rolled her eyes, but she didn’t have to wait very long.

«So? How did it go?" asked the demoness's cold voice from behind Harmonia. She quickly spun around, bowing her head. "It was a very interesting experience, Ma'am, thank you. Electra raised her eyebrows. "So, you had no trouble whatsoever?" she asked again. "I mean the food was something I have never eaten before, and probably something you wouldn't find in Paradisio.-But it was tasty!" Electra took a fast step forward and slapped Harmonia hard across the face. Harmonia's head flew to the side and as the sound echoed in the hallway. She felt the painful sting of the slap paired with a faint needles and pins of electricity. "You're lying to me, doll.", she warned coldly.

"N-No." Harmonia tried.

"Oh please, don't try to make yourself sadder than you are."

Harmonia sent her a hateful glare through the fear that had settled deep in her bones by now.

"Did you really think I didn't know that you would try to turn my dolls against me? Did you really think I trusted you enough to let you out? No, you haven't yet seen the right way, and this was a test to prove it to me and to yourself. Now come along. I am gracious enough to still help you. And we will also have to punish your disobedience, am I right?"

"Bullshit!", Harmonia cussed out.

"You can either come willingly or I can make you, your choice."

"Okay, okay.. ..I'm coming…"

Electra led her through the labyrinth of hallways until they somehow arrived at a familiar wide staircase. Honestly how was her orientation in this mansion so bad?! Yes, she hadn't been let outside of her room much but still. This couldn't be right. Carefully, afraid of overstepping a boundary she reached out and let her white skin grace over the marble of the railing. It felt so familiar. An ache flared up in her heart and she had to hold back tears. "Fuck, I wanna go home.", she whispered to herself.

Electra's gaze quickly shot back to where Harmonia was walking. She had heard the girl's comment and as much as it angered her, she could make use of this yet.

After a few minutes the two arrived before a dark wooden door. It wasn't Electra's bedroom that's for sure. That door looked different. The door now opened after Electra had laid her hand on it. She stepped to the side and made a gesture for her to walk first.

"After you, my doll."

Harmonia suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and walked into the dim room. It had no windows, but a large number of spotlights illuminated the room. Now she could see that the walls were over and over covered with portraits. There must be pictures of thousands of creatures, she guessed by the length of this gallery. There were little plackets with text under each picture. Harmonia read one under the picture of what looked like a night elf or something. There was the date when she was kidnapped and how, the date in which she became...obedient and date of death.

Electra kept silent, just watching her doll. She could see the horror on her face. It was beautiful and she was excited at the thought of getting to see more of it very soon. Her angel looked down the hall and her wings twitched nervously. Then she looked up. Electra guessed that she was trying to calculate the number of slaves she owns and had owned. Then her doll slowly turned around, wings spreading out threateningly. "Yes? Speak your mind.", she encouraged her.

“You’re a monster. How can you do this? What is wrong with you?!”

Electra just chuckled humourlessly. “I thought I made clear that you shouldn’t call me that last time, my doll. Did I not?”

Harmonia shivered but she didn’t let go. “These are all people! They have their own lives! You-You’re-They don’t love you! They’re just scared!”

“Yes. Criminals”, she drawled the word out. “They were all on a misguided path. Unhappy says the fucking criminal herself, hypocritical bitch I took them in and gave them a better life. And all I ask for in return for saving them is a bit of devotion and obedience. That is not too much to ask for. Soon enough you will see it too.”. She stepped forward to Harmonia, from the flick of her finger a fine line of electricity shot towards her angels left wing. She instantly pulled them in in pain and her demeanour significantly lost fire. Electra gently but firmly grabbed her shoulders and led her forward to the end of the gallery. There were some newer looking portraits and Electra guided her angel to one particular portrait.

Harmonia’s breath caught as she recognized who was on the picture. It was her! It was a picture from when she was still with her family. Filled with dread she forced her gaze lower, onto the metal plaquette. There was the date of her capture-her failed mission. There was no date of death yet. And at the date of obedience-Harmonia froze, dread settling itself in her so overwhelmingly powerful that she couldn’t sense anything else.

Date of obedience: Soon…

“So? Have you seen enough?”, Electra murmured next to her doll’s ear, nuzzling her head into her fluffy hair. I really hate to do this to you but I need to make sure my message settles in. I can’t stand seeing you suffer for so long. She pulled a blade out of the folds of her clothing and with ease let it magically pass though the layers of clothing. As soon as she felt the tip of the knife touch skin she heard Harmonia whimper. A silent, barely audible, beautiful sound. She began to carve, line for line, using her magic to cauterize the wounds instantly. With another flick of her hand she projected a mirrored image in front of Harmonia’s face, so she could see what she was working on. But her angel struggled and nearly made her mess up. “Stop!-Moving so much! I might hurt you.”, she warned and was pleased to feel her doll’s resistance die. She finished the circle around her work and felt the old-known feeling confirm that she did everything right. “This.”, she said slowly, simultaneously craving the word on the line of her spine upwards, between her wings. “Is.”, another whimper from Harmonia, “Home.”, she finished and stepped back to admire her work. Her sigil and three words lining herself up over her back. Electra heard a broken sob coming from Harmonia. She gently turned her angel around, cupping her doll’s cheek, wiping away a tear. “Hey, I’m sorry my dear, I don’t want to hurt you, I’m only trying to help. So you don’t plague yourself. As soon as you understand that you will be happy. Truly happy. Come here.”, she said and hugged her angel, careful not to touch the wounds on her back.

Harmonia started sobbing in the demoness’ arms, she didn’t want to but there was no stopping it. She barely realized that they were leaving the room, walking with her head buried in Electra’s clothing and the demoness’ arm wrapped around her. She only faintly realized that they sat on a bed and her hands were pulled up and chained to a bed post. She felt Electra’s arms wrap around her again and the softness of the bed and allowed herself to just cry.

Electra held her angel tightly and the last thing her maids saw of her before they closed the door was the triumphant sadistic grin laying on her face.

Taglist: @yourlocalgaefae33, @princessofhe11, @greatkittencloud, @bisexuawolfsalt, @ailesswhumptober Series introductory post

[adlamu]

I'm always down to hear a ghost story :)

okay, so! for some context, the row of houses within the hq grounds were pulled down stone by stone from their original street and rebuilt stone by stone in the grounds as a preservation thing - everything else is 100% purely original within the parc padarn grounds (like the hq building, train line, and quarry hospital).

when i was growing up it was the place for school trips and my mum worked at the quarry hospital museum for several years so i was over there a lot - moreso when all of the museums became free, because it was something to do and i liked going to work with mam.

i've had multiple experiences, mostly in the quarry hospital, then in gilfach ddu most of them were in manager's apartment, y caban (the quarrymen's cafeteria on-site), and 2/4 of the houses - specifically the Nid Oes Bradwr (there is no traitor) house and the 1960s house.

quarry hospital:

i picked up a phone handset of a landline that hadn't been connected in 80yrs at the time (and could not be connected because it was old-fashioned 1920s pins) and heard a dial tone.

witnessed two apothecary drawers open by themselves.

heard men's voices talking in the empty ward room before opening time.

saw indents in two separate beds as though someone were lying on and sitting on them.

strong smell of fresh blood (it normally smelled of years of dried blood & cleaning product) in the examination room.

footsteps up and down the hallway when it was just me and my mum in the building.

heard two Heavy doors open and close by themselves after closing when all the staff, me, and my sister were all in the staff room - we all heard it and we all investigated to find nothing.

got told to 'get out' of the examination room by a very distinct male voice when it was literally just me in there and no one else but mam in the building.

outside morgue shed having stench of fresh blood - it hasn't been used in well over 100yrs by then.

outside morgue shed also having a great sense of Fear inside (when it wasn't locked, you could go inside) and me and three separate people heard 'help!' in a heavy welsh accent while we were in there.

outside morgue shed whilst with my mam i heard someone ask 'am i dead?' and i looked at mam who said 'what d'you mean are you dead?' all in welsh.

manager's apartment:

saw a faint/whispy image of a girl in the closed off, inaccessible kitchen, stood by the stove.

smelled strong, fresh pipe tobacco smoke in the sitting room.

saw two keys on the piano being pushed down by themselves but no sound came out.

heard a heavy-accented welsh woman's voice say 'welcome' in english when me and my sister were the first ones in amongst a group of english tourists.

y caban:

heard a man's voice say 'hogyn Jos bach wyt ti?' (little jonesy's boy, aren't you?) in a completely empty caban because me and my sister were the only two in the area and she could smell heavy pipe tobacco - our great-grandad worked there and was referred to as 'jos bach', apparently.

saw one of the clogs at the hang up move to the other end of the area by itself.

saw one of the coats' collars pop up by itself - followed immediately by another coat's sleeve moving upward by itself.

smelled a very distinct smell of fresh bread (this is before they put food in the canteens).

saw one of the benches move by itself - in front of me and my sister, two american tourists, an english family, and a german couple.

nid oes bradwr house:

the feeling of being glared at in the upstairs when speaking english.

seeing a shadow in a Very lit living area that felt >:| before i spoke to my mam in welsh - specifically about the traditional big bible they had on the table.

seeing an english tourist get ponked by cheese w/ Nobody near the cheese (which was in a closed off section to stop people getting at the cheese).

hearing 'gad lonydd i'r tân' (leave the fire be) in a man's voice when the room was full of women.

witnessing an english man turn & apologise to nothing 3 separate times in one visit because he'd been poked in the side.

hearing heavy footsteps upstairs when it was closed off.

1960s house:

strong, Strong smell of toast in one specific part of the kitchen - there was no toaster in there at the time and it smelled fresh - food & drink are not allowed inside any of the houses.

hearing running water in the bathroom - none of the houses are connected to any plumbing.

seeing a dress in the washroom be inspected by something - the hem was moved up and dropped.

four of the toys in the teenager's room moved in separate intervals while i was talking to a friend, in welsh, about how that was the kind of room my taid would have had in the 50s.

saw records in the teenager's room move like they were being flicked through.

saw the bed in the teenager's room get a Huge indent like someone sat down in it - you cannot go into the rooms, the doors are blocked off from the waist down and there was no one in there.

the adults' room smelled very strongly of cheap perfume but all the lady's stuff on the dressing table were Very clearly empty and sealed.

hearing faint music coming from upstairs when the upstairs was blocked off... Several times.

being pushed in the back by nobody when i said 'swn i'm yn rhoid gwyrdd 'na efo'r llechan, de' (i wouldn't put that green with the slate) to my sister.

hearing 'diolch' (thank you) in a woman's voice when i left the house through the back door with a friend of mine last time i visited in 2022, when it was 'four at a time' bc covid rules at the time when i automatically said thank you (as though i were leaving my nain's or smth) - the friend is american and the couple ahead of us were english and had already left the area.

and that is all the stuff i remember experiencing lmaoooo