#worker at the hotel we’re staying in i mean

[delta-piscium]

“say yes to things” they said “if nothing else you’ll get an interesting story” i feel the last shreds of my sanity being ripped from me as the trickster spirits of doing it for the plot play with me like a doll

[nocturnalcharm]

Faking It (Logan Howlett x Fem!Reader)

𐙚 prompt: charles forces you and logan to do a mission together in order to help you bond. 𐙚 cw: enemies to lovers, one bed trope, if this does well i’ll do a part 2 w smut ;) cussing, 𐙚 a/n:  thanks to everyone who's sent me req's! this wasnt a req but id already started it haha if youve sent a req ill try to get to it asap.... also so many ppl wanted to be added to a taglist but for the nsfw alphabet post i dont think it tagged like half the ppl?? so im sorry if u dont get tagged, im trying to fix it :)

18+ blog!! you are responsible for your own media consumption. if any of the above makes you uncomfortable, do not proceed.

“Professor, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“(Y/N), it’s not me you should be apologizing to. It’s your team. That’s who you both let down.” He eyes flick between you and Logan.

“I’ll go apologize to them now.” You turn to leave.

“You too Logan.” Charles says.

On this latest mission, you needed to sneak into a factory and take down all of the enemies— But you and Logan were arguing so loudly, you alerted all of the rivals, turning a few quick sneak attacks into full blown fights. No one was badly injured but you still felt horrible about it.

“This is all your fault.” You mumbled, just loud enough for Logan to hear.

“My fault? You’re kidding.” He huffs.

“Shut up.” You walk ahead of him, on the way to the common room to see your team.

Everyone was sitting there, talking amongst themselves. Once you and Logan entered, they all stopped their conversations and looked at you.

“Guys. I am so sorry about this mission.”

“I’m sorry, extremely sorry, and I apologize for my behavior.” Logan mocked your expression of regret.

“You are such a child, Logan! I’m trying to apologize!” You raised your voice.

“I am too!”

“Can you two just stop?” Hank stood up, silencing you both. “Your attitudes have been getting in the way of every mission. If you guys can’t get along then maybe you shouldn’t be here.”

“Oh..” You didn’t know how to respond. You couldn’t believe you let your dislike for Logan get in the way of your job, so much that they thought you shouldn’t be an X-Man anymore.

They all left the room, leaving just you and Logan to culminate in your thoughts.

“I think it’s pretty obvious we’re not going to get along any time soon.” He broke the silence.

“We’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah, whatever you say.” He walked out, as you sat in the empty room.

The next day, Xavier called you and Logan into his office yet again. You were concerned, worried he might be kicking you off the team. But instead, he said he had a mission for you two.

“I need you to pose as a couple. You’ll be going to an upscale hotel in Manhattan. It’s a cover for a drug smuggling ring. You two will stay as guests in order to collect information. I need everyone that is there, guests and workers alike, to think you two are madly in love. We don’t know who could be involved, so we can’t have them think anything suspicious.”

“Professor, is that the best idea? We just blew the last mission because we couldn’t stop arguing.”

“If you two fail this mission, I will have no choice but to replace both of you. You are amazing at what you do, but your arguing affects everyone. Not just yourselves.”

“Okay. We won’t let you down.” Logan speaks up.

***

The trip to the hotel was long and frustrating. You two couldn’t agree on anything the entire time. You criticized his driving, he criticized what you put on the radio, and how loud it was. You called him an old man, which just resulted in the radio being turned off and continuing the last hour drive there in silence.

When you arrived, it was late afternoon. Logan, pretending to be your fiance, grabbed all the bags by himself and walked inside. The hotel was huge. It was upscale, classy. So fancy you were afraid to touch anything, in fear it might break.

“Hi! Checking in for Anderson.” He greeted the front desk clerk, giving his forged name. He dropped the bags on the floor and you wrapped yourself around his now-free arm, squeezing it.

“Hello, Mr. Anderson.” She smiled back, “Let’s see. You had the penthouse, correct?”

“That’s right.”

“We’re celebrating our engagement!” You beamed, holding out your hand, showing off your fake engagement ring.

“That’s lovely. Congratulations! We’ll have a bottle of champagne in your room for celebration.”

“Thank you so much!” You squeaked.

He finished the check-in process, then you headed to the top floor.

The penthouse was absolutely gorgeous. It was huge, the size of a decent apartment. Just like the lobby, you were afraid to break something.

“Wow.. This is amazing. Only time I’ll ever get to stay in a penthouse and it’s with you.” You said, as he shut the door.

“I was just thinking the same thing. Now, c’mon we gotta go to the pool. Get changed.” He handed you your bag.

You opened it, pulling out your bikini. It was the only one you had, admittedly from a few years ago. You didn’t have time anymore to relax by a pool or go swimming in the ocean, so this swimsuit had to do. It was a simple black string bikini.

You went inside the bathroom to change. Once you had your swimsuit on, you felt a little self conscious at the amount of skin showing, but figured it’d help with the whole ‘can’t keep your hands off your new fiance’ vibe you and Logan needed to exude for this mission.

You walked out of the bathroom, faking confidence you didn’t have. Logan had taken the opportunity to just change in the living space since he was alone. He was wearing black swim trunks. It was funny, it looked like you two had matched on purpose.

“Wow.” He said quietly, clearing his throat.

“What? You like what you see?” You joked at his clear uncomfortableness with seeing you in such little clothing.

“Whatever, let’s just go.” He spat, grabbing two towels, the key, and exiting the room.

The second you were out the door, you both had big smiles on your face. His arm was around you, holding your side as you headed to the pool.

It wasn’t too busy, just a few kids with their parents, and a bartender at the outdoor bar. You told him you wanted a drink, so that’s where you headed first.

“Hey, can I get two Mojitos?” Logan asked, handing him the room key “And can you just charge it to our room?”

“Of course,” He started working on the drinks immediately, while you two sat and people-watched. He finished the drinks, and gave you them and the room key back.

You said thank you as you walked off, hoping Logan would just follow. There was a small hot tub that was empty, so that’s where you went. You stepped in carefully, afraid of slipping, and sat down in the warm water.

“Really?” Logan whispered, a fake smile still adorned on his face.

“This is what couples do, Logan. And we’re a couple for this weekend. So sit down and act like you love me, sweetie.” Your grin was starting to hurt your cheeks.

He sat down across from you, and you mentally rolled your eyes. You got up, and repositioned yourself, sitting in his lap, “What part of ‘act like you love me’ are you not getting?” 

He was frozen for a moment, caught off guard but quickly acted like he was happy to have you there, to not draw suspicion. You both took sips of your drink, as you continued to nonchalantly looked around.

You two stayed at the pool for awhile, taking mental notes of the guests and employees you saw. Honestly, this hotel didn’t seem too strange. But Xavier said it was a front so you guessed that’s why it seemed so normal, for their cover.

Once your drinks were empty, and the sun had started to go down, you both decided to head back up to the room. He got out drying himself off before wrapping you up in your towel. He picked you up and carried you bridal-style to the penthouse.

“Logan!”

“What? Just acting like I love you.” He smirked.

Once inside the room, he set you down. “I’m gonna go shower.” You stated, not really knowing what to do. 

He just nodded, walking off to the kitchenette. You grabbed your bag and headed to the bathroom.

***

You mentally cursed yourself as you scrambled through your bag, searching for a pair of pajama shorts you thought you packed, but they were nowhere to be found. 

“This cannot be real.” You whispered. The only other clothes you brought were jean shorts, and you sure as hell weren’t going to sleep in those.

You pulled out your oversized sleepshirt, putting it on. The hem landed right above the middle of your thigh. It was a little shorter than the length of a nightgown, so you just hoped he wouldn’t notice. You slipped on a pair of panties, snatched up your things, and exited the bathroom.

You immediately bumped into Logan, who was standing right outside the door.

“What the fuck?” You raised your voice, annoyed. “Why are you right outside the door?”

“I was about to knock. You’ve been in there for over an hour.”

“It’s all yours!” You sassed.

You walked over to the small kitchen, and see he had already opened up the champagne. You had a glass as you sat on a barstool, writing down some notes about the people you’d observed earlier. Pouring yourself another glass, you headed over to the bed.

Just as you made yourself comfortable, Logan came out of the washroom, in just a towel. You stared at his wet torso for a moment, hypnotized.

“My eyes are up here.” He laughed.

You looked up, embarrassed.

“Forgot my clothes. Hey, wait, why are you in the bed?”

“…Because I’m the girl?”

“You're also the short one. I can’t fit on that couch.”

“Oh, c’mon. It’s a big bed. We can both fit just fine. Unless you’re nervous. Never slept with a girl before, Lo?”

He sighed, clearly not wanting to argue, before taking his clothes and escaping back to the bathroom. You silently celebrated your victory.

He came out a few moments later, turning off the lights, sliding under the blankets and getting comfortable. You both ended up facing the same direction. If he was any closer, he’d be the big spoon, but there was a few inches separating you.

You adjusted your body, and accidentally felt your ass rub against him. You went rigid from humiliation, before scooting away slightly, ignoring it since he didn’t say anything.

You tried to fall asleep, but it was difficult, for many reasons. One, you’re not used to having someone else in your bed. Two, he was breathing heavily. Three, you couldn’t stop thinking about how sexy he was.

Of course, you knew Logan was attractive, you’d thought that since the moment you first saw him. But today, probably because of the faux-gagement, the touching, the flirting, you saw him differently. He was still getting on your nerves, but the flames between you two… His body… It was unlike before.

You exhaled a breath you didn’t know you were holding. You twiddled your feet, moving around your body nervously, before unintentionally grazing your ass against his crotch again.

“Y’know, if you keep rubbing your ass against my dick, I’m gonna do something about it.” His words sounded gruff in your ear, but they gave you butterflies.

“Maybe that’s what I want.” 

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[clementinegreye]

safer dreams

spencer reid x fem!bau!reader ||

summary: it's not easy to keep someone safe in your nightmares, something Spencer knows all too well.

word count: 2.3k

warnings: fluff || there was only one bed || brief talks of CM themes (nothing graphic)

Exhaling slowly and processing what she could see in front of her, she let out a small huff of frustration. Her feet ached and her back felt tense from the day. The team had pinned down their current Unsub’s geographical profile which had led them on a tense chase which, had it not been for Spencer’s quick trigger finger, might have ended with her meeting a bullet.

After such an intense case the team had decided to stay the night in a local motel and hit the runway early in the morning. Hotch had insisted, they all needed a night to rest and decompress before they had to go back and meet the paperwork waiting for them in Virginia.

All she wanted was to crawl into bed and rest her muscles. But of course, nothing ever happened that smoothly. There hadn’t been enough rooms for everyone at the motel, meaning everyone had to double up. It wasn’t something they hadn’t done before, and over the phone, the motel owner had promised the rooms all had twin beds.

The day had been exhausting, and now she realised after taking in the room in front of her that she had another problem to deal with.

Spencer let the door shut behind him as he came up behind her. Letting his go bag drop to the floor with a light thud. He flexed his fingers allowing the circulation to come back to where the straps of his bag had cut it off.

‘What’s wron… Oh,’ His own eyes caught the layout of the hotel room and landed on exactly what caused his co-worker’s reaction.

The room was small, the door to the bathroom tucked into the corner to the left of the entrance, there was no room for a desk or table but they’d squeezed in a small two-seater sofa. The burgundy plush carpet radiated the warm glow from the bedside lights and cast the room in a cosy ambience. But there was a problem, clearly just a miscommunication with the booking.

One bed.

‘I’ll go back to the front desk; I swear Hotch told me the motel owner told him earlier that there were twin beds for the team.’ He knew it was simply a case of human error. A case of mixed-up keys and booking information. It really wasn’t a big deal, so why did it feel like such a big deal?

‘Spence, we knew we already had to double up, and they had a no vacancies sign.’ She sighed, allowing her feet to travel across the carpet to the other side of the room. ‘It’s fine.’

‘Maybe they gave us the wrong room, I’m sure they can swap…’ His reasoning was futile, he didn’t need to be a genius to realise there was no negotiating with a no vacancies sign. It was almost like he was trying to talk himself down from a ledge, trying to make sense in his mind the panic he was feeling rising in his chest.

‘It’s almost 2 am. If it was a mistake, I’m sure the couple who have our twin beds are fast asleep.’ She had her back to him, facing the small sofa.

She dropped her own go bag on the blush cushion and stretched her arms above her head. The movement caused her shirt to rise just enough that a sliver of her back hit the light, showing two distinct dimples at the bottom of her spine. The image caught Spencer’s eye. It was an innocent move, but his gaze felt all too intimate. With the proximity of the four walls surrounding them, and the quietness of the room it caused an irregular beat in his heart that he was certain was audible and he snapped his eyes away. He swallowed thickly, glaring at the threadbare curtains shutting out the beams of moonlight.

‘We’re the FBI.’ He spoke almost factually as if the authority of the title could force the hotel to rouse a sleeping couple and get them to move rooms, simply for the convenience of guarding his own feelings.

‘Spence. It’s fine with me if it’s fine with you.’ Her voice was quiet, tiredness lacing its way into her speech. She rubbed a hand up her forearm absentmindedly, and if Spencer was in the right mind to focus on profiling her behaviour, he might have deduced that the action was caused by nerves.

‘If what’s fine?’ He stuttered, his brain not quite working to its usual capacity when he met her tired eyes. She raised an eyebrow, almost annoyed but not quite committed enough to it.

‘The bed. We can share for one night. It’s just one night.’ His eyes held a panicked glint. She wasn’t to know that the problem wasn’t that he was going to have to share a bed with her. The problem was he was worried she’d realise exactly how much he wanted to share a bed with her. His lack of response made her uneasy. Spencer Reid was very rarely lost for words. ‘If you’re uncomfortable I can sleep on the sofa.’

‘It’s tiny, and you almost got shot today…’ He stammered, suddenly regaining control of his runaway thoughts long enough to register the lengthy silence between them. She nodded, almost shyly, and his throat closed as he realised how she’d inferred his words. ‘I’m not uncomfortable, don’t sleep on the sofa. There’s no way I can let you sleep on the sofa. There’s enough room for both of us in the bed.’

There was a pause, a shift within the room as if the atmosphere had moved. A gentle smile crept across her face, and it managed to relax Spencer. The lamplight cast a golden haze across the room and her face looked angelic in the low lighting. A breathy sigh left her lips with the force of an almost chuckle.

They settled into their respective evening routines, turning off their lights in tandem before letting sleep wash over them as gently as the ocean. 

___

Spencer jolted awake after feeling a swift kick to his shin. Panic ripped through his body as his eyes scanned the moonlit room. He couldn’t see any imminent danger and his brain fought through the fog of post-sleep confusion. His senses kicked in and he instinctively reached a hand across the bed in search of her. She was shaking, sighs and almost gasps slipping through her lips at a barely audible volume.

He held his breath while he watched her movements waiting. Her shaking continued, a strangled mix of a moan and a yelp left her throat and her arm shot out searching for something. Spencer’s heart picked up its pace, his brows furrowed in concern. He considered reaching for the light but before his sleep-drenched body could she sobbed, a garbled, purely fearful ‘no’. 

She tossed side to side so violently Spencer thought she might throw herself from the bed. Without overthinking it he sat up and leaned over her. His body halted the thrashing movements and, in her sleep, she grabbed his bicep with wincing firmness.

He held her, with gentleness and enough security that she couldn't throw herself around. One hand went to her hip the other held himself up. Her eyes shot open, sparkling in the darkness with the wetness of un-spilled tears, a scream stuck in her throat, retreating when her eyes recognised Spencer’s soft gaze above her.

‘Hey... Hey, it’s okay. It was just a nightmare. You’re okay.’ He breathed, hovering above her, he moved his hand from her waist to rest it at the side of her head as if to hold her in place and stop her from injuring herself. Her hand gripped his bicep loosely, the thin material of his pyjama shirt soft between the pads of her fingers. Her breathing matched the rapid beat of her heart and Spencer - without thinking - lifted his hand from the pillow to stroke the side of her face.

It was meant to be comforting, to show her that she wasn’t alone. But the gesture, in the cool pooling light of the late hour, seemed entirely too intimate. He watched as her breathing began to slow and her fear slipped out as a quiet whimper, leaving her in the quiet safety of their shared room, their shared bed.

‘I’m here…’ Spencer whispered, his hand lightly tracing the shape of her face. He felt a strange tightness in his chest as he watched her slowly find her way back to reality, her grip on his arm lessening.

His gaze lingered on her face, taking in the softness of her features in the dim light. The silence was deafening, yet comforting, a shared moment of vulnerability and intimacy in the aftermath of her nightmare. "You're safe," he reassured her, his voice barely a whisper in the quiet room.

He could smell her perfume, it mingled with the dusty smell of the motel, sweet and undeniably her. He didn't know how long they stayed like that; the seconds ticked by with no accountability. The moment felt suspended in time, her eyes went from glassy to sparkling in the pale light and he felt her relax under him. He finally pulled away, his hand lingering in the space between them for a moment before he retreated to his side of the bed, the echo of her nightmare still lingering in the quiet room.

It was Spencer’s turn for his heart to hammer in his chest. Her breathing had steadied and she shifted, hand stretching out to find Spencer's in the empty space between them. The reigniting of contact made Spencer's breath hitch in his throat. He turned to face her, but the fear in her eyes was replaced with something else. He didn't have to be a profiler to know what that look meant. It was the same look that haunted his own reflections.

At that moment, under the soft glow of the moonlight spilling through the window, Spencer thought how pretty she looked. Silence spilt between them, she swallowed gently, blinking her eyes rapidly to quell any tears building. 

‘You kept me safe.’ Her voice came out as a whisper, a kind of admission with more behind it than just the nightmare.

Her words hung in the air, a quiet acknowledgement of the intimacy of the moment. He didn’t respond, because for once he didn’t know how to. He didn’t have a statistic or fact to explain how he felt at that moment. Instead, he squeezed her hand gently, a quiet acknowledgement.

‘Do you get them often?’ He whispered, genuine concern lacing through, the warmth seeping from his chest to his fingers where if he focused, he could feel her pulse. He wasn't sure if she'd even want to talk about it.

She paused, her gaze dropping to where their hands were intertwined. 'More often than I'd like.' Her voice was barely more than a whisper, a vulnerability seeping into her words that Spencer had never heard before. He realised just how close they were in that moment. So close he could see the exact shade of her eyes and the way her brow furrowed when she felt she was being too honest. She always seemed so confident, especially at work.

Being vulnerable was not a luxury many could afford in the BAU.

'And what about you, Spencer?' she asked, her gaze meeting his again. 'Do you ever have nightmares?' It was an unexpected question, one that caught him off guard.

'Sometimes,' he admitted, the truth slipping out before he could stop it. Her fingers lightly tightened around his as if bracing for impact. He squeezed his eyes shut, thinking of his night terrors.

‘What are they about?’ She breathed, in a hushed way that sounded like she was almost afraid to ask.

‘You.’ His answer was faster and breathier than enunciated. As if that might take away from the confessional impact.

‘You have nightmares about me?’ She took a genuine pause, letting go of his hand and sitting up slightly so she was resting on her elbows looking down at him. He scrunched the duvet up in his now empty palm, holding himself.

‘No! Not about you. I mean, yes about you. About losing you. Like today, I thought I was going to lose you today, and without you, it’d be unbearable. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you like I do in my nightmares.’ His words were a whisper in the stillness of the night. Rambled at his usual speed as if the pace would disguise the weight of the feeling rising in his chest. It was panic, mixed with almost shame.

‘But you kept me safe.’ She stated, reaching out to unfurl his hand from the covers as if taking tension away from him like autumn takes the leaves from trees.

‘I don’t always manage to in my dreams.’ He sighed, looking up at her through his lashes. She was quite beautiful and in that second it scared him how much he cared.

"I guess we'll just have to keep each other safe, then," she murmured, a soft, genuine smile tugging at her lips. She rested a hand on his cheek and he instinctively leaned into her, as agreement settled over his features.

Spencer placed a hand atop hers as it stroked his face with more tenderness than he was sure he’d ever experienced. "I guess we will," he smiled a true and honest smile that happily made a home across his whole face. 

They fell into a comfortable silence, and she lay back down beside him, this time with no space separating them. Their hands fell to their sides, fingers instinctively finding each other and intertwining. The fear and tension of the nightmare had evaporated, leaving the quiet intimacy that the two had just shared.

Sleep began to reclaim them and they both felt safer next to each other just from the knowledge that they’d be there, ready to protect each other from whatever nightmares the future held.

[delulu-baddie]

Special Surprise

Summary: You plan a surprise party for Kate but in order for your plan to work you have to pretend to not plan anything for her.

Pairing: Kate Martin x Reader

Warnings: None just fluff

Today is Kate's birthday and since I’ve known her, I've always made a big deal of it even when we werent dating. However, today my plan is to make her think it’s the last of my priorities, when in reality I’ve been planning a party for her for the past two months. I have a career in event planning so I went all out to celebrate her special day. Her parents, siblings, and some close friends flew in last night and are staying in a hotel close by. I rented out a venue for us to have enough space for everyone, and were getting caterers and many other things.

 It's currently 7:30 and I have a lot to do today, so I quietly get out of bed and start getting ready for the day. As I'm finishing up the final touches of my makeup, I hear footsteps in the hallway signifying Kate is now awake. I take a deep breath and pray that I don't cave and screw my whole plan up by just telling her everything I have planned out of excitement. She knocks on the door and walks in immediately  wrapping her arms around my waist and snuggling her head into my neck. “Good morning birthday girl” I say, giving her a quick kiss on the head. She lifts her head saying good morning back to me, turning me around and giving me a kiss on the lips. “So what are your plans for the day?” I ask her, she gives me a confused look and I immediately know what she's about to say. “What do you mean, didn’t we plan to do our birthday brunch tradition like always” she asked, lifting an eyebrow. Kate and I have always gone out with each other for brunch on our birthdays just to have time with the two of us, but I have so much to do today I'm not going to be able to do it today so I'm hoping the party will make up for it. 

“I'm sorry baby, I must’ve forgotten to tell you. I have a meeting today with my boss about an event coming up for a special client. I'm not going to be able to make it. "I say feeling guilty about bailing on the one thing I know she was looking forward to. “Oh, it’s okay we can do something later when we're both done, I have practice anyways so I probably should’t eat a bunch of food anyways.” she said trying to play off but failed to hide her clearly disappointed face. “ I promise I'll make it up to you, maybe we can go out after we both finish what we need to do today, but I really need to go. I'm already running late, i love you”  I give her a kiss and quickly start gathering my things to leave. Thankfully I didn't say anything about tonight's plans but her saddened expression almost broke my facade. 

The first thing i have to do today is to go pick out an outfit for Kate to wear tonight so i make my way to the mall and go into a few stores before settling on an all red suit with a white top. I go to check out and run into Jada and Gabby “OMG hey guys, i wasn’t expecting to see you until tonight” i say bringing them into a hug “Hey! Yeah we had to get some last minute pieces for our outfits” Jada says hugging me back. “We’re really excited about tonight, it sounds like you have a lot planned out.” Gabby says with a wide smile. “I do, I feel bad about keeping it from Kate, but I know she's going to love it, especially seeing all of her family and friends.” I replied, “Do you need any help with anything, we don't have much planned for the day and we know youre going to be super busy.” Jada asked. “Yes, actually would you mind picking up the cake from the bakery on your way to the party. The table will already be set up so you can just ask the workers to bring the cake in because it's going to be a little heavy. "I ask “of course, just text one of us the address and we'll text you when we get it.” Gabby says “Thank you so much, I have to get going but I love you guys, I'll see you later.” I give them another hug and make my way back to my car.

After getting into the car I get a text message from Kate, it's a picture of her with a birthday girl tiara and button the A’ja got her. I heart the picture telling her she looks adorable before putting my phone on, continuing the errands that i need to do . After a couple of hours I finally finished setting everything up for the party, loving how the decorations turned out. I decided to do a casino themed party since it's our first year celebrating in Vegas. I got a few slot machines, a card table, all of the decorations were casino related, and there was a photo booth that I'm very excited to use tonight with kate. I make my way back home hoping Kate is home when I get there since it's getting closer to the start of the party. I told everyone to get there at 7 and we would get there at 7:30 to give everyone a chance to get there and mingle a little before Kate arrives. Once I get inside I see she still hasn't arrived so I go and hang up the new outfit I got her in the closet and start getting myself ready before she gets here. It's 5:30 and Kate has just arrived back home and I immediately greet her “Hi babe, how was practice?” I asked, walking up, noticing her looking me up and down. “It was good, you look nice” she says, grabbing my waist. “Well I did promise you that i would take you out for dinner tonight, now hurry go get ready your outfits hanging up in the closet.” I told her. “You got me a new outfit, babe you didn't have to do that, i have plenty of clothes.” she says. “I know but I felt bad about this morning so I decided I was going to go all out tonight to celebrate you, starting with making sure you look good.” I say pushing her towards our bedroom urging her to go get ready. She finished getting ready at the perfect time and we started heading to the party that she thinks is a dinner

We get to the car and she tells me that she’ll drive but I insist on driving for obvious reasons, excited to finally show her that my meeting about a “special client” was actually for her. “Oh shoot, I totally forgot I had to drop off some of the decorations for the party I have tomorrow, would you mind if I stopped at the venue before we went to dinner?” I ask her “Yeah that's fine, as long as I get you all to myself for the rest of the night” she says. I park the car and tell her to come inside with me. As we were walking I text Jada and tell her we just got to the venue so that she can let everyone know to get into position for the surprise. As we walk in I grab Kate's hand before opening the door revealing everyone. “SURPRISE” they all yell with smiles on their faces. “WHAT THE HELL” Kate yells looking over at me with a surprised look on her face. “I told you I promised I'd make it up to you” I said with a light laugh. Her parents approach us giving us hugs, giving us each a hug and telling me how much they love the decorations. 

The night is a huge success. Kate kept on telling me how much she loves me and appreciated the party, but I would do anything for her so this was really nothing to me. We make our way over to the photo booth and talk for a little bit before stepping out to the party. “So when you said you had a meeting about a special client, did you mean me?” she says with a smirk on her face. “Yes, you are the most special person in my life” I say smiling up at her. “Well if I'm so special, why did you lie to me about your plans for today?” she asks sarcastically. “I didn’t lie, I just didn't tell you” I say laughing. “Well nonetheless, I love it, thank you so much babe.” she says, bringing me into a kiss. “Of course, you know I had to go full out for your first Vegas birthday.” I say. “Well if this is what you came up with for my birthday, i can't wait to see our wedding” she replies grabbing my hands. “Yeah this is going to be hard to top” I say before kissing her one more time before making our way back out to the party. 

As the night comes to an end, everyone starts to say their goodbyes and tell me how much fun they had, which warmed my heart. I'm just glad that I was able to give my girlfriend the best day today. I make my way over to Kate who's talking to some of her teammates and join in on the conversation, which wasn't too long since it was getting late and they all were ready to hit the sack. “I had so much fun tonight,” Kate tells me, wrapping her arms around me, rocking side to side. “I'm glad you had fun but i have one more gift for you, but we have to go home for that” I say with a smirk. She looks at me confused before catching on to what I just said. She immediately grabs my hand dragging me out to the car eager to receive that last gift.

[letstalkhockey]

𝐈𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭

𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: Media girl, y/n, who worked for the devils. meeting Jack Hughes, was not on the bucket list.

so what happens when they start hooking up, and it’s forbidden to have any further relationship?

𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: another angsty fic, (sorry!) swearing, mentions to smut - none is written!! That is all!

Another fic for you lovely’s💕 You guys gave my other one so much love so I wrote this quick fic I had in mind, let me know if you want part two. Xoxo

“We can’t keep doing this Jack, I can’t risk my job for a relationship-“ 

You found yourself in Jack Hughes bed more often than your own. The two of you bonded quickly, easily, which led to one thing or another, and for the past 2 and a half months, you’ve been hooking up with Jack or seeing Jack almost every other day. It was hard not too, since you worked for the devils media team, and he played for them. You didn’t think about how hard it would be to end something like this, having to see him everyday after, you were too caught up in the bliss of it all.

It was almost like the perfect relationship - except it wasn’t. Yes, you were able to spend almost everyday with Jack, you were on roadies with the team for media, you were at every game, every practice… except neither of you were anything exclusive, yet. It was the perfect situationship in Jacks eyes. But I’m yours, it was something that could potentially ruin everything for you. You had to sign a contract when coming too this job, one of the rules was that you were to have no explicit relationship with a co-worker or one of the team players. That rule was quickly broken when you met Jack Hughes, he was charming, handsome, sweet, a bit cocky, and really good in bed.

Now, you laid, cuddled up in a hotel bed somewhere in California, with no other than Jack Hughes. Both naked and clinging onto each other, trying to catch your breath from the recent activities that took place in the hotel room just less than 10 minutes ago. The devils had a roadie throughout the west coast this week, you were lucky enough to get to stay in a hotel for a couple of days before a game, and so were the devils players themselves.

It was late evening, not too late, but also not early. Giving you enough time to sneak back to your hotel room before it could get to a suspicious time at night to be up and walking around.

“But we’re not in a ‘relationship’,” Jack spoke, with a unsure tone, as if he was trying to convince himself of it.

“I know. But before we take anything further I think we both need to realize that it’s just gonna hurt more if we do end up going further, it’s best just to stop sooner than later-“

You looked at his face as you both laid on your sides, your bodies intertwined and both of your heads rested on soft pillows facing each other. 

You watched as Jack shut his eyes, refusing to say anything to you, you took your hand up to his forehead, brushing the damp curls from his forehead. Stopping your hand in his hair.

“Jack.”

“I like what we have,” he said softly, running his hand up and down your hip, “and I like you. Is that so wrong?” 

“No! Yes-“ you spoke quick, shaking your head, “I just can’t lose this job, Jack. Sneaking around wouldn’t be easy.”

“But we do just fine at sneaking around…” his eyes were big- sad, and glossy, looking at you like you were breaking his heart. Probably because you were.

“That’s different Jack!” You snap, his body tense and his grip of you losens, “I didn’t mean to yell at you. I-I’m just so- I don’t want to have to hide my relationship. I want fo be able to do things- This isn’t what I want,”

Jack sat up, letting go of you completely, you weren’t sure why, but you were sure that in that moment, that you could feel your heart breaking too. Because you do want Jack, but you can’t have him.

“Go.” Jack slid a hand down over his face, his eyes glossy and his voice almost breaking.

“What?”

“J-just get out-“ Jack couldn’t even look at you when he said it, looking down at his lap while tears threatened to spill out of his eyes. The thing with you and jack was that things were always easy, like a walk in the park. Only a few times you found yourself having to speak to him like this, almost never. It was an easy type of love, yet so difficult. You wanted nothing more than to fall asleep in his arms, his heartbroken form broke your heart. 

He was never good at communicating, especially his feelings.

“Jack your being ridiculous-“

“For fucks sake- Just leave, this isn’t what you want? Fine. Just don’t come crawling back to me when you realize that a stupid job isn't worth getting in the way of the person you're in love with.” 

Oh. Ouch.

It took you a minute to register what he said, when you did, you were quick to get out of the bed, the bed not even 20 minutes ago that you were making love to the boy who now most likely hated your guts.

You quickly found your clothes, gathering them in your arms, and throwing on your robe that you bring with you. You stopped by the door, tears rolling down your cheeks, turning towards jack, who sat in the same position, staring at the opposite side of the hotel room.

“I’m sorry Jack. I really wish you the best,” you wiped your cheeks, opening the door and stepping out. When you closed it, it felt like a part of your life - an era of your life ended. Right there and then.

Before you could continue to walk back to your hotel room, you turned, leaning up against his door and taking deep breaths, doing your best to hold back the sobs that had been waiting to come out.

“Y/n?” 

Oh Shit.

Let me know if a part two is something you guys would want to see!!!

[nonotnolan]

The Great Gym Shift

Day 15 of life after the body swapping incident that affected downtown Washington DC, and life was still weird as shit.  Some people were calling it the Great Shift-- a government cover-up for a science experiment gone wrong.  I don’t think a two mile radius really deserves a “Great” moniker but I had to admit it was catchy.  Others were calling it a terrorist bioweapon meant to cause havoc across the nation’s government.  That did seem possible, but the terrorists had terrible aim if that was the case.

A few people even said it was a plan to put key politicians into younger, healthier bodies, but... I know for a fact that one isn’t true.  I was there at ground zero when the swap occurred, working as a personal trainer at the gym.  All those desirable bodies, mine included, went to some of the most pathetic white collar workers you could imagine.  Whatever happened, it was definitely an accident.

It’s been a month, and I still haven’t gotten used to my reflection.  I hope I never do, to be honest.  The government is working on getting this whole mess resolved, and I can only hope it will be sooner rather than later.  I’ve never had hair this long, and I am in desperate need a of a haircut.  Since it’s not my body, I’d have to fill out a requisition form, and I keep hoping it won’t come to that.  

One of the first things the Government did was send in the National Guard to put everyone affected into a quarantined hotel area, and then they started drowning us in regulations and paperwork.  I’m still working as a personal trainer... only now most of my clients are lazy office drones.  Those desirable bodies I mentioned?  I’m in charge of making sure their new owners keep them in shape.  I’m slowly losing my sanity.

“Mitch!  What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” I said, walking out into our shared kitchen.  Uncle Sam was putting us up in some very nice accommodations, I had to admit, but my clients-turned-roommates left a lot to be desired.

“C’mon Grady, it’s Saturday,” he said, as if that was supposed to be an answer.  I kept starting at him until he continued.  “Saturday is my self-care day, and today that means Netflix and cookies.  I don’t see what the big deal is...”

“Absolutely not,” I said, holding out my hand.  “Give me those, that is way too many calories for one serving.  We’re sharing those with the whole floor.”  He rolled his eyes and sighed at me, but at least he obeyed me.  I can’t help but feel self-conscious bossing all of these men around, especially when they’re large enough to beat me to a pulp if they knew how to leverage their strength.  The real Mitch was a lanky college intern who had no idea how to build or maintain muscle mass.  Russ would’ve had a heart attack if he was here to see even half the things Mitch wanted to do in that body.

As I walked the plate of cookies out to the common area, I couldn’t help but notice that Larry was still sitting at his room’s computer desk, shirtless and surrounded by a few wadded tissues.  Gross, but... I’ve seen Larry’s old body.  I can’t entirely blame the old pervert.  “Please tell me you didn’t stay up all night watching porn again.”

He just smiled at me, his bloodshot eyes telling me everything that I needed to know.  “So what if I did, Grady, it’s Saturday.  The fitness schedule you made for me says I don’t have to work out today, and a sleep schedule isn’t a part of the body cohabitation contract we all signed.  As long as I still eat three healthy meals today, you can’t make me do anything.  So how about giving me some privacy?”  He was right, of course.  Larry was one of my most frustrating clients, because he knew exactly how to do the bare minimum and nothing more.  Tana was one of the gym’s biggest over-achievers, so seeing his body do a complete 180 had been quite the adjustment.

I knew better than to engage with him right now-- better to save my strength for fights that I would be able to win.  I set the cookies down in our shared kitchen, waved at a few of the other guys, and retreated back to the bedroom I shared with one other man.

Simon smiled at me, and I could feel my frustrations starting to lift away.  “Good morning, Grady.  Rough start?” he asked, looking up from his book.  Simon was a licensed psychologist who happened to be at a nearby Industry Convention when the Great Shift happened, and I was so glad to have his assistance dealing with all of the heated emotions that boiled over during the aftermath.  Furthermore, Simon had ended up in my body.  It was a relief to know that my body was being controlled by someone responsible, even if seeing myself each day came with its own set of weird situations.

"You have no idea,” I said, shaking my head.  “Or rather, you have an exact idea, because you’ve also had to deal with those guys.  I don’t suppose you would be up for some... stress release?” I asked, peeling off my tank top and tossing it onto the floor.

He laughed, quickly setting aside his book and his glasses.  “In this body?  Always!”  Was it weird that I was having sex with my own body?  Maybe, but honestly, our daily hookups felt like one of the least weird things about this whole mess.  I always knew I was an attractive man, and I’ve always been attracted to anyone who keeps themselves healthy, regardless of gender.  Presumably that’s how Simon now felt-- I know that ever since I’ve been in this new Twink body, I have only felt attraction for hairy men.  Sexual attraction seemed to follow the body, not the inhabitant.

“Do you ever worry that we’re complicating things?” Simon asked.  “For whenever the government is able to switch everyone back into the right bodies, I mean.  They’ve told our loved ones that we’re in quarantine, but... how can we go back to normal life when this is all over?”  I understood where he was coming from-- his real body was at least twenty years older, and while he didn’t like sharing too much about his life, I’d gotten the impression he had a wife and maybe a few grandkids waiting for him back home.

Simon clearly had a tendency to overthink everything, and I was now used to offering friendly advice while his warm load was still inside of me.  “Honestly, I think we’re dealing with a stressful situation, and we’re all just coping however we can.  There’s nothing wrong with two consenting adults having sex.  And I don’t know about you, but... if I didn’t try to get a wide range of experiences inside of this temporary body, I think I’d regret the missed opportunity forever.”

He smiled at me.  “I suppose you’re right,” he said, as he sipped on cheap hotel coffee.  “’In sickness or in health’ wasn’t really meant to cover something so impossible.  And I’d rather seek forgiveness than forever ponder what might have been.”

“Glad to hear it,” I said, smiling back at him.  I think we both knew it was a bit selfish, but how else could we be expected to process these strange new desires?  Yeah, I guess I felt a bit guilty having sex with someone other than my girlfriend back home, but... when else would I ever get an opportunity to have sex with myself?  I don’t think there is a person alive who could blame me.

[15depressedducks]

Flowers Can Grow in Concrete C18

N awoke slowly. As he tried to get up, he was reminded of V. “Do you mind letting go?” N asked in a mostly sleepily but happy way.

“Happily.” Spoke an annoyed voice. As he did, he couldn’t hear the storm.

“Storm’s over… but what are we going to do?” N worried.

“What do you mean?” V gave a confused look to him.

“We have barely any oil left… so one of us can’t stay back… and we shouldn’t just leave Uzi alone… So what should we do?” N stared at the snow that blocked the entrance.

“Simple, we take her with us.” V shuffled some before trying to sleep again. Will that work? N gazed worriedly at Uzi. What will we tell her? N flew up to his nest and laid there thinking.

—————

“N? N! N! N? N! Get up!” He slowly woke up and started to register who was talking to him.

“N! Come on! We’re getting oil. Now hurry up!” J scowled at him.

“J? Why are you here?-”

“V told me to get you!? Now hurry up!” J dove off the edge.

N followed after her.

“Dad!” Uzi ran up to him, arms open as wide as they could go. N scooped her up, did a loopy’d’loop and landed.

“So we’re going to go and bring Uzi, find a place for her to hide in, do what we do, then grab cargo and get her. Simple plan.” J announced. 

“Then let's leave now. The sooner we have food the better.” V deployed her wings. “Uzi, do you want me or N to take you flying?” Uzi smiled.

“N!” Uzi exclaimed.

“Got it, now let’s go.” V took off, N and J followed.

—————

“Now Uzi, We…. need to, uh, deal with some drones before we can go… So I'm going to need you to hide while we make sure it’s safe!” N proclaimed, proud of his excuse.

“V! Is dad teasing? I think he’s teasing!” Uzi mischievously looked at V.

“Nope.” V deadpanned. “He’s not. We need you to stay safe. hide and stay put until one of us gets you. Understood?”

“Awww, got it…..” Uzi dramatically sulked.

Now, where to hide her…… they were approaching a city, the snow white canvas getting splotches of decaying homes and gas stations gray grew as they flew closer.

Just on the outskirts of the tall buildings was a hotel. It looked like it wouldn’t collapse and already had a hole in it. 

“Think that’ll work?” N asked

“Most likely.” V replied and the dove inside, N followed.

The inside had debris scattered, the outside wall must have collapsed into the interior. The air had a melancholy feel to it, the walls a sad grey, creaks sounding longing and distant.

“Okay Uzi, think you can hide in here?” N asked.

“Yeah!” Uzi jumped down and ran to hide.

“Alright then,” V got ready to leave. N looked to where Uzi was hiding

“Let’s go…” N deployed his wings and the group flew and began to rampage on the worker.

—————

Once N snapped out of his spree, he looked at his teammates, they were finishing their kills. 

“Hey, we should probably head back and get Uzi…”

“Fine, but we need to grab more another time, got it?” J jumped on top of a nearby building. V hovered by.

“I’m not saying that I don’t trust Uzi, just I don’t think we should rely on her  for too long…” V dryly replied.

N took off in the direction of the old hotel. As he versed closer he heard yelling. His core dropped.

He soared faster to her. His mind raced. What's-going-on?-is-she-safe?-I-said-I’d-keep-her-safe! 

N landed in the old hole and walked forward. He could hear Uzi yelling and another drone talking fast.

A worker was trying to lead Uzi away. N ran to them, ‘X’ blazing proud as he hissed and snarled at the worker. His claws were readying for a kill.

The sage eyed drone protectively put himself in front of Uzi, meanwhile she was fighting back.

“Stay behind me kid!”

“NO! THAT’S MY DAD!”

N towered over the drone. His tail lashed side to side.

“Give me my kid back, and you live.” N spoke as cold as the air, if not, colder. His eyes narrowed onto him.

“LET ME GO TO MY DAD!”

“No! I’m keeping you sa-!” N used the backhand of his claws to launch the worker into the near-by wall.

N bent down to Uzi, a friendly face greeting her. “ Go to V and J, okay?”

“Okay!” Uzi ran to them. N gave a soft smile to them as Uzi ran.

As if nothing happened N whipped around to the drone, as he displayed his teeth.

“As for you.” N flexed his claws as he walked to the drone, his tail was all over the place, hissing like a snake.

“You should have listened to me, and given my child back.” The drone looked up at him, fear burned into his eyes.

“I-I’d-I-Di-Ah-Uh-AAHHHHHAG!” N’s tail punctured his wrist. Maniac grin plastered onto his face.

He grabbed the drone’s shoulder and tossed him to the other side, his tail dragged out of the wound. A small chuckle escaped.

He raced over to the drone, pounced onto them, and bit the hand he had damaged. The drone was screaming from the pain.

He drained the oil from the wound like a straw. One of the drone’s eyes changed into a ‘Low oil level’ warning. As the drone looked to be powering off N forced the oil back into the drone. The drone was gasping for air. N tossed him to the middle of the room.

As N scurried over, the drone tried to run, but it failed as N’s tail grabbed its leg, dragging it back.

N was hunched over the drone as he dug his claws into the chassis of the drone, then pulled it open, making all the gears and wires visible, and in the middle of it all, the core.

N carefully wrapped his claws around the fragile object then slowly applied pressure. The drone was screaming mad, his eyes glitched in and out of different warnings and shapes. N couldn’t control his laughter anymore, It was the first time he was enjoying a kill.

N dragged the core through the wires and gears, the drones' screams halted but still echoed through N’s mind, N cut up the metal and plastic inside and left the body, the only oil he consumed was from his claws.

He looked at the body. He was wearing a dark blue oil rig outfit that had a name tag which read ‘Koal’.

Once his claws were clean, he turned to the opening and saw J. J’s eyes display a concussion of emotions, proud, surprised, confusion, and fear.

N gave her a bright smile. “Thought you would have flown off with V… whatcha doing here?” His tone was cherry as he walked to the bodies he had dropped earlier.

“What in the Osha violation was that.?” J asked sternly, eye’s angry but hollowed.

“I-um, I don’t know?” N said with a sheepish smile and shrug.

“Please tell me next time you do that.” And with that J took off.

“Okay!” N grabbed the bodies and took off after her.

—————

N was tired as he got to the spire, Uzi and V were on the bed, J was on the pod’s roof talking to them.

“Well, now you know not to mess with him!” V teased J.

“YOU DIDN’T SEE THE BODY! YOUR KILLS LOOKED PG COMPARED TO HIS!” J yelled at V

“AND YOU DIDN’T WATCH IT AND SEE WHAT HE DID!” J exclaimed, V just cackled at J.

N dropped the bodies into the pile and flew over to the group.

“Sure, all let me guess, he ate the body so there’s no proof?”

“Oh, no it’s still there, I thi-”

“Watcha doin?” N bounced up to them like a puppy. J jumped like a cat, tail sticking up straight, eyes hollow.

“Customer support! You can’t just sneak up on me like that!”

“Hehe! Sorry!” N plopped down onto the bed.

“Look at the roboroach V found!” Uzi held up a particularly large one.

“Are you going to name em?”

“Yeah! His name is Chezy!”

“Oh? Is that so?” V looked over at her. Uzi just looked at the roach.

Then promptly bit it in half, tearing the wires and thin metal. N was the first to react.

“UZI I TOLD NOT TO EAT THEM! SPIT IT OUT!” N was panicking

V simply looked at the two of them. “Uzi, Spit it out. Now.” Her eye lights narrowed onto Uzi.

“M-HM-HE-HRM!” Uzi mumbled out as she clenched her jaw shut.

“Spit it out.” Her tail flicked side to side.

“MH-MN!”

V then lunged for Uzi and wrapped around her like a snake. She then put her in a head lock and she tried to pry the mouth open.

Oh I know! N started to tickle Uzi.

“N! What are you doing?! I’m going to lose my grip!”

“Trust me! She’ll open her mouth!”

After some time, Uzi couldn’t contain her laughter.

“Grab it!” V acquired the roach’s head from Uzi’s mouth and N stopped tickling her.

“No more for you.” V looked at her sternly.

“Fine…” Uzi said with a groan.

“N, here.” V tossed the roach to him.

“Uh, okay?” N put it in his pocket and felt something else in there. Oh, Uzi’s first roach, heh, wonder if I could fix it…?

“Ugh. I’m going to bed.” J Launched herself to her nest before climbing in.

“Do you think we should get ready for bed or wait?” N asked

Uzi yelled from a distance “Stay up! Stay up! I want to stay up late!”

V yelled back “I don’t know… I am awfully tired!” She was chuckling

Uzi ran up to her yelling “Nonononononono! Don’t sleep!” and once Uzi arrived at V, she punched her.

V just looked at her, picked her up, walked over to the bed, and tucked Uzi in.

“Punch me and you get an early bedtime bucko.” V started to walk away.

“Wait wait-wait-wait! I’m sorry! Really am!” Uzi pleaded with V.

“Fine, but no more punching or kicking us, got it?” Uzi nodded her head profusely.

N and V decided to read a story that Uzi had picked out. He curled up to them in the bed and entered sleep mode.

The only thoughts he had while drifting off were ‘My family’ and ‘Safe, Happy, Here’. His tail curled around the two as he used Uzi like a plushie, holding it dear.

—————

N was brought back to reality covered in oil. Claws were lying in an open chest of a worker, the core was obliterated, the wires were shredded, everything was mixed together. The corpse was unrecognizable.

J walked up behind him, and patted his back. “I knew you would finally come to your senses N, now we have to get back to work.” J was getting ready to fly. 

N turned his head to look at her. His face etched with worry and confusion.

“I-I did good? W-what did I do?” J just left.

He saw V’s face lost in thought. “What did I do?” V looked at him, opened her mouth, then closed it again. She walked to the pod and never looked at N again.

N was still kneeling over the body, he felt the oil on his face.

Looking at the body, the face was mauled, the chest looked like he had dug his claws under it and pulled it open.

As he stood up, he looked around and called Uzi’s name.

“Uzi? Where are you? D-Did I scare you? I’m sorry if I did!”

A line appeared under his eyes, he looked back at the body. More lines grew with his next thought.

Awfully small for… a… work-er…

He looked from his claws to the body, over and over.

[Oh hey! 2000 words exact!]

.

Hey! Sorry this took so long! I was stuck on how to write like, 2 paragraphs, and I'm planning on not posting another chapter for a month or two, just so i have some more time to write more chapters and have them come out faster lol.

Anywhom, Merry Christmas, and happy new year!

[smallangels]

Stressed Baby Angel

requested by @jacksdinonuggets !

Plot: Carmilla comes to the home but it stresses Vaggie out so much she ends up slipping right infront of Carmilla when she gets there, and is left to take care of the baby Angel.

_________________________________________________

It was a few days after extermination, Hell has won! Husk and Angel started dating and were out, Niffty was gone with Alastor, somewhere, and Charlie is out with Lucifer. Vaggie offered to stay and watch the hotel. Though, it was a bit of a mess, Charlie’s old planning board, empty alcohol bottles, knives stuck in the ground piercing bugs, and a ball of Valentinks fur, probably left by Niffty. She hadn’t really mind though, as no one was planning to come check in the hotel today, but she was so wrong.

Carmilla Carmine was like a motherly figure to Vaggie, after the extermination, Vaggie visited Carmilla more often, and soon she told the ballerina about her regression. She was like a mother to her when she regressed, making sense as she has two daughters. Carmilla was coming to the Hotel to congratulate the Princess, Fallen Angel and the sinners on getting rid of Adam, and winning for the souls of Demons, imps, and overlords. She hadn’t told Vaggie, and thought it’d be a nice surprise.

While Vaggie was cleaning up the mess, she heard the door knock. “What the hell? Nobody should be here already, they left awhile ago!” Vaggie walks up to the door, and opens it. She’s greeted by a slim, beautiful, tall, overlord. “Well hello there Vaggie, finally came to see your hotel,” Carmilla looked down at Angel. “Oh.. hey Carmilla! Nice seeing you here..! Oh look, you’ve checked out the hotel! Okay, bye!” Vaggie tries to push Carmilla away, but she’s surprisingly super strong, especially for someone standing on their “tippy toes.” “Vaggie, what are you doing?” “You’ve check the hotel right? Haha, you can go!” Carmilla walks in herself, pushing Vaggie aside, then she sees the absolute mess the lobby is. Vaggie covers her face, embarrassed. “Why, why, why did you have to come?!” Vaggie bursts out, it seemed she was obviously stressed and embarrassed from cleaning and having Carmilla over. “Seriously girl, you tried to keep me out because of a mess?” “It’s my job as a Hazbin Hotel worker to make sure that we’re not reviewed bad!” Vaggie yelled out, and seemingly starts to cry. Carmilla sees this, and quickly scoops up the little angel with her gigantic hands. “There, there little angel, just because one person is here, doesn’t mean it’ll affect you,” Carmilla says, rubbing her back with two of her fingers. “There’s no need for tears Vaggie, auntie’s here now, I’ll make sure your hotel will be as good as new.” Carmilla explored the hotel a bit, a small Vaggie being in her arms. “Can you show me where your room is baby?” *Vaggie points up the stairs, and puts her thumb in her mouth* “Ah, no Vaggie, did you wash your hands? You were cleaning just before.” Vaggie nods no, “I’ll get your pacifier once we get up there,” Carmilla opens the door to their room, eyes widening a bit at the master bedroom. There, she opens Vaggies nightstand and gets a pacifier and a clip for it. She attaches it to her red shirt, and bops it in her mouth. “There, better than sucking your thumb.” Carmilla plays with Vaggie, playing her favourite game, Pirates. Carmilla could use some time off being an overlord and have some free time. “How do you play this “Pirates” baby?” “Vaggie shows her two plastic toy chests. “You’s have to get mine, I’s has to try ‘n get yours!” “Really? That’s your favourite game Vaggie?” The Overlord and Angel play the game for an hour, having fun sneaking up on each other, stealing fake gold, and Carmilla lifting up Vaggie with her hands, slowly getting on the bed, and making Vaggie “walk the plank.” The two spend their evening hanging out, Vaggie giving Carmilla a tour everywhere, showing off Fat Nuggets and Keekee. They walk by the framed picture of Pentious, and Vaggie salutes, even while regressed. Carmilla awkwardly does the same, they stand there for about a minute, before Carmilla speaks up a bit, “You know Vaggie, this snake was my top buy-“ “Shush! We payin respects!” “Carmilla smiles, seeing Vaggie telling her to shush, but it was the right thing. After a while, Vaggie falls asleep in Carmilla’s arms, so she decides to help out a little. Carmilla calls her daughters over, and they help fix the main lobby the room, the floor, the trash, and made it look brand new.

Vaggie wakes up, to the noises of cleaning finishing, in her normal headspace. She wakes up on the couch, seeing the Carmines clean the lobby. Vaggie decides to get up, and help clean, talking to Carmilla, speaking with her daughters a bit, before the Princess, Overlord, and sinners come through, “Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel, how may the Carmines assist you?” Vaggie says, smiling.

Sorry if this wasn’t as good! I haven’t written a fic in maybe.. 3 months? I just know it’s been awhile, hope you enjoyed!

[jerzwriter]

Highways & Byways Part 2: Tobias & Casey

Book: Open Heart (Book 3 Timeline)

Pairing: Tobias Carrick x F!MC (Casey MacTavish)

Rating: Mature

Words: 1,594

Summary: A highway worker hit the lottery and walked off the job, changing all highway road signs before he did. Do not touch your partner's private part while he/she is driving! Tobias & Casey heading out of Boston to head to his college reunion in DC for the weekend. Tobias never saw the sign, but Casey did... 😉

A/N: I saw this photo, and I immediately thought of my two pairings and how they would react in this situation. I was debating which one I would write about, and I decided, screw it, I can do both. In fact, the comparison could be fun. This is totally silly and for fun. I hope you enjoy it! Participating in @choicesmonthlychallenge | Holding hands (and other things....)

It was only a little after 3:00 PM, but in Boston, it was already meant rush hour, and Tobias Carrick hated driving during rush hour. He would be in a foul mood if this were a typical day. There would be honking, sighs of frustration, and an occasional curse when a driver didn’t understand the meaning of staying in lane. But today was not a typical day.

Tobias bolted out of Kenmore just a few hours before, elated that the fluorescent lighting in the halls wouldn’t be part of his reality for the next four days. No, those days would be filled with revelry, catching up with old friends, and, most importantly, he would do it with Casey on his arm. It didn’t get better than this. 

His phone rang. After ensuring it was someone who wouldn’t lower his mood, he a button on the steering wheel to answer. 

“Bobby Dee!” Tobias shouted with as much enthusiasm as if they were standing in the same room. “How’s it going, my man?”

“It’s going good, going good! You already on the road?”

“I sure am! Hoping to arrive in DC somewhere around eleven.”

“Good! Then you might be early enough to join us. We’re all going to meet up at the hotel bar; we should still be there at eleven.”

“As excited as I am to see all of you, I’m going to have to take a pass. Casey and I are leaving right from our shifts, and we’ll probably need a little shut-eye after the trip. But don’t worry, we’ll see you bright and early at brunch.” 

A low chuckle came from the other end of the call, and Tobias’s lips twisted in anticipation.

“Go ahead,” he insisted. “Get it out of your system.”

“Oh, nothing, nothing….” Bobby laughed. “It’s all good, T… just… how times are changing! You have no idea how excited Tiana was when I told her that the Tobias Carrick was bringing someone to the reunion. Damn near had to get out the smelling salts to revive her.”

“Laugh all you want,” Tobias egged good-naturedly, “but when you meet Casey, you’ll understand. There was no reason to settle down until I met her. She is truly my other half.”  

“Well, as much as I think she’s got to be out of her goddamned mind for being with you, I can’t wait to meet her. She has to be someone pretty special to lasso you in.”

“She’s beyond special. Now tell Tiana to go easy on her. I don’t want all you jackasses frightening  her off.”

“Hey, no promises. But if you haven’t scared her off, I doubt we will.”

“Good point!” Tobias agreed. “Look, I’m coming up to her place now, but I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.”

“Same here; it’s been too long.”

Casey had been sitting on the steps, anxiously awaiting his arrival. She jumped up with her bag the moment she caught a glimpse of his car and wasted no time jumping into the passenger’s seat.  

“Hello, gorgeous!” he beamed as she entered. But anything else he wanted to say was cut off when her lips met his with a searing kiss.

“Mmph, hey!” He chuckled, playfully pushing her away. “Keep that up, and we won’t be headed to my reunion. We’ll be spending the weekend holed up at my place.”

With a coquettish grin, she looped her arms around his neck. “Would that be the worst thing?”

“Absolutely not, but I am kind of excited about showing off my girl.”

“Mmm,” she hummed. She slid back into her seat and adjusted her seatbelt. “How many reunions have you been to since you graduated from Howard?”

“We have one every year… and I’ve missed one or two, but outside of that, I’ve been to them all.”

“Mmm-hmm. OK you missed two years, so I’m date number what… nine, ten, eleven?”

He turned to her with a sarcastic smirk. “You really want to know?”

“Yep,” she teased. “Forewarned is forearmed.”

“You’re number one. I’ve never brought anyone with me.”

“Never?”

“Never.”

Now it was Casey’s turn for a smart-alec stare. “Figured you’d just pick up there, huh?”

Tobias's eyes went wide. “Wait… I didn’t… that’s not… shut up!” he fumbled. 

Casey couldn’t stop laughing. Rendering him speechless was one of her favorite hobbies.

“You know, that kind of sucks for me, though.  I figured I was the latest in a succession, but wow… now the pressure is real.”

“There’s no pressure,” he lifted her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss over it. “There will be some ribbing, I’m sure, but don’t worry, it will be directed at me.  Everyone is dying to meet you

“Well, I hope no one is disappointed,” she said, a note of worry in her voice.

“How on earth could they be?”  

~~~~~

Many hours, one stop for dinner and two restroom breaks later, Casey pulled out her phone.

“What’s the ETA now?” he asked.

“According to GPS, we should be there in two and a half hours.”

“Good timing!” He nodded. “Maybe we can pop in that mixer for a quick hello after all.”

“If you want to.”

“Hell yeah! I want to start showing you off early.”

“You’re incorrigible,” Casey laughed as she began scrolling through her phone. “Oh my, God!” she chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“Some highway worker in New Jersey hit the lottery but went back to work for one more day just to mess around with things. Before he left, he changed all the emergency signs on the Turnpike to read very… different… messages.”

“Classic! What did they say?”

“One read, ‘Some asshole texting on his cell phone got creamed here.’”

“Harsh, but possibly effective.”

“Another said, ‘Accident ahead! That’s what we get for letting New Yorkers drive in Jersey.”

“OK, that’s pretty good,” he chuckled. “What else?”

“This one said,” Casey stopped reading and snorted.

“OK, I need to know!” Tobias insisted.

“Hmm, I’m going to refrain from telling you this one because if the NSA is listening, I want plausible deniability.”

“Case… you’re losing me.”

“Don’t worry, baby,” she grinned. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Tobias may have forgotten about the topic, but Casey never did.  She waited patiently until they passed the next toll booth and made sure no cars were right around them. Then, with a deftness Tobias would later commend, she reached over, undid the top button of his pants, and slipped her hand under his briefs.

For a brief second, he was rendered speechless, but the tantalizing sensation of her fingers toying with the family jewels brought him back to reality.

“Casey, what are you doing?” he asked without flinching.

“Right now? I’m playing with your balls, Tobias.  I’ll be moving on to your penis momentarily,” she answered matter-of-factly.

“I know that,” he began to chuckle, but it turned into a soft groan as Casey made good on her promise and began stroking, arousing him in an instant. “but why…” he managed to get out.

“I need a reason? I mean, if you don’t like it… I’ll stop,” she started pulling her hand away.

With one hand remaining firmly on the wheel, Tobias used his other to keep Casey’s firmly in place.

“Don’t you dare,” he smiled. “I was just wondering what brought this on.”

“That guy in Jersey.  One of his signs said not to touch your partner's privates while they’re driving.”

“What a stupid fucking man,” Tobias chuckled. “Although I’m not sure everyone can handle it; he may have a point.”

“You have a point,” Casey giggled, caressing the head of his erection.

“Thanks to you,” he replied, followed by a shuddering breath.

Casey bit her lower lip, filled with delight as she watched his body tense when she picked up the pace.

“As long as this doesn’t get us killed. I kind of like this,” she beamed. “We can cross me giving you a handjob while driving off our bucket list.”

“Yes, we can,” he managed to say, his voice becoming tense.  

Casey’s eyes were fixed on Tobias, partly because she found his reactions so enticing, partly because she wanted to ensure his eyes were still on the road.  She was so fixated she didn’t realize he had pulled into a rest stop on the side of the road.

“Tobias, what are you doing?” she asked as he threw the car into park.

With slick precision, Tobias reclined his seat and jumped into the back seat; he took Casey by the arm and pulled her back with him. 

“Tobias!” She giggled as he pulled her into a kiss. 

His fingers hungrily grabbed at her hair, and he pulled her so close there was no space between them. Her handiwork was now pressing against her lower stomach.  His kiss was furious, stoking a flame she wasn’t sure they could ignite in such a confined, public place.  But as she felt Tobias pushing down her jeans, she realized… they were sure going to try.  

“What are you doing?” she chuckled.

“Finishing what you started,” he hissed.

With her pants now at his feet, she let out a whimper as he began nibbling on her ear. 

“It’ll delay the trip…” she whispered through little pants. “We might miss the mixer….”

“Not that I care,” he groaned, “but it’s all your fault.  Such a bad girl, disobeying important safety signs!”

“Mmmmhhh,” she growled beneath him.  “I thought you liked when I was a bad girl.”

“I do,” he smiled, “but keep it up, and we damn well may miss brunch too.”

“Thank God for your tinted windows,” she giggled… and the rest is to be left to the imagination. 😏

Perma: @a-crepusculo @animesuck3r @annoyingmillenialnewbie @crazy-loca-blog @different4strawberry @doriopenheart @fayeswiftie @gryffindordaughterofathena @genevievemd @liaromancewriter @lucy-268 @onikalover @openheartforeverinmyheart @potionsprefect @quixoticdreamer16 @rookiemartin @secretaryunpaid @socalwriterbee @tessa-liam @trappedinfanfiction @jerzwriter-reblogs-asks @choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics @sophxwithers

OH All: @alwaysmychoices @annfg8 @binny1985 @coffeeheartaddict2 @mysticalgalaxysstuff @ofmischiefandmedicine @peonierose @youlookappropriate

Tobias Only: @icecoffee90 @kyra75

[feraltuxedo]

WIP Wednesday Thursday

From the next chapter of my crime drama AU The Runaway, in which DI Fell and his sex worker sidekick Crowley debrief at the pub after an unsuccesful morning's investigation:

‘There’s something not right about that clinic.’ Aziraphale swallowed the last of his skin-on chips and wiped his hands on the napkin. Whatever Crowley lacked in credentials, he clearly made up for in observational skills. His instincts were sharp. ‘No,’ Aziraphale said slowly. ‘There’s something off about it.’ ‘Like, why’d they make us wait for so long just to turn us away again?’ ‘Oh, that’s a standard power play. By the book, really. Making us wait to see what we let slip about our investigation. Hoping by the end we’re so frustrated, we show our weaknesses. And I have to say, they nearly got you.’ ‘Fuck off.’ ‘They did, though. You were seething. You can’t let your nerve get to you like that.’ ‘They were wasting our time.’ ‘Quite, and that’s exactly what they’ll do again when we go back after lunch.’ ‘We what? I don’t wanna to back there. I’ve got shit to do.’ ‘What, you’ve got nudes to take for the internet?’ Just across the pub, the bartender dropped an empty pint glass, which bounced off the wooden floor but didn’t shatter. Crowley waited for the clanging to stop before he answered. ‘Yup. Busy man, me.’ ‘Alright. You don’t have to come along.’ Crowley, who had clearly been expecting a fight, drooped in his chair. His change of mind was comically obvious. ‘I mean… I could, though.’ Aziraphale thought back to their brief but illuminating conversation with the doctor at the clinic earlier. ‘Perhaps better not. I don’t mean any offence, but you don’t quite have the temper or the delicacy required for this.’ ‘How fucking dare you, I’m as delicate as a paper flower.’ He rather contradicted himself by growling as he half lunged across the table, nearly knocking over his glass in the process. Aziraphale looked around, making sure the bartender wasn’t within earshot. ‘There’s plenty for you to do in the meantime. If there is something going on at the clinic, the locals will either know or suspect. You saw the gentleman with the dog earlier—’ ‘Tory wanker.’ ‘This strikes me as the kind of place where gossip spreads like wildfire. All you have to do is use your not insubstantial charm to get the locals talking. Oh, and if you could book a hotel or a B&B for a night, that might be helpful, too. I fully suspect I won’t get anywhere today at the clinic, but perseverance usually pays off in these kind of places. That means you won’t make your seven o’clock date, I’m afraid.’ Aziraphale said all of this very quickly, but when he glanced up from his plate, Crowley was giving him an entirely inscrutable look. ‘Assuming you want to stay here, of course,’ he added, suddenly insecure. ‘I’ll give you a lift to the nearest train station, if you want. Depending on the schedule, you might get back to London in time to—’ ‘D’you really think I’m charming?’ Aziraphale’s mouth snapped shut, as Crowley’s widened to a rather smug grin. ‘Don’t people quite literally pay you for your charm? I thought that was part of the whole…’ Aziraphale waved a hand in Crowley’s general direction. ‘Business plan.’ ‘That and my eight inch—’ ‘Sorted, then. I go back to the clinic, you scout the area.’ Aziraphale drained his cordial and stood up, but Crowley’s grin penetrated right through the back of his head.

[t-am-i-the-asshole]

AITAH for having two twin beds in my guest room instead of a queen, and refusing to let my in-laws change the room

Hi Reddit. This happened earlier this year, and my in laws are no longer staying with me.

Background info: My husband and I (24f&m) have been married for 2 years. I am a social worker, and my husband works as an electrician. We own a 3 bed 2 bath together. We have our bedroom, our home office, and a guest bedroom.

My states foster care system is one of the worst in the country. There isn’t anywhere close to enough foster homes to meet the total number of children in care. As a result of this, children often get stuck at hospitals, psych facilities, group homes, etc. often times we have children that have to sleep at the CPS facility in sleeping bags on the floor because there’s just no where for them to go. It’s very common for social workers to bring children home with them, myself included . It’s hard to find emergency placements for siblings, so if I can’t find a place for them for the night to keep them together, I will often just bring them home with me. My husband and I are child free, but he’s super supportive of this. So our guest bedroom has two twin beds, both with pull out beds underneath. This means that I can give four children their own beds for the night.

Earlier this year my husbands brother and his wife were temporarily homeless. They lost their jobs, and couldnt renew their lease. They had to scramble to find new jobs and a place to live. We let them stay with us for two months. I didn’t really want to, but it was the right thing to do.

They were very pissed about the two twin beds thing. Because of the way the bed frames are, you cannot push the beds together. And the room is a little small and oddly shaped, so you can’t fit a queen air mattress in the room without taking the twin beds out. We don’t have a garage, so there would be no where to put the beds. They wanted me to get rid of the beds or put them in a storage unit, so they could put a queen air mattress in the room.

I refused because I didn’t want to go through all that trouble when they shouldn’t be staying for long anyways, and I worked hard to get the room to look a way that I feel is welcoming to kids, and I don’t want to change it. I didn’t tell them this, but I also didn’t want them to get too comfortable with the room because I didn’t want them to be tempted to stay for any longer than necessary. I would rather house kids in unstable situations than my ungrateful in-laws.

My husband took my side and told them to get a hotel if they don’t like it, but otherwise shut up. He said that if they keep complaining they’ll have to leave. He’s a good husband. My in-laws have been telling everyone who will listen that were assholes who made them sleep in kid beds. My husband has been telling his whole family to fuck off basically, and don’t talk to us unless you have something nice to say.

AITAH Reddit? There’s like a dozen people who think we’re assholes so I’d like some judgement.

[ajoytobeheld]

Bit of an update...

October 4th, 2007

Hello there! How often should we actually be writing this blog thing? I have a feeling we’ve been a bit rubbish. Sorry. I guess we’re not interesting enough to write too often and frequently get distracted by shiny things. The main news in campesinos! camp is that (as of yesterday) we’re all back in the UK. What’s up with it being so cold, eh? This return means we’ve finished recording and mixing the album so early next year it will be fresh for your little ears.

Ellen: We also got to mix the album in a very interesting area of Toronto which was a hang out for drivers with a penchant for loud bass heavy music. Each evening they would crank up the volume and stand stationary around their cars just kinda looking at each other, it seemed fun and often I wanted to join in. This was balanced out by charity workers who would do team building exercises each morning which involved group singing, clapping and generally dancing around like idiots. One of them enquired as to whether Aleks and myself wanted a job. It was tempting. The hotel we stayed in was also rather odd, one morning we woke to hear a mexican band practicing in the room next door and were then greeted by a man stroking his pet chameleon in the lift (not a euphanism.) Apparently lots of mafia/gangster get-togethers were held there, under the guise of baby showers and weddings. Despite this strangeness we’re missing canada muchly but there is also something quite nice about being reunited with home comforts like daytime australian soaps, the sunday times, chavs and good old british sarcasm. On the flight back, Ellen and myself had our excess baggage fee waved because the guy found out I was at medical school (on hiatus) so if you’re ever in the situation, I suggest subtly slipping in dissection room banter or something. The flight was exciting as ever, with a tear being shed over our last chance to indulge in canada’s staple drink of clamato juice, ie a touch of clam juice mingled with tomato juice. i know - crazy…Ellen dropped a muffin on the floor (Ellen is upset about this still). Then the flight attendants moved Harriets violin without telling her. so yeah, we know how to have fun.Ellen: I however had a nasty shock when returning home to Cardiff, in my absence my flatmates had turned my room into some sort of brothel for their visiting friends drunken encounters. I have decided to get a big lock, lazer system and bear traps put in place for our next trip away.

We start our UK tour on Saturday, so we’ll get to see lots of places none of us have been to like Colchester whilst indulging in lots of Alan Partridge/Curb Your Enthusiasm DVD time on the van, Marks and Sparks food and unbeatable Travel Lodges for accomodation. We’ve never been on tour for that long before so the blogs might get progressively more angry/ bitchy/ whiny. We’re playing with some awesome bands, and they’re definitely worth seeing even if we’re not. Oh and we have some exciting new t-shirts and pants we’ll be selling. Hopefully we’ll see some of you at the shows, come say hi - we like people. Ellen: Also I have a new tattoo so come just to see that if you like, you can prod it if you want.lots of love Aleks and Ellen and all of LC!

PS – We wrote this blog one week ago and then just kinda didn’t get round to publishing it. Coz we’re silly. Since then we’ve been to and come back from Ireland, where we put ourselves to shame by not drinking very much Guinness and sounding more Somerset than Irish when we tried to do the accent. We also discovered that none of us can play pool very well. And Gareth got told off by the receptionist at the Holiday Inn because we were indulging in the legendary chant ‘Need a Wee’ when we got back after the Belfast gig. Gutted. That’s probably the craziest its gonna get on tour – so yeah good times…

[nickgerlich]

May I Take Your Order?

If Time Magazine were to determine their Person Of The Year honoree right now, I am pretty sure it would be a non-human entity we all know as AI. After all, AI has been in the news practically every day this year, and even though it first hit the mainstream last November with the release of ChatGPT, it was not until 2023 that it found its stride.

Now it is everywhere, this human-like force that has no body, no pulse, no organs other than a brain. And boy howdy, is it ever smart. Not perfect, but very, very smart.

A month ago I noticed a new feature had been added to my Spotify app, DJ “X.” Basically, it’s an AI DJ, which talks to me, calls me by name, and serves up three or four songs at a time based on “What you were listening to in the summer of 2019” or “I think you’ll like these.” I am an audience of one, and its playlist and presentation is entirely created with AI.

It’s not perfect, as I said above. He pronounces classic rock band REO Speedwagon as “Rio Speedwagon,” which is somewhat understandable given that DJ “X” isn’t really a human and wasn’t around in the 1970s like I was. And sometimes it tosses out a little speed metal, but probably only because I had never hit the Skip button once or twice in the past when I let their suggestion engine run freely.

Otherwise, though, DJ “X” is a frequent companion on my walks, especially once I have listened to all my podcast episodes of the week. Sure, I could listen to my own playlists, but I have worn those out completely. It’s nice to have a fresh perspective on what is more or less music I like.

Turns out that my buddy “X” is moonlighting at fast food drive-thrus now, and he couldn’t have come at a better time. Between rising wages and labor shortages, AI is filling an important gap in fast food sales. And, as I have said many times in recent years, automated workers never show up late, don’t get sick, don’t complain, and don’t form unions.

Who could ask for anything more?

The AI drive-thru is the perfect deployment of this technology, because it can address customers as soon as they arrive at the ordering kiosk, as opposed to dealing with humans whom are often juggling multiple tasks. They can upsell better than any humans, because they can think on the fly, offering additional items or meal deals that perfectly complement the original order. And I am sure the tech exists whereby a customer could login to an app or have a QR on their phone scanned so that loyalty points can be accrued.

This is all just the tip of the iceberg. Chatbots have quickly morphed into term paper-writing assistants, DJs, and now order takers. But can you begin to imagine where else we might see this soon? I am betting that Amazon’s Alexa will soon be packed with far more AI than it currently has, as will other household assistants. It will likely pre-populate my shopping list, because it knows what I buy, specifically certain brands as well as broader categories. And, it should offer recipes based on those things I consume frequently.

Google Maps and Apple Maps will learn ever more of our habits, and begin making suggestions without our having to query them. I am sure that by now Google already knows my love of Thai food and craft beer. I shouldn’t have to ask it; it should be volunteering this information. We’re getting close already, though, because Apple Maps knows my comings and goings, and as soon as I fire up the van at 9am, it tells me that traffic is light and I will drive at work in nine minutes. The same goes for the return trip. It’s so good that it recognizes my transient residences, meaning an overnight at an out-of-town hotel. If I go out for dinner, it tells me how long it will take to get back to my temporary home base, and, oh, here’s the route.

I could go on. AI is truly the Person Of The Year, and whether you find it just a bit creepy or not, it’s here to stay. It can be male. It can be female. Or it can be ambigenderous (I made that up). But it is much more than just an alter ego, it is “Other Me,” as it seeks to simplify my life.

I just hope it doesn’t go on a shopping spree or craft beer binge without my consent. That could be dangerous. Would you like fries with that sandwich?

Dr “Hold The Mayo, Please” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[atlanticcanada]

'They are shocked': 80 workers face unemployment as Dartmouth hotel converts into provincial shelter

The union representing 80 food service, housekeeping and maintenance workers at the Doubletree by Hilton hotel in Dartmouth, N.S., says many are about to lose their jobs at the end of April.

“They are shocked,” says Lionel MacEachern of United Food & Commercial Workers Canada. “And I feel for the workers – some of them have 41, 42 years [of] service.”

The property is owned by Toronto-based acquisition and development firm Manga Hotels, which also operates several other Halifax-area hotels.

Last week, Nova Scotia’s Minister of Community Services, Karla MacFarlane, confirmed the province is negotiating with Manga to expand the number of homeless Nova Scotians being provided with a place to stay at the hotel through the province’s shelter diversion program.

MacEachern says in the workers’ collective agreement the employer only offers severance if the hotel is completely shut down. The fact that the hotel is transitioning into a shelter, means employees don’t qualify.

The union is trying to change that.

“And I understand that the homeless is an issue,” he says. “However, we still have to look out for the workers and their rights, and hopefully the company will come around, maybe with some assistance from government to give some money for a severance so they can move on with their lives and decide whatever they want to do.”

He says the changes came as a shock to the members, as their employer previously told them the hotel would resume normal operations once its current housing agreement with the province ended at the end of April.

His understanding is that the new contract being negotiated would convert the entire hotel – 204 rooms – into a provincial shelter for 11 months.

“At the end of the month, there’s going to be a layoff notice for all food and beverage workers,” MacEachern says.

“We do not know what’s going on with housekeeping yet because we’ve been waiting for the company and government to finalize their deal.”

The province has said very little about the negotiations and declined CTV’s request for an interview with MacFarlane Thursday.

Christina Deveau, the spokesperson for the Department of Community Services, told CTV News by email it will “have information about new initiatives to share soon.”

When asked about what would happen to the hotel’s staff, Deveau wrote, “Community Services is working closely with the management of our hotel partner to ensure that there is a smooth transition for staff. All employees impacted have been offered alternate employment opportunities.”

MacEachern says that’s not what workers have been telling him, although he says some may stay on depending on what’s needed to operate the shelter, while others may find work at other hotels.

The NDP MLA for Dartmouth North, Susan LeBlanc, was pressing the government for more details this week before the spring session at Province House ended Wednesday.

“We've heard lots of rumours and the government has not been forthright with any information,” she says.

“We keep being told we’re going to hear soon, but that doesn’t allow for any input into what’s happening,” she adds. “Obviously we don’t want to make decisions that are going to cause more people to become homeless, and to not be able to pay their rent.”

LeBlanc wants to know what’s going to happen to the staff, how much the contract will cost, and what the long-term plan is.

“If there is an announcement about government taking over this hotel to house more homeless people, then we want to know what the end strategy is. We want to hear the plan for permanent solutions to the housing problem,” LeBlanc says.

According to its website, Manga Hotels intends to eventually build a three-tower development directly behind its hotel.

The city confirms a development application has been submitted for the plot of land at the north end of Best Street, which is currently under review.

CTV News contacted Manga’s director of operations for an interview, but Warren Bowles only said negotiations had been finalized, and had no other comment.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/H9zdLBR

[adventures-of-the-creeping-bam]

NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY: THE ADVENTURES OF THE CREEPING BAM,  BOOK THREE: WARMER - CHAPTER 9

If you’re new to the story, please go check out Book 1 first …

Book 3 Chapter 1 is here …

MPORTANT:  Please note this story includes content that may be considered mature, such as moderate battle violence, some strong language and occasional mild sexual scenes.

If you want to support my writing, feel free to swing by my Patreon or Ko-fi.

CHAPTER NINE:  GAEL

Lady Naru walked us out after the meeting broke up, giving Daste a particularly fond parting hug and kiss on the cheek before we left the chamber and finally broke the spell.  The whole way down the stairs and out of the door she hovered close at my side, and she just kept firing questions at me.  She wanted to know the most contrary things, I genuinely couldn’t work out why she was asking about these things, none of it seemed to have any import at all.  She just wanted to know about me.  How it had been for me growing up, what I’d been through in my training, and my adventures out in the wider world.  The exact kinds of questions da always asked me when he returned to Bavat, actually.

She’s kind, and gentle with me.  I found myself warming to her very quickly, something about her just puts me at ease, but there’s more to it than that.  It’s taken me so long to work out how it feels to me, but I realise now it’s like I already know her.  From somewhere deep in my past, before I was capable of remembering her.  She just feels so familiar to me.

That being said, the whole time I could still feel Kesla watching the two of us like a hawk, and I knew she was silently judging our new acquaintance, deciding if she can be trusted.  I’d like to think she’s just being protective, but the truth is this is just Kesla being Kesla.  She really is incorrigible in some ways.

Personally, I just want to have this.  I have no real family apart from my father, or at least I don’t think there’s anyone else out there, I never got to know my mother.  Da won’t even talk about her, the one time he relented to my questions he simply said that nothing good can come from me knowing before I’m ready.  I wish I had the first clue what that even means.  But because of this I’ve always striven to get as many friends as I can, even though it can be a little difficult for me sometimes, I’m really not good at all that social mess, I just never got the hang of it.  So I’ve got plenty of family out there, but only one of them is blood.

Sulin Naru is another connection to my past, someone who’s very close to my father.  The more I manage to learn through inference from her own questions the clearer it’s become to me she really does know my father, so even if Kesla’s unconvinced, she’s won me over.  I want to spend more time around her, as much simply because I really do like her as because she’s one of my father’s oldest friends.

Besides, she’s kind of fascinating.  I’ve never met a real sorcerer, in truth very few have, at least knowingly, but thanks to my education I know a lot more about them than most.  The opportunity to learn more from personal experience is too great a temptation for me.

After leaving the Transit House and heading back across the bridge, we went back to our hotel for the first time in days, mostly on the pretence of swapping out some of our old gear for fresh clothing and supplies from our luggage.  Certainly it was nice to be able to change my own travelling clothes from my packs, and I needed to replenish my own components as well as help Tulen rethink her own gear in the face of what we’re now into, but we ended up staying longer.  To start with, we needed to see to our horses, Kesla and Shay in particular giving some attention to their fearsome mounts, Trampler and Elder, who seemed to have grown lonely despite having been looked after well enough by the stable-workers.  Then Art declared he needed a drink, which prompted others to admit they were hungry, despite the hearty breakfast we had before we left the temple, so we ended up taking food and a few pints before heading out again.

So now the afternoon’s growing long above us as we’re navigating the streets again, this time following my nose as I use the blood dried into my ruined handkerchief as focal point for the tracking spell I’ve put up alongside Olsbeq’s Awareness Augment.  I’ll admit it’s been a while since I tried this, and I suspect I look a little strange to casual passers-by right now due to the components, but I’ve got more immediate concerns right now.  Despite my own personal mastery of the mechanics of the spell, I have to admit Tulen has a good point with this particular piece of magic.  It’s a lot.

After smearing lines of corn syrup around my eyes, ears and under my nostrils, I had to take a piece of raw cotton and soak it in castor oil before holding it under my nose and taking a deep breath.  With the unpleasant medicinal tang of it in my head I summoned up the relevant sigil and spoke the incantation, then ran my fingers over the lines, mashing them as deep in as I could without either temporarily blinding or deafening myself as the charm took hold.  I’ll admit having the sweet corn syrup in my nostrils easily drove off the unpleasantness of the castor oil, but it still had me blinking from the sting in my eyes while my ears popped as the spell finally took hold.  Then suddenly I could see and hear everything.  Or at least that’s what it feels like.

Most of the group look pretty much the same as they normally do, just in much greater detail since now I’m able to make out each individual stitch and weave in their clothing, every near-imperceptible line and wrinkle in their skin, every single hair grown from their heads.  There are other, subtle details, though.  When I looked at Kesla the first thing I saw was her strength, as if the latent power stored in her muscles was a palpable thing, just rising from her like strangely beautiful fumes.  There’s something very similar to Thel and Dumoli, I quickly noticed, as well as Yeslee, although that didn’t take me by surprise after seeing it in the others.

Others were more interesting to observe, however.  Krakka glows like a beacon, he’s entirely too bright for me to look at, and I know that’s the blazing power of his beloved goddess.  Shay shines too, but hers is more subtly subdued, more akin to my own slightly pearlescent glow, which I know comes from her own half-elf blood.  I know full well that I must be as brilliantly illuminated as Tulen, though, her magical potential ebbing and flowing much like the dancing auroras seen over the mountains sometimes in the Northern Reaches which I hear are a nightly event in Tektehr.  In her case it pulses with the beat of her heart, and I’m sure my own does the same, although I suspect my own brilliant colour scheme is subtly different, although I hope it’s at least as strikingly beautiful.  Since she refused to try the spell again she couldn’t tell me.

Lady Naru was, unsurprisingly, a bonfire.  If I had any doubt before that she really is a sorcerer, it died in that instant.  Her own power is no aurora, it blazes as bright as Krakka’s but with the dancing, golden fire of the sun’s corona.  And while Tulen’s waves waft off her in impressive but ultimately lazy waves, Naru’s boil and flare with furious flashes like a blast furnace.  I couldn’t make out her face in the midst of it any better than Krakka’s.

Big Man surprised me the most, though.  I’ve grown so used to him as this dark, dull, cold hulk of impenetrable ceramic, the only real indicator of life his bright red eyes, but when I laid eyes on him after activating the Augment … he’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.  His physical form is still there, but I can see that his hard, cold form is really just a shell.  The real Driver 8 is the bright red fire inside him, which crackles and dances and spins with unmistakable arcane life.  I couldn’t help myself when I saw it, the words escaped me all on their own:  “Big Man … you’re incandescent.”

He looked at me for a long moment before replying, and I swear I could actually see his attention this time, I knew he was looking right at me now, looking me over, and something about the way his dancing fire seemed to spin and weave as he did it … I can’t explain it, it felt like appreciation, and love.  For the first time I knew he cares about me the same way I’ve come to care about him.  The rest too, I’m sure.

“Thank you, Gael.  You are very much the same to me.”

Hearing that put the theory to bed for me.  It seems this is very much how he sees the world too, so given Kesla’s requirements this was clearly the smart choice.  So I concentrated and did the requisite fine-tuning, just like I always did back in the classrooms when we tried this, as well as in my examinations when I last tried it, and everything calmed down again.  I could still see everything, and feel everything, and I hear things I never do with my normal ears, but otherwise it was mostly as it is normally.

Now all I have to do is focus, when I need to, and I can pick up on what’s going on around me, or I can read people around, me, pick up subtleties I would never be able to observe with my normal eyes or ears or sense of smell.  I’m inherently aware of everyone around me, not only within my sight but beyond too, and with a surprisingly minor adjustment I can increase the range significantly.  I don’t know quite how far out I can make this work, but it’s a fair assessment that anything within a quarter mile is conceivably within my awareness now.

Once she was assured my spell would easily serve the same functions as Big Man’s sensory abilities, Kesla divided the group.  Putting Shay in charge of our group seemed to make Thel a little prickly when it became clear that means taking her lead from the half-orc, but she’s warming to the idea easily enough, although I think having Brung along for the ride probably helped.  She also put Krakka with us too, just in case we do run into anything more than we can handle on our own, and I suspect she assigned Darwyn, Yeslee and Zuldrad too for the same reasons.  I noticed Darwyn breathing a little smoother once she realised this meant she wouldn’t have to put up with her ex, much like last time.

Then again, our resources are pretty well spread out between the two groups now.  Art knows the streets as well as his fellow thieves, and with Driver 8 watching out for them they shouldn’t have to worry about anyone following them, at least without them catching up on it.  Besides, he can take on a small army by himself, having both Tulen and Lady Naru with them almost feels like overkill for inherent defence.  Besides, if they are going to head into the richer quarters of the city, then surely the chances of them running into an actual fight actually drop considerably.  We’re the ones who are actually going out looking for trouble right now.

Besides, we can still keep in touch with the others if we need to.  Tulen promised before we parted ways that the moment anything at all happens on their end she’ll let me know about it, and Lady Naru said the messenger magic’s as easy to her as anything else.  That being said, I find myself wondering what it would actually be like to try using that spell while I’m already in the thrall of the Augment.  It’s perhaps not the most enticing prospect right now …

Stopping just short of the curb, I give the bundled cloth in my free hand a little squeeze as I turn a slow semi-circle and scan the broad thoroughfare ahead of me.  I don’t see the others stopping behind me, but I know they do all the same, even the order they do it in as they note than I’m adjusting to the change in surroundings again.  I can feel Shay shifting her weight from one foot to the other, regarding me for a long beat, and I can even sense she wants to speak now, even as I take in all the other bodies around us.  Business is still in full swing so the wide street is pretty busy, but there doesn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary.

Finally Shay clears her throat and takes a step closer.  “Um … Gael, you all right there?”

“Perfectly fine.”  I breathe, thoroughly aware that I’m speaking at a conversational level she can easily pick up on even out here with all this ambient noise.

The way I can not only see the creasing of the little wrinkle between her brows but the muscles behind it is a little discomfiting for me right now, but it’s a more subtle effect I’m still a little lost over how to actually realistically ignore.  “Gael … you’re walking like you’re in a trance, and your eyes are … gods, that is weird.  Your pupils are dancing.  They can’t decide if they’re going to stay wide open or tight as pinholes.  And you look frightful.  People are staring.”

Frowning and actually feeling every inch of my face subtly adjusting from that one movement, I look around again, and I can see what she means easily enough, as much feeling the attention of those who are passing us by.  I’m drawing a lot of looks all right, but then with what must looks very much like fresh blood painted in smeared lines across my face I’m well aware of the outlandishness of my appearance.  Even in Untermer I know this must be a weird look, even without the way I’m apparently moving around.

“Honestly, Shay?”  I find myself forming the words without thinking too much about it, really.  “I have no idea how the hell Big Man does this every day.”

“Because he’s a golem, Gael.  He was built that way.  He’s always seen the world like this.”  She steps closer now, putting her hand in the small of my back, but gently, not putting any real pressure on me yet.  “I thought you said you’d done this before, though.  That you had control over it.”

“I did.  I do.  It’s just …”  I blink, and while the act only lasts for the split of a second it seems to feel to me like it takes much longer.  Oh, that might be the worst part of this, the stretching of perceived time in certain moments.  “Ooof … um … oh, yes, well … that was in a controlled environment.  Back in the Academy, in the classroom, or in the examination hall.  This is … somewhat different.”

Shay’s frown deepens as she looks right into my eyes, and as she opens her mouth it’s worryingly like I can already see the words she’s forming.  Like some horrible pre-emptive echo.  “Do you need help?”  She presses my back more firmly now, but I can feel every tendon in her fingers, the bones behind them, even the ridges of her fingerprints, through the layers of my clothes.

“No.  I’m all right.  Really.  I promise.”

Stepping back as she breaks contact, Shay still watches me closer than a hawk, looking thoroughly unconvinced by my words.  “Gael, I …”  She takes a deep breath, then lets it out in a deep sigh.  “Fuck.  Okay, if you insist.  Kesla put me in charge, sort of, but … I’m going to defer just this once, because you’re supposed to be the expert on magic here.”  She sets her jaw, and I see the muscles shifting under her impressive cheeks.  “Which way?”

Squinting now, I focus on the other half of the combined spell I’ve woven, and the handkerchief still gripped in my hand almost seems to pulse as I shift my gaze.  I feel the subtlest throb behind my eyes, then I see that bright red line I’ve been following since I finished the spells shift.  Curving right, down past two stores across the thoroughfare and then cutting into the alleyway just past.  I start walking without thinking.

“Whoa, wait!”  I feel Shay grab me hard, and it sets off a whole flood of physical sensations through me as she digs her fingers into my shoulders and pulls me back.  Just as the trotting horse and cart I’d been fully aware of but somehow still managed to completely ignore as I focused on the path rolls right through the space I would have occupied on the cobbled street.  “Gods, Gael, focus.”

“That’s just what I am doing …”  The words are out without conscious thought once again, my reasoning mind still detached from my awareness, I think.  Another of the strange side effects of this spell.  “But thank you.  That could have been bad.”

“No shit.”  Shay lets go of me and I set off instantly, and I hear her muttering a slightly winded oath as she scrambles to follow me again.  I can feel her frustration radiating from her like a palpable fever now.  I can also sense all the others following too, and I know they’re just as concerned as Shay now, especially after that near miss.

“Shay,”  I hear Thel muttering as she draws in close to her side, even though the low tone’s intended to be private.  “What the fuck is going on with ‘em?”

“Magic.  I don’t get it either, and I like it even less.  They say they’re on top of it, though.”

“Seriously?  You saw what just happened.  They’re stumbling round like they’re being controlled by some crazy druid.  They carry on like this they’re gonna get hurt.”

“I won’t let that happen.”

Thel doesn’t reply this time, but I can feel her frustration growing now too.  Directed as much at Shay as at me, though, I notice.  Chafing at the required deference, I think.

The moment I step into the alley the smell hits like a physical wall, trash and raw sewage and body odour.  I pull the scent-portion of my input out as much as I consciously can as I start stepping gingerly, not actually having to look down to keep track of the cleaner, drier spots in the broken paving as I navigate the overflow from the badly maintained drains.  I keep my focus directed on the path ahead as I lead the group into the next stretch of the labyrinth.

“Ugh … charming place.”  I hear Krakka mutter from somewhere in the middle behind me.

“Welcome to Untermer.”  Shay growls under her own breath  “Again.”

“You get used to it.”  Darwyn pipes up, and the amusement is clear in her voice, but I can also sense her more mischievous streak stepping up too.  “Eventually.”

“I don’t want to get used to this.”  Krakka snaps  “Even the poor quarters in Tabaphic don’t smell this bad.”

They continue for a few more moments, and while it’s definitely bickering I can tell it’s relatively light hearted now they have something else to take their mind off my current predicament for a minute or two.  But something else is starting to draw my own attention now.  Not here, in the tight, winding confines of the allay, but ahead.  In the more open space that I can already sense a little way ahead.

So I just stop on the spot, not really a conscious decision but just smart given the situation.  Shay catches it quickly enough, of course, but I feel the message taking more time to travel through the rest of the group, so some of them come close to walking into the backs of others as we all draw to a clumsy halt.

“Um … Gael, are you –”

“Something’s ahead of us.”

The group falls dead silent at those words, and I feel several of them tense on the spot.  Shay and Thel both reach for the weapons on their hips purely by instinct but don’t draw.  An electric moment passes by, then I feel Shay step up close so she can lean over my shoulder, intending to whisper in my ear now.

“What kind of something?”  I know she’s looking ahead now, but she can see as well as I can that the alley’s twists are as haphazard as any others we’ve encountered, nothing ahead actually visible right now.

That’s what Kesla would call a stumper, actually.  I’ve been keeping my attentions trained for threats this whole time, and so far nothing’s actually presented itself, at least nothing explicitly dangerous.  What I can feel up ahead … there’s no direct menace to it, I can tell at least that whatever threat there is here it’s not specifically focused on anything right now, it’s more pregnant with possibilities.  A watchfulness, I suppose … of course that’s what it is.  Guards.  Sentries.  Someone set out on watch.  More than one person, I can feel now.

“Someone is … watching this path.”

“What …”  Shay tenses a little more, I feel her grip tighten on her sword as well as hearing the creak of the tendons in her fingers, the subtlest creak in the leather of the scabbard.  “They’re expecting us?”

“No, I don’t …”  I concentrate a little deeper into what’s ahead, and it’s like a picture in abstraction forming ahead of me, it’s very strange.  I can see the brick of the walls ahead of me, but somehow I can also make out what lies beyond, a small square lying between the crush of surrounding buildings.  No nature here, though, just flagstone paving underfoot and some scattered man-made topography, looks like some tables and simple benches set out in the space.  There are doorways in some of the walls, one of them currently open, and there’s a figure sat on the stoop, half in and half out of the entryway.  This is the most watchful attention, I can see, but they’re not alone.  There are three others here, two sat at one of the tables while a third is pacing idly in the middle of the open ground.  None of these others look particularly alert, but they’re awake enough.  All it takes is for one to notice you, after all.

This is … yes, this is definitely the place.  As I push my focus a little tighter onto all of them, I can see they’re clearly of the same basic stock as the rest we’ve been fighting lately.  The same makeshift leather gear and cloaks, the same borrowed or stolen Guild gear and weapons.  As I push even deeper, looking past the man sat in the doorway – and it’s the strangest thing, I know right through that it is a man – I can sense they’re definitely not the only ones here.

The building in question is three storeys, somewhat slender but long so there’s room despite it being cramped.  It’s all kinds of disconcerting that I can actually look through walls to see what lies inside, but more so to actually be able to make out the occupants too, although in these cases they’re more indistinct, mostly just vaguely man or woman-shaped blobs.  The way they’re picked out in warm colours makes me think perhaps I’m seeing them through their body warmth, which is another strange and worrying thing, and I wonder if that’s how Big Man sees us all when we’re out of his direct sight.  I try not to think about it now as I make a rough count but then the number just suddenly comes to me even though I didn’t actually ask for it first.  Oof … I hate this.

I’m stumbling backwards before I quite realise, but I don’t fall as Shay just grabs hold of me again and holds me up.  “Shit … Gael, come on.  This cannot be good for you.  Seriously, how long can you even keep this up?”

Blinking a few times, I finally just mash my eyes closed for a few beats and then give my head a good shake before finally forcing myself into a comfortable standing position again as I open them.  “Oooh … it’s rather subjective, I’m told.  It depends on the wizard, really.  Tulen can barely handle it for a minute or two, after all.”  When I look back at them now I’ve dialled it all right back so I’m seeing the group mostly how they normally are, but I still can’t quite escape the most obvious effects.  Minerva … Krakka’s still a beacon.  “I’ll be all right for a little longer, I think.”

“Bollocks.”  Shay really doesn’t try to sugar-coat it this time.  “Please, Gael.  Just drop it.”

“He’s in there, just a little way down.  But he’s not alone, there are quite a few more of them with him.”

Shay shuts her mouth a moment after I finish speaking, the words she clearly wanted to say dying in her throat.  Instead her face darkens further as she looks past me for a moment, then back.  “You’re sure about that?”

“Yes.  It’s a strange thing, but … yes.  I even know how many of them there are, just like Driver 8 does.  It’s … I think I’m starting to understand him a little now.  But I don’t like it.”  I look at the others, seeing them all listening intently.  Yeslee’s shouldered her way through the group now, stood just behind Shay as she looks right over her head down the alley ahead of us.  I don’t even need to see her nostrils working to know she’s scenting the air now, I can almost see the air being drawn in through the flaring.  “There’s close to three dozen altogether.  The same kind of people we’ve been dealing with this past week.”

“Have they rumbled us?”  Thel asks after a moment’s musing, looking almost excited now.  Clearly she’s been pretty sick of all the waiting we’ve been doing of late.  “Y’know, do they know we’re here?”

“Of course.”  I can’t help cocking my brow at that.  “Um … no, from what I can tell they’re pretty idle, actually.  I mean the guards seem alert enough, but no more than you or I would be if this were just a normal day.  I think.  Um …”  Faltering, I turn to Shay again, preferring the opinion of someone who actually has a tactical mind.

“Means they’re not expecting us, but they’re not being stupid about it either.”  She strokes her chin for a moment , thoughtful now, then looks up at Yeslee.  “What do you think?”

Yeslee’s brows shoot right up at that.  She seems genuinely surprised that Shay’s actually asking for her opinion, but doesn’t actually come right out and say it.  Instead she looks down at the half-orc for a moment, her expression smoothing out again as she thinks about it.  “You’re the boss here.”

This time it’s Shay’s turn to be amazed, the way Yeslee said that was so matter of fact I know it was meant with the utmost respectful deference.  She’s genuinely willing to go with Shay’s ideas since Kesla clearly thinks she can do it too.  That being said, it’s not without precedent, Yeslee remembers as well as I do what a good job Shay did hunting us back in the mountains.  “Um … yeah, cool.  Thanks.”  Frowning, she turns back to me.  “How do we get in there, then?”

Thinking for a moment, I realise what she means.  “Oh, yes.  Of course.  Entrances, yes.” I concentrate again, and I don’t even need to turn around, I can see the layout of the place again even though it’s behind me now.  I’m trying very hard indeed to not actually think about that right now, I’m liable to make myself throw up, or something worse perhaps.  “Um … okay, there’s the main one on the far side, but that’s not easy to access from here, we’d have to go all the way around to approach it from the street.”

“No point anyway, guarantee they’d be watching out from that way.”  Yeslee pauses for a moment, still thoughtful, then looks up.  “Oh, yes.  Of course.  The same way I would.”

“Why ain’t they picked up on us coming this way?”  Thel’s looking back down the way we’ve come now, and she’s gripping the axe at her left side tight, while her free right hand just works on its own, clenching and then flexing.  If they’re watching the front entrance, then –”

“I must have picked up on that without even realising it.”  I shake my head a little, but with my eyes open it just causes everything to swim and jumble for a second.  Gods … I shouldn’t do that again.  “Um … I don’t know.  As we were approaching, I was looking out for anyone actually observing us.  I mean, more than just idle curiosity.  Like watching with a purpose.  I didn’t seem to pick up on it, but … I brought us in at a somewhat oblique angle, I think.  I’m not sure.”  I shrug, looking at Shay again as I sigh.  “I don’t know.  Maybe they just missed us.”

“You’re sure we’re not being watched, then?”  Shay’s eyes are locked on mine as she asks, then she looks up the way Yeslee’s still doing.  “There’s no chance they could be hiding it from you?”

“No, it doesn’t work that way.  If there was someone observing us, I’d know it.”

“Is there a way in from above?”  Yeslee’s question seems to stump Shay as much as me, I have to think about it for a moment, then my attention just seems to … it’s strange, there’s almost like a pinging sound deep in my head as I just know again, my attention seeming to home in on the answer.  Minerva … I’m starting to hate this.

“There is.  And there are two of them up there, watching out, although their attention seems to be mostly devoted to the front of the building.  I think that might be why they missed us.  It’s a lot of rooftop to cover for two of them.”

“That’s right, they should be more spread out so they could watch both sides simultaneously.”  Yeslee breathes, finally looking down as she reaches into one of her pockets and produces her coiled bowstring.  A simply flick of her wrist unspools it all at once, then she simply slips the tiny knotted loop at one end over the top of her bow’s stave and then upends the whole thing before bending it against her foot.  The stave creaks somewhat and I know that she’s exerting a spectacular amount of force on it now as she bends the bow into shape, but as she simply pulls the string taut and slips the other end in place too she shows no strain at all.  Finally she reaches into the pocket again and produces the two carved bone horns, tipping each end of the bow with the same quick care she’s shown in the rest of this operation.  The whole thing can’t have taken more than fifteen seconds.  “They’re not half so smart as they think they are, I suspect.”

“You’re sure you want to try this now?”  Shay cocks a brow as she looks at the Fir Bolg.

“Best not to give them a chance to get more clever while we’re being so lucky.”  She slips the newly strung bow over her hand and lets it rest across her back as she starts to roll her shoulders and picks up her feet.  It’s a ritual I’ve come the recognise, she’s limbering up for a climb.  “Can you make it up this wall after me?”

Frowning a little, Shay narrows her eyes.  “After you?  I thought …”  She cocks her head and starts to smile.  “Ah, yes.”  She looks up again.  “I think so.  I’ve scaled smoother than this before.  The drainpipes should help, anyway.”  She looks at the rest of us, and her gaze lingers on Darwyn.  “How about you?”

Darwyn’s not even looking at her, she’s just frowning upward as she takes the wall in.  I follow her gaze, and my enhanced senses instantly start picking out imperfections, cracks and weak spots in the brickwork around us.  Slowly I start to see what they’re talking about – these walls are sheer, but they’re also very rough, and there are far more handholds, perilously tight as most of them might seem, than I would have thought to just look at them normally.  That being said, it’s still … well, if I’m daunted by a six foot drop onto a sandy beach, this kind of thing genuinely boggles me.

“Sure.”  She shrugs after a moment, giving a cocked little smile.  “Compared to some of the buildings I’ve had to climb up this might as well be a ladder.”

“Really?”  I can’t keep the incredulity out of my face.  “You’re sure?”

Looking up at me now, she cocks her brow.  “Been doing this shit since I was genuine tiny.  Art wishes he was good as me.”

Zuldrad snorts behind her, and when she gives him a hard glare he entirely ignores it, just smiling a quizzical little smile as he starts stripping off his gloves.  After a frowning moment Darwyn starts doing the same.  Seems he’s going with them too, then.

“Well … all right then, I suppose.”  I turn back to Shay.  “I can’t do this.  You know I can’t do this.  I’m bad enough with trees.  I just never got the knack, it was very embarrassing for me when I was young.”

Letting out a little sigh, Shay just steps forward and lays her hand on my arm, giving it a gentle squeeze while she pulls me close until she can lay her forehead against mine.  “Just breathe.  You don’t have to.  It’s just going to be the four of us, the rest of you are staying down here.”

“Brung can climb too, though.”  Thel ventures, and when we look her way we find her small goblin companion’s stood at her side now, looking up the wall himself.  “And he’s just as sneaky as any of you.”

“No, I want him to stay down here.”  Shay steps back from me now, and I realise she’s not pulling her own gloves off any more than Yeslee is.  Then again, neither of them have any fingers on their gloves.  “You’re all going to be just as busy as they rest of us, I promise.”

“We are?”  The words are out before I can stop them, the Augment’s still messing somewhat with my ability to differentiate between my simply thinking the words and actually saying them.

“Yes.  You’re going to be the distraction.”  The way she grins when she says that fills me with trepidation.

Thel, on the other hand, is just starting to smile again.  “Oh, well reckon I can live with that.  Long as I get to batter somebody I’m happy with this plan.”

Pulling off her cloak, Shay considers for a moment before folding it once and holding it out to me, but I really don’t mind.  In truth it’s worth it if I get to look at her new armour.

Kesla insisted she should consider something with more protection than just the bracers she was wearing the other night, but I think Shay’s learned her lesson well enough after nearly dying.  Instead she’s gone all the way to the other extreme – as soon as we got back to the hotel and had access to the rest of our luggage she went straight to her room to retrieve the new suit of armour she acquired from Hurrig back in the Academy in Bavat.  She also rather sheepishly asked Tulen and I to help her get into it.

It was definitely worth the efforts, I think she looks amazing.  Even without the Augment she looks absolutely beautiful, albeit in a rather dangerous way.  The fine black scale-mail has the subtlest gleam, but something about it seems to let the light slide off of it rather than reflect too much, which I suspect is intended to add to her stealth.  Hurrig was right when he said it should fit her, in truth it looks almost like it was made to measure for her specifically, the cuirass as snug around her torso as the sleeves and leggings.  The pauldrons, faulds, vambraces and grieves, meanwhile, don’t so much bulk her out as simply compliment her form, and as she takes time to adjust the lie of her weapon harnesses I swear I can see the subtle shifting of her muscles through the metal scales.  It might simply be another layer of the Augment, but I suspect it’s a genuine aspect of the armour itself.  Either way, it’s quite beautifully made, and suits her down to the ground.

“Bloody hell.”  Thel’s oath breaks me out of my reverie as surely as it grabs Shay’s attention.  She’s looking the half-orc over with fresh appreciation, and as she starts to smile again she nods.  “That is impressive.”

“Yeah, it is.”  Darwyn nods too, although she’s frowning a little as she adjusts her own gear, having now shed her own cloak.  “Bit fancy though, ain’t it?  For what we’re doing, I mean.”

“Better not to take any chances if I can help it.”  Shay takes a moment to smooth her hands over the snug scales covering her chest, moving cautiously down towards her belly. The armour makes the subtlest hissing sound as she does it, but to my ear it’s nothing more than  the rasping of snakeskin against leather, there’s little chance of it giving her away.  “Besides, this stuff is much lighter than it looks, and it’s got great flex.  I won’t have any more trouble getting up there than without.”  Stopping just short of her belt she takes her hands away and flexes both for a moment before looking to me again.  “You should have worn yours too.”

“I’m sure I’ll be all right.”  I puff up a bit, trying not to seem too defensive but probably not quite succeeding.  “I suspect you don’t want me in the lead for this, anyway.”

That makes her smile a little, but it’s somewhat rueful.  “Yes, you’re right there.  You should really hang back, just be support for this.  I doubt they’ve got the wizard in there, I imagine she’s still in that tavern where Kesla saw her earlier.  Unless the orc’s in there I doubt they’ll even need you.”

“Please don’t tempt fate like that.  I really don’t want to have to go up against him again.”  I look up the wall again.  “All right then, while you’re going in this way, what are we actually doing?”

“Well first of all I want you to give us all a refresher on that image you put in our heads earlier, so we’re sure who we’re actually looking for.”

I’m only a beat realising what she actually means by that, remembering that before I implemented the Augment and the tracking spell I had Thel picture Tog’s face from the other night in her head before pulling a copy of it into my own so I could project it to the rest.  I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t be able to do it again.  “Of course.”

“Then I want you to contact Yulen, let them know what we’re about to do.  I doubt we’ll need any backup but it can’t help to at least let them know we’re about to do something dangerous.  You know, just in case.”

I start to blanche at that, I can’t help it.  “Oh, no, I don’t know if I can actually do that right now.  Not while I’m using –”

“Gael, please just drop this stupid spell.  It’s no good for you, clearly.  We need you properly alert for this, and for that I want your mind clear.  I can’t have you distracted by what might be going on three streets away.”  She steps close again, and even if I didn’t already know how serious she was just through my current inexplicable way of just being able to read it her expression’s enough to convince me.  “All that’s left for you to do is work out where in there he is and give us an idea of how many we’re going to have to fight our way through to get to him, then you’re going to stop it, are we clear?”

Frowning, I look at her for a long, loaded moment, then turn to take the others in as they continue their various preparations.  In truth I’m not really sure that I want to keep the Augment up right now, I suspect I might be uncomfortably close to hurting myself from this if I keep it up.  So I jut sigh and nod my assent.  “Of course.  You’re right.  This is getting uncomfortable.”

“All the better, then.”  Shay reaches out again, this time touching my shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze, but again I still feel far more from that contact than I’d really like.  “Like I said, I want you to hang back, just follow the others in.  Thel, once we’re in place up there I want you and Brung to go in this way.  You just strut straight in there like it’s your business, while your goblin friend sneaks around them.  Once he’s ready I want you to …”  She shrugs, but she’s smiling now.  “Hell, do whatever feels natural, I just want you to make a big racket and really get their attention.”

“Killing one or more o’ them guards’ll do that just fine, I reckon.”  Thel’s own grin is particularly wicked now as she lays both her hands on the heads of her handaxes.

“Then feel free.  Krakka, you back her up if she needs it, but I want you behind her anyway.  Gael takes the rear, I don’t want them to jump in unless they’re really needed.  They need to be able to call to the others if things do go south.”

“How much help do you think they can actually be though?”  Krakka wonders, and looking at him now I wonder if he’s even at all enthusiastic about the plan.  “They’re halfway across the city by now.”

“Yes, but Tulen can just port at least two of them in at a snap, can’t she?”  Shay smiles down at him.  “As I said, I doubt they’ll actually be needed. But a little insurance doesn’t hurt.”

Krakka looks up at her for a moment, then just shrugs.  “True.  All right, then.  Is that everything?”

Shay looks up the wall one more time, then down the alley in the direction we all intend to head, one way or another.  “I believe it is.”  Finally she turns back to me.  “Go on, then.”

Remembering what she’s asked of me, I take a deep breath and open up my focus again, looking past the rest and taking one last deep glimpse into this makeshift enemy stronghold ahead of us.  Taking a last hold on that strange red thread and pulling it taut as I concentrate on our target, somewhere deep within …

TO BE CONTINUED ...

[rafescoke]

New Girl ; Rafe Cameron

masterlist

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x reader

Summary: Just as Rafe thought his life couldn’t get any worse, a new girl moved into town. 

Warnings: Straight smut! Mentions of trauma, extreme love-hate relationship, fluff

A/N: thank you so much for 600+ followers wtf ily <33

p.s; you know the drill. . . send requests!

One thing that Rafe was sure of; he was no tour guide, or anything of the sort.

Sure, he got himself into trouble; vandalising the principal’s office and destroying school’s properties, but that was it. He didn’t try to include the part where he goes to parties to get high and wake up the next evening with a painful headache, that was more to his personal life and he believed no one in the education system could have the advantage to be mad at him for it. 

“I simply just won’t do it,” Rafe shrugged, sighing against the chair. “Look, why don’t you ask Topper to help this new kid? He’s good in class.” 

“You answered yourself, Mr. Cameron,” the counsellor sighed, placing a file on top of the table lightly. “He’s good at school work, and you’re not. That’s why we’re going with you.” 

So that was the core reason as to why Rafe was waiting impatiently for the arrival of the new student, whom he didn’t even care about to know the gender. All he wanted was to sit at the back of the school and light some joints. 

“Mr. Cameron, this is Ms. (Y/L/N).” 

Rafe took a look at her. He bit the insides of his cheeks, thinking how she didn’t even make an effort to dress properly for her first day in a new schoolz 

An oversized tee and denim shorts. Really? 

“Hi,” she smiled, extending her hands. “I’m (Y/N).” 

“Rafe,” was all he said, before handing her her timetable for the semester. 

She scanned the paper, nodding slightly and pointed at a word. When she realised how Rafe wasn’t listening, she cleared her throat. 

“What?”

“I got Biology with Mr Garcia. Where’s Room 3?” 

Rafe scooted closer next to her, and the smell of strawberry cheesecake wafted into his nostrils. He took a step back, seething. 

Who would even wear a cakey perfume? 

“Uh, that’s like, at the end of the hall?” He answered, but it was more like a question. He looked at the direction he was noting, and nodded again. “Definitely the one at the end of the hall.” 

“You really don’t care, do you?” She asked, crossing her arms. “Where’s my locker?” 

Rafe took another look at her timetable, searching for her locker number. 

372. 

He turned to look at his own locker, finding the number, and letting out an ‘oh’. “Yours just 4 lockers away from mine.” 

“Thanks.” She muttered, and Rafe sighed before fixing the left side of his bag strap dangling from his left shoulder. “Is that it? Can I go?” 

“Not so fast, Rafe,” the counsellor sighed, stopping him by his chest. “You’re supposed to stay with her for the week. Help her get around. And you’re supposed to show her around the school compound now.” 

Rafe looked up to the counsellor with a pained expression and then back to (Y/N), his chest heavy. “Fine. Let’s go. What do you call yourself again?” 

Right before lunch, Rafe stayed over in his class for a few minutes before going out to the hall. He didn’t want to see the new girl, and he didn’t feel like being her assistant anymore. 

But the world wasn’t that fair. 

(Y/N) grinned, walking towards him. “Can you show me the cafeteria?”

“How do you even know my class?” He muttered, keeping a distance between them. The last thing he ever wanted was to let the news of him being with the new girls circulating around the school, or worse, the whole island. 

“My class is directly in front of yours. We parted just now.” 

Of course she would remember that. 

. . . 

A week went by quickly, and before Rafe would know it, he didn’t see (Y/N) anymore, and he was content with it. 

Until her family decided to become neighbours with his. 

“What do you mean the (Y/L/N) bought the house next to us?” He groaned, watching as Rose and Ward prepared to greet themselves to the new family.

The last thing he wanted was to show her around the fucking island like he was some kind of a hotel worker. 

She was in a yellow sundress, and Rafe couldn’t help but notice the way her (H/C) glowed under the sunlight. She looked similar to her mother, both bringing pastries as a way to introduce themselves. 

“Hi, we just moved next door,” Mrs (Y/L/N) said, showing the Camerons her pearly white teeth. Rafe wondered if she ever got them done, because it’s not possible for a human to have such white assets. 

“Hi, welcome to Obx,” Ward gushed, accepting the pastries happily. “Rafe, take the other cake.” 

(Y/N) looked up at the sound of his name, and to Rafe’s amusement, began gritting her teeth. He took the cake with a smirk, happy that he got her all worked up. 

He would definitely have the best time of his life taunting the shit out of this girl. 

. . .

“Hey, wanna ride a boat?” 

“Topper, leave her alone,” Rafe sighed, fixing his cap so it was facing backwards. “She’s not interested.” 

(Y/N) perked up at this invitation, never actually riding a boat alone if it wasn’t during a holiday since she was originally from the city. She walked towards her neighbour’s deck, her skin illuminating the golden sunrays. 

“Sure.” 

Rafe mentally groaned, having to deal with the girl now, but he wasn’t sure if he was angry or jealous. It wasn’t him to be jealous easily, but after a week of becoming her tour guide, he guessed he deserves some kind of a credit from her. Topper didn’t do anything, but she was gladly accepting his invitation. 

Their usual stroll along the stream of the island was not like usual, since the air was now filled with the annoying chatter between (Y/N) and Topper. Rafe could never relate with them, only wanting to relax his mind and sleep it off. 

“So you’re a city girl? That’s great!” 

“Sure Tops,” Rafe wondered, smiling delightly. Anything to get into a girl’s pants. . . 

“You know what, (Y/N)?” He called from the place he was resting, and he waited a few seconds before continuing his speech. “If you’re looking for a boyfriend, Topper’s not the guy. He hasn’t moved on from his ex-girlfriend.” 

Sure, he would get a lot of shit from Topper for saying that, but he was done with the pointless flirting between them. 

“What about you?” 

Rafe opened his eyes, watching her from behind his sunglasses. He shifted his position, “What about me?” 

“Have you moved on from your ex-girlfriend?” 

Has he moved on from Kie? He wasn’t entirely sure. Their relationship was brief, but she was all Rafe had. When she decided to go all full-pogue, he knew there was nothing left of them. 

“I don’t date.” 

“I can see why,” she said, and Rafe swore he heard some kind of mirth behind her tone. 

“Have you?” 

“Moved on from an ex?” 

Rafe nodded, opening his eyes slightly. 

“I guess.” 

“Good for him.” 

“Excuse me?” She gasped, pushing him lightly. “You’re an asshole.” 

She leaned closer onto him, and for a second Rafe thought about letting her in his bubble, but he quickly shoved her away. “Watch it.” 

“I’m just trying to tell you about that fucking fly on your face.” 

“Yeah? Liar.” 

(Y/N) huffed, stomping back to Topper, and Rafe laughed silently. 

1-0.

. . .

Fuck. 

If he would’ve known about the police raid in Topper’s party, he wouldn’t have come to his house at all. But here he was; all pushed up against the metal chair of the police station, his hair messy and his eyes bloodshot. 

“We’re taking a urine test, son,” Shoupe said, sighing. “There’s always something wrong with you.”

Rafe thought about (Y/N) suddenly, and how she was probably back home and watching some kind of a rom-com. That’s totally her; all cuddled up with a pink teddy bear probably named ‘Bear-bear’, constantly wiping the tears off her face over the sad breakup scene of a movie. 

Rafe was forced to strip out of his shirt and jeans before entering the small cubicle, and having to go through this same procedure for quite a few times now, he didn’t mind giving a show to the workers. 

He quickly zipped his jeans bag, handing a female worker a cup filled to the end with his urine. He yawned, already knowing the results, so there was no use being nervous about it. 

He was picked up by an angry Ward an hour later. He groaned, getting in the car to prepare himself for the same lecture about his future and how he shouldn’t jeopardise it, but he was shocked when Ward didn’t utter a word at all. 

It was very uncomfortable, but he guessed he was just tired. 

“Good morning.” 

Rafe rubbed his eyes against the bright sunlight, feeling the pain from his head slowly soaring throughout his body. He squinted his eyes at the figure in front of him again, trying to blink the blurriness away. 

“What the fuck?” 

“Your mom told me to call for you,” (Y/N) said, looking away from him. Rafe looked down to his body, seeing his shirtless self, and laughed.

Of fucking course she would be uncomfortable with him being shirtless. 

“She’s not my mom,” he grunted, removing the covers off of him and checking his phone for the time. 

12.43p.m. 

“Fuck,” he muttered, and his eyes turned to her again. “What are you doing here again? Leave.” 

“Waiting for you.” 

“I’ll be downstairs in a few seconds,” he muttered. He didn’t need her to be some kind of maid for him. 

(Y/N) muttered some curse word, hoping that riled him up, but she would be stupid if she thought a random curse word would make him Rafe Cameron angry.

It would take a lot more to raise an expression from Rafe Cameron, and a curse word definitely wouldn’t. 

. . . 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” 

His boat was not working, but he had just filled her up the night before. This was the newest model too, and he couldn’t afford asking Ward to fix his boat again. Not when he was caught with being on drugs from his urine test last week, and the only reason he got out of the trouble was because of Ward again. 

“Is it not working, Rafey?” 

Rafe looked up to the sound. (Y/N) was watching him with a sly grin, shielding her eyes with her hands from the sun like she was some goddamn queen that would melt from the heat. 

“What did you do to my boat?” He groaned, trying to turn the ignition again. 

“What did I do? Come on, why do you always think so bad of me? That’s kinda ru—”

Before she could continue her taunt, Rafe climbed the deck, inching closer towards her and smeling that goddamn cake smell again. 

Hell, he’ll buy her a new perfume to stop breathing in that fucking smell. 

“That’s kinda what?” He whispered. He was so close to her now, and he could hear her breath hitching. He smirked, his heart soaring. 

“You’re kinda dumb for a kook, Rafe,” she sighed. She dangled a familiar key in front of him, and when Rafe took a closer look, he noticed it was the key to his boat. 

She threw the key into the water and Rafe watched it plopped, moving straight towards the deep end. His eyes flared at her again, his chest heaving. 

“Hope you have a spare key.” 

1-1. 

. . .

That should be good, he guessed, for being in a tie with (Y/N). But he doesn’t like someone being in the same league as him, so it must be 2-1. 

And the 2 from him. 

But that was for another day, because Kiara Carrera was in front of him. He fixed his cap so it was facing backwards again, and then putting his hands into his pockets for good measure. 

“Hey,” he greeted her. She smiled at him grimly before looking back at the menu, clearly uninterested. “How’re you?” 

“I’m. . . great,” she breathed. “Why?” 

“Just asking,” he shrugged, “Do you wanna go out for some drinks sometimes? Like the old times?” 

Rafe curled his toes, waiting nervously. 

“Um, I have to check with my parents first,” she replied. “But, Rafe, you know, it’s been. . . a year.” 

“Of course,” he laughed, trying to hide the sudden emotion inside him. “I meant hanging out as a friend.” 

“Of course!” She suddenly exclaimed, “If you would bring (Y/N) with us.” 

“Oh, I don’t-”

“You don’t?” 

“I- fine. I’ll bring her with me. Is tomorrow okay?” He sighed, already foreseeing the future. 

And it’s full of shit. 

“Tomorrow.” 

. . .

“Wow, I am not going to third wheel you and someone, Rafe,” (Y/N) laughed, resting her back against her chair. 

“Please,” Rafe begged, sighing. He didn’t know how much begging he could do anymore, not when he had so many things to do. He took a deep breath again, “I’ll do anything for you back.” 

“Including hooking me up with JJ?” 

“Yes- no. No. What the fuck? Where did you even know this guy?” He expressed, his eyebrows furrowing. He was not going to let her a pull a Kie, though they weren’t dating. 

“He helps mower the lawn.” 

Of course. JJ Maybank would never pass the chance to get some money while checking out girls. 

“I’m not helping you to get together with JJ,” he sighed. “Can we go for a better option? Like Landon? He’s rich.” 

“I’m richer,” she yawned. “Okay. Fine. Topper.” 

“No,” he shook his head. “Not going to happen.” 

If she ever thought about him allowing her to date his best friend, she has to be a lot smarter than that. 

He didn’t know why he wouldn’t allow it. Maybe he was scared of Topper hurting her. 

Or maybe he just couldn’t imagine her with someone else.

“Then we have no deal,” she replied simply, gazing at her newly painted nails. She gazed at Rafe who seemed to be thinking hard from the top of her sunglasses. 

He groaned. “Fine. I’ll help you with Topper. But I’m warning you; he. Has. Not. Moved. On.” 

“Oh, he will.”

. . .

Kie was all up on Rafe.

He didn’t know what had gotten into her, because she was never this. . . strong-willed. 

Kie had her hands placed against Rafe’s chest, kissing him tenderly and sometimes running her fingers through his hair. 

Rafe sucked in a breath, watching as she part. Her mouth formed into a grin, and Rafe couldn’t help but grin back. 

“Wanna do it?” 

Did he? Of course he wanted to “do it”. He had been wanting to do so since forever. He would be crazy to say no to that invitation, and he was definitely sane. 

He looked at (Y/N), who was awkwardly perched up on the sofa, tucking her legs under her and watching some kind of a movie on her phone. Her eyes looked up to Rafe, and she quickly looked away. 

“In one of the rooms?” 

Kie seemed to look around the boat for a while, like he was looking for someone, but there were only two of them. And (Y/N). 

“Fine,” she huffed, and pulled him towards one of the rooms by his wrist. 

Kie pushed him onto the bed, and Rafe wondered how she got this side of her. Throughout their 6 months of dating, she never showed him this, so this was a bit of a shock to him. 

“Hey, hey,” Rafe gripped her wrists, holding her still. “We don’t have to rush.” 

“I want to,” she said, and leaned closer. “I thought you wanted this?” 

They began making out, his hand slipping down her back to grab her ass, only to be met with her vibrating phone in her back pocket. 

“I’ll get it,” he mumbled against the kiss, and pulled her phone out.

A picture of JJ Maybank’s smiling face right next to Kie greeted him, and his name was perched on top of the screen, signalling his call. 

Of course. She never wanted to fuck him. It was always to make someone jealous. That explained the gritted teeth Kie would make when he mentioned JJ earlier. 

He sighed, pushing her away so she ended up by his side. “I gotta go.” 

“Huh?” Kie sat up straight, looking from Rafe to her phone. She saw the caller, cleared her throat, and held up a finger to tell him to wait. 

He should’ve known. 

. . . 

Rafe never liked the annual Obx’s drive-in movie theatre, because he really didn’t get the hype of watching a mainstream movie that he had watched with Wheezie a lot of times before in his car. 

This year, it was way worse; they decided to have some kind of a horror themed drive-in movie theatre, and the best part of all; (Y/N) was going with Topper. 

Rafe groaned for the thousandth time at the rapping of a clown against his car window. He gave the clown his middle finger, telling him ‘watch it, you’re scratching my car’, and moving his attention back to the screen. 

Annabelle had disappeared from the room the two nurses had placed her in, and the volume quietened before booming again when the doll had appeared in the living room, perching on top of the sofa. 

He rolled his eyes, and took a look at (Y/N) and his best friend laying in the back part of his jeep from the rearview window. 

They were cuddling. 

“Fuck off,” he grunted, throwing his hands into the air. A human-sized Annabelle pulled on the shotgun’s door now, and Rafe gave the actor another middle finger before yelling a ‘fuck you’.

“This is ridiculous,” he said to no one in particular. He stepped out of the vehicle, knowing damn well he would be the target of the ghosts now, but he couldn’t care less. All he wanted was to step away from all of this and maybe refill his soda. 

He made his way to the back of the lot, getting his money out beforehand. Some type of a wannabe Michael Myers came up, to which he quickly put a hand up to stop him. 

“Don’t. I’m not in the mood.”

Michael Myers seemed to get him, because he left to scare someone else. 

“Refill,” he sighed, giving the worker his cup. “Coke.” 

“You mean like literal coke?” 

Rafe looked behind him, surprised to see a red-faced (Y/N) holding a popcorn bucket. He licked his teeth. “Why? Have you tried it before?” 

(Y/N) went up beside him, muttering about putting more caramel in her popcorn to the worker before looking at him. “You seem mad.” 

“I’m not.” 

“You are.” 

“That’s because you’re all up in my business,” he scoffed. He turned to look at his coke, but the worker was still filling the cup up. 

Good. Did the machine break or something? 

“Where’s the girlfriend?” She asked. She was clearly amused by his sudden tightness, but he quickly softened, as to not rile her up. 

“Where’s the fuckbud- I mean boyfriend? Sorry. It just slipped.” 

(Y/N) nodded, her mouth forming into a grin. “If you’re jealous, you can just say that.” 

“Wait, wait, of what, exactly?” 

She shrugged. 

“Yeah, exactly. No. For all I care, you guys can get married and move to fucking Antartica and have mini (Y/N)s and Christophers running around.” 

The worker placed the newly refilled coke and caramelised popcorn on the counter, and Rafe wondered why she would receive her food at the same time as his when had come here first.

He rolled his eyes, grabbing the drink and walking back towards the car. 

(Y/N) jogged to catch up with him, her popcorn bouncing against her chest. “You’re rude, do you know that?” 

“Jesus Christ, we’re still on this?” He mumbled. He was still walking, but he wanted her to catch up so he slowed down. He guessed it would be the perfect ending to his night to taunt her until she’s all worked up. 

“I just can’t think of a reason why you’re acting so fucking rude to me.” 

“Yeah? Think again.” Rafe sipped on his coke, feeling the carbonated drink sloshing down his throat. He felt content, but he wasn’t sure if it was from the coke or from the girl beside him. 

“This is—”

A nurse with a bloody front suddenly appeared before them, using some kind of a spray to maximise the size of the fire from a lighter. (Y/N) screamed, turning away from the heat, and Rafe quickly caught her before she could end up on the floor. 

“Fuck, fucking move,” he yelled to the nurse, who seemed to be satisfied with her work. Rafe turned to (Y/N), trying to check on her state. 

“Yo, yo, you good? Why are you shaking?” 

She was trembling really hard against him. She had her arms around Rafe’s neck, her popcorn splattered on the ground. She jolted when a scream came from the speaker. 

“Come on, let’s get you to the car,” he mumbled, helping her walk. She kept her face hidden in the crook of his neck, and Rafe had to try his best to balance both of the girl and the Coke in his hands back to the vehicle.

Topper was no longer in the back seat, perhaps looking for Sarah (Rafe wasn’t a bit surprised at this). He was glad his best friend wasn’t there, because the last thinf he needed was two people freaking out on him. 

“Okay, chill, I got you,” Rafe grunted, placing the Coke in the cup holder before seating the girl beside the driver’s seat. He sighed before climbing into the driver’s seat and locked the door in case some kind of a crazy maniac tried to freak her out again. 

“What’s wrong?” 

She didn’t answer, not that Rafe expected her to. She looked like she was reminded by some kind of memory, but Rafe didn’t want to dwell so much on it. 

If he could, he would reverse his car out of this lot back to their homes, but he was one of the first cars to arrive at the drive-in theatre, so it was impossible to get out. 

He sighed, placing his hands against his lap. “You can tell me, you know.” 

She finally looked up to him, and Rafe’s breath hitched from the sight of her red eyes. He softened. 

Whatever it was with that fire, it had triggered some kind of a memory in her. 

He placed a hand against her lap, but not moving so; just a splat of his hand against her soft skin. He had meant for that as comfort, but he realised how creepy the situation was. He pulled away, clearing his throat. 

So they stayed until the end of the movie, just the two of them, and Rafe was sure she wasn’t even watching the remaining parts of the movie. He pretended to watch, but he was really just staring at her the whole time. 

Will she ever let her hair down like this again? Because he liked it. 

When the movie ended and the cars were starting to move, Rafe slowly reversed the car so as to not shake her awake. But she was a light sleeper, and she woke up as soon as he hit the brakes. 

She rubbed her eyes, “Where are we going?” 

“Home,” he answered. “You’re okay?” 

She didn’t answer, and Rafe knew she wasn’t.

. . .

Two weeks after the incident, they never spoke of it again. 

Rafe tried to get an answer out, but to no avail. He didn’t get why he was trying his best to help her, because he, too, needed help. 

“Nah. I won’t invite her. If you want (Y/N) to come, then you’ll have to invite her yourself.” 

Wheezie’s shoulders slumped, “But you’re close to her!”

“I’m not, and she hates my guts,” Rafe replied honestly. Because that was the truth, right? She didn’t even want to tell him about why she was so scared of fire. 

“Invite me to what?” 

“(Y/N)!” Wheezie ran to hug her, to which (Y/N) laughed before patting her on the crown of her head. “Tell her, Rafe!” 

Is she fucking serious? 

“Tell me what?” (Y/N) looked up to Rafe strangely. 

“Wheezie wants to have a movie night, and she wants you to watch with us.” Rafe sighed, hating how he couldn’t just ignore Wheezie. She was definitely Rafe’s favourite, being so close to her brother ever since she was born. 

“Oh, is that true?” She smiled, looking at Wheezie. “Should I come and wear my best pajamas?” 

“You’re not sleeping over, your house is literally 5 minutes away. 2 if you run.” Rafe rolled his eyes. He went up to the counter to pick up a sandwich before biting into it, tasting the creamy eggs and ham. He licked his lips. 

“She can sleep with Sarah, right, (Y/N)?” 

“If she wants me too. . .” 

Rafe rolled his eyes again, “Sarah won’t be with us for tonight’s movie night. She’s starting to hang out with the pogues.” 

“Why are you so against the pogues?” (Y/N) asked, when Wheezie left to write a reminder of tonight’s event in her diary. 

“Why can’t you just shut your mouth?” He sighed. “It’s all bla bla bla bla. Can’t you see you’ll be happier without having to open your mouth every few seconds?” 

(Y/N) bit her lips, and for a second, Rafe had to look away from the look she was giving him. 

Shit. Why was he even looking away? 

She turned to go away, but was halted by Rafe’s fingers around her wrist. She groaned, turning her attention back to him. “What?” 

“You still haven’t told me about the night of the drive-in theatre.” 

“Good,” was all she said, before she went back by the sliding door to her home. 

. . .

“Rafe would be mad if he saw me watching this.” 

“It’s rom-com! And it’s totally PG-13. Trust me on this, okay? Anne Hathaway, yeah, that girl, yes, she’s going to get prettier throughout the movie.” (Y/N) smiled, popping popcorn into her mouth. 

Wheezie sighed, placing her head against (Y/N)’s shoulders and yawned. “Like what? Princess Diaries?” 

“Yes, but this is The Devil Wears Prada. You’ll love it!” 

A beam of light filled the mini movie theatre of The Camerons, signalling the late arrival of Rafe Cameron. He brought two chocolate bars, a Coke (again) and some chicken nuggets. 

“Move,” he said, motioning to Wheezie. 

“There are more seats around here!” Wheezie hissed, crossing her arms. “I’m not leaving (Y/N).” 

“You’re not leaving her, silly, you’re just scooting more to the right.” 

“What’s in it for me?” She raised a brow. 

“Nuggets?” 

She scooted to the side, giving more space for Rafe to place himself beside an annoyed (Y/N). 

Out of all 7 medium-sized sofas in the theatre, he decided to pick the one the two girls were sitting on. 

Rafe handed Wheezie the plate full of chicken nuggets, looking at (Y/N) before watching the screen. He groaned, “What’s this? Trash?” 

“A masterpiece, so shut up,” (Y/N) replied. Rafe huffed, amused, and unwrapped the chocolate bar. 

“Want some?” 

“No.” 

“Come on,” he cooed, placing the chocolate before her eyes. She grunted, pushing his hands away. 

Rafe took that as his final warning. He didn’t want to annoy her even more, knowing that she will probably not talk to him anymore. He decided to wait until half an hour later, just to taunt her again. 

“I’m going to get more popcorn,” Wheezie suddenly said after an hour into the movie. She excused herself to the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone. 

(Y/N) sighed. Great, just like how she wanted. 

“What do you want from me?” Anne Hathaway’s voice blared from the speaker, and Rafe looked at (Y/N). 

“What do you want from me?” He asked, repeating the dialogue. (Y/N) watched him from the corners of her eyes, not getting any delight from this. 

“For you to shut up.” 

“Really? That’s boring,” he sighed. “Do you want to know what I want from you?” 

“Sure.” 

“I’m thinking of a few things. Maybe you, on my lap.” 

(Y/N)’s breath hitched, but she tried her best not to look disturb. She shifted in her seating position. 

Rafe leaned closer, feeling her heat. “Your turn.” 

You know what? Fuck it.

(Y/N) turned to look at him fully in his face, leaning even closer that a part of her was practically on top of him. “Do you know what I think of you, Rafe?” 

His eyes dropped to her lips, and he swore his heartbeat quit beating. 

“I think about you, Rafe,” she whispered. “All pressed up against me in my bed, whim-”

“More popcorn!” 

(Y/N) returned to her previous position, bewildered. She fixed her hair, and her eyes were back to the screen. 

If Wheezie were to hang out with a pogue right now, Rafe wouldn’t give a fuck. 

“Well, the ending’s shitty,” Rafe exclaimed, clapping his hands. He watched as the end credits rolled, and took a look at Wheezie. 

He nudged her, sighing. “Wake up, Wheeze. Go to your room.” 

She groaned, searching for her fallen glasses. Rafe helped her to put them on, and gave her another poke. 

“I want to watch the movie.”

“The movie’s finished. It’s time to sleep. Go.” 

Wheezie groaned, muttering how it’s not fair that her brother could stay up with (Y/N) to watch more movies, but she guessed she was too tired for another round of movie anyways. 

“What’s the next pick?” 

“Horror.” 

“Nah.” 

“Why?”

“‘Cause you’re going to freak out on me again.” 

“I won’t,” she assured him. “Let’s go with Hereditary.” 

Rafe’s fingers and (Y/N)’s were almost touching. He was still bothered by her comment before Wheezie came barging in, and he was still desperate to hear her reply. 

“(Y/N)?”

“Hm?” 

“What were you trying to say?”

(Y/N) stopped watching, and looked at him. “What?” 

“About you thinking of me.” 

She blushed. “Nah.” 

“Come on,” he nudged. When she didn’t move, he tried placing his hand against her thigh. 

(Y/N) stood up suddenly, and for a second, Rafe thought he had fucked up. He watched as she went to the door, locked it, and went back to their place. 

“You locked the door.” 

“Yeah.” 

Rafe licked his lips, smirking slightly. “Ah, I see the game you’re playing.” 

“What game?” She raised a brow, only turning to the screen when a scream blared from the speaker.

“Hey, look at me.” Rafe tugged on her chin, forcing her to look at him, and his eyes actually looked into hers. He noticed the (E/C) colour of her eyes now, and he swore he had never looked at something more appealing. “Tell me.” 

She stayed quiet, not moving a muscle. 

Rafe sighed, getting impatient. He leaned closer now, this time his lips merely an inch away from her cheeks. He could feel the heat radiating from her. 

“Tell me, baby.” 

“You getting all close to me isn’t helping, Cameron,” she sighed, laying her head against the sofa. 

“Still playing hard to get?” 

“I’m not playing anything.” 

Rafe slowly placed a kiss against her temple before trailing down to her cheeks. She sucked in a breath, and Rafe smiled. 

“Still playing?” 

She nodded. 

Rafe’s lips touched hers by a bit, and she let out a moan she had been trying her very best to contain. Rafe chuckled, pulling away. 

“Still playing?”

“Shut up.” 

“That’s a yes? Or a no?”

“That’s a fuck you.” 

“Oh,” Rafe smiled. “Thought you never asked.” 

His kiss was gentle. So soft, and (Y/N) had never felt something like that before. The kiss deepened when she let out a soft moan, riling Rafe even more. 

He pulled her up onto his chest, letting her hands rest against his chest before pulling her away. Her lips were red, and there was a string of their saliva hanging from both of their lips. 

“What do you want, (Y/N)?” 

“You.” 

“Huh?” 

“You.” 

He smiled, tugging on her shirt. “Off.” 

She wasted no time to remove her shirt, exposing her new black bra she ordered online a few days before. Rafe sat back, his eyes dark. 

“Jesus Christ.” 

He kissed her neck, trailing down to her collar bones before stopping directly on her chest. His fingers fiddled with the bra clip, being so used with this already, and removed the piece of clothing with ease. 

(Y/N) instinctively covered her chest, her chest heaving. 

Rafe looked up to her, his eyes softening. “What’s wrong?” 

“Am not comfortable.” 

“Oh, that’s alright, we don’t have to do—”

“No, Rafe, I want this. I just don’t think I’m perfect enough for you.” 

Rafe let out a breath, placing a soft kiss against her stomach. She closed her eyes, throwing her head back. He guided her hands away, exposing her perky breast to the entire theatre to see. 

Rafe was glad he was the only guy present. 

“Fuck, you’re beautiful.” 

“Shut up.” 

He looked up into her eyes, wetting his lips. “I’ll do anything to fuck you right now.” 

(Y/N) grinded against him, causing a groan to escape from his throat. He held her waist in place, not wanting to trigger his release. 

“Do it,” she whispered. 

The movie became a background noise as he fumbled with her shorts, grunting when he couldn’t figure out the knot. 

He positioned himself before her, and looked up into her eyes again. Her chest was heaving, and she looked nervous. 

“You’re okay?”

“I’m a virgin.” 

Oh fuck. 

Why would she even say that? He couldn’t even contain himself anymore. 

He pushed himself into her, letting her get used to the feeling. He waited for her nod, signaling that she was okay and hadn’t changed her mind, and thrusted into her again. 

His hands stayed around her waist to guide her, watching as her mouth slightly parted as he deepened inside her. She bit her lips, her nails clawing onto his shoulders. 

“Oh my god.” 

“Fuck,” he groaned, feeling his own forehead clammy. He didn’t notice her hands that had left his shoulder. She cupped his face, placing wet kisses against his cheeks. 

“You’re so good for me, baby,” he whimpered, allowing her hands to guide his. She placed them around her breast as she rode him, and Rafe had never felt better. 

If he has to taunt and annoy her more to get into this level again, he’ll do it again. Without any hesitation.

“I’m so close, baby, fuck,” he groaned. He gave her another longing kiss, looking down to where their bodies connect, and moaned loudly. 

Just before he reached his end, he pulled her away, not wanting to plant himself into her. (Y/N) tried to wrap her fingers around his penis to which Rafe jerked at for  being so sensitive. He pulled her hands away, his chest heaving. 

“Don’t,” he grunted. His load shot out of his member, wetting the sofa underneath them, and Rafe quickly slapped his shaft against her core to get her to reach her end. 

“Rafe, I-”

“Let it,” he whispered, watching as she tilted her head back, exposing her neck. “Let go, baby.” 

She trembled slightly, finally reaching her high, and collapsed on top of the heaving boy. Rafe stroked her hair, pulling her into a lying position, and planted another soft kiss against the back of her head. 

“The movie’s still on.” 

“Watch the next part, it’s amazing,” Rafe whispered, still holding her close. They were both naked, still coming down from their highs, but Rafe had never felt better. 

(Y/N) turned to look at him. “You’re still an asshole.” 

He placed a soft kiss against her lips. “Your asshole.” 

-

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